Ch. 4- Erza's Past

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

Erza stood before her friends, her face showing nothing but sorrow and her body trembling. Gray stood there, his expression serious and stone-faced while sweat dripped down Lucy's face. Even Juvia, who normally kept a calm demeanor, had her hand over her mouth in shock.

As for Haru... her eyes were welling over with tears as she stared at the back of her older sister figure.

Erza had told them everything regarding her past... about the time that she, as well her former friends were slaves here at the Tower of Heaven. She told them about how she had lost her eye and about how Jellal risked himself to save her, only to get captured. She told them about how she rallied the slaves into fighting back for their freedom... and about she gained her magic after Rob's noble sacrifice.

She even told them about how Jellal had been corrupted by Zeref's influence... and how he forced her to leave, threatening the lives of her friends if she ever dared to tell them the truth.

"...Erza...!" Haru whispered while Blue Fang whimpered as he stood by her side.

"I can't believe it..." Lucy said, sadly.

"Now you know," said Erza as she turned to face everyone... her left eye spilling tears of her own. "Everyone... forgive me for not telling you sooner."

Suddenly, Haru practically threw herself at Erza, sobbing as she hugged the armored wizard, who, although taken back by the sudden action, tenderly returned her embrace.

"We're the ones who should be sorry!" the Beast Wizard cried. "I can't believe you were put through all of that! I'm so sorry, Erza!"

"Haru..." Erza whispered as she held her. She didn't know why she was even apologizing, but she didn't object. She just let the poor girl cry for her.

"Hold up," Gray spoke up, causing Erza to look at him. "Erza, you said that the guys who enslaved you worshipped Zeref... you don't mean...?"

"Yes," Erza answered, grimly as she pulled away from Haru's embrace. "The legendary Dark Wizard, known as the greatest evil in the history of the magical world."

"Come to think of it," Lucy said as she put her hand to her chin, "Master Goldmine mentioned that that monster, Lullaby, was a demon of the Book of Zeref, right?"

"Yes," Erza replied, "and it's highly likely that Deliora is also a demon created by Zeref, as well."

Gray gasped, his whole body going rigid as he remembered the monster that killed his parents and his former mentor had sealed away.

"They say that Zeref had more than enough power to easily create frightening monsters like those," Erza stated.

"So... you're saying that this Jellal is... trying to revive Zeref...?!" Juvia asked, her eyes wide in fear.

"Yes," Erza replied. "What I don't quite understand is why..." She then sighed, sorrowfully. "Shô... he along with the rest of my old friends... they had all been convinced that once Zeref is resurrected, he could become the Ruler of Heaven... or something of the like."

"There's actually something I don't understand about your old friends," Lucy added. "They said that you betrayed them, Erza... but wasn't it really Jellal who betrayed them?"

"That's right!" Haru shouted. "Jellal's the one who turned his back on you and made you run away!"

"That may be true," Erza said, regretfully, "but I'm no different. For eight years, I knew they were still here... but I did nothing to try and help them. Even though I thought about them... I didn't even try to think of a plan to save them from Jellal's grip. In the end, I still-"

"You were forced to leave them behind because Jellal threatened their lives!" Lucy snapped. "It's not your fault, Erza!"

"Enough, Lucy," Erza interjected. "That doesn't matter, anymore... no matter what happens, Jellal has to be stopped... and I have to be the one to defeat him."

"...Erza..." Lucy whispered, worriedly.

"Hold up..."

The group turned to see the young blonde-haired man from earlier, staggering toward them.

"What are you talkin' about, Big Sis Erza?" he asked.

"Shô!" Erza exclaimed. "When did you-"

"You think you can win over sympathy from these guys with a lame excuse like that?!" the boy, Shô, questioned furiously. "What you said... that's the exact opposite of what happened! Eight years ago, you set a bomb on the ship that we were going to escape on, and then you ran away! It was Jellal who figured out your betrayal! If he hadn't come to warn us, we would have all been dead! He said that magic was our only road to salvation, and any non-believers would be swept away by fate... and that you, Big Sis, had decided to destroy everything about her past... including us! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LIAR-"

SMACK! Before Shô could continue his ravings... Haru fiercely slapped him across the face, a look of fury on her own visage as she glared at him.

"You dumbass..." she hissed while Blue Fang stood behind her, growling viciously as his fur bristled. "Did you ever stop and think that Jellal was the one who lied to you?!" She then grabbed Shô by the collar of his coat and pulled him close. "Cut the crap! Do you honestly believe from the bottom of your heart that Erza would do something like that?! Erza is the bravest, kindest, most beautiful woman in the world and there's no way she'd ever betray her friends! She didn't run away to save her own skin! She left to protect you all, YOU IDIOT!"

"Haru...!" Erza whispered in awe.

"You... you don't know anything!" Shô countered. "You have no idea what it was like for us! Jellal was the one who saved us... that's why we went spent the last 8 years finishing the construction of this tower! It was all for his sake!"

