บท 19: Chapter 17
"What do you think you're doing to Natsu and Master Makarov?!" Erza yells at me with an enraged look on her face.
Damn it. I don't have time for this right now.
I partially draw my sword and start to open the second eye, but a sword flies at me and I'm forced to defend myself instead of casting the teleport magic. Erza has equipped her Heaven's Wheel armor and surrounded the area with swords, cutting off any escape routes.
"You think I would let you escape?" Erza stands tall and blocks my way. "I will not allow an enemy of my guild to roam free."
"Didn't your master tell you not to fight me? I'm more of an ally than an enemy to you." I explain with impatience. "Now, get out of my way. I'm in a rush."
Erza doesn't move an inch. Instead, her expression gets even more fierce and her anger even more prominent.
"You would call yourself an ally, even as you stand above my fallen comrades?" Erza's glare holds me in place. "I heard Master Makarov's words, but now it is clear that you are my enemy. He said that we wouldn't fight you so long as you didn't harm our own. That is no longer the case."
"You pig-headed woman, can't you look around yourself and see what happened here?" This is getting annoying, I need to go help Elfman. I can hear that his battle isn't going well for him. "Zancrow here was about to kill Natsu and Makarov was on his deathbed. If it wasn't for me, they'd both be dead by now! I even spent my magic power to heal that old man. Now, let me pass."
Erza looks down at the headless body of Zancrow, then she strafes her view over her two fallen allies, but even so, she doesn't lower her weapons. She locks her gaze back onto me and raises her swords once again.
"What you say may indeed be the case, however, my course is unchanged. I don't know what schemes you have conjured up or what you intend to do here, but it is clear to me that I cannot let you go."
"What is your problem with me?" I don't understand. "Should you not be looking to fight those who are harming your guild, rather than wasting time and energy on me? Can you simply not look past your pride and allow yourself to accept the help of someone you consider a villain? I am trying to save someone from your guild before he gets killed, blocking me here is the same as killing him yourself." I take a deep breath after I finish my rant and coldly deliver my last few words. "I will only say it one more time. Get out of my way. Now."
Even after hearing that I am trying to help her guild, Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's Titania, does not waver. When she speaks, her voice is dangerously low, filled with barely contained bloodlust.
"After I left Juvia, I got worried that she might not be able to handle that girl after all." She starts speaking and I already know that there will be no convincing her. "When I returned, the girl was gone and Juvia had been killed. As someone who uses swords myself, there is no way that I couldn't identify her wound. It came from a blade much thinner than those magic blades that the girl used. They came from a katana." She points her sword at my own and yells out her next words with all her rage. "You dare to call yourself my ally after you've killed my friend?!"
It's as I feared. Luckily, it sounds like Meredy had already gotten away, so at least some good came out of this. However, right now I can't afford to waste time thinking about that. I need to get past Erza, now. I'll try once more. If this doesn't work, I'll have to break through.
"Casualties are inevitable in war, both sides will always suffer when a battle occurs. I think that you should focus on saving the lives that can still be saved before you go searching for vengeance. I am going to save Elfman. If you still want revenge after this is all over, you can come and fight me then."
"No," Erza instantly denies. "I trust in my allies, they will not die. The only one who has died was killed by you. This isn't about revenge. I will defeat you here to protect my friends."
If I wasn't so frustrated, I would have scoffed at her answer. Fairy Tail mages really do live in a fairy-tale world. Even after knowing one of those friends has died, she refuses to accept that it could happen to someone else. She blames everything on me when she doesn't even know that Zancrow killed someone from her guild as well. If I don't get past her now, Elfman could be added to that list of casualties as well. That is something that cannot happen.
Without warning, I launch myself at her and slice the wings off of the right side of her armor. I don't want to wound one of Fairy Tail's best fighters before the war is over, so I go after her mobility instead. With her wings unusable, I jump into the air and form a pair of wings to rapidly elevate myself away from her. I just need enough space to activate my teleportation.
However, it is never so easy. A sea of swords circles around me and attacks constantly. Not giving me any room to escape. Even If I had the time to use the second eye, the swords are blocking my vision, so I don't have anywhere to go. I cut them down and destroy them one by one, but there are simply too many of them.
"White Sword Art: Bloody Branches"
My sword splits apart and stabs through Erza's flying blades, shattering them one by one. When there is finally a gap big enough to escape through, I charge for it with all my might. Just before I make it through, all the swords around me disappear. I have no time to wonder what's going on before a strong grip clamps down on my ankle and throws me back to the ground.
Erza has requipped into her black wing armor and flown up after me. Her speed in the air with that armor seems to be faster than my own. Even so, I much prefer this armor to the last. If she only has one weapon, she cannot stop me. It doesn't matter how fast she is.
"Come to me, Tower of Dingir!" My hearing faintly picks up on Rustyrose's voice and I realize that I've run out of time. "Crush these foolish fairies with all your sadness and send them back to the earth!"
Shit! I need to get there, now! Rustyrose is done playing around with them and it doesn't sound like anyone is close enough to help them.
I start to open the second eye on my sword again and Erza charges to attack and prevent me once again.
