Act 3

43

Flowers for Algernon

"I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone."

― Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon

Cobra groaned softly as he came to.

What had happened? He remembered fighting End, taunting him, but then it all blurred together. And what was wrong with his hearing? He could hear sounds, but they were all jumbled together like the drone of buzzing bees.

He shook his head a little, and immediately regretted it as his brain howled in protest to the sudden movement. However, it did alert him to the myriad bruises and aches he felt across his body. He recognized the aches and pains of a beating well enough to know he'd received a major one. Which probably explained why he was so disoriented.

Well, that and the fact he hadn't received a beating on this kind of scale since he was a kid. It was unnerving to know that he'd gotten one now.

He cracked open his eyes and blinked confusedly at the very stern looking Erza and Jellal standing over him.

That was when it all came rushing back.

"You're fortunate Natsu didn't kill you." Erza snapped, her anger barely held in check, "And you're equally fortunate Jellal convinced us capturing you would be more beneficial in the long run."

She glared at him sharply, and he caught the stray thought that five more minutes under Natsu's attacks would've seen him dead.

It was a sobering thought. Especially as he remembered that point blank roar to the face.

He glanced around, and was both startled and not surprised to find the rest of his guild being carefully guarded by other members of Fairy Tail. Though Angel was getting less guarding and more a very thorough, and loud, talking to from a woman who just had to be her little sister Yukino.

He was suddenly glad he wasn't part of that mess at least.

He frowned a little as he realized something was missing though. Something very near and dear to his heart.

"Where's Cubelios?" He demanded, sitting up abruptly and fear pulsing through him. He didn't care how injured he was going to find out what had happened to his best friend if he had to crawl out the door.

"Cubelios?" Erza asked, but Jellal shifted a bit.

"She's there." He answered calmly, gesturing to a bed where a young woman with purple hair was resting.

"You're fortunate twice over Cobra." He continued mildly, "By myself I wouldn't have been able to remove that curse from her, but with Master Makarov's help we were able to restore her."

He met the poison dragon's eyes intently, "Do you think Brain or any of the others of the Baram Alliance would have done the same?"

Cobra stared at the woman transfixed, unable to think beyond the moment. She was laying there, human and in such an unfamiliar shape he hardly knew what he was looking at.

But her scent. Her scent was the same.

The woman, whoever she was - she was Cubelios.

He hardly even knew what to think.

Would he finally be able to hear her voice?

He shook his head roughly, trying to regain his footing despite the sudden shock to his system. Jellal had done a good job disarming him, but that came to him as no surprise. The man was a smooth talker, and was usually capable of coaxing even a wild dog to his side if he spoke long enough to it.

He had to admit to a certain amount of truth in what Jellal said though - sometimes Cobra thought he heard whispers in Brain's head. A cruel murmurer that barely evaded his powers.

He tsk'd and scowled aggressively at Jellal, a slow smirk sliding across his face in challenge.

"So what do you want?" He demanded, "You got me nice and trussed up here, as well as the rest of my guild. You think you'll be able to hold us?"

Jellal looked unphased, his expression cool on Cobra, "Perhaps not, but we hardly need to keep you here forever."

Cobra frowned, not trusting that one bit, but aware that Jellal, as a telepath himself, was one of the few he would not be able to listen in on even if he had the energy to do so. Which he really didn't at the moment.

Hearing thoughts ate up magic power, unlike his regular hearing, and at the moment he was mostly tapped out. Nor could he pick up any significant tells from either person before him.

A distinct disadvantage.

"What do you mean?" He growled, perhaps more sharply that he should under the circumstances, but not really caring, "Our goal to capture the celestial wizard won't change." He smirked, "And you know Hades will eventually get here as well even if we fail."

"We're aware." Jellal answered mildly, though his eyes narrowed and sharpened to steel, "And we're also aware that you want Lucy to open a gate for you. Presumably to her homeworld."

