"We have been walking for hours Jellal, tell me we are almost there." Gajeel complained as the small group continued their long trek up the mountain. Jellal ignored the Iron dragon slayer as he looked up towards the sun. It was only a few more hours until the sun would set. Sighing Jellal shook off his exhaustion and began to pick up the pace. "Hurry up men, we have to reach the castle before night fall. Who knows what trouble Salamander has already gotten into." Laxus jogged to catch up with the mysterious blue haired mage. "Jellal be honest, how far away are we? It seems we have been walking around in a big circle." Without looking back at Laxus, Jellal continued to push on as he answered. "Not far actually." Laxus scowled at Jellal's answer. "Than why are you acting so nervous all of sudden?" Rubbing the back of his neck, Jellal finally stopped to look at his new friends. "Because I am waiting for the Devain brothers to show up. I know that they aren't going to wait for us to attack them at the castle again. They are going to try and keep us as far away from the girls as possible. I am trying to avoid them as much as I can." Growling in irritation Gajeel stormed up to Jellal. "Why? Are you saying we can't take them on and win?" Jellal smirked at Gajeel. "No, I believe with us all working together we can take them down. But my first and most important concern is saving the girls. Also when we do finally face them again we need Natsu by our side. Like it or not the pyro is one of our most powerful fighters. Now quickly, enough talking we are almost there."

Zadicous looked around in triumph as the Protector finished tying up the unconscious ice mage. Zadicous looked amused as the ice mage hung suspended from the iron manacles. Oh this would be fun! Maybe at the end of it he would place his seal on the man. Well, if he didn't kill the ice wizard. It would be truly amusing to watch the fairy bastards fight their friend. "You may leave us now." Juvia nodded as she quickly walked towards the door. She paused slightly as she reached the door. For the first time in days she felt something. She felt a crushing pain in her chest. It was if her heart was telling her to turn around, grab the injured boy in the room and run away as fast as she could. Shaking her head to clear her confusion, Juvia left the room as fast as she could.

Levy watched in horror as her husband began to circle the injured Fairy Tail wizard. She had never seen such an evil look on a person before. "What do you plan to do with him?" Levy asked her husband with fear. Zadicous turned his black gaze on her. "Why? Do you fear for him?" Levy shivered as she felt ice race down her spine. "Yes, he doesn't deserve to die. He was only fighting to save us. He was only doing what he thought was right." Zadicous laughed evilly as he began to roll up his sleeve. "Don't worry dear, I don't intend to kill him. Not just yet anyway. I plan to have a little fun first."

Zadicous walked in front of Gray and put his hands to Gray's temples. A red light glowed from beneath his hands as Gray's eyes flew open. "Welcome back to world of the living. I'm so happy you could join us!" Zadicous laughed as he took a step back from Gray. "Screw you! What have you done with Juvia and the others?" Gray growled as he tugged at his restraints. Smirking Zadicous stared at Gray with amusement. "Not very pleasant are we? But I will be a gentleman and answer your question. Juvia is just fine, in fact she is the one that secured you to the restraints. She just left. And as for the others, I assume you mean the woman. As of right now they are just fine. But as for your little rescue team, their condition is a little less than pleasant." Gray scowled at the dark man in front of him. "What do you want?" Zadicous smiled as Gray continued to hover uncomfortably off the ground. "What do I want? A fascinating question really. I want to be able to live with my family in peace. I want to rule this kingdom as it ought to be ruled. I want Fairy Tail to leave me and my family alone! I want you to tell me how to defeat your friends. That's what I want!" It was now Gray's turn to laugh at the dark wizard. "You actually think I will help you? You must be dumber than you look! I will never betray my family, you would have to kill me first!" Zadicous walked over to Gray and got up in his face as he whispered. "That can easily be arranged, fairy brat!"

Levy stared at the scene in front of her with fascination and horror. The man in front of her was so brave, so devoted, and so familiar. Deep in her heart she knew she had met this man before. He had protected her, laughed with her, been a friend to her. And now she was helpless. He was about to be brutally tortured by her husband and she could do nothing for him. She was weak. Levy shifted farther from the men in front of her, hoping to escape what was about to happen. Her movement caught the attention of the familiar man. When he seen her his face lit up with relief and happiness. "Levy its you! Thank goodness you are alright!" Levy stepped forward in confusion. "You know me? So we have met before!" Gray scrunched his face with confusion and worry. "Of course I know you Levy, It's me Gray! We have known each other since we were little! Quickly go get the others and get out of here!" Before Levy could answer Gray, they were interrupted by Zadicous's mad laughter. "Levy and the others are going no where, that also includes you. Now if you don't mind lets cut the chatter, I have more important things to ask you."

Zadicous lifted his hand as his eyes began to grow red. As his eyes continued to glow, Gray's face began to contort with pain. Zadicous step up to Gray and slowly traced a finger down his back. Where his finger traced Gray's skin began to split open. Gray screamed as his skin began to slowly tear and boil as blood began to sweep from the wound. Levy pressed her hands to her ears to try and drown the sound. The sound of Gray's cries tore into her heart. The sick look of pleasure on Zadicous's face made hate swell in her heart.

