Chapter 50
Reverse Anima
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic"
Flashback
Location / Date / Time Skip
"Yeah-ho!" Natsu cheered from his knees. "We just beat the king! I get to yell 'checkmate' now, right?"
"Sorry, Natsu." Wendy spoke up. "You have to say that BEFORE you take down the king."
"You idiot." Gajeel chuckled out, only to get whacked in the head by Laki.
The celebration was cut short when the ground started shaking. "The hell?" Natsu asked.
"Is it reinforcements?" Gajeel asked, looking around. "Crap, I used every bit of magic I had in that fight."
"No, this is bad..." Wendy cried out. "Look..."
The older Slayers looked up to see a horrifying sight. "The islands are falling out of the sky?" Natsu asked as the rocks hit the ground.
With Edolas Fairy Tail
"What's going on?" Rose asked as the three Exceeds huddled together.
"Why are the islands falling out of the sky?" Both Grays asked at the same time.
"Its the apocalypse!" One soldier shouted in fear.
Above them, Shagotte hid behind a rock, clutching two young Exceeds. "The islands in Edolas are dependent on the magical energy in the land. If they're starting to fall, that must mean... magic energy is leaving Edolas.
With the Erzas
Golden energy rose out of the ground and floated into the sky. "Is this a dream?" Erza asked.
"No, we're both awake." Knightwalker replied. "I don't have a clue what's going on..."
Erza let out a gasp in realization. "Is this..."
"Our magic?" Knightwalker finished the thought.
"What's happening?" Erza asked.
"This is how Edolas will end..." E. Erza mumbled out. "Not with a bang, but a whimper."
The Royal City
The golden streams rose out of the city and into the sky, scaring everyone who watched it. "So, this is really happening..." Byro, in his human form, thought aloud.
"Byro!" Hughes called out.
Looking over his shoulder, the short man saw the two captains walking over. "Still alive, I see?"
"It's actually kind of beautiful, now that I get to see it." Sugarboy said.
"Beautiful?" Hughes asked back. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, guess I'm just shocked." The blonde said back. "I thought the loss of magic power would be terrifying, but it's actually kind of soothing."
In the chamber below, Pantherlily watched behind the prince as the yellow pillar shot into the sky. "This is for the greater good, Lily." Mystogan told the cat. "We in Edolas have always battled over magic power. I tried to make them see that, but none would heed me. So I will make them listen to me.
"The small amount of magic left here will be absorbed by the reverse anima. Once in Earthland, it will merge with the power there and become a part of it. For the greater good of Edolas, we must destroy it first."
With the Edolas Fairy Tail
The army and the guild stared at their weapons as the glow rose off their weapons. "My weapon isn't working anymore!" One soldier shouted in a panic.
"What's going on!?" A guild member asked.
"This feels eerie." Rose mumbled.
"What's happening to my weapon!?" E. Gray asked.
"Just calm down!" Gray told his counterpart.
"This is the end..." Coco mumbled, looking up at the sky. "This is the end of magic in Edolas."
Weapons clunk to the ground as the soldiers dropped them in fear. "Run away!" A soldier shouted as he led the army away. "We can't fight without magic!"
"Seriously?" Gray asked in disbelief. "Guys! We won!" He turned to the Edolas guild, only to find everyone in a panic.
"No, we lost man!" His counterpart shouted in fear.
"Magic power is leaving... forever..." E. Elfman mumbled in fear.
"How incredibly sad..." E. Cana said on the verge of tears.
"Sad nothing, this is terrible!" E. Jet shouted back.
"Will you just calm down!?" Rose spoke up.
"And how are we supposed to do that!?" Ashley asked back. "Magic here is what gives us purpose as a guild! Without it, what good are we to anyone!?"
"We won the battle, but we lost the war and the world..." E. Natsu groaned as he stared up at the sky.
"No matter how valiantly we fought, we still lost everything." E. Juvia said in regret.
