Phenomenon
只是為何當初你是不聽所有紛紛擾擾流言之中漫天風雨你會選擇了我？
Why is it that initially, you refused to listen to the chaotic rumours and still ended up choosing me amidst all of the wind and rain?
Jellal loosened his collar. This was another massive problem which needed to be solved fast but this was nothing like anything he had encountered before. While black magic was commonly used by dark mages in Earthland, it was almost unheard of in Edolas, where magic was almost entirely stored in objects and in lacrima.
He slumped back into his chair impatiently, arms crossed across his chair. He had given Lahar two days to conduct his research and his Head of Research was now calling an emergency meeting to address the situation but they were still waiting on the man himself.
The room was silent. The captains (Jellal had decided against asking for the council members but had opted to keep his thought projection of Mystogan around) were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. They seemed to sense their King's somber mood and none of them were willing to break the silence.
Jellal could feel Erza sneaking glances at him, curious as to his darkening mood, but he was too anxious about what was unraveling before him to dwell on it. In fact, he was so preoccupied with what was happening right now that he had completely forgotten about their earlier fight, that was until now.
"Where the hell is he?"
He stood up angrily, pacing over to the windows. Lahar needed to explain to him all of the research on the necromancer and then he needed to relay the news to Laxus. Throwing his hands into the air, he asked exasperatedly. "Does anyone know where he is?"
Blank stares greeted him and Jellal let out a sigh as he turned back to look out the window.
It was strange. Frost was already forming on the windows, the crystallised ice flowers refracting the soft moonlight. He pressed warms fingers against the cool glass and a foggy vapour formed around each digit. He retracted his hand, flexing it to warm it up. Maybe winter was coming much earlier than expected this year.
His eyes drifted downwards towards the platinum set of chess pieces on the pedestal next to the windows. The king's piece weighed heavily in his hand. It was made of solid platinum, most likely an expensive gift from one of his father's allies. Placing the piece back onto the board, he selected the rook. He twisted it between his hands, eyes tracing the light reflecting off of its silver surface.
He used to think that his best friend was his bishop, but now he was beginning to see him as more of a rook. It was not only the symbol of power but also that of a strong and solid supporting foundation. Laxus was one of his most reliable captains, with brute force and intelligence at his disposal. He was his most trusted advisor, giving advice from things related to the running of Edolas to matters regarding his relationship with Erza. And most importantly, he was his best friend. He was there to help him through the rough times and to help him pick up the pieces after he had screwed up. He was there to cover for his mistakes and to guide him along the right path. Yet he was not here when he needed him the most, because he had made the wrong choice to send him away.
His fingers curled around the third chess piece just as Lahar strode through the doors. "I apologise for my tardiness, Your Majesty. I just happened to uncover more information about the enemy."
Jellal sat down at the head of the table. "Tell me."
Lahar coughed lightly. "For those of you who don't know, we are dealing with a necromancer now." Lahar ignored the looks the captains shot one another. "There wasn't much information on the necromancer but I managed to find some ancient Acnologia scrolls on him."
He spread the scrolls on the table. "The necromancer resides beyond the Gate of Tartarus in the Underworld. He uses black magic to summon dark creatures to do his bidding. I think that the clawed beasts that have been attacking the towns and villages are his summonings."
"How is he able to use magic?" Hughes asked, eyebrows furrowed as his brain tried to process the information.
Lahar pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "I can't say for certain how he is able to do it but I believe that his source of magic comes from the Underworld. Magic works differently in that realm."
He paused for a moment, looking at Jellal to see if he had any questions but the blue haired man continued to stare at the table, fingers rubbing it absently. Shrugging, Lahar continued. "The necromancer's summonings differ in appearance but they all consume souls. Their claws do not penetrate into the chest but the beasts somehow consume the souls of its victims by placing their claws above the heart. And if all of that wasn't bad enough, the scrolls say that once the necromancer manages to collect 300 souls, he can break through the Gates of Tartarus and enter our world."
"Then how do we defeat him?"
The question was simple but everyone turned to look at Jellal, surprised that he had finally spoken up. He in turn, continued to gaze aimlessly at the table, hands twisting the chess piece still hidden in his hand.
"Until he actually steps through the portal to Edolas, there is nothing we can do. We are in separate realms."
Jellal's tone was harsh. "So are you saying that his summonings will continue to consume souls until they gather enough for him to break through the Gate?"
The room fell silent once more.
Erza ran a hand through her hair. The only way to stop the summonings was to kill the necromancer, and to kill the necromancer, they would have to enter the Underworld before he could manage to gather 300 souls.
