A/N: Short one but I hope you enjoy. Seeing as Erza is paired with Natsu, having Jellal and Erza's original backstory makes little to no actual sense, so I made my own. Jellal is the essence of psychopathic. Cold, unfeeling, egotistical, brash, and powerful. His character design was forged from a true villain, not someone who was simply misguided.

Construction Site - A Few Hours Later

"So, your name is Wendy," Natsu started, sitting in a chair next to the young blue-haired slayer that had shown up during the conflict between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. "What were you doing watching our fight? That seems a little dangerous for someone your age."

"I'm truly sorry, my king-" Wendy started.

"Please don't call me that. Just Natsu is fine," he sighed.

"Of course, my k-Natsu. I was...well I wanted to ask you a few questions," she said uncomfortably, pushing her two fingers together. "I sort of got your scent in Hargeon and followed you here."

"That's rather impressive," Natsu commented, slightly surprised. "I don't think that even I was that good at tracking when I was your age and I'm a royal slayer." Wendy blushed slightly. "Now, what is it you wanted to ask?"

"Well, I just...I mean," she nervously stuttered.

"Come on, child, spit it out already. You won't get any answers at all if you're so nervous!" Carla chastised.

"I know that, Carla! I just wanted to know if you knew anything about the rumor of a dragon's roar off the coast of Hargeon? I'm looking for my foster mother. She disappeared around eight years ago…" she asked sadly.

"I'm very sorry about that," he said, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm not sure exactly how much help I can be, but I think I can answer some of your questions."

"Really?" Wendy exclaimed excitedly, at this point completely used to all of her leads being dead ends.

"Don't get too excited all at once, I haven't told you anything yet. Since we're talking about dragons, though, I think Gajeel should be here for this too," Natsu replied, standing up to go fetch the iron dragon slayer.

"Did you hear that Carla? He might know where Grandeeney is!" Wendy said excitedly.

"Don't get your hopes up, child. He told you himself, he hasn't told you anything. Besides, I'm not convinced that ruffian is any sort of king at all. You heard his story yourself, he is not to be trusted!" Carla protested.

"I know and I guess I was a little scared at first," Wendy admitted. "But he seems really nice and everyone else here is ok with it. Besides, he's the Fire Dragon King now, so, if anyone knows where Grandeeney went, it's him! It's just got to be!"

Carla sighed but relented that Wendy wasn't going to be changing her mind anytime soon. A few minutes later Natsu returned, followed by Gajeel, and, for some reason, Mirajane and Erza.

"Sorry I took so long, but I found Gajeel eating the nuts and bolts that were supposed to be used to rebuild the guild," Natsu said, turning to give a slight look of annoyance at the iron slayer. "Which, need I remind you, YOU destroyed." Gajeel just scoffed but didn't really have an answer. "Anyway, I know you know Mirajane already, seeing as you two spent some time together yesterday, and I presume you met Erza as well?"

"Yes, of course! Mira and Treya introduced me to everyone in the guild. They all seem very nice," Wendy smiled, greeting the group.

"I was planning on just bringing Gajeel, but I'd just have to retell the whole story to both of them later anyway, so they tagged along," Natsu sighed.

"Are you trying to tell me you don't enjoy my company, Natsu?" Mira pouted.

"I would say I enjoy your company as much as you enjoy mine, now we should probably focus on Wendy's questions, considering that's the entire reason she's here," he started.

"So, I'm already aware that Gajeel is Metallicana's brat-"

"We're the same age, Salamander!" Gajeel defended.

"So which dragon trained you? You're a sky dragon slayer, correct?"

"Yes! My dragon was Grandeeney," Wendy replied.

"And she left you roughly eight years ago?"

"Yes…"

"Gajeel, what happened to Metallicana? Where'd he flap off to?"

"Who knows where that jerk went?" Gajeel scoffed. "I'm better off without him."

"So he left as well. Eight years ago?"

"About that, yeah…" Gajeel mumbled.

"One last question. Do either of you remember the exact date that they disappeared?"

"July 8th," they both answered at the same time, giving each other a relatively surprised look.

"Well, that's somewhat unsurprising," Natsu mused. "Now, I may not know exactly where they are, however, I do have some information. I suppose I should start with Wendy's first question though, which is about the roar from Hargeon. That was me."

"That was you?" she asked, her jaw dropping. "But the paper said it sounded like a dragon and came from miles away! Is that even possible?"

"Well, seeing as I did it, yes it is possible."

"There's no need to be rude!" Carla scolded.

