To make up for me not posting for so long, you get a super long chapter!


"Don't go messing around with Mad Dog Wally!" Wally shouted.

"All that manual labor has made us stronger!" Simon roared.

"You brats!" a guard shouted before Erza hit him with her newfound sword. Even Shô and Millianna had weapons.


"This kid's no fun," the fat guard complained as they tortured Jellal. "He hasn't made a peep this whole time.

"Drop the tough guy act," the thin guard ordered. "Or we'll go to more extreme measures like we did with your little girlfriend."

"You just don't get it," the far guard sighed. "You and your buddies don't realize how lucky you are to be building the R-System, do you?"

"It's a special honor, and once the Tower is completed, everyone who worked on it goes to heaven."

"We've got to use the R-System to resurrect our god!"

"Shut up, you fat pig," Jellal snarled.

"What did you just call me?!"

"Forget him. We're wasting our time here. We have to deal with the riot."

"Rest up, kid, cause we're gonna keep sapping ya until you start begging our god for mercy."

"God?" Jellal asked incredulously. "I don't believe there is such a thing. If there was, we wouldn't have to suffer like this. I hate it…"

"Is that so?" a disembodied voice said lazily. Red mist began floating in the room.

"I hate it," he spat. "Them and their god… everything about this lousy world!"

"Embrace your feelings of malice and share them with me…" Jellal's head lifted. "I thrive on dark emotions. They make me stronger." Realizing for the first time that there was no one in the room, he shouted, "Who's there?!"

"What amusing creatures," it said. "I'm right here within their Tower, so very close to them. Yet they've gone through all this trouble to revive me? Just to make me flesh and bone."

"Show yourself!" Jellal shouted. Black blobs congealed in front of him.

"They may have all the faith in the world. But your hatred allows you to sense my presence. Jellal. You are a fortunate child. For you have met the god they so revere." Jellal's eyes turned huge as it laughed. "My name is Zeref. And hatred is my very existence."


"We have to free everyone in Sector 8 today!" Erza shouted as Millianna bandaged Shô's wounded arm. "Come on, we can do it!"

"No, we can't," Simon panted. "We could never take down all those guards."

"We have to! That's the only way we'll be able to save Jellal…"

"I guess she's into him," Wally said, nudging Simon. "Sorry, old buddy." Simon blushed.

"E-Erza," he stammered. "You don't have a crush on Jellal, do you?"

"W-What?! Why would you ask me something like that?!" She blushed. "We… need to focus."

"Sorry… But I just wanted to make sure, because -" A golden light nearly blinded them. An explosion knocked them down.

"Where'd that come from?!" Wally demanded.

"Look!" Millianna screamed, pointing to the air. Magic soldiers floated towards them.

"Simon!" Wally shouted.

"He's hurt!" Millianna whimpered. The former slaves began to flee as they were attacked. Erza could only look on in shock.

"No!" she shouted. "You can't give up like this! We have to fight to the end!" A fleeing slave knocked her over. A nearby explosion stunned her. When her vision was restored, she saw the magic soldiers charging up an attack to throw at her. There was no time to run. She closed her eyes and prepared for the end. There was an explosion, but she felt nothing. Erza's eyes flew open. Grandpa Rob was there in front of her.

"My magic may not be as strong as it once was," Grandpa Rob growled. "But it's still enough to protect my friends! I will not let you take the life of one so young!" The flames of his magic tore through stone and rubble. The magic soldiers were obliterated. Erza crawled to his side as he fell to his knees. "I may be a decrepit old man," he panted. "But deep down I've still got some fight left in me. As a wizard, my magic has always been intertwined with the very essence of my life. But I didn't realize how much so until I lost it, and soon found myself in this sorry state. Don't end up like me, Erza. You have so much potential. Don't let it go to waste!"

"Grandpa…" He stood and protected her from the attacks that the guards were throwing at them.

"Your beautiful smile is the only thing that's kept me going while I've been stuck in this wretched place," Rob smiled.

"You're hurt, aren't you?"

"Remember this… your freedom lies within your heart, child."


"There's no freedom in this world," Zeref said.


"Follow your heart," Rob smiled. "And your dream of becoming a wizard will come true!"


"I will make your dream come true."


"Grandpa!" Erza screamed as he turned to dust. "NO!"


"True freedom lies with me."


"Erza!" Wally shouted. "We've got to retreat for now. Hurry up!" Her eyes were locked on Rob's empty cuffs. Tears were streaming down her horrified face. Power like she had never felt before rushed through her. A giant magic circle appeared underneath her as she screamed out her grief. Weapons from fallen hands lifted in the air. She directed them at the guards and shot them forward. All were destroyed.

