After END was destroyed a lot of thing changed in Fiore and especially in Fairy Tail. Wendy managed to restore Jellal's eye sight, healing both his eyes, and the other wounds he had. Erza had to go through physical therapy and numerous doctors and magical injury specialists to get all her senses back after Kyouka took them away, they even gave Team Natsu different exercises to do that would help her get back to normal faster as well as increasing their own abilities. The guild was re-built and made even better; they added a bigger pool with water slides and a hot tub, 4 stories (The 4th is only for S-class wizards), and several sparring rooms to hopefully cut the fights down to a minimum. Another thing, and probably the biggest change, was that the guild got seven new members!
Midnight, Cobra, Angel, Hoteye, Racer, Meredy, and Jellal were all announced no-longer criminals but were required to join a guild that could take care of them so they chose Fairy Tail. Crime Sorciere is now the name of the newest team in Fairy Tail and they are specially licenced to intervene in any and all problems due to Zeref of Dark guilds because of their firsthand knowledge that they possess. Even though they are now free, however, they insist on completing their atonement.
Which means Jellal and Erza still haven't told each other how they feel.
Jellal's P.O.V
Crime Sorciere has just gotten back from a job helping rebuild a park that was destroyed during by an attack and then captured the people responsible. Team Natsu has been waiting for Erza to return because they want to go on an S-class mission to demolish a village of demons which is right up their destructive ally.
Erza's absence has made the guild, if possible, more crazy as Team Natsu itches to get to work already and releases their anger by destroying the newly built guild hall and getting in fights with the other members but to a much bigger scale, especially when Erza isn't here to control them and stop the madness that is Natsu and Gray.
Just as I am about to sit down at the bar with Meredy and Juvia, who are currently talking about ways to get Gray-sama to like Juvia more, when the guild doors are smashed open and Erza comes sailing in only to be stopped by the back wall, and sagging to the ground in nothing but a pair of black shorts and a ripped and bloodied navy muscle shirt.
"This is why I hate dispel magic!" She hisses before requipping into her flight armor and soaring back out the door.
"Hello to you too, Erza." Natsu says with raised eyebrows.
I hear a faint; "Shut it, Natsu!" in the distance as she runs back to whatever sent her flying in here in the first place. About a minute later Erza comes in dragging a shady looking man in behind her. The man has snowy white hair and dark black eyes, he is thrashing about as Erza carelessly pulls him along, a sword to his throat at all times, and pins him to a wall inside the guild.
"Gray, freeze him in place." She commands stepping back a little. "Leave his head unfrozen though; he is going to be having a nice little chat with me." She glares at him as Gray hurriedly freezes the man to the wall, leaving his head, and backs away, not wanting to face Titania's wrath.
"Thank you Gray." She says and then turns back to the man. "Now, Drake, you have precisely 3 chances to tell me where the heck you took the children and what you have done to them!" She spits.
"Not a chance Titania!" He spits and tries to break. "You think I would ever tell you? Ha! Don't make me laugh. I will never give up my boss!"
"Quite admirable, it appears you have some honor after all. In that case…" She trails off as she summons about 50 small swords in the air and points it in his direction causing some of the members to cower and others to flee the building all together. "You now have 2 more chances to tell me what I need to know before I cut you to pieces." She threatens.
"…" His glare wavers a bit as he takes in all the swords around him.
"No…? You are not going to tell me? Trust me, I will make good on my threat, I would be saving a heck of a lot more lives than taking them if I were to thrust my sword through your chest." She snarls and when he still doesn't respond she loses a bit of her composure and upper cuts him in the jaw. "Answer me!"
"No! I will stay loyal to my boss until my last breath, you won't get any information out of me about him!"
"Well, it seems your last breath will be soon because you only have one last chance to tell me before its lights out." She smirks.
"Please! My boss if is more skilled in your type of magic then you will ever be! No one of your kind can even come close to matching his skills!" He yells at her and I watch as the swords move closer.
