Chapter 42
Jellal was frozen in shock as Invel walked upto him, "Plan on sharing with us as well, just what happened exactly…?" he enquired. "It's something the Emperor asked me to handle and I think I'm going to prefer telling him myself, when he get's here" Jellal replied. As Jellal tried to walk away Invel blocked his path "Jellal, you might be thinking that having the Emperor on your side is keeping you safe. But make no mistake it's the fact that you haven't made any move against the Empire that's keeping you safe, for now…" Invel replied. Jellal glared back at Invel "And you should know by now Invel, I've given my word to protect this Kingdom and If there's one thing I've ever been known for, it's never going back on my word" Jellal replied (remembering his word to Erza).
Once again when Jellal tried to move Invel blocked his path again "You still haven't answered my question Jellal…?, who were you talking to….?" he demanded. Jellal getting annoyed by the interrogation answered "Well it was a message from Ishgar for His Majesty, as I said it was something Sir Natsu had asked me to look into. Though I'm sure His Majesty wouldn't mind you staying and hearing about it". Invel backed down "Should have said it was about Ishgar…" he replied apologetically. "And you should start trusting your comrades more, my friend…" Jellal replied. Invel was left standing in the same spot as Jellal walked back to attend to the people.
Natsu entered the palace all beat up and bleeding profusely, when Invel turned on the group that had left with Natsu "So…for what purpose were you four sent again…?" he demanded. "You know what, I would have loved to have seen you defend The Emperor against "The God Of Time Chronos" Larcade retorted. "God Chronos…?" Invel asked surprised staring at Dimaria, who simply shook her head "Too long don't ask"she responded. "Pfft… these.." Natsu asked looking at his injuries "This is nothing you should see the other guy…" Natsu feigned gloating, but started to cough as everyone rushed to Natsu's aid, while he complained that it was nothing.
Jellal approached Natsu, as he looked at Jellal with a confused expression. "Your Majesty, I've got news from Ishgar that I think you need to know…." he whispered to Natsu as Invel looked on at the two of them suspiciously. "What about the thing that I asked you to look into…?" Natsu enquired as Jellal looked to the ground disappointed "I haven't received any confirmation about it, but I assure you My Lord,I will not stop until its done" Jellal replied.
"My Liege…" Invel stepped forward interrupting their conversation "Pardon me, but if it's something that's bothering you, then as the Spriggan it is our duty to fulfill your command" he replied bowing to Natsu. "That's alright Invel….Jellal and the other's have it sorted out…don't you worry…" Natsu replied. Invel's demeanor changed "Your Majesty I implore you if there's anything that we need to know please tell us, We have sworn to protect you, but our duty to our Kingdom will always come before anything else" Invel replied in an chilling tone. "Is that a threat…Invel…?" Jellal demanded as Cobra and to Invel's surprise Ajeel and Jacob stood up facing him. Invel didn't seem phased as he stared at Natsu "I wouldn't dare threaten you, Your Highness….but all I'm saying is its pretty convenient you bring mages from Ishgar into the Spriggan and then you assign them mission's that you do not wish to share with the rest of us…" Invel replied.
As Jellal and Invel moved towards each other Natsu stepped in-between them "Alright that's enough you two…." he replied. "Jellal, Invel stand down now, that's an order" Natsu commanded them, as they backed away from each other. "Alright Invel, you wish to know what it is I asked Jellal to do….?" Natsu asked Invel who didn't respond. "Well…I'll tell you, if you can defeat me…." he declared.
"What….?" Invel asked baffled at Natsu's response, who just grinned at him even in his weakened state. "Alright, that's enough…" Brandish replied as she pushed Larcade to drag Natsu away from the rest, "Wait…Invel…hasn't answered my question, let me go….Larcade" Natsu began to resist Larcade, dragging him away but he didn't have any energy and he gave in, letting Larcade drag him away."What…was all that about…?" Invel asked Brandish, "Well…His Majesty is very stubborn and he wouldn't stop until he had his fight". Invel just nodded his head "See to it that the Emperor is tended to and make sure his wounds are healed" Invel replied and walked away.
Invel found himself on the tower of the castle staring into the distance, when he felt someone approach him. "Jellal….what do you want now….?" Invel demanded. "Alright look, we've been here, for over two months now and well I feel we have more or less been accepted by the people and the Spriggan themselves, except for one…" Jellal replied looking at Invel. "And…your point is…?" Invel remarked getting impatient. "If there's any misunderstanding or if there's something that we've done wrong, I just wanted to ask you to give us a chance to clear things between us" he replied. Invel turned to look at Jellal "You want to know what's wrong Jellal…?. I don't trust you three…well maybe not the girl she hasn't done anything to really validate my suspicion…" Invel replied.
