Maiden of the Sky, Master of the Tower

By CrimsonStarbird

-In a Heartbeat, Only Silence-

At long last, he stood in front of his destiny. This was it. This was what he had been working towards for so long; the last piece of the puzzle. Once he had claimed this magic for himself, it was only a matter of waiting for construction to finish on the R-System, and then at last he would have the power he needed to change the world.

Trees so old they had turned to stone guarded this place. Fossilized branches formed a roof high above his head, scattering the sunlight. To his right and to his left, ancient stone monuments, whose purpose had long since been lost to history, formed high walls, giving the impression that he was walking into a narrow valley rather than a clearing at the centre of the forest.

He noticed none of this. He saw only the great pillar of light at the end of the path. Blue and grey, silver and black, it moved like no liquid he had ever seen, flowing endlessly upwards from the earth yet never growing taller than the trees which concealed it from above. Never before had he felt so much magic concentrated in one place – and it was asleep. If it awoke – if the seal binding it to its dormant state was completely removed – the consequences would be unthinkable. Even for him, the curiosity to see such magic in its true form was tempered by fear.

He had no intention of unsealing it completely. It was useless to him right now in its true form, after all. No, his purpose here was twofold – firstly, to remove the age-old seal that was degrading over time and allowing the magic to affect the environment; and secondly, to replace it with one that was similar to the existing one on the surface, but which would prevent it from leaking out and giving away its location, and more importantly, would open fully to him alone at his command. It was by no means a trivial task – rather, it was the culmination of years of research and preparation, all of which would go to waste if the Rune Knights found this place before he was done.

The hand he reached out towards that pillar of magic trembled. He took a deep breath.

"This is exactly how it's supposed to be," he said, perhaps to reassure himself, and he touched Nirvana.

Immediately, the seal binding the magic came to life, spreading its network of purple and red across the pillar of magic. Beneath it, Nirvana shifted in its sleep, but did not wake; he could not reach it any more than it could reach him. Good. That was what he wanted. Using both hands, he began to manipulate the expansive magical seal. He moved keys in patterns he had decoded from the records; he added magic circles of his own to close down specific components in exactly the right order; he sought out the weaknesses in that ancient lock and exploited them. Gently at first, and then with increasing confidence as everything began to fall into place, he rewrote the system in accordance with his will.

All of a sudden, the entire magical structure flashed red, and he recoiled with a sharp hiss. The seal returned to its original form. It might have been mocking him. He sighed. Fine. He hadn't been expecting to get it first time, anyway. If it was that simple, someone else would have done it years ago.

Closing his eyes, he reached up to touch the seal again. His own power naturally shied away from Nirvana; with a surge of anger, he forced it to obey his will, bringing it into contact with that fearsome magic for as long as he dared. He analysed it, broke it down, and tried to understand it. There were aspects to its seal that – accidentally or otherwise – had been left out of the manuscripts. He would have to work out how to counter them as he went. He had been expecting that too, though. He wouldn't have come here if he hadn't judged himself capable of it. No one alive knew dark magic like he did.

Nirvana was dangerous. Even asleep, it was hungry. He drew his magic back from it before it could consume him, fully aware that he hadn't had the chance to examine as much of it as he needed, but not daring to keep his magic in such close proximity to it for any longer. Once again, he turned his attention to breaking the seal. This time, he got a little further before it threw him out.

Growling in annoyance, he repeated the process again and again, and though he got closer every time, the final steps continued to elude him. This was supposed to be the easy bit. If he couldn't even unseal it, how could he even hope to rework the binding into the form that he wanted? He was running out of time, and worse, he was running out of power. If he had the first, he could easily rest until he had recovered enough of the second to carry on trying, but every moment he wasted here brought the Rune Knights closer to discovering him.

Besides, the moment he released the seal, every mage within a several mile radius would become able to sense Nirvana just as easily as Wendy could. He had to re-seal it before they reached him, otherwise he would be captured and killed, and Nirvana would fall into the Council's hands. It was dangerous to stay. Maybe he should get out of here while he still could-

He almost laughed aloud at that thought. And give up? Like hell. Gathering his power, he activated the seal once more, breaking through the first layers with practised ease. He worked with magic in its purest form, weaving it into a pattern that would sever the lock that those ancient masters of magic had placed so many years ago. Though it had been crafted by men far older and more knowledgeable than him, he knew it wasn't perfect – the fact that it was weakening over time told him that – and it would fall to him. And almost as soon as he thought that, his resolve returning with a vengeance, the final piece clicked into place and the seal opened for him.

