Chapter 33: Mirajane's Tears
Mirajane watches with horror as stone creeps up to encapsulate her brother as he is trapped within his own mind.
"Elfman, hang in there! Wake up!" she screams out, hoping he will hear her voice and break free from the mental torture he is going through.
"Elfman!" As the stone spell spreads, Elfman is forced to watch that terrible day over and over again, unable to change anything. Seeing his precious little sister dying again and again tears his heart into pieces.
When he is almost completely turned to stone, Elfman says in a monotone, "Nee-chan. Lisanna…" Unseen by Mira or Sol, tears pour out of the one eye that has yet to be covered by stone. Mira sobs out her little brother's name and by some random bit of luck he was able to hear her crying out his name through the spell clouding his mind.
With great mental strength he works on throwing off the shackles of the Merci la Vie to come back to his senses and to save his elder sister.
"Elfman, hang in there!" Cries out Mira with less strength than before as the fingers are still slowly crushing her.
Reaching out one hand to try to reach her beloved little brother she continues to shout, "I can't… lose you too!" Tears roll down her eyes more from the pain of losing her brother than the pain of being crushed.
"Now, it's about time for the finale!" says Sol triumphantly as his back is turned to the siblings. Fully confident that they are well and truly caught and are about to die.
"Why's that?" Elfman asks still in the monotone voice. Surprised to hear Elfman's voice, Sol turns around while fiddling with his monocle.
"Oh?" he asks, more to himself than to Elfman. The rock that encases the Take Over mage glows brightly with a yellow light.
"I vowed never to see my sister's tears again!" Elfman says with more feeling as he is almost done breaking away from the spell cast on him. The rock that held him down breaks away in the light freeing Elfman once more.
"So what are ya' crying for?!" He asks in a loud shout of his sister as his over protectiveness for her kicks in.
"That light…" Mira murmurs. Realizing what it means, she screams out to her brother, "Don't do it Elfman! You can't!"
"Who was it that made her cry!?" Elfman roars out in anger.
Stunned, Sol cries out in disbelief, "It's impossible! You are not capable of doing a full body Take Over!" He gets blown back by the force of Elfman's magic as the magic circle for a Full Body Take Over appears just before it covers Elfman's body to transform it.
"Incredible!" Sol gasps out in awe as he watches from where he landed, still holding onto his monocle. The light fades away and a large dark form rises from the rubble. A deep voice rumbles with a grunt as it looks around. Sol starts shaking in fear as menacing, glowing eyes fixate upon him.
"O-Oh, my! That's…" he stammers out as a primal part of him starts to take over.
"That's… A Full Body Take Over! Beast Soul!" Mira says to herself, afraid that her brother isn't able to handle it. The dust clears to reveal Elfman in his new form. Over four times the size of what he was before, he is now immense. Red and white fur covers his body, and two large horns grows out of his head. His shirt is now in tatters from the massive size change. Sharp fangs now line his gaping maw as he roars out in anger.
"I-It can't be… This is…" Sol continues to stammer out petrified. "Non! Non! Non!" he cries out in fear. He tries a desperate attempt to salvage the rapidly deteriorating situation.
"With non of three, you misunderstand me! I, Monsieur, gave you such a harsh trial for you to finally overcome your difficult past, bonsoir!" In his attempt to try to trick Elfman, he has become very animated in his movements. "You are indeed a Man among men, Elfman! I, Monsieur, believed you could overcome it! Right?" gushes out Sol with fake sincerity. Elfman tilts his head with a grunt at the strange man's antics.
"Well then, if you'll be excusing me…" Sol says while taking a large step backwards. In response, Elfman leans forward and punches Sol into the air with one of his long arms. "How dare you!" Sol cries out indignantly as he flies up high. With a graceful twirl, Sol recovers while still in mid air and sends off an attack towards Elfman.
"Pltre… Sonate!" he shouts out and an even larger fist, many times larger than the first one, shoots out towards Elfman. It hits him square in the chest.