"I'm scared, Juvia!" Her Gray shouted.
"Hold me, Gray!" E. Laki cried out.
The Exceeds looked around at the cries of wo from the crowd. "You can't just give up!" Carla cried out, but her words fell on deaf ears.
A rumbling caught everyone's attention as the whole guild stared up at the swirling mass of magic in the sky. "Everyone, calm down for a second." E. Lucy told the others. "We should go into the Royal City, see what's going on."
"I don't understand..." Dragion said back. "See what?"
"Our future, and we'll look it square in the eye." She answered before running toward the lights. The others looked at each other for a second before following her.
The Royal City
Lantern lacrimas started shutting down from a lack of magic as everyone grew even more scared. "Daddy, the islands are falling out of the sky..." A little boy told his father from inside their house..."
"This is bad..." The father mumbled.
E. Gajeel watched the scene from a balcony, writing down what he could see. "Our world is dying, and there's nothing we can do..."
"The hells the matter with you?" A man asked as he raced past Gajeel. "The world is ending, this is no time to be writing anything!"
"I beg to differ." The reporter said back. "Our job is to record this event for the history books."
"Magic is flowing into the sky..." An elderly woman said as a child stood next to her.
"Granny..." The girl asked as the older woman placed her hand in the stream.
"This is our punishment for going against the Exceeds and Shagotte." The elder said.
Back at the castle, the captains and the minister kept watch over the city. "What a way to go, huh?" Hughes asked. "We had some good times, didn't we?"
"Yeah... but maybe we shouldn't be so calm about this..." Sugarboy replied. "The whole world is ending before us."
"A world without magic, huh?" The two-tone haired man asked back.
"I must admit, I never thought of this." Byro mumbled. "I'm curious if we can survive this..." Down in the city, everyone was panicking as their magic was flying away. But inside the castle, Mystogan was as calm as possible.
"Listen, my prince." Pantherlily spoke up. "I agree that magic power has caused bloodshed here. But this is just..."
"I understand your concern." The bluenette said back. "The transition will be a struggle. Many will find it to be difficult, and some will not survive. Which is why we need a new leader, a new king for this new world. One who can lead the huddled masses into safety and happiness."
"Then, that will be you?" Pantherlily asked.
"No, not me." The human said back. "It would be impossible for me to rule. I fled this world instead of trying to help it, so I vacated my right to rule." He turned to the large cat. "What we need is a hero, someone who will defeat the villain who caused this."
"You mean a scapegoat..." The Exceed said back, earning a nod.
"He who defeats the one behind this horror will be the hero this world needs." Mystogan explained. "Be the one who leads the people of Edolas through this time, becoming their ruler."
Pantherlily went wide eyed at the plan. "Tell me, who will be playing the part of this play of yours?"
"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Mystogan asked back. "I tried to take over the kingdom via an armed rebellion, and then stole this worlds magic power. The only role fitting for me is that of the villain. But you have walked with both human and Exceeds. You have to be the one who slays me and become the king Edolas needs.
"Take me out to the city, and hang me for my crimes. Once that is done, the people will follow you anywhere. As a captain in the army and an Exceed, you can lead to a new future. You can lead them to a world free of magic."
Panterlily growled before speaking his mind. "You really think just dying will make everything okay!? Tell me the truth!"
"We don't have any other options." Mystogan said back.
"How do you expect me to kill you!? There's no way I could ever do it!" Pantherlily shouted.
"Yes, you can." The bluenette said back.
"Then you don't know a damn thing about me." The captain replied.
"Even though you were an Exceed, you still saved the life of a human child." Mystogan reminded. "You know just how precious life is, regardless of its shape."
"Yet now you tell me to throw away that value and carry the world by myself!" The Exceed pointed out.
"You're the only one strong enough to handle this task." The bluenette said. "No one else is up to do it."
"You are the prince, not me!" Pantherlily replied. "If anyone should rule this world, it's you!"
