"No..." The devastated sorcerer whimpered, holding Erza's lifeless body in his arms; her head resting on his lap. This can't be real. Surely this wouldn't kill the queen of the fairies. Consumed by nothing but pure sorrow and horror, Jellal bawled his eyes out, his forehead touching Erza's of which wept with endless streams of blood. She was dead by Kirai's hand and for that he would perish. It was as if Jellal and Erza were the only two people on the planet, everything fell silent, deathly silent. The world, as Jellal knew it, stopped spinning. Today was the day his happiness would fade away for eternity. Fueled by revenge and hatred, Jellal lashed out at Kirai, sending him soaring out of the window and down the verdant hillside to meet his untimely end. It didn't satisfy him. Jellal had lost everything. Nothing mattered anymore.
"Erza..." He wailed, shaking her a little; he refused to believe that she was dead. She couldn't be.
"I'm not going to let you die like this. I wouldn't wish this kind of fate on anyone. You probably can't hear me but... I'm going to save you," he explained as he stroked Titania's pasty cheek. She didn't look dead - it's as if she was in eternal slumber. Shifting around a little, the blue-haired mage skimmed though a small, leather book in his robe. He was right; this spell could do exactly as he planned.
Jellal closed the notebook and set it down on the tiled ground.
"You'll see the light of day again, Erza. I promise." He vowed, raising his two hands to form a peace sign above his other fist - he was readying some kind of spell. Amber sparks began to gravitate around the couple and a harsh rumbling sound could be heard throughout the entire city of Magnolia. Every soul in and around the town stopped whatever they were doing and started to panic. Jellal smiled to himself a little - he couldn't wait to see Erza's beautiful eyes open once more. The way her crimson hair swayed gracefully in the wind and how her smile brightened his day. He gawked down at his lover's flowing hair that was spread across the ground in front of him. Scarlet...he gave her that name because of her hair and so that he could always remember it. 'It was the colour of your hair' a voice echoed in his mind 'It's your words that gave me courage. It became my light that would guide me to the right path again.' His love for Erza could not be expressed with words, but it could be expressed with what he was about to do. She enlightened him to turn to the path of goodness, she always saw it within him and refused to believe what Jellal had become when he was possessed by the evil spirit named Zeref.
"I never told you why I left, did I?" Jellal sighed under his breath as a great deal of magic energy formed around them "it was to learn this spell. It took a lot longer than expected. Just remember that no matter where I go, I'll always be right here." He gently indicated her heart.
Reaching maximum power, Jellal changed the position of his hands to that they were both pointing down at Erza's corpse.
"I call upon the God Of Death! I summon 'Soul Exchange!' TAKE ME INSTEAD!" Brilliant flashes of lightning struck around them and an intense amount of magic power was absorbed by Jellal. He'd never felt so powerful in his life. Erza's pale skin started to glow as the spell took action. The whole room faded into darkness but the intense illumination emitting from both Jellal and Erza kept the area lit. As the lightning bolts became more frequent, the spell was almost complete - this pleased Jellal, hence the buoyant grin that grew on his visage.
It was over. The light faded away abruptly.
THUD.
Jellal's body lay lifeless and pale across Erza's abdomen. She awoke in a daze and rubbed her eyes vigorously. The image that greeted her was traumatising. Crying into his azure cloak, Erza beheld her lover's dead body; he had saved her, but at a terrible price.
'No matter where I go, I'll always be right here' the voice she'd heard just moments ago, Jellal's final words, rang in her ears.
"You'll always be with me, Jellal. I'll always be with you. I love you - and I'm s-so sorry I didn't get to tell you that sooner," Erza whispered in a shaky tone "not matter what happens, we'll always be together. I promise to love you for...forever and a day."