Hi all, sorry for the late update. Things I've learned from this semester: never try to balance two jobs and five classes. It does not help your sanity. On the bright side, I surprisingly got decent grades and now it's suddenly Christmas! So here's a new chapter as a present XD
I'm just finishing up a submission (that is very late) for Jerza Love Fest. It shall be multi chaptered and chalk full of lemony goodness – so keep an eye out for it!
Thanks y'all,
~TortoisLume
Jellal stood on the balcony he'd propelled Erza from, looking out over the ocean. The balcony itself was a replica of the one two buildings over that he and Erza had used to sneak onto the high ranked guard's porch. He felt forlorn, unsure of his rash decision. What if I never see her again? He wondered to himself. He felt very uneasy at the idea, and suddenly tempted to scour the ocean for the redhead.
You are the one who controls both your fates. If she is your sacrifice for my body, after I have drained her lifeforce for my reawakening, she will be born anew, and this time she will be completely compliant to you. Isn't that what you want? Zeref's voice echoed in his head.
Jellal imagined Erza doing anything he asked of her. She would stay with him at the most casual utterance of a word. She would go along with whatever he wanted. He would never have to worry about her betraying or not loving him. She would never talk about Simon again...I could make it so that she never talks to him again, ever. Jellal felt excited at the idea, imagining all the things that he could do. I'd be able to touch her...anywhere. He zoned out, absorbed in the thought for awhile until Zeref forced him out of it. You must go to your workers now. Explain to them the situation. We have the means to gain their trust. Just make Erza the villain.
Jellal hesitated. He mulled it over and over in his head, but couldn't think of a single alternative way to explain the situation to the others without them turning on him like Erza had. He went over scenario after scenario, but knowing his friends' personalities and the prisoners' mindsets, his options looked limited. I need incentive for them to stay...How can I communicate to them the paradise we can obtain here?
He began walking towards the docks at the opposite end of the tower. On his way out, he made sure that there were no surviving cultists, killing a few as he passed them. Such acts didn't faze him, but he felt antsy about convincing his comrades. Zeref quelled the nervousness rising in his stomach. Don't worry, you'll find that I can be very helpful in persuading people.
When he reached the boats ready to set sail, he called out, amplifying his voice. "ALL WORKERS! PLEASE GET OFF THE BOATS IMMEDIATELY! YOU ARE IN DANGER!" He called out to them. There were sounds of confusion at what he said. He heard one of his friends yell his name.
"PLEASE! I IMPLORE YOU!" He cried out. He wasn't himself sure where these words were coming from. Zeref had taken the reins on his body.
The prisoners began leaving the ships, shrugging amongst each other. "HURRY! THOSE SHIPS ARE GOING TO BLOW!" The prisoners moved faster, and Jellal felt an unprecedented amount of magical energy begin to gather in his body.
Just as the last non-believing stragglers were getting off, Jellal felt his hand hide from the others' line of sight behind a rock, and let the magical energy burst forth towards the ships.
All of them exploded instantly in giants bursts of flames. A few prisoners hadn't yet left the ships, and fell burning into the water. It has to look realistic. Jellal faced the crowd that now stood in front of him, looking up at him in awe.
"How...how did you know that was gonna happen?" One of the men spoke. "I…" He felt his face drop into an expression of sadness. "I knew because we were betrayed by one of our own." The people gasped. "Jellal!" He heard Sho's voice, and looked up at his friends making their way towards him. "Jellal! What happened? Where's Erza?" He asked as he approached him.
Jellal gave his friends a grave look. "Erza…" He looked away, not meeting their eyes. "Erza went insane. Her...her magic took over and she started acting crazy. I think coming back to the room where she was tortured set it off." He felt tears beginning to brim in his eyes and slowly roll down his face. Strange. He thought. Lying never felt so natural before.
He heard the disbelieving gasps from those in front of him. He continued staring down, watching as his tears fell to the rocks at his feet. "She's the one that rigged the boats" He whispered. "She tried to kill me too. I...I only lucked out in escaping." He looked up at his friends, his vision blurry through the tears. Please, please believe me.
When he wiped his eyes, he saw his friends staring at him with a mixture of shock, horror, and pity. Then Simon spoke up. "I don't believe you." Jellal looked at him, careful to not let his irritation show on his face. "I understand...it sounds ridiculous, even to me...I just...I just don't know what to do." He broke down crying again. "The...the only reason I escaped was because the wizard – the one they'd been trying to resurrect – bound himself to me. He saved me from Erza." His friends all looked at him strangely, and Jellal felt Zeref exude more magic. It felt more subtle this time, like steam wafting off of him. The power of affluence.
He looked up and spoke to the crowd. "The great wizard, Zeref, reached out to me. His spirit was trapped here, and it seems he never wanted those cultists to try to resurrect him. He reached out to me because he thought we should the ones to bring him back. In reward, he said he would grant us domain over heaven. He would rid the world of evildoers like our captors, and would let us choose how things should be done. We'd have justice...and most importantly, we'd have freedom." Before today Jellal would have never thought that such a speech could convince the workers at the Tower of Heaven, but Zeref's powers and planning had put him in control, and he definitely liked it.
All the former prisoners cheered with joy, fully convinced by his rhetoric. He stared tearfully at his friends, who all looked at him in awe. All, that is, other than Simon. He was frowning, looking skeptical. It seems he won't stop being a pain in my ass.
After a lot of talking and answering questions, the large group of people entered the tower again. Jellal told everyone to find a room they liked and take it. They would be able to customize them when they had a mode of transportation and more supplies.
Jellal had come up with a plan to ambush the next set of boats that would come to the tower with supplies. They would kill those aboard and take everything for themselves. After dismissing everyone, Jellal decided to take a good look around. Most of the workers had run off to find and pillage the kitchens.
