"So…you're still alive after all…" Mii said while rubbing the back of her gloved hand on her lip. "That's a little surprising, considering Nasir was almost certain he killed you."

"He almost did." Mira admitted, wincing noticeably from her injured side. "But I made a promise to my siblings that I wouldn't die until I saw them again…S-So here I am…saving Erza in the nick of time."

"Oh, I get it!" Mii clapped her hands together. "Hanging on by a thread, are we? Makes sense just looking at you. You've been walking around with an open wound for who knows how long and you look like you're going to pass out any second. It's a miracle you're still on your own two feet."

"Mira…" Erza stood up, looking over at Mirajane worriedly. "Don't push yourself..!"

"And we come back to my main point once again." Mii said while twirling Purple Pot around her index finger once again. "Pain is nothing but bad. If she couldn't feel pain I'm sure I'd be in a worse situation right now, buuuut…because she's got such a grievous wound, and I roughed up Erza a little bit…it's looking quite in my favor, don't you agree?"

"You still don't understand a damn thing, don't you…?" Erza grit her teeth, another light wrapping around her body as she wore nothing but cloth around her breasts and the pants, now bringing forth her Demon Blade: Crimson Sakura. She stabbed the powerful sword into the ground to use it as support to stand up before holding it towards Mii. "Though we might not like Pain, it's a wonderful thing…"

As soon as Erza finished speaking Mii shot a small, piercing bullet that went right through Erza's shoulder. The shout of pain Erza let out was loud and it caused Mii to merely shake her head. "Pain is a wonderful thing, huh? That didn't sound wonderful to me. Sounded like you couldn't take another one of those."

"E-Erza…!" Mira grit her teeth before a magic seal appeared over her, once again entering her Satan Soul. She then flew towards Mii with a bit of a slow start as she pulled her arm back with darkness magic swirling around it.

"You my friend are in no condition to be moving!" Mii waited for Mirajane to get close before leaning away from the incoming punch; pivoting on her heel, she slammed her opposite leg into Mira's injured side, causing a yelp to escape the demoness as she tumbled away harshly on the rocky plain. Mii kept her boot pointed out only to unleash a few bullets from the tip of her heel at Mira.

"W-What part of this woman isn't a weapon…?" Mira groaned while bracing for impact.

"Hyah!" Luckily for Mira, Erza intervened at the last second and slashed the bullets out of the air before falling back to a knee. "Ugh…"

"You still thinking pain is the best thing in the world over here?" Mii questioned with a tilt of her head. "I can keep this up for the rest of the night, but I don't think you two will be able to."

"You say you've never felt pain before…" Erza began while looking at the bandage around Mii's arm. "But it looks like you've experienced some on your way here today…"

"Ah…" Mii rubbed her arm briefly before shrugging it off. "I told that girl it didn't even hurt, but she ignored me and wrapped this around me anyway. Of course if those stupid kids didn't get involved so recklessly it wouldn't have been needed…"

"So you do have a heart in there somewhere…" Mira smirked slightly before standing on her own two feet once again. "I still don't understand why you choose to ignore pain…yes it's inconvenient but…"

"I'm not choosing to ignore it!" Mii pointed Dragon Hadlar at the two Fairy Tail S classes this time, unleashing an explosive burst that nearly caught them. Erza and Mira were forced into different directions, both having a hard landing. Mira was forced out of Satan Soul and laid on her stomach while Erza was on her back. "See, I'm enjoying watching your reactions to it. Doesn't look too good, does it? Tell me what's so good about this pain you're feeling?"

"It looks like you still don't understand…" A weary Erza said while making way to her feet, teetering from side to side as she tried to keep her balance. "The wonderful thing about pain…" She gripped her blade tightly before lunging forward in an all or nothing motion. She was going to end this battle right here. "Is that it lets us know that we're alive!"

"I don't understand you." Mii shook her head, before dropping Dragon Hadlar. Instead, she grabbed one of her angelic feathers, and it suddenly grew in size. She gripped the tip of the feather tightly, wielding it as a makeshift sword. "But I don't have to understand you. I just have to kill you both. And I'll make sure you both experience as much pain as possible!" Without wasting another second, Mii lunged forward, swinging her feather at Erza and Mira at once. The three of them entered a clash. Erza swung her sword at Mii's feather, surprised at how sturdy it was when they clashed. Mii spun around and slammed her boot into Erza's stomach, causing her to fly back. Mira then came in with a punch coated in dark magic, which slammed into Mii's chest. Mii didn't flinch from the impact and slashed at Mira's chest, causing her to cry out in pain due to her already injured body.

