Chapter 42

Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail. Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned something like that?

Beta Reader: volfwildman

Cover Art by KegiSpringfield

(3rd Person Battle POV)

Sol considered himself a humble man.

Sure, he was proud of his S-class status, but he knew that amongst his fellow S-class mages at Phantom Lord that was the weakest of them all. He didn't have Aria's utter power, Gajeel's insane durability, Juiva's mastery over her magic or Totomaru's sheer versatility.

That said he still held himself up to a certain image when he was acting as a mage of Phantom Lord.

That image was rapidly crumbling.

"Darkness Steam"

Sol clenched his teeth as he was forced to use his impressive acrobatics skills against the several streams of dark hands that Mira had just launched at him. They came too fast for him to sink into the ground, but he had just enough dexterity to dodge the attack. Sadly, he couldn't dodge the next one.

Just as Sol finished his impressive dodging Mira all but appeared in a flash beside him, her face full of rage has she sent him flying with a swipe from her right hand.

Mira had a new appearance, one that was far more intimidating than her usual look. In a single moment of rage, she had broken through a mental barrier that had held for years in her mind and was now using the full power of her Takeover magic.

"Satan Soul" was the form she had taken. Her usually well-kept hair stood wildly straight up, her normal dress was replaced with a very revealing red one-piece suit that was open in the front and just barely covered her private areas. She also had red stockings and a pair of gauntlets that covered her transformed hands that looked like they belonged to a dragon. Along with all of this she had a long metallic tail and a pair of giant bat wings that allowed her to maneuver at high speeds.

In this form, she was for the last minute or so been fighting Sol, well maybe fighting was a generous term. Mainly she allowed her rage to consume her as she kept attacking and attacking at the target of said rage while Sol tried desperately to not die.

Credit where credit is due Sol was doing great up until that last attack that sent him crashing into that wall. But even with the power behind that attack, he was still up. Hurting like hell and even his magical suit was showing some damage but still up. Mira having finally hit him stood there for a few seconds as she tried to take control of the ocean of rage she was feeling which would unfortunately not be now as Sol was back on his feet and preparing a spell.

"Sable Dance" All attempts Mira was doing to take control of her rage was stopped when sand erupted from the ground around her and promptly started to assault her. It didn't do much damage as her new form gave her some great durability. That said the Sand spell was just powerful enough to do some damage and cause her to once more go into a frenzy.

"Black Air" In an impressive display of both Darkness and Air magic the area around Mira erupted into a flurry of back colored wind that made quick work of the assaulting Sand magic before disappearing and allowing the demonic Takeover mage to see Sol standing beside the craters he had created when he hit the wall.

With a swift swish of her wings, she was upon him as she appeared next to him and raised her right hand to once more repeat the attack that had hit him before. Sadly, for Mira Sol's body started to flash, it revealed itself to be a "Statue de la Terre" that exploded and sent the white-haired women flying back and sliding across the ground. Before she could get up Sol unleashed another attack from his hidden location from within the wall.

"Roche Concerto" Like with the sand spell an eruption of rocks came from below Mira and assaulted her body. Also like with the sand spell it did little damage but was still enough to get the Takeover mage's rage to shine once more as she let out a roar and sent out a wave of Darkness magic that sent the assaulting earth away.

However, the rocks didn't go too far as they paused mid-air. Mira held enough control to try and get ready for whatever would come but that ended up failing as the ground beneath her smoothed out and she swiftly fell waist-deep into the new mud-like floor. To make matters worse the paused rock was sent right back at her and with a mighty crash each one impacted into her and turned into mud just like the ground. Then after a second, all the mud hardens to form a prison of earth that surrounds the Fairy Tail mage.

Sol took this time to come out of his hiding place from the wall and let out a sigh. He was already decently tired from his fight with Elfman but now he had to fight a mage that was much more powerful than him. He had been lucky so far to dodge most of her attack and the only reason he was holding his own was due to his rather honorless tactics which left a bitter taste in the Phantom Lord Gentlemen's mouth.

Sol was about to open a hole in the prison for his opponent to breathe and for him to hopefully talk her down before he finally ran out of luck and fell to one of her powerful attacks. But before he could go through with it the hallway started to lightly shake much to his confusion before the earthly prison utterly shattered as the source of the shaking, Mira's roaring was free. It was only thanks to years of experience that allowed Sol to take hold of his surprise and swiftly use his Earth magic to try an attack on the newly freed Takeover mage.

"Lance Terrestre"

Soon a spear-like pillar shot out of the wall from Sol's right and sped forward before crashing into Mira in an explosion of earth and dust covered the area. The Earth mage allowed a smile on his face at the sight before said smile fell when the dust was cleared. Mira was still standing as her right hand was held out showing that she had both blocked and stopped the attack with her palm. The Phantom Lord mage shivered as the Fairy Tail mage sent a glare at him before holding out her other hand where magic was quickly gathering and forming a dark orb.

