AN: Ummm... I was a bit longer coming out with this chapter than I thought I'd be... My Fairy Tail obsession didn't last very long, since I got sucked right back into Final Fantasy VII. That being said, there is no excuse as to why I left this story alone for as long as I did. I hope you guys forgive me. But still, Jellal's retaking his spot as main character! Let's get on with the show!
Chapter Four
For a few moments, all that Natsu can do is stare at Jellal. Wendy scrubbed at her eyes, sobbing all the while. "Please, I'm so sorry! I-I owe him!" The little girl trembled, eyes fluttering shut, and she fell, like a leaf, to the ground at Jellal's feet. The blue-haired mage knelt, checking over Wendy in a hint of concern. Then, the pink-haired Dragon Slayer summoned some of his flames and rushed towards the other mage with his fist on fire. "What are you doing here, Jellal?!" he roared.
So engrossed was he in getting answers-of beating it out of the blue-haired wizard- that Natsu didn't notice how Jellal's eyes changed.
Jellal's head turned, gold-green eyes narrowed and still somehow blank, and his right hand raised up. Bright, golden light assembled in his palm and was fired at the incoming Dragneel. Natsu was blasted into the cavern wall, letting out a short, pained cry, and was soon almost entirely buried under the rocks. Brain gave a chilling smirk and walked up beside Jellal, satisfied that the man was fine after being in a coma for some time. "Hmm... Thankfully your condition hasn't diminished your power at all..."
The Master of Death half-turned to face Brain, the Deathly Hallows symbol flashing an ugly red in anger and expression still utterly blank, and raised his arm sharply. Gold light flared, and suddenly the leader of the Oracion Seis was trapped in a deep hole, unable to move or use magic due to his surprise. Happy ran over to his partner, tears in his eyes from all the things that had gone on so far today, hoping that Natsu wasn't seriously hurt.
Jellal's footsteps grew louder, and he passed by Happy without even a glance. The blue cat watched him go, confused and scared, until the rubble shifted and Natsu's noticeable pink hair popped up. Natsu shook his head, eyes wild, and he yelled, "All right! Let's rock! Bring it on!" Seeing that Jellal was nearing the entrance of the cave and didn't even give them a backward glance, the Dragon Slayer jumped to his feet. "Come back here, you coward!"
That jerked Jellal to a stop at once, one foot still in the air as he was about to set it down. Then the man turned, gold-green eyes finally showing an emotion, the first since he'd woken. "What... did you call me?" the Master of Death growled.
(Long-gone that life may be, but Jellal-Harry had never completely lost the courage and recklessness that he'd once had. The Gryffindor Lion in his chest roared its anger at the word Natsu had called him, demanding retribution for the hated slight.)
Natsu stood, baring his own impressive set of teeth. "You heard me! Come back here and face me like a man, not some coward!"
Jellal snarled, eyes narrowed and looking more green than gold, until Carla broke into the conversation impatiently. "Stop this at once! I expected better from you, Dragneel, and you-" Jellal blinked in surprise, gold once more bleeding into his eyes, "-we have more important things to do than stand around here while you two fight!"
"..."
Jellal opened his mouth to say something, but Carla interrupted. "Now, can we please get out of this awful cave? At least before that awful man digs himself out of that hole."
Natsu picked up Happy and Carla while Jellal picked up Wendy. He moved some of the girl's dark blue hair out of her face absentmindedly and turned back to the cave entrance. Once they were out in the open air, Natsu planted his fists on his hips while Carla and Happy stood at the Dragon Slayer's feet. "Now, are you gonna explain what the hell that was in there?"
Jellal didn't say anything for a few minutes, just looked at Natsu intensely. "..."
"Come on, man! Say something!" Natsu said.
"...Who are you?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Of all the things Jellal to say, Natsu thought dazedly, he never expected something like that. The Dragon Slayer was so stunned that he couldn't think of anything to say; Natsu just blinked with his mouth hanging open. Happy finally said something, though. "Whaa? What do you mean? You don't remember Natsu?" Jellal shook his head.