Erza had one eye clenched shut and dug her feet into the ground. She wasn't going to give up that easily! She lunged at Mii, only to step to the side at the last second. Mii fell for the feint, so Erza swung her sword upwards for a rising slash against Mii's chest. This was a direct hit, but Mii didn't show any signs of slowing down. Instead she stepped forward, slamming her skull into Erza's for a fierce headbutt. "Agh...!"

Mii then shoulder tackled Erza straight to the ground. But just as she did, Mira was already prepared with another attack. "Demon Blast!" She threw her arms forward, sending a widespread of blast of darkness straight towards Mii. Mii brought her feather up defensively to shield herself from the attack. The impact was strong and she was sent skidding backwards a few feet back. The dust of the explosion served as good cover, for Erza and Mira both emerged from the smoke, slamming their fists into Mii's chest. This pushed her back even further!

"You two are starting to really piss me off!" Mii said with a snarl. She held her feather up into the sky, and it tripled in size, towering above the three of them. "Heavenly Bladewing!" She exclaimed, swinging her feather down, aiming to bring it down on top of the two of them! Erza and Mira both split off in separate directions, avoiding the inital hit. The feather split the ground and scarred it deeply, however angelic magic then exploded outward from the point of impact. This caught the two Fairy Tail wizards and violently threw them into the ground, struggling to remain conscious.

"Ngh..." Erza was panting heavily. She stabbed her sword into the ground once more, but she was struggling to stand this time.

"Agh..." Mira groaned softly. She was on her hands and knees.

"Had enough yet?" Mii said while tilting her head. Her enlarged rainbow feather shrunk, and she simply let it drift into the wind. "The hands and knees look is good for you, Mira! It's a shame you won't get to enjoy it for long."

"Not...yet..." Erza said with one eye squeezed shut.

"...Still? That's enough. I'm putting an end to this." She couldn't stand this anymore. Something about the defiant gazes from Erza and Mira made her feel irritated and uneasy, so she wasn't going to risk anything. Mii huffed while taking steady aim with Purple Pot…which was interrupted by a magic seal appearing behind her, pushing her forward to completely throw off her aim and balance. "Guh…!?" Mira's Evil Push came in perfectly at this moment. She created the perfect opening for them!

"But the thing about the pain you want to inflict on us…" Mira forced herself into Satan Soul once last time, flying forward towards Mii with all her strength as darkness magic formed along the length of her arm. "Is that…"

"This isn't even worthy…" Erza shouted as she raised her blade up.

"Of being called…" Mira continued.

"PAIN!" The two females exclaimed in unison as they sped past Mii, simultaneously unleashing their attacks towards her. Erza's slash cut deep while Mira's magic pierced right through the traitor. The ended up on opposite sides of each other as Mii stood there with widened eyes before she was caught in the middle of a sudden eruption of overflowing power. "And with pain…comes compassion…which is what we have as humans." Erza said before collapsing onto her hands and knees, sword fading away for the time being.

"Ugh…" Mira was finally kicked out of Satan Soul for the last time, falling onto her back while looking up at the night sky. "Nothing can stop us, huh?"

"Wow." Mii said as the dust cleared, panting softly only from magic usage. "That was almost bad…" Just the fact that Mii looked fine despite their attacks caused Erza and Mira's eyes to widen, however Mii didn't take this chance to attack them. Instead she flapped her beat up wings and took to the air, looking down at the two of them. "Congrats, you passed the test. Listen, I know things are being cut kind of close…but you should really get inside the palace and get that Eternal Sword. Bet you forgot about that, huh? Dhegensea's been making a fuss about it for the last few hours…"

"What…?" Erza blinked confusedly at Mii's words.

