dear_mun | Chapter 482

I admit, I find the irony endearing. It is a situation of his own making, and it saves me the trouble of having to discuss his insubordination with him in private, later.

I only wonder, though... will Jellal break with Fairy Tail's taboo against killing?

Figured you'd be happy with him, considering what he's accomplished.

I trust him to show some restraint. [Though if the situation had been reversed and Jellal was the one tortured and beaten, she'd have a tough time doing that.]

Happy? An empire the size of Alvarez is only possible through cooperation. Had Neinhart joined Dimaria and Wahl on the battlefield like I expected of him, neither of them would have been defeated, and the southern front would be closing in on Magnolia.

{ Alvarez didn't get as big as it was by having its officers try to one-up each other and by, well, laziness. Zeref saw it as a game, one that he'd gotten very, very good at, but he might have miscalculated by setting those three up together. The only one who seemed to take it seriously was Dimaria... when she wasn't cutting peoples' clothes off for her own amusement. }

Given my previous interactions with him in these 'games,' I expect him to stop just short of killing Neinhart. But that kind of rage... I've felt it myself, about nine years ago while leaving Tenroujima.

{ He just expresses it in a more subdued way. }

[Erza's not going to comment on that first part. From what she's seen, none of Zeref's officers (with the possible exception of Invel) seem like the cooperative type, but she's not going to sit around and discuss tactics with the person who is (directly or indirectly) responsible for the vast majority of the horrible things that happened in her life.]

[It's that second part that catches her attention.] You've met him in one of these games? Which one? ["If you did anything to hurt him..." almost passes her lips, but the threat seems kind of futile when dealing with someone who can't die.]

{ There's a few others, but of course, people like Neinhart, Wahl, Brandish, and Ajeel have to ruin it for everyone. But that doesn't matter, now. }

It was called 'Tower of Animus.' Now, however, that game has been closed. I've only seen him in 'memes' since. It was a rather interesting meeting, I'll admit. He's spent all these years chasing me, and no time thinking about what he would do were he to actually catch me. Trying to kill me would have been a waste of time. Even if death weren't permanent there, there is only one who is capable of killing me... and he failed.

Ironically, in the game Natsu and I - and you, for that matter - are in now, that is irrelevant. Death isn't permanent, there, either.

Seems like you're underestimating a lot of people. Even if Natsu missed his chance, he'll find another way to stop you, and if he can do it, then so can others. [Even if raw power isn't enough, Mavis should be able to find a way to convince him to stop without killing him. The power of love conquers all, and all of that.]

Perhaps he could have. The power of the dead could very well have been the key. Unfortunately, that cat of his decided to take it upon himself to decide both of our fates, and with it, the fate of Isghar.

{ Perhaps Mavis could. Zeref has clearly been trying to disassociate her from Fairy Heart by referring to them as two separate entities, after all, and if anyone can talk him down, it's her. }

He had a way, and only one chance to use it. He squandered it. Whatever the case, I spent four hundred years allowing myself to believe that Igneel was right, all while suffering with this curse, and watching humanity invoke my name to justify their own wickedness. And it was all for nothing. Igneel's plan to stop Acnologia failed. Now, we do things my way.

There has to be a better way to stop you than Natsu sacrificing himself. He'll find it. [He always does, somehow.]

It doesn't have to be one or the other. I'm sure the First could find a way to stop Acnologia - we've got seven Dragon Slayers on our side, after all. [A year's worth of training might not be enough to beat Acnologia, but even doing some damage would give everyone else an opening.]

Were such a way to exist, I would welcome it. Mavis once claimed that the One Magic was the key. If only it were as simple as she made it sound.

There were eight. The eighth joined the Twelve not too long ago, actually, believing that it was his best chance to kill Acnologia. His arrogance, unfortunately, was his downfall. He had spent so long believing - perhaps rightfully - himself to be the most powerful mage in Ishgar. He let it go to his head, and Acnologia killed him for it.

{ A sigh. }

I do not expect the remaining seven to fare better, given what I had seen at the Grand Magic Games.

Edited 2016-05-09 18:01 (UTC)

He killed Serena? [That had to be who he was talking about. Erza hadn't seen Serena in action - only heard rumours that he could control many elements with ease in spite of how complicated that was - but he was formerly Ishgar's top-ranked mage for a reason.]

Most of ours know not to underestimate Acnologia, and they've been training since they met him. [She's trying to sound confident, but the fact that Acnologia killed Serena, and apparently did so quite quickly given that nobody saw the telltale explosions that a fight of that scale should cause, threw her off.] They won't hold back, or let their guard down.

Yes. Rather brutally, from what I hear. Acnologia could be given credit for the extinction of dragons. God Serena should not have underestimated him, even if he did have eight different elements of Dragon Slayer magic at his disposal. Acnologia killed him with his bare hand.

{ Emphasis 'hand,' singular. For the first time in the entire series, talking was not a free action. Acnologia killed him mid-sentence, in a way that was clearly meant to mirror Igneel's death. At least he was gracious enough not to attack Jacob and August while he was at it. }

I hope, for their sake, that it is enough. Even I am unsure that I could defeat Acnologia. At least... not without Fairy Heart. I will give credit where credit is due, however. Igneel has dispelled the myth that Acnologia is invincible. I admit that it has emboldened me.

