Chapter 41

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

(Elfman's POV)

I froze as I took in Sol's words. But only for a moment before I spoke up in my defense. "I would never do anything nefarious with an unconscious woman! I am a proud gentleman and was simply hoping to find a bed to lay her in before I continued on with my mission!"

Sol seemed surprised by my words before narrowing his eyes and speaking in a slightly mocking tone. "Oh, really Gars? Then please tell me what is rule number 32 of being a messieurs?"

I grin at his words before saying some of my own, "Rule number 32, A gentleman should never leave the house without the proper tools to fix their appearance as stated by The Code of the Gentlemen."

To really show off I positioned Lady Juiva to only be held by one of my arm and reached into my waterproof bag I keep in my back pocket and pull out my limited edition of The Code of the Gentlemen book. Sol's eyes widened at my words and even more at my book before a happy smile found its way onto his face as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out another copy of The Code of the Gentlemen book.

My eyes widened as well when I saw the book and we soon found ourselves staring at each other in wonderment. I truly felt a connection to this man in front of me that I could now see also styled himself a gentleman. The stare was broken when Sol started talking, "Could it be?! Another monsieur?! Oh, what a wonderful day! It is so hard to find another mâle who understands the value of being a gentlemen."

I nodded in understanding with his words, "Yes I to find it a struggle to find another guild member that understands the way of the gentlemen. Truly we are a dying breed."

Once more I found myself staring at Sol as he stared back. A sense of peace overcame us as we understood each other and I dare say that I felt a bond forming with this man...no this gentleman!

Sol once more ended up breaking the stare as he looked down at Lady Juvia and spoke. "While I am happy to find another of my kind would you kindly hand me my amie? I can take her to one of the rooms reserved for S-class mage to stay while at the headquarters."

I did not hesitate to nod and walk forward to put Lady Juvia in his hands once I did I spoke. "Please take your time, I shall be waiting here. I would love to speak more about being a gentleman with you."

Sol gave me a kind smile before nodding and then sinking into the ground with his guildmate. I dutifully stood in the hall waiting, I knew that it was a bad idea to stay. Even if he was a gentleman like me he was still an enemy but I had said I would stay so I would on my honor as a gentleman! Besides, it would be so nice to have a pleasant conversation with another like me.

It took about ten minutes before Sol came back. The floor to my side promptly softened and the Earth mage emerged with a surprised but pleased expression on his face. Clearly he was happy and surprised that I stayed.

"Oh good, you stayed my follow monsieur. I thank you for not hurting my amie. Could you tell me what happened? No offense to you, I can tell you are a confident mage but Lady Juvia is an S-class just like me for a reason."

I nodded at his words in agreement, "Yes she was definitely more powerful than me as a mage but sadly it seems like your friend has an illness. She was only red in the face and even from a distance, I could tell that her heart was beating far too much. Would you happen to know what is wrong with her?"

Sol gave a knowing smile and even a chuckle before speaking, "I see, yes I do know of this maladies that she suffers from. She has, unfortunately, had it for most of her life. I and the rest of my guildmates help her when it...flares up."

I give my fellow gentlemen a sad look before offering a supporting nod, "Rather sad for the Lady then. She has my condolences and I hope that she gets better. If there is anything I could do just let me know."

Once more Sol gave me a light chuckle and even shook his head a little before responding. "Merci my ami. But you seem to forget the situation right now. Our respective guilds are in a guerre against each other. I, unfortunately, doubt that you'll be around to help her. And speaking of that horrid affair I'm afraid that I am a Phantom Lord mage above being a monsieur."

I let out a sigh as I gave an understanding nod, "I must agree with you. I am a Fairy Tail mage before a gentlemen. But if we must fight then I at least ask you for a fair fight."

"Of course," Said Sol with a smile, "As a monsieur I promise to not pull any too dirty of a trick. In fact, I shall even aidez-moi you if I can! Monsieur must provide a hand to each other!"

I smiled back before reaching in my pocket and pulling out a coin. "Well then I say that I throw this coin up in the air and once it hits the ground then the fight begins. I would usually suggest you go first but I know that as a fellow gentleman you would do the same for me."

Sol nodded in agreement as we both moved into position, the two of us ready to fight for our guilds. After a moment I flicked the coin up into the air and time seemed to slow as I and Sol stared at each other once more, both of us wore a sad but determined expression.

But even with the slowness, the coin eventually hit the ground.

Then we both struck.

