Enjoy!

-----------------------------

Roxas was looking down to where he had hit Fukuro down with his own air. He knew that he would survive a fall like that but there was no way he was getting back up immediately. Simon looked at Roxas as he still had a serious face after beating Fukuro.

'Roxas Eragon. It seems you are far stronger than the information we gathered would imply.' Roxas, Gray and Simon were on the same cage.

Meanwhile Happy was trying to wake Natsu up as he just came out of Fukuro's stomach. "Natsu! Wake up!"

"The world is spinning..." Natsu said in his dazed state.

"Hate to cut the victory party short, but we're not even close to finished." Simon said.

Roxas looked down "I know. Gray, Happy, can you find everybody and get them to the boat? if Etherion is going to fire. We don't want the others getting caught in the blast."

"We'll try, but what about you?" Gray asked.

"If Jellal wants a fight so bad, then he's going to get one. He's treating this like a game, then he set things up for us to have a showdown anyway after we took down his allies. I'll have Natsu and Simon with me, as things stand we can't afford to let everyone else get hit with the Etherion."

"Fine, but don't get killed out there." Gray said before they both clapped their right hands together and locked them for a few seconds. Gray jumped to the exit of the room and sprinted to find the others.

"Happy, you follow him. Then wait for for the others to sow. After that you guys will get on the boat get out of here. Natsu, Simon and I will meet up later with you guys."

"Aye." Happy said as he flew after Gray.

'Jellal... I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will stop you... and that's a promise.' Roxas said within his own thoughts.

-------------------------

At the council, preparations were being made to fire the Council's weapon, Etherion. A huge hole in the ground opened, four pillars with different coloured gems on top of them rose. From the huge hole moving in between the four pillars was a large diamond that was radiating a bright white colour. Alarms were going off in the background as they prepared to launch the Satellite Square.

At the same time, Lucy, Ariel and Juvia were still in the room where they had defeated Vidaldus. All three of them were on the ground as they now had used up so much of their energy. 'It's no use...' Lucy began within her thoughts. 'I can't even lift a finger.' She looked towards Juvia and Ariel. The former was unconscious while the dragon slayer was breathing heavily. 'What are we going to do?'

She heard a voice and it started by saying 'Nya' "We had our butts licked good..." a girlish voice said.

"Oh, some people are knocked out over there." A deeper male voice added.

Lucy's face now had a comical scared expression. 'It's them!'

It was Wally and Millianna, they stood above the three and Wally stated that they had found them. Lucy's heart was beating fast. 'Wait, we're not your enemies anymore... Is what I would have liked to say, but I'm too scared...'

Ariel stirred awake and she still felt fatigued from the earlier fight. 'How long have we rested?' she thought. Her eyes widened as she saw Wally and Milliana looking down at Lucy. "You again! From the Resort!" Ariel got into a fighting stance despite the fatigue. Nevertheless she maintained a brave face ready to face whatever the two had planned for them.

--------------------------

Etherion meanwhile was charging as a combination of green, red, gold and blue lightning bolts danced around the huge diamond in the middle of the town while the town's people looked up at the spectacle. Inside the control room, talk was heard of how they could let it get to this situation, another stated that this cannot be helped.

"Do not worry Org." Michello began as he looked to be an old man with a cat like haircut, similar to Millianna, he was also quite short with light brown hair along with a mustache. "Even if we are attacking another country with magic unprovoked, we can justify it under clause 27, paragraph 4 of the National Security and Safety Act.

"This isn't a matter of law..." Org began. He was much taller than his pseudo feline companion, he had a long beard, had a figure of what looked like an owl on his head, and had grey hair and a long beard "We are about to fire Etherion. We are doing evil."

"Zeref is the true evil here. We can only pray that Etherion will be our saving grace and destroy Zeref."

Siegrain was looking over the preparations for the firing of the weapon. Ultear walked up to him. "It's almost Ready Sieg." She said. Siegrain responded with a nod at her statement. "The dream you've had for eight years will finally become a reality."

"Are you afraid, Ultear?" Siegrain asked.

"No, not even a little." she replied. "Because I always have complete faith in you Lord Sieg."

"I suppose so. There is no danger to your life." Behind a pillar, a ghostly figure of Yajima was watching them. "I am shaking a little. If this fails I will be annihilated." He said which caused Yajima ghostly figure to question what Seigrain is meant by that. "But this is very much worth risking one's life for." Yajima's eyes shrank as Siegrain began to finish his monologue. "Because this is my dream." To which Ultear agreed.

-------------------------

Jellal, who had the figure of the Satellite Square above his chess board assessed the situation. "Another 25 minutes, then?" In saying this he uses Roxas's piece to knock down Fukuro's. "I'll never see you again. Siegrain."

-------------------------

"Jellal!" Sho angrily yelled at the top of his voice as he ran down the hall. "Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!" Erza tried to get his attention by yelling his name from the card she was trapped in but he simply ignored her. "You hurt Sister!" he continued. Erza demanded to be let out of the card but Sho said that he would be the one to protect her.

Sho ran into a peculiar room as it had a wooden bridge with water below it, and rocks behind it, Sakura petals were raining from the trees. He was panting after running for so long.