"What do you mean…?" Jellal asked confused. "Well I really don't think I need to explain the reason for my suspicion, especially to you, of all people Jellal" Invel replied as he tried to move Jellal blocked his path. "If we don't clear thing's up now, there will never be a chance for us to work as a cohesive unit, the Spriggan will never be the same again…" Jellal replied. "Well for a start maybe you could tell me about who the Dragon Slayer, keeps calling ?. Is he passing information on Alvarez…?" Invel demanded. "Wait…really is that it…that's simple Erik calls Ishgar or Fairy Tail to talk to Kinana…." Jellal replied "Well Kinana and Erik, they are a couple…I'm not sure, i mean I guess they know how they feel about each other but I have no idea if they've addressed it or revealed it to each other" Invel stopped Jellal. "So that's it then….?" Jellal enquired. "Well there's the thing about the Majesty's request to you, but that is his will and It's upto him to decide who to entrust it upon…" Invel replied. Jellal got up to move when he turned to address Invel "Hey..Invel, I know this doesn't mean you're going to start trusting us immediately but I hope, this could be a start to us working better together" he replied leaving Invel to ponder on his own.
Jellal made his way to Natsu to relay the message Lucy had well given him to pass onto Natsu. But when Jellal reached the Emperor's chambers he found Larcade trying to force Natsu back to the bed, while Natsu kept pacing back and forth in the room. "What's going on….?" Jellal asked. "I need to train and these idiots won't let me…" Natsu replied. "In your condition…?" Jellal asked "I mean I know this is you,Your Highness. But even you know, you're in no condition to train right now". Natsu looked furious at Jellals response, he sighed "Yeah….it's just I can't sit doing nothing after seeing the gap difference between me and the God's like Chronos and Anksheram" he replied.
"Could someone elaborate…?" Jellal requested. Natsu began to tell Jellal everything that had transpired between Anksheram, Chronos and himself. After hearing everything Jellal felt like his head was going to explode "So…this Anksheram is after you..Your Majesty…?" Jellal asked. "Drop the act Jellal, its just us, it's okay…." Natsu replied finally sitting down on the bed "Well yes and I am still nowhere close to even putting a scratch on him, I probably would have to train against all of the Spriggan combined if I want to improve myself to surpass him or atleast reach his level" Natsu muttered. "And….you're sure training against all of us will help you improve…?" Jellal asked. "It couldn't hurt trying, I mean it's not like I can get worse doing it" Natsu replied. "Tell that to Invel,Ajeel and Jacob" Larcade whispered.
"Well…then that decides it rest up for now and as soon as you are better, I will make sure you get your training against all of the Spriggan combined" Jellal replied. Natsu smiled moving to the bed. "And…how do you plan on rallying the Spriggan to combat train against their Emperor, not to mention the Council who will be livid if they came to know" Brandish questioned Jellal. "Well…I really think you should be the one to inform the Council personally…." Larcade replied smirking at him. "Geez, thanks for the help guys" Jellal replied. Larcade stopped beside him placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look as long as that's what Uncle want's and he's perfectly healthy for training, Brandish and I will join you…" Larcade replied. "Hey…since when did you start making my choices for me?" Brandish demanded. "You know very well you were going to make the same decision" Larcade replied Brandish didn't respond but began pout and glare at Larcade.
Jellal walked out of the room, still trying to process everything he had just heard "You can come out Cobra, you're not really good at being discreet" he said looking into the shadows. "Wasn't really hiding" Cobra replied walking out to meet him. "Well then what were you doing hiding in the dark…?" Jellal asked amused. "I just prefer the shadows" Cobra replied while Jellal just nodded in response. "So…when will you actually tell him…?" Cobra questioned him, "How many time's have I told you not to invade my thought's Cobra" Jellal demanded. "Hey…it's not my fault, your practically screaming your thought's out, it's deafening to me" he replied "So…anyway…what have you decided to do then…if you decide to withold this information, I don't think Lucy will take it too kindly…". "Lucy…?" Jellal asked surprised "Since when did you start addressing the members of Fairy Tail by their name…?". "Kinana is quite persuasive…and she's been making sure I address most, if not all of them by their names" Cobra replied nonchalantly.