"Can we enter the Underworld through the Anima?" She proposed.
Lahar shook his head. "The Anima can only work between the living worlds such as Earthland and Edolas. We cannot enter the world of the dead through it."
Erza was stumped. The Anima may not work but she was sure she knew of someone who could open such portals. She just couldn't put her finger on it right now.
Damn it, who was that person?
Jellal let out a hiss of frustration and stood up, making his way over to the windows once more. The silver knight chess piece lay forgotten on the mahogany table.
"What if we asked…"
Everyone's attention was drawn towards the doors as they burst open and a battered soldier charged into the room, interrupting Jellal.
The blood was crusted all over his face and his hair was matted with dried blood and grime. Breathing heavily, he managed to gasp out. "Your Majesty…we have a black flag…"
Black flag.
His eyes widened.
"Wait, black flag?" Erza looked to Jellal for an explanation. "We only have red, green and yellow. There is no such thing as a black flag."
Jellal stumbled backwards, his back hitting the wall with a loud thump. He didn't even need to ask who had given the soldier the message. There was only one person in the world who knew what a black flag was.
"Yeah," Laxus spread his arms out, gesturing towards the map spread out on the table. "So this is our army's military map."
Jellal plucked out a small green flag. "What do the colours for these flags stand for?"
"That one," Laxus took the green flag from Jellal and stuck it back into its original position, "means that the troops are there on patrol duties. The yellow ones mean that the troops are stationed there because there is a potential threat and the red ones mean that the troops are currently engaged in battle."
"So what about where the troops are losing, like where they have to retreat?"
Laxus scratched his head. "That's covered by the red flags."
"And what about where we've lost?"
Laxus laughed heartily. "We have never lost under Faust." He wagged a finger at his friend. "Never."
Grinning at the skeptical look on Jellal's face, the captain grabbed a spare flag from the table. "Look, if it makes you feel better," he scribbled over the flag with a black marker, "we'll have a black flag for situations where we've lost completely. Whole squad wiped out. The rest we'll just leave under the red flag." He punched Jellal on the arm. "There's no one in Edolas who can beat us, I mean only you and Erza can give me a run for my money and we're on the same side. What could possibly go wrong?"
There's no one in Edolas who could beat them. What could possibly go wrong?
Apparently a lot, since their enemy was not from Edolas.
Erza crouched down to his level, hovering in front of where Jellal had slid down the wall. Normally she would have taken a much harsher approach with her husband but right now, she knew that his state of mind was too fragile to handle such treatment.
"Your Majesty," she started firmly but gently. "What is a black flag?"
Jellal buried his head in his hands. "A black flag is where the entire team has been wiped out," he said, his voice muffled. Sweeping his hair back, he looked up with red eyes. "That is, except for him."
"Which division are you from?" Erza turned to the soldier. "What happened out there?"
The soldier saluted stiffly, wincing slightly. "Division 5, Captain Knightwalker. A beast came out of nowhere and attacked our team. All the soldiers are dead but the Captain asked me to return with the message about the black flag."
"Is Laxus dead?"
"He was wrestling with the beast when I left..."
Jellal cut in before the man could finish his sentence. "He's dead. Laxus and I created that code only for the worst scenario possible. It's only luck that he managed to get someone to relay the message to us instead of having us find out by ourselves."
Erza looked at Jellal. She was stunned to hear the news. To actually manage to kill Laxus, the beast would have to be insanely powerful. She said a silent prayer for her fallen comrade and stood up. She had no time to grieve. They needed to kill the necromancer as quickly as possible while defending the kingdom from the summonings. They needed to get to the Underworld.
A knock sounded. Without waiting for an answer, Coco entered the room. "I apologise for the interruption, Your Majesty, but 2 beasts have been sighted attacking the town of Adnan."
Erza watched as a steely resolve entered Jellal's eyes. Standing up, he assessed the situation quickly. She smirked. Good, it looked like the old Jellal was back.
"I want Mystogan to go to Adnan."
Ok, maybe not.
"That's not a good idea, sir." She said testily, trying not to lose her temper. "Division 1 is still securing Bakarat."
She leaned in closer to Jellal, lowering her voice so that only he could hear what she was about to say. "I know this is a very hard time for you but don't, don't make any rash sentimental decisions. You're the King, you can't just go charging into a battle anytime you like. This isn't a game."
Pleading eyes turned on her. "Erza, you don't understand. They killed him. I have to go. I need to kill those bastards with my own two hands," he whispered desperately, his determined expression breaking. At that moment, Jellal looked like a lost boy and she felt her heart break a little.