"Is there anything else you would like to say?" She asks simply.
"You may kill me Titania but just know that my comrades with avenge me and those kids will rot in those cells until they die! I will not let you get any information out of me!"
I hold my breath as all the swords rush to him and stop millimeters away from his frozen body. "Oh Drake, you have already told me what I need to know." She says and requips the swords away. "I never intended to harm you, just scare you into telling me hints that you weren't even aware you were giving."
"W-what?" He asks amazed. "I didn't tell you anything!"
"Oh, but you did." She smirks.
"Um, Erza? What exactly did he say?" Cobra asks. "Not even I could hear his inner voice let alone find any meaning in his words."
"Nonsense, there is a lot that he has just admitted to me. For starters he mentioned his comrades, indicating that he is part of a group or guild and by his nature and actions I can assume it's a dark guild. Another thing is he has informed me that the kids are in a cell somewhere. Another thing is where ever the kids are it must be nearby considering you would not take them and travel far because you would, logically, want to get them started right away and not be hauling them for probably more than 8 hours to their destination, which is probably located where there is not many people. And finally, probably the most crucial mistake he made was saying that his boss, probably the Master of the guild, that he is a male and uses the same type of magic that I do and since there are so few requip mages in the world it should be easy to identify which one, if you combine all the information together." She says with a smug smile.
"Levy…?" Erza calls but is cut off.
"I'm already on it!" Levy says as she scans through all the information. "Got it! His name is Sean Orama and he is a part of the guild, Shadow Slicer, a dark guild, and uses requip magic. Their guild is located about 8 hours away on foot and no trains go to any surrounding towns or villages."
"No! I betrayed Master Sean!" Drake wails. "You! How dare you trick me?"
"It wasn't that hard." Erza shrugs which only angers the man further.
"You Bitch!" He spits and in one sudden movement he is knocked unconscious.
"I'll be back in a few days, maybe tomorrow, with the kids." Erza grumbles as she begins to walk out of the guild only to be stopped by Master Makarov.
"Erza, you must not interfere with a dark guild. It is against the rules; if you want to go then someone from Crime Sorciere will have to go with you." He says calmly and then eyes me. "Jellal, you were once a wizard saint, I want you to go with Erza and save those kids." He demands and I open my mouth to object but nothing comes out.
"Yes, Master." I bow and Erza leads me out.
Later that evening
We have just arrived at the Dark guild when we heard screaming from inside the building. "Please no! Not again, please!"
"Shut it, kid!" A gruff voice yells back.
"Erza…?" I ask concerned at what they are doing to those children. "You don't think…?"
"They better not be!" She growls, her eyes beginning to glow with rage. "Let's go."
We sneak in through the back door as they sounds of grunting and pleas to stop get louder. Erza is clutching my shoulder as she shivers, probably remembering the Tower of Heaven because of all the disgusting cells.
"Hey, you okay?" I ask and place my hand under her chin, forcing her to look me in the eyes.
"It's just hitting a little too close to home." She says shaking off the thought.
I cup her face in my hands. "It will be okay. I promise, but for right now we need to be ready for anything. And the reality is these are sick people that are probably using kids for their own needs." I tell her softly but seriously and she continues looking into my eyes for a moment before nodding and placing her hands over mine, keeping them there for a little longer before we break apart and do what we came here to do.
I bust through the doors at the end of the hall of cells and into the room where all the screams are coming from, glaring at the men and women abusing the kids. "You disgusting people!" I shout as I use my magic to knock them off the kids bodies.
"Please, help us!" They beg, tears spilling out from their eyes.
"Don't worry, we will!" I hear Erza sooth. Soon all the mages in the room are unconscious and scattered throughout the room. "Jellal, you free the boys, I'll get the girls!" Erza demands as she begins unchaining the little girls, the youngest is probably about 3 years old.
In the end I have untied all 3 boys. They say their names are Andy, Brett, and Jay, and they are 5, 5, and 7. Erza has untied all 4 girls. They are Amber, Alyssa, Anna, and Celia, and they are 7, 5, 6, and 3.
