Chapter 3
(Mason's pov)
'I don't remember it too well, the day everything changed in the tower, but as I recall the story goes'.
"Hey Creep!" The young boy named Simon shouted to me. After the group of children got my attention Jellal informed me on an escape plan. "If we dig a tunnel here we'll be able to escape, and none of the guards would be able to catch us. Its perfect!" He was extremely excited at the thought of escaping, he really didn't think things through carefully, but at the time I regretfully informed you that I was of little help. "I don't know Jellal, I'm not sure it's the best idea". "Mason you don't understand how close we are to freedom, but I need your help if we're going to do this". Pleaded the blue haired boy. "Just leave him". Said Simon. "He would probably just slow us down" "Simon!" Yelled Erza. "Why are you so mean to him, has he ever done anything to you". "I just don't like him, or trust him".
While the two of them argued, Jellal continued to plead with me to help with their escape plan, and eventually I agreed. We worked tirelessly on digging the whole and it had successfully breached an opening on the other side.
However the it wasn't an exit, it was a trap. We were still in the tower surrounded by guards, and they demanded to know who was responsible so that they could be punished. Jellal bravely stood up and took the blame for what would turn out to be shu's mistake. The guards however, did not believe Jellal and chose to wrongly punish Erza while the rest of us were taken back to a new cell. With the exception of Jellal who had escaped the guards grasp and ran after Erza, and that was the last time I would ever see that Jellal.
Awhile later they would return Erza, surprisingly still breathing, but Jellal was not with her. It was apparent that they had chosen to punish Jellal instead of Erza, but the guilt had gotten to Shu and he broke down crying. We tried our best to comfort the boy, but it was no use. I feared for the worst, until Erza grabbed one of the guards weapons and blasted him, and told each of us in order to live we would have to fight. That was the first time In years I remember smiling.
I had picked up one of the guards weapons and used it to remove my wrist restraints. I felt my strength coming back almost immediately, however not a whole lot. It had been at least a month since I recharged my magic reserves, and starving myself for the first few days really didn't help maintain energy. I was running pretty close to empty. Luckily I could manage basic telekinesis, and levitation, so I was able to knock around the guards pretty effectively.
For many of my "friends" it was there first time seeing magic being used, so they were almost in awe of my most basic abilities. Occasionally Wally would yell to me "make a huge explosion!" Or "Can you shoot lasers from your eyes?" Even though I couldn't comply with his request, the attention was still nice. Dealing with those guards wasn't too easy, especially since the month in a prison cell didn't help my agility much, so dodging the guards was much more difficult than I had expected. The real problem was the sheer number of enemies.
When I regrouped with the other kids they were having a conversation. "You don't have a crush on Jellal, do ya". Simon asked this of Erza. "Why would you ask me something like that". was Erza's response. "What are you guys talking about". I asked not knowing what a "crush" meant. "There he is, Magic Man". Wally said this to me. "You were like blow, blow to all those guards. Guess he is a super strong wizard, huh Simon. You owe me 5 jewel". He continued, but before Simon could tell him to shut up I smelled something."Magic soldiers!" shrieked Shu, confirming my suspicions. An army of flying skeletal monster appeared from the sky, and my fellow freedom fighters were quaking in their boots. Fortunately for me these magic soldiers are essentially souls that are charged with a bit of magic power. I levitate up towards one of the soldiers and use my dragon slayer ability to completely consume the soldier, and I immediately felt the energy surge throughout my entire body. It didn't fill the whole tank but it would work for now, and I then said probably the cheesiest thing anyone had ever said. "Hell Yeah!".
(3rd person POV)
"PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!" Screamed Mason, as he thrusters his arm forward and a purple ball of energy flew from his palm into the target magic soldier, destroying it completely. "Awesome!" Yelled an enthusiastic Wally. The young dragon slayer took care of 3 more of the ghouls in a similar fashion before he realized he and his friends might be overwhelmed, and decided to mix things up again. He took a deep breath before. "PHANTOM DRAGON ROAR!" Multiple purple ghosts made of kinetic energy erupted from his mouth in a spread shot formation. Each individual ghost hit a soldier and detonated resulting in 30 or so soldiers being removed from the battlefield. This gave our young heroes a brief window of breathing room. The relief ended shortly when Simon announced "I can't find Erza".
It was true Erza had continued on to find Jellal, if only she had known that her dear friend was already too far gone.