"I told you," She yells. "I won't let you run away!"
Her sword rapidly gets closer, but I pay it no heed. Now that there is only one blade, I can just ignore it. Erza's blade pierces right through my chest as I make no effort to block or avoid it. She looks shocked at the sight as if she can't believe it. She expected me to block it, and now she probably thinks she killed me.
With her sword still in my chest, we both teleport high into the sky above. I kick her away from me while she's still in a shocked stupor and look at the massive tower in the distance. I teleport to the ground right next to it, only the sword in my chest comes with me this time.
"Elfman…" A choked sob comes from the tower in front of me while I rush there.
Hurry! You have to make it in time.
"Thank you, Ever." Another sorrowful voice, even though it's far more mature, I can still clearly recognize my big brother.
I'm dashing forward with as much speed as I can muster, I haven't even bothered taking the sword out. Because of the distance, the spot I chose to teleport to was a tiny bit off. That tiny bit could make all the difference if I don't hurry!
"Scatter," Rustyrose's voice comes, he's just a tiny bit in front of me. I can make it! "To the depths of Darkne…"
His voice is cut off along with his head. I just barely made it in time! I look up at the tower that will disappear soon and a small smile touches my lips.
"Elfman." My voice is soft. So, quiet that I doubt he even heard me.
For some reason, I'm feeling incredibly nervous now that I'm here. As he looks at me, recognition instantly appears on Elfman's face and his tears increase drastically.
"...Cyrus…" He manages to call out in between his sobs. "Cyrus, what have you…"
BOOM!
I stand still in shock as my big brother's voice is cut off by an explosion. An explosion that happened right in front of me. An explosion that should have been stopped.
I can only stand still and watch as the tower crumbles and a shower of blood rains down on me from above. My brother's blood. Mixed with the stone rubble falling from the sky are bloody chunks of meat. Body parts and entrails that have been blasted into the sky fall to the ground with unsettling splattering noises. My brother's body parts.
I can't speak. I can't move. I can't even think. All I can do is stare in shocked silence at the undeniable truth.
I was too late.
I am knocked out of my stupor when something hits me in the shoulder and fall to the ground at my feet. My eyes slowly, painfully, look to the ground. I have felt enough of those to know exactly what just hit me. Lying at my feet is a severed head. Elfman's head lies on the ground, staring up at me with dead and empty orbs. The lower half of his jaw is missing.
Why?
I collapse to my knees and carefully put my hands on either side of his head.
Why?
I hunch over and touch my forehead to Elfman's.
Why?
Tears flow down from my eyes and my sobs resound throughout the forest.
Why did this happen?
Rustyrose was already dead. Why did the tower still explode? Why didn't I just get them out of it instantly? Why did I just assume that everything would be okay once I killed him? Why is my big brother dead?
This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to defeat Grimoire Heart, alongside Fairy Tail. I was supposed to reunite with my family after so long and cry together in tears of joy. I was alone for so long, but I always knew that I still had a family. I was supposed to go back to them. Back home. Even if I couldn't join Fairy Tail after the war, I would have traveled the world while staying hidden. Every once in a while, I would stop by to see my siblings and catch up with one another. I was supposed to be happy.
What happened?
What went wrong?
Whose fault is this?
If I was never here, would the story have gone the way it was supposed to? I don't remember what happened in the story, but I can at least remember that nobody from Fairy Tail died here. Pantherlily wouldn't have been killed by Zancrow and Natsu would have beaten him. Wendy would have been able to heal Makarov. Maybe Juvia would have stopped Meredy from killing herself, and then none of them would have died. I remember that Elfman and Evergreen became a couple, so that means they didn't die.
Did the changes I made cause this?
Did I kill my brother?
Even I know that my life here hasn't been anything close to what I wanted. I can blame the world all I want, but when it comes down to it, all I've done in this life is spread death and pain everywhere I go. I've always done it while telling myself it's for survival, saying that as long as I stay alive there will be a chance to be better, but I already know that's a lie. Maybe that's how it started, but it stopped being about survival a long time ago.
"You are alive, but you've stopped living a long time ago, haven't you?" A voice enters my mind. A voice that I had rejected as nonsense when I first heard it.
You were exactly right, old man. You saw through this stupid facade I put up in an instant. I'm hollow on the inside, empty. I gave up on my dreams years ago. Values? Morals? I hardly even know what those are anymore. I haven't done anything meaningful in this life. It's been an empty, worthless existence.
I've just been lashing out in hatred at this shitty world. A fantasy? A fairy tale world? An ideal world of dreams and adventure? That's bullshit! When I first came to this world, I thought it was a reward for doing good in my past life, but now I can see it for what it truly is. This is a punishment. My hell was designed to give me hope for a perfect life of excitement and joy, only to viciously rip it apart and erode my sanity bit by bit as I desperately try to get it back.
Looking down at Elfman's head, I wipe away the tears and snot that have built up on my face.