This time, he really did laugh out loud. Power, such power! It raced through him like fire; excruciating pain and unimaginable ecstasy. There was nothing else in the world, only him and Nirvana, baptized in that glorious, terrible light. He let out a euphoric cry. He had actually done it!

"Stop that at once."

All that divine power, and it was under his control. His will kept it restrained even though its seal had been broken; he was the only reason why it hadn't exploded out of control, rampaging freely through the skies and bringing ruinous destruction upon the entire world. The thought of the damage he could do if he let it go made his heart lurch – but it wouldn't be enough. He had far greater plans for this world. Nirvana was merely a means to that end, and so he overcame its temptation with cold, calculating confidence. It raged against him in impotent fury, but still it was bound, and he would not let it go.

He called from his memory the invocation of the new seal he had created. He had practised it over and over again until it the casting of it was instinct; he had drawn and re-drawn it so many times to ensure it was perfect, triple-checking all his research until he was certain it would work. He could do this. There was no doubt about it.

"I said, stop it!"

All at once he became aware that there was not one world, but two – the one in which he and Nirvana grappled like gods in a halo of silver fire, and the one where he was simply a mortal man stood before a pillar of light in the heart of the forest. He had thought that voice a manifestation of Nirvana's anger in his head, but it had come from the second world after all: he was no longer alone.

He did not care for that world. He would have ignored it and immersed himself in the rapture of magic once again, except that the command had been accompanied by a flash of pain at his throat and the distant sensation of something – blood – trickling down his neck.

No! Not yet!

Fear shot through him. That terrible magic in his hands seized upon his moment of weakness, redoubling its efforts to escape. By some miracle it was still bound; its restraints hung by a thread. One tiny slip and neither he nor the person who had disturbed him would live for long enough to regret their mistake.

"Are you insane?" he screamed, to the morons who inhabited the second world. "You want me to stop now?"

"Seal it again. You have ten seconds before I run you through," replied the cold voice of utter idiocy. "Nine. Eight…"

He gave a scream of frustration. He couldn't think rationally through the blinding panic and the hostile magic shrieking in his head. At this rate, he would die long before he could complete his own seal. He had half a mind to let that awful magic run free and destroy all of them – but he didn't want to die!

Desperation drove him to act. He turned his attention back to the scattered remnants of the seal and drew them towards him. He had broken the dam and let the water flood in, but its component pieces were still floating around; the desire to survive granted him the power to drag them towards him through the turbulence. He restored every aspect of the original seal from his memory, drawing upon everything he had learnt, forcing the magic back into its old form as best he could – and undoing everything he had just accomplished.

For a horrifying moment he didn't think it had worked, but then something clicked into place in his mind, and the restored seal took shape. Once again, that terrible magic was held at bay. The second world, the real world, materialized again around him as awareness of Nirvana slipped from his mind.

Shaking with the effort, he rested both hands against the inert pillar of light and drew in deep, shuddering breaths. His attempt at replicating the original binding had been clumsy and ignorant, but he had managed it. The magic pulsed erratically beneath the barrier. With any luck, it would hold for a day or two. He didn't want to think about how close he had come to death.

"See? I told you he'd seal it."

There was an unfamiliar smugness in that familiar voice. Wendy? What was going on here?

The pressure at his throat lifted as the blade was slowly withdrawn. There was a growing feeling of dread, which was only exacerbated as he slowly turned around to see the situation for the first time. At his back, a deadly magic lurked, barely contained within its improvised prison. At the other end of the trail, blocking the only way out from this dead end, waited what must have been an entire division of Rune Knights. In front of them, with a satisfied look on her face, stood Wendy. And next to the girl, his naked sword still in his hand, was a man that was all too familiar: Captain Bartley, of the 4st Custody Enforcement Unit of Rune Knights. He was a middle-aged man with a drooping moustache and small, sly eyes; they would have known each other by reputation even if they hadn't had one or two run-ins before. Their chosen careers inevitably brought them into conflict.

The Knight Captain gave a nasty smile. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our very own renegade dark mage, Jellal Fernandes. This is my lucky day. I don't believe the Council specified that they wanted you bringing in alive."

