The final battle... The end 6

"..." Irene and the other appeared within a world that was swallowed in darkness, they all looked around for some time, trying to see through it, but the darkness was too thick. they tried speaking to each other, but they could barely even see each other unless hear each other.

they looked at each for some time not knowing what to do, but Irene suddenly singled to all of them to quiet down and focus. doing as she asked, all of them focused and they heard a woman singing, it was faint, but they could barely make out the song.

looking at each other for a moment, all of them showed confusion as they didn't know who was singing. so why was this doing in Sora's mind? even so, they went towards the sing. as they neared, it song became clearer and clearer.

Soon, they saw a faint light up ahead, seeing that they all rushed forward. it was like walking in the endless heat of the desert, with no water for days. they would have gone made within the darkness if not for this song which strangely cleared their mind.

When they neared the faint light, they were in shock to see a palm size Lilith rolled up into a ball, Lilith slowly opened her eyes and looked at them for some time before she smiled slightly. she was not the one singing, which confused them slightly, but they understood that she was doing something important.

within her huge, they could barely see a sand size Sora, who seemed to be asleep. Sora was the one who was singing,

"His mother singing could away calm him down and put him to sleep... to save the last bit of him, he did this before it was too late," Lilith said softly, which Irene and the others could hear perfectly fine.

"but it would last... my 5 or so, once he wakes up, the darkness would destroy the last piece of Sora," Lilith said softly, her eyes filled with sadness, this was the man she loved. she was more than happy to share such a burden with him,

"... what can we do to help him?" Irene asked seriously, although stunned that she could hear her voice, she didn't care enough to give it a second thought.

"the shadows feed off regrets... Sora had many. trapped in hell, he was not able to fix any of his regrets, so over time all he could do was hold off the shadows, slowly losing himself. I was able to absorb parts of it, allowing him to go even longer. but since I've died, I can no longer help." She said softly, making all of them frown slightly, how were they going to help him fix his regrets?

"take him, and walk through his memories... what remains now are simply his regrets. so it would not be hard to find them. you should call everyone related to him, once his soul is clean he shall be reborn." Lilith said as she slowly began to disappear, she quickly passed Sora to Irene before she was swallowed by the shadows.

everyone froze seeing this, it was only then they realized that they too were slowly being swallowed by the shadows. they all had heavy hearts before they looked at the small dot of light in Irene's hands,

"... I will go get everyone," Keo said softly, she and her sisters were with Sora through it all, so they would know Sora best. Irene nodded at Keo, before Keo used the one magic, and forcefully sent herself out of this darkness.

outside, it was a complete mess. With Sora going berserker, the world seemed to be on the edge of destruction, the many parallel versions of Natsu were ganging up on Sora, adding that they had so many supports backing them, they seemed to be at a stalemate,

Keo's soul flew out of Sora's body, catching the attention of those supporting Natsu, before her soul could be destroyed in the clashes, she was teleported to a safe spot, where she went on to tell everyone what was happening within Sora's mind, and what was needed. and of course, one of the infinite possibilities of people who were related to Sora in some shape or form moved, entering the shadow, although that was harder said than done, a few of them died leading to them being replaced, but in the end, they all managed to get within Shadow and arrived within that mind space.

but finding Sora was harder said than done within this endless shadow, so, they began walking around, seeking Sora. the original Keo that came out died trying to reenter, so she was replaced with another Keo,

all of them thought about what to do, before they realized their magical energy, hoping that it would be sensed by Irene and the others, who would release their own. but doing this, seemed to have enraged the shadows, which instantly came to life, and began attacking them.

they quickly defend against the shadows, and to their relief, the shadows were not that strong, while fighting the shadows, they soon picked up on a magical signal far away which they realized belonged to Irene, so they quickly headed that way while killing the masters.

"Damn It Sora, you were only 2 years old. what could you have done back then?" Irene yelled while holding her hands out, blocking out the darkness, which was lashing out at them with full power. they stood on the road, where the image of the 2-year-old Sora stood, watching his mother's death

"I know... but All I could do was watch as the person I loved most was taken from me. they were targeting me, in a way... I'm the reason she died." 2-year-old Sora said softly, just watching as his mother used her own life to save him.

"then just bring her back to life after everything is over, owe it up to her, and stop kicking yourself over and over about something you have no control over," Uta yelled to which 2-year-old Sora shook his head.

