Recommended: Off I Go – Greg Laswell
Anchor
Cuts and bruises marred her skin, the wound on her right arm bleeding freely, leaving a trail of ruby red down its length as it mixed with the soot and grime. Her muscles were aching as she clung onto the edge of the hole in the wall for dear life. Another explosion rocked the tower, the impact nearly throwing her off the building but a last ditch effort ensured that she managed to secure a foothold on one of the dislodged bricks of the outer wall.
The howling wind tore at her skin, her tapestry of scars prickling painfully under the freezing rain. Her fingers were numb from the cold and little by little, her hold was slipping. Erza whistled for her Legion but the sound was swept away by the wind and the roar of the battlefield. Her mind worked furiously, eyes darting about, calculating the distance between her position and the hole in the wall. She shifted her weight, adjusting and positioning her body so that she could swing herself over to the right and pull herself up. She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath and was about to launch herself into mid-air when her foot suddenly slipped on the wet brick. Her mouth opened in a wordless scream as her fingers lost their grip and she fell, arms still outstretched.
A strong hand shot out and grasped her by the wrist, the sudden movement jolting her shoulder painfully. It was obvious he had sprinted to her aid, having skidded across the rubble-strewn floor to lunge at her form. The upper half of his body was hanging over the edge and his face was contorted with the effort of having to sustain both their body weights with only his lower body half as leverage.
"I got you," Jellal choked out with a grunt, his grip strong but hand shaking with the exertion.
Something exploded behind him, sending chunks of stone and wood raining down on him. A stray piece of shrapnel sliced across his eye and he almost dropped her instinctively. He bit his lip, holding back a cry of pain. The blood was streaming down his face and he blinked away the blood, feeling his eyes sting as the rain battered him.
"Give me your hand!"
His grip was giving way inch by inch, the rain merely accelerating the process. Jellal leant forwards so that more than half of his body was dangling down, his other hand grabbing her hand, his legs hooked around a loose piece of stone as an anchor. With a pained roar, he tried to pull her up slowly.
The stone gave way suddenly and he lurched forward, and downwards, with a surprised yell. He released one hand from his hold on her, fingers scrabbling against the ground before finally settling against the ledge. The shattered glass and stone debris dug into his palms sharply, breaking the skin, but despite the pain, his grip only grew stronger. He could feel his muscles, taut and burning, being strained to the maximum, bearing the full brunt of their combined weight.
"Jellal…"
Erza's voice was steady. There was a serenity to her entire being, a sense of peacefulness almost akin to resignation and he knew, oh he knew, what she was going to do.
"Don't say it," he snarled. "Don't you dare."
"Jellal, you can't support the two of us."
His voice, in stark contrast to hers, was thick with emotion. "Shut up."
"You have to let me go."
"Shut up!"
His eyebrows were furrowed, eyes squeezed shut. She could see that he was crying, even though the rain made the tears indistinguishable. His shoulders were shaking, be it from the piercing cold or not, and for a moment, he looked utterly lost, defeated. Those broad shoulders of his now looked so small, crushed under the heavy weight of the world.
Erza gave him a smile, warm eyes gazing into his. "Jellal…"
He shook his head violently, choking between small gasps. "No, I can't. I can't."
"You have to let me go."
"No!"
"Jellal," a hint of steel edged into her voice. "You have to."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Jellal!" She was almost pleading with him at this point. "Do you love me?"
He couldn't believe that she was asking him this. "More than life. You know that."
"Then if you love me, if you truly love me, you'll let me go."
"No," his eyes were hard, "no."
He would fall down with her, he would follow her down, he would do anything but let her go.
Yet it seemed like fate disagreed with him.
A cannon ball smashed through the wall beside him, knocking down the other half of the wall still supporting the collapsing tower. The bricks scattered around him and he twisted his head upwards only to see the roof cave in, half burying and half crushing his legs.
The excruciating pain shot through his system like a lightning shock and the pain combined with his sudden lapse in concentration caused his weakening grip to loosen and all Jellal could do was scream at Erza's plummeting form.
With her Ten Commandments strapped to her back, Erza took one last look at the empty bed, covers strewn on the floor, sheets rumpled. She glanced down at her hands, noting the map of lacerations adorning them. She could also see the blood smeared all across her body, the scars still red and raw from its recent infliction.
Stepping out into the hallway, bathed in the warm sunlight enveloping her, her footsteps echoed along its length like gunshots. She made her way towards the doors to the palace, one hand hovering over the handle. Her fingers curled around the cool metal but she did not pull down on it.
There was something wrong.
It was too quiet.
The swish of his ragged cape sliced through the silence. She could feel his calming presence from where he stood behind her.
She turned to face him.
His hair was still wet from the rain, his pants torn and ripped from where the wreckage had fallen on him. The blood had stained through his soaked clothes, gaping wounds peeking between the unraveling bandages on his chest.
A hand cupped her chin. "I'm sorry I'm late."
A smile curled her lips as her eyes took in the sight of him. His eyes searched her face and upon detecting the joy on it, he smiled uncertainly. But then, the smile slid from her face slowly and his hand dropped in confusion. A mess of emotions flickered across her face. Was it pain? Sadness? Relief?
"Erza, what's wrong?"
Her eyes lowered to the ground before darting back up to his face. A sense of dread seeped into his core as his subconscious deciphered the true reason behind what was currently happening.
Jellal watched as Erza took a step back away from him, a hand reaching up behind her back to grasp at the handle.
"No…" his whisper reverberated across the empty chamber. "Please…"
The door swung open gently and a blinding light from beyond the room's confines hit him. He reared backwards at the sudden brightness and when he looked back at Erza once more, all he could see was a dark silhouette moving further and further away from him. The distance between them seemed to increase as well, the room elongating, pulling the two of them apart.
"No!"
Jellal sprinted towards her but no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach her.
"It's not your time yet, Jellal," her voice was a mere whisper but they echoed in his ears like church bells. "But I'll be waiting for you. I'll wait for you for as long as it takes."
The light expanded around him, engulfing him whole in a sudden burst.
His rasping gasp pounded in his head. His vision was blurred but he could still make out a flurry of activity around him. Blobs of colour bustled about and excited voices rang out clearly.
"He's awake!"
A hand rested against his cheek and a light was shone in his eye, one after the other. Jellal tried to move, grunting as agonising pain shot up both legs. Someone patted him on the shoulder, pushing him back onto the bed.
"Sir, sir, can you hear me?"
He nodded, closing his eyes tiredly.
"You're in the infirmary right now. It's alright, everything's over now."
His eyes shot open upon the man's statement. Grabbing at the man's jacket, Jellal pulled him down to his level. Shakily, he gasped out. "Erza, where is she?"
When the man did not answer him, his grip tightened around the rough fabric. "Where is she?"
He could make out the expression on the doctor's face and all the colour drained from his own. The apologetic words were lost on him as he released the man and slumped back against his pillow in shock.
I'll be waiting for you. I'll wait for you for as long as it takes.
Author's note:
I got lazy towards the end because it's 5:41 am now and I have to get up at 7:45 am so here is some crappy stuff for you to read.