"Who are you". Asked the young blue haired boy. "I am the god worshipped by these fools, your hatred has allowed you to see me." The young boy began to smile a crooked grin as he listened to the promises of the "god" in his presence.
Erza found herself hopelessly surrounded by the magic soldiers preparing to fire. Unable to defend against the magic attack Erza braces for the impact, but it never comes. She looks up to find the elder Rob defending her. The light from the explosion illuminated the mark of Rob's old guild tattooed on his back, an image the young Erza would never forget. The redhead screams for her good friends, unfortunately her cries would go unanswered as the life fled from the old man's body. This greatly saddened the entire group of children, even young Mason who had only just met him recently. The one who was affected the greatest was Erza, in fact the emotional Impact on the young girl was so great that it awakened something in her. A power that was hidden to even her, a great wellspring of magic energy. The only one who fully grasped the amount of energy was the white haired dragon slayer who looked on wide eyed in awe.
The red magic circle under Erza's feet caused swords spears, and various other weapons to levitate upwards. She then fired them at her enemies, and once they were defeated she continued her way towards the young Jellal. Meanwhile Mason continued to stand there speechless until Millianna alerted the crew of more magic soldiers, that he would have to deal with.
Erza found her old comrade still chained to his pillar. She unhooked him, and began to carry him towards the exit. "We did it Jellal. We fought for our freedom and won, we can go home". Erza said this proudly to her friend. It took a while for Jellal to respond but when he did. "Go home?" He questioned. "We can't go home, we have to stay and finish the tower. If we do, Lord Zeref promised we'd all go to heaven". Jellal's words confused Erza she couldn't understand why he wouldn't want to leave. "What are you talking about Jellal! We fought so hard so that we could leave. Grandpa Rob died so that we could leave, and have our freedom." The girl argued. "I can't stay here, and work for you. I won't! Neither will the others." Erza defended her claim. "They will if I tell them of Zeref's promise, as for you if you'd rather be free then go to heaven then you can leave." Jellal tossed Erza on the floor in the room where Rob had just died. "But wait, I can't have you telling anyone about the tower. I should probably just kill you now!" Jellal said this then immediately began suffocating his old friend with telekinetic magic. Erza could feel the life leaving her body until. "...SHOT!" Mason shouted this as he fired a purple energy ball into Jellal knocking him over and freeing Erza from his grip. "Run Erza!" Mason told her as he began to engage Jellal. The redhead stared at her savior but the moment was ruined when he again shouted. "NOW!" Getting the message Erza stood up and made a Beeline to the guards boats. Mason meanwhile was getting ready to fight his once good friend. Purple energy charged into his fist as he charged towards Jellal. "PHANTOM DRAGON'S…" Realizing that the dragon slayer was going for a punch, his opponent crossed his arms protecting his face, and torso. But Mason disappeared before making contact with Jellal, the blue haired boy was to confused to react to Mason who re-appeared in Jellal's blind spot and struck the side of his torso right below the ribs then finishing his attack. "...VANISHING FIST!" Jellal had collapsed due to the damage on his still weak body, only just gaining magic abilities. Mason readied one last energy attack preparing to finish the fight, but he immediately stopped and his eyes widened he and the energy ball had dissipated. This was Mason's first real fight that wasn't training, so he forgot to pay attention to his remaining magic power, which was depleted completely. He desperately searched for a remaining magic soldier, which luckily he found. He dropped his guard to eat and even though his energy was replenished, his reflexes weren't quick enough to dodge a blast from a magic spear rendering the dragon slayer unconscious.
He later woke up in a jail cell with another set of magic inhibitors on his wrist, and his entire body ached. He sat alone in his cell regretting his own stupidity in battle, and imagining how badly his mentor would punish him for his mistakes. He did sit alone for too long, within the hour he was visited by his previous foe. "Hehehe. Look who's back in his cage, but then again that is where animals belong" his mocking tone quickly turned to anger, but Mason remained silent. "I hate to do this Mason, but you betrayed me, and I need to set an example for those who decide to betray me." Telekinetic magic began to choke Mason. In an attempt to save his own life he made a deal that would help to doom the world. "W-wait!" He cried out whilst his windpipe was being crushed. "You need me alive. I-I can teach you how to use magic!" Mason screamed desperately. After a few seconds Jellal released his grip. Then with a twisted smile he said. "I'm listening".
***Author's Notes***
Whoop we finally got some combat, which I like to think I'm better at writing. Next chapter I'm gonna start doing time skips. And I just wanna know does anybody actually like this cause I kinda do.