Fight or flee? He didn't much fancy taking on an entire unit of Knights, but then again, still disoriented from his encounter with Nirvana, he wasn't sure how far he'd get if he tried to run either. It was a dead end, in more ways than one.

"No, I told you," came Wendy's impatient voice. "He's not Jellal. He's his twin brother, Siegrain."

The Knight just laughed. "Yeah, right. 'My evil twin did it' – I haven't heard that one before. Stupid brat." He raised his sword in both hands, preparing to strike. "I'll carry out your sentence here and now, Jellal."

But Wendy got there first. With the utter fearlessness of a child, she grabbed the Captain's arm and pulled it to the side before he could swing. "Hey! It's not fair! It's because of people like you that Siegrain is always on his own! He always has to help from the shadows because otherwise you'd judge him for the things that his brother has done, and it's not fair! He's a good person, you'll see!"

So this was all part of Wendy's plan to get the Council to accept him? Bartley had been right. She was a stupid brat. He should have disposed of her as soon as she'd shown him where Nirvana was. Now he was going to die because of her meddling.

Neither he nor the Knight Captain got the chance to reply out loud. Wendy saw it first. Her gaze shifted slightly, to a point above her new friend's shoulder. He saw the fear that entered her eyes; felt it resonate within himself. He recalled a certain monster of a bear that had elicited a similar expression from her earlier, and understood the danger with a preternatural instinct for survival.

One hand grabbed Wendy by the collar; his other knocked the Knight's sword aside and locked around his wrist. He jumped back, dragging the two of them with him – just as something enormous and spiked and deadly crashed into the ground where the three of them had been just a moment before. Gnashing jaws closed on empty air; bladelike claws whistled through space.

The monster he and Wendy had barely escaped from earlier now reared up to its full height, snarling its dominance towards the sky, as he scrambled back to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Rune Knights scatter as their attempt to fall into formation was sabotaged by fear of this giant abomination. Then he didn't notice anything else, because that hideous beast had its attention fixed on him – and it was coming for its prey.

Once again, though, the decision to act was taken out of his hands. It was Wendy's turn to seize the two of them and pull them with surprising strength back towards Nirvana. When they couldn't go any further, still she pushed them, until their backs were pressed up against the pillar of light and the rage of the barely-suppressed magic sent shudders running through them both.

"What are-?" he demanded, or tried to demand, because to his amazement the monster's next step was hesitant, and in the next instant it had turned away from the three of them to seek different prey. Belatedly he worked out what Wendy had known instinctively. Nirvana had nurtured that thing's growth; it protected that source of magic like it would its own family. The light of that magic was overwhelming, drowning out their magical presences with its own, confusing all the beast's senses. If it mistook them for Nirvana, it wouldn't strike. It would go for the obvious intruders instead.

Well. This was perfect.

Things were finally going his way. With that monster as a distraction, he'd easily be able to escape from the panicked Rune Knights. He couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. A savage grin crossed his face-

"Siegrain, please!"

Wendy was tugging once again at his sleeve. He glanced at her and his amusement became anger. He had saved her, and let her travel with him, and how had she repaid him? By bringing the Rune Knights to him and ruining the plan he had devoted months of his life to. For all that he cared, she could die here with the rest of the Knights.

She ignored the furious look on his face, beseeching him with wide, innocent eyes. "You have to help them!" And she pointed towards two young Knights, who had been separated from the main unit. They were backed into a crevice in the rock wall. The monster, sensing their terror, advanced mercilessly. Their fellow Knights flung bolts of energy at it from a safe distance, but their magic could no more pierce its hide than his had been able to.

"Now why would I do something like that?" he asked mildly.

She held her ground. "Because you're a good man! I know you are!"

"You think?" He let out a harsh laugh. "Well, I'm sure as hell not a suicidal man. If you want to help them, do it yourself."

"Fine!" And with that, she ran straight towards the monster.

Fine.

He wanted her dead anyway, didn't he?

Then again… it was sort of insulting, how easily she would throw away the life that he had worked so hard to protect.

Everyone had got the better of him today. First the girl had sabotaged his plans to claim Nirvana, and now he was going to be arrested by the Rune Knights. Was he going to admit defeat towards the monster too? Surely he was better than this mindless beast. Surely.

"Stupid girl."

