"He gazed down, watching the woman live her life, her dreams,
a goddess trapped within the body of a mortal."
She was beautiful.
A vision of white lace and silk, the redheaded woman glided down the aisle at her leisure, tears already streaking her face and hands holding a bouquet of roses as red as her hair. Behind her trailed her closest female companions, coupled with children dressed in ivory and gold carrying little baskets of red gardenias.
The church was dressed in rich colours, of reds and golds and white. Bunches of roses were scattered atop the ledges of the many windows, and golden ribbons hung from every inch of the ceiling. Though the room was beautiful, it was nothing compared to the bride.
She was a goddess trapped in a mortal body. Her long, burgundy tresses were pulled up and out of her face, twisted in an elegant bun full of braids and curls. Her face had been left with a minimal amount of makeup, covered by the white veil that was tradition to the wedding ceremony. Their friends and family were on their feet, cheering and cooing over the bride's gloriousness.
She smiled as her brother handed her over, kissing the top of her head before placing her hand in the hand of her fiancee. Tightly grasping his fingers, she carefully walked up the short flight of stairs and settled in front of the priest and the man she was to marry.
It was time.
The sun was setting.
It was nothing more than a lick of fire burning on the horizon, melting the luminescent skies around it, but nonetheless it was the only light she could make out. Her eyes, though still stinging from the blood that had fell into them, were able to make out the tall trees she was encased by. They surrounded her, towering over her and casting distorted shadows across the grassy forest floor.
She was barefoot, the woman realized. Barefoot, dressed in tatters, and bloodied.Alone.
She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the rattling in her lungs. Whether it was blood, water, or mucus she did not know; all she knew was it ached in a way that sent flames racing through her throat. It was that very ache that was rendering her immobile, invisibly chained to the forest floor. Her legs…could she feel her legs? An experimental wiggle of her toes confirmed that she wasn't paralyzed.
With a sound akin to a whine, she finally arose, pushing herself up by her forearms before twisting her body to rise to her knees. The grass pressed into her wounds, chilling the still warm blood that trailed down her legs. Head pounding, blood roaring, Erza Scarlet rose to her feet.
From his vantage point, the young god watched the radiant human stumble onto her feet, staining the grass with even more of her blood. The dying sunlight caught her hair, setting fire to the scarlet tresses in a way that made it seem like a living flame, breathing and dancing in the balmy wind.
She was…ethereal. Though mortal, she possessed a spark that he had never seen before. He, a god older than time itself, was witnessing the rebirth of something so strong, so magical. No, rebirth was the wrong word, he decided. He was witnessing the rekindling of a once mighty flame, although now she was larger than life, a burning infinity of passion and strength.
He had been surprised at the sudden presence of another being in his realm, one that was left untouched and untainted by the worlds of both humans and other immortal beings alike. His solitude, though occasionally interrupted by an occasional few, was something of legends; the mighty God who could rattle the stars, but chose peace and tranquility over the rage of war. The mighty God who could obliterate the universe without so much as straining himself, but would rather look down upon the mortals and cherish their happiness. Weep for their losses.
Jellal Fernandes, Keeper of the Stars. The god who bled stardust, who wove together the universe with his bare hands, taken by a scarlet-haired mortal whose bones were made of iron and heart made of fire.
Erza had sensed him before she saw him. He felt almost…ancient. Staggeringly powerful, mixed with the scent of pine needles and maple; the embodiment of the forest she was surrounded by. A feeling similar to wonder settled into her bones, taking over her conscious and propelling her in the direction she knew the man would be. The grass wilted under her feet, stained a ruddy brown and flattening under her weight.
As she approached the trees, her seeking eyes sought out the domed buildings in the distance. Their spiralled tops seemed to reach up to the skies, golden and shining in the afterglow of the sunset.
Moving her gaze southwards, she started at the sight of a figure at the base of the largest building, watching her. With blue hair and a striking crimson mark stretching across half of his face, he would be hard to miss. The man wore a long cloak, along with a pair of black slacks and a white shirt accented with gold lace. He kept his eyes on her face the entire time as she walked towards him, her bones aching.
"Who are you?" She couldn't help but ask, but deep down somewhere in her personal unconscious, she felt as if the answer was already there, hidden in the secret crevices of her mind. The man, still hesitant, moved closer to her, his cape floating around him like it was a sea of emerald silk and he was drowning.
"Jellal Fernandes, Keeper of Stars," he introduced himself. He watched her mouth part, her wonder apparent; the childlike mystification had his heart thumping at an erratic pace. "And you are Erza Scarlet."
"A God, a man capable of unimaginable chaos and beauty," Erza breathed out, reciting the words her grandfather had captivated her with time and time again. Every childhood story, every fairy tale about the strongest god to ever watch over mankind. Jellal Fernandes, God of Heavenly Bodies.
"It takes a kindred soul to bypass the barriers and entrances guarding this place from the souls travelling to the afterlife," he told her, knowing his own wonder was reflected in his tone. Erza noticed it as well, if the blush dusting her cheeks was any indication.
