Here is the next installment of Void Warrior. Thanks for those of you who have followed and or Favorited this story and or me. In the last chapter I said there was a reference villain who also appears in this chapter. I wrong described what the man looks like from the game (but I got his name right) I'm giving it to you: The Commandant from Fable 2 in the Tattered Spire. If you guys wish I can give you readers the a list of all the ladies that will be a part of Aether's harem at the end of the next chapter. Now onto the story...
Intense pain was the first thing that greeted me as I came to. I coughed a little feeling blood come up. I swallowed my blood and cleared my throat then opened my eyes. Brown orbs stared into mine that were framed by red hair, similar to mine. She looked no older than me, but something about her was familiar.
"You're awake." She noted not breaking eye contact.
"Obviously." I grumbled.
A chuckle sounded off to my right drawing my attention. "Give her some space Erza." The old man I saw said as the red head I had seen earlier backed off a few steps. "Are you thirsty?" He asked calmly.
I licked my lips finding them dry. I nodded my head slowly to let him know. He moved over towards me holding a small cup of water that he poured into my mouth. I happily gulped down the liquid feeling a little better. "Thanks." I rasped.
"You can call me Grandpa Rob." The old white bearded man said putting a hand on his chest. "The one who stared at you was Erza, and the other two here are Simon and Jellal." He explained causing my eyes to go wide.
Holy shit! I was locked in the same cell as Erza and the others so this should be interesting to say the least. But with me in this world I knew things will be different. Hell, they already were with the Pit Fights and Void Demons. Maybe I could put my knowledge of future events to good use?
"What's your name?" Erza said leaning close to my face.
I narrowed my eyes at her and she backed up. "Aether." I answered. Something didn't quite feel right causing me to look at my arms. Both of them were missing from not much under the shoulder. I started shaking at the sight and tears formed in my eyes. I knew my arms would grow back but it still hurt to be made powerless like this. I hung my head and cried letting the pain surface that I had been holding in for some time. It was a reminder that even if I had the mind of an adult, I was still a child growing up in a cruel environment. I felt a hand land on my shoulder in a comforting manor and knew it was Grandpa Rob.
After a number of minutes had passed in relative silence I felt Grandpa Robs fingers clear my tears for me. "Would you like to hear a story Aether?"
"Story time!" Erza cheered causing me to look up to see a big smile on her face. She sat down near Grandpa Rob followed by the two boys before they turned to me.
A small smile worked its way onto my lips. "Yes." With that the old man gave a nod and launched into one of his stories about his younger days in Fairy Tail. Despite the hell we were all in we enjoyed his story about Makarov and the others going off on some crazy adventure.
The next six years went by quickly as we grew and slaved away at the tower. By this time Sho, Millianna, and Wally had been with us for two years. Those three looked up to Simon, Erza, Jellal, and me as their big siblings. I was dragged down to the Pit every month for Pit Fights for the Commandant's amusement, as well as the cultists who ran the tower. I never lost a single one of those with only a few being close calls. And as I had figured out years ago I got stronger by eating my fellow Void Demons, though I wasn't sure if that power and sped up regeneration was tied to the blood or the flesh. However I was usually tossed into there hungry so I just went for the flesh.
My stomach rumbled as I smelled raw meat coming down the hall. A group of cultists dropped off trays for all of us. They grabbed their trays leaving the last one for me. I ignored the paste to get the meat. I took my tray over by Erza who hadn't touched her food yet.
"You alright?" I asked gesturing to the tray in front of her.
Erza glanced at me then back to the floor. "I want to experience the adventures that Grandpa Rob talks about."
"So do I." I said finishing one piece of meat, while the second one rested on the tray.
"Do either of you have a last name?" Wally asked as he came over to us.
I sighed. This wasn't the first time he had asked us this question, nor was he the only one. Millianna had also questioned Erza and me about it. "We don't have one little brother."
"You two have to have last names." Jellal commented coming over to us along with Simon and Millianna. I watched him as he studied Erza first generating a pink hue on her cheeks from how closely he was looking at her.
"Scarlet." Jellal and I said at the same time. Erza looked between the two of us confused.
"Your last name will be Scarlet because of the color of your hair." Jellal explained before looking my way with a sigh. "It doesn't help that you have the same color hair Aether."
I grinned. "I was born that way."
"You okay Erza?" Millianna asked seeing the red head staring at some of her hair that she held.
