Chapter 9: Air of Revelations

It was still early morning as eminent by the bright light on the other side, as our green headed swordsman stepped out of the portal without issue. The sun was gently greeting Zoro with a warm shine. A very pleasing experience, before Mr. Gravity made itself known as usual to sour the mood.

Falling out of the sky like a rock, thanks to a slight misplaced magic spell, it was only because of his lifelong honed reaction speed that the feminized swordsman was able to successfully shift his body midair to land on his feet just in time before he would have kissed the ground in a comedic fashion. Instead one foot met the solid hexagon shaped stone pavement as intended, while the other landed perfectly on some strays poop shaped shit.

"…. Ugh." Was all Zoro could exclaim at his luck, before rubbing his left sole against the ground, trying to get rid of that particular smelly part of nature.

'At least I have some shoes.' was the comforting thought that remained.

Disregarding the portal shenanigans, Zoro immediately noticed how the air was different or better said less rich of a certain element. It felt like each breath was less energizing than the next before it hit the swordsman what that feeling reminded him of.

"Are we on a sky island!?" asked Zoro to no one in particular, while the young mage was impatiently waiting for the swordman to get her sole cleaning done already.

"Yes, we are. " snapping somewhat.

"Didn't think that they would be still present even after 700 years…"

The place wasn't really sticking out like the previous sky islands he was on. This one resembled any other normal city he visited during his travels, like Loguetown for example. Now only with the added benefit of being up in the air, which was ideal for the flying ships over his head to cast a large shadow on his tiny form. To be honest, Zoro expected a criminal infected town to look a little more rundown, but it seemed those ones here at least had a certain standard to uphold.

"Done reminiscing of the past? Let's go! We have to find Madam Potra's shop and I don't want to waste any more time then necessary."

Being a party pooper as usual, Jellal dragged Zoro through the streets, not letting him think about the evolution that had taken place over centuries in the flying vessel department. It was rather of fact only a matter of time in his opinion. The Sunny was already able to shoot itself into the sky, so it was expected for flying ships to exist already for commercial use. He needed to get one for himself someday.

Walking through the streets the duo gained a lot of attention, as practically every person they passed eyed them with a different, but mostly interested expression. While most gazes were directed straight at Jellal, him being the most wanted person and all, some people, when their gaze met Zoro's acted rather flustered, trying their best to not gain any unwanted attention from the swordsman.

From what Jellal told him, this Erza-girl is a S-class mage and part of the strongest guild in Fiore, known for her monster-like strength and knight like sense of duty to uphold justice. So it came to no surprise to Zoro that those small game criminals didn't want to mess with the both of them, but there were always exceptions.

The swordsman could see it in a few of them weighting their options. Their calculating eyes deciding if the risk was worth the trouble. Analyzing Jellal's state, his one-armed condition made for an appealing offer for some of them. Zoro suspected it was only a matter of time for some unlucky soul to get out of line and make a scene. In this case it was sooner than later, as a midget bearably reaching Zoro's chest tried to sneak behind Jellal, while being invisible to the naked eye.

Jellal had probably noticed his presence already and will most certainly disposed of that threat, but Zoro had other plans.

Slowly reaching for his new Flame sword, he was giddy to test its strength in real combat. He just needed to wait for the right moment to strike and it came when Jellal lazily moved his head slightly around, turning his gaze exactly where the midget thought he would be save. In complete panic, like a novice caught sleeping during work, the little guy immediately tried to hit the young mage with something in its hands. Not that Zoro would let him.

In a swift motion, while grazing the blade across the golden insides of the scabbard, Zoro bought forth a blazing fire and hit the opponents high raised weapon head-on. To his surprise however instead of stopping the midget's weapon in place, he managed to cut straight through it like butter. The generated flames were seemingly a tad stronger than he suspected, having melted through the point of impact and it took all of Zoro's expertise to stop the blade from unwillingly cutting his opponent in half.

'This is interesting.' Zoro gained his usual grin, while excitement rushed through his body, ready to test something a little more… powerful.

In the meantime the upper half of the midget's sword became visible, as it became embedded in the stony ground beside him, showing of its sharpness that could have been dangerous if handled poorly. Highly alerted the midget dropped his disguise, seeing that his cover was blown and he probably didn't want to just waste any magical energy when facing such strong opponents. The midget jumped back, while for some odd reason his entire body was shining in a bright light midair, partly blinding the swordsman, who did not expect this turn of event.

