Gabbriel let out a painful groan as her body collided with the ground harshly and skidded a good meter. Her hand twitched slightly as the sound of Gajeel panting and Wendy heaving. Even Natsu was having a hard time, which slightly concerned her. 

   "You have no change of winning!" The King gloated cruelly. Natsu stumbled up, having little trouble in standing. 

   "Everyone's suffering from lack of magic power, but their king sure has plenty all for himself."

   "It's only natural for a king to tax his people." The King replied smoothly. Gabbey let out a huff of air, pushing herself up to a sitting position. "Droma Anim is constantly absorbing magic power from the entire world, the ultimate magical weapon!" 

   "Until the world runs out of magic power," Gabbriel drawled, now crouching. 

   "That's also the reason it is a forbidden weapon."  He continued. "Once activated, I have a duty to win, for the sake of the world!"

   "For the world?!" Wendy exclaimed in disbelief. 

   "You're just stealin' magic for yourself!" Gajeel accused. "How can you say that with a straight face?!"

   "And I thought humans couldn't get any worse," Gabbey spat. 

   "See, we joined a guild so that we could live. I might not know much 'bout this world. But for the sake of all living things of this world, I will defeat you!" Natsu declared. 

As if encouraged by his speech, Gajeel, Gabbriel and Wendy stumbled up to stand, not willing to admit defeat just yet. 

   "No matter how many times you stand, you will never be able to defeat me!" Edolas' king roared, aiming a dragon cannon at them. "Those with magic power will rule the world! That's something this world requires!"

Purple beams started to shoot at the Earthland wizards, but they easily dodged and weaved around them. "Stop twistin' logic to justify your actions! You dolt!" Gajeel demanded. 

   "I don't know whether it requires it or not, but I do know I'm gonna bust that thing up!" Natsu yelled. 

   "Wendy, on me!" Gabbriel ordered. She puffed her cheeks out and shouted; "Roar of the Iron Dragon!"

   "Roar of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy cast, their spells hitting the dragon-like machine on different sides. But the most it did was scoot it back. The King laughed. 

   "Would you please refrain from wasting all the magic power? Because all your magic power is mine!"

   "Don't even joke about that! My magic power is my own!" Gajeel growled. "It ain't no one else's but mine. . ." He grunted, making a clean jump over Dorma Anim and onto it's back. "Pillar of the Iron Dragon!"

At her twins' attack, the dragon machine suddenly turned into an angry red and released the same color beams. Gabbey watched in shock as one of the beams hit Gajeel in the face and sent him flying. 

   "Gajeel!" Gabbey gasped in worry. 

   "Your magic power, your very lives. . .They're all mine for the taking!" The King cackled. 

   "Like hell they are!" Natsu snarled, lauching at machine with his fist covered in flames.

🌹🌹🌹

Daella stared up at the five statues that hovered a blue glowing orb in between them in awe. She's never been down here before. Of course, Lily wouldn't really let her explore the castle when he wasn't by her side. 

The hole that Erza ripped through Lily's chest was devastating, it caused him so much pain, and Daella could only do so much as to block out the pain for him. 

Thankfully, Cheslyn had flown down after her to help keep Lily distracted. It wasn't that long later did Jellal, or Mystogen as the Earthlanders called him, appeared with bandages for Panther Lily. So while Daella shoved through her weariness and made sure Lily couldn't feel a thing, Cheslyn wrapped him up as quickly as she could. 

   "He should make a speedy recovery, if  he rests," Cheslyn had said. 

   "As soon as this is over, you're not getting up to do anything, you hear me?!"

But alas, there was still something that the human she thought of a son had to do. Pantherlily and Daella were by his side, of course, trusting in the four dragon slayers to take care of the crazy king like Jellal did. 

So here they were, staring at Jellal in confusion as to why he brought the two of them here. 

   "This is. . ." Lily trailed off, cradling Daella in one arm. She could barely fly herself over. "The chamber that creates the Anima?"

   "This is how the King did it?" Daella whispered not-so-quietly. 

   "Prince, what in the world are you. . ."

   "I observed Earthland for a long time." The Prince started. "There was strife, but it was a wonderful world. I am sure they'll accept this. . ."