Soon, he heard wooden sandals on the wooden bridge. Sho looked up and and woman with pink hair, holding s word. "My name is Ikaruga. Who are you?" she asked with a smirk.

"Outta my way! Who is this crazy broad?" Sho said preparing to use his card.

"Oh my, are you unrefined?" she asked.

"I don't have any business with you!" Sho yelled as he threw his cards that multiplied in number when they went through an emerald green magic circle. They shone bright yellow and sped to Ikaruga, at the fast speed they were heading to her, the woman was able to pull out her blade and slice the attack completely in a swift motion, in the blink of an eye, she was putting her sword back in its scabbard. Sho's cards meanwhile were cut in half with demonic precision. "I-Impossible!" Sho exclaimed.

"There is nothing which I cannot cut."

"What are you, some street performer?" Sho asked as he prepared to throw another flurry of cards at her, but before he could attack her a second time. A huge cross appeared at his feet. His cards shattered. "What is this, why can't I move my body?" he asked as he fell to his knees.

"I severed your nerves without cutting your clothes or flesh." Ikaruga explained. "That is the essence of the New Moon School. She quickly notices Erza inside the card. "So that is where you have been hiding Erza."

"Sho, you have to let me out of here! She is not an opponent you can defeat!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry... That card is protected. There is no way anything from the outside could harm you." 

"Oh... that sounds like a challenge." Ikaruga responded as she began to unsheathe her sword.

"Sho, get me out of here!" Erza yelled. "That is not a normal sword she has!"

Ikaruga was trying to slice through it but Erza from inside the card was seen blocking her sword strikes. Suddenly Ikaruga sent a huge flurry of sword strikes had struck the entire bridge. Sho was hit by them and crashed into a pillar. He saw a transparent yellow sphere form, Erza appeared out of the sphere. "Sister..." Sho said as he backed away from Erza who was now glaring at Ikaruga. 

"Thanks to you, your sword made disruptions in the space. That's how I was able to get out." Erza said.

Sho got up and saw Erza was out of the card. 'So... She managed to carve her way out... of course she did. She's amazing!' He thought while he was on the other side of the bridge.

"So, you called yourself Ikaruga, yes?" Erza asked. "I have no use for you, begone!"

"In lieu of an introduction." Ikaruga replied. Suddenly Erza's Heart Kreuz Armor shattered into pieces

"Sister!" Sho shouted.

"Oh did you perhaps not see it." Ikaruga said before she began to recite her poem. "That at which you gaze... beyond the mist, could it be... a mononoke." "Trying so hard to find Jellal, you will no longer see the flash of swords all around you." Erza shot a persistent but serious glare at her; this is also noted by Sho.

'I've never seen her like this!' he thought.

"I am no mere passerby."

"Really? That is how it seems." Erza replied and requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. "You are an enemy."

"Come at me." Ikaruga said holding the hilt of her long blade. Erza charges at her aiming to give the first strike, but Ikaruga blocks this easily, forcing Erza to fly up. She conjured swords around her in a circle

"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!" Erza chanted with a slash which sent the swords flying to Ikaruga.

"New Moon School." She simply said with her eyes closed before slightly taking her blade out of her scabbard. In the blink of an eye, Erza's swords were completely cut down and the remains of those swords rained all over Ikaruga without hitting her. "Demon Flash." She threw a slash to Erza. Cracks began to appear in the wings of her armor before the Heaven's Wheel Armor shattered to tiny pieces accompanied by a pain filled scream from Erza.

"Sister!" Sho said in concern.

"Garuda Flame!" Ikaruga chanted and this sent huge flame explosions surging towards Erza. She had just requipped into her Flame Empress Armor in time before the attack engulfed her. "The Flame Empress Armor? That armor has the ability to do well against fire attacks, yes? You do so well to requip in such an instant." The dragon like wings on the back of the armor shattered causing Erza to slightly lose her footing. "You mustn't let his lordship see you looking that, yes? What will you do? Will you don your strongest armor soon?"

"Damn monster!" Sho said.

A maroon magic circle appeared underneath Erza's feet. "You'd best repent! Purgatory Armor, requip!" Erza was now seen an armor that covered most of her body, was black and had shoulder armor spikes as well an on the arm gauntlets. Her eyes were now glowing red right after her armor was revealed. A maroon magic circle appeared before she summoned a huge yellow glowing sword that she spun around almost as if it was weightless. "There is no one that can stand when faced with this visage." A huge cyclone was formed as Erza dropped the huge, spiky, hulking weapon onto the surface of the bridge. 

"Is that your strongest armor? Come at me!" Erza jumped high up in the air while spinning the sword twice, once she got to where she could slash Ikaruga on the bridge, the block was made from Ikaruga's sword, the shockwave blast from the two swords colliding flew off of the bridge into the water and impacted the walls behind making as explosion. Erza spun her sword several times to make a shockwave that would hit Ikaruga, but the target was jumping backwards from them before she decided to slash the waves therefore making them hit the bridge around them causing huge damage but leaving Ikaruga unscathed.

