After just over a month...it's back. :)
Sooo sorry to keep you folks waiting for so long. Not gonna bother giving excuses, just go ahead and enjoy the chapter. :D
Thanks again to all fellow readers and writers for their constructive and pleasant feedback, be it questions, concerns, rants, or praises!
Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, I would not have had the stupid cliffhanger at the end of Cahpter 297 (Then again maybe I would have).
Natsu was feeling extremely irritated.
Truth be told, he had felt excited at the prospect of training alone. Sure, he was initially bummed that Gray turned down his offer to train with him, but he had realized later that some solo practice would be good, considering that he wanted to impress everyone, particularly a certain blonde Celestial mage, with his prowess in his Lightning magic in conjunction with his usual Fire Dragon Slayer Magic at the Grand Magic Games.
And having Erza come along was ruining that glorious proposition. She wouldn't even take a challenge from him for a serious fight!
"How long are we gonna walk? Are we looking for something?" Natsu asked Erza as they walked in the deep, dark thickets of Worth Woodsea.
"No, we're not looking for anything specific…maybe a nice spacious clearing, where we could train." Erza responded in her usual calm and authoritative manner.
"Are you kidding me? Why didn't we just camp out in the open fields?" Natsu asked disbelievingly.
"Well…I felt that it would be better for us to train in here…this place has that awful feeling of familiarity…a feeling I'd like to exploit. Perhaps we can root ourselves in this feeling and attain better motivation for our training." Erza said, before turning to him and glaring daggers, "So get serious. No fooling around!"
"Allright, I got it!" Natsu said, raising his hands, clearly frightened by Erza and her classic Titania grace. "I don't get what you said, but duh this place seems familiar; we beat the hell out of Oracion Seis here." Natsu said.
"Yes, but I'm referring to something else…" Erza said, trailing off into her thoughts.
"Whatever, Erza. If it's a clearing you want it's a clearing you'll GET!" Natsu said, swinging his arms around him as he conjured flames.
"Wait, hold on!" Erza yelled.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Natsu bellowed as his flames engulfed all of the trees in the vicinity, creating a massive fireball explosion. Unexpectedly, though, a stranger's voice suddenly rent the air and could be heard over the roar of the flames.
"Damn it!"
Natsu turned towards the direction of the voice and clenched his fists. "Who said that?" He called out warningly.
Once the dust cleared, Natsu, while still remaining on full alert, raked his eyes over the scene and admired his handiwork. He had done his best to concentrate the heavy fire of his attack above ground so that the earth wouldn't be damaged. He smiled inwardly, feeling content with his progress on controlling his power. Just then, he felt a heavy fist collide with the top of his head, causing him to squeal and grasp at his head.
"YOU FOOL! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Erza screamed and grabbed his ear.
"I'm…sorry…" Natsu said as he blinked back tears of pain and prepared to retort when the strange voice called again, only this time, it sounded questioning.
"Erza?"
"Who's there?" Natsu got in his defensive stance and looked around.
"Jellal?" Erza said disbelievingly. Natsu turned to Erza and followed her line of sight.
And indeed, just a couple of meters ahead of them, stood the blue-haired mage. He was wearing a black cloak over what appeared to be custom-made armor. Some of his cloak appeared to be scorched off.
"Erza. And Natsu as well." Jellal said, smiling.
"Yo, Jellal! You're looking well!" Natsu said cheerily.
"Well…most of me," Jellal said, lifting off his cloak to inspect the singed hems, which were still smoking, "Though I must say, your magic's looking quite as extraordinary as over, Natsu. I barely managed to get away from that…whatever that attack was."
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Natsu said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "Erza here wanted a some training space so I thought, what the heck, and tried make some…Erza?"
Erza had a frozen look in her eyes and she slowly stepped towards Jellal. "Jellal…"
"Your eyes are not deceiving you, Erza. It's really me." Jellal said softly. "I'm so glad to see that you're alive and well…you look more beautiful than ever."
Erza smiled as she blinked back tears of joy. "Jellal…I never thought I'd see you again."
Natsu looked between the two. He didn't understand what was going on, but felt left out.
"So anyways," Natsu breaking the two out of their trance with a jolt, "what are you up to now, Jellal? Last I've heard, you broke out of jail."
"Oh, right." Jellal regained his composure, "To be more accurate, Ultear and Meredy broke me out of jail."
"Oh yeah, I've heard that too. Where are they?" Natsu said, looking over Jellal's shoulder and into the woods behind him.