   "Prince! You can't mean. . .That's just. . .That's is far too radical!" Lily exclaimed, much to Daella's confusion. 

   "What? What does that mean?!" She panicked. 

   "This is the only way to rid this world of war." Jellal declared. "I will create a world where people can be open with each other. I will throw the Anima into reverse, and rid this world of all its magic power!"

   "A world. . .without power?" Daella murmured. "That. . .That doesn't seem real. That's like, a dream. . ."

   "It is possible. The idea that you call a dream is about to become reality."

🌹🌹🌹

   "Wizards of Earthland! Those who possess within them an eternal, never-ending supply of magic power, and among them, you Dragon Wizards and your ridiculous magic! Hand your magic power over to me! This world demands it!" The King cackled madly. "Fall down to earth, dragons!"

   "Does he. . .ever. . .shut up?!" Gabbriel snarled, panting heavily into the ground beneath her. They were getting beat by a man, who held no magic powers in him, inside of steel machine. She pushed herself up on her elbows, but that was as far as she dared to go. 

   "As long as we have this ultimate magic weapon, Droma Anim, our army will never be destroyed!"

Gabbriel heard the pebbles and dirt move around her, and looked to see the other three dragon slayers were trying to get up. 

   "Getting up again?" The King asked coyly. "Impressive. . .That magic power is incredible! Dragon Wizards, you will be ours!"  Purple light surrounded each of them individually and tossed them in the air again. 

Gabbey just wanted to curl up on the ground and fall asleep, but she knew that her mind would never rest long enough with the threat still looming above them.

   "Collect more magic power! Droma Anim, collect magic power from the sky and the land!"

The sister iron twin was almost sick at the feeling of the lands magic being transferred into Droma Anim. She could only remember one moment in her past that she felt this kind of magic being turned into darkness, and it wasn't a good ending. 

   "I can feel it. . .This world is running out of magic power. . .And that is precisely why you must be ours!"

Gabbriel heaved herself into a crouched, almost stumbling back to the ground in exhaustion. 

   "Salamander, Gabbey, use your breath." Gajeel ordered roughly. "You too, brat!"

   "All four at the same time?" Wendy asked. 

   "I didn't want to suggest it 'cause I'm not sure what'll happen," Gajeel admitted. "But we got no choice!"

   "I've got your back," Gabbey stated, forcing herself to stand. 

   "Understood!"

   "All right!" 

The four of them stood side-by-side, searching deep within them for any magic power left. "Roar of the. . ."

   "Sky Dragon!"

   "Fire Dragon!"

   "Iron Dragon! " 

The four attacks shot forwards and combined into one big magic attack, heading straight towards Droma Anim. The impact of the attack caused Gabbey to close her eyes at the bright light, heat licking her skin. 

   "Did we. . .?"

   "Did that do it?" Gajeel asked. A hopeful look flashed across all of their faces before it disappeared, all of them looking high up in the sky to see their enemy still working. "It could jump that high?"

   "Oh, no! Our quad roar didn't hit!" Wendy exclaimed. 

   "We'll do it again!" Natsu roared. 

   "You won't get a chance!" The King declared. "Dragon Knight Spread Cannon!"

As soon as Gabbriel saw the fiery balls of light zoom towards them, she grabbed Wendy and Natsu and dragged them closer to her and Gajeel. 

   "Metal Make; Rose Shield!" Gabbey cried out, throwing her hands above her head and letting out a yell of surprise when the force of the bombs hit her shield surrounding them. "I. . .I can't hold-"

   "Gabbriel!"

The shield above them let out a giant crack before the last of the bombs rained down on the Dragon Slayers, tossing each of them away. 

When Gajeel looked over at his twin, her eyes were closed gently and there was her chest moving up and down to let him know she was alive. 

   "I'm fine," Gabbey croaked out, feeling the worry overpower everything else in their bond. "Just. . .need a nap."

   "Fore the world. . .For our Edolas. . .That's the difference between you and I. You said that you didn't know anything about this world, didn't you? What the living creatures of this world require aren't guilds. . .It's eternal magic power! It's required by the citizens. You don't have any of the burden of responsibility!"