Erza smiled. "Erza Scarlet..." The red head commented. "I like it."
"Now we need to come up with a last name for you." Jellal said pointing at me.
I groaned. "Do we really have to come up with one for me?"
"Why not?" Grandpa Rob commented so I looked over to him. The old man had a smile on his face. "You could be even more beautiful with a last name."
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out as a blush worked its way onto my cheeks. This was one of the few times they had managed to make me blush. "Fine." I muttered looking away from the others.
"Grandpa Rob made Aether blush!" Sho cheered as I heard a high five. I swear it was like a challenge for these guys.
I focused on eating my food which over the years was pretty much only meat. Once it was gone I looked around to see that everyone had finished their food. Jellal came over and drew in a series of lines on the floor with a finger in the form of a tic tack toe system. The blue haired human motioned me over so I walked over to him.
"I challenge you Aether." Jellal said gesturing to the game "board" he drew.
I sighed but sat down on the opposite side from him. "You do realize I have more wins then you right?"
"52-48." Jellal answered.
I had won this particular game 52 times while Jellal had beaten me 48 times, however most of theses games ended in draws. The others had by this point agreed that I was the smartest one in our cell followed by Jellal. They also had agreed that I was better at games like this for the most part. "Your move."
Jellal made a circle in the square closest to his right. I put a X above his circle. He followed suit with a circle to the left of it. I cut off his three circle line with an X. Jellal hummed in thought as he looked at the board so far. He put a circle in the middle and I put a X above my second one. He put a circle to the left most square closest to me. I smirked putting a final X on the column to my right.
"My win." I said as Jellal groaned. "You would have won the round if you had actually put the circle in the middle column."
Fun was cut short by the arrival of cultists whom led us to our wok area. As usual over the years I was put to work moving around the bladed rocks which were close to the pile that Sho, Simon, and Jellal worked at. Whenever I got a chance to look over to the blue haired boy I could see him stare at something and get back to moving stones before he could get zapped by the patrolling cultists. As I got close to Sho's rock pile his foot slipped causing him to fall. The kid caught himself but the rock he held shifted the ones above it. I tossed the sharp rock I had been carrying onto the nearby cart and moved to block the fall of rocks.
I let out a grunt as several hit and one actually drew blood, though Sho himself was safe. One of the patrolling cultists spotted me and came over not looking thrilled.
"What's going on Void Demon?" He asked looking between Sho and me.
I reached behind me to pull out the rock that had made me bleed. "A mishap." I explained staring him in the eyes. Those eyes stared back into mine. "He slipped so I blocked some falling rocks to prevent injuries. Don't want to have your slaves get too hurt right?" The cultist snorted and left us to continue his patrol. I guess being the favorite demon of The Commandant has its perks. "Try not to slip again Sho." I said quietly getting a nod from him before I went back to work going in and out of the labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. Not long after that a bell sounded signaling the end of the work day. We went back to the cell for the night already finding Grandpa Rob there. I guess he worked closer to the cell than us kids did.
"I've been thinking about a last name for you Aether." Simon commented making me look in his direction. He sat cross legged with a hand on his chin. "I've seen you wade through the bladed rocks a lot and not really care."
I Shrugged. "It doesn't bother me because I can regenerate, though I'm not impervious to getting cut from those." I said holding up my arm to show a maze of lines on my forearm that I had gotten earlier from those bladed rocks.
Simon nodded. "Because you can go through those rocks I thought Wade sounded good for a last name..." He trailed off as his cheeks had a faint red hue to them. The black haired boy also looked away from me to the dirt floor.
That was new. I couldn't help the grin that came to my lips. Simon had a crush on me and I knew he had one on Erza already, if his off to the side staring at the redhead was indication. "Wade..." I paused. "Perfect." I added making him smile.
"I have an idea of how to get off this island." Jellal said making us look at him. We went over to him to see what he had to say. "They use ships to bring supplies to the island. I overheard that a new shipment of supplies will arrive tomorrow."
"How will we get to the ships Jellal?" I asked drawing attention to me. "The cultists won't sit back and let us run wild."
Jellal put a hand on his chin. "There are vents all over this tower." He supplied. "We can use one of those to get to the ships."