When Erza tried to smash the big, hulking sword onto Ikaruga but she easily avoided it before using the sword as a springboard, her scabbard was grinding on the blade before she unsheathed it and sliced Erza in quick succession which left Sho speechless.

Erza now found it difficult to lift her sword, before it and parts of her armor shattered just like the rest. Ikaruga landed far in front of Erza. "Don't you understand yet? No matter what armor you don; you cannot win against my sword." Erza weakly got up after momentarily collapsing to the ground.

'She can't win.' Sho began to repeat this in his mind.

Erza then glared at Ikaruga before requipping into a different outfit that wasn't armor. Instead her hair was held back in a ponytail. Her only form of clothing on her torso were white bandages covering her chest. She had red pants with yellow, black outlined flames at the bottom of them. She was bare foot and held a sword in each hand.

"What are you trying? Ikaruga asked. "That outfit is nothing but cloth. Are you trying to say you think less of me?"

"Sister! What are you doing!?" Sho asked screaming in fear. "You have plenty of strong armor left, you're stronger than this! Sister!?"

"I am... I am not strong." Erza said. She thought back to when she was first talking to Gray when they were children. She thought to how in her mind that she wasn't strong enough to protect the lives of everyone who died at the Tower of Heaven when they made their escape. She also remembers how Gray said that he wasn't crying. Really she was the one crying inside, but no one could see it because she hid it in her armor and gave others the impression of how strong she was. "I always wear armor because I am weak!" she declared. "I could never take it off. I always believed it will protect me, but it shut out my heart from those I am closest to. Fairy Tail taught me, how close people are to one another... How warm they are..." In saying these words Erza flashed back to all of her happy moments with the guild. "I am no longer lost. I will turn all of the strength I have and turn it all on you!" Erza now had an angry but very determined look on her face.

Both of them were glaring as they locked their vision to one Sakura petal that was falling towards the bridge. Once it hit the ground, the two women charged towards each other in a very fast motion, a loud clang was heard from the clashing of their swords. After the clash they stood a fair distance from each other, back to back. The blade Erza was holding on her right hand cracked and shattered to pieces. This brought a scare to Sho.

Ikaruga did a slight chuckle before saying: "The battle is over." In which her blade grew cracks on it and then shatters to pieces leaving a small part of it left. "Impressive..." were her last words before collapsing to the ground.

There was a deafening silence before Sho spoke out. "Wow! You really are amazing, Sister!"

"Are you harmed?" Erza asked.

"N-no. I'm fine." Sho replied.

Ikaruga was lying face up on the ground. "This is the first time I lost since entering the guild, but you and Jellal will all lose..." she began to raise her right arm into the air.

"What are you talking about?" Sho asked

"Fifteen minutes." "The light of justice... will rain down from the heavens... and kill everyone."Ikaruga sang as she recited her made up poem. "That poem was dreadful..."

"Is she talking about Etherion!?" Erza wondered aloud.

"Now that you mention it..." Sho began to think. "Jellal said we had to defeat three of his bodyguards to get to him, if this woman was one of them, then the others must have met with the others." He explained. "That would mean that Jellal is all that is left, and we have to take him down fast before then."

"There is no 'we'." Erza muttered.

"Huh?" Sho asked.

"Sho. Take Simon and the others, plus all people from Fairy Tail, and get away from this tower."

"B-but..." Sho began

"Please, the others won't be able to leave the tower in time unless you do as I ask. We all can't be pawns in Jellal's little game." Erza said. "Will you do as I say?"

"Y-yeah sure." Sho said.

"Thank you."

"Where are you going, Sister?" Sho asked.

"I'm going to finish this..." Erza said in a dark tone.

----------------------------

The Sun was setting outside the tower, going on the stairs outside it were Natsu, Roxas and Simon. Simon was carrying Natsu while Roxas was leading them up the stairs. It was seen that Natsu was still nauseous from Fukuro's earlier attack. He groaned as he began to stir awake. "Natsu? Are you waking up?" Simon asked.

"I remember I was caught by some weird moving vehicle and..." Natsu began getting sick again from just remembering what happened to him.

"STOP!" Simon yelled, annoyed at the Dragon Slayer's weakness. "You can't get nausea from memories!" Simon began to explain what happened to Natsu. "After that you were eaten by Fukuro, and Roxas had to save you."

"Roxas? Where is he?"

"He's in front of us, Gray was also there."

------------------------

Meanwhile Happy was flying Gray away from the Tower by wrapping his tail around his stomach. "Erza." Gray muttered.

"Man, you're heavy Gray. Have you been putting on weight?" Happy complained while sweatdropping as he looked to have trouble carrying Gray.

"Shut up, cat!" Gray quickly said.

"And I have to carry your fat body all over the place."

Happy and Gray saw that the all the guards in the Tower of Heaven were now leaving because they got word of the council preparing to fire Etherion. "Oh no, the ships are leaving." Happy said. "How will he get out of here?"

"Down there." Gray said, pointing down at the dock where a boat was sitting. "It's the boat we came here on."

"Oh cool!" Happy said as they flew to where the boat was.