"Also, there's one more thing I have to mention to you. These dragons? It won't do just to knock them out. You have to kill them, otherwise when they awaken they'll return with an insatiable bloodlust. Do you hear me? You HAVE to kill them." With those words in mind, Mii raised her hand and a bright light shrouded both Mira and Erza, healing their major wounds to some extent. "There we go…"

"Mii, what is the meaning of this…?" Mirajane questioned.

"I told you before, didn't I? I only side with the winning side." With that, Mii flew off.

"The way she keeps playing…I don't think there will be a winning side…" Mira mumbled while rubbing her less injured side. The injury was still bad but at least she wasn't going to bleed out now. "What do we do…?"

"We can't wait for the others…we'll just have to advance on our own. Something tells me we don't have to worry about them, though…" While Erza said this, she couldn't shake the ominous feeling from Juvia's group fighting Gaius.

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"Everything's almost coming together…" Mii told herself with a slight grin on her lips. "Just a little longer…" And suddenly, her flight was derailed and she almost fell out of the sky, but she managed to recover in the nick of time. "S-Shit…" She hissed in…pain. For a few seconds, she felt all of her injuries from within the past 24 hours before her body became numb to the sensation again. "Just…a little longer…" She repeated, though this time it was to her own body than aloud.

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[Mystic Water Lake just before the initial Erza vs. Mii]

"So…" Gaius cracked his knuckles, grinning at Juvia's group while eying them individually; the fiery aura around him intensifying. "Which one of you tasty morsels wants to be first? I'll make it quick and painless."

"Fire dragon?" Blues asked Juvia, who gave a quick nod. "Great…in that case…we'll take you instead!" With that exclamation, Blues and Kuro, the Dragon God Duo, lunged forward with two spheres of dense water forming within their palms. "Blue Dragon's Bomb!"

"Water God's Bomb!" Kuro exclaimed along with Blues. The two slayers thrusted their explosives spheres at Gaius' chest in unison, a large explosion of water occurring on the spot, kicking up some steam due to the aura around Gaius.

"Guh…!" Gaius slid back from Kuro and Blues' consecutive attacks, letting out a minor grunt of pain before stopping his momentum, facing the two with a hungry grin. "You two will be first! Flame Spiral!" With a quick swipe of his hand, a spiral of flames erupted upon Kuro and Blues and they let out minor cries of pain, though it didn't take long for either of them to disperse the spiral of flames with their own magic.

"Water Cane!" While Gaius was distracted dealing with the Dragon God Duo, Juvia started whipping her arm forward as it turned into water, slashing Gaius with it multiple times to keep him busy so the others could strike. "Go, now!"

"We're on it!" Aira nodded while preparing to strike alongside Leon.

"Acid Dragon's…" Leon began inhaling before suddenly lurching forward while unleashing a gigantic beam of destruction in the form of acid that traveled towards Gaius. The beam was double the size of a regular dragon slayer roar. "WAVE!"

"You won't stop me!" Gaius grinned and held up his forearm to block Leon's attack. Though that was his mistake in underestimating the acid dragon; the Acid Dragon's Wave actually burned him and forced him to slide backwards several yards, growling lowly in pain.

Just as the Acid Dragon's Wave came to a close, Aira came in with her arms crossed over her head. "Great Cross Clash!" The Eclipse mage exclaimed while speeding past Gaius, uncrossing her arms in the process. Two blades of wind immediately slashed Gaius in an X formation, forcing the fire dragon into a stumble.

"Magulity Sodum!" Meredy followed suit by raising her hand, creating a plethora of cyan blades before her, launching all of them forward. Each and every single blade impaled Gaius, and while they didn't do any physical damage, they struck the Dragon's sense of pain directly.

"Gwah!" Gaius let out yet another roar of pain before freezing in place….he then tilted his head down with that same grin as before. "…Don't tell me that's all you got."

"D-Did our attacks really not do anything to him….!?" Juvia gasped while taking a step back.

"Now then…it's my turn." Gaius allowed flames to wrap around his body once again. Within a second he was off, holding his fist low to the ground while approaching Aira fist. He swung his fist upwards as she attempted to defend against the blow, but the fiery explosion and impact lifted her off her feet and sent her tumbling along the charred grass with a pained yelp.

