"You want to know the best part about being in touch with my demon roots again?" Tayakata asked the rhetorical question while locked in combat with Lucy. By use of her Obsidian Blade, the demoness was capable of parrying most of the strikes Lucy aimed with her dual blades. Although Lucy was agile with her strikes, Tayakata was quite adept herself at swordplay, making it difficult for the celestial mage to get any hits in; in fact it was going quite the opposite: Taya's sword was closer slashing Lucy even in the two v one scenario. "I don't have to hold back against the likes of you anymore…I always detested having to play nice with Fairies during my time at White Eclipse."

"I'm so glad to hear that…" Lucy spoke with obvious sarcasm. Taya's sword then came incredibly close to slicing off her head; however she was quick enough to bring up both of her blades to defend against the slash, resulting in the two females entering a deadlock. "I don't really know what your reasons are for turning to this side…I do know that I can't let your plans succeed!"

"Oh? Then why don't you try and stop me?" Taya's tone grew slightly more violent and she brought her heel up to Lucy's stomach, using her physical strength to kick Lucy away with incredible might.

"Agh…!" Lucy let out a cry of pain before finding herself tumbling along the floor, eventually sliding to a halt on a knee.

"Is that the best you can do?" Taya said with a small smile. As she stared at Lucy, she titled her head a bit. A vector emerged from the ground behind Lucy, aiming to pierce her back.

"Behind!"

Lucy heard that voice in her head. She turned and slashed at the vector with one of her swords. Because they were connected to Taya, the woman did wince as the vector retreated. "That was close."

"...Oh?" Taya lifted a brow. For a moment, she saw Lucy's left eye flash red. "I didn't realize you brought an extra guest to this party."

"...?" Lucy just looked at Taya with confusion.

"...I know you Fairies are stupid, but blind as well?" Taya let out a heavy sigh and pointed straight at Lucy. "Whose your friend? Are you going to come out and say hello?"

"Ngh..!?" Lucy felt that strange pulse in her chest again. That sensation of something wanting to come out of her, but she was able to hold it back.

"Having some trouble?" Taya's lips curled up to a wider smile. "Why don't I help you? I'd be more than happy to slash you open and see what's inside!"

To that, Lucy shook her head. Whatever was wrong with her, she'd figure it out on her own. Right now, she had an enemy to fight! "You're the last person I want offering me help! Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!" Quickly whipping out a golden key, Lucy summoned the sand spirit who appeared with a peace sign.

"We are!" Scorpio exclaimed before getting on all fours, pointing his stinger directly at Taya. "Sand Buster!" From the tip of his stinger, a vortex of sand shot forth towards Taya, aiming to consume her within its semi destructive wake.

"I believe you've forgotten the rank I've held while at White Eclipse. I was a former S class wizard…in other words, you're far out of your league, blondie." Taya spoke as several vectors appeared in front of her as a defensive wall which allowed her completely defend against the Sand Buster. At the same time, she sent several vectors deep into the floor, invisible to even the trained eye. These vectors emerged from the ground to bash into Lucy and Scorpio, sending them skidding backwards several feet before coming to a slow stop.

Lucy placed a hand on her side, growling lowly in pain from Taya's strength. "She really does pack a punch…" She had forgotten about the other female's rank during her time in White Eclipse and even now it was still for good merit. But Lucy wasn't just about to back down because of a difference in rank! "I'm just getting started you know!"

"I haven't even begun…" Taya took a step forward…and that was when the floor caved in under her feet! "…?!"

From the ground below, Virgo latched onto Taya's ankles with a surprisingly ironclad grip, making it near impossible for her to move. "I've got her, Princess."

"Thanks Virgo!" Lucy grinned before sprinting forward, tossing both blades at Taya who was currently held down. By use of vectors, Taya was able to deflect the swords away before they caused any sort of damage. Lucy was planning on this and preformed a flip, a bright light shrouding her body as she entered Stardress: Taurus and reared her leg backwards. "Take this!" Putting all her momentum into her leg, Lucy used her increased physical strength to slam her leg against Taya's cheek, the pure power forcing the demon from Virgo's grip and sent her crashing into the nearby wall. "Got her!"

Dust settled around Taya and she stood up with a noticeable bruise on her cheek. Turning her head to the side, she spat out a little bit of blood before brushing her hair back. "I suppose I can take a little more time toying around with you. It has been some time since I've gotten to stretch…"

.

