The moon shined down on the city through the dark clouds. Rain dripped onto the pavement from roofs. Citizens crowded together under their umbrellas, hurrying to shelter to stay out of the drizzle. The current that flow throughout the city was frantic, rushing through the tunnel and splashing any who dared to near it.
There was another light in the sky other than the moon. A deep blue that hid behind the clouds.
A lone girl stood there, bending over the stone fence where the water ran. Every few seconds, the water would push against the stone walls, lifting up and splashing her in her face. And she stayed like that, not minding the liquid drizzling on her. She was not cold. Instead, she felt the right temperature.
The wind blew through, lifting her wavy pink hair and white scarf until it settled back into place on her back.
She wore no protection against the rain, the water, or even the wind. She wore a pair of baggy shorts that hanged, drenched, against her thin legs. Her black, buttoned shirt was tight on her upper body, giving her little room to breathe.
The others raced past her, giving her a glance of confusion before walking away.
She was lost in her own thoughts.
Today was that day. A day that was burned into her mind, where she was unable to forget.
Her partner, a small blue cat with wings, has left her alone on this gloomy day. He too was filled with despair of the event, yet he spent this day in the company of others inside of the guild.
She could not go there today. It was not her guild.
She hasn't had this thought in a while, but it was true. Ever since that bastard with the jaw mouth and his gang decided to destroy it, it wasn't the same building where she shared with that person. Those memories were not in those walls. Only new memories with their new guild members: Bastard, Stalker, Wannabe-Queen, Mice-Eater and Goody-Two-Shoes.
The girl lifted a finger to her hair and twirled it. Ever since she woke up, she felt like there was a boulder in her gut, but she never felt like this before.
Her eyes closed, her hand returned on the fence, and she let out a sigh.
Out of nowhere, she felt a shiver. The sky suddenly darkened, the noises creased, the rain only sprinkled. All in a single moment.
She held her breath, waiting for what caused this change to show up.
In the corner of her eye, she saw a black figure. It took a step closer to her but stayed when she finally turned to face the dark figure.
"Natsha-san."
That voice was barely audibly for normal human's ears, which, luckily, Natsha did not have. It was low-pitch, almost a whisper, which made her spine shiver. The moon reflected off of the man's dark eyes. Hazel. Those stared at her, staring through her soul. These were the same eyes she saw in those brief seconds before she saw blackness; a sight she will always remembered.
He took a step closer, coming into light from the moon that allowed her to see the rest of his body. He was a man in several layers of clothing. In one hand he held onto a wooden staff. His face was covered in cloth other than his hazel eyes. Pieces of loose blue hair hanged out of his head wrap. Around his right eye was red ink, but she could not see the rest of it.
She gasped, finally recognizing him. "Mystogan."
That was the first time she ever heard of his voice. It was strange yet familiar. It lingered in her mind. For now, she pushed the concern to the back of her head.
His eyes darted left and right before landing right back onto her. Quickly, he uttered, "Leave the city."
Those words made her pause a second before speaking. "What do you me-" She was cut short.
"This is not time for questions, Natsha-san. Please hurry." He couldn't resist and quickly glanced up at the blue light that was glowing even stronger than moments ago.
She looked the same way, staring at the light. "What's going on?"
"I've failed." She glanced at him, ready to ask him what, but he already spoke before she could. "I did not close the Anima within time. The whole city will be sucked up through the portal, leaving nothing behind."
"We've to go warn the others then," she uttered without second thoughts. To her right was the path to the guild and to her left was where the forest, her house, was. It was closer, yet she still turned to her right.
His hand reached out, grabbing her shoulder and kept her in place. With his other hand, he pulled down the cloth that was covering his mouth. His red tattoo was now visible. "There isn't time! The whole place will be gone before anyone could get out!"
She did not hear anything that he said. Instead, she was focusing on something else. His face. A face that she punched several times before. "Jellal?"
His eyes widen as soon as he heard of that name. He cussed himself for even pulling such a stunt. He took a heavy breathe, dropping his staff onto the ground and lifted the girl up, over his shoulder. The rain dripped down onto her back as she tried to struggle out of his hands.
There wasn't any moon light. There was only a blue light that coaxed everything.
It all happened in a brief second, within a blink of an eye.
There was a blur of light that filled the sky. It swirled around the city, absorbing the magical properties.
Silence.
…
Natsha didn't know how she ended up there, within his hands, lying on the ground in between two large oak trees and a berry bush. Her eyes were wide as she recalled those final events. Darkness and blue.
Sunlight shined down on her. There was no darkness now. Instead, she was met with a beautiful day. Various flowers sprouted around her; each one was in full bloom and some she never even seen before. The sun was above the clearing, as well as another landmass that she could not name.
