Author's Note
So um? I went to add this chapter and the story was gONE! I was all like WTF! because I don't remember deleting it... I mean this is my most active story so I don't know what happened and it's bothering me! And no other stories were deleted so it's really weird? And I don't even save my documents onto my computer... they're all on this website so I'm glad the previous chapters are still there (maybe now I'll start using Word instead of Copy and Paste...). Anyway, this chapter isn't good and it really isn't important so you might as well just sKIP IT! If you read it though, thanks. I don't know what I want Jellal to be like... he's OOC as fuck so far, haha. He's had like three different identities in the actual anime and my version of him isn't like any of those three. I'ma toy with his character some more until I figure it out. Enjoy!
They speed through the forest, hopping from tree to tree as fast as they can, all three of them hoping that their legs will be strong enough to propel them until they reach their destination.
At least, Jellal is. His mind is torn between two things- his orb of light and the trees before him. It's his job to make sure no one slams into a tree because they don't notice it until they collide, but the lack of magic makes his body weaker than it already is. The concentration it takes is too much and he can barely pay attention to his movements without the light flickering as if threatening to disappear.
Sweat covers his skin even though they've only been moving this quickly for no more than twenty minutes. Ultear, as usual, is graceful in everything that she does. It looks like she's making no effort, even though she is greatly overpowering her companions as she bounds forward. Meredy struggles almost as much as Jellal does and Jellal has taken to staying to her side since she often slips as if she is going to plummet at any moment.
The movement is subconscious and Jellal doesn't question himself on why, exactly, he is actively trying to protect Meredy until it's too late to play off their proximity on coincidence. She must've been trying to not be obvious with her constant slip-ups because she blushes embarrassingly when she notices Jellal by her side and tries to shake him off to prove she's fine, but she can't.
No matter how taxing, Jellal isn't going to let himself be bested by a girl that's at least four years younger than he is. She has such a baby face, and she's small, but she's so mature and capable that she does leave Jellal wondering.
The two try their best to keep up with Ultear, who does not slow the entire journey even though she carries the heaviest load, and fare well enough. She doesn't stop until they reach the end of the forest, suddenly dropping from the tree she crouched on and landing on the ground with ease. Jellal had not even noticed the edge of the forest until he heard Ultear call out to him, and he jumps out the forest, hurtling towards the hill with a strangled shout. He flails in the air, trying his best to flip to his side and he covers his head with his hands, grimacing as he braces for impact.
Meredy starts to scream his name but her voice is cut off- Ultear probably reminded her that they are only a hundred or so yards from the city. Jellal feels the rush of magic enter his body as the orb dissipates because of his franticness, but his mind can't formulate a spell that would lessen the impact and pain as the distance between him and the ground lessens.
He only hopes that Ultear would be willing to heal any major injuries he might get from his reckless mistake.
Suddenly, his face is buried in dirt and an utter of pain leaves his lips before the impact knocks the wind out of his lungs. The rest of the tumble is significantly less painful since the hills have nothing but soft grass. He lets himself roll to the bottom of the hill, his shock quickly turning into embarrassment as he slows. He stops soon, his body sore and he looks up into the sky, listening to the sound of footsteps drawing near to him.
"Jellal," Meredy loudly says, nearly tripping over herself as she moves quickly down the hill. Ultear follows behind her in a casual jog, a large smile on her face. She doesn't even pretend to be concerned. "Are you okay?"
Jellal sits up with a small wince, and he places his bruising arm on the back of his head, flicking out the blades of grass with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, thanks."
"Is anything broken? Fractured?" Meredy worries, cautiously touching his back and arms, looking at him intently as she waits for a startled yelp.
Jellal shakes his extremities and cocks his head side to side, shaking his head. "No, I'm good."
"How did you even-" Meredy starts, her hands flying into the air before quickly falling back to her sides with a thud. "How?"
"My attention was displaced," Jellal shrugs, letting Meredy pull him up. He winces again and Meredy notices.
"Maybe we should let you rest for a while," Meredy suggests, looking at Ultear for approval.
"We don't have time," Ultear snorts. "He'll have to bear with it."
"Ultear, come on!"
"I'm fine," Jellal says, throwing Ultear a glare before looking more softly at Meredy. "Really, I am. Thanks, though."
Meredy obviously doesn't approve, but she silences herself and sulks as she walks. The city is really more of a town. Groups of cottages form squares, each house sharing a wall with another and no spot of green can be seen within the place. It's all a mixture of drab colors- gray and brown- and Jellal can't imagine wanting to live here.
As they enter the town through a small, dark alleyway between a cottage and a church. Ultear, with a sigh, swings the large knapsack off her shoulder and it falls onto the ground, a cloud of dust and grim rising into the air because of it. She takes out a small makeup kit and a few other things, excusing herself to a small corner of the dead-end where garbage blocks Jellal and Meredy's view of her.
Jellal and Meredy lean against the wall, silent in case someone is close enough to overhear. After a few minutes, Ultear reemerges but as a completely different person.
Thanks to a wig, her hair is now auburn and makeup makes her look two shades lighter. Her lips are ruby red and her cheekbones defined and sharp. She scowls as she tries to loosen the neckline of her shirt- a turtleneck with a cutout that serves anyone willing to look a nice amount of cleavage.
Meredy notices her discomfort, and her eyes dart from side to side before she whispers to Ultear. "I could go this time if you want."
"It's fine," Ultear grumbles.
"Yeah, she loves the chance to play dress-up," Jellal mumbles, pulling himself on top of a window ledge of the church. The stained glass is impossible to see through and it's big enough to fit both him and Meredy, who climbs up after him.