--------------------------

Simon told Natsu that Happy was carrying Gray away from the tower. 

Natsu began to scream in frustration. "You mean I lost and Roxas won!?"

"You didn't really lose. You were eaten."

"Gray is going to hold this over me for a month! He's really petty like that! Damnit!"

"Oh come on." Simon said.

Natsu was now in a fighting stance. "There is only one thing to do! Revenge! I'll fight that bird brain over and over until I beat him!"

Simon dragged Natsu by his scarf up the stairs. "We have no time for that."

Roxas stopped walking and decided to go back to the both of them. "Hey, who are you?" Natsu asked.

"Simon. An old friend of Erza's."

"Oh, okay. Nice to meetcha." Simon held his stomach in pain. "Are you injured?" Natsu asked.

"Don't worry about me. Roxas, Natsu listen carefully. Wally sent me a message before, He said he found Lucy, Juvia and Ariel collapsed, along with a defeated member of Trinity Raven."

"Ariel."

"Lu? Are they alright?" Roxas asked with concern.

"Yes, Simon and Millianna didn't know what was going on so they took them outside the tower."

-------------------------

Wally was carrying Juvia on his back while Millianna tied Lucy up in her tubes and dragged her across the floor. Ariel was behind all of them but she looked slightly fatigued. Millianna was able to explain the situation to them.

"Weren't these guys the enemy?" Wally asked.

"Nya... But Simon says they are our allies." Millianna replied.

Lucy was still conscious as she was being dragged. 'So then, why is she tying me up and dragging me?'

---------------------------

Simon also told them that Sho contacted him to let him know that all the members of Trinity Raven were defeated. "Right now I told both Wally and Sho to meet up with Sho so they can flee the tower."

"I didn't do a thing!?" Natsu exclaimed.

"All that is left is Jellal."

"And Red is going after him." Roxas said. "She wants to end this battle all on her own." Roxas began to clench his fist.

"Those two have been connected by fate for eight years. Their destiny may be to do battle." Simon said. "However, Jellal is too powerful. Please, the both of you save Erza."

Roxas and Natsu answered at the same time.

"I will." Roxas defiantly said.

"Hell no." Natsu said in a simple tone.

"WHAT!?" Roxas and Simon yelled in unison.

---------------------------

Meanwhile Jellal moved the chess piece of a knight, representing Erza towards himself. "My, oh my. Is the game over already?" Jellal calmly said. He saw Erza with her single sword enter his room.

"Is playing with people's lives so fun for you?" Erza angrily asked.

"It is fun. Birth and Death after all are the origins and focus of all emotions. Or to put it the other way around, nothing is more boring than living on its own." He turned to her while he still had his hood on his face. "It's been awhile, Erza."

"Jellal..." she angrily said. "I will liberate my past friends." They both stood facing each other from a small distance away.

"Do as you like with them, I have no use for them. The Tower of Heaven is complete."

"Even though it will be destroyed in less than ten minutes?" Erza asked while pointing her blade at him.

"You speak of Etherion." Jellal began to chuckle.

"Such confidence, so it was a bluf?"

"No!" Jellal said removing his hood. "Etherion will rain down."

"Hearing that relieves me, if I can delay you for ten minutes, then this will be over!" Erza said preparing herself for a fight.

"No. You will be annihilated as Zeref's Sacrifice." Jellal's right hand was being covered by dark flowing energy. "That has already been decided. That is your fate. Your destiny!" he yelled. A purple sigil formed his eyes."

--------------------------

Happy and the others were soon on the boat, sailing from the tower. "Damn it!" Gray said. "Turn this thing around!"

"We can't do that." Wally said.

"We were told to get you out of here." Millianna said.

"But Erza is still inside." Lucy said. "Natsu and Roxas too."

"I'm sure she will be fine." Sho said.

"Still we can't leave her to just those two!" Gray said.

"There's nothing we can do about it." Wally said. "Simon is also with him, they'll handle it somehow."

Ariel glared at Wally. "Somehow!? What's that supposed to mean!?" she yelled.

"Don't yell at him!" Millianna yelled back.

Happy was sitting near the back looking at the Tower.

"Everyone just calm down!" Milliana yelled.

"Hurry up! Turn this thing around! I have to save Erza!" Gray exclaimed.

"We're running out of time!" Ariel added.

"We were told to get as far away from here as we can." Sho said.

"So we let the others die!?" Lucy asked.

Ariel looked down. "That's it! I can jump down and surf my way back to the tower! Who's with me!?"

"Are you crazy, toots!?" Wally asked.

"No way am I swimming back there again!?" Milliana yelled. "I don't wanna drown!?"

"Hey, we're just trying to save our friends!" Gray said.

"At the cost of your own lives? When you know that you're as good as dead when you get back there!"

"This is ridiculous! I'm getting out of here!" Ariel said. As she was about to jump off the boat, she felt Millianna's tube wrap around her stomach.

"No! We can't go back!" She exclaimed.

"Let me go, you moron!" Ariel yelled. "Turn around!"

"Not gonna happen!" Wally yelled back.