"There doesn't seem to be an end to these soldiers…" Cana said while tossing several cards at the Tartarus grunts that tried to ambush her. "How are we going ta make any progress at this rate?!"

"Just leave 'em all to me! I'll send them all packing!" Gajeel pointed his arm forward, a green magic seal forming in front of him. "Iron Dragon Lance: Demon Longs!" From the seal, multiple iron lances began rapidly shooting out, taking to anything that happened to be stuck in their path. Despite how many people he mowed down, even more just showed up! "There's really no end to this…!"

"If only Laxus were still active! Then we'd blown through these guys like nothing!" Max said while creating a wall of sand to block out a few weak attacks. They could keep fighting, but they weren't any closer to breaking through to the root of the castle where the main fighting took place.

A tank rolled up into the scene, aiming its barrel at the group of Fairy Tail wizards. Just before it fired, Makarov used his Titan magic to increase the size of his arm and brought the hammer down on the machine, crushing it instantly. "Keep fighting. A path will surely open up soon!"

No sooner than he said it did the ground start to rumble. Everyone stopped in their tracks while anxiously waiting to see the cause of this trembling. The ground shattered and a gigantic hole formed up; Erza plunged a large spear into Kyouka's chest while rising from the hole in the ground. "We're not finished yet…!"

"It's Erza…!" Levy's eyes lit up at the sight of Erza. "I knew she was okay!"

"Everyone…!" While Erza was glad to see her guild mates she couldn't take her focus off of Kyouka, entering a fierce deadlock with the demon in attempt to stave her off. "Go…down there! Face is…going to activate soon!"

"You heard the lady!" Warren said while gesturing for the others to jump down the hole, which they did.

"Are you proud of yourself, Erza?" Kyouka questioned with a wide grin. "You may have been able to assist your comrades…but what can they do from here? Face is already about to activate and it shall be done by your little Cynthia. How ironic don't you think!?"

"Be quiet!" Erza demanded. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't think we couldn't stop your plans! Once Face is deactivated then you'll see how strong humans are!"

.

"Outta my way!" Natsu roared as several fiery explosions occurred. The Salamander plowed through a number of Tartarus soldiers with no hesitation. The pained shouts of the soldiers as they flew into the distance were the only thing heard at the moment. "Get moving!" This pattern continued for a few moments until everything just…stopped. The soldiers remained suspended in midair, not moving an inch. Time was frozen all around him. "W-What the…?"

"So…brother…here you are…" Zeref appeared before Natsu, merely offering a soft smile. "It's been quite some time, no…?"

"Zeref…!" Natsu didn't waste any time. Gripping the great sword on his thigh, he engulfed it in flame and took a large step forward, swinging the blade at Zeref. The blade was stopped mid swing by Zeref's open palm. "Huh..?!"

"I didn't come here for a fight." Zeref admitted as the weapon started to decay within his grasp. "No, far from it…I just came to see how this plan was going along. It's quite amusing, actually…I didn't think they would go this far."

"What's their game?" Natsu questioned while glaring at Zeref.

"You don't know? They are doing this to revive you…revive you as Etherious Natsu Dragneel. You are their leader, after all. As the last demon I created…"

"That's enough!" Natsu growled. "I ain't doing anything those bastards want!"

"But you will have no choice should the time arise…" Zeref shook his head slowly. "I'm not going to intervene in this plot for it is not my place. Should they succeed, then the world as you know it will come it an end. If not…then I will have to bring about that end through my own hands." The Black Wizard said not another word and literally vanished from the scene. Natsu was left alone, standing speechless as he had to seriously think about what it was Zeref told him…

.

"Now then, let's see just how entertaining you find…" Luke reared his arm backwards, creating large, grey sphere within the palm of his hand. "Chaotic God's Bomb!" In one fluid movement, Luke hurled the sphere towards Marde.

"Hmph…" Marde flicked his hand up, creating a wall of thick vines to appear before him. The Chaotic Bomb clashed against the vines and exploded violently, swallowing everything nearby in its destructive wake. Even Marde was briefly surprised at the size of the explosion as his wall of vines was incinerated and he slid back just slightly. "Oh…? Perhaps I underestimated the amount of power they'd given you, insect." Raising his one hand, a gigantic rose bub emerged from the ground and slowly opened up, gathering raw curse power within its bulb before unleashing the energy it gathered in the form of a massive beam heading directly towards Luke.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Luke crossed his arms, a gray dense bubble appearing around his person. The Chaotic God's bubble was an upgrade of his Black God's Bubble, providing immense defensive support. The beam from Marde's rose collided with this bubble and shattered it in one shot after a brief struggle, although Luke remained mostly unharmed. "Heh…"

"Oh…I see now. You are not just a mere insect…with that increase in power you have become something more akin to a cockroach." Marde nodded slowly to himself, still keeping the book of END snug in his arm.