"I brought ruin this world." He replied.
"All to save it!" Pantherlily reminded. "You put your own life on the line to face the king! We need someone with heart to rule this world and help the people! This world is not a toy that you can break and then expect someone else to fix! It's your duty to make everything better, and dying won't do that!"
"... I have no right to fix this, not after leaving this world behind." The prince replied.
Pantherlily glared at the prince before clenching his fist. "I'll do it..." He said. "I will be the villain."
Just outside the city, Extalia crashed into the ground, scaring everyone who witnessed it. "Our farm... our home..." Marl mumbled.
"Now he has no home to come home to!" Lucky cried out. "It's not fair!"
Inside the city, a child tripped in the panic. Lucy Ashely helped the boy before looking around. "Would you all just calm down for a second!?"
"Are you insane!?" A man asked. "The world is ending! If this isn't a time to panic, when is it!?"
"Seriously?" Dragion asked. "What are we doing here? We need to get out of here!"
"Daddy!" The boy called out as his father reached him.
"Keep an eye on your kid!" E. Lucy said as the two hugged. The parent nodded before the two ran.
Inside the chamber, Mystogan stared at his savior in complete shock. "Once I was exiled from my home, the kingdom of Edolas took me in. But I betrayed them to, and now destroyed the world. I have nowhere to return to. If I were to die, no one would miss me."
"I won't allow that to happen!" The prince shouted back. "You saved my life, I cannot ask you to give up your own!"
"And I'll say the same thing back to you." Pantherlily replied, making the bluenette gasped. "More death won't solve this problem. It will only bring sorrow and pain."
"...So what do we do now?" Mystogan asked. "All we've done is caused more pain."
"Sir Pantherlily! Things are only getting worse!" A guard shouted as he ran forward.
"I know that." The captain replied. "We're in the middle of dealing with the Anima."
"Can it be stop?" The troop asked.
"...We're working on it." Pantherlily replied.
"We've got riots in the streets, people are destroying property... it's more than we can control." The guard explained.
"It appears that the chaos was greater than I ever imagined." Mystogan confessed. "We need to stop it."
"Our first step is to stop these rioters." The captain suggested.
"Agreed, we must stop them." The prince nodded.
"Um... who is this?" The troop asked, only for the prince and captain to walk by him. They stared out over the balcony and watched the city be torn apart by the reverse Anima. Some of the troops started whispering about the prince.
"How many perpetrators are there?" Pantherlily asked, snapping them out of their conversation.
"Uh, four, sir." A troop requested.
"You couldn't take care of four people?" Pantherlily asked.
"Well, uh, they're really strong, sir." The soldier replied.
An evil laughter caught everyone's attention as they looked into the city. Standing on top of a building was Natsu, wearing fake horns and a cape. "Behold the mighty demon lord Dragneel!" He bellowed for all to hear. "All of this worlds magic power will belong to me!"
"The hell!?" Pantherlily asked.
"Natsu?" Mystogan asked as the populace stared at him in a panic.
The Edolas Fairy Tail ran over and stared up in confusion. "What the hell, other me?" E. Natsu asked.
"You think your king is gonna save you?" Natsu asked. "Well, think again!" He waved over and showed the king tied up on a post. "Be grateful that I spared his life!" The people stared up in worry for their king. "Redfox! Marvell! Olietta! Destroy this miserable town!"
Gajeel swung his sword arm and sliced through building after building before landing on the ground. "He's got a sword arm!?" One towns person asked. Laki slammed her foot down and trees popped out, destroying a large tower. "She can control wood!?"
Edolas Gajeel stared on before realizing the plan. "They won't stop until everything around them is destroyed!" He shouted to the crowd. "Our world is under attack from invaders from another world."
"Run away." Wendy said trying to be scary. She failed, so Gajeel popped up from behind and did the job for her.
"Look at them! This kind of evil can only come from another world!" The report shouted. Both Gajeels smirked at each other.