"SHUT UP!" they heard. This came from Happy as he was standing near the back still. "What's with all of you?! I want to go back, too! But I know there is no point! Etherion will fire any minute! I just know that Natsu and Roxas will bring Erza back!" Happy began to cry. "Simon told me (sob)... If Natsu's true power awakens and if Roxas has his Nine-Tailed power, even Jellal wouldn't... (sob)... Jellal wouldn't..." Happy tried to finish as his crying was interrupting him.

---------------------------

The same time Roxas forced Natsu into the wall. "What the hell, Natsu!?" Roxas started. "You're saying that you're not going to help save Erza!?" Roxas asked glaring at the Dragon Slayer.

"Erza needs to defeat her own enemies." Natsu replied. "It's not something I can just butt into."

"No." Simon said. "Erza cannot win against Jellal."

Roxas released Natsu from the wall. "We cannot let her take on that psychopath by herself!"

Natsu then glared at the both of them "Don't put her down!"

"That's not it!" Simon yelled.

"Huh?"

"I'm not talking about magical power here! Erza is still trying to save Jellal. I know that she could never truly hate Jellal. He is clever. He will use her emotions against her."

"And we still have the Etherion to worry about! If that hits, then we're all goners!" Roxas added.

"According to Sho's message we only have 10 more minutes until it hits."

"What!?" Natsu said.

"Only ten minutes!?" Roxas gasped.

"She headed to face him alone after telling everyone to evacuate. I don't want to believe it, but she may be trying to use Etherion to take Jellal with her..."

"Y-you're kidding me!" Roxas said.

"Why didn't you tell us that first?" Natsu angrily asked. Flames circled around his feet. "WHERE IS ERZA!" he yelled.

Roxas glared near the top of the tower. 'No... Erza you wouldn't... you would. Anything to keep your friends safe.' "Natsu! We have-"

"You don't have to tell me Roxas." The three began running up the tower at a faster pace to stop Erza from her achieving her plan.

--------------------------

"Seven Minutes, until Etherion rains down on here. Let's have some fun in the next few minutes Erza."

"Right now, I fear nothing." What looked like to be dark goop with dark red lines in it began to grow from Jellal's right hand. "Even if Etherion comes, I will still be satisfied to take you with me!"

"Oh? Take me with you?" Jellal asked and the goop engulfed his hand as was growing into something scary. "Go ahead and try!" the goop shot tendrils towards Erza, she promptly slashed them into pieces. She ran to Jellal but he grabbed her right hand stopping her whole body. He shot a powerful beam from his hand that sent Erza through the floor of the room and she was falling out of the tower.

Luckily she saw a huge piece of falling rubble to jump off of. She used this to jump back into the room. As she did she rushed to Jellal. "You finally finished the tower, and now you're destroying it? Don't you care, Jellal?" He avoided her slash and shot another beam of light purple energy, when he missed Erza jumped onto the huge crystal lacrima in the middle of the room, she charged to Jellal, she missed but she sliced his chess board making the pieces rain to the floor.

"Ha ha. A pillar or two are nothing but decoration."

"Sho and the other believed in you so they could make those decorations!"

Jellal lightly smirked "Stop complaining about every little thing I say." He had an orb of the same goop in his right hand while his left hand was resting in his pocket. "The important thing is the R-system. These eight years were for that. And that... is complete." When he crushed the orb tendrils surrounded Erza's legs. She was now trapped in a huge sphere made out of that energy. "It does seem you have improved a bit, but I guess that's your limit."

Erza who was inside the ball saw a black haze around her. She began to recall the times when she formed a team with Natsu and the others also remembered her times in the Tower of Heaven with her friends. She finally remembered Natsu saying that if they get back from a job he must fight her after his fight with Roxas. Erza from inside the orb smirked.

Jellal began to walk away from it, but he heard a sword slash and when he did, he turned around in shock to see Erza outside of the ball. He scarlet red hair was no longer in a ponytail.

"I thought I'd told you... Right now, I fear nothing!" She rushed to Jellal and slashed his stomach causing him to fly across the room.

'Is this the same Erza?' he thought. He now saw Erza put her sword to his neck and she was on her knees as she was now prepared to finally end his life.

"What is your real goal?" Erza asked while aiming her blade over Jellal's neck. "You haven't really completed the R-System, have you? I haven't been doing nothing for these past 8 years. I researched the R-System itself. It's true there were no errors in the construction or theory of the blueprints back then. But there is a special component missing from the R-System."

"I told you. You are the sacrifice, remember?" Jellal said with a smirk.

"A problem more basic than that." Erza corrected. "The thing you lack is magical power! To activate something like this you would need an extreme amount of magical power. Even if you assembled every wizard in the continent, I'm sure it would not be enough. So there is no way that the magic power of an individual would be enough. Furthermore, you know about the Council's attack, but are not trying to escape. "What are you thinking!?"

"Three minutes before Etherion fires." Jellal reminded still looking extremely confident.

"Jellal! Your dream is over! Do you simply wish to die like this!?" Erza was now tightening her grip on his arm. "If that is the case. We will go together. I won't release until the final moment!" she yelled.