She glanced down to where Mystogan laid. His arms were spread out; one was on her stomach, while his legs were pressing against her own. In a whimper of curiously, she moved back his hood.
Pieces of blue hair sprang out. It wasn't a dark tone like Gray's, but a lighter shade like Wendy's. A red tattoo was inked across his eye.
This was Jellal. The amnesic childhood frenemy of Erza's. A boy she could not trust completely like her other guild members. Not after he caused Erza to suicidal. If Natsha wasn't there…she could not even think about it.
This man caused their finest member misery, yet he still helped them against Brain, for an unknown reason. But that couldn't possibly be true, she thought.
She remembered all of the times that Mystogan visited; those brief flashes she had of him before she fallen into his spell. Of all of the gossip she heard around his name, covering events from saving a city to simply walking into town and abolish crime for that time being. Mystogan kept things in line whenever he went, even going to the lengths of driving everyone to dreamland.
The two could not be possibly related.
No one knew much about the S-ranked member, yet now she felt like she knew too much. His secret was revealed and now she saw who he truly was.
Jellal.
She was still hoping for a clone, duplicate, or shadow puppet.
His eyes jolted opened as she was staring at them. Their eyes made contact with the birds chirping in the background. He raised his upper body and finally looking away, into the forest. "We're finally here, Edolas."
"Edolas…" She had no clue what that meant. "This isn't Earthland. This is…an alternate version." This was the best he could explain it. "A place without magic, where exceed rule over men, where good people turn evil."
"Sounds like hell."
"There is no violence fought with magic. Evil people are those who are good in this world."
Does that mean you as well?
He lifted his finger to the sky, without facing her, "We have to head to the castle. That is where the others are."
"Alright!" She jerked to her feet and pumped her hand into the air. "Let's head to the tallest building!" Only someone who lived here would know information such like that.
"That would actually be a skyscraper. The castle would be in the middle of the city."
"Whatever, let's go."
Jellal only shook his head at the girl's behavior and stood up. He dusted off his ebony-colored pants and rose back up. His eyes soared into the distance of this colorful new land.
Everything seems so different from last time he saw it. Shattered stones were raised in the sky, creating a path that ended within a few jumps. New species of flowers grew from the vines. A certain one that Natsha was about to poke.
"I would not do that if I were you."
Her fingertip touched the center of the flower and she glanced back. "It's just a flower."
The petals of the said flower snapped back, twisting around Natsha's finger. Her eyes widen and she jerked her finger backwards. The petals were covered in needles, which sliced her finger in several places. She lifted the finger upwards, with the blood building up at the damaged tissue.
"A Venus snake trap. Skins them alive with its deadly acids." Even if he was so close to her, his voice sounded as though he was miles away from her.
Liquid was forming at the hole where Natsha's finger was moments ago, it dripped out onto the ground with stream rising. Luckily neither one of them dared to place another object in the hole.
Instead, Jellal took a step forward and placed his forefinger and index on her bleeding finger. With his other hand he pulled the cloth that was used to hide the bottom of his face, wrapping it around the finger in a tight knot.
"Thanks," Natsha muttered with a pout. "And…thanks for before…?"
"There is nothing to thank for. I was supposed to save you; instead you were sucked as well. But for some reason, you were not sent to the same place as the other magic users."
As soon as he said that, she snickered and raised her hand. "That's because I'm Natsha the Awesome!"
"I cannot disagree." He turned around and marched along the path.
She stood there for a second going, "Huh?" Natsha trotted back up to him. "Mystogan?"
"Yes?"
"Are you an Edolas Jellal then?"
He looked away from her. "Yes, I went under a different name when I was sent to Earthland."
"Are you good or evil then?"
"I really don't know the answer to that." He brushed his hair back and finally made eye contact with her. "I aim to be good, but everyone has their own judgement on these topics."
Was Earthland Jellal the bad twin then?
The back of her neck was covered in sweat.
Is this what would have happened if Brain succeeded? Where good and bad were reversed?
She shook the thought out of her head. If that was true, then she was a bad person in this she couldn't believe that. A bad person only had misguided views. Brain was confused with power, as well as the other villains she faced. Some of them were following orders, or bent out over revenge.
She didn't know exactly if this was the good or bad Jellal, but even if she did know, i wouldn't have made a difference.
Mystogan was a Fairy Tail member, from that world to this world, and she could not think differently of him.
…
The castle stood in front of them. Jellal took a step forward and raised his arm to stop her from coming forward as well.