   "This is bad. . .My magic power is. . .almost. . ." Gajeel muttered. 

   "Looks like you're running on empty," The King observed. Gabbriel lolled her head up to look at the machine towering over them again. "No matter how infinite it may be, it takes time to regenerate once used up, yes? Now don't struggle, and become the magic power of our world!" 

If this wasn't a serious moment, Gabbey would have laughed loudly at the fact that Natsu had just face-planted into the ground trying to get up. 

   "How well you are treated will depend on your attitude."

Gabbey let out a dry cough, staring back at the sky above them. Well. . .At least I have a nice view before. . .

   "Don't give up!" Natsu said through gritted teeth. Gabbey furrowed her eyebrows in surprise and confusion. "It ain't over yet!"

Finally standing up, Natsu bared his teeth at the lunatic king and shouted; "Bring it on, you bastard!  I'm standin' right here!"

   "You're one obstinate brat!" The King sneered, Droma Anim lifting its foot to crush the poor pinkette. But Natsu caught the foot, straining to keep it up. 

   "Natsu-san. . ." Wendy murmured. 

   "You idiot," Gabbey cursed. 

   "Fool. . .What can you do without any magic power?" Gajeel pointed out, rolling himself over. 

   "I squeeze it out!" Natsu declared. "I squeeze it out from tomorrow's!" With that said, Natsu growled and threw all he had into the toss, making the machine fall onto its back. "Don't underestimate a Dragon Slayer!"

  From tomorrow's?  Gabbey thought bitterly. What can I do with a tomorrow?

  Everything you can, A sweet voice seem to whisper in her ear. For tomorrow hasn't came yet.

   "Fuck," Gabbey cursed, exchanging an understanding glance with her brother before rushing the Dorma Anim. Gabbriel took all the strength she had left, ran at her brother, and jumped. Gajeel easily grabbed her foot and threw her up in the air with himself quickly following.

   "Then I'll beat it into you!" The King roared. "You'll learn just who I am!" He finally seem to notice the twins falling straight at him. "What?!"

   "We don't need to combine our powers!" Gajeel started, turning his arm into an iron pole. 

   "All we need is our power, our wishes, to be as one!" Gabbey finished, wincing slightly at the feeling of turning her arm into a pole as well. 

The two of them shoved their arm through the Droma's feet, making sure to have their poles wrap around to keep the machine in place. 

   "Lock down! Now you can't escape into the air!" Gajeel gritted through clenched teeth. 

   "Damn you! The both of you!" 

   "Go, Salamander! It's gotta be you! You do it!" Gajeel ordered. 

   "Make it quick!" Gabbey added on, closing an eye to not get any sweat in it. 

   "Wendy!" Natsu called out, still falling through the air. "Roar towards me! Stand up!!"

   "Right!" Wendy agreed, pushing herself up and taking a deep breath. 

   "You stubborn little. . .Get off!"

   "Never, you pile of scrap!"

   "Your reign as a king ends here!" 

   "Roar of the Sky Dragon!!" Wendy yelled. Like he had been doing it all his life, Natsu easily rode the roar out, launching himself at the Droma Anim with his own magic attack ready. 

   "Sword Edge of the Fire Dragon!" 

The attack sliced clean through the middle of Droma Anim and Natsu dragged the King out of his hiding spot. Gajeel and Gabbey let their arms go back to normal (totally didn't have a little trouble on Gabbey's end) and they smiled at each other in pride.

Droma Anim collapsed on the ground in front of them and exploded on itself. Dust flew everywhere, and the Dragon Slayers easily glared at the King, ready for another fight. 

   "S-Save me!" The King cried out in horror before passing out right in front of them. 

   "We defeated the King!" Natsu let out a victory cry, throwing his arms up in the air. Gabbriel smiled widely, not bothering to hide it as she fell back onto her butt beside her twin. 

   "We did it," Gabbey breathed. 

   "We did it," Gajeel echoed. 

   "What do you call that again? Checkmate?" Natsu asked. 

   "You're supposed to say that before you capture the king!" Wendy informed with a smile.

   "Idiot."

Not bothering to give the Dragon Slayers a moment to rest, the ground beneath them started to rumble. 

