Chapter Thirty Six - Attack on the Royal City

Konata was looking out the window, as the airship took off and whizzed towards the capital. Wasn't this really dangerous? She didn't remember the kingdom of Edolas having any artillery in the manga or anime. Was that just skipped over? Was there some difference that caused it to come up?

She turned around, seeing Lee playing with the controls, Lenette working away. "Don't forget - there's an evil Erza here. She's going to be really strong, and probably try to stop us."

"Got it," Lee said. There was a long silence, presumably as he remembered that Erza was way stronger than him. "Go tell Gildarts that, so he can handle her. I think he's the only person we've got who can handle her."

"Alright," Konata said, hopping off her seat and heading to search out Gildarts. She eventually found him in the crew quarters, seated, his arms crossed, his head bowed. He looked serious in this position, probably mostly 'cause his mouth was shut. "Hey, Gildarts."

"Hey, kiddo," he said, suddenly snapping to attention, a goofy grin on his face. "What's up?"

"There's an evil Erza in the capital. She's about as powerful as our Erza. You think you can take her on, while the others try to save our captured members?"

Gildarts hummed at that, his eyes staring into the middle distance, his lips a thin line. "Yeah," he said, sounding cool and collected for a moment. Konata could see how he could get a lot of women, with how he could pull off 'serious and mysterious'. It was a classic archetype in otome games, and Gildarts had a rugged appearance that enhanced it further. "Be fun to kick the kid's ass again!" He declared, completely ruining the effect as he hopped to his feet.

* * *

Erza Knightwalker watched as the airship approached. This was it. The final confrontation with the Fairy Tail guild. They must have been desperate to become so aggressive that they would dare attack the very capital city itself... but her husband didn't seem so convinced of their weakness. He appeared to be deeply anxious as he watched the ship approach rapidly, as it dodged, weaved, and survived attacks that should have been utterly impossible to survive, whatever wicked magics that dark guild had acquired being enough to let them land at the lacrima site.

That was where their forces had been massed. Lee had correctly appraised that this was the site the guild was going for, not the capital itself. She had trusted him, and her trust had been repaid. That was the beauty of a long-term, healthy, monogamous relationship. The two of you became stronger together.

The airship practically dove into the mass of troops, perhaps planning a suicide run, before it curved back up and around. Her men had scattered for the moment, but she had stood firm, weapon held aloft. As the vessel changed its course, she fired repeatedly at it, watching as its wing splintered and it fell, beginning to scrape across the ground. Whatever miracle had been protecting it was gone.

She had her suspicions as to what that miracle was, as a dozen members of the Fairy Tail guild had been left behind in the wake of the vessel's rapid curving strike. A number of men and women, some she recognized - the driver was here, and seemed fired up for battle, while Gray was remarkably less well-adorned than he had been the last few times she had seen him - and some she did not, like an rugged older male with a five o'clock shadow. The one she most recognized, though, looked precisely like her husband.

Indeed, the resemblance was so striking that she took a moment to glance to her husband's own division, and saw him standing tall right at the lead. She shook her head. The half-naked fool was just a doppelganger.

"Erza," came the voice of the rugged older male. "Let's go," he said, making a 'come on' gesture to her. She felt a grin tug at her features, unbidden, and rushed forward to attack him, weapon in hand.

She would show these Fairy Tail fools why they called her the Fairy Hunter.

* * *

For a moment, everybody looked at the fight between Gildarts and Erza. After all, they were incredibly powerful and capable warriors - a mage, in Gildarts' case, as he dodged and struck, as the terrain around the pair was torn up by missed attacks and they circled and tried to get in good strikes. It was impressive, and made me miss my own Erza. Even if (especially because?) she could beat the crap out of me, she was definitely incredible to watch fight.

"Parlay," came a male voice that sounded just like mine. Well, it didn't actually sound like mine, it sounded like the different, way worse, way I sounded when you recorded my voice. I turned to look, and saw a man, clad in full plate armor, and wearing my same face. "I'm Captain Lee of the 1st Magic War Division. Can I presume that you are the Guildmaster of the Earthland Fairy Tail Guild?" He said, as he approached me in particular.

"Whoa! He looks exactly like our Lee!" Natsu said.

"Yeah, and their Erza looks just like ours, you idiot," Gray countered.

The other Lee just ignored their byplay, other than to briefly take in their faces.

"I am the great and powerful wizard Lee, member of the Fairy Tail Guild - but I am not the Guildmaster, no. He's in the lacrima right now," I said, pointing to it.

"I see." Lee was silent for a long few seconds, and the two of us basically stared one another down. I could guess what he was mentally calculating: the obviously insane plot armor that my side had. Would it be strong enough to defeat whatever batch of superpowers he had presumably also gotten from Susie when he was sent here?

Our standoff was interrupted as a woman suddenly burst forth from the crowded mass of Fairy Tail members. Lenette. Her gaze went to me, then to my evil twin, then back to me again. "Oh no! Which one is the real Lee?!" She asked, head swiveling back and forth.

"I suspect we are both the real Lee," the other Lee said. "One born in Edolas, the other in Earthland."