"Sure... That doesn't sound too bad. My body was possessed by Zeref, no words can reach me." Erza now had a surprised look on her face. "I'm nothing but a puppet used the purpose of resurrecting Zeref.

"Possessed?"

"I wasn't able to save myself. No friends could save me. There is no Heaven... There is no freedom, anywhere. Everything was over before it began." Erza now looked slightly hesitant from taking Jellal's life.

---------------------------

Meanwhile Etherion was preparing to fire and final preparations were being made finalize the firing of the magical weapon. The council were now preparing to deploy the Satellite Square.

All of the council members began praying as the weapon was preparing to fire. Yajima looked at Jellal's back with a very angry expression.

The huge diamond now turned into a huge mass of magical energy.

By the tower. Happy and the others continued to sail from the tower. They all saw the light from the sky.

"That light..." Lucy began.

"You don't think that-" Gray began

"That's it, the super weapon Jellal was talking about." Ariel said.

Happy looked at the tower with tears in his eyes. "Natsu, Erza, Roxas... hurry up and get out of there."

Lucy locked her eyes on the tower and held her hands to her necklace. "Please Roxas, come back safely." She lightly said to herself before a tear fell from her right eye.

------------------------

The ceiling in the room where Jellal and Erza were fighting was now shaking. Jellal's voice was heard. "I knew the R-System would never be completed in time. But Zeref wouldn't let me free. I'm the broken engine of a car that he's driving. Erza, you win. Please put an end to this. That is why you came, yes?"

It was now seen that a huge magical targeting system was aimed at the Tower of Heaven from above the atmosphere.

As the room continued to shake Erza lightened her grip on Jellal. "There is no point in ending this. The Satellite Square is deployed above. It is over, for you... and for me." Erza dropped her sword on the floor where is disappeared in a bright yellow flash. Jellal was slowly getting back to his knees.

"Always the awkward one."

"You are also a sacrifice to Zeref, aren't you?" Erza asked not looking at Jellal.

"My heart wasn't able to handle the huge gap between dreams and reality."

"Didn't you have friends to fill in for those weaknesses?"

"Erza..."

"I am also repenting for my sin, for not being able to save you."

The two were now close to each other. "I was... saved."

Jellal and Erza then hugged as the vibrations around the room got worse. A bright light now shone in on many parts of the room suggesting Etherion was extremely close to firing.

--------------------------

Etherion was now being fired. Org lifted his staff. "Let us pray to the holy light! Release Etherion!" the mass of magical energy shot into the sky to meet with the Satellite Square.

A huge light was now shining on the Tower, the water below was now raging.

Everyone on the boat was looking at the tower. "Here it comes!" Happy gasped.

"NATSU!" Ariel shouted.

"ERZA!" Gray yelled.

"No... ROXAS!" Lucy cried as four elemental magic circles appeared on the Satellite Square. A huge beam shot from it and if fell towards the Tower.

Simon was left in a hall by a window where the light shone through. "This light... They didn't make it."

Natsu and Roxas were running up the stairs to the floor where Jellal and Erza were located. "ERZA!" Natsu yelled.

"DAMN IT!" Roxas shouted.

The beam descended further to as it began to engulf the tower. Flashes of everyone on the boat, Jellal and Erza, Natsu and Roxas, and Simon were shown.

"It is over..." Simon thought as the beam engulfed the tower.

Huge waves were made along the sea. The group's boat got caught up in the waves as they fell into the water, but were saved by Juiva's Water Lock. They then watched the tower's destruction from a safe distance. Gray and Ariel gasped while Lucy fell to her knees. 

----------------------------

At the council they are confirming a hit on the target with Etherion. Members of the council now looked grim. "I wonder how many people were in that tower?" Org asked.

"It was to stop Zeref from being resurrected." Michello said. "Their sacrifices were not in vain."

"Whether or not what we did was right or wrong. That will not bring peace to the victims' families."

A smoke cloud covered the entirety of the tower from the outside. Erza and Jellal were still hugging each other. Jellal got up and Erza remained kneeling on the ground.

"I'm alive. Jellal, what happened?" Erza asked as a smirk was seen on his face and he was chuckling evilly. "Jellal?" He began laughing as if in victory.

At the council they were detecting something that was not right with the area Etherion fired in.

From Happy's group the smoke began to dissipate.

"Crystal?" Happy asked.

"No. It's magic crystal." Gray corrected.

"But what does that mean?" Ariel asked.

"It's a Lacrima."

"Hey, they're okay, right?" Lucy asked. "Roxas, Natsu, Erza and Simon too?"

---------------------------

Elsewhere on the tower Natsu and Roxas were shaking as they assumed it was over but they saw they were alive.

"This... doesn't look like Heaven. Does that mean we're alive?" Roxas asked.

Natsu looked slightly annoyed at the revelation. "What the hell is going on?"

Simon was also alive as he was leaning near the Lacrima. "Etherion fired... So why am I still alive?" he asked.

Jellal who was still laughing had stopped. "This is it! The R-System is a giant Lacrima."

"Why you..." Erza said in disbelief.

"And thanks to the attack by the Council's Etherion, It has absorbed a huge amount of magical energy. Now the R-System is complete!"