"Interesting cat," Natus mumbled to himself, getting a chuckle out of Wendy, Mira, and Erza, a disapproving huff from Carla, and absolutely nothing from Gajeel. "But, yes, that was me. It happened after I killed Deliora, one of Zeref's greatest demons of destruction."

"Oh," Wendy nodded in understanding.

Gajeel, however, was rather shocked. While he'd never encountered one before, he was told about Zeref's demons from Metallicana. Supposedly, some of the strongest ones were matches for the dragons themselves. Wendy didn't know who Zeref was, she just understood the conflict between the dragons and the demons, so she didn't quite understand the gravity of his claim.

"I still don't understand how it being a demon makes that noise any more understandable," Erza shook her head.

"Kind of a long story, but, as I told you earlier, it's dragon culture. I was taught our culture and intend to carry it out," Natsu shrugged. "Now, the next thing. Grandeeney and Metallicana both disappeared without a trace on July 8th around 8 years ago. Igneel and Draco were both killed by Acnologia on the evening of July 7th around 8 years ago. I would say it's reasonable to assume that your dragons felt the power of the battle, understood that Acnologia won, and went into hiding for your safety and theirs."

"Went into hiding?" Wendy asked. "How come they need to hide?"

"I'm somehow not surprised that she didn't mention Acnologia to you and I very much doubt that Metallicana mentioned it to you either, Gajeel." Gajeel shook his head.

"Acnologia goes by many names; Chaos Dragon King, King of the Dragons, Dragon of the Apocalypse, and various other superfluous titles. Roughly four hundred years ago, Acnologia was born to Arfedelum and Arcadia. Arfedelum was one of the strongest dragons to ever live, and Arcadia was no weakling herself, so, as their child, he was destined for power. Unfortunately, Arfedelum hated his fellow dragons, which, in turn, rubbed off on his son. Acnologia's hatred for dragons grew immense, far surpassing that of his father. In his anger, he slaughtered hundreds of dragons, single-handedly starting the Third Great Dragon War. Ever since then, Acnologia has been hunting every dragon he could, determined to murder them all. A complete genocide of the species, if you will. The last hope we had to defeat him was Igneel, my father. Unfortunately, Acnologia knew that the match could go either way, so he spared his brother Archon, and the two of them prevailed. I would guess that since Igneel died, all the other dragons knew their only chance for survival was to hide, which, unfortunately, meant leaving you behind. The only reason I wasn't killed alongside Igneel and Draco is that Acnologia was so wounded he had to leave before he collapsed and died."

"So, she didn't abandon me?" Wendy asked, hopefully. Even Gajeel's otherwise emotionless face got a slight glimmer of hope to it.

"The probability of that is extremely low. I never knew Grandeeney, but Draco knew her, and would often speak fondly of her. Metallicana too. Though the two never got along, even Draco would have to admit that Metallicana'd never abandon his own kid."

"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and gave the dragon slayer a hug. "Thank you!"

"I didn't really do much of anything," Natu told her, patting her on the head. "Once Acnologia is dead, then you can thank me."

"You really plan on taking him on, Salamander?" Gajeel questioned.

"It is the primary purpose for my existence. I will erase him from the world with the fire of my fathers," Natsu answered, anger clear in his eyes.

"I thought we told you not to get hung up on revenge, Natsu," Erza said, though it was much softer than her usual stern tone.

"I understand, but the survival of my own is at stake. This is not some petty revenge for the death of my parents. While true that is one reason I wish to see him fall, seeing as he destroyed my birth village and murdered my foster fathers, it was the will of Igneel for him to die by my hands. I was created to slay him and I will not die until that task is done."

"Maybe we should get back to work on the guildhall," Mira spoke awkwardly.

"Yes! Excellent idea!" Erza declared. "Alright! Rest time's over! Back to work everyone!"

The guild members groaned seeing as their break was over, but a simple glare got them rushing over to various piles of wood to start construction again. Erza dragged Gajeel along with her to use his iron to help replace what he'd eaten while Wendy, Natsu, and Mira watched in amusement.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" Natsu asked. "Speaking of which, what exactly were you doing before coming here?"

"Well, I was only 5 when Grandeeney disappeared, so I didn't really know what to do. A nice family found me and they brought me to an orphanage. I stayed there for about 5 years and that's where I found Carla," Wendy explained. "I decided that I wanted to start looking for Grandeeney more frequently, so they started letting me go out on my own since I had Carla with me."

"I see," Natsu nodded. "And do you enjoy it at this orphanage?"