"But you don't know why." Cobra smirked, starting to enjoy this, "How amusing seeing you in the dark for a change."

"And how sad to see you still groping about in the darkness like the slave you still are." Jellal replied, equal parts cutting and sad, "You don't even realize you and the others are still chained down in Zeref's darkness."

"What do you know of chains?" Cobra snapped, and Jellal's expression darkened.

"I know more of chains than you can comprehend." He growled softly, but his anger was palpable enough to silence the entire infirmary, "I was there remember? I know exactly what it was like. I lost my sanity to it, and led you all along that path."

Cobra bit back the acidic taste in his mouth, boiling up similarly to bile. His stomach churned and he glared at Jellal. That was not one fact he was about to dispute with him. He remembered the Tower all too well.

And following Jellal after it? It was much too long a time to count.

Still he said nothing as Jellal moved in closer, Erza's hand resting on the back of his arm to pull him back should she need to. For the moment it was lax, her fingers a light, comforting caress against his jacket.

"What's it going to be Erik?" Jellal's voice cut low, "Tell us what business the Baram Alliance has to enter a world with no magic."

"Find your true freedom with your friends," Jellal encouraged, his voice dropping. Despite the softness, Cobra could hear him clearly. Jellal held that much power in his words alone, he could captivate an audience.

Cobra's lip curled in disgust over the flagrant way Jellal used his given name, but dismissed it for the time.

"I don't have friends!" Cobra snapped at Jellal, "Don't confuse allies with whatever excuse you have!"

He was silenced a moment later, when Jellal's hand rose and pointed over to where Cubelios was still asleep, curled on her side and resting.

"Are you certain?"

Cobra froze, as if struck, as he gazed at the sight of his beloved friend back in her human form and smiling softly in her sleep. His heart twisted painfully and began pounding as he realized Jellal's point.

She was his friend.

She had been the only one he had in that wretched place before the rebellion.

And she was the only one who had stuck with him no matter what afterwards.

He remembered, vividly, the way she'd curled around him protectively when he'd collapsed in pained exhaustion as he'd dealt with the lacrima implanted into him and later learned how to use his new magic.

He remembered his prayer and how no matter what he, or any one else, had done he was unable to hear her voice. But now, suddenly, he knew he would. Jellal had answered his prayer without a second thought despite who he was and him being the enemy.

It made his heart twist even more.

He growled softly, his fists clenching painfully as he considered his options. The Baram Alliance, as a whole, meant nothing to him. He cared about Cubelios and, perhaps, his guild. That was all.

He glared suspiciously at the man he'd once followed, but found nothing but patient truth. It was different, and yet the same, to the convictions that had burned in him before.

Could he trust it?

Did he even have a choice?

Cubelios was his weakness, Cobra couldn't just ignore her now. She had been a snake for so long, and if she was going to be in these people's care...

It wasn't a hard decision after all.

His belief had nothing to do with it.

Sucking in a breath around his tightening lungs, Cobra lifted his eyes to Jellal's frustratingly calm gaze. Always in control, even in the most dire or stressful of situations. It made sense he was a leader.

"You want to know our motivation in the celestial mage's homeworld?" Cobra asked, his voice rough and low. He leaned forward slowly, a hand bracing against the cot's side.

"Nothing. We have no reason or purpose to go there," He said quietly, "We would be powerless there."

Erza frowned at him, growing frustrated by Cobra's spreading grin. Even while he was complying, he could at least irritate them.

"What's the point of opening the gate then?" She asked, an edge to her voice to show her dwindling patience.

Sensing he could only push her but so far, Cobra huffed.

"You really can't think of a single reason why we'd want to open a door to that place?" He asked her, "Can't think of one person the dark guilds would go through so much trouble for?"

Recognition flashed over their faces in an instant, Jellal's face losing every ounce of color. In fact he looked almost as if the ground were collapsing under his feet.

And perhaps it was, Cobra thought with grim satisfaction. Jellal had suffered some of the most at his hands he supposed.

"Zeref," Erza's voice trembled, anger and fear boiling within her.

Cobra nodded.

"Natsu didn't kill him, he was just banished through the gate to the other side," Cobra replied.

"It's been hundreds of years though," Jellal protested. The reality of Cobra's words seemed too hard for him to process. "There is no magic in that world. How could he still be alive?"

"There's magic within all of us," Cobra snapped back at Jellal, "You of all people should know the incredible amount contained within Zeref. His magic goes towards sustaining his life, as all of ours would if we'd go into that world - but Zeref has such a limitless power, he has been able to use traces of it. Enough to gather himself an army on both sides of the gate."

"For what reason?" Jellal demanded, "What purpose does Zeref have to come back to this world?"

Cobra smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. A lazy shrug dragged from his shoulders and he tilted his head back.

"Who knows," He looked up at the ceiling overhead. Cracks in the roof were evident, and he could see the bare lines of the sky showing through.

"Maybe he just wanted to come home?"

"No." Jellal growled softly, his thoughts spinning urgently as he tried to piece together the situation, "No. There's something else there. Zeref wouldn't simply want to come back. It would start another war."

His eyes narrowed, "There has to be something more to it."

Something that might begin and end with Natsu himself.

After all, he'd been the one to betray his brother and fight against him to help save the world. It wasn't unreasonable that Zeref might want revenge for that. Certainly it explained the strange people after Lucy though.

She would be the only one capable of opening the gate to allow passage. And he knew from experience that Zeref didn't necessarily need her willing co-operation.

She was too old to be manipulated as he was, but possession was still entirely possible. And if the circumstances were set up right it wouldn't even be necessary. She would open the gate if it meant saving the people she cared about.

It was one of her greatest qualities, and in this case her greatest weakness.

He stood up, "We need to tell Natsu and Lucy." He told Erza as she also straightened.

"Yes." She agreed, "You take care of that while I inform the master."

Jellal nodded, and headed out, aware that Sting and Rogue were watching them intently. No doubt with their dragonslayer hearing they'd heard every word spoken. In fact, it was unlikely anyone had missed their conversation.

However the light dragon didn't make a move to follow. But then, he had his hands full trying to comfort his quietly sobbing wife.

He glanced at Rogue, but the dark dragon just shook his head minutely, and he nodded. They would give him a chance to tell Natsu and Lucy in private before doing whatever it was nests did in situations like this.

Jellal was relieved, however, when he glimpsed him slipping away to speak quietly with Gajeel. Good. Natsu would surely need his nest around him after this revelation.

He picked his way outside where Natsu was helping with the cleanup and reconstruction despite Lucy's light scolding for him to take it easier after his fight.

"Natsu." He called as he moved up beside the blond, and beckoned him over, "I have something to tell you. Privately."

Natsu glared at Jellal, a beam over his shoulder and a deep scowl on his face. It didn't seem like he was a good mood to begin with, but it seemed more grumpy than angry. Which meant he was just pouting over Lucy trying to make him ease up his workload. Which just made it all the harder.

"What's up?" Natsu asked, dropping the beam in a pile and hooking his foot under a broom to kick it up to his hand. He leaned it across his shoulder blades, his wrists curled over the wood.

Wandering over, he must have seen something on Jellal's face that made his brow crease. Because suddenly the dragonslayer looked very worried.

"What's with the creepy look Jellal?" Natsu asked.

Sighing, Jellal beckoned for Natsu to follow him. Lucy looked as if she was going to hang back, but Jellal shook his head

"No Lucy," He gave her a grim look, "You need to hear what comes next too."

"It's about the information we got from Cobra," Jellal clarified.

A glower began to darken Natsu's face over that news. He had been in a mood since his fight with Cobra, but if there was something bothering him Natsu chose not to share it.

Jellal pulled them with him towards a secluded area of the construction site.

Once he was certain they were alone, he took a breath and turned towards the two. Natsu was jiggling his foot in the earth, his impatient tapping a clear sign of his dwindling attention span.

While Lucy on the other hand remained worried and attentive.

Straight forward was the best way to go when dealing with these two.

So Jellal told them what Cobra had said, watching as Natsu's entire body turned to stone before his very eyes.

His eyes flashed red with anger, in a barest hint of demonic fury lashing up to the surface before it died down. Natsu looked to be visibly struggling with himself.

"Cobra is lying!" Natsu snarled, unable to believe what Jellal had reported, "Zeref is dead! I killed him myself!"

Lucy immediately curled her hands over his, rubbing gently to try and get him to relax the fists he'd balled them into, "Natsu.." She soothed, meeting his flashing red eyes fearlessly, "Don't discount this."

She saw his angry gaze re-direct at her and his mouth open, "I know!" She continued hastily, "I know what you told me. I can't think of how anyone could survive that either. But what if he fell through a gate when you hit him? You know the medicine in that world is different. It's possible, however remote, that he was found and saved."

She frowned a little grimly herself, "And you can't deny there's something really weird going on there. Those creepy guys that chased me, and how they showed up at my place when we went back?"

She unconsciously released him to rub her shoulder, a gesture that prompted a small, involuntary, whine from him.

"They somehow know about me. I haven't been able to figure out how, but they know. If Zeref is the reason why..." She shivered a little in horror.

She'd learned more about the Black Wizard Zeref than she ever wanted to know, and she knew she was only scratching the surface, but any man who could turn his little brother into a demon just to bring him back to life rated cold dread in her book.

No matter that it was because of that she had found Natsu and love.

It took a certain kind of mind to even think of something like that let alone pull it off.

And she wasn't interested in getting close to that kind of person.

She wrapped her arms around Natsu, "I'm not saying we should trust Cobra." She murmured into his chest, "But we can't ignore the possibility."

Natsu huffed out a shaky breath, his anger making his body tremble. Zeref, alive? Every part of him wanted to refute it.

But Lucy's soft reminders to being attacked, and the very fresh memories of her covered in blood doused his rage.

He couldn't deny it just because it seemed impossible from every angle.

Natsu nodded stiffly. He had no desire to see Cobra and question him for himself. The words the poison dragon spat, the reminder of what he was - what he was lacking...

What he feared.

He couldn't think of all that!

He cracked his knuckles, "I wanna know how he knows."

"And I bet I know the people who can give us our answers," Natsu growled, his eyes flashing over to Jellal.

Lucy squeezed his shoulder and gave Natsu a very worried look.

"Why do I get the impression I'm not going to like the words that come out of your mouth next?" Lucy said dryly.

She was favored with a goofy grin from Natsu, and it made her spirits lighten for just a moment before they came crushing down again.

"You're not!" He said cheerfully, "Because it's time to knock down the last door in the Baram Alliance."

"Tartaros," Jellal, quirked an eyebrow at Natsu. An exasperated smile was on his face. Head shaking, he turned his face towards the town. It was mostly untouched from the battle, and they hoped it would stay that way.

"You want to open the doors to the underworld," Jellal eyed Natsu.

The dragonslayer smirk turned decisively wicked.

"No. I want to tear them down."

We knew some of you guys would have read What's a Witch, and would know of the bond Mslead has in that fic. So that's what we like to call a Red Herring to throw you guys off the trail a bit. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. As usual, your responses are in your inboxes if you've signed in!

GUEST REVIEW RESPONSES

Animallover - Cobra is a dragon well versed in slavery and dark magic. He's been around just as long as Natsu, so he knows information he wouldn't! Yeah I missed having Natsu being dragged around by the nose, but it was better this way. Cobra isn't a nice character, but what can we say? He's got a ways to go on his own before he redeems himself.

Sorry guys! No Sneak Peek this time! We didn't hit the mark! I imagine holidays and final exams have been killer :D