---------------------------

At the council it was seen that the giant Lacrima has absorbed all the magical power from Etherion.

Yajima angrily stepped towards Siegrain. "Sieg... What is the meaning of this?" as he asked his question Siegrain vanished from his sight. Behind him Ultear looked at him with a smile.

-----------------------------

At the peak of the Tower Erza was looking at Jellal with disbelief. "You tricked me!?" she asked.

"You looked cute there Erza." She heard. She looked behind her and saw Siegrain with a confident smile on his face. "Jellal was not able to produce his true power. He was in mortal danger so he had no choice but to trick you."

"Siegrain!" she gasped. He began to walk to Jellal. "Why are you here?"

"Remember the first time we met Erza?" Siegrain asked.

That time you came with Makarov to deliver a written letter of apology to the council, yes?" Jellal continued.

"You mistook me for Jellal and attacked me."

"Well, we look identical, so it's to be expected."

Both Jellal and Siegrain looked at Erza. "After you heard we were twins, you finally were pacified." Siegrain said. "However you always treated me as your enemy."

"Obviously!" Erza began. "Instead of behaving as an older brother should, you tolerated what Jellal was doing! Or rather, you were spying on me!"

"Yes." Jellal simply said.

"That was my mistake." Siegrain admitted. "I should have said something like: 'I will find Jellal and make him stop, no matter what.' I had finally become a member of the council, meeting you was my biggest mistake."

"The lies we tell in an unplanned moment cause us the greatest pain."

"So you two really did plot this together." Erza deduced.

"Together?" Jellal said.

"No." Siegrain promptly followed.

"That's not it, Erza."

Erza quickly gasped as she figured out his plan. "We are a single person! From the very beginning!" they both said in unison. Siegrain became see-through and walked in front of Jellal and merged with him. When this merge happened Jellal's magical power increased exponentially as a rainbow aura surrounded him.

"No..." Erza said, filled with shock. "A thought projection?"

"Yes. Siegrain is me."

"So you, yourself, fired Etherion? That is why you infiltrated the council!?"

"Did you enjoy your fleeting freedom, Erza? Everything went according to plan for Zeref's resurrection."

Erza's fists were clenched as she showed a face of anger. "You fiend... How many people have you deceived in your life?" Erza yelled.

"Power... my magical power has returned!" Jellal said as a bright purple outline surrounded his body.

----------------------------

Meanwhile at the council they had just discovered what happened to the Tower of Heaven. "We were had." Yajima said as he moved his hand to touch the railing but it soon collapsed upon his touch. This was also happening to the rest of the building as it structural integrity was diminishing at a fast rate, almost as if it was... aging...

Org quickly realized this was the result of a Lost Magic. "Lost Magic. Time Ark?!"

Yajima saw Ultear with a white magical seal that looked to be held up with her hands, she was slightly levitating as well.

"Ultear?" Yajima said.

"Everything is for Lord Sieg... I mean, Lord Jellal." She chanted as it looked like she was the source for the collapse of the building around them. "Right now, his dream is being fulfilled."

---------------------------

The boat group was now looking at the tower. "That the R-System?" Sho asked.

"R What!?" Gray asked.

"Yes, that is the true form of the R-System we built, got it?" Wally said.

"It's activating..." Millianna said.

"Activating? What do you mean?" Lucy started. "You mean it's going to resurrect Zeref?"

"I don't know; we've never seen it operate." Sho truthfully said.

"And Natsu, Erza and Roxas are inside of it?" Gray added.

"Simon as well..." Ariel said. "And, Jellal..."

--------------------------

At the peak of the tower. Erza was sent flying across the peak of tower as she bounced on the ground "What happened to your previous strength? Did you use up too much of your magical power with Ikaruga?"

Erza slid back on the floor scratching the surface of the lacrima with her hands as she stopped her momentum. She slammed her right palm on the floor summoning a huge sword she quickly jumped back to Jellal to counter-attack. "JELLAL!" she yelled. He blocked her sword strike and side stepped away from her. When Erza saw that she missed she summoned another huge sword with her empty left hand. She swung both swords at him and when they missed she kicked him in his face which caused him to stagger back slightly, she tried slashing him with both blades, but missed as they slammed into the ground.

"Right now the council should be paralyzed. I must be grateful to Ultear. She did well. She said: 'If in heaven all are seen as one, then we need not fear even death.'" Ultear was shown destroying the building using her Lost Magic. "For my ideal, for my dream, she said she'd gladly lay down her own life. I truly must be thankful to be given stupid women!" he smugly said as he landed on a platform.

"You fiend!" Erza charged to where Jellal was standing and sliced it with her swords as Jellal jumped away. "You should die from the curses of all those you've used!" As Erza slashed through the air a snake hiss was heard. On the left side of her back a snake pattern appeared and moved to her right arm. "What is this!?" she asked as she dropped her sword that her right hand was holding.