He let Zeref take full control of his mind, and found himself roaming up and up and up stairs. Stairs he had never seen, nor knew existed. Up at the top of what was built of the tower was what had been the higher-ups bedrooms. Jellal's feet dragged him to a door, gilded in intricate carvings and lavish gold decorations. His hands reached out, and Zeref's magic unlocked and opened the door with a soft click.
Inside the walls were lined by endless shelves, all stuffed to the brim with books. The center of the room hosted a tall dais, with a large desk in the middle covered in books and scrolls. He walked to the top of the dais and looked at what was there.
What must be the blueprints for the Tower of Heaven were laid out. Jellal looked at them closely. Though his mother had taught him some reading skills, it had been a very long time since he'd had words to look at. He squinted, wishing he could understand them better.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the words instantly started making sense. Goodness, Zeref's powers can do anything. He thought. I told you, I will make your dreams come true. I will give you unlimited power.
Jellal read the blueprints thoroughly. He would have to go over the tower tomorrow to make sure that those cultists had been doing everything according to this sheet. Once he was done, he looked through some of the books on the shelves. One with a cover of two strangely entangled bodies caught his eye. Sex and Power it was titled. He grabbed it quickly and walked towards a door to his right. Opening it, he found the master bedroom he'd sensed was there. He walked in and shut the door behind him.
The room was ornate, to say the least, with murals and pictures surrounding the large bed. Jellal lay down on immediately, relishing the feel of such a soft bed after countless nights on the hard cold stone floor. He closed his eyes and thought of Erza. He looked at the book in his hand. He'd grabbed it because it had reminded him of the position they'd been in on the balcony, all those weeks ago...or had it been months? Years? Jellal's memory of time passing had been hazy throughout his stay here. Tomorrow, I'll look for a calendar.
He cracked open the book. His eyebrows raised at the illustrations depicted; pictures of people entwined together in various ways. They didn't wear clothes, and this made Jellal curious. He began to read a chapter titled Sexual Ownership. It showed a woman tied down and gagged with a man on top of her. The text was all about how the female body contained something called a hymen, which was a symbol for her ownership. One could only gain ownership through taking a female's first sexual experience. Jellal flipped to the next page and saw a diagram of male and female genitalia interacting. His eyes grew wide. Apparently women have a hole for the male penis to go in…
He began to imagine what Erza's hole might look like, and found his penis tingle at the idea. Afraid that Zeref's presence might appear in his mind at any moment, he quickly slipped the book under the bed and wrapped himself in the covers, trying not to think about the redhead he already missed. He felt angry tear well up in his eyes, these ones genuine, and buried his face into his pillow. He hated that she had just left like that. She could have stayed, and she didn't. Sure, he'd been the one to send her away, but that was completely avoidable on her part.
Consumed in his conflicting thoughts, Jellal assured himself that he would have ownership over Erza some day – just like the book said. Comforting himself with this thought, Jellal drifted off to sleep in the coziest bed he'd ever lain in.
He awoke the next morning at dawn, long before anyone else in the tower was awake. Feeling Zeref's presence cognizant within him, he allowed the wizard to navigate his body as he liked. His feet took him to the docks, where wreckage from the ships yesterday was still strewn across the beach.
He walked to the end and waited, noticing a boat rounding the corner of the island. It's time you meet one of my most dedicated followers. Zeref spoke in his head. She will be very useful to you, I am sure.
Jellal looked with trepidation as the boat got closer. He wondered briefly how anyone had managed to sail out so far in such a small boat, but the thought left his head as soon as it had entered. The girl aboard the boat threw out a rope and anchored it to the dock. She stepped off and faced Jellal, her eyes smiling.
She looked to be about three or four years older than him, with bangs cut straight across her head, her purple-black hair drawn up in two pigtails. She kneeled before him. "Hello Jellal." She stated, and he felt surprised that she knew his name. "I am Ultear. It is pleasing to make your acquaintance." She spoke, raising from her kneeling position to look him in the eyes. "I am a devout servant of Zeref. I will do whatever is necessary to bring about his resurrection, which means I will do all I can to help you, Jellal-sama." She bowed her head to him in respect.
Jellal got over his shock quickly. "In what ways can you help me?" He asked. Curious. I'm not suspicious of her at all. She must truly be trusted by Zeref.
Ultear smiled slightly. "You'll find I am very knowledgeable, and more importantly, I have connections that you will need as we bring Zeref's plan, your plan, to fruition." Jellal nodded. "I see." "As of now, your innate power is great, but you lack fundamental magical knowledge. Also, it wouldn't hurt to give your magic a little boost, so to speak…" She trailed off, smirking to herself. "Just what exactly are you getting at?" Jellal asked. He didn't appreciate being left in the dark. "Here" She said, picking up a book from the boat and handing it to him. He looked down at the cover. Thought Projection and Other Hologram Magics it read. "You're going to need to learn how to create a thought projection as soon as possible so that you can travel elsewhere while keeping an eye on things here." She fished out another item from the boat, a pair of glasses. "These will help you read faster, and trust me, you're going to be doing a lot of reading."
With that, she hopped back onto the boat and looked up at him. "I'm leaving for now. I'll be back in a week. You must learn to use a thought projection by then. After that…" She smirked again. "We'll take you to the Bureau of Magical Development." With that, she set off towards the horizon and the rising sun.
Jellal walked back to the tower, unsure of what to think. It felt as though she understood things about Zeref that he didn't, and it irked him. Relax. Zeref's voice echoed. She is but a pawn in the game of my reawakening. You will need to use her to achieve greatness.
Feeling reassured, Jellal entered the tower as the first few workers woke up. Stretching his arms in the air, he prepared for his first day ruling over the Tower of Heaven.