"Stop this at once!" Mystogan shouted.
"Now my servants, destroy more of this city!" Natsu shouted.
"Aren't you worried that this 'servant' crap is gonna go to his head?" Gajeel asked Laki.
"He knows he's just playing a role... I hope..." She said back.
'Wait?' Pantherlily thought in his head. 'Are they...' The crowd started jeering the four Dragon Slayers, demanding their magic back.
"You want magic, do ya?" Natsu asked. "You got it!" He opened his mouth and shot out a river of flames, scaring people.
"Natsu, stop this!" Mystogan shotued, catching everyone's attention.
"There is no 'Natsu', only the demon lord Dragneel!" The pinkette replied.
"Enough of this game!" The prince shouted. "The king is defeated, so destroying the city is completely pointless."
"Your point!?" Natsu asked, unleashing a roar.
"Stop it!" Mystogan shotued.
"Why don't you make me, prince of Edolas?" The Dragon Slayer challenged, making everyone mumble.
"Prince Jellal, he has returned!" E. Gajeel cheered, making the others join in.
"What are they planning?" Pantherlily asked.
"I'm the one who told them..." Both looked behind to see Nadi. "I, uh, overheard everything..."
"If you don't fight me, your whole city will be destroyed!" Natsu egged on.
"Natsu, don't move!" Mystogan shouted, jumping over the ledge with a staff.
"I told you, there is no Natsu!" The pinkette shouted back.
'Its a villain and hero...' Pantherlily thought as some of the populace cheered on Mystogan. 'But it seems that they don't truly trust the prince yet.' Mystogan raced forward and the crowd kept going. 'If this doesn't work, the crowd will kill them all... are they truly prepared to die?'
"You should get going too..." Nadi said. "You don't want to miss the show..."
Mystogan ran down the street as E. Gajeel stoked the fires of the fight for him. "Moron..." The bluenette mumbled to himself. "I get what you're trying to do, things are only going to get worse." Natsu smirked as he saw the prince racing towards him. "Sleep!" He chanted the spell, only for the magic to get absorbed by the Anima. 'The Anima took my power!'
"What's wrong? Can't fight me without your magic?" Natsu taunted. "Of course you can't, because magic is power!" He slammed his flaming fist down and destroyed the building, scaring the people around it.
"I told you to stop!" Mystogan shouted.
"Laki, Natsu's going too far!" Wendy said, looking at the destruction.
"No, he's doing just fine." The violette replied. "After all, the stronger the evil doers power is, the more impressive it is when the hero defeats him without any."
Mystogan reached the shattered building and stared down at Natsu. "Natsu, that's enough." He told the horned man. "You can't fool all of these people at once."
Natsu smirked before launching forward. "I challenge you!" He punched the prince in the face, scaring the crowd.
"Moron!" Mystogan shouted. "You can't just force people to come together like this!" He threw a punch if his own, only for Natsu to catch it.
"I came for a fight..." Natsu growled before Mystogan spun around and delivered a reverse roundhouse to Natsu's jaw. The crowd cheered the attack, making Mystogan look around.
"Now this is what they want..." Natsu said back.
"Moron..." The bluenette whispered. "Just go down already. The longer this fight goes on, the more suspicious people will get."
"Not gonna happen!" Natsu replied before socking the prince in the gut, making the crowd jeer him. Mystogan recovered and punched Natsu in the jaw. Natsu recovered and grabbed Mystogan's cloak. "This is the end, pal. So here's my personal Fairy Tail send off." Mystogan gasped at the statement. "Once you leave Fairy Tail, you need to follow three rules."
"One!" Natsu jumped back and the two started throwing punches that missed. "Never, ever share any information about Fairy Tail with anyone, as long as you live! Two-" Mystogan threw a punch that hit Natsu square in the face. "Ahgah me kel pikon..." He mumbled out in a daze.
"Two, never ever contact a client you worked for your personal benefit!" Mystogan replied.
