Laxus and Emi were relaxed on the couch, Emi reading and Laxus laying his head in her lap. She was absentmindedly stroking his hair, and Laxus looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"Do you think I'll actually remember?"
"Probably. You just gotta be patient."
"But it's been three years already! I just wanna remember."
"This looks like the last memory," Emi observed.
"Why would you say that?" Yukino asked.
"This is right before you followed me through the woods. It would only make sense that it would stop now."
Levy turned around and agreed, "I'm pretty sure that the spell works to show everything in the past, but stops when it gets to the present."
"Thank god," Natsu stated. "This has been so stressful."
Everyone looked at Natsu with blank looks before Lucy started yelling at him.
"You didn't even do anything, you idiot!"
"All that waiting is sure to pay off eventually."
"Yeah, and what about you? Are you gonna keep waiting for Fairy Tail to just show up at your door for you to talk to them?"
"Well...I mean that kinda is what happened," Mira giggled.
"Shut up."
"I can't deal with that right now."
"Why?"
"Because I'm busy protecting--"
"Who? Me or Fairy Tail? Because for someone who's working in the shadows to protect your guild, you seem to be awfully aloof."
"That's just how I am."
"Believe me," Emi giggled, "I know."
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want."
They stayed silent, both going back to what they were originally doing. The room was quiet, and the only sounds were Laxus's breathing and the sound of pages turning from Emi's book.
Emi was the one who spoke up, joking, "Hey Laxus, what would you do if I went to Fairy Tail and told them where we live?"
He just huffed and ignored her, eventually falling asleep.
"Wait!" Natsu shouted. "So you purposely led us there?!"
"Actually no. It just kind of worked out like that. It must've been destiny! Now the real problem is..."
Everyone looked towards her and saw that her expression turned serious.
"Em, what's wrong?" Sting asked, concerned.
"Hey Cain? Will I ever see you again?"
Cain laughed and held her shoulders, responding, "You'll always see me, kid. You just gotta look inside your mind and wait."
"Cain, I--"
"Remember, my flames will never go out."
The group looked very confused, but Emi smiled and nodded, giving him one last hug and waving goodbye as the memories started to disappear.
------------------------------------------
They all opened their eyes and saw that they were back in the inn, standing around in a circle with Emi sitting in the middle. Most of them noticed the change in demeanor Emi showed, and all of them saw her tears. She slowly stood up, brushing herself off, and approached Levy.
"Thank you for all you've done. Thanks to you, I can finally remember."
She went to leave the inn when Sting grabbed her wrist.
"Where are you going so suddenly?"
"To visit home. You all are welcome to come with me."
Sting tried to study her face and when he saw her eyes, it clicked. He smiled softly and nodded. The rest of them looked between each other and shrugged before following Emi out the door. Emi and Sting led the way and eventually stopped at a corner.
"Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
They squeezed each other's hand and turned the corner to reveal a weapons shop.
"What are we looking at?" Natsu spoke up.
"This was where our guildhall was before they placed this shop here."
Emi snapped her fingers and whispered, "Return."
A cloak came whipping through the town and landed in Emi's hands.
"You're gonna wear that again?"
She turned to Sting and smiled before closing her eyes, and holding her cloak away from them.
"Immolate."
The cloak burst into flames and turned to ash in her hands. She looked at all of them with cold eyes.
"I'm done hiding."
--------------------------------------------
"Why are we in the field?"
"I wish to fight you, Natsu."
"No way! I'm all fired up now--"
"I would also like to fight you, Laxus."
Laxus shrugged his shoulders and agreed.
"I mean, if you wanna--"
"Wendy, I'm fighting you as well."
"Me? But I'm--"
She turned to face behind her and spoke again, "Rogue, you are fighting as well."
"I have no reason to--"
"Gajeel--"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it."
"Sting," she said as she looked to her side.
"Of course!"
"Great," Emi spoke as she walked to the center of the field. "You are fighting me all at once."
Everyone looked at her and gasped. Cana spoke up, saying that she was being ridiculous. The wizards who were challenged looked shocked as well, most of them protesting.
