I'm aware that some people might be confused after Jellals performance last chapter, like hey wasn't he all calm and like 'I can make this work' and then next time we see him he's furious? Well, my good people, you know when you get upset over something, like you drop your icecream and you're like 'aw no, my icecream, that was my favourite flavour!, and you're all sad so you get another icecream, but it's a different flavour and when you think about dropping that first icecream you get sad all over again? It's a bit like that.
Phoenix, well, you'll just have to find out. ...it might be. Maaaaybe. Yeh, Jellal ain't done yet. He's rather steadfast for a lunatic, ain't he? Yeh, I think Natsu does something in this chapter that'll really help that bond along. Mhm. I see your tomato-turning spell is at work once more!
Guest, one, two, this is new, three, four, a guest is at the door, five, six, I hope this sticks, seven, eight, I won't be late, nine, ten, I'll share it then, eleven, twelve, and in we delve! Oh, is that how you spell his name? Whoops... Eh, I'm sure no one will notice... Shu has been possessed! The armband has been destroyed! Yeh, a real bummer. ASAP, got it. And you shall know! Mostly. Maybe. A little.
Erza let her Black Wing armour cover her form, and with a smooth slice she attacked the blue haired Mage, only to have her sword shattered.
"My magic creates vibrations in the air that force anything magic out of existence! You can't defeat me, Mage!"
Erza didn't humor him with a response, instead swinging again with a different blade. Once again, her attack was stopped, but she saw an opening.
"Lucy, now!"
And Lucy, who had been careful to avoid any attention, took her chance. "Lucy Kick!"
The thickly eyebrowed mage didn't stand a chance.
Brushing her skirt off, the celestial mage gave herself a mental pat on the back.
Off to the side, Milliana was being chased by a man who bore a striking resemblance to a dog. Milliana took a swipe at him, only to panic more as he dodged it. This game of cat and dog eventually ended with Milliana on Wallys shoulders.
Much to the pseudo Cowboys displeasure.
"This ain't dandy, partner! Get offa me!"
"No! If I do, the mean doggy-woggy will bite me! Nya~!"
"Bite? My magic is in my fingernails! One scratch from these babies, and you'll be stunned for hours!"
Wally, who had chosen to ignore Milliana completely, scratched at his forehead. "That ain't dandy."
The dog-man, who evidently wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, imitated Wally. "Is there something on my forehead?" And he knocked himself out.
"That was… Easy."
Gray danced to the side, just barely avoiding a ice bear. "Lyon! Why are you doing this?"
Lyon laughed madly, and created a swarm of ice bats. "To prove I'm stronger than Ur! Look, I've mastered one handed casting already, and I'm going to kill Deloria!"
"What?!" A water attack from Juvia destroyed several ice creations. "Are you mad! The only thing you'll get from awakening Deloria is a whole bunch of death and destruction!"
Lyon shaped an ice tiger, and sent it at Gray. "No! I will be better than Ur! That's all I wanted, but you ruined it, so now I have to free Deloria! I have to!"
"No, you don't!" Gray sent an ice lance to pin the tiger to the ground, shattering both sculptures. "You don't have to awake that monster to prove yourself better than Ur! If you did, all you'd be doing was proving yourself as the lowest of scum! Ur gave her life to seal that demon away!"
"Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about, but Juvia thinks Gray should focus more on the battle. Juvia has had to stop twelve attacks that Gray did not notice."
"Oh, sorry Juvia."
"Thirteen."
The two mages played off of each other wonderfully after that, despite not knowing each other too well. When Gray ducked, Juvia went high. When Juvia went right, Gray went left. However, the barrage from Lyon seemed to never end, and occasionally the Ice Make Mage stuck them himself, either ducking out from behind a pile of shards to land a heavy punch, or riding by on a ice animal to kick out.
Gray, after taking a few of these hits, decided he had had enough. "Juvia! Take my hand!"
While confused, the water Mage did as he asked. "Juvia wants to know what Gray is planning."
Gray grinned, somewhat dangerously. "Unison Raid."
And an explosion of ice and water filled the corridor, the two mages still holding hands in the centre of it. It was if the ocean had flooded into the hallway, and razor shards of ice swam dangerously around in it.
They held the spell for a moment longer, and then let it drop. Lyon dropped with it.
Thanks to his heightened senses, Natsu heard the armband break, he heard it crack and groan and—
Thanks to much the same, he saw each shard of water dissolve, each drop hit the floor. All that was left of what was once a precious gift was a small puddle of water.
And then Jellal was gone in a flash of light.
Natsu was almost immediately after him, an icy chill permeating the air. Frost spread over the floors and walls, jagged shards of ice mirroring the Lacrima of the Tower.
Jellal, for his part, began to reprogram a part of the tower to accept power from a different source, a source that was far easier to reach than Etherion.
After all, if he had a demon in his basement he might as well use it.
But then there was that pesky Iced Shell…
Jellal spun to the side, barely avoiding a wicked column of ice that shot up from the floor.
The two mages continued their frantic game of cat and mouse, barreling past the exhausted Juvia and Gray, past the defeated form of Lyon and the drunken guards.
They continued their flight past Erza and Lucy, who had just finished using Milliana's ropes to bind their opponents, despite the evident lack of intelligence from one of them.
Erza gasped as she caught them pass, and while Jellal was barely a flicker in the corner of her eye, Natsu was moving at a much slower pace.
And he looked completely crazed.
Jellal managed to reach Deloria fairly uninjured, barring a few jagged cuts from when the ice had moved too fast for even him to dodge. Perched on top of the icy shell, he watched in mild fascination as his opponent took in Iced Shell, or perhaps the demon within.
"Now, Natsu, there's a type of ice magic with exchanges the wielders life-force to create a shell- a shell that will last for as long as it needs to. Never let me catch you using this spell. It will ruin you. There is, however, a counter active to this spell."
Natsu placed one hand on the shell, and, reaching into its essence, he crafted a rudimentary form of ice, one close to mirroring the casters body.
Deciding to put just a little extra effort into it, he crafted a leg for her- she was missing one after all.
And then he grabbed a hold of that essence and pulled.
And Iced Shell crumbled. And for the first time in ten years, Ur moved of her own free will.
Jellal, who was now sitting on the head of one of the most destructive forces that had rampaged across Fiore in a century (not including Fairy Tail), blinked. That was one way to get rid of Iced Shell. (Personally, he planned on smashing it to pieces, but oh well.)
Deloria moved under him, before creaking open its mouth, using muscles and powers that hadn't been used for years, and it roared.
Jellal grinned viscously, and goaded Deloria into attacking. And the moment it did, was the moment Jellal activated the Tower, and the Tower latched onto Delorias magic and completely drained him.
The Titan of a demon collapsed lifelessly to the ground, the magic that had been its life force for years upon years abandoning it.
Jellal sat back in self contentment as the tower shifted around him- just in time to catch a fist to the face.
Ur is alive? Isn't that too convenient, you say? Well, worry not my dear reader. I never said that there wouldn't be reprecussions of Iced Shell. Let's start off with how her body is made of ice, I don't imagine she'll do well in warm areas... Among other things. (Now, how will I tackle dragon force... Will I even tackle it at all? Who knows.) oh, sorry that Lyon kinda got sidelined, but I imagine a plot to revive the most evil wizard to ever walk Earthland kind of topped some angsty teen who wanted to melt an ice cube. (Even if the ice cube did have a demon in it...) ~ShadeShadow