"I…wait. Afterlife?"
He didn't speak. The horror set in only when her confusion became more clear. She didn't comprehend the capacity of her situation. She didn't know what had happened to her.
He moved closer and closer to her until she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. With shaking fingers, he reached up to gently touch her still bleeding cheek, wiping the incriminating liquid off her porcelain skin. They both held their breath as Jellal willed his magic forward and watched her skin close. The superficial wounds were gone, the only evidence that they had ever been there being the blood she wore like a second skin. Still cupping her cheek, he pressed forward, and replaced the tattered remains of her clothes with an ivory-coloured gown so long that the silken ends pooled around her feet. A dress fit for a goddess, his mind supplied, but he forced the thought away as he took a step back.
"It pained me to see you in such agony," he admitted shyly, unable to look her in the eye.
They stood in silence for a moment, gazing at each other in a way that had his blood thrumming. There was an undercurrent, a spark in the air between them. He, a god, shared a connection with the mortal being who had stumbled upon his domain by accident– by chance. By the gods, Fate herself was playing a trick on him. He smiled at her, smiled at the irony of it all, eyes weighted down by a deeply-rooted misery that tugged violently at his heartstrings.
"You're dead, Erza," he revealed, voice quiet. Desolate. He did not wish to be the one to inform her of her tragedy, to watch the light in her heart flicker and die out. "No mortal would ever be able to find their way into this realm, unless death has embraced them."
"And if I'm dreaming?" She asked, grasping his fingers and intertwining her own with his. He tried not to show his craving for the warmth that was radiating from her skin and warming his chilled limbs in a way he didn't think was possible. "I…I am allowed to dream of you, yes?"
"Dreams…" his voice trailed off, as he himself wondered if this was all a dream. An illusion. But he knew the Goddess of Dreams, and he knew Ultear would never spin a tale so cruel. No, Erza Scarlet was truly dead. He just wished he could change it for her. "While dreaming of gods, of magic and monsters, is common among your race, no dreaming entity would be able to project itself into this realm, either."
"So I'm truly dead," it was more a statement than a question. Erza finally let go of his hands and turned away, instead facing the trees and greenery spilling across the plains in front of them. It was a troubling thought, not being able to remember what had happened before she had…died. Was it an accident? It had to be; she was still young. There had been lights, the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. Singing…she could recall singing. Soft words, words she had been singing along to.
"I would think you were on your way," he agreed with her, voice soft. "This realm, I know it to be between the realms of life and death. The dark lord's realm is but a few passages down, but it has been sealed off completely from the other eight realms. Many of those realms belong to other gods, but are occupied. Being here, in Etherion, does not necessarily mean you are dead, but rather floating in the void. The void between death and life."
"Could you tell me?" She asked him abruptly, turning back to him. Jellal couldn't stop the ache in his heart when he saw the desperation in her eyes and heard the plea in her voice. "Could you tell me how I died?"
"I'm not sure you want to know," he began, but another look at her face had him relenting with a small sigh. "It was a car accident. Another vehicle, involved in a high-speed car chase, sped into oncoming traffic, and ultimately slammed into the car you were in."
Her anguish was clear as day; her mouth, previously shut tight in fear of crying out, had fell open, as if the horror of knowledge had renewed her pain. Tears slid down her cheeks, translucent and leaving her skin shining. He felt as if someone was squeezing his heart, pressing its soft tissues into a tight ball that left him breathless in the worst possible way.
She didn't deserve this. She deserved to live her life to its fullest capacity. Erza Scarlet, in his eyes, deserved a second chance to walk her path of light to its end. To its natural end. And so he spoke again, despite the cry in his head that told him not to, to keep her here with him.
"From what I could tell, the doctors are still operating on you. Time in Etherion is different than time on Earth, for a few minutes here is the equivalency of a few seconds down there. If…if it is what you desire, I can send you back. I can save your life."
Erza turned to him, dumbstruck. Rather than look her in the eye, the immortal god stared at the ground. It was then she realized how lonely he must be, being confined to a realm of seclusion with no company. Earlier, he had stated that it would take a kindred soul to make itself onto the realm he called Etherion.
"When was the last time someone had made their way into the realm?" She avoided giving him an answer, still reeling from the magnitude of his offer. He was offering to give her life back to her, an offer to help her live again.
There was a pause.
"It's never happened before."
She started, momentarily forgetting his offer and staring at him in surprise. He was watching her intently, his eyes searching her face for…something. Emotions, a spark, just something his heart and soul wanted to see in the only mortal to ever find Etherion. To ever find him.
Erza didn't say anything. She glanced down at herself, taking in the luxury of the gown she was in. She glanced around at the beauty of the world surrounding them, at the trees that kissed the skies and the buildings that spiralled into nothingness.
She recalled the flashes of her life that she had been seeing since waking up in Etherion. Of the remembrance of happiness and love and trust. The shadowy faces, coupled with feral grins and happy smiles. A life, a good life, shrouded in the darkness that her fate had cast upon it.