There wasn't an ounce of fondness in his voice. It was pure anger; furious frustration - but he was already running. His internal source of magic had been severely depleted by his struggle with Nirvana, but he was by no means out yet. He drew it to him as he ran. Two steps brought him level with Wendy and then she was far behind him. Power surged through his body. He kicked off from the ground and sailed through the air; that single bound, intuitively aimed, brought him crashing down on top of the monster's head.

Startled, it tried to shake him off, but he was too quick for it. He placed his left hand over his right and re-directed the magic flowing through his veins out of his body. From his palm emerged a searing beam of light. He couldn't miss from that range. The light drove straight into its left eye.

Its shriek of distress was sweet to him. Now, that was more like it. He clung tightly to one of its spines with tenacity born of hatred, defying its best attempts to shake him off. The moment it paused, overcome by sheer agony, he damaged its other eye with another burst of light. It thrashed around in rage, claws tearing enormous chunks out of the rock.

Over the sound of its howls, he dimly heard Wendy calling to him. The two stranded Knights had used the distraction as a chance to regroup with the main force at the exit of the clearing. His job was done; when the beast bucked beneath him again, he let it fling him off into the air. He retained just enough magic in his body to land lightly from the fall beside the Knights, and then he let it go completely. He was breathing heavily. Wendy, who had made it to his side, glanced at him anxiously, which only made him angrier.

The Captain shouted across to his command of Knights. "What are you waiting for? Arrest him!"

Let them try. The first to touch him would be the first to die.

But, to his surprise, no one tried to grab him. The nearest two Knights, the ones he had saved, merely exchanged glances. "Are you serious?" demanded one of them, with a level of disrespect he had never imagined he would hear from a Rune Knight. Near-death experiences got to everyone, he supposed. Even more astonishing, however, was the explanation the Knight added: "He's the only chance we have of beating that thing!"

"You're surely not suggesting we get help from a wanted criminal?" Captain Bartley demanded, outraged.

The other Knight ignored him. "Will you help us… Siegrain?"

The question had no obvious answer. The thought of helping these servants of the Magic Council sickened him. He wanted nothing more than to flee to a safe distance and watch as they suffered and died horribly. Then again, hadn't that interaction just proven how useful it could be if he helped them out here, and turned a few of them to his side? Many of them were clearly new recruits – young, impressionable and idealistic – and they even seemed willing to accept the girl's crazy twins idea if it gave them hope that their gruesome fate could be avoided.

Of course, that logic didn't make fighting that monster any more of an attractive idea. If he was capable of killing it, he'd have done that the first time round, rather than considering himself lucky to have escaped with only a shallow wound. He knew his magic wasn't powerful enough to penetrate its hide.

Equally, there was an entire division of Rune Knights at his back. He had battled enough of them over the past few years to know how they fought. Though they were all mages in their own right, wielding a wide range of secondary magic, their greatest strength lay in the way they were trained to combine their rune magic to produce effects that not even a great Wizard Saint could achieve alone. While he resented the idea of depending on the Knights almost as much as he did the thought of helping them, it did provide him with an opening. And even stronger than his dislike of the Knights was the sheer hatred he held for that monster. He wanted nothing more than to see it dead.

He clenched his fist. "I'll hold it off. Back me up."

They nodded in unison. "Captain! Your orders?" one of them called.

Bartley gritted his teeth. It was obvious that the only thing he wanted more than capturing his prisoner or abandoning him to his fate was pretending to support him, and then stabbing him from behind. But his Knights would never allow it. With barely disguised fury, he growled, "We'll support him. Get into formation! We're going to trap and kill that creature!"

The moment the Knights began to move, he shut them completely out of his mind. He took one deep breath, and then another, trying to calm his racing heart. An alien prickling sensation flitted across his skin. For all the hurt and humiliation he had suffered today, it was payback time.

On the third breath, he reached for his magic and sent it flowing into his limbs. His body uncoiled like a spring as he bounded towards the mutated creature. He was too fast to see – a streak of gold against the Knights' vision. With that momentum and that magic and all that anger focussed into his fist, he struck the beast without fear. It was four times as tall as him, and yet it was the one thrown back by the impact, away from the Knights.

Adrenaline, thrill, savage ecstasy.

More.

Those claws slashed ferociously towards him. The fact that he had temporarily blinded it hardly mattered: all it needed was his rough location, since its blades were as long as he was, and a single solid hit would take him out of the fight for good. Still, even knowing that, it didn't even occur to him to be afraid.