"Stop calling me a bug damn it! Could an insect do…this?!" Leaping forward, Luke gathered an abundance of magic around his dominate arm and swung the moment he was close to the King of Hades. "Unholy Crash!" Some form of contact was made and the magic around Luke's fist exploded, completely destroying everything behind Marde excluding the throne. When the smoke cleared around Marde, it turned out he caught Luke's fist, but there were some marks on his face. "Heh…."

"….." Marde didn't seem so amused and he stared to bend Luke's hand backwards, nearly forcing the copycat to take to a knee before him. "I wonder…if I were to slice off your head like the cockroach you are; would you live long enough to scurry around helplessly, or would you drop instantly? I'm eager to find out."

"Let's….not find out." Luke chuckled dryly before exhaling on the spot, releasing a gray vortex which was a powerful mixture of his usual black and white god slaying magic. Bellow of the Unholy God, though it didn't do much as Marde created a vine formed between them. The ensuring explosion sent Luke tumbling backwards but he managed to catch himself easily. As soon as Luke regained his footing he snapped his fingers, creating a yellow magic seal underneath Marde that unleashed a high voltage discharge of electricity the very second it was summoned.

Marde noticed this and jumped to the side. His expression showed one of utter disgust as he evaded Luke's attack. "You insult me. You really believe I'd fall for such a…" Luke was already in his face before he could finish! Bringing his arm up, he managed to shield against Luke's kick just in the nick of time, however he was sent into a nearby wall with force. "Chaotic God's Bomb!" Immediately after the kick, Luke sent another bomb hurling at Marde and this one exploded on its mark.

"Whew…how was that?!" Luke questioned, though his breathing started to get a little heavy.

Marde emerged from the smoke. Even he couldn't come unscathed from Luke's increase in power and he didn't look so pleased when he did. For the first time in a long time, his body was covered with some rather serious injuries. He was even panting softly afterwards. What was this emotion starting to bubble up inside of him…? "Thorns." With a simple movement of his arm, sharp thorns manifested from nowhere with the intent to impale Luke. While the copycat somehow managed to evade anything life threatening, he was still stabbed in various places and it slowed his momentum down a lot.

"Agh…!" With a grunt of pain, Luke fell to a knee, feeling the blood leaking from various places. "Damn…I was doing good too…"

"I see…you cannot sustain such an amount of power for very long. So you impulsively decided to rush ahead…" Marde shook his head before forming a rose shotgun within his hand, pointing the twin barrels at Luke. "I suppose I can give you credit for trying, considering the World of Magic will be reaching its end at the top of the hour." With a click of the trigger, two beams of curse power struck Luke in the chest, causing him to fall through one of the many holes left from all the destruction going around. "Goodbye humans. Your efforts were in vain."

.

.

Alex dodged several shadowy spikes attempting to impale her from the ground below. She leapt in the air and twisted her body around, earth covering her foot. "Earth Dragon's Talon!" She flipped and aimed to slam her foot on the crown of Sora's head, but the demon girl was able to bring up a shield of darkness to cover herself in time. Alex's cheeks inflated and she opened her mouth, releasing a large wave of earth and rock towards Sora to follow up. "Earth Dragon's ROAR!"

"Ah!" Sora crossed her arms as the roar broke through her shield and struck her directly, causing her to slide back a great deal. She growled and spread her arms apart, her own shadow expanding greatly. "Rose-chan doesn't need any of you around! Shadow Strike!" From Sora's own shadow, tendrils of darkness shot forward to try and strike Alex. Alex did her best to evade them, but the number from Sora's rage was far too great and a number of them struck her. They aimed to impale, but Alex's self-made armor protected her from that, and she was instead sent crashing into a wall. "I won't let you hurt Rose-chan anymore!"

"Ow..." Alex grimaced, but she stood back up. "You won't let her hurt anymore!? She's hurting right now! And if she doesn't stop what she's doing, she's going to hurt even more people, and she hates that more than anything!"