"We decided to split up briefly, as part of our routine as a guild." Jellal said, taking note of Natsu's and Erza's looks of confusion.
"Guild?" Erza said.
"Right." Jellal took a deep breath. "It's long story."
Gray awoke to an absolutely wonderful aroma that filled him with intense, heartbreaking nostalgia. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the wood of what he supposed was a ceiling. He noted that he was feeling extremely warm and comfortable. Gray tilted his head sideways, facing the window, and observed as a snowstorm roared along outside.
'Back in the house, I guess.' He thought tiredly. He suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath from his left. Startled, he turned.
To his shock, he saw Ul, his teacher, sleeping soundly right beside him. She lay on his bed facing him, her hand over his on his chest.
"Ul!" Gray cried out with happiness, bolting upright and grabbing her shoulders, trying to shake her. Ultear's eyes fluttered open. Gray was suddenly hit with a pang of pain on his abdomen and winced, putting his hands over the offending body part.
"Gray! Don't move too much, you might reopen it!" Ultear called out and she grabbed his shoulders.
"Reopen…wha…?" Gray breathed out in confusion, before remembering. Right, he had gotten this serious wound, and was bleeding out before Ul saved him…
"Come on, lay back down. Slowly, now." Ultear said soothingly as she lowered him back into his laying position.
"How…how are you here?" Gray asked, still staring at her.
Ultear's eyes softened as they looked back into his. "I'm…I'm not Ul, Gray. It's me, Ultear." She said, feeling nervous about his response.
His eyes widened in shock, then hardened instantly as he remembered his fight with her. Suddenly, it all clicked. She had given him that wound. And she had saved him. "W-what happened? Why didn't you kill me?"
Ultear looked down at her lap. She then got off the bed and sat in the chair next to him. "I couldn't…I just couldn't…not after I heard you call my mother's name." She said finally.
"Oh." Gray responded after a while.
"I'm sorry." Gray and Ultear said simultaneously, at last.
Both of their eyes widened as they looked at each other.
"You…what are you apologizing for?" Ultear asked, curious. She was reminded of his constant streams of apologies as he was bleeding out.
"I…uh," Gray looking to the side embarrassedly, "For attacking you so suddenly. I just wanted you to stay for a bit and talk, and you were just…cold shouldering me. It annoyed me. So I did the only thing that came to mind in making you stay…and used my Ice Cage." Gray closed his eyes. "I know it was wrong, and I'm sorry for that…I probably made you think I meant to capture you, considering your extreme self-defense."
Ultear let this sink in. She was cold-shouldering him? What on earth gave him that idea? And with that last part…he never meant to have her arrested? She felt her spirits soar at the thought.
Gray held in his breath as he waited for her response.
"So you weren't trying to capture Meredy and I?" Ultear asked, feeling elated.
"No. I just wanted to talk to you more." Gray asked. Meredy's name being brought up reminded him of someone else.
"Juvia! Where's Juvia!?" He asked frantically, trying to sit up again, only to have Ultear's hands gently hold his shoulders down.
"She's fine, she's just asleep over there." Ultear said, gesturing to her bed on the other side of the room, where the water mage lay sleeping peacefully.
Gray's eyes filled with regret as he stared at Juvia. "I'm so sorry, Juvia." He whispered.
Gray felt disgusted with himself. Not only had he was quick to resort to violence just because he felt agitated at someone he should be considering family, he had also knocked out his most loyal comrade out of poor judgement, thinking he could take down Ultear easily. "Damn it." He said, feeling his throat constrict. A gap in strength was one barrier to overcome, but now his temper and battle judgement were in question too?
"Look, I'm sorry too. Don't be hard on yourself, now." Ultear said. She was finding it hard to believe that this was the same man who had saved her from her darkness all this time. Here he was, going through an internal conflict of his own. A subject change was in need.
"I'm sorry for trying to kill you, Gray. I'm sorry about…this." She said, looking at his injury. "I've put an ice brace to stop the bleeding, but it seems you'll need a doctor to look it over further…and we won't be able to get one in this storm."
"It's nothing, I'm OK. The cuts I gave myself when fighting you on Tenrou were deeper than this, and I made it out…I can wait." Gray said, sighing deeply.
"How about we start over?" Ultear asked.
Gray looked at her and drank in her appearance for the first time. She was still beautiful as when he had met her on Tenrou Island. Seven years really hadn't done anything to her. If anything, she looked more like Ul than ever, which was quite fitting, considering how she had changed for the better.