"It's alright. Everyone thought I was weird because I told them I was raised by a dragon so they always made fun of me, so I don't really have any friends," Wendy admitted sadly.

"Well, then, the decision here seems obvious. You should come to join Fairy Tail."

"Really?" she asked hopefully. "I can really stay here?"

"Of course you can!" Mira chirped up. "Master always loves it when new members join! Besides, with you here, we'll have three dragon slayers."

"Mira's right. There aren't too many of us left, so we really should stick together," Natsu said, ruffling her hair lightly. "Besides, I think Happy's gotten rather attached to Carla."

"That tomcat should mind his own business," Carla huffed, a slight, barely-noticeable pink to her cheeks. Wendy giggled slightly and looked back at the older slayer.

"But what about the orphanage?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you head over to Treya and tell her you're staying with us tonight. Tomorrow we can get you set up at Fairy Hills if you'd like," Natsu told her.

"You mean, I can stay with you?"

"Well, if you want to you can stay with Mira, but I don't think she has any spare rooms."

"I'll come over too! We can have a sleepover!" Mira exclaimed.

"Wait a second, I never-" Natsu started to protest.

"Now, come on! Let's get your guild mark and tell Treya." With that, Mira dragged the young girl and her cat over to the master to inform him of their newest member.

"Agreed to that," Natsu finished with a sigh, muttering something about confusing barmaids.

Elsewhere

"Master Heavens," the woman spoke, kneeling before him.

"Ah, Nu Wa. I see you've returned," he replied, giving a slightly terrifying smirk. "So, have you spoken with the others? We have little more than a week before our plan comes to fruition, you know."

"Of course. Both Earth and Sky have nearly finished their preparations. Your new additions to the team have arrived today as well."

"Ah, the moonlit duo have come. The heart of a true swordsman could never back down from the opportunity to cross blades with a dragon," Heavens smiled.

"You should be aware of bequeathing mere humans with the names of the gods, master Heavens," Nu Wa said. "I doubt very much they would be pleased to find you gave their names to mortals."

"Oh, come now, Nu Wa. You know as well as I do that they'll die long before that time comes. There is a reason that dragons were created to stop the war, you know."

"If you expect all four to die, master Heavens, what do you plan to do with the Salamander? I also don't understand why he will be here. You told me you wished for the girl."

"You must come to know the nature of our world these days, especially that of humans. Though he may be a dragon at heart, he is still mortal and will act like one. It's fairly simple, you see. Those four will travel to the mainland and capture Erza. The rest of the fairies won't stand idly by as one of their own is taken to an unknown place, especially that Salamander, seeing as he already knows of our plans. He and several others will arrive at the tower and we'll play a game. By the end of the game, the dragon will burn the Earth and carve through the Sky, ending the life of the moon as well. Unfortunately for him, by the time he's finished, he'll have lost and the contract with the heavens will be complete. The tower will open the gates and flood the world with beings of heaven, recreating the world as it rightfully should have been!"

'He's far more insane than he's ever been before…' Nu Wa thought worriedly. 'How did we get here…'

Flashback - X775

"You, boy, certainly are an interesting one," spoke a gruff voice.

"I'm sorry, mister. I don't understand," the boy answered emotionlessly, looking between him and the two bodies on the ground.

"Most children would be screaming by now," he narrowed his eyes at the child. "Do you really feel nothing that I killed both of your parents?"

"Killed?" the boy asked. "No, I don't feel any different."

"And the rest of the village?" the man asked, sweeping his arm in a gesture at the state of the village. Houses were burning, corpses littered the streets, children were being chained while their mothers were taken as toys for the many men there as a reward for their hard work before they too were disposed of.

Most would have been sick. Instincts alone could have told any living creature that what happened was a tragedy. A village full of innocents murdered and taken prisoner, their innocence forcefully stripped of them in every sense of the word. Monster didn't begin to describe the people capable of such an act. But the boy...he felt nothing. He gazed at the blood, the children he grew up knowing in chains and crying, the corpses of his own parents and remained unchanged. "Am I supposed to feel different?" the child asked.

"Most would say yes, but I would say that we seem to have stumbled upon a stroke of good fortune," the man replied, giving an almost demonic grin. "What's your name, boy? And how old are you?"

"Jellal. Jellal Fernandez. I'm eleven."

"Well, Jellal, how would you like to come with us? As you can see here, we've pretty much taken care of the rest of Kierscht."

"Who are you? And where are we going?" the boy asked flatly.

"I go by many names, boy, but you may call me Master Hades. And where we're going? Well, my boy, follow me and you just might find out..."