"Non, non, non… Don't let your guard down now." Sol chides in victory. A large thump sounds behind him, causing the Element 4 mage to freeze in fear again. Elfman lets out a breath in a hiss as he stands over Sol with one fist raised up.
"Non! Non! Non!" the green haired man cries out as he is hit by the punch that destroys almost the entire floor. Elfman continues to punch the mage, and each one makes Sol cry out in pain. Mirajane looks on at the spectacle, hoping beyond hope that her brother is in control, and not the beast within.
"Elfman." she calls out helplessly. Elfman stops as if he heard her to let Sol pass out from the beating that he was given.
"Oooh… Oui…" is the last thing he says as he slips into unconsciousness. A pale purple form seemingly coming out of Sol tries to float away while saying, "Je t'aime…" Elfman grabs it and shoves it back into Sol. The process wakes him back up and he lets out a cry of fear. Elfman grabs a hold of him in one large hand while Sol protests loudly.
"Noo! At least let me fall unconscious!" he begs of Elfman. Ignoring his pleas, Elfman continues to beat up the mage that has tried to kill him only moments ago.
Worried that her brother may be losing control, Mira calls out, "Elfman!" to try to get his attention. The pale purple form of Sol tries to escape and lets out a faint goodbye as Elfman's attention has now shifted. Moving quickly, Elfman rushes outside and hurries towards his sister as his form shrinks. She doesn't notice that the pale yellow glow in Elfman's eyes has faded away so his gaze is now clear.
Worried that the beast has taken over, she cautiously asks, "So…Can you…" Hopping around as a fast pace, Elfman comes closer and closer to Mira without saying anything and her worry and fear rises. "...hear my voice?" she finishes weakly. A large clang of claws on metal sounds as Elfman lands next to his older sister. He growls as he looks at her.
"Could you have lost your reason again?" she asks, afraid for her brother and for herself. "Elfman!" she calls out, hoping to reach him within the beast. With a quick movement, Elfman lunges forward which causes Mira to flinch. A strong shove and the crushing sensation is replaced by the feeling of a strong arm wrapped around her body. Looking up in shock, she stares at her brother's face feeling speechless.
"I'm sorry nee-chan… You must never have wanted to see me like this again. Because I wasn't able to control it, Lisanna…" Elfman says gruffly in a sad voice. He pulls her away from the edge of the fingers so she can stand upright before enveloping his sister in a hug.
When her voice returns, she says in quiet shock, "You still have your reason!"
"But I didn't know what else to do." Elfman continues, still upset. "I had to get stronger to protect you and Fairy Tail!" He ends with conviction, waiting to hear his sister pass her judgment.
She smiles softly up at her little brother before saying, "Lisanna's death wasn't your fault. You were trying your best to protect us both back then." At her kind words, Elfman releases his magic to return back to normal.
"But I failed." he retorts sadly, looking downcast as the guilt returns. "Lisanna died." he continues. A soft look enters Mira's eyes and she goes to lean against her brother in a hug.
"But I'm still here." she replies warmly.
"Nee-chan…" Elfman says, while feeling a mixture of emotions. Hate, rage, guilt, grief, fear, love, kindness, warmth all swirling within him like a maelstrom.
"We decided together, remember? To live in her stead. To work as hard as we could…" The white-haired woman says warmly, encouragingly to help her brother through his troubling emotions. At hearing her words, his love for his sister grew and all the other negative feelings faded away. His eyes closed as he struggled not to cry. His efforts fail as tears leak out from his eyes.
Elfman throws back his head and yells, "Nee-chan! I'm so glad you're alright!" before he starts to sob loudly. With her hands on her hips, Mira looks on at her crying brother with amused exasperation.
"And how is crying going to help anything?" she asks.
"But!" he cries out in protest, unable to say anything else due to the grief that he suffered through again due to Sol merciless attack to his memories. His sister looks up at him with her eyes full of love.
"Thank you, Elfman…" she says before her attention is pulled away.
"What is it nee-chan?" Elfman manages to say as he calms down from his emotional outburst.