Natsu finally managed to say, "What about Erza?"
Instantly Jellal's entire expression changed. Well, maybe not changed, exactly, but his eyes softened, and his mouth turned up into a smile that Jellal didn't even notice was there. Warmth, light, happiness, and love washed over Jellal when he heard that name... Even though he didn't know who 'Erza' was, he knew without a doubt that he loved her.
"...Only that name," Jellal finally murmured. "I only remember that name, nothing else. I... I don't know who I am, or where I came from. Can you tell me? Do you know? At least tell me who Erza is!" Jellal looked up into Natsu's eyes, pleading. "Please, if you know you have to tell me!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Natsu just stood there, unsure of what he should do now. Jellal was here, alive, but without any of his memories except for Erza's name. Could he even still use his magic if he didn't know how?!
But... then there was the Master of Death's plea. Did Natsu even have the right to tell him about the Tower of Heaven? Ultear's manipulations and control over him? His title as Master of Death, which only Erza and Jellal himself knew details about? Sure, Erza had mentioned it in passing, but even Master Makarov didn't know much more than the rest of them! ('It's Jellal's secret to tell,' Erza had told them sternly. 'I won't say much more than that and betray his trust.') How would he even begin this?!
"I-I'm not sure I'd be the best person to tell you stuff," Natsu began haltingly. "Erza knows a lot more than any of us, but she's been poisoned. Wendy's the only hope she has if we can get her there in time."
Jellal's eyes harden as he connects the dots: that Erza is dying, and that the little girl in his arms is the only hope they have right now. "Where?"
Natsu's mind stutters to a halt as he realizes... he doesn't know where Erza is from here!
The other man must've seen Natsu's panic and known what it meant, since he sighed. But before the blue-haired mage could say anything, Hibiki's voice rang out of thin air. "Natsu!" Natsu fell over as he tried to turn too fast, and Jellal tightened his grip on Wendy, who still hadn't woken.
"Who are you?" Jellal roared. (Instincts of a time long past are hard to break, after all; fighting and curses and spells that can kill with just one hit don't make more a restful sleep, and anything unfamiliar is treated with suspicion and low-level hostility. 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!', Moody roars.)
"Natsu?" Hibiki asked in confusion. He shared a look with Lucy, who looked horrified, surprised, and disbelieving all at once. "Who is that?"
"It's... it's Jellal."
Lucy gasped, hands flying up to her mouth. Hibiki made a strange, choking noise and nearly lost the telepathic connection in his shock. "Jellal Fernandes?" the Blue Pegasus wizard managed to say. "The man who made the Tower of Heaven and destroyed the Magic Council?"
In the forest, Jellal staggered, almost losing his grip on Wendy and sinking to his knees. "What?" he rasped. "I...I did that?"
Natsu glowered darkly at the surrounding trees like they were Hibiki. "That wasn't his fault, jerk!" he yelled. Jellal looked at Natsu, wondering why in the world this stranger (not a stranger, forgotten, someone Jellal knew and trusted even if only a bit in the first category) would defend him if all those terrible words, the accusations, were true. "Erza believed in him, and she's believed that he was alive this whole time! She said he'd been controlled by that councilwoman, U-Ul-"
"Ultear," Lucy supplied, still trying to recover from the shock of discovering that Jellal (Oh God what will Erza think when she wakes up?) was still alive, just like the Titania was always insisting. Erza twitched a little, eyelids fluttering just a little bit. (Even badly poisoned as she was, the Titania hated the mention of Ultear's name; it would be a long, long time before Malkovitch was forgiven, if at all.)
Hibiki was silent, thinking over what Natsu and Lucy were insisting. Then he cleared his throat. "You guys need to hurry. We don't know how much longer Erza can hold on. I'm downloading directions to our locations to your minds." A few taps of fingers and it was done.