(Third Person Battle POV)

Elfman was the first to react to the sound of the coin's drop.

"Beast Arm: Black Bull"

The Gentlemen Beast's arm was covered in a flash of magic and soon it had turned into something similar to that of a gorilla's arm. Big and bulky with black fur all over it. With his new hand, Elfman pushed forward with the intention of planting said hand into his opponent's stomach. Sadly for him though, Sol was more than ready for an attack.

Just as the black-furred arm was about to impact, Sol in an impressive display of acrobatics twisted away from the attack while jumping to the side of Elfman as well. Just as Elfman turned to face his opponent the Earth mage used an attack of his own.

"Sable Dance"

Despite mainly being an Earth mage Sol still used other types of basic magic and one of those magic just happened to be Sand magic. A small sandstorm erupted around Elfman, both blinding him and cutting into him at all sides.

Elfman grunted as he took the attack before powering through the pain and rushing toward where he remembered Sol to be. Once out of the sandstorm he saw that he was on the mark and very close to a surprised Sol. With a grin, Elfman blitz right at the Earth mage and attack said grin faded when his attack shattered Sol or rather a "Statue de la Terre" or earth statue of Sol.

A chuck from behind him had Elfman turning to see the hall full of Sols, to make matters worse many of them were swaying slightly and giving themselves an impression of being alive and real. Before the Fairy Tail mage could think of some plan of attack one of the earth statues jumped at him with a tackle and just before the impact, he flashed before exploding and forcing the Fairy to take the full force of the explosion.

The other Sols waited to see the outcome of the attack which ended up being the wrong choice as they heard Elfman shout out a spell name.

"Beast Leg: Weretiger'' The dust that had occupied the area was forced away as in another flash of magic Elfman's legs were replaced with that of the Weretiger. Two long and feline legs with light orange fur and several black circles. Before any of the Sols could act, in a blur of speed The Gentlemen Beast disappeared and reappeared in front of the closest and smashed it to pieces with his black arm before repeating the process.

This happened again and again as Elfman would disappear, reappear, smash and repeat. Eventually, though the Sols wised up to this and once Elfman reappeared in front of another earth statue, just a second or two before his arm struck the statue. Said statue flashed and exploded and sent the Fairy Tail mage into the nearby wall.

Before Elfman could stand up the remaining Sols all jumped onto him and in a rather bright flash, all exploded. The area was shacked lightly as large amounts of dust were kicked up. Eventually, though the area cleared to reveal a damaged Elfman. He had already been decently damaged from his fight with Juvia and now he was really feeling the pain. Just as he got ahold of his pain and stood the ground a few yards away softened and the real Sol emerged from the ground having been hiding this entire time.

Sol made a show of lightly dusting off his red tux before giving Elman a slight smile. "My my monsieur, you're having some trouble with me. Now tell me why you haven't done a Full-Body Takeover yet? Surely a puissance man like you would be able to pull it off all with ease."

Elfman paused as he took in Sol's question, the memory of that 'day' flashing in his mind as he felt a cold shiver go down his spine. The Earth mage's eyes widened as he brought a hand to adjust his monocle before lightly whipping something. "Your Sœur..."

Despite the fact that the Phantom had whispered Elfman heard it and faced Sol with wide eyes as he himself whispers too. "How!?"

Sol gave a sheepish look as he let out a sigh before speaking, "I must apologize to you monsieur. My monocle has many little enchantments on it that I have added through the years, one of them is the ability to see surface thoughts of those that I look at. I had not intended to use that ability due to our promettre at the beginning but I'm afraid habit overcame me for a second or two."

'It sadly doesn't have any enchantments against illusions though.' Thought Sol with an annoyed tone as he remembered of the trick that had led him and Juvia away from the Fairy Tail guild.

Elfman just stood as he processed Sol's words before finally coming up with some of his own. "...that doesn't seem very gentlemanly to do."

Sol once more let out a sigh and gave a light shrug, "True true but I am also a bit of a spy/info gather for Phantom Lord. Not to mention that I try and only use it against criminals. But I rather not change the subject here monsieur. You're not trying a Full-Body Takeover because of what happened to your Sœur, correct?"

Elfman once more paused as he debated what to say in his head. He was always tight-lipped about what happened but he had found recently that it felt better to talk about it rather than hold it in and despite only knowing Sol for a short amount of time he couldn't help but feel like he was an old friend, the bond between gentlemen was something that transcended time and space.