   "What is that?" Natsu asked slowly. 

   "Reinforcements?" Gajeel guessed. 

   "Please, no," Gabbey groaned. "I have nothing  left in me magic wise!"

   "No, it's not. . .It's. . ." Wendy trailed off, staring at something in the short distance. Gabbey followed her gaze and dropped her jaw.  

   "The floating islands are falling." 

True enough, the many islands that littered the sky were now flying towards the ground at top speed. Like a chain reaction, multiple tunnels of yellow lights flew from the ground towards the sky, where a bright white light sucked it up. 

   "Is that. . .magic?" Wendy asked slowly. 

   "Where is it going?"

   "Won't losing all the magic power be a big problem?" Gajeel asked the obvious. 

   "The islands are falling, so I would say so." Gabbey paused then said slowly. "I feel sorry for Edolas."

   "Hold on," Natsu blinked a couple times. "Did I just hear the Metarurōzu say she feels sorry for people?"

   "I'm a wizard, not a robot!" Gabbey snapped at Natsu. "Besides, imagine how you would feel if magic was disappear from us? Would feel like the world was over, wouldn't it?"

There was a small pause, Natsu calculating Gabbey carefully, before Wendy spoke up. 

   "Let's head back to the city around the castle."

   "What're you planning to do?" Natsu asked. 

   "I'm worried about the people in the city! There might be something that we can do!" 

   "Yeah. . .I think I understand what you mean." Gajeel agreed.

   "Okay then," Natsu joined in, starting to head that way in a painful jog. 

   "Please wait!" Wendy exclaimed, the three Dragon Slayers left behind trying to catch up. 

   "Is this world finished?" Gajeel murmured in a low enough voice for Gabbey to hear. 

   "I'm not sure."

🌹🌹🌹

Daella watched with tears in her eyes as the golden light of magic flowed upwards, away from Edolas and into Earthland. There was nothing she could do, the process was done and the Prince was right. 

As long as there was magic in this world, there would be no peace. 

   "Prince. . ." Pantherlily breathed out. 

   "This will do." Was all the Prince replied with. "As long as there is magic power, people will fight over it. Therefore I will rid this world of magic completely. The Anima I have set in reverse will flow all the magic power from Edolas to Earthland. 

   "In Earthland, already overflowing with magic, this magic power will quickly be transformed into a part of nature there. To create a new world, I will destroy the portion of Edolas." 

   "I can't believe you really did it." Pantherlily said in awe. Daella sat on her best friends' shoulder, watching everything with a keen eye. Something didn't settle right. 

   "But. . ." Daella murmured loud enough for them to hear. 

   "I know. . .The citizens will be in a panic. Not many humans can adapt so quickly to a changing world. . .That's why they need a new leader. A new king for a new world. To soothe the unease of the citizens, and lead them to happiness, a new king."

   "I see. And it will be you, Prince?" Lily asked, taking a step closer. 

   "No. Not me." 

   "Jellal - Mystogen, whatever! You are the Prince, you are more qualified than anybody here."

   "It would not be possible for me, who did not walk with this world. Furthermore, I have no right." The bluenette turned to stare Daella straight in her eyes. "To calm the rioting masses, we need someone to play both the hero, and the villain."

   "Villain and hero?" Pantherlily echoed. 

   "The one who exposes and punishes the villain who plunged the world into chaos will become a hero, and that will unite the people. He'll become king."

   "No," Daella whimpered. 

   "W-Who will be the villain and the hero?" Lily asked, stammering slightly. 

   "You already know that, don't you?" Jellal asked, going from looking at Pantherlily to Daella. "I am the evil villain who overthrew the king and stole the magic power from this world. "And you are suited to heal the misunderstandings and prejudice between the races. The hero and future ruler of Edolas will be Daella."

The said Exceed whimpered again and desperately shook her head. 

   "You will execute me, the one who destroyed the world! And then you will become the world's queen. You must execute me, the one who caused this turmoil, in front of the panicking citizens-" 

   "NO!" Daella sobbed, burnt wings appearing and she quickly flew into Jellal, grasping his cloak. "I won't! I refuse! I will not sentence the closet person I have to a child to death, even if you are the Prince!"