"Demon Blast"

The dark orb that Mira held soon turning into a beam of pure Darkness magic that raced towards Sol. The Earth mage just barely called upon his own magic to form a wall of earth and stone between him and the attack. Unfortunately for the Gentlemen, the wall proved ineffective once hit it was destroyed from the spell and he found himself blasted with the full force of Mira's rage and magic. He was pushed into the wall and soon after the spell ended with a large explosion that rocked the mech and sent the Phantom Lord mage spiraling off to the side and further down the hallway.

Mira let out a sadistic grin and she took a step forward to play with her opponent some more before she stopped herself. Enough was enough as she did everything in her willpower to get her rage under wraps. Luckily for the white head, she had gotten a good amount of practice over the years with the idiots that she called guildmates and soon the anger was forced down and she breathed a sigh of relief.

With that down, Mira couldn't help but look over her form. It had been years since she had seen this form, but she had to admit that it felt great to be back in it. Like an old outfit that you loved to wear but hadn't worn it in years and when you finally wore it once more it fit perfectly. A happy grin found its way onto her face as she was finally realizing that she could finally come out of retirement and start doing some jobs again. That said she knew that she should take precautions on the first few jobs and take a partner or two with her just in case she didn't have full control of the form like she did back in the day. She started thinking of some people she could do a job with like Bishop, Erza or Elfman-.

The second she thought of her brother her eyes widened as she remembered the reason for her rage and started to look for her fallen sibling. It didn't take long as he was right next to the battle, just a bit down the hallway and she started to walk down the hallway. She got three-quarters of the way there before a voice from behind her caused her to stop and turn back around.

"My, my, Mademoiselle you did quite a number of me." Said Sol has he and finally gotten the strength to stand after the devastating attack. He was hurting all over and would be dealing with some serious bruising and even a few cracked bones, but he was an S-class mage for a reason.

"You were going to kill my brother you fucker! Did you think I was just going to do nothing!" Yell Mira has she started to once more hold down her rage.

Sol an annoyed look before letting out a sigh and speaking, "Did you not hear as I was saying before Mademoiselle? I was in the middle of asking you to take your gentilhomme of a brother and leave before you just yelled, transformed, and attacked me."

The rage that had been building all but left as Mira found herself dumbly blinking at the Phantom mage. After a few seconds of shock, she found her voice and spoke, "But you said you were going to kill him! I know that I kinda blocked out what you were saying afterward but I know for a fact that he said you were going to kill him."

Sol once more let out a sigh as he rubbed his face a little before giving Mira a raised eyebrow, "I had been ordered by Master Jose to kill any opponent I had but I am no tueur, a messieur and a spy yes but, not a tueur. In fact, I quite like your frère, I feel like I truly connected with him as a fellow messieur. Like I said before I was asking you to just take him, I turned around and pretended that you took him front under my nose."

Mira just stood there awkwardly as she processed what Sol had said. She found herself cursing her anger once more. A part of her wishes she had tried to completely be done away with after Lissanna's death, but Bishop's words back then had hit a certain chord with her, and she found that she didn't want to completely get rid of a major part of her. In the end, it just meant she had to work on controlling it better.

Mira sheepishly rubbed the back of her hand and gave Sol an apologizing smile. "Sorry about this. I kinda just snapped when I thought you were going to kill my brother. I guess I should thank you since that snap got me out of my funk that kept me from fully using my magic. I'll just be taking my brother and going then."

Before Mira could turn around Sol spoke. "No," he stated firmly, "Now that we've started fighting, I can't just stop now. I have my honor as a messieur and an S-class mage on the line."

A part of Sol really did want to just let her go with her brother, but he just found that he couldn't turn a blind eye to the fight he had been just barely surviving. He knew full well that he would lose but he would lose with his pride of putting up a fight as an S-class mage of Phantom Lord.

Mira gave Sol a raised eyebrow, "Really? No offense but I think we both know you're not going to win. We start fighting and I'm just going to slaughter you."

Sol grimaced at her choice in words before composing himself, "Oh I agree with you, Mademoiselle. You will most likely win this fight. That said I propose idée. One attack each. You and I unleash the most powerful attack we can, and whichever prevails wins."

Mira took a second to think about it but ended up grinning as she took a ready stance and began to gather magic. "Ok old man! You want a big finale then I'll give it to you but it's not changing the fact that I'm going to win."

Sol just let out a chuckle before smiling and preparing his own attack. "We shall make Mademoiselle. Your right that I am old but you'll find that this 'old man' still has some steam left!"