"Is that everyone? There are no other kids here?" I ask and they shake their heads. "Okay, we are going to have to run now, okay?"
Erza picks up Celia and places her on her waist before nodding to me and we begin to jog so that the kids can keep up. Jay and Amber give Andy and Alyssa a piggy back ride as Anna takes Brett's hand and helps him run. We run for about an hour until we come across a clearing in the woods with a river nearby.
"Jellal, we should set up camp, the kids look exhausted." She suggests as she bounces little Celia on her hip and rocks back and forth. "Why don't you and the boys collect fire wood while I go to the river with the girls and get cleaned up?"
"Sure, good idea." I nod and gesture for the boys to follow me. Andy runs up to me and grabs my hand and Brett the other. Jay just walks in front of me as we search for some wood.
Erza's P.O.V
I head down to the river with the girls, Celia still in my arms, as we finally reach it.
"Okay girls, you can bathe right now but try not get your hair wet." I say and they nod.
"Why did you save us? Why do you care?" Amber asks suddenly as she washed herself in the river.
"Because it's not right what they did to you, no one should have to go through that." I tell her and she looks at me with sadness and pain as I help Celia wash up.
"Are you hungry? Do you want food after your bath?" I ask softly but she remains quiet. "Celia? It's okay to talk to me, I won't hurt you." I tell her but again she doesn't speak.
"It's no use, she hasn't spoken since they hurt her the first time, won't even scream. I think it has something to do with the trauma." Amber says quietly.
"Oh." I sigh. "Thank you for telling me."
I continue to help the other girls wash up for about another 10 minutes before helping them dry off and get dressed again. "Okay girls, let's head back to camp. The boys should be done getting the fire wood."
Once we get back to the camp site I find Jellal engrossed in a game of catch with the boys. "Having fun?" I ask surprising them. Jellal smiles sheepishly and scratches the back of his head.
"Oh, hey." He says. "I'll just, ah, get the fire started now!" He says walking over to the pile of wood. I can't help but let out a small giggle at his childishness.
"Erza, I'm hungry." Andy wines coming over to me. Jellal and I exchange a look as the fire comes to life.
"I can go see if I can hunt for something." I suggest.
"But what about Celia? You can't take her hunting." He asks confused.
"That is why you will take care of her." I say walking over to him. "You can't tell me you have never held a kid before."
"Well, ah, I never got the chance to be around kids, and, um…" He trails off.
"Celia, nod if you want to stay with Jellal for a little while." I say and watch as she looks over in his direction and points at him, tilting her head in question. "Yes, that is Jellal." I tell her and she nods.
"See? She likes you." I hand her over to him and watch as he awkwardly holds her in his lap. "Wow." I shake my head at him. "Here, let me help." I say and lift Celia off his lap before placing her on mine, one hand securely on her torso as her back leans against my stomach. He studies me with such curiosity as a blush forms on his face.
"I had no idea you were so good with kids." He whispers as I place her back in his care and he copies me perfectly.
"I didn't either." I whisper back. I stand up then, coming out of my trance. "I will be back soon with some food." I clear my throat.
Jellal's P.O.V
Erza returns with two already skimmed and beheaded chickens on a stick as she sets up a rotisserie station over the fire. She has found a big rock and carved it out with a dagger and filled it with river water before making a second, smaller, fire and boiling the water over it. I watch as she drops some herbs in it and tosses together some wild fruits turning it into a chicken soup with a fruit salad on the side.
"I'm impressed, Erza. After living in the wild for over 6 years I have never had this good a meal." I praise as we finish up the meal. "Besides, I didn't think you could cook." I add playfully.
"I'm offended, Mr. Fernandez." She fakes hurt. "However I do doubt you could do much better."
"You wound me with your harsh words, Scarlet." I say placing a hand over my heart and she laughs before tossing a stick in my direction. "And now you are actually trying to wound me!" I yelp as I dodge the flying projectile.