"Life is filled with a lot of pain, maybe death is better for her," Sora said softly, making everyone go quiet for some time

"what about her reincarnations? instead of kicking yourself over something you couldn't do for her in this life, how able we make it up to her in the next life?" Irene asked, stunning Sora for a moment, Sora slowly turned to look at her for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I will like that..." Sora said softly before he exploded, along with the street around him. everyone sighed in relief, to think the regrets went back as far as when he was 2 years old, this was going to be harder said than done,

the shadow's strength suddenly weakened slightly, and at the same time within Irene's free hand, she saw the dot of light grow brighter, but this only enraged the shadows, which began attacking with even more force, this forced the group to get in the circle, doing everything in their power to block the shadows off.

but the shadows only attacked them for a few seconds before they weakened, returning to the normal rate. it was still fighting in the outside world, it couldn't just throw everyone at one side, it was fighting two battles, and it was outnumbered

Irene and the others quickly moved, heading to the next memory, and they found themselves standing in front of Sora, who was looking at Anna forming contact with Aquarius. Anna who was among the group had a bitter smile, out of everyone here, she might just be up there for the person Sora hated the most.

but she didn't have time to smile as the shadows would of course not allow them to help with Sora's regrets.

"Anna is my bad star, everything that came from her only caused trouble for me. I should have turned her away, I shouldn't have gone to other empires, I shouldn't have helped her find the girl who went missing..." The 11-year-old Sora said as he walked around, and the scene around them changed, showing events that lead to happen because he thought it was a good idea to befriend Anna, everything stopped at the underground cell, where many people were kept locked up.

"I shouldn't have saved anyone here, I should have just given them all a quick death," Sora said coldly, before the scene changed again, showing the day Anna brought Iris and the others to his kingdom, and Sora accepted them.

"I should have turned them down, but I foolishly let them in..." Sora said as he appeared within an underground room, where everyone close to him was being tortured,

"You did nothing wrong, nobody shall that coming... if you are to blame anyone... then it should be me. You were a good king, the fact this weight down on your heart even after so many years shows it." Anna said as she stepped forward towards Sora,

"then kill yourself," Sora said calmly, making Anna freeze for a moment. but she pulled out a dagger and looked deeply at Sora,

"Will this help you move on? if not, I will rather be alive to help you move on." She said making Sora slowly turn to look at her.

"You feel guilt, it's okay. but you did nothing wrong, you even got revenge for them. although I didn't like how you went about it, they could move on feeling grateful... you never checked, but they have all reincarnated," Irene said softly, making Sora look at her for a moment.

"... some of them you even meant, funny enough they joined fairy tail," Irene said making Sora turn to look at Iris for a moment, who had tears at the corner of her eyes.

"If my death will help... I can do it." Iris said softly, Sora looked at her for a moment and looked at those around him.

"where did you go after giving birth?" Sora asked softly, Iris froze for a moment before she slowly in a weak voice.

"I died..." Iris said weakly, but that was not the whole story, she was planning on killing herself after the battle between Irene and Sora was done. the act of betraying the person she loved most was huge, and it was just too much,

the poison Sora drank that day was weak, that was because she weakened it, diluted it, and drank it after everything was done, but she quickly found she was pregnant. So, she fought off the poison, making sure it could affect the child before she died.

"..." Sora looked at her for a moment, before he slowly began to disappear, Iris thought for a moment that Sora forgive her, but with the way Sora was looking at her, she realized Sora was not going to ever trust her.

"what's with that look, she suffered 9 months from the titan poison out of guilt for her actions, all while doing everything in her power to make sure your daughter was born healthy," Irene said with a deep frown while holding back the shadows

"what do you mean?" Sora asked in confusion,

"the fact she betrayed you... that was my doing, she only did it to perfect Erza. we would have killed each other if it wasn't for her. so what with you treating her like that? what are you trying to say? she should have helped you kill me?" Irene said angrily, Sora was at a loss for words for a moment,

"It's okay," Iris said softly. In Iris's eyes, she betrayed her hero, so all of the hate Sora can throw at her was justified. but this only enraged Irene.

"Iris backstabbing and the falling out, you have no one to blame but you and me. I pretty much told them what to do, so why are you pointing the blame at someone?" Irene said coldly, she was not going to have Sora take the full blame. after all, she was the party leader, it was her responsibility to manage the team.

Sora looked at Irene, indeed he should have hated her as she was pretty much the mastermind behind it all. but he never did... it was funny to think he still liked her through everything, but she was the only woman who made him truly happy

Sora disappeared, followed by the underground dungeon. again, the shadow weakened, and the light within Irene's hands grew brighter. Everyone sighed softly seeing this before they turned towards the deeper parts of the shadows... but they all suddenly froze at the sight before them.

Iris coughed up some mouthfuls of blood, Anna seeing this, rushed over to help, but her blood suddenly filled the air. the shadow behind her slowly took form, taking the shadow of Sora, but his flesh was completely dark.

"you might as well join the shadows, a worthy sacrifice." The shadow Sora said with a cold smile, Irene shot forward, but she was too slow as the shadows swallowed Anna and Iris and disappeared, the sounds of mad laughs sounded throughout the shadow world, leaving Irene gritting her teeth slightly.