"The giant isn't writing as quickly…" she says thoughtfully. They both turn to face the ever growing magic circle for Abyss Break. Indeed the arm that is making the circle has slowed down. Mira starts to mumble to herself as she tries to puzzle out why the arm has slowed down.
"The forbidden magic of the four elements… Abyss Break… The four elements. Fire, water, wind, and earth." She gasps as she makes a connection. Turning to face her brother, she asks seriously, "Elfman, how many of the Element 4 are left?" Surprised by her question, he looks off to the side as he thinks it over.
"Hmm, um… That'd make two left, I guess?" he replies.
"As I thought!" she responds quickly. "Each time we get one of them, the giant's movements slow down!" she explains.
"Why is that?" Elfman asks, not knowing what she has been thinking about.
"In other words, this giant is powered by the four elements. If we can defeat all of the Element 4, we can stop the magic!" she tells her brother. At hearing this, he perks up.
"Really?" he asks excitedly.
"Hurry! The remaining two should be somewhere inside the giant!" Mira exclaims, trying to get her brother to quickly find the others.
"R-Right!" he stutters, before turning to run back into the transformed guildhall. His sister follows close behind to help search.
@#@#@#@@@#@#
Unbeknownst to the two siblings, all of their family on the beach lets out a collective sigh of relief once they find out Mira is safe. Erza has woken up during Krysti's screams and sobs after the guild's model was taken. The two has been holding onto each other, comforting one another until cheering could be heard from the beach. Almost as one, they moved off of the table Erza was on and headed just a little ways out of the guildhall, each helping hold up the other.
"Rondo! What's going on?" Erza shouts out to a nearby guild member who has been fighting with a magic bo staff. The named person whips his head around and a large smile grows on his face.
"Erza! You're awake!" His shouts catches the attention of the rest of the guild, and they start to cheer that both injured members are awake and moving. Cana, runs over and almost knocks them both over in her rush to hug them.
"Erza! I'm so glad you're awake!" Steadying themselves, Erza then proceeds to hug her long-time friend back.
"Yes, I am too. What happened that caused everyone to cheer earlier?" she says in her not-quite demanding tone that is typical of Erza.
"Mira has been rescued by Elfman." Cana tells the two excitedly. A smile grows on the face of the redhead. Seeing the happy looks at the mention of the siblings names, Krysti realizes that they must be ok and she too starts to smile as relief floods through her. All three of them share a group hug out of joy.
"Also…" Cana pauses as she gives them a gleeful look, "Elfman did it in a full body Take Over."
Erza's eyes almost pop out of her head. "Are you sure, Cana?" the scarlet-haired woman asks in a much more serious tone while Krysti looks on confused. The bikini top clad woman nods her head.
"Saw it with my own eyes. He finally, truly moved on." Erza lets out a large sigh of relief and a small smile graces her features.
"I'm so happy for them both. Now if only Mira can move on as well…" she trails off. Cana nods in agreement. Krysti just stands there biting her lip and just bursting with curiosity. A couple of Shades flies in planning on attacking the distracted group of girls. Before they could hit, two fists made of smoke rushes in and destroys them. Krysti lets out a squeal of surprise while Cana and Erza just look startled.
"You girls might want to plan to have your discussions later, maybe when we aren't getting attacked?" Wakaba scolds. Cana nods her head in agreement before pointing back towards the guildhall.
"Erza, Krysti. You two both get back in the guildhall where it's safe. You are too injured to fight. You'll get in the way more than help as you are." Krysti nods, understanding what Cana means by her body language and tone and starts to move back to the guildhall with Erza in tow. She gets jerked back as Erza doesn't move.
"Cana, I can fight now. I'm fine." States the redhead stubbornly. Cana glares at her.
"No you are not! Between you and Krysti, I can't tell who looks more like a mummy!" her eyes softens as she places her hands on Erza's shoulders. "We don't want you to get hurt any more than you are. You won't be any use if you go and get yourself killed when you're not strong enough to fight. Just knowing you're awake has already boosted our morale. We will be fine out here while Gray, Natsu, and Elfman are fighting in the giant. Now go and rest." Erza stares into Cana's eyes for a moment more and Krysti slightly tugs on her to encourage her to go back inside.