When it dimmed down, it revealed a disgusting looking, green skinned creature who appeared to be even smaller than his previous state, but surprisingly buffer. It was mostly naked, the only clothing it wore was a scrapy fur loincloth and a cowboy hat for some odd reason.

"John The Goblin." said Jellal rather dismissively, as if he read that name out of a furniture catalog, before being thrown into the trash. "I don't have time to play with you. This is my final warning. Leave us be."

"Stop trying to act so cool, Fernandez." chuckled the criminal. "Just one look is enough to see how much weaker you have become. If you had both hands than this would be an entirely different situation."

"I hope you are not implying that I need more than just a finger to end you." threatened Jellal, while his finger was bringing forth a baseball sized dark orb pulsing with power to back up his claim, aimed at the soon to be dead fool.

"Oh, I know. " chuckled the goblin as he pulled out a pair of knifes and took a combat stance." I just needed to be the one to start the hunt."

As if on cue, more and more people surrounded the duo, as if they could smell the opportunity before them. Jellal was rather annoyed at this timely delay, not in the mood to deal with such small fries.

Zoro meanwhile became suddenly aware of something he didn't think would ever happen to him. He could practically feel the licking, luscious gazes all around him directed at his borrowed body. It took no genius to guess why that was.

It was an awkward feeling, making him somewhat conscious about his new female form. Not that it surprised him. In his day and age, or what was hundreds of years ago really, most pirates and criminals alike had the same view when they met a good-looking woman or women in general. While it was weird being on the receiving end of it, the swordsman just ignored those stares in the end. After all, if they tried something funny, he would deal with them accordingly, so Zoro focused more on what was happening before him than around him.

"I will take your head Fernandes!" yelled the green skinned midget with a battle cry, sprinting towards a relaxed Jellal, ready to decapitate his head off. The others were also eager to join the battle, but things suddenly changed when John suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The little man did not know why, but his goblin instinct took over. This has never happened, but before he could question his inaction, John got a feeling of impending doom when a flaming hot slash the size of an airship missed his frame just narrowly, and as if that wasn't enough that particular cut of death cleanly sliced through the roofs of the buildings to his side without issue, then traveled up high into the sky and disappeared with an mighty bang not long after tainting the heavens in its red glory you might have missed, if you blinked in the wrong moment.

"Hmm, used up more magic than I wanted." lamented Zoro to himself, as he inspected the blade up close, still burning like a candle in his hand.

Zoro felt as if he just used up what felt like a third of his magic reserves in one fell swoop. All the while not treating his display of power as anything else than a meager test run to get a good feel on his newly accessible power. He just tried to use his standard no-name flying slash in combination with his fire sword, but it seemed that the flames fed on the air a lot more than expected and combined into a mighty attack, which Zoro was trilled to master. The last blade that gave him such satisfaction was Enma and before that Shusui.

Medo Inferno was like a mixture of the two. It sucked something out of his body to enhance its strength, but it also combined his attack, which in this case were the two elements of wind and fire, in order to increase its power considerably. Zoro could only grin like the devil at his new toy's beaming potential, terrifying the people around him like baby kittens.

Seeing that, everyone present lost their will to fight. After having just witnessed this show of power it made only logical sense to make themselves scarce. It was not like they did anything right?! So with that in mind they basically vanished in an instant… but not John. He was too scared to allow himself to move. His feet rooted to the ground itself, having just narrowly escaped dying an agonizing death that might have been the equivalent of burning in hell fives times over. Why five? Hell knows!

Seizing on that opportunity and dispelling his finger spell, Jellal approached the little man with a speedy step. From the outside alone you could reasonably conclude that he was as calm as the sea itself. Inside, however he was somewhat amazed, but in a scared kind of way.

Zoro's energy slash was powerful enough to light the sky on fire for a fraction of a second and painted the dawn a second time on the world, but that wasn't even the worst of it. The greenhead has done this on accident using more power than she wanted and to top it off she wasn't even showing any signs of exhaustion, physical or magical. Sure Jellal ranked Erza somewhere on the lower end of the Wizard Saint system. The tenth, maybe the ninth place if he was being generous, but this slash was around the seventh one at least! Which came dangerously close to his sixth seat. Who knows how much power she really possessed?!

