Wendy's POV
Letting out a sigh of relief, I broke the surface a moment later, and began to paddle towards the platform where Romeo, Natsu, and Lucy were calling my name in a panic, holding out their hands in order to pull me up out of the water. I couldn't help but feel a grin spread over my face as I felt Charla stir in my arms, her eyes slowly opening.
We had done it. Two challenges down, one to go.
Paddling as fast as I could through the water of the Black Lake with Juvia's assistance, I finally reached the wooden platform in the middle of the lake in order to get pulled out. Natsu, being the tallest and strongest of the three, reached me first, holding out one of his hands. When I reached up with my free hand to grab it, the dragonslayer flashed me a sharp-toothed grin and gave a heave that lifted me from the water's icy clutches like a rag doll. As soon as my feet touched the slippery, wet wood, Lucy had me wrapped in a fluffy blue towel that had obviously been held close to Natsu's chest because of how warm it was. A blanket quickly followed, getting draped around my shoulders.
Within my arms, I could feel Charla trembling from her head to her paws. This only made me hold her closer as I let out a soft sigh of relief. At least she was safe. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without Charla in my life. Fairytail is my family, my home, don't get me wrong; but Charla had been my best friend for my entire life. And... she was the only thing that made me remember that my time spent with Cait Shelter, my first guild, wasn't just some fantasy that I'd made up. It was real. Charla helped me to keep those good memories alive.
"How'd you do, Wendy? What happened? Why'd you come up last?" Natsu asked me, spreading his hands with a look of confusion on his face. I guess he must have thought that I'd come up first... That wouldn't be unlike him. Natsu expected Fairytail to come first in everything, not that I could blame him. We are a pretty strong guild, after all. Before I could respond and tell him what had happened beneath the dark water, the crowd's cheering and loud, excited chatter fell into hushed whispers. Glancing over towards the judging platform, I could see why. Dumbledore was going to speak.
"Students, Champions, and teachers! The second task has been completed! In first place, Cedric Diggory!" The gathered Hogwarts students erupted into deafening cheering and applause for their champion. I admit that I joined them for a few moments since Cedric and I had become friends. "In second place, Viktor Krum!" When Dumbledore announced the Durmstrang champion's name, the Bulgarian school went insane. They all sounded like a bunch of barbarians before battle as they began chanting "KRUM! KRUM! KRUM!" Over and over again until they were silenced by the headmaster's continuation of his announcement.
"In third place, Harry Potter!" This time, only the Griffyndor's of Hogwarts were cheering and clapping. That was really too bad... but at least his own house had accepted him as a champion, right? A few of the fairytail wizards who had made friends with Harry over the last little while applauded as well. "In fourth place, Wendy Marvell!" Fairytail had scarcely begun to clap when Natsu started to protest loudly.
"What? No way! Come on, she had to have done better than that!" He yelled loudly, causing me to laugh softly. I was flattered that Natsu-san had so much faith in me, but honestly we were cheating, and Dumbledore knew it. He'd practically hired us to cheat, after all. Even from our platform, I could see the amused twinkle in his eye as he watched Natsu-san throw his mini tantrum and get dragged away by the back of his vest by Erza-san. When the gathered students were quiet, he made his final announcement.
"In fifth place, Fleur Delacour!" There may as well have been a cricket chorus for the Beauxbatons wizard. Even that would have been better than the pathetic pity clapping that the petite woman received. "However;" Dumbledore continued, "Due to his display of bravery, and compassion to save not only his treasure, but the others as well, we have decided to award mister Potter... Second place!" At this, the Gryffindors began to cheer and clap louder than ever as the Durmstrang students broke into an uproar of protest. From where I was sitting, I could see Hermione and Ron speaking with Harry excitedly about the revised standings. I noticed that my position had not been changed, but that was alright. I couldn't help but feel by face break into a smile as I began to laugh softly. Two thirds of the way there. And I was doing just fine.
Jellal's POV
That night, The Gryffindor common room was far too loud and full of activity for my tastes. It had always been that way, really... crowds, people, they all made me want to simply hide myself away from the world. I couldn't help but feel as though I were going to be discovered at any moment. What hadn't helped was what that... that woman had written about me in the Daily Prophet around the time of the first task. Even though Dumbledore had somewhat cleared things up, I knew that the students of Hogwarts still believed me to be a murderer... and the worst part is that they weren't wrong. So now I was here. I didn't know what room it was, exactly, but I was grateful for its presence. On the eighth floor between two tapestries of trolls, I had needed a place to let off steam, and the door had simply... appeared.
Sweat was dripping from what felt like every pore in my body as my taped knuckles dug into the sandbag over and over again, almost as though I were battling my problems with each and every slug that the training bag took. All around me lay fallen bags and piles of ash that had been left behind as I trained... and trained... and trained... What else was there to do? While I was not with Ultear and Meredy, going around the continent and disbanding dark guilds to redeem myself for my sins, the least that I could do was keep in my top possible physical shape in order to keep my mind and body sharp.