In the end, Elfman let out a sigh as he looked to the floor sadly. "The last time I attempted a Full-Body Takeover I...I killed my sister because I couldn't control myself. I just...I can't bring myself to try again."

Sol gave an understanding nod as he allowed his brother in gentlemanliness a few seconds of silence before talking. "I can understand your pain monsieur. As a mage, I too have lost a few allies and friends. Many of which I blame myself for them dying. That said...I'm afraid that you have no choice my ami."

Elfman's head snapped up toward Sol but before he could say anything the Earth mage spoke first. "I'll be completely honest with you monsieur, you can't win like this. You don't have the power, durability or anything else to overcome my Earth magic. Your only real chance of winning is if you do a Full-Body Takeover."

A pained look overcame Elfman as he balled up his hands into fists and squeezed shut his eyelids. "I... I can't! Not after what happened to Lisanna! I can't ever lose control again or else I'll hurt the people I care for!"

Sol steeled his face as he slowly raised his right arm towards Elfman, "If you worried about me monsieur then don't. I am an S-class mage for a reason. And if you don't do a Full-Body Takeover then you will lose and then the ones you care about will truly be in difficulté. Roche Concerto"

An eruption of rock came from all around Elfman as that pelted and struck him with a surprising amount of power. The Gentlemen Beast gritted his teeth as he shot forward towards his opponent with his speed being enhanced by his Weretiger legs. Unfortunately for the Takeover mage, Sol was more than ready for any retaliation.

Just as Elfman fist was about to make contact with Sol's body, said Earth mage showed off his pro limbo skills and bents backward at such an angle that he completely dodges the attack and when the Takeover mage caught himself and twisted around to perform another hopefully more successful attack the ground around them softened.

Sol instantly sunk down into the ground and emerged a good few yards away while Elfman found himself sunk about halfway into the floor and unable to move. The Phantom looked over at his opponent with a sad look before clenching his fist and preparing for his next spell. The Fairy was struggling to get out of the quicksand-like earth, his Weretiger legs having no luck with the stuff. Eventually, though a plan came to mind and he cast a spell.

"Beast Arm: Rangermonkey" Elfman's unchanged arm turned into a long light brown furred monkey arm. With that done he pointed it to the ceiling and used the ability that the Rangermonkey was very well known for, its ability to extend and retract its arms. The new arms shot forward and smashed into the ceiling, making to grab on to any part of it he could. With some force, Elfman was pulled out of the soft ground and was back on the normal floor as his arm retracted. With a little sigh and some dusting on his pants, he turned to face Sol.

"Géant de Pierre" Only to be met with a giant monster of stone and earth.

Sol had unleashed one of his most powerful spells as he summoned a huge bipedal golem that barely fit in the room. It lumbered for a few seconds before all but throwing its arm forward and only just missed Elfman who rolled to the side. Afterward, the Takeover mage rushed forward and punched off a large chunk of the golem's leg, said chunk rapidly grew back in seconds.

"No no no monsieur," Said Sol who had relocated and was now hanging off the side of the wall with his lower half in said wall, "You can't win like that. My création will simply heal from any damage you deal to it like that. If you want to beat it you need to hit it with a big attack that takes it all out. Perhaps all Full-Body Takeover would work?"

Elfman paused for a second as he took in his opponents' suggestion before shaking his head and getting back into the fight with the golem. It wasn't going well for him as any damage he dealt was made null in void a few seconds later and he was just barely dodging the giant's slow but precise attacks. To make matters worse his injuries were starting to flare up and his stamina was draining. It wouldn't be long before he made a mistake that would cost him.

And that mistake happened to be a dodge that was a second too late from a wide swing from the golem that sent him into a wall.

Before Elfman could regain his bearings he found himself being picked up by his giant opponent's right hand. The Fairy Tail mage tried to push his way out of his situation but found the golem's hand too sturdy. Things only got worse when the being of stone started to squeeze and was met with Elfman's pained screams.

After a few seconds thought Sol mentally commanded his creation to stop and Elfman found some rest as he tried to regain his breath from his screaming. Before the Takeover mage was ready to once more try and escape his prison the Phantom Lord mage spoke. "You aren't getting out like that monsieur. As much as it hurt me to cause pain to another monsieur we are sadly enemies. But that doesn't mean I can't help you in some way. If you wish to get out and possibly win then you must push past whatever mental barrier you have and unleash your full puissance."

Elfman once more paused at Sol's words before once more shaking his head and speaking. "I can't! That power that you speak of took my sister from me because I couldn't control it. Just the thought of trying to use it again makes me sick. I will find a way to win without it!"