The old man took the boy with him and taught him everything he needed to know, unlocking the boys' shockingly large magic potential in the form of Heavenly Body Magic. Jellal was Hades' personal and primary apprentice and he was determined to learn all he could from the older man. It was around a year later that Hades summoned him into his chamber for his first assignment from Grimoire Heart.

"Jellal," Hades spoke in a commanding voice at the kneeling blue-haired young mage.

"Yes, master Hades," he replied in a flat, monotone voice.

"You remember how you got here, don't you? Have you ever wondered why we attacked your village?"

"No," he replied honestly. "They meant nothing to me, so I never cared."

Hades gave an eerie smile. "I like you, boy, however, what I require you to do does need me to give the motivations behind our first encounter. You see, as you know, all magic descends from one origin, the One magic, if you will. For as long as humans have existed, we've poured our minds into figuring out what this magic truly is and where it came from. Do you know who finally figured it out?"

"It was Zeref, master Hades," Jellal answered.

"Exactly. He solved the greatest question in all of human history. And what did he get from it? Fear. Hatred. Rejection. His very existence was scorned because of it. It was almost as if humans were never supposed to get this knowledge in the first place, so it was nearly lost to time. Do you know what his answer was?"

"No, master Hades."

"Heaven. The origin of magic. The true creators of magic were the beings of heaven, so it stands to reason that it is there where the One magic can be found. You can probably see the same issue with this as Zeref did. We Earthlanders cannot walk into the planes of heaven, so he came up with a solution. A key to unlock the seal to open the gates of heaven by force and allow them to bring with them the One magic."

"I do not understand your desire, master Hades," Jellal spoke.

"Well, boy, forcing open the gates of heaven is no simple task. The gates were forged by the ethereal beings themselves. What he created is known as the Tower of Heaven and the tower is why we attacked Kierscht, Rosemary, and many other villages like them. It's as simple as a source of labor."

"Of course."

"Now, as it currently stands, I've decided to get rid of those pathetic failures who are running the project now. A man named Alonzo is in charge and the fool thinks he can defy me and take the tower for himself. I want you to go there and prove yourself to me. Take control of the tower, kill everyone loyal to him. Tear it down and start from scratch. I don't trust anything that disappointment has done and his groundwork is frankly embarrassing. I trust you are capable?"

"You may consider it done, master Hades."

"Very good. You have ten years to build. Your job is to have it built by then, by any means necessary."

"I can have it done sooner than that."

"No need to rush yourself, Jellal. Patience is a skill you must learn, you know."
"I understand."

"Good. Now, be on your way."

Jellal left the room and prepared for his journey to the tower. It was a several-day walk to get to the shores where he took a boat across to finally get a look at the island. There were guards and prisoners everywhere. The prisoners were chained together by their ankles and working with pickaxes or carrying heavy materials while the guards yelled at them and kept watch. More prisoners were kept in cages, trembling in fear or passed out from a mix of injuries and exhaustion. They might as well have been building a massive coffin for themselves, and, by this point, few were opposed to the idea of having their own coffin. At least then they'd have a peaceful place to rest.

"You! Who are you and why aren't you chained up with the rest of them?!" a guard yelled, pointing his weapon at the child. Jellal simply ignored him and continued walking.

"Alright, kid, you're coming with-"

"Die," he said simply, and with a gesture from his hand, a bolt of magic struck through his chest piercing the man's heart. The guard dropped his weapon and looked down in shock, collapsing to his knees.

"W-wha-" he rasped out before finally succumbing to his injuries. The rest of the guards saw this and immediately called for reinforcements, a large group charging the young boy.

The prisoners watched in curiosity, some were thrilled thinking someone had come to save them, while others feared the boy's cold, heartless aura he gave off as well as his terrifying power.

"Get the kid!" one of the guards yelled, charging forward. That was the last word anyone would hear, as Jellal commenced the slaughter. Like lambs, he butchered them all. His magic brutally and savagely mowing through guards, tearing limbs, ripping out organs, and denting their skulls like plastic. Jellal had developed a taste...a taste for bloodshed and murder.

It took well over an hour...but he finished. Every guard on the entire island was dead. Jellal took a blood-soaked hand and slowly dragged it down his face, inhaling the scent of everyone he'd killed, shivering in delight at his accomplishment.

The prisoners were terrified. Sure the guards were scary, cruel, and evil, but the aura this boy gave off made them seem like innocent puppies. Only two were brave enough to approach him.

"Thank you for saving us," one said, lowering her head. She had an eyepatch over one eye and wore a tattered white piece of clothing resembling a dress, though her most noticeable feature was her long scarlet hair.