"I thought you used to be one of the ten wizard saints, you should be able to survive a stick." She laughs.
"You know, I can't just sit back while you make an attempt on my life Erza." I say standing up and running at her. I grab her and hold her close to my chest, her back facing me, and begin to tickle her sides. She screams in laughter and tries to wriggle out of my grasp, eventually making us fall down, as I continue to move my fingers along her sides.
"J-jellal, stop! I-it tickles!" She yelps.
"Quick! Help me kids!" I yell and the kids come running and pounce on Erza as well as I let them attack her sides as I move to her neck and two of them move to her feet. By now she is squirming and wheezing as she tries to catch her breath and then failing and breaking out into another fit of laughter.
"Do you surrender?" Alyssa chuckles.
"N-n-never!" Erza manages out and I signal for them to keep going.
"Okay, have it your way, Erza." I chuckle as she continues to refuse defeat. Eventually she manages to escape the kid's grasps' and scurry way.
"Wait! Wait!" She begs. "Wouldn't it be more fun to tickle him?" She gasps out. They all stop and slowly turn their heads to me. "Oh Jellal!" Erza sings with an evil glint in her eyes.
"GET HIM, KIDS!"
"Whoa, whoa, don't you want to tickle Erza some more?" I ask backing away but Erza jumps on me, wrapping her legs around my waist and dragging me to the ground, tickling on a certain spot on my neck as the rest of the kids pounce on us, tickling us both until there are tears in our eyes.
"Okay! Okay! We surrender!" I shout and they slowly back away from us. "We should go to bed."
"I only have one tent so that will have to do." Erza says and requips a tiny box before placing it on the ground and pressing a button, forcing the tent out of the box. I watch as it expands enough to accommodate about 7 people snuggly. "Sorry it's so small; we will have to squish in a little." She says.
"That's okay, but I am not sleeping with the boys, the have germs!" Anna claims and scrunches her nose up in disgust.
"Well girls a gross too!" Brett yells back.
"Okay, girls go to one side of the tent and boys to the other." Erza says will the roll of her eyes as she picks up Celia who was watching our tickle fight in glee. "Jellal and I can go in the middle so you won't be touching each other."
We all head into the tent and they each take a side. I lay down in the middle and gulp as Erza comes and sits next to me and bounces Celia on her lap. "Hey baby girl, it's time for bed okay?" She coos.
"Can you sing us a lullaby?" Alyssa asks sweetly and Celia nods frantically on her lap.
"Yeah, we want to hear one too!" Andy chimes in.
"I don't know any lullabies." Erza confesses. "Do you, Jellal?"
"I know some but I am really not that good of a singer." I say sheepishly.
"Nonsense, I remember you singing as a child and you had an amazing voice." Her eyes seem to sparkle with the memory and I smile at her. "I was only humming. I have never sung anything."
She shakes her head. "Fine, you were humming. So hum now!"
"Fine." I sigh and she smiles triumphantly. Everyone lies down and let's their eyes drift closed, Celia in now laying down in Erza's chest, using her breasts as a pillow. I begin to hum softly as a faint smile creeps over Erza's lips, barley tugging them up. Once my song has finished everyone is asleep, except for Erza, and snoring softly. I lay back, propping my head up in my elbow and holding it in my hand, brushing a stray hair away from Erza's face as she peeks one eye open at me. "I told you, you were good." She whispers.
"And I told you, you are always right." I whisper back, now running my hands freely through her hair. She shakes her head.
"No. But I am right about that." She smiles a sleepy smile. It's adorable.
"I guess the only option left is for us to agree to disagree." I sigh and she rolls her eyes. "Sweet dreams, Erza." I say quietly and watch as a light blush dusts her cheeks.
"You too, Jellal." She says reaching up and cupping my cheek before bringing her hand back down to rest on Celia's back, hugging her close. I lean back down on my back and tuck one hand underneath my pillow. The last thing I see is Celia frown before grasping a handful of Erza's scarlet locks and smiling again in her sleep, then, nothing.