Sol found himself sighing even if he found his fellow gentlemen's resolve to be impressive. Really he should just end this but he felt compelled to help his opponent. "Monsieur… while I do not know your little sister. I would like to think she would hate to see you in such pain. And if I remember right you have an older sister too. How would she react to your pain? How would she act in seeing where you are right now? How would she feel if...if my golem ended your life right now."

Elfman froze as he took him those words. He knew that Lissanna would hate to see him in pain but the thought of Mira grieving over his death filled him with a coldness that matched his fear. As he thought of this Sol took in a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was going to say next. "Because if you don't overcome your fear then that will happen. You will be turned into a bloody paste by my création. So please my frère in ideals, find your will because you will need it! Golem I command you to crush him!"

And with those words, the being of stone and earth held his prisoner between his two hands and put his everything into squeezing. Elfman clenched his teeth as the pain from before came back in full force. But despite the pain feeling his body his mind was full of only one thing. Something that made him ignore everything eh was feeling has he felt his will start to rise.

Mira crying over his gravestone.

"Beast Soul"

Magic filled and flooded out of Elfman's body as a bright flash overtook his entire being. The golem tried to overpower his opponent's new strength but found itself failing as the Takeover mage performed a Full-Body Takeover and grew to match his enemy's huge size. With a loud roar, the light dispersed to reveal a giant monster.

The King of Beasts.

It stood a little shorter than the golem. It was built like a giant gorilla with red fur and for some reason, loose blue pants were over its legs. Big yellow spikes were shooting out of his shoulders and two matching yellow horns were jutting out of his forehead. Long white hair played down from his head to the middle of his back and a small full beard covered his face. But his most prominent feature was his eyes. His very human eyes held a look of full control.

With a roar, Elfman brought his arms up and slammed them down together on the golem. The arms meet little resistance as they carved their way through the being of stone and shattered it in dozens of pieces. With that done Elfman took a few steps back and resisted the urge to let out a roar of victory, it was very ungentlemanly to roar and that first of was already too much in his opinion.

A soft clapping suddenly echoed throughout the hall and the Gentlemen Beast turned to see Sol standing in the middle of the hall giving him a golf clap."Yes, monsieur! I can tell that you're in control just from your eyes alone! I told you that you could tame the beast within."

Despite the pain and the tiredness, Elfman found himself giving the Earth mage a smile. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his mind, one that he had for so long he forgot it was there in the first place. "I thank you for your help, my fellow gentlemen. Though I do find that your methods were rather...extreme."

Sol gave a sheepish smile at the remark but soon it fell as he spoke, "I am sorry for that monsieur and for what I will be doing next."

Before Elfman could ask what he meant, the Takeover mage found the many pieces of the golem that he had destroyed floating upwards all around him and before he could react to them they all rapidly shot towards him. Instead of exploding off of him the pieces of earth impacted and molded around him and soon he once more found himself imprisoned but this time in softened earth that refused to shatter or get off of him.

While Elfman struggled with his new prison Sol got into a wide stance as he prepared to fire off his most powerful spell. He felt bad about what he was going to do but he was still a Phantom Lord mage and his gentlemanly brother was a Fairy Tail mage. He still had to win this fight.

Earth and dust started to rapidly whirl around the back of him as magic flooded through his body. Elfman took note of this and doubled his effort to escape and made some progress with some chunks of earth but said chunks simply replaced themselves. The only true difference was the fact that the soft earth prison started to glow with magic. Before Elfman could understand what the glow meant Sol unleashed his spell.

"Platre Sonata"

From Sol's forward reaching right hand a light brown magic circle appeared. From the circle, a dense stone fist emerged and shot forward with large amounts of power and speed. The fist impacted Elfman's large form. Once the fist impacted the glow coming from the earth prison that surrounded him got much more intense and soon a large explosion happened with the Takeover being right in the center.

With his attack done Sol stood off to the side waiting for the dust to clear but was ready just in case his attack had failed. Once the dust did clear it revealed a fallen Elfman, his tux was scuffed and scratched but not too damaged thanks to it being created with magic but that didn't change what had happened.

Elfman had lost.

(3rd Person POV)

Sol let out a tired sigh as he walked over and stood by the fallen body of Elfman. He had been impressed with the Fairy Tail mage's full power. Before he would say that the man's power would have been a low A-class, decently strong in its own right. But after he used a Full-Body Takeover he would say that his opponent was at a high A-class, just a step below being an S-class. Unfortunately for Elfman though that step was a big one.