"Yes, thank you," the second said. This one was a boy with black hair, gray shorts, and a tattered white thin-strapped shirt.

"I think you misunderstand the situation here," Jellal responded, near chuckling in an insane daze.

"How could we misunderstand? You granted us our freedom!" the boy said. "We never could have escape-"

"Freedom?" Jellal asked, looking at them suspiciously. "Freedom. Freedom." He kept repeating the word, slowly, with emphasis on various syllables, almost as if trying to understand the new word. And then he laughed. A crazed, psychopathic, vile cackle that caused both to freeze in fear. "FREEDOM? Oh, no. No, no, no! That won't do at all!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" the girl asked nervously, backing away slowly.

"THIS!" He roared, blasting magic through the stomach of the young boy.

"SIMON!" the girl screamed, running over to him as he collapsed.

"You, Scarlet, misunderstand your situation! I'm not here to grant anyone any sort of 'freedom'. The pathetic fools who kept you here have no idea what they're doing! I'm here to bring back order! Yes, that's it. Order!" Jellal continued to laugh.

"Simon! Hang on!" the girl cried. "You! How could you? He didn't do anything to you!"

"You know, Scarlet, those tears of yours...they give me a strange feeling. Mind showing me some more?" he gave a wicked grin. "Perhaps I'll take a few more lives...yes your face shows all I need to know. Then why don't you watch for a while? Shed a few more tears for me. Maybe I'll let you help me build the tower afterward if you give a good enough show…"

"I'D NEVER HELP YOU! DON'T TOUCH THEM!" the girl screamed, unconsciously unleashing her immense innate magical power. As she continued to shriek to the heavens, nearly every weapon that had been laying in the ground on or around the corpses of the fallen guards slowly began to rise into the air and get into a formation around her. The ground trembled with magical force, as she had no ability to control the power she was releasing.

"Oh! I like you! Yes! This is magnificent!" Jellal laughed. "And to think! You're not even a mage! I've never been in a real fight before. Give me what I ask for, Scarlet!"

"MY NAME IS ERZA! NOT SCARLET!" the girl screamed, as the weapons all shot forward towards the blue-haired mage.

Jellal rocketed away, twisting and turning through the air with his magic as the weapons continued to soar after him. He got a few nicks from his lack of combat experience but was relatively unharmed. Erza, however, was unable to continue. The exhaustion of working while underfed and without sleep on top of releasing so much magical power at once for the first time did her in. She simply collapsed on the body of Simon, who was barely clinging to life.

"Simon…" she breathed out, her eyes slowly fading shut.

"Erza…" he rasped back. "I...like that...Erza Scarlet...You always...needed...a last name…"

"Scarlet…" she whispered, succumbing to unconsciousness.

"You're finished already?" Jellal asked, sounding strangely disappointed. Maybe it was the blood, maybe it was the thrill, or maybe it was her tears as he had said, but something about her...they gave him strange feelings. For the first time...he felt! It was...incredible! Seeing her cry. It was...indescribable. Is this what other people had? Feelings?

Sighing in disappointment, he resigned to complete his task and proceeded to slaughter everyone that had been working that day. He spared those who were already imprisoned, saying he still needed a workforce, but with half of them dead, they'd be treated far better. Being clothed, properly fed, and allowed to get enough rest, so long as they listened to him, that is. Of course, watching someone mercilessly slaughter so many people caused them so much fear they agreed to his demands, some at least hopeful that they would have a chance of surviving.

For some reason though, Jellal decided to spare the red-headed girl. He carried her unconscious body like a sack of potatoes and dumped her on the dinghy he had taken to the island. "Wake up," he said flatly.

"Rob?" she asked drearily. "Where am I?"

"Be grateful, Scarlet. I'm letting you live," he told her, using his foot to shove her into the water. "I expect to see your tears again. But until then, let's keep this little island of mine quiet, ok? There are still plenty of people here and it would be quite tragic for anything to happen to them."

"Wait! Simon!" she gasped, remembering the events up until now. The guards. Simon. Her counterattack.

"He's right here," Jellal said, holding up the boy's corpse and shaking it like a ragdoll. "Not much left of him. Want to take him with you?"

"SIMON!" Erza wailed, bursting into tears.

"There they are!" he cackled. "Thanks for the parting gift, but I should really get back to work!" he said, tossing the corpse onto the dinghy with Erza, who just continued to cry on his chest. "Goodbye! And remember...not a word..."

"Simon…" she whispered again. "I'm so sorry…"

Flashback End