Ultear rolls her eyes, and waves, disappearing out of the alleyway, ready to properly enter the town. From the window ledge, Meredy and Jellal hoist themselves to the top of the building. The church is as squat as every other building here, and it takes no time until they're on the roof, looking over the quiet town from behind one of the church's thick spires.
"Where are we, anyway?" Meredy wonders, her eyes darting over the town until her eyes zone in on a bakery advertisement in the small courtyard in front of the church. "Oh, Dahlia Town! That's a pretty name, don't you think?"
Jellal shrugs, he doesn't care. Dahlia Town is quiet- he can see nobody within his range of sight, even at the cluster of shops at the far side of town. For a moment, he thinks that maybe this is some sort of worship day, but when he listens as closely as he can, he realizes that even the church below him is quiet.
"Hey, do you want to check this church out?" He asks Meredy.
"What if someone's in there?"
"I doubt there is."
"Ultear might get mad."
"I don't care."
Meredy remains hesitant, her eyes warily peering over the edge of the church roof. Jellal shrugs- it's not as if he expected her to join him, but he didn't want to leave unannounced- and skids down the roof until he reaches the edge. "Well, I'm going."
Shakily, he leans over the edge, tucking his feet in the drain running along the roof before hanging the rest of him off it to peak into the large window in the center of the church, just above the door. The room is dim, the window its only source of light, and full of books and tables that make Jellal wonder if this is actually a library. The room's emptiness further convinces him that this is a ghost town, and she flips off the room, managing to land on his feet but his body shudders with a mild pain as if to remind Jellal of the accident he just had.
Jellal looks around him one more time before pushing open the doors of the church.
They arrive at the beach just as stars start to decorate the sky, the sunset's oranges and pink disappearing as quickly as the sun. Juvia and her team quickly rent a nice shack right on the beach before Team Natsu has the chance to, so instead, they find a cheap motel to stay in.
Lucy and Erza buy the nicest room for themselves, something that Gray has a large issue with, with the reasoning that the Natsu would just trash it and Gray couldn't have it because then Natsu would definitely trash it, so the two boys storm off somewhere together before splitting up because they already couldn't stand each other's company. When Lucy tells Jellal what his room number is, he briskly thanks her and leaves the hotel. The girls turn in for the night so they'll be super energized for training the next day after wishing Jellal an enjoyable time in whatever endeavor he was leaving for.
He's going to the beach.
It's only a five-minute walk away, if even, and there are still people splashing in the water when he arrives. It's not until his feet are in the sand that he realizes that he's not in what's considered beach attire, but it's not like he has any anyway. So, he sits down just above the wet sand so that the water won't drench his bottom when the waves desperately try to engulf the land.
He idly sits with his legs outstretched so the water can barely reach the heels of his feet, his mind wandering to other things.
His to-do list. Fairy Tail is apparently bad at planning, for he can't support himself and doubts he could ever find himself a job on his own. He's still in the surprisingly quite stylish jail suit he left in, its bland white cotton decorated with bright red patterns- a sign to everyone that he's dangerous. They fit him well, and his shoes are comfy, so he's never bothered to complain. Another outfit would be nice, though.
And with this new training thing, he certainly won't be able to get any money for himself (without stealing, which is bad) and Erza had mentioned that her team's funds are a little tight. With a long exhale, he scoots farther back so they warm water can no longer reach him, and stares at the sand.
After a few seconds, he digs his hand in the sand, molding it into something he hopes looks like a castle- it gets even harder to tell as the sun sets further- using his finger to carve out little doors and windows on the small structure, digging a small moat around it with a small smile on his face.
He's never done this before, but when he sits back and tries his hardest to admire his work, he thinks he fared reasonably. Mentally declaring the pathetic thing Jellal's Kingdom in a rare moment of inspiration, he stands up and wipes the sand off his body, washing his feet in the ocean before putting his shoes back on and heading back to the motel.
Upon arriving at his room, he removes the key Erza had handed him before from his pocket, unlocking the door with a small sigh. He nudges the door open, surprised to find the light still on until he figures out why.
Natsu is laying on the bed, his legs sprawled across the large mattress so that no one else could comfortably sleep without crushing one of his limbs. And though his eyes are tightly shut, too tightly, Jellal knows he's awake because Gray is looking at them both with a confused expression.
"He just collapsed," Gray says, shaking his head at the dragon slayer. A magazine is in his hands, his clothes discarded on the floor, and Jellal doesn't take the time to answer. He slams the door shut and sighs again, and drags himself up another flight of stairs to another door.
He softly knocks, praying that someone will be awake, and within a moment he hears the soft pattering of feet through the thin walls before the door swings open.
The first thing Jellal notices is that Lucy is not a pretty sleeper. He golden locks all point in a different direction, with some hair glued to her face by dribble and the rest by sweat. Her shirt, which was perfectly ironed earlier, is crumbled and wrinkled, with one side of it hiked up to her mid stomach. She had exchanged her skirt for a comfy pair of shorts, which are the only thing in shape.
Her dull eyes barely Jellal and she mumbles what must be a greeting before beckoning him inside. Erza snores on the sofa in the corner of the motel room, and Lucy has taken the bed, the sheets half on the floor and the back of the bed like she has been spending the night kicking the cover off her bed. When her eyes lock on the bed, she completely forgets Jellal and shuffles towards it with a few more incoherent mumblings before falling back asleep the moment her head hits the pillow. Jellal silently picks up the discarded blankets and quickly creates a pallet in the back corner of the room, stealing the cleanest of Lucy's pillows.
And then, he too went to sleep.
Author's Note
This chapter sucks. Oh well, training in the next chapter!