Sol couldn't help the smile on his face as he stared down at the man he felt like he might have called a friend had they met in a different situation. He had always liked to help those he considered a friend, not only was it a gentlemanly thing to do but the Earth mage just enjoyed being able to help. And today he had done just that.

Sadly though the reality of said situation just dawned on Sol and his smile turned into a frown. He remembered his Guild Master's words, they made it clear what he was to do if he defeated a Fairy Tail mage.

Sol wasn't a killer. A gentlemen, Phantom Lord mage, and even a spy but not a killer. Not to say that he hadn't killed before, it was an unfortunate thing but sometime death would happen when you worked as a mage. Whether it was god forbid one of your allies or an enemy due to an accident, it happened.

But Sol had never done so on purpose. Yet now he had to and on a man, he was hoping to one day call a friend and brother in gentlemanliness. Life was truly unfair, wasn't it?

While Sol was working himself up to do the horrid deed someone had made their way onto the scene. When Elfman had gone Full-Body his magic signature had changed, most mages wouldn't have noticed the change but if you were an expert on Takeover magic then you would rather easily tell the change.

Which was why Mira had made her way into the Phantom Lord mech headquarters.

While trying her best to help the guild from the sidelines she felt Elfman's magic signature change just slightly. She knew near-instantly he had just performed a Full-Body Takeover and all but abandoned the battle as she used her limited Takeover magic to give herself some wings and fly over to the structure standing beside the Fairy Tail guild.

It hadn't taken too long for her to find the hole made from Juvia's attack and she made her way into the same hallway that held Elfman and Sol. Both of which she saw near instantly. "Elfman!"

At the shout, Sol abruptly turned around to see the white-head girl. He recognized her from his glimpses into Elfman's surface thoughts and from her reputation. Mira Strauss the She-devil and off roster S-class Fairy Tail mage. He took a moment to compose himself before giving her a smile and speaking.

"Hello Mademoiselle," He started with a profession but kind tone, "You are Monsieur Elfman's sister no? As you can see he fell before me after a valiant fight. I was just...preparing to finish him off sadly. But since you perhaps you could take him and be-"

Sol continued with his little speech, mainly about Mira taking her brother and leaving, but the eldest Strauss did not hear anything past the part about the man in front of her killing her brother.

Mira's entire world froze over as she looked at Elfman's fallen form. Emotion swirled inside her as her mind flashed back to the moment that she learned that her parents had died while out on a job, both of them being freelance Takeover mages. She then flashed back to seeing Lissanna disappear in her hands as she was powerless to stop her sister from leaving. Then she thought of the graveyard that held her parent and sister's tombstones.

She saw Elfman's there as well.

Sol completely stopped talking as Mira let out a primal yell. The mental barriers that had held her back for so long, the ones that had formed after her sister's death, all but shattered as the She-devil's will and magic flooded her body. Wind picked up around her as her magic visibly surrounded her body and Sol found himself breaking into a cold sweat at both the sight and feel of what was before him.

Mira soon took hold of her magic and guided it just like she had done so long ago. She had lost her parents. She had lost her younger sister.

She was not going to lose her little brother.

"Satan Soul"

AN: Wow was that fun to write. I've always liked both Sol and Aria and was sad that they didn't get the screen time and development like Juvia and Gajeel did. As for Sol, I tried to make him a gentlemen like ELfmen but with a bit of a spy twist on it. Thank you to Blaze1992 for recommending me the Kingsmen movies which ended up influencing Sol's character. I also tried to make him feel like more of an S-class mage in terms of power since in the anime he really didn't feel like one.

Again Volfwildman couldn't Beta this chapter due to recovering from his surgery, he's doing well just needs some time to heal. This week's shout out will be going to Howdidigetherewastaken for pointing out and helping me with a bit of a problem I ended up creating with the money system in Earthland, economics really isn't my thing.

I want you to go outside and look up at the stars in the sky... What? Oh, its currently day time for you? well then wait till night, now let me finish. Look up at all those stars and see how bright and amazing they look... What now!? You don't see any stars!? Then just imagine them! I'm trying to be inspirational here! ANyway you to can be one of those stars if you just simply leave a review...ok what now?... You don't want to be a giant flaming ball of gas in space...this is why we can't have nice things.

Have a great day.

P a treon . com (slash) BETAsatchel