Ultear chuckled as he ogled at her. "What?" She asked innocently.
That broke him out of his thoughts. "Er-nothing. Yeah, let's start over…it's good to see you, Ultear," Gray said, smiling.
Ultear returned the smile. "You too. You have no idea…how happy I was to hear you were alive."
"Funny, seeing as you were fighting to kill me a few…hours ago?" He joked, posing the last part of his statement as a question as he had no idea how much time had passed.
Ultear's smile disappeared, leaving a somber expression in its wake. "Yes, it's been a few hours…It was just…I could not risk the safety of Meredy and I if you were to report us to the Magic Council. We would have probably been imprisoned for our crimes…we had to continue living, it was our duty. I thought that the best way to do that was to eliminate you as a threat. So I put aside all of my feelings, as I've done many times…and set my mind on doing what I had to."
"Well, I'm not a threat…even if I wanted to be. What's this about a duty?" Gray asked.
Ultear weighed her options. She felt an instinctual desire to confide in Gray, almost as if bonds of kinship demanded it. It might have gone against what Jellal had planned, but she felt that she owed Gray an explanation, given that he did save her.
"My guild oath…it's my duty to ensure I do all I possibly can to atone for my crimes. Seeing death as a punishment is the coward's way out. We will stand up and live on. That is the only path to redemption. That is what it means to be a Crime Sorciere mage." Ultear said proudly, sitting straight.
"Crime…Sorciere?" Gray asked, confused. "How did you join a guild? Aren't you a fugitive?"
"It's a guild I co-founded with Meredy and Jellal." Ultear responded.
"Jellal! So you are with him!" Gray exclaimed.
"Yeah, I am. We're an independent guild; we seek to eliminate all dark guilds…as well as do what we can to destroy the source and inspiration for dark magic as a whole." Ultear said.
"Wait, though…why isn't he with you and Meredy right now?" Gray asked.
"Our guild takes short leaves for a while…we are all hunted by the Magic Council, as we generally leave a good trail to follow. Splitting up makes it looks like we are continuously losing focus and lacking unity, which is very typical of independent guilds." Ultear said.
"Food is ready, Ul!" Meredy's voice suddenly called out from the kitchen.
"Wait a second, I'll bring it here." Ultear said, getting up from her chair. Gray nodded, and she left the room.
"That sounds AWESOME!" Natsu said excitedly, after Jellal had finished his explanation.
"Indeed. Your guild's aims are worthy and honorable." Erza said. "I'm glad you were able to find meaning with life."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Jellal said. "I usually don't get compliments on my guild's work, but you can imagine why."
"I…have something to ask you, Jellal." Erza said, her voice suddenly serious. "Did you make any progress on recovering your memories?"
Jellal looked down at the ground, a look of sorrow crossing his face. "Yes. Every last one of them."
"So…about Simon…" Erza began but trailed.
"Yes, I killed him." Jellal said morosely.
The three were quiet for several minutes, with Erza and Natsu completely unsure of what to say.
"I know that my duty is to live to fight a better day for everyone else, and I will see through to that. I assure you." Jellal said seriously, his face looking determined.
Erza smiled again, feeling her heart swell with happiness. That was the Jellal she had remembered many, many years ago, back during their childhood days at the Tower of Heaven. That was the Jellal who was determined to protect and save his friends. That was the Jellal she had loved.
"Now I think I should be asking some questions." Jellal said, feeling much more at ease and comfortable. "What are you guys doing walking around here? Granted, though, I was thrilled to see you, and followed you for bit, but what are you two doing walking alone? In the woods?" Jellal could not help giving a look of slight resentment at Natsu for being with Erza.
"We're on a training session. We're training for the Grand Magic Games." Erza said, wondering why Jellal was looking at Natsu like that.
Jellal looked up, reminded of the plan he devised with Ultear and Meredy. Apparently, there was no need for trying to solicit certain members to ask for advice. Might as well tell them now, Jellal thought, I'll just tell Ultear and Meredy later about this.
"That reminds me. I have something to talk to you about that."
"A dark presence? At the Grand Magic Games?" Gray asked, sitting upright in the bed with his back against the headboard.
"Right. And we've been trying to figure out how we can investigate that, but of course we've been unable to approach that stadium grounds." Ultear said as she tilted the spoon into Gray's mouth, feeding him the soup.