"Let's go... they were just one of the infinite possibilities," Irene said softly, but she knew well that they were the originals, no one pointed that out as well and went deeper while on guard for any attacks.

but they soon felt something behind them, turning around, they saw a group of people arriving before them. at first, they were on guard, but seeing Keo was leading them, they relaxed slightly,

So, the group headed deeper, and soon they arrived in a forest. they looked around only to find Sora sitting on top of a tree with Irene, overlooking the elf's forest down below.

"I guess most of my regrets are gathered around you... I made your life hell. at the end of the day, I should have stayed away from you." Sora softly made Irene who was with the others frown slightly,

"you did make my life hell... so your way of fixing it is what? stop being a baby and get your ass out of here and fix it. the past is written, and the future is yet to be written. you doing nothing is pretty much watching a house burn down and dropping to use a cup of water to put out the water." Irene said coldly, stunning the newcomers shouldn't she be using gentle words?

"This is stupid, regrets this and regrets that... how many more years do you plan to roll up in your mistakes, don't give me some BS about the shadows. you're the strongest person I know, yet look at you? where is your pride?" Irene asked, making Sora frown slightly but before he could speak, Irene cut him off.

"don't say the shadow had the strength the regrets over the many years or something like that. we are standing face to face, look at everyone who came to save you. you're honestly going to sit there and make excuses? You going to let the past just control you?" Irene asked making Sora slowly look at everyone who was there.

indeed there were a lot of people, everyone from their old party, Erza, Mavis, the demon lords, Chronos, the 12 celestial spirits along with the celestial spirit king, and many others.

"you have a grandson... is that not enough to give you the power to fight?" Irene asked softly sensing the shadows around them grow restless. the barrier they put up shattered, irene's eyes shrank as she saw Iris and Anna, they pretty much became the shadow's 2nd and 3rd brain, allowing it to multitask.

"..." The hope within most of their eyes disappeared, and the shadow had Iris's mind, and Anna's summoning capability, how knew what the battle outside looked like now?

Sora sat there watching them all struggle, he had no strength to fight, he was nothing more than a shell of the past. all he could do was just sit there and watch... but who could feel nothing while watching something like this? but he was weak, he felt like someone who had just woken up from a deep sleep and didn't even have the strength to sit up.

there were more than a hundred regrets which could be found, the shadow had taken many and strengthened them...

'damn it, what is the deepest regret the shadow is using... no it's not a regret. it's me. I'm my worst enemy after all. the shadow was always with me, just hiding. Shadow magic simply gave it the power needed to show themselves.' Sora thought as he shakingly got up, the shadow grew more restless which Irene and the others noticed

"What a drag..." Sora said with a wake and tired smile, he felt weak, he felt like he used everything he had to pick something up, leaving his headlight. Irene's hand which held the light felt empty, as the light shot out of the gap within her hand, and shot towards Sora, and into his chest

"... forming barriers to hide from me. What's the point when you're are me?" Sora asked softly, the shadow around them shook, before it took the form shadow Sora,

"Who said I was hiding? are you trying to strengthen your confidence?" Shadow Sora asked with a mocking smile,

"Well, the chances of fighting and defeating myself is 50/50... with the state I'm in, thats even less," Sora said softly, to which Shadow Sora frowned slightly, unlike Sora, Shadow Sora can read Sora's thoughts to a limited degree.

"Well, that would be if I ignored the fact that... Unlike you, I'm not alone, to think this would have such a cheesy ending." Sora said as he weakly rested against the tree

"but I watched enough anime to know I don't need to fight you to win..." Sora said softly before taking a deep breath, shadow Sora suddenly roared and shot toward Sora. Irene and the others tried to move to stop him, but the shadows blocked their way.

"Thanks for showing me my weakness, to think I'm so emotional," Sora said as he weakly pushed his fist forward, just in time to meet the shadow fist. shockingly, the shadow Sora fist which seemed to have an endless amount of power behind it was stopped.

"Mistakes are made to learn, making more mistakes isn't a bad thing... so long as I learn from them and grow. Thats a lesson I learned long ago, but you hide it from me. and made me fear facing the mistakes of the past." Sora said making the shadows slowly begin to disappear,

"no, I didn't spend trillions of years fighting for nothing." Shadow Sora roared as he began punching none stop, only for Sora to mockingly look at him.

"You lucky I can't torture you... make me go through such BS for so fucking long. the shit I would have done to you would have made the gods suffering peacefully." Sora said softly within shadow Sora's ear, making him have chills run through him. he instantly disappeared, not wanting Sora to suddenly find a way to do such a thing.

"And thats how you scare off your evil half," Sora said softly, before his eyes suddenly rolled backward, and he fell off the tree. he didn't hit the ground, and instead fell into Irene's hands, who sighed softly while looking at Sora, it seemed to be all over.