"I need to get stronger," was her simple answer.
"But Emi," Lucy tested, "why do you wanna fight them all at once? Isn't that a little dangerous?"
"The Sins are able to defeat Acnologia with little problem. Acnologia is a dragon, and they are dragon slayers, which means that they have the capabilities to defeat a dragon. If I want to stand the slightest change against Wrath and Sloth, I need to be able to defeat the dragon slayers."
"I still think you're being a little too ambitious with this," Gajeel groaned. "But whatever, I'm up for beating you."
"Please, don't hold back."
Makarov stepped towards her and warned, "You all better not do this. It's reckless and--"
"Fire dragon iron fist!"
Emiko jumped out of the way and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying back into the trees. Everyone sweatdropped.
"Natsu," Erza demanded, "the master said not to fight. You must listen to--"
"Raging bolt!"
"Laxus!" Makarov scolded.
Emi cast her Fury Bolt, cancelling his attack. She caught movement in the corner of her eye, and quickly turned around to face Sting using his White Dragon's Claw. She used her Earthworm spell to knock him off his feet. She faced Gajeel who was using his Iron Club and used her Thunder Missiles spell, using his iron against him.
"You all stop this instant!" Makarov screamed.
Rogue sighed and cast his Roar. Emi smirked and snapped her fingers, using Dispel to make it vanish before rushing at him and sweeping his feet. Everyone looked towards Wendy, who was staring at them with wide eyes. She looked to Emi and started to tell her that she shouldn't be fighting like this, but Emi looked at her.
"You need to help me train, Wendy. It's the only way I'll get stronger."
"Wendy, follow your gut. Don't fight," Makarov pleaded.
Emi jumped out of the way of Laxus's Roar and landed right in front of Natsu. She quickly looked over her shoulder and used Shadow Form to grab his feet and fling him across the field. Rogue came at her again, and she cast her next spell.
"Globus lumen!"
A whip of light formed in her hand, and she flung him right next to Natsu. She cast her Tidal Wave spell to knock them all off their feet, and then cast Fury Bolt again to shock them all. Wendy made fists and looked torn. She finally looked up with a serious look.
"I'm sorry, Master Makarov, but I have to help her."
"Wendy!"
"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!"
Emi whipped her head to the direction of her spell and gasped, barely dodging the hit. She quickly recovered once she landed on her feet next to where the spell hit.
"Wind Blade!"
A sword formed in Emi's hands, and she swept the air near Wendy, throwing her back into the rest of the crowd. She turned to face Natsu again as he reached her. He was using his Sword Horn spell, so Emi braced for the impact. She held her arms in front of her face and took the hit, throwing her back into the trees.
"Ha! Did you see that? I totally hit--"
"Water Roar!"
Natsu was thrown back just as far as Emi was. She scoffed and wiped her arms off. They could see that there were burns on her arms, so they all offered to stop so she could get some help, but Emi looked at them all with steel eyes.
"I do not need your pity. The Sins know no pity, so you mustn't show me any when we train."
Laxus went to say something, but Emi cut him off by casting her Fissure spell, creating a huge opening in the earth and making them all fall in. She quickly healed herself, her burns disappearing within seconds.
"Cataracta."
The waterfall flowed into the crack. Gajeel used his club as a way to push himself out of the waterfall and back onto level ground. He let out his usual laugh and used his Iron Dragon's Sword to rush at her.
"Fluctus inpulsa," she chanted as she formed a circle with her hands.
A lightning burst shot out of her hands and hit the top of his sword, sending violent shocks throughout his body.
"You know," Gajeel coughed, "you're playing kinda dirty using all this lightning against me."
"Good."
Natsu was the next one to jump out of the canyon-like formation, and he used his Brilliant Flame. She countered with her Water Rush, carrying him off to the side. Just as expected, Natsu got right back up and rushed at her again.
"Let's see whose fire is hotter, Natsu."