"You need to stay here and think of a way to enter the Underworld while we deal with his summonings. We need to kill the necromancer before his summonings do any more damage and collect more souls." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I'll go and kill those dogs for you."
Outwardly, Erza's expression remained neutral but he knew better. He could see the hurt in her eyes. He could see the anger manifest itself in her rigid stance. He knew that she would keep her word.
He looked at her with something akin to wonder and her eyes softened. It almost reminded her of the man he had fallen in love with all these years ago. Loving, caring, longing. She placed a hand on his arm gently.
Her heart sank as his eyes suddenly hardened.
"Sugarboy, you'll go," he barked out an order suddenly.
"I…" Sugarboy looked at Erza helplessly.
She could only stare at him. "Why?"
She didn't understand. Why wouldn't he ever let her carry out her duty? Her division was the one in charge of foreign affairs and he was blocking her at every turn. Was this punishment for their earlier argument?
Jellal snapped his fingers at the rest of his audience. "Leave us."
Everyone trooped out of the meeting room dutifully and once they were all out of earshot, she asked him once more. "Why?"
"Because it's dangerous. I don't want you to go."
"Bullshit," she spat out. He did not look at her and she could feel herself starting to grow angry. "Jellal, you know that I am a soldier first and foremost. It is my duty to fight Edolas' enemies and to protect our kingdom. Danger is a part of my job and I've accepted it the moment I decided to become a soldier. Don't act like you don't know it. So, I will ask you one last time. Why are you doing this?"
He looked up from where he was sitting. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed and he finally spoke in a husky voice, "I've lost Laxus today," he choked on his words, "I can't afford to lose you too."
She was a bit touched by his concern for her but her annoyance with his logic overshadowed the positive feeling. "Don't let your fear blind you, Jellal. I'm going."
His hand shot out and grabbed at her arm. "No, I can't allow it." He took a deep breath and continued, "I'm not giving you an option, Erza. This is an order."
His weakness was starting to annoy her. He was making all of the wrong decisions and Edolas was going to pay for it. "An order I cannot go through with. I will fight, Jellal, whether you like it or not."
"Are you challenging my authority, Captain?" A harsher quality entered his tone and Erza noted with satisfaction the fire rekindling in his dark eyes. "That's bordering on treason."
"I swore my loyalty to you under the conditions that I deem your decisions beneficial for Edolas and right now, what you're doing is not." She turned around to leave.
The air in the room suddenly grew colder and a suffocating feeling descended upon them. She could feel the dark aura radiating from him. "Don't force my hand, Knightwalker."
Erza almost grinned. He only ever called her by her last name or by her rank when he was getting angry. She sighed and made her way over to his side. He was furious with her disobedience, that much she knew. Jellal would shout when he was frustrated or mad but the quieter he grew, the angrier he was. And right now, he was very, very quiet.
"Jellal," she murmured his name. He would not look at her. "You have to trust me."
He wanted to tell her it was impossible, that that trust had been lost a long time ago but he couldn't bring himself to say the damning words. Truth be told, he didn't know what to do half the time anymore. He couldn't think clearly and he felt like he was going crazy.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
The man looked up in surprise but by that time, her hand had already connected with the base of his neck and he pitched forwards limply into her arms, unconsciousness swallowing him.
Erza laid his head to rest on the table. He looked so peaceful, without a care in the world, and she smiled sadly. "I'll be back soon, and when I get back, we're going to make things work." Her fingers brushed against his cheek lightly. "I promise."
He blinked blearily. There was a sharp stinging pain at the back of his neck. What had happened?
His eyes shot open as the day's events caught up with him.
Erza…
Shit. She was gone.
Jellal bolted for the doors.
He ran to his chambers, grabbing at his staves. He put on his armour and mask hastily, calling out for Coco. She rounded the corner. "How can I help you, Captain?"
"I need a Legion. Now." He bit out tersely as he made his way towards the courtyard.
"Yes sir."
"Did Sugarboy go with Division 2?"
"Yes sir."
That would leave Division 3 and the rest of Division 5 in Edolas. He glanced at the girl. "Coco, get me a horse and then relay a message from the King to the troops for me. Division 3 will be responsible for the Palace's security. Division 5's lieutenant will resume command temporarily and they will be in charge of the Royal City's safety."
Coco saluted and dashed off.
Fuck.
He knew he was being irrational and emotional but he couldn't help it. He knew he was doing the wrong thing but he couldn't stop himself. He needed to go.
Mystogan stepped out of the palace. The cold air hit him and he shuddered. It was getting very cold.