I nodded and the group split up for the night. Erza came over and sat down by me. I watched Jellal stare at the ground in thought. Would his plan actually work? Would he turn traitor and try to kill Erza like I knew happened in the series? With a grunt I looked away from him. This wasn't the show, it was the world I now lived in. I noticed Erza looking between me and Jellal, then her eyes settled on me.
A red hue worked its way onto her cheeks. "Do you like Jellal Aether?"
I raised an eye brow. "Where did that come from?"
Erza looked away from me as her face became as red as her hair. "I just see you looking at him a lot and I thought..." She trailed off.
I smirked. "Maybe." I answered making her whip her head to me. "I have a feeling that he will be quite nice to look at in the future." Surprise and embarrassment dominated her face and I let out a laugh. She pouted looking me in the eyes. "I'm kidding about liking him." I explained. How could I explain that I knew Jellal might betray us in the near future? Or that his escape plan might fail?
"Oh." Erza commented letting her shoulders fall. "I'm going to sleep Aether." She added and laid down on the floor where she had been sitting. A few minutes later the rest of us followed suit.
Sleep came more quickly than I anticipated. At first I dreamed of an empty void before it was suddenly filled with fire and screams of people, and burnt bodies of those in the wrong place at the wrong time. After that it transitioned to the Pit Fights one right after another. The last image that flashed through my mind before waking up was a time I had nearly died from a Void Sword in my chest. I woke up instantly covered in sweat.
"Another nightmare?" Grandpa Rob asked from the side. I guess he had been watching me once again.
I ran a hand through my hair that more or less reached the middle of my back. "Yeah."
"What was this one about?"
"Gruen where I was captured. Then it went to every Pit Fight I've been in ending with one of the fights I nearly died in." I explained looking through the bars to a rectangle that held a small view of outside. In it I could see the night stars like a brilliant untarnished canvas. Regardless of the fact I was a slave in this tower that tiny spec of the night sky calmed me whenever I woke up from a nightmare.
"I see." He commented with a sad tone in his voice. "Try to get some sleep."
I nodded but stared at the tiny spec of the night sky. "Do you know what Void Demon blood does to the human body?"
Grandpa Rob took a deep breath then let it out. "It can heal humans and mages if they are compatible with the blood. If they aren't, it kills them." He replied.
That's troubling. If any of them ever got my blood into their system would they live to tell the tale or would it kill them? I didn't know and that scared me. I lazily scratched the collar around my neck. This thing was always on when I wasn't fighting in the Pit and it sealed away my Void Demon powers completely. I had tried nearly everything I could think of to get it off, which had earned me a few trips to the torture chamber. If Jellal's plan was to be a success I'd need to have this thing off my neck somehow. With a sigh I let my head rest against the stone wall of the cell and closed my eyes.
I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder finding it to be Jellal. "What?" I muttered yawning.
"Time to escape." He said quietly dangling a key in front of my face. I nodded then we left the cell as quietly as we could. Going slow the seven of us made our way to the open cavern where we moved stones. Jellal went over to the pile he normally worked at and pulled on something. Not long after that he put down whatever he had pulled motioning us over. It was one of the vent holes of the tower and each of us climbed into it. Jellal was first followed by Simon, Wally, Sho, Millianna, Erza, and me at the end. The vent had just enough room for me to turn around and place the vent cover back on.
Maybe it would give us some more time if they thought we weren't in the vents. We traveled for a few minutes with only a tiny bit of noise from our knees. The others a head of me stopped then moved. We exited a vent at some place I vaguely remembered as somewhere near the docks.
Something felt odd as I looked around. Where the hell were the cultists? "Something isn't right." I commented making them look at me. "Where are all the cultists? They patrol just about every area in regular intervals." I paused poking my head around a corner. Even down that hallway I didn't see any sign of a cultist or one of their demon dogs. "Yet we haven't seen a single one nor one of their demon dogs."
Erza started to look defeated and afraid. "Why aren't they here?"
"I don't know." Simon commented.
"Let's continue." Jellal said then I focused my eyes on him.
"No." I hissed. "You'll lead us into a trap."
Dark laughter echoed from all around us. "You are a sharp one, my demon."
"Fuckballs." I cursed drawing their attention. "The Commandant was waiting for us."
The man in question seemed to materialize from thin air in front of us with a group of cultists. "What an...interesting word." He commented absently. "Now, which one of you kids thought this escape up?" None of us spoke for a time and The Commandant sighed. "If you don't say who I'll have all of you go to the torture chamber."
"I came up with the plan." Jellal said pulling out the key he had snagged from his shorts pocket. He let it fall on the ground with a determined stare directed at The Commandant.
"I see you also took our key." The Commandant said shaking his head. "Take him and the redhead."
The cultists didn't move and looked at their leader. "Which one?" They collectively asked.
"The human." The Commandant replied.
As soon as the cultists started moving Jellal leaped forth and attacked the nearest one sending him to the floor. As if it was a signal the others also attacked except for me and Erza. The human redhead was stunned at the action but also scared by the sheer fact The Commandant was here. I had told them all how scary that bastard was and that he was the one who organized the Pit Fights every month. He was also one of the cultists who tortured me, usually by severing my limbs with molten blades.
It was then that more cultists showed up and something tackled me to the ground then razor sharp teeth bit into my flesh. I let out a hiss knowing what it was; one of the cultist's demon dogs. I felt the thing lean on me intending to keep me in place. I looked up to see the others shocked from electrocution spells and The Commandant walking away with a terrified Erza in his arms.
"Let me go!" Jellal growled as two cultists carried him away following where The Commandant went. After that we were led back to our cell and locked in it once again. I softly punched the wall feeling pissed off. I knew it was a trap yet we bloody well walked right into it. Glancing at the others I saw that Simon was quiet, Sho was curled into a ball crying next to Millianna who was also crying.
"I'm glad you kids are okay." Grandpa Rob said as he came over to kneel by Sho and Millianna. "But where are Erza and Jellal?"
"Taken." Simon answered.
"The Commandant somehow knew that we would try to escape and waited for us to show up." I growled then sighed. Now wasn't the time for anger. "He took both of them as punishment for stealing a key and coming up with an escape plan."
Grandpa Rob's shoulder's slumped a little. "I see." he commented.
"Is big sister Erza and big brother Jellal going to be okay?" Millianna sniffed looking at me hopefully.
Honestly I wasn't entirely sure either of them would be okay. I wasn't normally one to lie, but seeing Millianna's scared teary eyed face hurt. For her sake I let a small smile grace my lips. "I'm sure Erza will be fine. She is as tough as I am and Jellal will be okay too." I glanced to my left to see Simon looking in my direction. He didn't look like he believed me, but for Millianna's sake he probably wasn't going to say anything.
Two days later Erza was brought back to the cell and at the same time I was escorted out for the monthly Pit Fight. Going down the familiar halls we reached the Pit, though one thing was odd. The Commandant was absent as I didn't see him anywhere. Why would he be gone for a Pit Fight I was participating in? He always watched my fights as I was his favorite Void Demon. On the way through the halls to the bottom of the Pit I thought about the collar around my neck. There was one thing I hadn't tried yet...
Collar of binding, release me. I thought. Hell it might do something. Without warning the collar loosened and came off much to my surprise. I smirked and turned around hammering the cultist behind me with a Void charged fist. I felt the crack of his bones breaking and heard the sound clearly. The body crashed into the wall limp. I made my way onto the Pit after destroying the secret door. The Void Demons looked at me surprised then I charged them. Within minutes I had killed them all and feasted on them empowering myself.
I went back through the doorway I had destroyed and worked my way to the cavern. Once there everyone looked at me startled. No one moved for some time until several cultists charged forward getting ready to swing their weapons at me. "Void Demon's Roar!" I hollered obliterating the cultists and burning whatever my roar of void magic touched. The slaves looked at me still shocked. "Freedom will never come if we don't fight for it." I said to them as they looked between each other. "Stand up and fight for your freedom!" I added raising a fist into the air.
"Time to claim our freedom!" One of the slaves shouted raising a hand in their air. Then the other slaves did the same as the remaining cultists looked worried.
A wave of cultists charged at me from my left side and I smirked. "Void Demon's sword." I said doing a spinning kick extending my foot as a blade of void energy. It sliced the crowd of cultists in half. I charged my way through as an alarm sounded. I killed every cultist who ran into me without mercy letting my hatred of them fuel my power. I worked my way to the cells where I had been living for years.
As soon as I stood in front of my cell Sho and Milliana shouted. "Aether!"
I extended my arms as Void blades and sliced the bars of the doors to the cells on both sides of the hall. "We have to fight for our freedom or we won't get it." I explained as Erza looked at me surprised like Simon. I shook my head and handed the redhead a sword from a fallen cultist near my feet. As it was Erza and me made our way back to the cavern where an army of cultists waited for us with a few that were on flying discs. I knew those were the combat mages of the cult. Behind Erza and I were the slaves partaking in the revolt and a few Void Demons I hadn't killed.
"Slaughter the cultists!" I roared pointing at the enemy. At my command the slaves charged only to be blasted by magic from the cult's mages. At that they faltered and ran except for the Void Demons who accepted the challenge. We rushed forward launching various attacks.
"Don't run!" I heard Erza say tentatively while the Void Demons and I had a battle with the mages of the cult that was very one sided. It wasn't long before their broken bodies landed on the floor and we Void Demons had some human flesh in our stomachs, though that was mostly the others.
"Erza!" I called getting the redhead's attention. She wasn't far from me but the fighting was loud. Just then I noticed more cultists show up. "We need to free Jellal!" She nodded before the cult's mages unleashed a barrage of magic upon us. They caught us off guard so Erza and me stood there. Before the blast of combined magic could hit us Grandpa Rob dashed in front of us.
My jaw hung open as Grandpa Rob took the blast of magic for us. "Remember that freedom lies in your hearts." Those were the last words he said before his body broke apart and the symbol of Fairy Tail burned into my mind. I fell to my knees witnessing the death of one of the most important people of my life. Rage boiled in my blood as power swelled up from somewhere within me. I glanced to my left to see Erza on her knees and felt magic in the air. The various weapons on the ground around her hovered up into the air before catapulting towards the line of cultists ahead of us. The amount of power coming from her small body was impressive, though I had a feeling I could match her any day.
That was also when I noticed the eye patch over her right eye. Damn they took out her eye like in the series. I shook my head and focused on the task ahead of us. Clearing out the remaining cultists and freeing Jellal. The cultists were chump change with the Void Demons besides me, then evil incarnate made an appearance. The Commandant appeared out of thin air before us.
"So you discovered the weakness of the collar?" The Commandant asked pulling out his rapier and pistol.
"It's quite clever really." I commented summoning void energy around my form, tapping into the well of power within me. I saw Erza take a step back out of the corner of my eye as if she hadn't expected the amount of power I summoned. "It responded to thought commands. If the salves are too afraid to think they won't come to that conclusion."
"You were always different little demon." The Commandant said making me raise an eye brow. "No matter how many times I or the others cut off your limbs or tortured you your will did not break. Nor did you ever loose a single Pit Fight against your own kind."
I stared into his cold green eyes feeling fear gnaw at me, but I ignored it. "That's because I have something to live for." I said then charged forward inhumanly quick. I threw a left hook at him hitting his rapier and shattering it in one go. I didn't care that it drew blood and landed on the floor following up with a roundhouse kick to his leg. The Commandant jumped backwards a few yards avoiding it. Erza charged in from behind slicing at him horizontally.
The Commandant rolled out of the way aiming the pistol at me. He fired off a round that I narrowly dodged. I jabbed forward with an elongated void fist breaking the weapon forcing him to let go of the ruined handle. We stayed there for a few minutes waiting for the other to make a move. He raised a hand summoning an explosion at my feet. I rolled over to the left dodged it ending next to the human redhead.
"Let's take this bastard together Erza Scarlet." I said then she nodded readying her sword and shield.
"Come then, and test your might!" The Commandant commented raising his hands before they started glowing with flames. "Brilliant flames." In a flash fire erupted near us so we rolled out of the way. I was quick enough to avoid the entire spell but Erza's shield took the blast and crumbled into dust. Fire danced at The Commandant's command rushing for Erza who stood there not sure what to do. I spotted a shield next to my feet that was intact and kicked it towards The Commandant. The Commandant leaned out of the way of the shield, avoiding it.
"Void Barrier." I called focusing the energy around Erza who gasped at the sudden appearance. However the shield held with the flames bouncing off harmlessly. In a flurry I sprinted around grabbing weapons on the floor before throwing them at The Commandant. His brows furrowed in slight irritation or anger as he dealt with the weapons I threw at him by burning or avoid them. I stopped behind a rock pile feeling heat from the other side of it. Evidently he had thrown fire at me. "Void Mines." I muttered placing a hand flat on the floor. At the same time I felt Erza charge through the barrier I had conjured to protect her accompanied by a fierce battle cry.
I picked up another shield that was lying on the floor and peaked around the edge of the rock pile. Erza took a swing with one sword at The Commandant who stepped out of the attack. She followed up with another swing that cut his leg, but didn't slow the man down. His right fist started coming down engulfed in flames so I threw the shield at him. The object smashed into his forearm diverting the blow away from Erza. With a snap of his fingers an explosion of fire occurred right under the redhead's feet. She was sent flying backwards and fell hard onto the ground.
"Void Demon's Halberd!" I roared forming a large halberd in my hands before I threw it like a spear at The Commandant.
"Crimson Firewall." With that a wall of crimson colored flames rose up from the ground to form a sort of barrier that stopped the halberd. The halberd pushed and broke the wall to impact the ground next to him. It exploded shaking the area and knocking The Commandant back with blood dripping from one arm that hung limply at his side. The Commandant's face twisted into a feral roar as magic gathered around him. "Brilliant Inferno!" He said as fire erupted all around him charring the stone with ease. He took one step towards me before an explosion of void energy erupted from the ground.
I smirked as he was kicked back by one of the void mines I had conjured up. Getting back up The Commandant stepped on another mine causing a chain explosion. I ignored that and picked up the shield I had thrown at him to save Erza from a fiery hand. The object in question was burnt and barely holding together. I held a hand over the item then saw blood splash onto it, and got an idea. I grabbed a shard of metal and squeezed it over the outer part of the shield and focused void magic onto the item. The simple wooden shield absorbed the magic and blood like a sponge.
The shield glowed a soft purple black before it pulled itself apart and changed form at a single thought. It had taken the form of a larger shield that could hide my whole form if I ducked behind it. "Erza!" I called seeing the redhead limping to one side with blood on her legs and some on her chest. I ran towards her with the shield on my right arm then something came at me. I raised it up watching as a giant ball of fire bounced off the shield right back to its sender who howled in pain. "This is for you, but you need to let the shield absorb your blood so it is bound to your magic."
Erza looked at me and tilted her head. "How?"
"Let your blood fall onto its surface and it will absorb your blood because I will command my blood within this to do so." I explained and so she held her hand above it letting blood drip onto the shield. Absorb the human's blood shield of the void. I commanded mentally feeling the void magic respond to me, absorbing her blood. "This shield will use the power of the Void so it should hold up to any and all attacks."
"DO NOT THINK I AM DEAD!" The Commandant roared out reaching both his hands at me. "Brilliant Detonation!" The spell went off quicker than I thought generating a cloud of dust.
I let out a growl as I fell to the floor hearing Erza yell. "Aether!" I saw rage shine in her eyes before the redhead charged forward with magical power surging from her small form. The Commandant's attack managed to blow of my left arm and burned a good portion of my chest and legs. She stabbed The Commandant in the side with her weapon so I used that time to appear behind the human and stab an arm through his torso.
"I blew off your...left arm." The Commandant said choking on blood. He looked as surprised as Erza whom stared at my arm through his chest.
"You did." I confirmed. "Did you think I couldn't create a fake arm?" I added before the man's body went limp. Erza pulled her blade out of him and I shoved the corpse off my arm. With some concentration the void energy that had been a fake arm turned into flesh in a quick wave that traveled from my shoulder to my fingertips.
"Aether, we have to save Jellal." Erza said holding the void shield close to her with a pleading but determined look.
I was honestly hesitant with the knowledge that Jellal may have already fallen into darkness. At Erza's face I couldn't say no. "Alright, let's go." I said and the two of us made our way to one of the torture chambers where I could sense the blue haired boy. Any cultists that stood in our way met a swift end either by Erza's sword or by me. Jellal was chained onto the cross that I had been tortured on more times than I could count with his head down.
"Jellal." Erza called out to the boy as she freed him. He didn't respond at first then I felt darkness take hold of the room. That darkness held no real form to touch but it was there. That cloud of dark magical energy circled around me once and I followed it catching sight of Erza and Jellal doing the same. Then it funneled into the blue haired human making him scream. I untangled Erza from Jellal and held her back as he screamed and writhed on the floor. "What are you doing?" She asked me as fear filled her voice, though her eyes didn't leave the boy.
"Holding you back." I deadpanned. "I don't know what's happening to him."