For a few seconds, the two just stood there and prepared. Both were pouring a large amount of magic into this final clash and for Sol, he would be using up all that he had left. Soon time to pause and both knew that everything was ready as they stared at each other in determination before releasing their spells.

"Soul Extinctor" "Grand Platre Sonata"

Mira held a powerful orb of Darkness magic in both her hands before thrusting both of said hands forward and unleashing a devastating beam of darkness that shot towards Sol. Sol, in turn, held out his hand and a massive magic circle appeared before a massive rock fist shot out of the circle that sparkled and shined with powerful Earth magic as it made its way over to Mira.

Soon the two powerful attacks made contact and clashed. Sol had truly given his all as his spell held ground against Mira's spell. For a few agonizingly slow seconds, the two attacks refused to move. All that was needed was for one attack to give the slightest leeway for the other to win the clash. And soon one did.

For a split second, Sol lost his concentration as the event from the day started to way down his mind and body. Sadly, for him, that was all Mira needed to take the lead. Slowly the beam of Darkness inched forward has it pushed back the massive fist of stone. Sol gritted his teeth as he surprised himself and let out a very ungentlemanly roar as he forced all his will power to stop the beam of darkness and even started to push back.

Sol looked at this and smiled. Despite the odds being against him, he was proving his status as an S-class mage. Sadly, though he used all his remaining will and stamina to get this fair and with a sad sigh, he dropped his hands, no longer able to keep the attack up. The beam of darkness all but shattered the stone fist and soon hit Sol.

The beam carried him all the way down the hallway until he soon impacted the end of said hallway upon which Mira's attack finished with a massive explosion that took a decent chunk of the mech. When all was said and done and the dust cleared Sol laid unconscious in a crater, a smile on his face.

With the clash was done Mira let out a breath she had been holding. That had taken a lot more out of her then she had thought it would. She wanted to think that it was because she was out of practice, but she knew full well that it was because the old man had given her more trouble than she thought he would. For a split second when her attack was being pushed back, she thought she might lose before Sol ran empty. She would give her opponent props; he did great despite the odds being stacked against him.

With a sigh and a shack of the head, Mira made her way over to Elfman and easily picked up the still unconscious younger sibling. With a swish of her wings, she was out of the mech and making her way over to the guild building where she was going to put Elfman in a bed before joining the defense.

Elsewhere a certain redhead was making her way through Phantom Lord's base.

(Erza's POV)

I paused as the building was once more shocked. It was clear that some large battles were being waged in the mech. I couldn't help but wonder who was fighting as I started to once more make my way through the enemy's base.

I hadn't encountered much resistance other than a few mages that didn't give me too much trouble. The only one that put up a decent fight was a dark-skinned girl that used Mirror magic and briefly trapped me in a mirror prison before I broke out and defeated her.

It wasn't too long before I found myself in the upper quarters of the building as I searched room after room for any enemy. Soon I came across what looked like the inside of a chapel. It was very nicely decorated and looked like a very nice place to pray at if you believed in one of the few religions that Earthland hosted.

Despite my hurry, I couldn't help but pause and make my way over to the altar of the place. It really was a nice place and had I had time I might just rest on one of the pews. For now, though I was just happy to close my eyes and let out a sigh, ready for this war to be over so she can go back to being with my brothers and sister.

A sense of peace overcame me before something in my mind nudged out me. I opened my eyes with a confused expression before I felt a spike of magic and heard a voice.

"Zetsu"

Before I could react, I was hit with what appeared to be several small balls of air that upon hitting exploded and sent me off to the side of the chapel. That said the attack didn't do too much thanks to my armor and my instincts kicked in and I landed on my feet and pointed my sword to my attacker.

Across from me stood Aria, strongest of Phantom Lord's S-class mages.

"How dare you attack me from behind you fiend! Do you have no honor." Despite my words, I didn't feel that offended by the sneak attack. My big brother would take every inch he could get and could care less about fairness or honor.

Aria simply smiled at me, "All is fair in love and war Titania and last time I checked our guilds were in a tragedy that goes by the name of war. Truly it is a sorrowful day for those of Fairy Tail!"

Aria had shouted that last part and even shed some tears much to my confusion before I regained myself. "Phantom Lord might have started this senseless war but Fairy Tail is going to end it."

Aria seemed to pause at my words and even took on a more serious face. "Senseless huh, I suppose that is how it looks for you all. Truly success has blinded the Fairies from the damage they cause."

I narrow my eyes at Aria, "Damage?! Fairy Tail hasn't caused any trouble for the other guilds, much less Phantom Lord. I will admit that we have done some damage to builds and the like, but we have done everything to minimize that."

Aria chuckled at me like there was some joke that I wasn't getting. "You truly don't see it, do you? Well to be fair most of Phantom Lord doesn't see it either even if they feel it. Because of Fairy Tail jobs have been taken from all the other guilds but most of all Phantom Lord. Master Jose hides it well, but he can't hide it from my powerful eyes. Phantom Lord has been suffering because of Fairy Tail."