"Come on, Erza. The more we rest now, the faster we can recover our strength and help fight." Krysti says gently. Erza quickly looks over at the older brunette, realizing that her translator is gone again. Krysti gently tugs on Erza's arm again and reluctantly she allows Krysti to help her get back inside to rest.
After Elfman's battle with Sol, Natsu and Happy are still making their way up high into the guildhall giant without finding any Phantom mages to fight. As they enter a gargoyle lined hall, a thought occurs to Natsu and he decides to share it with Happy to get his opinion as well.
"I just thought of something good, Happy!" He crows with a wide grin. The blue cat flies down to get closer to Natsu so they can talk easier.
"What?" he asks with a hopeful smile on his face.
With an uncharacteristically giddy smile on his face, Natsu turns to look at Happy as he states proudly, "If we beat up José , then that'd end the fight, right?" Shocked by that announcement, Happy forgot to fly and fell to the floor. He jumps back up into the air and faces Natsu as the dragon slayer keeps running down the hall.
"What are you saying?" Happy asks angrily. "José is just as powerful as our own master! Someone like you could never beat him, Natsu!" Happy continues in a scolding tone. At hearing this, Natsu gets sullen and pouts.
"But Gramps isn't here, so who else is gonna?" he asks, still pouting that his best friend doesn't like his idea. Natsu's words strike deep within the cat's heart and a wave of gloom washes over him.
"Natsu, you idiot!" he says in great despair. Hearing the sadness in Happy's voice causes Natsu to stop running in surprise. "I was trying not to think about it, but you made me remember!" Happy accuses him angrily.
"Wha?" Natsu shouts back, feeling defensive. Happy floats in front of the dragon slayer, eyes closed and his whole body drooping forward as his depression grows.
"That's right… Master is gone… Erza is gone… No matter what will happens in this war, in the end José will…" He is cut off as Natsu reaches up and put an encouraging hand on top of Happy's head. Caught off guard, Happy lets out a small gasp as he open his eyes wide to see Natsu grinning up at him with that devil-may-care grin of his. The one that inspires hope in all who see it.
"I'm here, aren't I?" Natsu asks, completely confident in himself. Happy looks at him, not knowing what to think. Natsu then closes his eyes while grinning wider. "Right?" he asks of Happy.
His confidence restored thanks to Natsu, Happy shouts out a joyful, "Aye!" and as one the two friends start to hurry back down the hallways looking for the power source of the giant. Happy turns his head to look at the running figure of his best friend and wonders what is it about Natsu that can give someone so much hope for the future no matter how dire the situation.
They soon enter a large room with a fancy red rug blanketing almost the entire floor. Bronze-looking pillars with green orbs on top line the sides of the carpet creating a path through the room.
Partway into the room, a sudden blast of air streaks up from behind to knock away the two Fairy Tail members. So completely caught off guard, Natsu falls over backwards and lands on the back of his neck, legs high in the air. Annoyed, he flips up to a sitting position as a voice calls out from a whirlwind that has appeared in the room.
"The sorrow!" it cries out. The whirlwind dissipates to reveal a large figure cloaked in green and wearing a green top hat. The cloak flaps in a wind not felt by the other two. With his head bowed and body hunched over somewhat, the man continues to speak sadly, "The wings of flame, clipped… Falling to the ground…" the mysterious man starts to stand up straight as he speaks. "Ah, and all that's left is the corpse of a dragon!"
Getting mad, Natsu stands up with a fist upraised planning on beating up the guy in front of him.
"Natsu, he's one of the Element 4!" Happy warns worriedly. The man in green lifts his head to reveal that his eyes are covered in bandages and that he is crying excessively.
"My name is Aria!" he sobs out. He raises a hand in the air by his head with his thumb across his palm and the other four fingers sticking straight up in the air. "I am the top of the Element 4! And I have come to hunt me a dragon!" he proclaims sadly, still crying.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone