Jellal's head throbbed. He flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes inside his boots before focusing on the sounds bouncing in and out of his ears. The canal still rushed loudly and echoed off every available surface. When he opened his eyes it took him a moment to focus on the iron grate and the trail of dirt leading to his feet. He'd apparently been dragged back to the safe side of the grate after… after what?
Voices mingled to his left and Jellal turned his head toward them but the back of his head still ached. He winced and squeezed his eyes shut again. The voices were arguing. Jellal pried his eyes open and the two figures slowly came into focus - one a deep midnight and the other a shocking red.
"I thought you were with the God Slayers," the red one said. "I'd been hiding for a an hour or so when I heard voices."
"We heard you'd been moved," the other one stated quietly.
"They've moved me every day since the new guild master – or whatever he is – interrogated Chelia."
"Where is Chelia now?"
"I don't know."
"How did you escape?"
"Pure luck. I –"
Jellal groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position. His vision swam and he wondered if his skull would ever stop pounding.
"Good morning, sunshine," an irritatingly familiar voice said. Jellal blinked. Ultear. Right. Of course.
"Jellal?" another voice whispered. This one was closer. Her scarlet hair was dirty but it was still the best thing he'd ever seen. "I'm so sorry. I thought you were one of the God Slayers."
"I'm not," he croaked. She scowled worriedly.
"Are you okay? I think you hit that grate pretty hard."
"Yeah." Jellal sucked in shallow breaths. "I'm okay."
"Good," the Princess said. She moved quicker than his fuzzy head could process. Her closed fist came into contact with his chest just below his shoulder. It hurt. "You ass!" she shouted at a low volume. "You lying sack of –"
"Is this a lover's quarrel?" Ultear cut in. "Do you need a moment alone?"
"Yes," Jellal breathed as best he could.
"No," the Princess snapped. She suddenly stood and rearranged her hair. He knew her well enough to recognize a frustrated tic when he saw one. There would be no point in trying to explain himself to Erza now. Not only was she angry with him – and rightly so – but also they were still in a tunnel beneath a shine occupied by a renegade guild with an unknown leader.
"Right, then," Ultear said briskly. "We really should get moving. We can't sit here with our backs against a canal. They'll be looking for you, Your Highness."
"Which Your Highness do you mean?" the Princess asked snidely, shooting him a painful glare.
"As much fun as watching you poke at Jellal truly is, we need to make a choice."
Jellal used the concrete wall to steady himself as he stood. "We can't leave Chelia."
"I agree," Erza said with a resigned sigh. "I couldn't look myself in the mirror knowing I left a little girl with… that man."
"Erza," Jellal said, relieved to finally be upright – even if the position did come with a touch of nauseating vertigo. "Tell me about this new guild master. Who is he? What did he look like?"
The Princess fidgeted with her clothes. "I don't know his name. He… he had wild hair and marks on his face."
"Marks?" Jellal would've clenched his jaw if he weren't trying not to aggravate the pain in his skull. "What kind of marks?"
"They were almost iridescent," she whispered. Jellal didn't care for her terrified expression. "His hair was wild. There was something off about him." Erza frowned and planted her hands on her hips. "He was, I don't know, pulsing? He seemed to feed off everyone in the room but me."
"Did he know you're a mage?" Jellal asked.
"No, I don't think so. He didn't ask, anyway." The princess's face lost all irritation and hardness. "Why didn't you just tell me, Jellal?" she nearly whispered. "You could've told me who you were. I would never have betrayed you. Why could you tell my mother and not me?"
Jellal couldn't stand the broken, pleading emotions written all over her face. They cut him deeper than anything else ever had. He opened his mouth to reply but the tunnel was suddenly filled with a heavy, rushing wind. All the loose dirt on the ground swirled in the air and only Ultear didn't hide her face. Ever ready, she glared into the tunnel behind them.
"He didn't tell you," a voice boomed. "Because he is the same frightened brat he was twenty years ago."
Jellal's skin crawled. The wind cut off just as suddenly as it picked up and all the dust in the air settled.
"Hello, nephew mine," the man Erza had described as wild, said. "I would say it is good to see you but I'd be making a liar out of myself."
"You," Jellal said in not much more than a whisper. "I know you." He blinked rapidly in frustration. Realization dawned on him and Jellal became angry. "You were the one who killed Cassia. I saw you."
"It's true I killed the whore. Such a pity, too, she was lovely to look at." The man grinned and the marks on his face and arms glowed. "She always was my favorite. Imagine my heart breaking right in two when I learned of her betrayal."
Jellal felt like the wheels in his head were spinning much too slow. "Why do you call me nephew?"
"Do you not recognize me?" He laughed in a low, dangerous tone. "I suppose it has been a while and I've made some changes. Improvements, really."
Jellal's eyebrows drew together. Surely not! This man didn't look a thing like his father's brother! He was too big. Too cold, and too harsh. His eyes, though, they were the same charcoal grey as his father's had been.
"Acnologia?" Jellal thought the name didn't quite fit in his mouth like it did when he was a child. "What happened to you? How did you survive?" Even as he posed the question, Jellal knew the answer. Acnologia had survived because he'd been the one to order the killing.
"My brother was a reed of a man. He bent to the whims of the people." Acnologia grinned and stepped forward. He was followed close behind by Zancrow, Orga, and two others who held a girl Jellal guessed to be Chelia, between them. Her eyes were wide and frightened. Erza's hands balled into fists and Jellal reached over to touch the crook of her elbow with his fingertips. The last thing he wanted was her drawing a sword and ending the day with a dangerously enclosed battle they couldn't win.
"My father was a good king," Jellal countered slowly. His eyes flit to Chelia's wrists. Her captors held a pair of magic suppressing cuffs closed. The cuffs weren't clasped on their own which meant they thought her easily subdued and manipulated.
Acnologia's laugh drowned out even the canal behind them. "He was weak. The throne should've been left to me but alas. Lines of succession are tricksy things."
"You murdered your own blood!"
"We all have choices to make, nephew mine. You have made your own choices, as well." Acnologia's gaze fell on Erza. "She is a lovely specimen, even if she isn't my type."
"You –" Jellal's finger's squeezed around Erza's arm in warning. She bit back her words.
"Why didn't you finish me off when you murdered Cassia? It would've been easy. I saw you."
"You were not finished yet." Acnologia shrugged. "I have learned much over the years. It would've been such a waste to end a life so young." He gestured back to Chelia. "You are not gifted with divine magic such as this one. I could consume her magic force today and it would be just as sweet as when she turns twenty. I had to wait for you to… flower."
"I don't understand." Jellal knew he shouldn't be taking Acnologia's bait. He should be focusing on freeing Chelia and escaping the tunnel without burying them all in rubble.
"I absorb, Jellal. I eat magic. I offered my services to my dear brother, the king, and he turned me away. Brutish, yes? Such a cruel man to his own family. Stella could've taken the entire continent of Ishgar if he'd only listened. We could've been so much more than what the stars granted us." Acnologia sighed and feigned regret. "I had to take action. Orga, was more than agreeable. He only asked for one favor in return. When I rule this land the God Slayers will keep my subjects in order."
"This land?" Erza breathed. "Your subjects?" Jellal could feel her panic as the puzzle pieces slid into place.
"No one will be spared my rule," Acnologia said, his face splitting into horrible grin. "I've been feeding off my little guild's magic for years. When I give the signal, the sky will fall."
"You can't… do that," the Princess said slowly.
"I think you will find, Your Highness, that I can do whatever I want." He stepped forward and passed by Ultear. "I look forward to what your mother gives up in her last breaths. I've heard she is quite the powerful sorceress."
Erza's rage was palpable and Jellal's fingers dug into her arm harshly.
"You aren't going to have that chance," Jellal said with a clenched jaw. "I won't allow it."
"You think you have that power, nephew mine?" Acnologia moved directly in front of Jellal. "Do you think you have the power to squash me? You can certainly try. It doesn't matter the state you are in when I consume you, Jellal, just so long as I do."
Jellal could smell the opium and cloves on his uncle's cloak. The scent took him back to a stretch of wet brick and blood that appeared almost black in the moonlight. He remembered Cassia's cold fingers and pale lips. His mind took him even further back to a pair of vibrant green eyes that looked so much like his own. Jellal felt the magic gathering in his palms, his knees, and the tips of his fingers. He felt Abyss Break collecting deep inside his body. Years of pent up rage bubbled over and scalded the skin of his neck.
He stopped caring about the God Slayers and the Queen. He didn't care about Ultear or Chelia or even Erza. Every cell in his body wanted nothing more than to bring the tunnel down around them and crush everyone into a bloody pulp of flesh and bone.
A flash of light blinded him and Jellal felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. The roar in the tunnel died then nearly deafened him before another flash of light filled the empty space and silenced everything once more.
When the light faded, Acnologia's grin was still in place. Erza's arms were raised defensively but her body looked as if it had been frozen mid-requip. Her clothes were half transparent and her fingers were bent just so as if they were about to close around the hilt of something sharp and dangerous. Jellal peeked around Acnologia's shoulder and saw Chelia twisted at an angle that made it look like she'd been about to pull away from the men holding her.
"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this," Ultear said from her place against the tunnel wall beside him. Jellal startled. His eyes searched the tunnel and found a more solid version of her still standing just off to the side.
"What… what did you do?" he stammered. Ultear's smile was softer than he'd ever seen it.
"I've been busy while you were away. I learned some new things."
"Ultear –"
"We don't have time to reminisce. I need you to make a choice, Jellal."
"What choice? What is happening right now? Did you… freeze time?"
Ultear laughed but the sadness was still plain on her face. "In a way, yes. But not exactly. You and I are in a timeless pocket. It's… complicated."
"I can tell." Jellal eyed her carefully and felt something that couldn't be identified as anything other than fondness for his oldest friend.
"We need to move quickly." Ultear reached up, seemingly without effort, to brush a fleck of what looked like dust from her shoulder. "I've done my part but you still have to choose."
"Your part?" Jellal still struggled to keep up with her words. "What choice are you talking about?"
"Chelia and I can get us out of this tunnel. I can create an opening to whatever is directly above this space, and she can lift us out. But we still need you to win the day."
"Chelia is –"
Ultear's smile sharpened into one he was more familiar with. "Look again."
Jellal watched another flake of dust, this time from her forehead, float away before turning back to where Chelia was frozen with her captors. He blinked and then he saw it.
"The cuffs!"
"I've desiccated them. When time resumes, she will break free and create a wind cyclone that will bring us out of this tunnel. I've already pin pointed the best place to destroy the rock and dirt around us."
"But… how?"
"Did you not feel both folds in time?"
Jellal remembered the first flash of lights and the noise that followed. "That was you freeing Chelia?"
"Yes."
"Ultear," he began as another flake of something fell from her shoulder. "Why are you crumbling?"
"Because my magic power is waning. This is why I need you to make a choice before I am no longer able to create an exit hole."
"Tell me," Jellal demanded. "What ever it is, I'll do it."
"You say that because you don't know what's at stake." Her face softened again and Jellal realized a soft Ultear terrified him.
"What is it?" he whispered.
"You," she stated, leaning heavier against the wall. "Your magic. In order to overpower Acnologia and his God Slayers, you need to harness every magical particulate in your body as it is now, and all it will ever have."
"How do I do that?"
"I can release it for you, Jellal, but that's not the question you should be asking." A very clear crack began to snake its way down her face. Inside was nothing but blackness.
"Ultear, please, tell me. I can't stand to watch you crumble away."
"Once I release your Third Origin, there is no way for me to recover the particulates." She watched him closely and Jellal finally began to feel the weight of her words. "Your magic will be gone and I don't think it can ever be recovered."
"Do it," he said without hesitation. "I can blow them back and assist Chelia and –"
Ultear's smile broke his heart. "You still don't understand, Your Highness."
"Please don't call me that," he begged in a whisper.
"You get one shot. One spell. That's it."
"Only one?"
"Yes." Ultear's skin was nearly in shards of crumbling dust.
"I can do it." Jellal faltered. "But… there might not be anything left of the fifth hill once it's done."
"I think the Queen will forgive a crater for the sake of the continent kept from the hands of a madman." Ultear's smile fell away.
"I'm ready."
As soon as the words fell from his lips, Jellal felt as if he folded in on himself. Acnologia's teeth that were too bright to be anything other than cosmetic magic were once again directly in front of him. In an instant Jellal felt his body fill with an immense amount of magic. He remembered leaning over Cassia's body and the feeling of raw magic bleeding right from the tips of his fingers in grief. This time, he felt pulled apart at the seams.
He didn't wait for Chelia or Ultear. He didn't stop Erza from plucking her deadly blades from her own pocket universe. Jellal did nothing but close his eyes and whisper in a voice much like the one he'd taken with the Queen the very first time he'd been brought before her.
"Altaris," he whispered. For his mother.