"Bind Snake. I put it on you when we hugged before." The Bind Snake spread to her left arm forcing Erza to disarm, it soon spread all over her body. This was causing massive pain so much that it caused Erza to scream out. "I have the magical power to activate the R-System." Jellal said. "All I need is the human sacrifice to resurrect Zeref." He walked towards Erza while she continued to scream out. "I have no more time to play with you, Erza. The tremendous amount of magical power this lacrima now stores, will be fused into your body. Your body will be deconstructed and then reconstituted into Zeref's. Jellal made a huge crystal shard grow out of the ground. He pushed Erza towards the crystal which was revealed to have liquid like properties as she was being dragged into it. "I loved you, Erza."

"Damn! Damn it!" Erza screamed as she was being slowly sucked into the crystal.

Jellal now looked away from her and began to chant. "O Great Zeref. I give to you this woman's body!"

"Jellal!" Erza yelled trying to get Jellal to stop this. She yelled his name again and when he didn't hear anything from Erza he turned around, his eyes grew wide at what he saw. Natsu was pulling Erza out of the lacrima.

"I got'cha!" Natsu said.

Jellal heard a battle cry coming from Roxas and his fist was engulfed in blue fire. He threw a punch which made contact with Jellal, but he crossed his arms to block it at the last second. He slid back a fair distance from them.

"Erza is a Fairy Tail wizard." Natsu said. "You can't have her!"

Roxas ran to where Natsu sat on his bottom and he held Erza's arms. "Roxas, Natsu?"

"Are you okay, Red?" Roxas asked with concern.

"Sheesh!" Natsu said with a smirk. "What are you doing. We need to get back and do some work or the rent won't get paid this month. Lucy and Roxas's rent that is."

"You don't want to see her angry either." Roxas said.

"Sorry. I can't move." Erza said.

"Is that so?" Natsu asked. The Dragon Slayer began to tickle her and Erza couldn't stop laughing."You used to work me over pretty good! So take some of this!"

"Really, Natsu!" Roxas deadpanned.

"Don't be a killjoy. I was just having some fun."

"We almost got killed, now we found Erza and the first thing you wanna do is tickle her?"

"Yeah so?"

Roxas chuckled slightly. "Fair enough. If it was Lu, I probably would've did the same."

Erza turned to the both of them. "Natsu, Roxas, get away from here as soon as you can." She warned.

"Not a chance." Natsu said.

"If you are in not state to fight Jellal, then we'll fight him for you." Roxas said.

"Stop. He's got the advantage. You don't know enough about him."

Roxas glanced at Jellal. "I don't want to know more about him than I already know."

"Are you sayin' we can't win unless we do?" Natsu asked.

"Please listen to me." Erza pleaded as a tear fell from her left eye.

Natsu lifted Erza to her feet. "Erza, I don't know anything about you either, but... We can win!" he punches Erza in the gut which surprises Jellal and Roxas who had a stupefied look on his face.

"What did you do that for!?" Roxas yelled now in Natsu's face.

"She would have gotten in the way. We can't have that."

Roxas blinked. "Well... fine I see your point." He turned to Jellal. "Now that we're here, tell me something Jellal. Why would someone as brave as you, someone committed to freedom, and a close friend of Erza's turn into such a monster?"

Jellal gives an evil smile. "Alright Roxas Eragon, I'll tell you what happened. Back when Erza and I were slaves in the Tower of Heaven and I was in a cell by myself. I was approached by Zeref, who revealed the truth to me, the truth that there is no freedom in the world."

Roxas got in a fighting stance. "Shows how much you know. People always had freedom, we just had to fight for it."

"You are an interesting case, you two." Jellal confessed. "I would like to ask that you let me continue my plan to resurrect Zeref. I am eager to see three opposite forces clash." He pointed to the duo. "Natsu Dragneel and Roxas Eragon: The warriors of life. Against Zeref, the Black Wizard: The destroyer of life. It truly will be a historic event wouldn't you agree?"

Roxas clenched his fists. "You really don't know me do you?" Roxas said with a slight smirk. "There is no way; I would ever let that happen! Also I won't let you get away with all that you have done Jellal, whether you are under Zeref's influence or not!"

Natsu then turned to Jellal. "Erza was crying." Natsu ignited his right fist. "She was giving up... and her voice was shaking. I don't want to see Erza like that. Erza should be strong and ferocious!"

"To me, Erza was one of the strongest people I've met. That is the Erza I know." Roxas made a aura of blue flames surround his body. 'Maybe even stronger than me mentally.'

"I want her to be her usual self when she wakes up from this nightmare." Natsu said.

"Erza is suffering. All because of what you did... it is because of this that..."

Natsu and Roxas both got in fighting stances as a mixture of fire embers and blue flames surrounded them. "WE WILL FIGHT!"

"Interesting. Natsu Dragneel! Roxas Eragon! Show me the extent of your powers."

"Roxas, you ready for this?" Natsu asked.

"Erza is in pain because of him. Her pain is our pain. So that is why we have to beat Jellal for her sake."

"Good answer." Natsu replied.

Both Roxas and Natsu charged to Jellal, yelling their battle cries. Their battle against Jellal had finally begun.

---------------------------

Next Time: The Power Within

Roxas and Natsu have to work together as they begin their fight against Jellal.