Jellal and Natsu could tell that Hibiki had disconnected his telepathy, they couldn't sense him even a little bit. Natsu looked over at the blue-haired wizard and said, "Do you think you can use one of your spells to get there? It'll take me a bit longer, and Erza really needs help." In other words, could Jellal remember how to use specific spells or just lash out like he had at Natsu and Brain in the cave?
Jellal closed his eyes and tried to remember any spells that he might have once had. A spell for going fast? After a few minutes, something clicked in the depths of his mind. A spell of the stars, the speed of a-
"Meteor!"
Natsu jumped back as Jellal blasted off to where Hibiki and Lucy were waiting, surrounded by the familiar golden glow of his magic. "Heh. Guess he can remember spells."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
It was absolutely exhilarating to use the Meteor spell. Jellal couldn't tell exactly what it was, but he loved the felling of the wind in his hair and the thrill of going so fast that his surroundings were nothing but blurs. If Wendy hadn't been in his arms, he would've tried a few tricks.
Wendy stirred in his arms, and Jellal increased his speed. Hopefully, even though so short a time passed since the girl had healed him, Wendy would have the strength and magic energy to heal Erza.
Hibiki and Lucy jerked to attention as a glowing figure skidded to a stop in front of them, Wendy in his arms. Neither Hibiki nor Lucy had seen Jellal in person (only Natsu, Lucy, and Master Makarov had) and they were reminded just why he had been nominated, as Siegrain, as a Ten Wizard Saint. Jellal seemed much more dangerous than he appeared, with a noticeable aura curling around him. Wendy stirred again, and Jellal gently set her down on the grass. He then gripped her shoulders and gently shook her.
"Wendy, wake up," Jellal commanded.
Wendy's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a few times before seeing who was in front of her. The Sky Dragon Slayer let out a short scream and tried to scuttle backwards, but Jellal caught her arms and held her still. "Wendy!" he said a little sharply. "Clam down, no one's going to hurt you." Wendy blinked, mouth open in surprise.
"Wendy!" Lucy called. Wendy looked at the Celestial Spirit Wizard, eyes wide. "Lucy?"
Then the young girl's eyes dropped down to Erza's unmoving form; the glittering, purple poison had already reached down to her hand, and it was obvious that even the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail would not be able to hold out against the snake poison for much longer. "How did Erza get hurt?" Wendy asked in concern.
"She was bitten by Cobra's pet snake," Hibiki said solemnly. Wendy's eyes widened.
"Please, Wendy..." Wendy looked over and saw Jellal, looking more vulnerable than she had ever seen him. "Please save Erza."
After a few seconds of looking uncertainly at Jellal, Wendy nodded. Hands glowing blue with Sky Magic, Wendy knelt at the redhead's side and concentrated on expelling all the venom in the older young woman's system. It only took a few seconds, and when she was done, Wendy turned to the others and wiped a hand across her forehead, giving a smile so that the others wouldn't notice how tired she was. "I got rid of all the venom. Now all we have to do is wait, and she should wake up soon." Everyone gave out yells of happiness, and Jellal laughed in relief.
"Thank you, Wendy."
Natsu finally arrived in the clearing, Happy and Carla unconscious in his arms, and after he set them down gently on the grass, the Dragon Slayer walked over and asked what was going on. Lucy just pointed to Erza's now-healed arm, still too happy for words. Natsu let out a happy shout and high-fived Wendy. "You're awesome, Wendy!"
Then Hibiki and Lucy turned to Jellal, expressions becoming very serious. "Are you going to explain things now, Jellal?" Hibiki asked.
Jellal fidgeted a little, but before he could say anything, Natsu, surprisingly, tells the others what's going on. "Guys, Jellal's lost his memory! And I think we should at least wait until Erza wakes up."
And with that, the small group settled down to wait for the Queen of the Fairies to awaken.