Save your strength, Erza. This won't take long.

[Guess who's incredibly fucking furious. Guess who absolutely doesn't care about possible backstory, no matter how much his mun does. ~~Guess who doesn't have any icons that even remotely come close to that U R FCKD face but let's pretend that I do?~~]

I was going to say to take him out before he can use his power on you, but I guess I don't need to worry about that. [She hopes she can regain consciousness long enough to see the end result; it's bound to be horribly one-sided in Jellal's favour.]

I guess fighting more than one of the Spriggan Twelve that close together is a bit much for me, huh? [It seemed more like something that Natsu would do, but she couldn't stay back and let her wounds heal while her friends were fighting for the sake of the guild.]

Edited 2016-04-19 02:12 (UTC)

You won't.

[Jellal has little intention to give him enough time to even take another breath, never mind use the Historia on him, to hit fast and hard and bear down the final judgment of the stars.]

We always knew they weren't to be underestimated.

[So yes… maybe she shouldn't have fought another – especially not alone – but in the end it couldn't quite be helped. There is no point in revisiting the what-ifs right now. (He just might beat himself up later though.)]

True, but still, I should have done better than this. I wanted to at least knock that smug smirk off of Kyouka's face. [Sure, it's an illusion, not really her, but while any animosity she had towards Azuma or Ikaruga had faded a while ago, her hatred of Kyouka was still very fresh in her mind.]

You defeated the three strongest mages you ever faced at once with nothing more than will power. [Which would likely be an impossibility for any other mage, but this is Erza. There is no one with a greater will to life, for herself and her comrades; Jellal has no doubt of that.] They would be foolish to look smug at that.

You make it sound far better than it actually was. ...But thanks.

You just don't give yourself enough credit.

I guess so. [They'll have to agree to disagree on that one - Erza's too modest to admit how impressive that was.]

Once this is all done, and Zeref's stopped, what are your plans?

[They will indeed; Jellal will stand firm in his opinion here.

As for her question… well, this is assuming that he survives fighting Zeref.]

Even with Zeref defeated, Crime Sorciére's work isn't done. [Dark guilds won't just stop existing because Zeref has… there are always fools that believe themselves capable of resurrecting him or his power in one way or another; Jellal would know that like no other… except Ultear maybe.] I'm also still a fugitive…

...Of course. [She half-expected that answer; she was just hoping that, now that the guild consisted of more than three people, he could afford to take a break every now and then, or at least stay in one place.] Though I'm sure that defeating one of the Spriggan Twelve would be more than enough to earn you, and your guild, a pardon.

[Crime Sorciére isn't exactly like most guilds… settling down, taking jobs like legal guilds… Jellal doesn't think they'll ever be able to do that. Besides…]

I'm not sure… just one battle may not be enough to weight up our sins. Even if it were, I'm not sure if it should be.

[He has killed and enslaved… so have they others. Atonement is a stony path and still long for all of them.]

...And when will it be enough? [She really doesn't want to get into this again, but it seems like the only time Jellal will forgive himself for what he's done is when he's died trying to kill Zeref or something like that.]

I–

[Jellal averts his gaze… he knows exactly what she doesn't want to hear, yet it's the only answer he is capable of giving. Is it ever going to be enough… not really from where he stands. Some things just cannot be forgiven after all.]

[Erza's going to grab Jellal by his collar with one hand, cup his chin with the other, and make him look at her - if that's what it takes to get an answer out of him, so be it.] You've done more than enough to make up for what you've done, especially since it wasn't even your own choice to begin with. So don't you dare say that you haven't made up for it!

Edited 2016-05-15 22:43 (UTC)

[He lets her grab him, doesn't struggle against her grip or the touch against his chin making himself meet her eyes even when he'd rather not, because he cannot give her the answer that she wants to hear from him.

Her hand is warm against his skin.]

It's not that simple.

[It's true enough that becoming what he did wasn't his choice, yet the sins committed after cannot be all blamed on Ultear either. Some of it was his choice, that much is fact. It wasn't Ultear that killed Shimon.]

[Tears start forming at the corners of her eyes, out of a mix of sadness and frustration at this whole situation.]

It's simpler than you think it is. I'm not going to let you throw your life away on some quest that has no end!

[The way she sees it, it's all Zeref's fault - the hell that they went through when they were kids, Hades's ultimate goal, everything leads back to him.]

If I have to stay with you to make sure you don't get yourself killed, then that's what I'll do.

[Dismay flashes over his face – the last thing Jellal ever wants is for Erza to cry, to see her anything but happy. That he causes her tears again… this is why it's best they stay just friends.]

That's not your decision to make.

[What is the point in seeking redemption if he stops before he's found it to his own satisfaction. Her following words take him by surprise though, and it shows open on his face. For her to go that far for him…]

Erza…

Chapter 482

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I have no words for how much I love our threads <3333

:)

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