After a few minutes Jellal stopped moving then got up onto his own feet. I sensed an impressive amount of power coming from him, along with the darkness. "That...hurt." Jellal commented then looked by the door. Me and Erza followed his gaze to two cultists we missed. I looked back to Jellal seeing a cruel grin on lips as he held out a hand towards the two. Magic exploded and vaporized one of them into dust and crushed the other one to death splattering the room with blood, which didn't reach us. "I'm glad you two are here."
I felt Erza start to shake in my arms and I narrowed my eyes at Jellal. "Are you ready to get off this island and leave its horrors behind?"
"Get off the island?" Jellal said, almost mockingly. He shook his head. "No. We don't have to go anywhere because freedom is right here." I saw his eyes and felt a sting in my chest. I may have liked him as a brother when Jellal was kind, but what I saw was something else. That child had died or was buried as we got there, and it hurt that I couldn't save him from this in the first place.
"You're mad." I growled summoning power to my right hand. "You are possessed by darkness Jellal. It is controlling you."
One of his hands that had been by his side shot up as magic shoved Erza away from me and brought me over to the enraged looking human. "Me mad? Controlled?" He repeated as rage oozed from his words. "You are the mad one!" Then a split second later something constricted my throat like a hand choking me. "I will complete the tower and resurrect Zeref so he can bring a new golden age to the world." I tried to grasp the magic choking me but all I felt was my own flesh. I growled focusing magic around my throat in an attempt to release the pressure.
"Jellal stop it!" Erza yelled pushing the blue haired boy making him realize that she was indeed still in the room. "You're hurting Aether!" There was a moment where his eyes changed to those that I had known for years. I felt the magic around me ease up and drop me so I took the opportunity to breath. I looked up to see the dark look in his eyes again, though this time it was Erza that he held.
"So you will betray me too?" Jellal asked then with a wave of his hand threw Erza into a nearby wall making a dent and knocking her out. Blood trickled down from her mouth as well as the other wounds already on her body.
"Jellal..." I hissed before jumping at him. I punched at him with my right arm smacking into a wall of magic that was around him like a protective cloud and sent him flying through a wall. I tapped the shield with my foot and it vanished to stay in some part of the void for the time being. I picked up the redhead and began to make my way to the boats. Just as I got to the open cavern where Erza and I killed The Commandant explosions rocked the tower along with screams. I heard those coming from the docks causing me to growl. That bastard blew up the boats so we can't get off the island that easily. I thought putting down Erza next to a wall feeling a well of power rushing towards me.
A wall of magic slammed into me like a fist launching me away from the unconscious Erza and into a wall. The stone crunched and cracked with my impact but I pounced right at the human who had attacked me. I missed with a punch he dodged out of so I spun and kicked him in the head launching him into a wall. He charged right out to me and the two of us exchanged blows bruising each other before I grabbed his head and smashed my knee into it drawing blood. He groaned holding his hands to his face so I took the opportunity and kicked him back from me a good distance. He landed on the ground limp so I started to walk towards Erza.
"AETHER!" Jellal roared sending a wave of magic directed at Erza sporting a cruel grin that looked wrong with the blood that ran from his noise. I dashed forward to the unconscious redhead but the magic slammed into her form and the wall gave out behind her to reveal the outer part of the island. She went over the edge coughing up a little blood.
"Void Demon's Roar!" I hollered aiming it for Jellal before diving over the edge after Erza. I reached her quickly grabbing her arm to twist her body so that I could take the damage of the fall. The ground hit not long after I shielded the human with my body. Pain was the first thing I felt after opening my eyes along with blood flowing from several injuries. I looked around to see a small crater that the two of us were in and I could hear the ocean very close by. I slowly sat up then magic took hold of my form like a lifting hand. "So you're...still alive." I said slowly through the pain before seeing Jellal who looked like a burn victim. From what I'd seen of my void demon magic it behaved like fire burning anything it touched, though it wasn't fire. I guess the power of the void withers away whatever it touches and with that roar it just looked the same as burning.
"Yes." Jellal growled and I saw his cloths were burnt with many small burns oozing blood at a slow rate and what burns weren't bleeding looked like they were going to be swollen blisters in a few hours. "I will let you two leave this tower, but I will take the others hostage." I glared at him before he coughed a few times. "There are some rules to be mindful of with your "freedom". If the magic council gets word of this I will kill every one here. And if you bring a guild to assault this tower I will kill them all." With that he lifted his out stretched arm over his head and Jellal's magic catapulted Erza and I into the ocean.