"So…?" Cobra left his question hanging as Jellal punched the wall in frustration "I have no idea what I am going to do….but as for now I guess we let Natsu have his wish and train" he replied. "What did he tell you, to leave you this nervous and shaken…?" Cobra wondered out loud as Jellal began to tell him everything that Natsu had told him. "And he's sure that this Anksheram entity is going to attack us…?" Cobra asked concerned. "I don't…know, nor does Natsu, but I have never seen Natsu so shaken in my life. If Natsu is worried then this threat may very well be the toughest we have faced so far" Jellal replied "Rest up for now Cobra, Natsu wants us up at dawn. I have to go and inform the others" saying this Jellal left Cobra alone.
Early the next morning, the Spriggan gathered grumbling and murmuring, Natsu walked upto them "So…I know that you all must be wondering why did I gather all of you, this early in the morning" he said laughing nervously. "Not really, Your Majesty, Jellal has filled all of us in on what you had planned and why…" Invel replied. Natsu turned around to look at Jellal surprise evident on his face "And you…all agreed to it just like that…?" he asked addressing Invel. "Well Your Majesty, your wish is our command and that aside, if this Anksheram entity ever plans on attacking Alvarez, then as the Spriggan its our duty to defend our Country" Invel replied. "Beside's it's a miracle, how you've managed to win over Ajeel and Jacob back to your side, It would be exciting to witness first hand the power of END in person,Your Highness" Eheto replied.
"What are you insinuating…Eheto…?" Jacob demanded. "Oh…I think I was being very clear with what I meant Jacob…" Eheto replied. "Are you saying that we did not take our duties towards the Emperor seriously…?" Ajeel enquired glaring at Eheto. "Let's just say had it not been for the oath's you have taken as a Spriggan…you wouldn't probably be standing here" Eheto replied. "How…dare you…you bastard…" Ajeel growled as he tried to charge at Eheto while Jacob silently restrained Ajeel.
"Guy's…calm down…." Natsu shouted sternly glaring at the three of them, as they bowed they heads in reverence and relaxed noticeably. "I'm sorry Your Majesty, I will not repeat this behaviour again" Jacob replied glaring at Ajeel and Eheto who apologised reluctantly not looking at each other. "No…you've got me wrong…I want you to use that emotion,that rage,that anger….and direct it at me…" Natsu replied. "Your Majesty taking on all of us Spriggan at once ?, would that be such a good idea…?" Neinhart enquired. "What's more important is, you're in no state to be planning such duel's irrespective of the reason, you haven't even recovered fully, Your Majesty" Larcade replied. "Are we doing this or not…?" Eheto demanded excited at the prospect of a fight.
"Yes…we are…" Natsu replied. "Before we begin, Invel and I have decided if we do this, we need to make sure that the citizen's are not affected and the Council has suggested the same….so we will have to move to one of the uninhabited islands around Alvarez" Jellal declared. "Can we get moving already…." Eheto demanded excited at the prospect of a fight.
Once on the island the Spriggan stood facing their Emperor, Natsu himself felt excited at the idea of testing his ability against the Spriggan all at once. "One more thing…" Jellal began as the group excluding Larcade,Jacob and Brandish began groaning "Restrict yourself from using your strongest attacks" he replied. "Why ?...are you afraid we may accidently…kill our Emperor since he isn't Immortal like his brother…?" Eheto replied laughing, but before anyone could reply Larcade had grabbed Eheto by his throat "His Majesty, is recovering right now and not only that, there's nothing that you, could do… that could even put a scratch on us, let alone the Emperor" he growled at Eheto who glared back at him "You better leave my neck before I do something, Larcade" Eheto growled back. Larcade didn't take his eye's off Eheto as he let go of him moving back.
"Relax you two…." Jellal tried diffusing the tension as Eheto and Larcade glared at each other "Remember we're fighting against the Emperor not against each other…". Natsu began to laugh "Look's like you guys will implode, before we even begin our training" he replied "This could actually be a reason why you guys couldn't defeat Ishgar instead of looking at each other individually why don't you depend on each other". Eheto and Neinhart began to laugh while the rest didn't react "With all due respect Your Majesty…we have been fine for centuries the way we are….and the Spriggan are very capable of defending the Country and you, Your Majesty, without any assistance" he declared. "I'll be the judge of that…" Natsu stated taking an attacking stance.
Eheto immediately charged at Natsu and began to rain blows at Natsu that he managed to easily evade, kicking into his side and pushing him aside as Ajeel stepped up. "Why are you three not joining…?" Dimaria asked Brandish, Larcade and Jellal who simply said they were waiting as they were the strongest among the rest at which Dimaria scoffed. "What about…you…? Bandish questioned her "The Emperor asked me to hang back…don't ask why I don't know…" she replied.