"What do you know about Rose-chan!?" Sora growled. This girl she'd never seen before, talking like she knew her friend! It made her so mad! Sora gathered some darkness from her own shadow and pointed her hands forward, releasing a widespread beam of darkness towards Alex.

"..!" Alex's eyes widened at the intensity of the blast. Her arms turned into large shields to take the brunt of the attacks. Thanks to her armor, she was capable of withstanding it, but Sora's rage was strong! Her right arm then turned into the clawed whip and she threw it forward. Sora saw this coming and dodged to the side as the claw hit a wall. Alex used this to her advantage and pulled herself forward, much to Sora's surprise. "Earth Dragon's Fist!" She slammed her fist into Sora's stomach, carrying her into the wall where she then pinned her there. "I told you, I'm Cynthia's older sister!"

"Ow...!" Sora coughed from that impact, but she found herself back against the wall, blood trickling from her forehead from the impact. She glared up at Alex with disdain. "If you're her sister, where were you when she was hurting and all alone!? Older sisters are supposed to take care of their little sisters, but you were nowhere to be found! She doesn't think anyone knows...but I heard her crying in her room every night after she woke up. The only ones who were there for her, were us at Tartarus!"

Alex's gaze softened for a moment. It was at this moment she realized why Sora was so angry. "...I didn't know she was in danger. Cynthia's always been so strong, much stronger than me. I'm her older sister, yet she's the one who's saved me from myself and our father. If I knew she was in danger, I would've come straight away to help her! Seeing the pain her absence has left on Wendy and her friends...it hurts me too. Seeing her cause so much pain hurts me! But I know...I know what Rose really is."

"W-What she really is?" Sora blinked slowly. There was still hatred in her eyes.

"...When we were younger, Cynthia was always the favorite to get experimented on. But she could never lash out...I think...Rose is those feelings of hate and anger brought to life...it's still Cynthia. I remember when she fought Aiden...she was just like that. Those feelings came to the surface, and she almost did something horrible. And now, she's been doing horrible things...but tell me, Sora. Does she look happy, doing those things?"

"She has a smile!" Sora said, but when she thought about it. "But that smile...was never happy..."

"I know." Alex shook her head. "Cynthia always hated the idea of hurting people with her power. I don't know what that Hell's Core or your boss did to her, but Rose...that's not who Cynthia really is. But I'm thankful to you as well..."

"T-Thankful!?" Sora wasn't sure why.

"Because it's clear that my sister means a lot to you. I didn't think there was any good to be found in this literal hellhole, but seeing how fiercely you fight for Cynthia's sake...it means that despite it all, you care about her." Alex gave Sora a warm smile. "I don't want to hurt my sister's friend. And I don't want my sister to hurt anyone either. You want her to be happy too, don't you? She's always happiest...when she's with Wendy."

"I..." Alex's aggression slowly died down. She did want Cynthia to be happy. But at the same time... "Sora...I...I don't want to lose anyone else. Toby is dead...Dait is dead...I don't want to lose Ro...Cynthia, too..." The tears were welling up in her eyes. "Sora was told to do whatever she could to stop anyone from interfering with Cynthia..."

"I know. It's all you know here, isn't it?" Alex said with a slow nod. She pulled back, and Sora stood up slowly. "It's not too late for either of you. I believe with all my heart, that Wendy can save Cynthia. And I want to see my sister again. Will you let me pass?"

"..." Sora wiped away her tears, breaking out into soft sobs. She nodded slowly.

Alex took a step forward, giving Sora a gentle hug. "Thank you. Please...don't hurt anyone else. Cynthia would be sad to see you get hurt." With that, Alex began her trek to follow after Wendy and Carla.

"Wendy, please...you're the only one that can save Cynthia now. I know you can do it. Her heart is calling out to you...I just know she's waiting...!"

.

.

Wendy and Carla were rapidly approaching Face's location. The landscape changed to a rural canyon and the pair frantically looked around. "I think we're getting close…Cynthia's scent is also getting stronger. How much time to do you think is left, Carla?"

"Not a whole lot…" Carla said regretfully. "So we have to hurry! I see a landing spot there…that must be where it is." After saying that, the white Exceed slowly descended to the ground. Wendy picked her up and they proceeded to head into the cavern.