The slaves looked on in wonder. You knew all along, Grandpa. You knew I had this power. Now that I've found it, I can use it to save Jellal! Flying will have to wait until later, Grandpa. This is our chance.

"We have to fight for our freedom!" she screamed. "Follow me!"

Erza trapped the fat and thin guards in the room where they had so brutally tortured her. She shoved them out of the way and ran for Jellal. She held him, whispering comforting words to him. She told him how they had finally won their freedom.

"Wally found some boats, so we need to go."

"Erza. There's no reason for us to run anymore." His strange words confused her. "Because true freedom is right here."

"But I thought you wanted to get out of here too! This is our chance at freedom!"

"Don't you see? There's no freedom in this world." Erza watched in horror as red smoke began to float off him. "Those fools who made the Tower may not hold you prisoner anymore, but you haven't experienced true freedom. Because that can only be found…" His voice changed and became layered.

"In Zeref's world." His voice went back to normal.

"Now I understand why they made us work so hard on this tower," he said. "They believe that they can use it to resurrect Zeref. You claim to be such devout followers, but you couldn't even sense your god's presence here." His eyes narrowed at the two leaders. "Could you? This tower is now mine. I will finish its construction and bring Zeref back to life!" He threw the guards around.

"Stop it! You're hurting him, Jellal!"

"So what? Why do you care? I thought you hated them."

"You're right, I do, but you're being cruel!"

"If you want to sense Zeref's presence, you have to focus on your hatred." He extended a hand toward the fat guard, who was trying to crawl away. Jellal laughed after he killed him.

"You killed him!" Erza gasped. "What's gotten into you?!"

"I haven't changed one bit," Jellal said. "I'm renaming this place the Tower of Heaven. Erza, you and I will stay here and finish it together."

"What?!"

"Once it's complete, we'll resurrect Zeref."

"Why would anybody want to stay here when we finally have a chance to leave?!" Jellal looked at her. She was suddenly thrown back through a wall. "Fine. If you want to leave so badly, then I'm not going to stop you. But you'll have to go alone."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no way I could finish the tower's construction by myself. So I'm going to keep the others here with me. But don't worry. I promise I won't mistreat them. I'll make sure everyone's fed, and clothed, and they get plenty of rest between their shifts. I'm sure Zeref would prefer I build more hatred by ruling with an iron fist, but weak and unhappy people don't make very good workers."

"They're not going to agree to that! Everybody's on the boats, ready to go! They're just waiting for us to join them! There's no way you could convince them to stay here and work for you now!"

"Oh, I don't think I'll have any problem convincing them. Because I'm going to give them a purpose. Once they learn of Zeref's power, they'll happily work to resurrect him!"

"But none of them would willingly become a sacrifice!" Erza protested.

"It doesn't matter. Zeref told me sacrifices aren't necessary. He's such a benevolent god, isn't he?"

"Please, Jellal," Erza said with tears in her eyes. "You've got to try to come to your senses."

"I could ask the same of you!" His magic bound and lifted her into the air. "I don't need you anymore. But since you took care of the fools who were in my way, I'll let you live. Enjoy your newfound 'freedom'. But I have some rules for you before you go."

"I… can't breathe…"

"I demand you never tell anyone of this place. If the government found out about the Tower of Heaven, I'd be in serious trouble." He floated her over to him, touching her chin. "If word were to get out, then I'd have no choice but to destroy the tower and everyone in it. You're forbidden from ever returning here again. Set one foot on this land… and I'll kill all of your friends. I figure Shô would have to be the first to go."

"No! You wouldn't!"

"One false move and your friends will die! I'll enjoy true freedom while you suffer, burdened by your guilt!" She was free at last…

But at a terrible cost.


"I have to fight Jellal," Erza whispered. Tears were streaming down the left side of her face. "I have no choice. I have to do it…"

"I don't know, maybe it's just me," Gray said. "But somehow the name 'Zeref' seems familiar."

"I'd be surprised if you hadn't," Natsu said darkly. "He was a legendary black wizard."

"Wait a minute," Lucy said. "I remember someone saying that the monster that came out of Lullaby was one of Zeref's demons."

"I never mentioned it," Erza said. "But I suspect Deliora was a demon from the Books of Zeref as well."

"It was," Natsu said quietly. "Both of them. Zeref created many demons."