I wake to the sound of someone screaming. My eyes shoot open to find Erza trying to calm down a very, very upset looking Celia and an even more upset Alyssa. She has one arm wrapped around Alyssa's waist as the five year old girl cries into her shoulder and her other arm rubbing soothing circles on Celia's back as she tries to help the small child sit upright.
"It's okay, shhh, your safe now, I promise." She coos sweetly.
"What's the matter?" I ask sitting up. She looks at me and I see pain in her eyes.
"Nightmares." Is all she says but I know that she isn't just talking about the kids. I crawl over to her and sit on my knees before extending my arms out to Alyssa, who has just taken notice of me, as she shyly steps closer, allowing me to envelop her in a hug.
"Why don't we get some fresh air?" Erza asks with a sad smile. All the kids nod and I pick up Alyssa so she is on her feet and hold fast to her hand. Erza picks up Celia and sets her on her hip before placing a soft, comforting kiss on her head.
We step out into the cool midnight air, letting the breeze dance across my face. The girls seemed to have calmed down now. I sit down and allow Alyssa to snuggle into my chest and take off my cloak before wrapping it around her. "We won't let them touch any of you ever again." I tell her softly. "I promise, we understand and—"
"No! You don't understand." She suddenly wails. "You have never had someone abuse you like that! Never been locked away and waited for them to hurt you again!"
"I have." Erza's voice startles me. I turn to her wide eyed as I realize the implication. "Everything that has happened to you kids has happened to me." She averts her eyes from me and stares at the kid in my arms who is looking at her with and equally surprised expression.
"What happened?" Alyssa asks shakily. Erza comes over and sets Celia on my lap before picking Alyssa up and into her arms.
"I was on a mission about half a year after I defeated, with the help of my friends, something called Nirvana." She begins. "I was on a solo mission to capture a group of bandits when I was attacked and dragged away. When I woke up I found myself in a cell, much like the one you stayed in, and chained up against the floor. They had taken all my clothes and burned the mark of their gang into my skin between my breasts and then they hurt me like they did to you. I couldn't sleep for weeks after that happened."
My eyes are watering, full of hurt and anger, as I think about what someone did to my Erza.
"Who? Who hurt you?" She asks quietly, barley a whisper.
"Sean Orama. The Master of the guild we rescued you from yesterday." Her voice breaks slightly, her own tears forming. "I know he is still out there and I promise we will get him but I haven't been able to face him just yet. That was, until, I found out about the kidnappings and decided to investigate."
"Erza." I say unintentionally. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Your guild? Anyone?" I ask shakily.
"I refused to let myself show fear in the face of the enemy or my friends. That was my biggest mistake." She takes a calming breath. "We should get back to sleep. I promise to be here when you wake up, okay?"
"Okay." Alyssa says and Celia bobs her head up and down. We tuck them back into bed, this time Celia is in Alyssa's sleeping bag with her, and make our way back to the middle. Before Erza can lay back down I grab her arm and she stills. I tug her towards me until she is nestled safely in my chest and lay my head on top of hers.
"You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" I ask finally and she nods.
"I'm sorry." Her voice is so broken, so full of pain and suffering that I sink down to the ground with her. We lay back so I am on my side and she is still crushed up against me. I feel my shirt becoming slightly wet and notice that she is silently crying.
"Don't cry, Erza. I will not let anyone touch you again, I promise." I try to sooth her and run my hand along her back in comforting motions. I hear her sniffle as she looks up to meet my eyes.
"You promise?" She asks for confirmation. I attempt a smile and nod.
"Yeah, promise." I confirm and she hides her face in the crook of my neck, her breath tickling my skin as I try to restrain myself from kissing her. You don't deserve her. I remind myself. "Good night." I say instead.
"Night." She mumbles already half asleep. Soon I fall into the darkness, protected by Erza's embrace.