"Wake up and smell the coffee, you idiot!" Haru shouted. "It was all a lie! Jellal tricked you and the rest of your friends! Don't you get it?!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Shô cried as he pushed her away from him. "You seriously expect me to believe that?! That Big Sis Erza was the one who was right, all along?!"

"That's exactly it, Shô."

The group gasped as another voice spoke up, and as they turned... they saw that it was the man with the eyepatch and the iron mask.

"Simon!" Erza exclaimed.

"Hey! You're that Darkness Wizard!" Gray shouted as he stepped forward, only for Juvia to grab him by the shoulder.

"Hold on, Gray!" she said. "Don't be rash. Back then, this man knew that you were using one of your ice clones. He only played along to make it look like he had attacked you."

"Wait... really?" Gray asked.

"Yes," Juvia nodded. "Darkness Wizards aren't blinded by the darkness that they cast. I only came because I wanted to confirm if this was true."

"Hmph," Simon chuckled. "As expected from one of Phantom Lord's Element 4." He then looked at the others with a serious expression. "It was never my intention to kill anyone. I only planned to knock you out in order to fool Shô and the others into thinking that you were dead. However, since it was a decoy, that only made it all the more convincing."

"You... you tried to trick us?!" Shô questioned in disbelief. "How could you?!"

"Shô," Simon said, remorsefully, "you, Millianna, and Wally... you've all been deceived by Jellal. I had to wait for the perfect opportunity, so I pretended to be swayed by his words, as well."

"Simon..." Erza whispered in surprise. "You mean you...?"

"I've always believed in you... Erza," Simon said, a light blush tinting his cheeks as he smiled warmly... causing her to smile back before she went up and hugged him. "I was so happy to see you... from the bottom of my heart."

"Oh, Simon...!" Erza whispered, tearfully. "Thank you...!"

"Aww," Lucy cooed while Haru, Gray, and Juvia all smiled... but then they heard the sound of sniffling, causing them to turn to see Shô, who was down on his knees.

"I... I don't understand," he said. "Why? Why does everyone trust Big Sis Erza so much?! Why... why couldn't I trust her, too?!" He then growled as he slammed his fists against the floor. "DAMMIT ALL! I HATE THIS! WHO THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE?!" He then broke down in gutwrenching sobs, prompting Erza to walk up to him and squat down to his level.

"I'm so sorry, Shô," she said with a sad smile. "I'm so sorry that I let you down during those eight years... but I never stopped thinking about you, or Wally, or Millianna, or Simon... I'm only sorry that I didn't do anything to help you, sooner. I was so weak."

"...I'm the one who should be sorry," said Shô. "I... I doubted you... all this time! Deep down, I should have known you would never betray us... but I was just so hurt! I didn't know what to believe anymore, so I listened to Jellal! I'm SO sorry!"

"We can't change the past," Simon said. "However... that doesn't mean we can't do anything about the here and now, can we?"

Erza looked up at Simon and nodded her head in seriousness.

"I've been waiting all this time for this moment to come," said Simon, "for the strongest wizards in Fiore to finally gather at this place."

"Uh... I'm not exactly the strongest," Lucy pointed out.

"And I'm not really a member of Fairy Tail, yet," Juvia added.

"It matters not," Simon replied. "Now is our chance. The time has come to combine our strengths... and defeat Jellal, once and for all!"

"I couldn't agree more," Erza concurred.

"So where do we start?" Gray asked.

"First," Simon began, "we have to stop Salamander and Wally from fighting each other. We will definitely need Salamander's power if we're even to have any hope of defeating Jellal!"

"I'll go find my brother!" Haru spoke up as she hopped on Blue Fang's back. "Once he hears what's going on, he'll be more than happy to help us out!"

"Best of luck, Haru Dragneel," said Simon.

"Thanks," Haru replied. "Let's go, Blue Fang!"

With an affirmative bark, Blue Fang dashed off, following Natsu's scent. As the girl and wolf duo raced off, Haru had a look of worry on her face as she gripped Blue Fang's collar.

"This battle... whether we win or lose... will mean that no one will ever hear or see me, again."

'Erza...' Haru thought. 'Why would you say that? Do you really have no intention of coming back to Fairy Tail when this is over?'

After a while, Blue Fang managed to reach a certain room... and as he and Haru entered, they both gaped in disbelief as they found that the whole room was decorated with cats! Cat furniture, cat plushies, cat lamps, cat statues, just cats everywhere!

"Ooookay," Haru said. "I'm guessing that this is that cat girl's room. Look at all the kitties!"

"Uh... Haru?" a familiar voice called. "A little help here."

"Natsu? Where are you?" Haru asked as she looked around for her brother... and soon found him standing by the cat-shaped vanity, wearing a giant green cat helmet over his head... and all she did was give him a deadpanned expression.

"Really?" she asked in an incredulous tone.

"Yeah," Natsu answered. "It's stuck. Help me out, will ya?"

Haru could only groan while Blue Fang slapped a paw on his face.

Sorry if you were expecting the flashback, but after this chapter, the action finally begins!

Review, please!