"If this wizard was as evil as you say," Juvia pondered, "then why would Jellal want to bring him back to life?"

"I don't understand his motives either," Erza said. "However, my old friend Shô said something to me about Zeref getting them to heaven, and when that happens, the world will be reborn and they'll become its rulers." Natsu snorted, but didn't say anything.

"Ok," Lucy said. "There's one thing that confuses me about these people who claim to be 'old friends' of yours. Why are they accusing you of betraying them? Don't they realize Jellal's the bad guy here?"

"It's not their fault," Erza assured her. "I'm sure he fed them all sorts of lies about me once I left. But that doesn't change the fact that I abandoned them so long ago. In the end, I guess you could say I did betray them."

"You had no choice in the matter," Natsu said. "Jellal would have killed them if you returned. There was nothing you could do."

"None of that matters now," Erza responded. "If I can defeat Jellal, then it'll all be over. Leave it to me, ok?" Why do I get the feeling she's hiding something? Gray wondered. He remembered how earlier she had said that she was going to 'vanish from this world'. Something about those words bother me…

"W-What's with that story, Sister?" Shô asked from the doorway, trembling.

"Shô…" Erza started.

"Are you trying to get your friends' sympathy with that nonsense?!" he demanded. "It's a load of crap! The truth was nothing like that! You blew up the boats and escaped on your own! We all would have ended up on the bottom of the sea had Jellal not caught wind of your betrayal! He saved us! He warned us not to trust wizards like you who haven't learned to use their magic properly! He said that you had become drunk on magical power, and you didn't want anything to do with your past, or the people you left behind!"

"Did you ever think he might be lying?" Gray asked.

"If you truly knew Erza," Lucy said, "then you'd know that she'd never do something like that."

"You… You only think you know her! You weren't there back then… You don't know anything about us! After you left, Jellal's words were my only salvation. And that's why I spent all these years working to finish the tower for him… I did it for his sake! Now you're trying to tell me it was all a lie?! You really expect me to believe… you're telling the truth and Jellal's been lying to us this whole time?!"

"That's right." Simon's looming figure appeared from the shadows.

"You!" Gray started angrily.

"Wait," Juvia instructed. "He doesn't pose a threat, my dear. He never meant you any harm. At the resort, he knew he was attacking your ice decoy."

"What?"

"Since it was he who cast the darkness spell, it had no effect on him. I came along in the hopes of discovering why he'd chosen to spare you."

"I'd expect no less from a member of Phantom's renowned Element Four," Simon bowed his head.

"I don't understand," Shô muttered.

"I had to fool you and the others into thinking I had killed him. I hoped our attack would lure them here."

"So you were lying too?" Shô whispered. "How could you do that to me?"

"I'm sorry," Simon said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jellal had you under a spell, I couldn't convince you otherwise. So I played along until the time was right."

"So you knew all along," Erza said with wonder.

"I've always believed in you, Erza," Simon said. "And there's nothing that can change that. I mean those words from the bottom of my heart." Erza hugged him tightly.

"I never knew," Shô cried. "I can't believe I blindly followed him all these years. I doubted you… cause you left me all alone! You have no idea how much that hurt! I don't know what to do!" he sobbed. "I don't even know which one of you I should believe in anymore!" Erza knelt in front of her sobbing friend.

"I know it must be difficult to take all of this in at once," she said softly. "But Shô, there's something that you should know. Thought it's been many years, I have never once forgotten about any of you." They held each other as Shô continued to cry. "I'm sorry that I couldn't stand up to him. But I was so weak back then. Please forgive me."

"Now you're stronger, and ready to face him," Simon said. "Isn't that right?" Erza nodded. "I've waited all these years for this very moment. A group of powerful wizards gathered here."

"So what do you have planned?" Lucy asked.

"We're going to take down Jellal," he said. "We can do it if we work together. Between Erza and the Salamander, I'm sure we can do it."

"Uh, where is Natsu?" Gray frowned, looking around. It was true. Natsu had vanished without a trace sometime after Shô and Simon appeared.

"He must have gone ahead," Simon said.

"We should find and warn Wally and Millianna," Erza nodded. "There's no telling what Natsu will do if they start fighting him."


Ok guys, super important question here... Should Natsu get the cat head stuck on him? Seriously, I need to know. I sort of want to, and I definitely think it would be funny, but you guys have the final say. The first ten reviews decide it. So... better start reviewing!

Edit: I can't write the next chapter until I have this feedback. So the more people that review, the sooner the next chapter will come out. It's your choice.