"You don't have to stay," Jellal murmured, interrupting her internal debate. "You have a happy life with your loved ones, Erza Scarlet. You were happy, and you loved and cherished the world you lived in."
Jellal words were the final nail in the coffin. She wanted to go back. She wanted to go home.
"Jellal," she whispered. "Would it be too much to ask you to bring me back home? I-I…want to go back. Etherion is gorgeous, it truly is, but I want to return to my life. To those who love me, and to whom I love."
He glanced down at her, his eyes filled with an emotion she couldn't place. She did her best to ignore the pang of guilt in her soul and stared back, pleading. He didn't speak for a moment, but after what felt like an eternity, he nodded slowly.
"I need you to close your eyes," he told her, turning his body to face her. The soft evening wind caressed their skin, sending her hair tumbling over her shoulder and her cape fluttering around their legs. As her eyes fluttered closed, he took a second to look at her, for what would be the final time. He took in her messy, scarlet tresses…her porcelain skin… the beauty she beheld even in the face of death.
"Goodbye, Erza Scarlet."
Erza didn't have time to register his lips as they pressed a warm kiss to her forehead, before she felt herself losing unconsciousness and falling victim to the darkness of her mind. A mind where she couldn't place the soft lips or the ultramarine hair.
With a sad smile and watery eyes, Jellal Fernandes, Keeper of Stars and God of Heavenly Bodies, watched Erza Scarlet, lady of light and fire, disappear into the blinding whiteness he brought forth to surround her body; and wondered if the crackling he heard belonged to the trees snapping to and fro in the wind around him, or if it was the heart in his chest slowly cracking and dissolving into nothingness.
Jellal watched the proceedings from the confines of his castle, his castle on Etherion. With an expression that could only be deemed heartbroken, he observed the way Erza Scarlet gazed up at Simon Mikazuchi. She was a vision, a kaleidoscope of colour, of red and gold and white.
Removing her memories of him, the God of Heavenly Bodies and Keeper of Stars, had been a small mercy for her. She had awoken, a miracle survivor, without any thought of the trees that kissed the skies or the buildings that spiralled into nothingness. She did not remember the sky with a flame entrapped in its hold, or the man drowning in a cape of emerald green.
She had awoken, and had learned that her lover, Simon, had also survived. He proposed to her while they were both still in the emergency room, claiming their lives were short and he would wait no longer to call her his wife. Jellal Fernandes had watched Erza Scarlet weep in acceptance, nodding her head manically.
Now here he sat, witnessing the holy matrimony of the happy couple, surrounded by those they loved, those who loved them, by love, by happiness, and such mortality. Such fragility, hanging on a silvered thread in the hands of Fate. They were oblivious, whilst he was painfully aware of how short human lifespans were.
And so, as Erza grew old, he watched. As she was a successful businesswoman, a loving wife, a happy mother to four, wonderful children. Twin boys, Rob, for the man who brought them together, and Alec. Then their little girl, Sayana, a spitting image of her mother save for her eyes, eyes that she had gotten from her father. But it was the fourth, the fourth child that had him choking on tears and anguish and coldness. Oh, the cold that had settled down into his soul the day he watched Erza Mikazuchi name her fourth boy Jellal, in honour of the myths her grandfather used to tell her every night of a god, a man capable of unimaginable chaos and beauty.
He watched the children grow, and begin their own lives as adults. Little Jellal Mikazuchi held a special place in his heart– his broken, beating heart, and it pleased some part of him to see the boy do so well.
He watched Erza Scarlet grow old and wither, as she shed tears when her husband passed away peacefully in his sleep. As she spent her days with her grandchildren, happy and at peace. He watched the day her children buried her next to her husband, watched them place the tombstone at the head of the grave. 'Erza Scarlet, loving mother, wife, sister, and friend.'
He watched her soul as it floated into the realm of the afterlife, passing by the hidden doors to Etherion without so much as a glance at them, or at the god who laid beyond them and pined for a woman who he couldn't call his. A woman who he had never called his.
He had once told Erza Scarlet that it took a kindred soul to stumble upon the realm of Etherion. What he had withheld, however, was the fact that no soul could find him twice in one lifetime. The doors would only open to a soul once, and that was it. Never again. He regretted it every day since he let her go, since Erza Scarlet woke up in that hospital room in Magnolia. He wondered if it would've made a difference to her, the fact that choosing life meant she would never see him again. He wondered, though it brought him a world of pain, if she would've stayed and loved him.
But it didn't matter— not anymore, at least, for he was Jellal Fernandes, God of Heavenly Bodies and Keeper of Stars, and she was Erza Scarlet, a woman of fiery glory and a shining light of love and happiness and wonder. And they would never be more than that, not to each other.
Because fate would never give him a second chance.
A/N: This isn't new, but it is a personal favourite, and since I haven't posted anything in awhile I thought I would share! I'd love to hear your thoughts, as always, and hopefully I'll see you all soon!