There were guards perched on the towers. All of them were aiming their guns at the spot inside of the gate. They must have saw them coming to the gate, and now they were waiting for them to return to view.
"Stay here," Jellal ordered. He didn't hesitate before taking a step out into the clearing.
An arrow flew through the air and nicked a strand of his hair. It landed onto the ground.
The others did not dare to get out their guns.
That arrow was only a warning shot.
He shook all fear away from him. "I am Prince Jellal. Hold your fire."
At first the guards were confused once they heard of that name, but he pulled down his hood and showed them his face. A red tattoo inked down his eye. A mark of the Prince.
"PRINCE JELLAL!"
"HE'S BACK!"
"WHERE HAS HE BEEN FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS?!"
"OUR PRINCE! HE HAS RETURNED!"
"Prince…?" Natsha uttered in confusion. She glimpsed from the gate, looking up at the perched guards, and wondered in amazement. The courtyard was a mimic maze, with guards scouting from one end to the other. Flowers and various trees lined the castle, with cherry blossoms on both sides of the door. On top of the stone castle, there was a colored window that shined down onto the ground, forming a picture.
A guard marched forward and fell onto her knees in front of their so-called Prince. Tears sprinkled onto the ground in rejoice. "Prince Jellal...welcome home…"
The Prince did not seem so joyful. He glared down on the soldier with hatred glowing from his dark eyes. Other than that, his face stayed emotionless. "Where's my father?"
"Y-Your Father?" The guard looked up, her pink hair falling from her helmet, confused at the sudden tension in the air. "H-He's on top of the tower."
Where the magic shoring gems were located.
Jellal stomped his foot onto the ground and glanced over his shoulder, at Natsha, "Come on."
She gulped and followed the emotionless Mystogan. This was the side of him that she always seen in those brief seconds, but there was always a glint of sadness behind those eyes. Now, she couldn't see them; she didn't want to. It was as if those smiles from before was only an illusion.
The door slammed opened and the three of them stepped inside. The guard followed behind at a few paces, keeping her eyes on Jellal's back.
A purple carpet led them to the empty, golden throne. A blue stone was melted in the chair at the very top. Jellal only paused in front of the chair for a few seconds before shaking his head and heading behind through another hallway leading to a staircase.
"Meredy, stay."
And the guard obeyed. She stood on the last step of the staircase, her eyes casted down, disheartened, while him and Natsha ventured forward.
Before they reached the top, Jellal turned around and stared into her eyes; there was no glint in his eyes, they were plain. He broke the glass of a window and pointed outside of it. "That's where your friends are stationed." A large gem shined from a hovering piece of land. Inside of the jewel, was people. "I will leave you to that while I take care of the King."
"Count on me," she uttered before jumping out of the window, almost falling to her death if Jellal didn't grab her hand in time. She smiled, as did he, before she jumped to the other side.
…
It was a flashy battle when the mages broke out of their glass prison. Pills were spreaded on the battleground that allowed them to battle with their magic. The King was killed that night as well. Only Jellal was there, there was no one else, and he only said the old man fell.
No one questioned him, the new king.
And none of the Fairy Tail members dared too with their short amount of time.
Jellal was in the power station, with the switch in front of them. Once it was turned on, all of the magic that they stoled over the years would be returned, as well as the Earthland people. A goal that he has been following ever since he decided to go through that portal into Earthland.
Natsha stood near him. "Thanks." That was all that she could say.
He saved her from the portal and being infused with the crystal.
He saved the citizens of Earthland throughout the years.
He saved his own people from the terror that was called his father.
He saved her from falling off into her death and getting eaten by plants.
And, he saved the Fairy Tail guild.
Jellal only shook his head. "No, thank you."
She nodded and leaned against him.
"It's time for you to return home." He sounded hopeless.
Her smile began to fade.
"Or...do you want to stay?"
"I have too."
"I should have knew." He nodded his head and wrapped his arm around her. "You were always difficult."
She raised her eyebrow, 'Huh?"
"When I first joined the guild, you would always try potions and tactics just to see a glimpse of me."
"Hey! I was a kid!"
"You were still doing it."
She pouted and crossed her arms. "I...kinda thought you were a superhero. Y'know, like Batman. Staying in the shadows, costume, weapons, etc."
Jellal smiled and patted her head awkwardly. "Goodbye."
"This isn't goodbye! We'll meet again, Mystogan!"
"Maybe…"
The switch was flipped and she was pulled away from him into the blue portal. She wasn't screaming or struggling, she was smiling and waving at the Fairy Tail member Mystogan.
I really suck at uploading, sorry if this seemed rushed, and happy holidays to all! This was requested from Danizinhachan