He'd been reincarnated here, then? "Oh. I wasn't born in Earthland," I said. He frowned slightly at my answer, tilting his head mildly as his eyes narrowed. Presumably, like myself, he was incredibly smart and had read plenty of fanfiction and watched more than enough anime to guess at the particulars of our situation.

"Ah! I'm sorry, commander!" Lenette said, suddenly rushing forward towards the other Lee, bowing her head low. In the background, there was a hideous crash as Erza and Gildarts continued their fight. "I thought that he was you! He deceived and bewitched me!"

"I suspect that this battle was decided long ago," the other Lee said, simply waving her off, turning his attention to me and the Fairy Tail guild. "I'm pretty sure there's more of you than in canon. Kunio has given us better weapons, but I don't think we can really stop you, even with them. Though... where is your Erza?"

"The lacrima."

"Ah. My deepest apologies, then. I can't imagine what I would do, if it were my wife in there. You've been very constrained given that."

"Wha, what?!" Juvia asked, bursting forth from the crowd to suddenly hug me from the side. "Erza isn't Lee's wife! Is she, Lee?!"

"Oh," the other Lee said. "You wound up romancing Juvia instead. I guess I can understand that. I never had the chance to meet this world's Juvia - she's a wanted criminal." He rolled his shoulders gently, letting out a sigh. "Erza isn't going to like this. My Erza, that is," he said, to clarify. "She would follow orders to the end of the world... but it's my duty to preserve my men's lives, and the kingdom's health, which I know will be best served by not fighting you."

"Cool, so there won't be any fighting, then," came Konata's voice. "We can just overthrow the dipshit king and put the prince on the throne. Hey, before we leave, can you two double team me?"

"Double team...?" The other Lee frowned, glancing from Juvia, to Konata, to Lenette. "Are you romantically involved with the other Erza?" He asked me, his expression suddenly hostile. I didn't even have time to lie - he saw right through me in a heartbeat. "You little shit," he spat. "Men! Prepare for battle!" He shook his head, his features twisted into a scowl as he moved forward at the head of a formation, rushing towards us. "How dare you insult Erza by creating a harem, you bastard!"

"She really doesn't care!" I countered. He continued his charge despite that, screaming bloody murder.

We were interrupted as Erza Knightwalker's unconscious body flew right in between our two groups.

* * *

Erza Knightwalker hung her head low. She had been defeated, her weapon taken from her, and now she was tied up with thick ropes, bound to her husband. To her Lee. She had heard the outlines of the conversation he had been having with his counterpart. She did not fully understand everything her husband had said, but she understood what he had said. "I love you, my darling," she said, tilting her head backwards, pressing the crown of her skull against him.

"Dammit. I can't believe I let him get me riled up like that. He was probably just faking, anyway," he said, shaking his head. Erza turned her gaze up to the lacrima, which the other Lee - nearly naked, his body looking just as gorgeous as her husband's own - pressed one hand against. It quickly transmuted back into members of that alternate Fairy Tail Guild, including a copy of herself. Who promptly ran up for the other Lee and wrapped him in a powerful big hug, and kiss him sharply on the lips. "Right, Erza?"

"Yes. He was likely faking," Erza agreed, with a quiet nod. She didn't want to hurt her husband's feelings. She wasn't quite sure why he was so opposed to the idea of her - or an alternate her, as the case may have been - being part of a harem, but she was hardly going to argue with him on that subject. The desires of his heart were the ones she was bound to protect and nurture, just as he was bound to protect and nurture her own desires - which he did every day, just by being close to her.

The other Lee and Erza approached her. There was a bewildering element, to coming face to face with herself and her husband. It gave her a feeling like she was outside of her own body. Then a third person, a petite girl who reminded her suspiciously much of Kunio, arrived at their side. She was cute. Erza wanted to pat her on the head and tell her everything would be alright, just as she felt with Kunio.

It was the girl who spoke first. "The king is planning to turn all the Exceeds and Shagotte into Lacrima," she told Erza.

Erza simply blinked at the absurd claim. The idea of killing the goddess Shagotte was an absurd one. She scoffed. "Don't try your ridiculous lies on me. You may have defeated me in battle, but my mind is my own."

"No, she's right," Lee said. "He's got a plan to capture the Exceeds if and when they come into range."

Was this what he had meant, when he asked her to trust her? It was a crazy claim. To turn against the goddess Shagotte... it was blasphemy, and folly. She chose who lived and who died. Her king had to be mad to even contemplate such a thing. "I trust you, darling," she said, giving his hand a squeeze in their bondage. Then she simply ripped her way out of the confines with ease, rising to her feet. "I have many duties. My first is to my husband. My second is to my kingdom. Both are in accordance, now - to turn on the Exceeds would be the sort of folly which could destroy our nation. Our king must be stopped."

"Dammit! That was supposed to be good rope!" Came a female voice.

"I'm sorry, Princess, I did my best, but it clearly wasn't good enough. Please punish me! You could force me to service Lee again, for example!" Came another woman's voice in reply, from a pink-haired maid who was rapidly bowing.