She started to cast her Armageddon spell when she was kicked in the side by Sting. She picked herself off the ground just in time to dodge his Holy Ray. Laxus appeared behind her just barely missed striking her in the back. He went to use his Roar. Thinking of a quick plan, Emi ran towards Gajeel and Natsu and stood in front of them before quickly casting her Iron Wall spell, luring the lightning to strike the wall and the dragon slayers behind it.
"Who knew you'd be a master tactician on top of all this," Laxus laughed.
"Forgive me," she replied as she laughed back, "but it seems that I'm a little rusty with it. I'm no Mavis Vermillion."
Rogue had gone unnoticed until this point because he was traveling through the shadows. He jumped out and used his Shadow Dragon Slash. Emi quickly looked up to the sky and smiled.
"Solar Spike!"
Rogue was starting to burn from the rays that hit him. She then threw him off to the side and trapped him using her Ice Make: Prison spell. He tried to break it, thinking that he could cut through the ice, but he was met with a smug smile from Emi.
"It's no use. It's not regular ice. This ice is able to partially keep Cain's fire at bay."
Wendy finally crawled out of the fissure and cast her Sky Drill spell. Emi used Dispel again and pinned her to the ground with her Ice Missiles. She struggled, but it was no use. Emi stood still and scanned her surroundings. She found that she was standing in the middle Laxus and Sting as they stood around her.
"Who woulda thought we'd be working together," Sting joked.
Laxus smirked, his fist engulfed in lightning. Emi instantly recognized the spell, her eyes going wide.
"Ad deum!"
A blinding light surrounded the three of them. Sting backed out of the spell, still blinded. He smirked and went at her once the light subsided. Emi and Laxus were fist to fist, staring at each other.
"Now who's playing dirty?" Emi teased. "You were actually gonna use that during training? How rude."
Laxus smirked back and defended, "You wanted us to go all out, didn't you?"
Emi jumped back and cast her Turbinis, creating a tornado around Laxus. She paired it with her Cloudkill spell, sending poison into the tornado.
"Holy Nova!"
Emi groaned as she was surrounded by a blinding light that matched her own spell. She looked around, quickly thinking of a plan and casting Shadow Rocket to try to dull the light. She didn't see Sting lunging at her through the light, and she was pinned to the ground with his knees on her arms.
"It's been a long time since this happened," Sting mused.
"What, you getting the upper-hand in a match against me or you pinning me against something?" Emi playfully shot back.
"Hm, maybe both."
Once the light died down, everyone saw that Emi wasn't able to move. She quickly changed everyone's assumption, as she cast her Water Roar, pushing Sting off her and high above the ground. He was kicked in the stomach and sent flying back once again.
"Dagger Strike," Emi whispered, sending knives towards him and pinning him against a tree.
All of the spells died down, showing that all six dragon slayers were unconscious or incapacitated.
"Holy shit," Lucy breathed. "Did that just fucking happen?"
Emi stood up straight and walked back over to the group, standing in front of Makarov and bowing.
"I apologize, master, but it was needed."
Makarov sighed and dismissed it.
"That's a real man!"
Emi turned to see Elfman cheering and laughed. She turned back around to face the injured dragon slayers and frowned. She walked over to Wendy and released the spell before going over to the others and casting her healing spell on all of them. Natsu was the first one to shoot up.
"I want a rematch! Fight me!"
Everyone sweatdropped at him, Makarov scolding him.
"You were pretty good there, girly," Gajeel praised.
"No kidding," Rogue groaned. "You never said your physical attacks hit like that, let alone your spells' hit force."
Laxus coughed a little, trying to get the rest of the smoke out of his lungs. Sting appeared behind Emi and held her shoulders.
"Told ya she was strong," he snickered.
"Jesus. You coulda warned us a little more," Rogue scolded.
"Didn't we just see her memories?" Sting countered. "You should've realized that before."
All the dragon slayers moaned in discomfort.
"Thank you all for sparring with me. I hope we can do this again sometime."
Makarov spoke up, yelling, "That won't be any time soon. You hear me?!"