"Heavenly body magic: Meteor!" I growled under my breath, feeling my limbs lighten and speed up. The drain on my magic energy was substantial enough, especially after what I'd already consumed while beating up the other bags. My fists began to blur in front of my eyes as I struck the bag too fast for the human eye to follow until finally, I leapt up and spun in the air, delivering a kick that blew the sandbag clean off of its chain, and back into the far wall. I could feel my chest rising and falling irregularly with exhaustion as I finally let my arms fall to my sides, and took a set against the wall to sip from a bottle of chilled water that I didn't remember as being there a moment before. From somewhere off to my right, a voice spoke up from where they had previously been silent.
"You know, you don't need to run off and destroy shit whenever you feel uncomfortable." The voice was gruff, definitely masculine, and familiar. Glancing up from my drink, Gajeel was staring back at me with his usual flat, expressionless stare. I didn't know how he'd gotten into the room since the door had seemed to have disappeared after I'd gone in, but perhaps it had simply been a coincidence. Without asking permission, the iron dragonslayer took a seat next to me along the wall, looking at the carnage of the training equipment that had been strewn across the floor during my venting session. I continued to wait patiently for him to say something, but it was another five minutes before I finally had to break the silence.
"I would have thought that you'd be off somewhere with Levy." I commented, setting my now empty water bottle on the floor. After all, they always seemed to be together. Gajeel was usually seen hanging over her like a shadow. I knew immediately after I spoke that I had said something wrong. Gajeel's face tensed and became even harder than usual.
"She's not talking to me since I still haven't apologized for tryin' to hit that blonde weasel, Malfoy." He muttered, arm turning into an iron sword that he used to begin scratching at the stone on the ground. "I heard the noise in here and thought that some kind might have been getting into trouble with bullies or somethin'." When finished tracing out a music score, Gajeel's arm returned to normal, and he heaved a long sigh. I simply raised an eyebrow when he continued. "I thought you could use a guy who gets it."
"Gets... what?" I asked skeptically, not really sure what Gajeel was 'getting'. What I felt was the weight of my sins, and my sins alone. What was there to 'get'?
"How you're feeling. Don't expect me to have a chick moment, because that's not what this is. I'm not gonna say that I'm here for you if you need anything, we're not gonna talk it out over coffee and cupcakes or whatever it is that girls do, but what I want to say is that I tried all this shit. It doesn't work." Gajeel said flatly, gesturing to the sandbags on the floor. "You can't bury all that pain by going off alone and beating stuff up. You have to overcome it. Lemme guess, there's a big party for the Potter kid in the dorms, and you got uncomfortable so you left." He said simply. My eyes narrowed as I attempted to see what he was getting at.
"And what's your point?" I demanded, beginning to get tired of this 'beating around the bush' as I brushed away some of the dark blue hair that was sticking to my forehead. Gajeel rolled his eyes before continuing.
"When I first joined Fairytail, I couldn't stick around for anything with a lot of people either. I was ashamed of what Phantom Lord had done to their guild. What I had done to their guild. I nearly killed the blonde princess, after all. I knew that I wasn't wanted in Fairytail, so I would leave. I'd go off alone to a junkyard or whatever, and beat up the scrap metal until there was nothing left but shreds of metal. Then I'd eat the iron and feel a little bit better about myself until the second that I stepped foot into the Guildhall again." He said, staring down at something in his hands that had clearly been crafted by someone with a delicate touch. Levy perhaps? Shaking my head, a scowl crossed my face.
"You think you understand me, but you don't. I hurt people in ways that you can't even imagine. I've killed so many people..." I said softly.
"I tortured innocent people for sport." Gajeel said simply, his eyes lifting to mine with a flat expression. His words are delivered in a cold and cool fashion. He was simply stating facts, not putting any emotion behind it.
"I nearly killed Erza, and scarred her for life." I protested, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists as the memory resurfaced. As a child, I had betrayed her. As a woman, I had broken her time and time again.
"I crucified Levy to a tree. And I laughed." He said, not breaking eye contact with me. The slit pupils of his red eyes seemed to bore unyieldingly into mine.
"I tried to resurrect Zeref!"
"He was never dead. Doesn't count. Enough with the self-pity, and the sins, and the lone wolf crap." The iron mage grunted, rolling his eyes and standing up to turn his back as he dusted himself off. "Look, I didn't come in to bitch and moan about what I've done, and I'm not here to listen to you bitch and moan about what you've done. I came in here to tell you to suck it up, learn how to overcome your personal issues, and move on. Or she'll move on without you." With that, Gajeel said nothing more, leaving me to watch his spiky mane of black hair as he walked out the door and closed it behind him with a dull thud that shook me to my very core.
'Move on. Or she'll move on without you.'
Erza.
Okay, so I know that I said that the next chapter would be Yule Ball, but I sat down to type it about five times, aaaaaaand... nothing! Each time, the chapter was absolute crap that made me want to hit something. I promise that the next chapter will be more plot-based stuff, rather than these little heart to heart chats, but I thought that Gajeel and Jellal deserved a moment alone because lately I've been thinking a lot about just how similar they actually are. So... I have a question for you lot. Do you think that Harry should confront the Fairytail wizards about using wandless magic before or during the final challenge? I put the question to you guys because I've really been debating this! Thank you all so much for sticking with me all this time! I love you all so much! Hopefully the chapters will come easier from here on in. Maybe next chapter I'll even add some class time or something. Anyway, Ciao my little mages!