My eyes stayed narrowed has I took in his words, "How have we been hurting Phantom Lord that much? We have taken on a good amount of high paying jobs, but surely Phantom Lord still makes plenty of money."

This time Aria let out a sad sigh as a look of true sadness overcame his face. "You don't know how large Phantom Lord is, do you? For the better part of half a century, we have been the number one guild. During that time, we have expanded rapidly and largely. There are near a hundred different branches of our guild, some not even in the kingdom of Foire. When we were the number one guild everything was fine but after Fairy Tail's rise to number one things seemed to slowly go downhill."

I blinked at the new information and found myself feeling slightly sad for my opponent, even if for the most part I still very much wanted to punish him for what he has down to my guild and everyone within it. "Surely Phantom Lord can't be hurting too much. Even if you were you should just close a few branches, and everything should be fine."

Aira simply shrugged at my words before speaking, "I'm afraid that I don't know the full extent of the problem. Only master Jose does but from how hard he has been working I can only guess that it weighs heavily on his mind. You are right that closing a few branches might fix things but I'm sure that Master Jose has a reason not to, I'm also sure that he has a reason for this war you call senseless."

I frowned at Aria's words before speaking some of my own, "Whatever you Master's reasoning, I must disagree with it. Even if you win the Magic Council will not let this go quietly. How would Jose fight them off?"

Once more Aria shrugged, "That I also don't know but I trust Master Jose to know what he is doing. It is the same reason that I fight for him. He is a man that while harsh does care for those that are in the guild. He helped me become who I am today and for that, I shall forever be in his debt. Now then Fairy Queen Titania, I believe we have talked enough. Now you face Aria of the Heavens!"

With those last words, he got into a battle stance which I returned with one of my own. I wish I could say that I felt as confident as I looked but I wasn't. Any other of Phantom Lord's S-class mages I was confident in handling but Aira from all reports was in a class of his own compared to them. I guess this just meant that I had to defeat him fast before he had the chance to release his full power with those magical eyes of his.

Either way, I was in for a fight.

(Lucy's POV)

"Goddammit stay down!" I shouted to the Phantom Lord mage that I was choking out with my whip. I wish I could say that I have never had to do this before but unfortunately, I was getting way too much practice at choking people till they passed out since I've joined this guild.

Eventually, the guy passed out and I was once more randomly wondering about this weird building. Everything has been going great until this stupid place decide it wanted a new look! I was going to prove to the guild that I was one of them and help Erza, Elfman, and Bishop fight some big baddies. Now I was just aimlessly wandering hoping to find someone. Knowing my luck, I probably ran into Bishop but didn't notice him because of his illusions. It also didn't help that the building kept shaking!

Luckily, I haven't run into any powerful mages while here. Most I was able to defeat with just my whip before they could really react. Having a sexy blond scream in your face while she chokes you out just causes people to forget about their magic, I guess. The only person I really had trouble with was a bald dark-skinned man that used Music magic, but Taurus was able to take him out rather easily.

After walking for a good bit, I decided to take a small break and lean on a wall while I pulled out a bottle of water I kept in my little sack by my side. I really needed to find one of my guildmates, hopefully, I would run across Gray, Natsu wouldn't be that bad to have on side either I guess.

I was just about to start moving when I heard a crash come from hind me further down the hallway I was speedily walking down. Upon turning around I saw that a section of the way had been destroyed and a man was walking out of it. After quickly looking around he spotted me and gave me a savage grin.

At first, I didn't know who he was until I got a good look at him. After taking in his apparent I realized he looked just like someone that Gray had described to me when he was talking about Phantom Lord's top mages. It looked like my luck had just run out.

Because Black Steel Gajeel was standing right across from me.

"Well, well, well, it looks like my nose was right! It seems like I found another Fairy to play around with!"

AN: So just for the record, the fight between Lucy and Gajeel is next. I don't have a plan currently to do a full fight between Aria and Erza other than covering the aftermath and going into some detail about the fight, you'll guys see why later. Anyway, I'm glad to finally be out of that hallway that the last three chapters have been in. I also hope you guys like how I'm handling Sol and Aria. You all still have yet to see the full characterization I've decided to give Aria but it's not too far off now.

Thanks once again to volfwildman for being a Beta. And the weekly shout out will go to everyone that was understanding last week and for wishing me well. Can't thank you guys enough.

I'm going to take this time to warn you all about the coronavirus. My entire state is going under lockdown and people must now be inside after 5 pm. It's bad and you guys really need to make sure that the virus spreads slowly so we don't overwhelm the hospitals. Stay inside and safe guys

Have a great day.

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