"Aira!" Leon cried out worriedly for the wind mage. With a low growl, a green aura exploded from around him suddenly as he activated his Acid Drive. "You'll pay for that one." Leon glared towards Gaius before lunging at him with acid covering his fist. "Acid Dragon's Steel Fist!" Thrusting his fist forward, Leon aimed for Gaius' face…but the fire dragon caught it with ease, not even sliding back from impact this time. "…!"

"Sit down, Dragon Slayer." Gaius said while rearing his flame covered fist back before hurling it at Leon's face; the impact was so strong Leon was forced from Gaius' own grip and flew back until hitting the castle's wall, creating a dent in it.

"Dragon God's…!" Blues and Kuro began to perform an up close and personal unison raid in Gaius' face, however Gaius merely turned and consumed the both of them within a Fire Roar, blowing both of them back with incredible force, leaving them on the ground with burns along their skin.

"Blues-san! Kuro-san!" Juvia's eyes widened at how quickly the tables were turning. She had no time to worry about others as Gaius was closing the distance between them.

"Fire Claw!" Gaius exclaimed while swinging his leg at Juvia's side. It was a blocked hit, but because Juvia's body was composed of water the high temperature caused her to boil and let out a minor scream of pain while skidding to the side.

Fighting against the pain, Juvia quickly extended her free hand out, unleashing a massive beam of water towards Gaius to gain some space. "Water Beam!" And to her surprise the beam evaporated the instant it struck Gaius due to the heat his body was giving off. "…!"

"Flame Rush!" Gaius then shoulder tackled Juvia with flames all around his body. The water mage let out another yelp of pain as she crashed into Meredy, the two of them suddenly combusting into flames to add onto the damage.

"AH!" Meredy cried out while lying on the ground, panting heavily from the damage taken. She propped herself on her elbows, keeping one eye held shut while staring at Gaius. "He's so strong…was he this powerful last time you faced off against him…?"

"Last time Natsu-san and Gray-sama fought him and did rather well…" Juvia said while bringing herself to her feet.

"Last time I was holding back…but this time…there is no mercy!" Gaius leapt into the air, red wings spreading from his back. "Heatwave!" With several flames of his wings, an intense wave of heat and flames rained down on the mages below; they were unable to do anything against the pressure of the flames and were forced to take the full force of the energy draining attack, only letting out groans of pain in the process. When Gaius was done, he landed and crossed his arms, looking at the damage he dealt to the humans. "My, is this all you can truly do!? How pathetic."

"T-This dragon is really strong…" Aira gasped while lifting herself up.

"We have to be stronger…" Leon remarked with a low growl.

"Ngh…" Blues grunted and placed his hands on the scorched grass, staring at the sparkling Mystic Water Lake. "We're right there….come on guys, they're counting on us…"

"Oh yes…" It just now clicked for Gaius. "You're water mages…it only makes sense you'd try to harness the power of the Mystic Water…but you should know, the water is pure, and it would never accept such vermin as you."

"v-Vermin…?" Kuro growled at being called such a term.

"We're…going to save the dragons…and Cynthia…!" Juvia heavily panted while struggling to stand up. "So we can't let you beat us…! Juvia won't…Juvia won't let anyone else be needlessly hurt! So I need that water…and I'll push through you to get through it!"

In that instant, Kuro felt Juvia resonate with the Mystic Water. It was then that he knew. "…"

"It's a shame you'll never come to reach those goals again." Gaius held his hand up, creating a gigantic blaze within his palm, pointing it directly towards the water mages. "Inferno Blitz." He clenched his hand, causing the large blaze to turn into a tiny fireball…which then released into a gigantic wave of flames that raced directly towards the water mages with nothing in its way to stop it.

"Look out!" Aira cried.

Kuro stood up as quickly as his body would allow him, jumping in front of Juvia and Blues while spreading his arms out. "Water God's Wall!" A wall of thick black water appeared before Kuro, shielding him from the flames, but it wasn't going to be for long. "Blues! I'm leaving the rest up to you now…whatever you do; make sure you get that water to those that need it!"

"K-Kuro, what are you saying!?" Blues' eyes widened. "We're going to get through this together!"

"My time is up, old friend." Kuro turned to look over his shoulder, giving Blues a smile. "Now move!"

"K-Kuro-san!?" Juvia had a hard time wrapping her head around this sudden change in events.