So the other Lee raped women? She supposed these lot were opposites in many ways, so it made sense. Her own Lee was kind, gentle, and sweet - so this one was some cruel and rapacious bastard. She leaned into her Lee, kissing him on the cheek for just a moment, her hand snaking around his hip to remind him that she loved him, that she was his. He kissed her right back, pressing his lips hungrily against hers - until they were interrupted by loud coughing.

"Yeah, it's great that you like each other, but we really need to move. The prince needs to replace the current idiot king before he, uhh, causes a whole bunch of unnecessary problems."

"The prince?!" Erza asked, head spinning round as she searched for the man in question. It was impossible. A lie. It had to be- but then he appeared, and her eyes widened to see him there. It was the prince, that distinctive mark running right down his eye. "I see. This is what you meant, isn't it, Lee? That we must overthrow the king."

"Uh. Yes," he said, and she nodded sharply.

"Then I will fight by your side for this, the battle that will surely go down in history." She looked for her men, finding them also bound up. "Men! Rise up! We're going to overthrow the king!"

"Wow. She's just as intense as our Erza," the genderflipped doppelganger of Kunio said. Some of her men rose unsteadily to their feet, and she quickly snapped forward to cut them free.

"Will we really be able to defeat the king?" One of her men asked, and she promptly clonked him on the head with the shaft of her spear.

"Have I ever lead you to defeat before?!" She demanded of him.

"Well, just now..." he said.

"Hmm. Fair point," she admitted. "But now we fight with the very forces who defeated us - can anyone stand against us? No!" She proclaimed, with pride, raising her spear to the sky. After a few moments, her men found their enthusiasm and also raised their own weapons.

"Uhh..." The blue-haired doppelganger raised her hand. "Instead of just running in their and getting into a fight, what if we could win easy?"

* * *

The king looked so old, decrepit, and pitiful now, with Erza looking at him with fresh eyes. By her side stood the other Lee - not her husband. He was wearing only a pair of boxers, which was even less than he had been wearing before. Apparently his magic required him to wear little clothing, so they had been forced to make up a story. "They stripped my husband of his armor and underclothes, my king," she said, with head bowed. "But we had to come as quickly as possible, so that I could bring you important news," she said, rising to her feet and approaching the throne. Panther Lily bristled slightly, but he didn't seriously move to stop her, particularly after the king raised his hand to stop him.

"What is this news that is of such import? I know that you love your husband dearly, so if there was any chance for delay you would take it..." he pointed out, glancing at the nearly-naked other universe's Lee.

"Yes. It is simple:" In a heartbeat, she swung her spear, directly impacting the side of his head with the shaft, knocking him to the ground. "You are a traitor! You would drive us to war with Extalia, dooming the entire kingdom! The Prince, Jellal, has returned, and will take the throne!"

"I believe he is no longer among the conscious," Lee pointed out, gesturing to the body.

"Oh." She felt a certain burning in her cheeks. "Yes, well... there you go." Panther Lily didn't even attack her. She had no idea why, but she was glad he didn't. She would have had a tough time fighting him.

"There is one other matter I wanted to discuss with you, before we departed back to Earthland," the other Lee said. "A private, personal matter."

"Where is Jellal?" Panther Lily demanded, suddenly on guard.

"Jellal!" Erza called out. "Your father is indisposed!"

He strode in. Panther Lily dropped to his knee, and with that, the palace coup was complete.

* * *

Erza stared at the anima projector. Her new king had told her what was going to be done, and her own Lee had reassured her that it would be for the best, but she still felt a certain sense of trepidation, staring at it. What would come of this world, after what they were about to do?

Yes, the greed of the king had nearly doomed the kingdom. Perhaps, even, her country's endless thirst for magic had hurt the innocent. But a world without magic...

No. She cast those thoughts aside. Her husband had reassured her that this was for the best. She trusted him, and that trust was hard and unyielding. She would not break it, not for anything in this world. Her determination firmed at that simple reminder: she trusted her husband.

That trust was also why she was going to ignore what the other Lee had said. He had suggested that her Lee might also like to fuck other women, like that obviously-infatuated airship engineer Lenette, or even 'traps' like Kunio. But she would not coerce her husband into anything he did not wish to do, merely because some alternate universe cad wanted something different. If he really wanted to sleep with that Lenette girl, or with Kunio, he would tell her himself.

Before her, the anima projector whirred to light, twisting reality around them in a total inversion of the manner in which it was intended to work. This would not go into the history books. The Earthlanders would go down in history as the culprits - they would claim they did this to escape this world, and to ensure it could never hurt them again. As the magic around them twisted and inverted, she wondered if perhaps that was even the truth.

She heard the horrendous noise as the floating islands crashed down to the ground; she saw as the lights across the royal city flickered out and died, until only the light of the anima projector remained in the room; even her own weapon became inert in her grasp. The magic that made up Edolas was sucked up and transported over to Earthland, to reaffirm and strengthen that world's own magic.

As the world ended, she took her husband's hand firmly in her own, and squeezed. "I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he told her, squeezing her hand back.