"At first, we thought it was normal, given how the most powerful mages in Fiore were congregating in one place, but we came to realize that this presence was truly evil and was way too similar to Zeref." Meredy said.
"Zeref, huh? That doesn't sound promising…and you're asking for my help?" Gray said.
"Your guild's help, to be more accurate. I'm assuming you'll be going, right?" Ultear asked, and Gray nodded. "We'd like for you to do some poking around, find some more information that could be of use for us. We know it's a tall order, but-" Ultear said, but Gray interrupted her.
"I don't think there'll be a problem. I'm pretty sure Master Makarov and Gildarts will be intrigued by that. Hell, maybe Laxus also. We'll take care of that." Gray said.
"Thanks," Ultear said, smiling. "It means a lot to us, really."
"Jellal will definitely be happy to hear this." Meredy said, and Ultear nodded back.
The three ate in silence for a bit, with Ultear feeding Gray.
"Gray-sama…" Juvia suddenly moaned and opened her eyes. She took a moment to draw in her surroundings, before gasping.
"Meredy-san, Ultear-san! Gray-sama!" She cried out. The three looked at her, surprised.
"Finally you woke up!" Meredy said.
"Juvia…sorry about earlier." Gray said, regret in his voice.
"But…what…" Juvia said, confused as she pointed from one person to the other.
"We worked it all out. We're not enemies anymore." Ultear said.
"Oh…" Juvia looked at Ultear. Her beauty and confident tone reminded her slightly of Erza. "I'm glad." She than brought a chair over and poured herself some soup.
"So what were guys doing up here, anyway?" Gray said, trying to attempt at conversation.
"I come by here periodically while we take our guild leaves; this was just another one of our visits. What about you two?" Ultear responded.
"I thought this place would serve as a suitable training location." Gray said.
"Indeed it is. For water-based magic user, arctic climates are always the best place to train endurance and stamina." Ultear said. Juvia was amazed at her intelligence.
Gray was hit with a sudden idea.
"How long will you guys be staying here?" He asked.
"Erm…we haven't really decided. Our break times and durations are irregular, to throw the Magic Council off track. It could be a few days, or month or two." Ultear said.
"Can you train me?" Gray asked excitedly.
"…train you?" Ultear repeated.
"Yes. I need to get stronger; I absolutely need to. And you…you're the strongest Ice Creation mage I've ever heard of and met after Ul." Gray said.
Ultear and Meredy looked at each other, and Juvia looked surprised.
"Juvia, we'll still train together, I promise. I just thought having someone with similar magic as me would be an excellent person to train with us." Gray said. "Plus…it'll give us time to get to know each other more."
That reasoning…particularly the getting-to-know-each-other part sounded very appealing to Ultear, who felt nothing but joy at the idea of spending time with one of her mother's students, who wasn't bad at all on the eyes, either.
"I think we can make that work." Ultear said.
"Yeah, sounds great! You and I can spend some time together too!" Meredy said eagerly to Juvia, who grinned back in response.
"Juvia would love that."
"So it's decided?" Gray said, beaming.
"Yes, we'll stay here for a while and train." Ultear smiled at Gray, before her voice turned somewhat serious. "But training with me won't be a walk in the park, either. You better be ready."
"Oh hell yeah I am!" Gray responded, with a look of determination and excitement at finally having found an answer to gaining strength. "Let's start RIGHT NOW!"
And just like that, he proceeded to kick off his covers before feeling an extremely painful stab of pain in his abdomen.
"Oh shit! Damn, damn, damn…" Gray grunted as he grabbed his abdomen.
"Gray!" Meredy said.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia said in concern as she stood up.
"Gray! I told you not to move too much!" Ultear said as she grabbed Gray's shoulders and eased him. "We won't be starting until you've recovered fully, Gray. We still need a doctor." Ultear said.
"Oh well…it can wait, I suppose. Three months is a long time." Gray said, relaxing a bit. He relished her warm hands on his shoulders.
He looked out the window and into the storm, which was still raging on outside. It wasn't putting any damper on his happy mood, though.
After seven long years, things were finally beginning to look up for Gray.
I know that many of you were scratching your heads wondering what happened last chapter, and how things would turn out, and here you go. Quite a long chapter, I know. *coughIfyounoticedcough*
I was very much annoyed at Jellal's lack of conviction and hesitancy in the manga in regards to Crime Sorciere. One would think that time in prison would serve a person well in strengthening their beliefs, and a jailbreak making them eager to redeem themselves.
Reviews, reviews, REVIEWS!