"Damn it!" Blues wailed while quickly moving Juvia out of the immediate range of the attack. In that moment, he could see Kuro's water wall failing to hold together and finally broke through. The flames began to consume and incinerate the Water God slayer in what seemed like slow motion. Kuro flashed Blues one more smile before he was completely consumed by the explosion of flames that was visible from a distance.

[Flashback]

A young Blues wandered around aimlessly after the disappearance of his dragon, Aquareon. After days of hopeless searching, he finally found a tree to sit under and brought his arms around his knees, placing his head down before crying softly. "Where did you go…why did you leave…? I miss you, Dad…."

"Hey…" A young Kuro Chi poked his head from around another tree, approaching Blues with a frown. "What's wrong…? Why are you sad…?"

"I can't find my dad…" Blues replied with a sniffle, looking up at Kuro with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"T-That's no good…" Kuro's frown grew deeper. "I know what it's like to lose a family member…I lost everyone I cared for, actually…" Suddenly, his frown turned into a hateful stare. "Flames of a god destroyed my village…I can still hear that insane laugh whenever I think about it…and I promised to destroy him whenever I saw him again…" He then turned to look at Blues, somewhat making a decision already. "U-Uhm I'll help you find your dad…! W-What's he look like…?"

"He's a blue dragon…" Blues replied.

"O-Oh…" This is where Blues expected Kuro to be deterred, but instead he just nodded. "Okay, I'll help you! I'm Kuro Chi, Water God Slayer…!"

Blues' eyes lit up in happiness with Kuro agreeing to assist him. Nodding, Blues extended his hand to vigorously shake Kuro's. "I'm Blues! Water Dragon Slayer…! But I prefer Blue Dragon. A-Anyway, thanks a bunch, Kuro! And you know what…I'll help you find that Flame God Slayer! We can beat him together."

"A Dragon Slayer and a God Slayer working together…" Kuro chuckled a little at the thought. "We need a cool name…"

"Uh…" Blues crossed his arms. "Oh I got it! The Dragon God Duo!"

[End Flashback]

"KURRRRROOOOO!" Blues cried as tears ran down his cheeks at his brother's death.

"N-No way…" Meredy covered her mouth with her hands, eyes beginning to water at Kuro's sacrifice.

"HAHAHHAHA!" Gaius let out a hearty laugh as Kuro was literally burnt to ash. "Is this what you can human compassion? Volunteering to be the first to die?"

Blues' tears stopped as he glared at Gaius, growling feral as he mocked Kuro's sacrifice. "You bastard….are you mocking his last moments?! I'LL KILL YOU!" With a loud roar, a blue aura exploded around Blues as he entered Dragon Force, blue scales beginning to cover his body. Blues darted forward with incredible speed while rearing his arm back, a large orb of water covering the entire limb. "DAMN YOOOOU!" Blues swung the powerful blow at Gaius' face, only managing to snap the dragon's head to the side, and force him back a few yards.

Despite the dizzying impact, Gaius held his ground. "This is why humans are weak. They are blinded by their emotions when something happens." Gaius immediately retaliated with his own punch at Blues' sternum after closing the gap between them, a fierce wave of flame following the impact to send Blues flying backwards.

"How dare you mock human emotion!" For once, Aira was getting angry. The wind began to pick up and dark blue markings began to form along her body in lines, the sign of her Infinite Healing spells. A visible blue aura emitted from her body and large blue orbs surrounded Gaius; Aira held her arm out and closed her hand to gain control of the orbs, allowing them to explode almost instantaneously. "Secret Art: Raging Collapse!"

Leon had an immediate follow up, forming two glowing spheres of acid within both hands. "Acid Dragon's Corroding Missile!" Leon threw of these spheres at Gaius, not even allowing him a moment of rest. Green explosions occurred on the spot while the two Eclipse mages panted heavily.

"You humans…" Gaius growled while stepping from the smoke; his outfit was basically ruined and his body was covered in acid burns and various bruises. "You're making me very angry…" Not another word escaped him as several cyan blades surrounded him in a cone-formation, all of them impaling him to strike his sense of pain, only this time they remained inside him to make him sensitive to the very wind blowing. "What?!"

"Juvia! Now!" Meredy exclaimed.