   "You must quell the panic and lead the people," Jellal demanded. "Become Queen of a new world, with Panterlily by your side, and rule the land without magic power."

   "How could you seriously say such nonsense, Prince?!" Lily demanded with a snarl, eyes wide. 

   "If I wasn't prepared to die, I wouldn't have gone through with this." The Prince responded evenly, gently pushing Daella away and holding her out at arms length. 

   "I won't! I won't do it!" Daella sobbed, tears and snot streaming down her face. 

   "This is foolishness!" Lily agreed. "There is no way I could do it. There is no way she  could do it!"

   "No, you both are capable of doing it." Jellal shook his head. 

   "And what do you know about us?" 

   "As an Exceed, Daella saved my life as a child," Jella stated. "But you took the blame, not wanting Daella to be banished from her home. You both know how precious life is, regardless of the race one belongs to."

   "And you're telling me to keeping living my life bearing the fact I could've changed something?! That Daella could've done something different!" 

   "You are the only one strong enough to over come that,Lily," Jellal responded. "And I know you would do everything in your power to make sure Daella over came this as well. Please understand. . .Someone has to do it."

   "Why won't you listen?" Daella hiccuped. "We care for you too much to watch you throw your life away like this. You are a brilliant prince, you'll be the right king everyone needs."

   "Do it yourself," Lily demanded. "You're suited to be king."

   "I brought the world to ruin!" Jellal stood his ground, holding Daella close as she let out another cry.

   "You did it thinking it was for the best." Lily closed in on the two of them. "Now is the time we need someone with your will, strong enough to risk your own life for the sake of Edolas! If you brought the world to ruin, then take responsibility! And you don't do that by dying, you do it by leading the world once again!" 

   "But that won't stop this panic. . ."

There was a stand-off between Pantherlily and Jellal, silence ringing in the air. Aside from Daella's occasional sob or whimper. 

   "I'll be the villain." Lily declared. Daella let out another wail, knowing what that meant, but Jellal didn't loosen his grip on the small Exceed. "I was banished from Extalia, and threw my lot in with the humans. But for this incident, I betrayed the Kingdom, and I have no place to return to now. I will become the great villain and be executed. . ."

   "No, you will not!" Jellal and Daella cried together, Daella continuing with her blabbering. "I can't loose either one of you! Can't you two see that? I don't care if I'm being selfish, I can't loose you two, or I'll loose myself!" 

   "You two saved my life. I cannot allow you to die. I must give you two the happiness you two deserve."

   "And we say the exact same thing to you." Lily answered for the both of them. "If either one of us takes responsibility and is killed, nothing will come of it expect Daella's downfall and unhappiness." 

   "Then how do we calm the people?" 

   "Were we doomed from the start of it all?" Daella sniffled, turning her tearful eyes over to the knight that suddenly came running up behind Pantherlily. 

   "Panther Lily-sama, we have a big problem!" The solider announced. 

   "We know. As you can see, the Anima-" 

   "You're trying to stop it, right?" 

   "No, that's not it." 

   "Anyway, there are people wreaking havoc in the castle city." The knight informed. "Cities are being destroyed one after another. . ."

   "The panic seems worse than even I predicted. . ." Jellal murmured. "We have to do something soon, or. . ."

   "First, we have to stop the rioting." Lily stated. 

   "Yes. We must strike before it spreads further."

   "Um. . .And you are?" The knight asked in confusion.

The trio didn't bother to answer, Lily leading the way out and Jellal following, scratching Daella behind her ear. They quickly marched their way into a hallway that gave them a clear view of the city. 

Daella gasped at the destruction of the Anima, watching with wide eyes. Was the world ending?

   "How many people are rioting?" Lily demanded. 

   "F-Four people!"

   "Just four people? Why haven't you stopped them?" 

   "W-Well, they're really strong, and. . ." 

A sudden laughter caused the soldiers to pause and everyone to turn. A pink haired boy was standing on a building, yellow horns sticking out of his head with a black and red cape wrapped around him. 

   "I am the Great Demon King Dragneel! I've taken all this world's magic power!"

   "N. . ."

   "N-Natsu!"

   "I. . .Excuse me, but what the fuck is going on?"