"Oh, yeah." Natsu remembered before throwing a punch. "Three! Even though our paths much stray, you must live your life to your fullest!" Mystogan slammed his fists down on Natsu's head. "Live every day like it was your last, and never forget the friends you've made!"
"Or the ones you loved." Mystogan finished before they punched each other in the face. Everyone stared at the two men as Natsu's 'horns' broke off his head.
"You understand that?" Natsu asked as he fell backwards. "If you work together as a guild, nothing can't be accomplished." Mystogan recovered as Natsu hit the ground. "Hope we can meet again..."
The crowd cheered at the victory of their prince. Mystogan stood over Natsu as the pinkettes body started glowing. "What's happening?"
"Looks like it's beginning." Laki said as the other Slayers started glowing.
Back at the castle, Pantherlily and Nadi were glowing as well. "What's going on?" The large cat asked.
"The reverse Anima is absorbing anything that has magic power." Nadi explained. "And because we hold magic within our bodies, that means the Exceeds and the Dragon Slayers will be pulled into Earthland."
"Come again?" Lily asked.
"I think the queen knows of this as well." Nadi said.
With Shagotte
The queen was currently surrounded by some Exceeds as they all glowed. "I'm scared." One mumbled out.
"There's no reason to be afraid." The queen said. "We are not needed here anymore, so we need to go to a new home. We need to be brave."
Royal City
Gray and the Fairy Tail Exceeds started glowing as well. "What's goin on?" Rose asked.
"The Anima is sending us back to Earthland!" Carla cried out as she held onto a rock before they all started floating up. "Somehow, the Anima has been reversed and now it's sending us back to Earthland."
"How's it going guys?" Natsu asked as the Slayers reached them.
"Natsu!" Happy cheered.
"Looks like magic really is leaving..." E. Gray said in fear. "That means Fairy Tail is history..."
"Gray, I'm scared." E. Laki said. "What do we do?"
"Like he has the answer." E. Juvia said.
"Calm down, you guys." Gray said. "A guild is more than just a bunch of magic." He pounded his emblem and held out his fist. "It's about the bounds you all hold with each other."
With The Erza's
Scarlett started floating up into the air as her own body started glowing. "Scarlett..." Knightwalker mumbled as she willed herself up.
"Knightwalker..." Erza mumbled back. "Stay healthy..."
"Erza." Both said at the same time.
The Royal City
All around the city, Exceeds were being sucked into the Anima. The Dragon Slayers cried out in faux pain, confusing their friends. 'I knew that magic would be expelled, but I thought that people I could send back on my own.' Mystogan thought as the crowd cheered.
Mystogan looked up as Pantherlily floated upwards. 'Even though things are changing, prince, you mustn't forget that people need time to adjust. Lead the people with a calm heart and a calm head and go at their pace into the future.'
"Bye!" Natsu waved his hand and the Edolas version of his guild did the same.
"See ya later!" Happy cried out.
"Happy, be quiet." Carla said back. "We won't be able to come back." Happy took this in and started crying. "Stop crying, it's pathetic." She said, trying to hid her tears as Rose looked at her with a smile.
'Goodbye, lily.' Mystogan thought. 'And good bye, my fairy tail family.' The Anima faded and Mystogan raised his staff from the top of the building Natsu destroyed. "The villains are gone! Magic may be gone, but our kingdoms will live on forever!" The crowd cheered for him as they accepted their new leader.
The gang is heading back home, and up next is an... awkward reunion. If you don't get why, go back and reread the beginning half of this story. You'll see why.
Poll update. 'Surprise' is a solid first place lock with 54 votes. 'Joins with the Exceeds' is behind by ten and 'Stays Behind' is at 30 votes. 'Max as partner' is behind that by three votes, 'Warren as partner' is at 13 votes, and 'Nab as partner' is at ten votes. One last chapter before Edolas is over. See you then.
Beta read by JBallinR12.