"Hai! Juvia nodded and faced Gaius with a glare. "Mocking love is the worst thing anyone can do…and Juvia intends to make you pay for it…!" Holding up her hand, the water mage conjured up a large cyclone of water within her palm all before throwing it forward, creating a gigantic tidal wave that rushed directly towards Gaius with full intent to drown him. "Water NEBULA!" The water completely consumed Gaius who let out a gurgled roar. All seemed to have been well at last until flames reduced Juvia's attack to steam; flying forward, Gaius wrapped his flaming hand around Juvia's throat and flew into the sky as she began to boil, letting out a choked cry of pain. "Agh….!"

"Juvia…!"

"You know. You're probably the most annoying one here…I wish you died first instead. But that can be arranged now." Gaius expelled the flames from his hand to completely cover Juvia's body. The water mage let out a scream while trying to free herself from his grip, but it was over before it started and her body just fell limp. "There." And then he just discarded Juvia like trash and let her fall into the Mystic Water Lake, where she began to sink. Gaius then landed on the ground, dusting his hands off. "So, who wants to be next? That's already two down."

Juvia was barely hanging onto consciousness. Everything was fading to black but all she could see was water…and all she could hear were the muffled sounds of explosions above. Gaius was too strong for all of them in their worn out condition, plus they were running out of time. Things were looking bad, especially for Juvia as she sank deeper and deeper into the lake, finding it hard to breathe what little she could. "Juvia is…sorry…Gray-sama…Mizu…" Her thoughts started to drift off as her eyes closed.

[Flashback]

"Wait…!" A weak cry caused Juvia to halt in her tracks before she could latch onto Gray's side. She turned along with Dhegensea, Ena, and Kurthnaga. The white haired boy she saw from before slowly limped towards them.

"Mizu!?" Ena rushed over to him, but he stopped just before Juvia.

"You're the boy Juvia saw earlier…" Juvia commented. "You're hurt…from the water poisoning, yes…?"

"You're a water mage…right…?" Mizu coughed, staring up at Juvia. "Please…save my parents…"

"I…" Juvia's eyes widened at such a request. Before she could ask anymore Mizu fell over into Ena's arms. "Juvia will…Juvia promises."

"Juvia, hurry up! We're going to leave you behind!" Gray exclaimed from afar.

"O-Oh! Juvia is coming, Gray-sama!" With that she hurried off to catch up to Gray. "A water dragonling wishing for Juvia's help…I won't let you down, Mizu."

[End Flashback]

That's right…that young dragon boy asked specifically for Juvia's help…and she hadn't seen him ever since they had to escape. Juvia wasn't sure what became of him…maybe the worst. But his parents were likely forced into their dragon states, and she was asked to save them. The last thing Juvia wanted to go back on was her word…and what would Gray think if she failed to help everyone when they needed it the most. No…she couldn't have that happen. She had to overcome this…she was going to overcome this. Eyes snapped open as she knew exactly what it was she had to do.

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.

Blues, Leon, Aira, and Meredy were down to their knees at the might of Gaius, who just wore a smug grin. "Even after all that boasting, you're still down? This is why humans are looked down on, they're all talk! Every single one of 'em!"

"I will not...let you...win..." Blues glared towards Gaius, his eyes showing nothing but hatred. What kind of dragon slayer would he be if he couldn't beat this dragon!? What kind of friend would he be to Kuro if he couldn't properly avenge him!?

"This isn't looking too good…" Meredy grunted.

"Now then…I'll just remove the rest of you all at once. I'm tired of these annoyances." Gaius raised his hand up for a finishing blow, but stopped when the Mystic Water Lake exploded from behind him. "W-what the hell!?"

"Is that…?" Aira started.

Juvia was standing on the water, though her appearance was completely different. The legendary Mystic Water was absorbed into her being, and as a result her skin began to give off a florescent rainbow glow that sparkled brilliantly even in the night. "Kuro-san's act was an act of sacrifice for love…Juvia will not let you step on that. And Juvia most certainly will not go back on her word!" Juvia whipped her arm forward once, unleashing a powerful beam of sparkling water that struck Gaius and sent him soaring into the sky; it was in that moment that the fire dragon's eyes widened in surprise…and fear.

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Next Time: Aquatic Devotion