"I'm sorry Elfman." I choke out in a hoarse voice. "If I wasn't here, this wouldn't have happened. You would have gone on to live a life of joy and smiles, overcoming any obstacles with the help of your friends and family. I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
As I finish speaking, I think back to how this all happened and my hands tighten around his skull. No, that's wrong. Life doesn't work that way! This shitty world isn't such a nice place!
If I wasn't here, Azuma would have destroyed the great tree and taken away Fairy Tail's power! If I wasn't here, Meredy would have killed herself along with Gray and Juvia! If I wasn't here Natsu and Makarov would have been killed by Zancrow!
I can't keep clinging to some stupid story about an ideal version of this shitty world. I need to believe what I've seen, and only what I've seen. Everything I've seen tells me that without me, Fairy Tail would be slaughtered here.
Then whose fault is it?
My grip continues to tighten like a vice as anger overcomes my senses.
Whose fault is it that I couldn't save my brother?
Who stopped me?
I was going to get here much sooner than I did, but that stupid woman got in my way! That pig-headed bitch who couldn't look past her desire for revenge stopped me from saving him. I told her, over and over again, that I was trying to save someone. Even after hearing that Elfman was in trouble, that vicious woman abandoned him! If she just listened to me, I would have gotten here before the stupid tower was even created!
Whose fault is it that my brother is dead?
My hands squeeze harder and harder and crunches can be heard from the object between them.
Erza Scarlet killed him.
A burst noise along with the squelch of squashed meat resounds from between my hands and blood and brain matter splattered across my body and face.
I'll slaughter that stupid bitch! I'll tear her apart limb from limb! I'll rip off her skin, put it back on, and do it again! I'll lavish in the sounds of her screams even as they rip her throat apart and she chokes to death on her own blood!
"Elfman, don't worry," I whisper in a voice that cannot be called human. "I'll avenge you."
When I stand up, I take one last glimpse at the pile of flesh and blood before me before disregarding it. Now that he is dead, that is nothing more than a pile of meat. My brother is already gone.
I finally decided to return my body to fighting shape now that my course has been decided. My wings retract back into my body and the stab wound in my stomach weaves itself back together. My legs were already morphed, so they just stayed that way.
I teleported here in a hurry, so I don't remember where I came from, nor do I remember Erza's scent. That means that all I can do is try to locate her based on sound. For now, I only need to decide a direction to walk in.
I search for signs of battle and start to run in the direction where I can hear conflict. Erza Scarlet is one of Fairy Tail's strongest fighters. She will also be looking for battles to join, so by heading there, I can find her.
Erza Scarlet. I don't care if you could help against Hades, Grimoire Heart is pretty much defeated already.
Meredy has given up. I killed Zancrow and Rustyrose. When I was waiting for a chance to kill Zancrow, I heard Zoldeo getting killed by Capricorn. Ultear is with Zeref, and I don't know what happened between Kain and Gajeel, but they are the only two members of the Kin left and they're hardly a threat to me. That means that my only real enemies left are Bluenote and Hades.
Erza is unnecessary. I can kill her whenever I want to.
She will regret taking my brother away from me.
.....
Hades was surprised.
The war was going much worse than he had expected. White's betrayal was proving to be far more potent than Hades had ever imagined. He had just killed Rustyrose, which makes four members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory who have been neutralized by him.
He siding with the enemy is one. He then convinced Meredy to withdraw from the conflict, getting rid of a second member of the Kin. Next, he killed Zancrow. Now, Rustyrose. Add that to the fact that Zoldeo had been forced out of Capricorn and killed and Kain Hikaru had been defeated by the iron dragon slayer, and there is only one member of the Seven left.
White's ability as an executioner is beyond expectations, but it isn't all bad. Hades allowed the betrayal because he wanted White to become a true monster. He wanted the light's rejection to break his rebellious will and force him to fully embrace the darkness. Now, White is so very close to achieving that.
When White killed the water woman, Hades knew that his gamble had paid off. Fairy Tail's attempt at revenge would drive him into a corner and force him to lash out with his true nature. That's why Hades sent a message to Rustyrose, leading him to Elfman Strauss and telling him to kill him.
Yes, Hades was well aware of White's past, of the past of Cyrus Strauss. Kidnapped from the Strauss family at four years old, he was taken to Brain's experimental training facility and conditioned to be a magic soldier. His three siblings were left alone until they were forced out of their village because of the eldest sister's Take Over magic. They took shelter in Fairy Tail where they soon joined under Makarov.
When Hades learned of this, he immediately saw his opportunity to further condition his pet monster. He only needed to set the proper stage.
Fairy Tail's Erza Scarlet would stop White from saving his long-lost elder brother. White would arrive too late and would see his death. That death would shatter him, break his will, and destroy his resolve. His quest for freedom and rebellion would take a back seat to his thirst for revenge.
He would hunt down the one who was responsible for his brother's death. Of course, her allies would defend her from him, and then White would be in open conflict with Fairy Tail. He would be overwhelmed by their numbers and come to Hades for help. That would solidify Hades' control over him and the monster would be successfully tamed.
Now, all Hades had to do was wait.
Unknown to Hades, Bluenote Stinger had just left the airship and advanced onto Tenrou Island in search of Fairy Glitter.
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