Damn it Erza, you'd better not die on me.
Erza landed on the tree branch nimbly, the leaves rustling faintly. The mist swirled around her almost menacingly and she exhaled, watching as a puff of white smoke drifted past her. She shook off the cold feeling. This was her mission, one that she was well suited to. She cracked her neck. It had been far too long since she had been on something like this.
Her troops had managed to corner one of the beasts. It resembled a black panther, but with red eyes and charcoal black smoky flames surrounding its body. She could see the razor sharp claws on its paws. Its tail curled and twitched, the sharp spike on the end flicking around.
She watched as her soldiers attacked it with their spears and swords but they passed through its body. It seemed like physical attacks wouldn't work against it, although their weapons could block its claws and tail.
Leaping down into the fray, her soldiers formed a circle around her and the beast. It crouched down low, a rumbling growl sounding in its chest. She twirled her lance expertly. "Physical attacks can't hurt it," she said to her soldiers. "Its body is probably made up of smoke or fire or something intangible." She raised her spear to block a swipe at her. "But it's claws and tail spike can be blocked."
She sidestepped another attack and lashed out to her right, the Ten Commandments connecting with the beast. The explosion rocked the area, the fire engulfing the beast, and she leapt back, waiting for the smoke to clear. Had she killed it?
A piercing cry echoed through the area and the beast reared back, snarling and raving. Erza sprang forward but it spun around, its tail catching her across the waist and throwing her against a wall. She hissed in pain, a hand going to her belly. The spike on its tail had caught her, leaving a long gash across. The blood was oozing out of the deep wound quickly, slowly staining her waistcloth a blood red.
The beast roared once more and charged at her. Her spear changed form quickly and she blasted it across the area with a vacuum blast. Fingers fumbling with the white cloth, she tore it off hastily and tied it around the wound. She was losing a lot of blood but this would have to do for now.
Her enemy thrashed around on the ground as it struggled to get up. She advanced towards it, eyes following the animal warily. It shifted around on its feet but stumbled and fell as its knees gave way. It seemed like her magic had wounded it quite badly.
Erza leapt forwards, her Explosion Spear raised above her head as she prepared to deal the final blow when the beast suddenly sprang up, red eyes gleaming and whipped its tail from behind it.
That damn thing had been faking all along.
The spike ripped through her shoulder and the momentum spun her around. She screamed at the pain, vision blurring as tears sprang to her eyes. Gasping, she brought up her spear to block the claws aimed at her chest. The beast was very strong and she was losing too much blood to hold out for long.
A blue blast of magical energy smashed into the beast, launching it through the air before skidding across the ground. Erza closed her eyes in exasperation. That idiot. Always trying to play the hero.
She grabbed his outstretched hand and Mystogan pulled her up. Ripping a strip from his cape, he tied it around her shoulder. She didn't miss the way his fingers lingered tenderly on her skin for a bit longer.
"You idiot," Erza breathed out. "You stupid, irresponsible imbecile."
"Love you too sweetheart," he muttered sarcastically. "By the way, I've finally figured out how to get to the Underworld…"
The breath was knocked out of him as the beast barreled into him, sending the both of them crashing through the wall of an abandoned house. It landed on top of him, the claws on one paw piercing through his arm greave and the other paw pressing down against his stave. Mystogan tried to knee it in the gut but his knee passed through its body.
"What the hell?"
With a large heave, he started pushing back against the beast, his back half-raised off the ground. Suddenly, something slammed into his chest and the force propelled him backwards and his head cracked against the ground. His hold on the stave loosened and he tried desperately to focus but his vision was swimming.
Damn, he had forgotten about the tail.
He gasped as a burning cold sensation gripped his chest and something seemed to be pulled from it.
The summoning was sucking his soul.
A fireball hit the beast's head, sending it flying in the opposite direction. Erza clambered through the hole in the wall. "Are you ok?"
"I...don't know…" he said breathlessly. "It got me for a few seconds." He shook his head. "I think I'm alright."
"Idiot," she muttered once more and pounced on the fallen creature. A large black orb formed at the tip of her Gravity Spear and she stabbed it into the beast's chest. It roared in agony as the gravity core expanded around it, slowly consuming it, leaving nothing behind.
Mystogan grinned at her from behind his mask. It felt good fighting alongside her once more. It was just like old times. He looked at her with half-lidded eyes as the realisation sank in. He still loved her.
"Erza," he said, brushing the dust and debris off of himself. "I…we need to talk about everything when we get back."
Erza turned towards him, ready to berate him for his stupidity and recklessness when his eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Jellal!"
Her eyes widened at the sight of the hole in his chest plate. No, it couldn't be. It had only touched his chest for a second, there was nowhere near enough time for it to suck out his soul. "Jellal, come on, wake up!"
She slapped his face roughly and he opened his eyes briefly. A faint chuckle passed his lips. "Sorry…guess I really screwed up this time…"
Erza was at a loss. He wasn't dead yet, there hadn't been long enough contact for the beast to take his soul, but he was dying and a little part of her was dying with him. So she did the only thing she could. She cut off her emotions and allowed her professional side to take over.
She bit her lip as a painful pang shot through her chest. "Jellal," she could see the spark fading in his eyes and her breath caught in her throat, "Jellal, I need you to tell me, how do I get to the Underworld?"
He was fading in and out of consciousness but she could tell he was fighting it desperately. He pulled her closer to him and he whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened at his answer.
Quickly, Erza threw him over his shoulder and scrambled out of the house. Whistling for her Legion, she gestured for her lieutenant to come over. "Resume command here. I think Sugarboy should have killed the last of the beasts by now. Wrap things up here."
Her lieutenant saluted. "Yes Captain!"
Taking a few running steps, she hopped onto the passing Legion's back, the wind whipping around her. She set him down on the Legion's back. He clutched at her, mouthing soundless apologies over and over again but she forced herself to look away. She couldn't fall apart now. He needed her.
A small pink ball of magic formed in her hand. Closing her eyes, she recorded her message in it and tossed it into the air. The ball arched through the air before dissipating, and she knew the message was sent and received.
Bring me Lady Minerva and Lady Ultear.
Author's note:
Because pain brings people together the way romangst brings us together :P
I actually finished this chapter / entire story's plan before I read FT 356, so no, I'm not copying Mashima's stuff and no, it's not going to correspond with what's happening in the manga. (Definitely not the first time my (earlier) plans have matched Mashima's plots. Was gonna do the whole turn back time and make everyone young again in AIF but I never got round to updating and now my plot has been blown apart. Can't complain too much though, I neglected that fic since 2011, kinda is my fault). Although it would have been cool for the beasts to be those 9 demons and the necromancer to be END but that's not going to happen because I'm lazy and I can't be bothered to rethink everything again. Plus I can't use the Book of Zeref (thus the Scrolls of Acnologia) since Zeref appeared in Retribution already. And I get free reign of Edolas characters so let me destroy everything for you. It's good for the feels.
I can't believe I actually went and looked up "Chess Pieces" and "Value of Chess Pieces" for this chapter.
So apparently killing off the character (Laxus) which you based on yourself is an interesting feeling. But yeah, I can't say anymore because that would spoil too much of the story.
And I promise there won't be any more arguing from Mystwalker for quite a long time. Promise. And even though I break promises the way cookies crumble, I intend to keep this one (only because I've planned out the chapters hurr).
On another note (and this is a pretty long note), I know the whole use-magic-in-Edolas thing is not ideal. It's because I got confused by it in Retribution and now it's carrying on into this fic for the sake of consistency. Sorry, we're stuck with this. Try to overlook it and go with the flow the way I overlook all of Mashima's nakama punches, plot armours and X-ball explanations. Or you could go with another theory. Since Mystogan can perform magic through the use of hand signs in Earthland, I guess he does have a little magic stored in his body so we could go with that, or maybe limit it to those who use Castor magic. But this whole magic thing isn't going to matter too much here since we're going to enter the Underworld soon anyway, so yeah. Can't wait to get there, that's where the real fun starts.
The original plan was to have Jellal use a sleeping spell on Erza and for her to charge off after waking up, with him chasing her. And before anyone starts jumping up and down claiming they know who the necromancer is, I just want to point out that I haven't made up my mind as to who it will be yet. I'm debating between 2 characters but I'm leaning towards one in particular since the other one is the main villain in my Greek mythology Mystwalker fic Legends. So yeah, we'll see how it all goes.
And the original plan was to have chapter 3 stop where Mystogan chases after Erza but I thought that then chapters 3 and 4 would be two really short chapters and so I decided to combine them.
My author's notes are pretty much my thought process, all over the place I tell you. But hey, see, good does come from reading my crap in the AN, even if it's as long as my chapters. Woops. And if you like to torture yourself by reading some extra tidbits which will never get published here or if you just like sneak peeks, my tumblr is the place to go.
Having neglected my work for the entire fall break, tomorrow's gonna be utter hell when I start catching up.
I got quite a few reviews last time so here's an early chapter. Do I get presents this time round?