Ajeel created a wave of sand sending it towards Natsu who teleported out of it before it even reached him but Ajeel was charging at him with double bladed axe made of sand and began to attack him. Neinhart on the other hand created began to rain blasts on Ajeel and Natsu at the same time, "What the hell are you doing…?" Ajeel demanded. While Neinhart just grinned "Hey…Eheto said we could handle ourselves didn't he…". Ajeel growled and went back to attacking Natsu who dodged and attacked Eheto who had returned. Gradually Jacob had joined the fray as well while the rest of the group stood back watching the fight.
Natsu was amazed at the skill and power these four possessed as in no time he had gone from using his Dragon Force to utilizing the Fire Dragon King form. Once Natsu and the others were tired out Jellal declared that they had trained enough and that it was time they returned back to the mainland. But Natsu interfered "I still need Dimaria to do something for me" he declared. "But Your Majesty…." Jellal pleaded, "You can take the rest back Jellal. Dimaria and Larcade stay, that's an order" he declared.
"Hey…why do they get to stay…?" Eheto grumbled. "Our training for the day is done, though I still have some work left that I need to address with Dimaria and Larcade, we will resume our training tommorow" Natsu replied to Eheto who didn't really respond but obliged moving along with the rest.
"Why…aren't you going…?" Larcade questioned Brandish who just smiled at him, can't leave you two alone now can i..?" she replied. "What…are you worried I'm going to steal Larcade away from you…?" Dimaria retorted as Brandish turned beet red "Don't worry he's not my type anyway…" Dimaria declared. Natsu looked on amused at the interaction as Larcade and Brandish avoided looking at each other. "So…what did you want with us….Your Majesty…" Dimaria addressed Natsu, "I need you to use Age Seal and if you can let the other's move freely in your Age Seal, I would like them to attack me…you can join in as well ofcourse…" Natsu replied.
"Your Majesty….but why…?" Dimaria questioned confused at the request. "As END, I could easily break through your Age Seal, I need to...no…I have to be able to do that again if I want to stand my ground against Anksheram" he answered. "But Your Majesty…." Dimaria pleaded. "Dimaria this isn't an order it's a request…" Natsu pleaded as well. Dimaria relented as the three of them prepared to continue their training.
A few days later Natsu found himself sitting on the throne all alone bored out of his mind as Jellal approached him "Never thought I'd find you sitting on the throne" he remarked. "What do you mean I'm the Emperor of Alvarez, where else would I be sitting…?" Natsu asked baffled. "What I meant was, oh forget it…." Jellal replied as Natsu ignored it "Please Jellal….tell me you have something interesting for me to do,they don't even let me go and defend the country anymore" he groaned. "Because that is the duty of the Spriggan and you don't have to stay here you know, you're free to go wherever you want" Jellal replied. "I know….and I've devoted whatever spare time I've got to finding Aquarius' key for Lucy" he replied.
"About…that…" Jellal began "You see….we may have the location of the key. The catch is, we will need a Celestial Mage to get to it" he replied. "What…but how…when…?" Natsu questioned him confused. "It…is here in Alvarez, in one of the villages on the outskirts at the border of our Kingdom" Jellal replied. "How did you know about this…?" Natsu asked Jellal "Well…you see we've confirmed the location with the help of Sorano, but the person who gave us this information didn't reveal her name…" Jellal answered. "It doesn't matter anyway…I've gotta tell Lucy about this..." Natsu began to jump excited to tell Lucy about the information.
"About…that…Natsu…" Jellal interjected Natsu turned to look at him perplexed "You…see Lucy…may not be willing to talk to you…" he stated. "What….why…?" Natsu demanded glaring at Jellal. "Hey don't blame me…she wanted to call you and personally tell you that she was being given an award for the novel that she was working on, it was something very important for her and she wanted to share it with you but you were busy battling to your heart's content" Jellal remarked. "Why didn't you tell me before…?" Natsu demanded. " I wanted to, but well we were engrossed in the training. Don't worry we have a few days before the event" he replied. "A few…days…?" Natsu screamed in frustration "I have to leave now…." he declared rushing out of the room.
Jellal rushed to match his pace "There's one more thing you need to know Natsu" he replied "The person that gave us the location, looked a lot like Lucy". Natsu froze "Your saying Lucy is here…?" Natsu asked half worried half curious. "That couldn't be possible Natsu, I told you I spoke to Lucy on that day and she was in Ishgar…but this person looked almost identical to her. I just thought you should know" Jellal replied. "I don't…have time for this Jellal, if it wasn't Lucy, then we'll figure it out when I come back" Natsu declared as he rushed towards the docks to leave for Ishgar.