It was a slow walk as they wanted to remain careful of their surroundings. After few moments, they finally came to the opening that held Face…it was much larger than either of them imagined. "T-That's Face…?" Wendy stammered while staring up at the Magic Pulse Bomb. The countdown on the timer was 10 minutes…they had to come up with a plan and fast to dispose of it. But Face wasn't the only problem present…

Rose had her back turned, staring up at Face. She didn't initially acknowledge Wendy and Carla's presence, but she was already aware they entered. "Funny, isn't it..? The world of magic is coming to an end soon. I didn't know anything about this plot nor did I really care to be pushed into it…but here I am now, staring down the timer with an apathetic expression.

"Cynthia…" Wendy put Carla down, staring at Rose's back. "It's time to put a stop to this…! I…I don't want to fight you…" Was Wendy having second thoughts? She wasn't expecting this moment to come so soon and her stomach slowly churned.

"I couldn't agree more…" Rose slowly turned around, an odd look in her eyes. She was…calmer than she was before. No screaming at Wendy, no rage…she was just calm. To Wendy, she wasn't exactly sure who was talking now. "I've been thinking a lot since I've been thrust into this situation. Several times over the course of this day...I've been having conflicting feelings. Whether it be from you…Chelia…the others…or just watching something happened. It infuriates me to no end…Who am I? I don't even know anymore. Tartarus calls me Rose…the rest of you call me Cynthia…it's all so very confusing. I saved you once…when that tower collapsed a few weeks ago. Why do I feel this way about people who left me to die as a pile of rocks…?"

"She does look really conflicted…" Carla muttered. Even though Cynthia's expression was calm, you could see it all over her face how troubled she was internally.

"I knew it was you. You can always come back with us…we can stop Face, defeat Tartarus, and go back to our normal lives! I miss you so much Cynthia…I want you to come back to me." Even though she knew it probably wouldn't work, she had to try to voice her thoughts to Cynthia at least one more time.

"I called for you..." Rose said, looking right at Wendy. "When the darkness filled my vision...the last thing I thought about was you. I was hoping you'd save me, but you never came. These doubts are killing me. Am I Rose? Or am I Cynthia?" Rose shook her head slowly, completely ignoring Wendy's words. "Which is why I have decided…I will take on the mission bestowed upon me by Marde-sama…whether I succeed or fail…I'm certain these doubts I carry will die one way or another."

"W-What mission…?" Wendy questioned. Her tiny little hands balled into fists and she could feel her entire body shaking. The words that Rose spoke made her heart hurt. Cynthia needed her, but they were separated, and she couldn't save her.

Rose tilted her head slowly before slowly uttering the words; "My mission…was to kill you, Wendy Marvell."

Wendy's eyes widened after hearing that statement. "You…you were to kill me…?"

"That's right." Rose replied, looking at her own hands. "When I was woken up, those were the first words that were seared into my mind. My name is Rose. Fairy Tail abandoned me. And my mission was to kill you. I'm the one with the responsibility for ending your life…a part of me yearns to do this more than anything…and there's another part that wants to stop me from doing this…strange, isn't it?" Rose chuckled dryly…almost as though she'd given up on herself after so long. "So that's why I will go with what my instincts are telling me: "They're telling me to go at you with every inch of my power…to destroy you."

"You don't sound sure of yourself….but I've made my decision a while ago…" Narrowing her eyes, the young sky dragon prepared to show her convictions. Cyan wind wrapped in red flames slowly began to form around her body; Omega Flame Sky was activate and Wendy showed no signs of backing down now that she made it this far. "I made a promise to save Cynthia whenever she got into trouble…I still don't like the thought of having to fight you…but if it's what will save you, then I'll do just that! I'll do whatever is needed to bring you back to your senses and make you accept who you really are!"

"I see…so you won't run away…" Rose nodded slowly, a wicked grin slowly spreading along her lips as a malevolent aura flared around her body in time with her darkened red flames. "That's fine with me! I'll be sure to savor killing you, Wendy!"

This was it. With 10 minutes left on the Face timer, Wendy finally stood across from Cynthia…or Rose. If she couldn't wrap this fight up in 10 minutes or less and save Cynthia, then the World of Magic that everyone knew and loved would be doomed. Carla knew this well…and dreaded this thought for that one vision she had very long ago. But she believed in Wendy…if anyone could truly get Cynthia back, it would be her. Little did they all know…that in the shadows, Ezel was watching.

.

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Next Time: Wendy vs. Rose!