The next time I wake up the sun is peaking through the cracks in the tents door. I try to stretch my arms but soon find they are wrapped around something, something warm. Erza as lying down with her back facing me and my arm over her waist, her body molded to mine, and her toes curling around my feet. I smile at her sleeping face and notice that about half of the kids are already up.
"Hey, Jellal!" Alyssa says cheerily. I smile up at her and nod.
"I did, thank you." I tell her and then look back at the sleeping Erza in my arms before nudging her awake. "Come on, Erza, wake up." I say nicely.
"I'm already up." She mumbles before flipping over and snuggling into my chest. I let out a small chuckle and she looks up at me with sleepy eyes. "Morning." Is all she says. After a few hours or getting everybody up and having breakfast we finally make our way to the guild. It takes us a while but we manage to get there eventually. As soon as we open the doors I step in and notice that the man is there too, the same one that I had to interrogate to get the information out of in the first place. Drake.
Erza's P.O.V
"What in Mavis name is he doing here?" I hiss as the kids cower closer to Jellal and me, Celia hiding her face in my hair.
"You found them?" Drake asks shocked.
"Erza, w-why is he here? He was one of the people that hurt us." Alyssa says scared. I crouch down to her level and pull her to me so that she is protected in my arms.
"Shhh, it's okay, I will make sure that he goes away and that he never hurts anyone again." I tell her. I look up and my gaze locks with Jellal's as I stand and he gives me a nod knowing what I am about to do. "Team Natsu, can you take the kids outside for a moment?" I ask and Lucy reaches out to take Celia from me. "Mira, can you go with them?" They all nod and guide the kids out of the room; only after they are gone do I turn my attention to Drake.
"You." I snarl. "You are lucky that I am not going to kill you on the spot."
"I don't know what you are talking about." He says playing cool.
I hear Jellal's grumble in his chest as he steps up beside me. "I wouldn't try to deny it because the more you do the more painful this is going to be." He states calmly but with warning.
"Sorry," He shrugs. "But I don't know what you're…" He trails off just as a red glow begins to surround me and a yellow one Jellal. "Okay! We kidnapped the kids and killed the parents so that the kids could… cheer us up after a long day at work."
"Sure, a long day working for a dark guild." Jellal snorts.
"Raping children cheers you up?" I scream and lunge at him holding a dagger to his throat. I requip the blade away so I don't kill him but I do punch him so hard that he flies into the far wall on the other side of the guild. When he stands up I notice the smirk on his face.
"You think what you did is funny?" I ask shaking with anger. "Have you ever understood the pain that those kids have felt? Have you ever thought about what you've just done could affect them? Have you?" I shout in anger.
"It seems you are speaking from experience, whore." He says smugly and I freeze as flashbacks hit me live a tidal wave. Suddenly Jellal's arms are wrapped around my waist protectively and his eyes are glowing golden. He bares his teeth at Drake. "Watch your mouth." He hisses in pure anger.
"And you what to know something?" He continues, oblivious to the deadly aura coming off of him. "I bet you liked it."
Suddenly there is a gush of air and an explosion. Jellal has thrown Drake into a wall and caused an indent where his head is knocking Drake unconscious and bruised before returning to my side all within a 3 second time period.
Jellal's nose is resting his forehead on mine as he looks me in the eyes. "It's alright, you're stronger than him now and I won't let him touch you ever again. I swear." He says and I take a deep breath and try to stop my hands from shaking. He notices and intertwines his fingers with mine and holds them up beside our heads. "Let's go to the kids." I nod and he places a soft kiss in my hair before turning to Master as he guides me out.
"I request that he is given to the council by tomorrow, if it isn't too much trouble." He says but it sounds more of a demand than a request.
"Very well, my boy." Master says still dumbfounded. "And Erza, I would like to talk to you sometime tomorrow, you can fill me in then."
"Yes, Master but please don't tell my team about what was said, not until I have figured out what I want to say to them."
"Very well." With that, we leave.