Zadicous drew five more lines across Gray's back and one across his cheek before he stepped in front of Gray. "Are you ready to talk to me yet Ice Fairy?" Gray panted as sweat and blood poured from his face. "No way you bastard. You will never break me, so you might as well kill me!" Zadicous's face hardened, then faster then Levy could think possible he punched Gray in the face. "You will tell me what I need to know boy!" Zadicous screamed as he continued to beat Gray. Tears streaming down her face Levy raced up to her husband. Grabbing his arm she pulled him away as best as she could. "Please stop! You'll kill him!" Rage filling his eyes Zadicous back handed her as he screamed. "It will mean nothing to me if he dies! Leave me, get out of my sight! I need to concentrate on what I'm doing. Obviously you are not as strong as I thought. I thought you out of everyone would have known this is for the greater good." Levy slowly stood up as she faced her husband. Lifting a hand to her face she felt the blood running from her nose. "No, I will not leave you to kill my friend! You are a monster!" Zadicous stared at her with murder in her eyes. "Guards remove my wife from this room immediately!" Panicking Levy rushed to Gray and began pulling on the chains, "No! Gray I won't leave you! I can't you are my friend!" The guards came into the room and pried Levy off of Gray and pulled her from the room. "Levy, don't worry I will come for you and the others!" When the men could no longer her Levy's desperate cries Zadicous turned to Gray with malice in his eyes. "Now then where were we?"

Jellal was seriously surprised and confused. They had reached the castle without running into the Devain brothers. Either his planned worked or the brothers were dumber than they looked. Once they had reached the castle the small group had split up. Sure, they had agreed that they needed to take the Devain's out together, but they all had one thing in mind. The women. It was more than obvious that they were spread out in this castle. So it was decided it would be faster if they spread out to find them. Jellal squinted as he rushed down another dark hallway. He felt drawn in this direction. He was desperate to find Erza, she was all he could concentrate on. Jellal continued down the hallway until he finally came to a stop in front of a tall white door. From the other side of the door Jellal could hear the silent weeping of a woman inside. Jellal's heart began to beat faster as he recognized the sound of the voice. The voice belonged to Erza.

Erza just couldn't stop crying. Her heart felt as if it had been split in two. Who was the man she married? Who was the blued haired man from earlier? Erza brushed at the frustrating tears that just would not stop falling from her eye. she clutched her knees closer to her chest just as she heard the door quietly open. Erza quickly shot to her feet just as the blue haired man from earlier entered her room.

Jellal stopped as he took in the sight of Erza. Fear and happiness filled his heart as he looked at her. He was afraid she wasn't real, he was afraid she was just going to disappear right in front of him again. Tears filled his eyes as he slowly began to move towards her. As he got closer he noticed a darkening bruise on her cheek. The bastard had hit her. As rage slowly began to boil in his heart he made a promise to himself. He would destroy Maggart with his two bare hands if it was the last thing he would do.

Erza was oddly calm as the strange man moved towards her. Some how she knew he would never hurt her as Maggart had. As the man reached her Erza's heart began to pound in her chest. What was this? Was she excited to see this man? Was she attracted to him?

Jellal reached his hand out to touch Erza's face. What he really wanted to do was to wrap her in his arms and never let her go again. As his hand made contact with her face a small tear escaped his eye. "Erza I told you I would come! I kept my promise, I finally found you!" Erza put a hand on his chest as her brown eyes locked on to his. "I know you. How could I have forgotten?"

Shaking her head Erza stepped back from Jellal. Jellal looked at her in concern as he notice tears begin to stream from her eye. "I have been such a fool Jellal. I put my friends in danger and I do not have enough strength to protect them." Jellal reached for her again this time wrapping her in his arms. "You don't need to worry Erza. This is not your fault and you are not alone. We are all in this together and we will fight them together." Erza looked up at Jellal with wonder and sadness. "I have missed you so much, I'm so glad you came." At her words Jellal lost all sense of control. He could not wait any longer for this moment. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Erza at first froze in shock. Never in her life did she imagine this moment would happen. Sure she had hoped for it, but she always had put it off as a childish dream. So instead of pulling away she pulled him closer. She shifted to deepen the kiss. She wanted to feel as much of him as she could in that moment. She was afraid to let this moment go because in that moment she realized she loved Jellal deeply. She always had.

Jellal hadn't known what reaction to expect out of Erza but this was by far better than he had imagined. Instead of shoving him away she had pulled him closer. She deepened the kiss and held him tight as if she was afraid she was going to lose him. The moment seemed to last forever and yet it ended too soon. Pulling away Jellal ran a thumb over Erza's bottom lip. "I can't tell you how long I have wanted to kiss you." Laughing slightly Erza shyly looked up at him. "I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for you to kiss me." Erza leaned in and hugged Jellal close to her. "We have to leave now don't we?" Sighing Jellal ran a hair down her long blood red hair. "Yes we have to meet up with others so we can get you guys far away from here." Pulling back Erza gave Jellal a hard look. "I won't leave you here alone to fight my battles. I am staying with you to the end of this!" Jellal was about to object but instead gave an amused laugh. "I should know better by now then to try and argue with you!" Jellal lifted up Erza's chin and gave her a quick soft kiss. "Come on lets go!" Laughing Erza slipped her hand into his and they quickly exited the room to go find their missing friends.