When he opened his eyes again the golden haze had returned to his vision. Everything was so slow compared to him. He wanted to laugh. He jumped, landing on the arm it was trying to strike him with, and pushed off again before it had moved an inch. His outstretched hands found purchase on one of its long spines and he swung on it like a gymnast, propelling himself up towards its head.

It lunged for him; its jaws snapped shut just inches away from his head. Droplets of green venom stung his cheek, but he was already clear of danger. With inhuman strength, he span in the air and brought his heel crashing down upon the monster's neck. It howled; stumbled; almost fell.

More.

Make that great beast suffer for all the indignity he had gone through today. For all the time wasted. For all the plans ruined. For all his anger towards the girl, towards the Knights, towards the world itself – make it suffer more.

He landed on the ground between it and the Knights, slowly standing up. If he had looked over his shoulder, he might have seen that half the soldiers weren't preparing their magic at all, but were staring at him in undisguised awe. He didn't look. He didn't care about anything but his enemy.

It charged at him. The thought of dodging and letting it tear into the Knights behind him didn't even cross his mind. He ran to meet it, channelling all the magic in his body into his right fist. It swept one great claw down towards him and he met it with a blow of his own. Reinforced by magic, his small fist stopped the steel-like bone in its tracks. Blood dripped down his fingers – but his power held firm, and cracks ran along the claw before it shattered altogether.

There. The weapon that had wounded him, in pieces on the floor.

Still it wasn't enough. Still something screamed within him.

More.

Light burst out from his body. His skin was no longer sufficient to contain it. Pain raced through his right hand, so he pushed the power into his left one instead. Like a bolt of lightning he pounced towards his opponent and delivered another solid strike. Once again, the beast was pushed back.

But that was all he was doing. The blows he was landing were all superficial. Even giving it everything he had, he still couldn't break through its hide. He couldn't kill it like this. He needed more power.

Ignoring the searing pain it brought him, he forced more and more of his magic through his body, and struck the beast again. In his haste, however, he had forgotten to change positions, and its claws flashed out and raked along his back. Blood shone black in Nirvana's light. He screamed; a second slash sent him spinning through the air.

Somehow, he managed to land on his feet.

More.

He wasn't done yet.

More.

Drown this pain in the suffering of others.

More!

All of a sudden a pair of small arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back; cold against the feverish heat of his body. "It's okay," Wendy murmured. "You can stop now."

And he did. The last of his magic left him, leaving him weak; barely clinging to consciousness. Were it not for the little girl who refused to let him go, he wouldn't have been able to stand. He gulped down deep breaths of air and shuddered from the effort of it.

Not everything stopped when he did. Suddenly free of its greatest threat, the monster advanced again towards the Knights. They hadn't been idle while he was fighting alone, though. It had barely taken more than a step when barriers of red-violet runes flashed up around it, imprisoning it within a tight square. Though those walls were insubstantial – nothing more than floating letters of magic – they might as well have been reinforced concrete for all the damage the monster could do to them.

A moment later, a spike of crimson light burst from the wall of its prison. The combined magic of the Rune Knights could do what he alone had been unable to accomplish – the light pierced straight through the beast's matted hide and out the other side. A dozen more spikes burst from the prison, spearing its body from all directions. Its shriek became a gurgle, which died away to nothing. When the runes entrapping it faded, it collapsed to the ground and never moved again.

He hardly noticed any of this, however. Only when Wendy let go of him and he was forced to try and stand on his own did he become aware that time was still moving in the real world. Once again, a blade appeared at his throat. He was too exhausted to care.

The disgruntled voice of Knight Captain Bartley drifted down to him as if from a great height. "It seems I owe you my life, Siegrain," he grunted, drawing out that one word with immense distaste. "In return, I suppose I shouldn't kill you where you stand."

The blade was withdrawn. Someone grabbed him roughly; he heard a click as a set of magic-suppressing handcuffs snapped into place around his wrists.

"We'll be taking custody of Nirvana. In the meantime, you're coming back to Era with us. The Magic Council can decide what to do with you."

A/N: Poor Jellal. He's still got a long way to go when it comes to magic. I really enjoyed writing that little fight, so I hope you liked it. Next chapter, the battle moves to a somewhat different arena - one where words and not magic will determine the victor... ~CS