The Beautiful Thing About Princes and Queens

by Lady Norbert

A/N: Just FYI - I will not be rewriting the entire Edolas arc. I did consider it, but I think it would just take too long, and just rehash things that most of us have already seen/read/known. So there's going to be a timeskip in the near future.

I'm really glad people enjoyed the previous chapter, it was pretty fun to write!

Chapter Five: When I Turn Away

For a few days, he hides from the guild.

Mystogan feels like a colossal fool. His face was completely hidden, as it always is, when he rushed to save Mirajane from her perilous fall. And yet when he stood there afterward, with his guildmates staring at him in perplexity, it was like he had been exposed.

What had possessed him to do such a thing in the first place? Mirajane is an S-Class wizard in her own right. She could almost certainly have found a way to stop herself from falling. Even if she hadn't, the balcony isn't that high, is it? She would have survived the impact.

But he would have had to watch her fall, and then it would have been his burden, knowing that he could have spared her the pain and chose not to do so. No - whatever suspicions it might have awakened in the others, or even in Mirajane herself, he cannot regret his decision.

Still, even having reconciled himself to that, he spends a few days away from the guild, away from most anyone in fact. He haunts the forest beyond the border of Fiore, sleeping in trees and feasting on summer berries. He knows it may well be the last chance he has to do so; he knows what will come before too much longer.

So Wendy Marvell has come to Fairy Tail.

Wendy met Mystogan when he first came to Earth-land, when she was a small girl searching for her missing foster mother. They had traveled together for a time, and then he left her in the care of the guild of Cait Shelter. However, it seems that Cait Shelter was not a true wizarding guild, and following the defeat of Oración Seis, Wendy has been left guildless. At the urging of Erza, she has come home with the rest of the group and taken a place among the Fairy Tail wizards.

Mystogan is of two minds about this. On the one hand, he is delighted to see her. She is safe, and well, and he doesn't doubt that she'll do well in the guild. She, like Natsu, was raised by a dragon who suddenly disappeared; he'll help her fit in.

On the other hand, the fact that she's in Magnolia means that she's in as much danger as the rest of Fairy Tail.

He can almost feel his staves cracking under the strain. Suppressing the Anima is becoming more and more of a struggle as time passes. He can't allow Magnolia - can't allow Fairy Tail - to fall victim to the greed of King Faust. But he's not sure what his options are, either. How can he explain to the guild that he's the prince of a completely different world and their lives are in danger thanks to his father?

Worried and perplexed, he seeks out Porlyusica. Perhaps she can advise him as he so desperately needs to be advised.

Second only to Master Makarov himself, Mystogan admires and respects Porlyusica. The pink-haired sorceress is an enigma, preferring to spend her time alone in her dwelling. He thinks she might be a magic researcher but to be honest, he's never known for certain.

She, for her part, doesn't seem to mind him very much. He isn't entirely sure why. Most humans elicit nothing more than her contempt. One who is ill or injured will find themselves on the receiving end of her prickly compassion, though they would do well to remove themselves from her presence after they recover. For children she has slightly more tolerance. But for reasons that have never made themselves altogether clear, she has never rejected Mystogan's visits.

Nor does she turn him away now. In fact, she seems to have almost been expecting him.

"I see the wind has blown you to my doorstep once again," she says. "I have no apples for you this time, however."

"I did not come seeking apples. I need your wisdom."

She gestures wordlessly for him to enter the house. "Your time is growing short," she says.

"Yes, I -" He blinks. "How did you know that?"

"Makarov has never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Typical." She snorts. "Perhaps he's forgotten, although I sincerely doubt it."

He stares at her, genuinely speechless. She moves through her little tree house with a grace and a quickness which belie her age. "You have a great struggle ahead of you," she says over her shoulder, opening a book and examining something on one of the pages. "I do not envy you, Prince Jellal."

"...you know who I am?"

"I have always known who you are." She closes her book. "I will give you some information that you are going to need in the near future. The time in which you will return to Edolas is close at hand."

"I suspected as much."

"When you arrive, you will find - as you may already have guessed - that some of the people you meet are counterparts to the people you already know here. As far as I can tell, everyone in Edolas has a counterpart in this world. Some are humans, some are not. But they will almost all be completely different from the versions you know here, in one way or another."

Mystogan smiles faintly. "Perhaps when I get there," he says, "I should seek out your counterpart and ask her for help."

"That will not work," she replies. "I'm already here."

There is a pause while he digests what she's saying. "You mean to say that you...?"

"I was born in Edolas, yes. As a young girl, I was brought here by some magical accident - to this day I do not understand how that happened." She glances at him keenly. "I have had many opportunities to return to Edolas, but I have always refused them. I joined Fairy Tail; I set my mind to exploring the wonders of Earth-land. I prefer to be here."

"But then... you have a counterpart here?"

"Grandeeney, the Sky Dragon. She is my other self, as it were."

"Wait, that's -"

"Yes, yes," she says, a touch irritably. "Your little friend Wendy was raised by the Sky Dragon. I know all about that too."

"So how did you know who I am?"

"Partly from Makarov. Partly from my own deductions. Does it matter how I know? I know." She turns around fully, her mouth puckered slightly in apparent distaste. "I also know that your father is a fool and it will fall to you to stop him."

He deflates a little. "I hope I'm strong enough."

"Pfft." She looks out the window. "You've been plenty strong up to this point. Don't think I haven't figured out what's keeping the Anima at bay."

"That's not really me, it's my staves. I don't have magic."

"I'm aware of that. I don't either."

"Right. Sorry."

"Remember what I said - the people you meet in Edolas may look the same as the ones you know here; they may have the same names. But they are not the same. They may not be your friends." She folds her arms. "But they will be your subjects. You are the rightful heir to the throne. Remember that too."

"I'll try." He grimaces beneath the cowl. "I have not been a prince for quite some time."

"Yes, you have. There's a difference between not being a prince and not telling anyone you're a prince. You should go," she adds with an air of indifference. "I'm not sure how long you have. You should say your goodbyes while you can."

"You're right."

He stands, and meets her gaze. Her eyes narrow, and then - with evident reluctance - she sinks briefly into a small curtsey. "Farewell then, Your Highness. You and I will not meet again."

"Farewell, Porlyusica. Thank you for all of your counsel."

"Off with you."

He returns to Magnolia, and instantly, he senses the problem. He has waited too long to come back. The strength of the Anima is vastly outstripping him; if he has an hour, he will be amazed.

I have failed them.

Mystogan is interrupted in his thoughts by the sight of Wendy. He approaches her, revealing himself to be the Jellal she knew some years earlier. The happy reunion is short-lived as he explains that Magnolia is doomed... that Fairy Tail is doomed.

He can't save them all. At least he has time enough to save her. But she will not hear of it; she runs instead toward the guild hall, desperate to save her new friends. He cannot fault the impulse, but he is crushed by the knowledge that even her young life will be forfeit. Even as he chases her, his heart is aching from the futility.

Forgive me. I have failed you, my guild. I would have sacrificed myself to stop this, but I have failed to save even one of you. Forgive me, my family...

A brief image of white hair and blue eyes flashes into his mind, and he swallows a howl of misery.