Jellal sure hoped that bringing back Erza would make at least this one problem magically disappear. Who knows what would happen if he let this loose cannon…well loose? This might seem a little heartless, but this creation or freak of nature was his mistake to sort out. Roronoa Zoro wasn't supposed to exist in this time and Jellal sure hoped that Madam Potra would be able to help him rectify this mistake.

"John," but first he needed to find her in this massive city, so Jellal addressed his would-be attacker with a soft, camp councilor kind of voice to calm him down. "Where can I find the Body Snatcher? Could you so kindly show me the way?"

"Y-you ser-seroulsy want to kno-w-?" stuttering from shock the still transformed cowboy themed goblin wouldn't even lift its head to meet Jellal eye to eye, not knowing if doing any sudden movement would bring down her wrath.

"Yes. I wouldn't have asked if that was not the case…. Look, I will overlook your little act of stupidity, if you make my time easier. Deal?" reaching out his hand, Jellal adopted the best, faked smile in his entire career, yet.

"…De-eal." Not wasting a single moment the midget turned around and walked them down the street, not daring to do anything that might offend his captors, which included shaking their hands. Not that it bothered Jellal.

Following him, Zoro soon noticed how franticly the people avoided them. Doors were closed, so were windows, were as anyone that met their eyes turned around, while hugged the wall for dear live. It seemed people got the memo faster than expected and if this wasn't a thriving criminal city, they would have been arrested by now by the local authorities for disturbing the peace or whatever else their excuse might be.

They traveled quite a distance from the center of the Aeraos, as the state of the building were of a lower quality the further they got. A few houses later they walked into a series of alleyways, which just screamed for them to get ambushed at some point, but it seemed calmer heads prevailed, and they arrived at a well-maintained graveyard without any real issue.

Looking around the place was in good condition. The lawn was taken care of, the tombstones were shining in the sunlight like silverplates, and birds were singing inside their freshly oak made birdhouses for only them to enjoy. This was a surprising view, but even more surprising was this giant, not moving, circlelike shadow casted on the ground in the middle of this place, which turned out to be a floating mini-island with a pink house as its only piece of architecture on top of it.

Zoro didn't understand why someone would put a sky island on top of a sky island, but then again it would be a lot easier to switch places if you could move your entire house and its foundation.

"He-re. She'-s…" more words didn't leave the still transformed takeover mage's mouth when Zoro turned around and their eyes met. Not good at handling this pressure John remained tight lipped, as dread was clearly painted on his face in layers. Not one to drag things out, Jellal signaled John that he was relived of his duties and in the span of a macro second his feet have been replaced with bird's ones and he ran away at the speed of sound. Never to be seen again.

Stepping closer the duo could hear a clicking sound as before them a rectangle piece of ground detached itself from it and ascended at foot stepping height. While Zoro analyzed it, wondering if some dirt was able to withstand his weight, Jellal nonchalantly stepped on it as more and more similar looking pieces levitated at a higher place in front of him, each with its own distinctive sound effect, creating a makeshift staircase out of dirt that could be also an instrument, if you really wanted to.

'Right... magic.' With that Zoro stepped on it without worry.

The makeshift platform did lose a little altitude each time someone stepped on it, but it returned to its proper place as soon as you took your foot off it and without an incident the duo made their way up the stairs.

When the island came into view, they were greeted with a lovely sight. Before the girlishly pink house was a well-maintained garden, where a little girl not older than six was playing with a little puppy fetch.

The child had short, shoulder long brown hair, with a white headband holding it in place. A flower-patterned green dress hugged her timid figure, as she was practically dancing on the lawn with a cute pair of black shoes.

It disgusted Zoro. He could practically smell it in the air how foul the stench of this blood thirsty maniac really was. This was all an act, a way to lure in its prey to drop their guard and feed on them, but the swordsman didn't smell any blood from her like he did in similar situations. This was the only thing that confused him, as he could just feel it on a spiritual level how much she loved to torment her victim.

"Madam Potra." announced Jellal rather politely, approaching the little girl from behind as if they had meet before.

"Jelly. How unexpected of you to visit me and at this time of the year." Not even turning around the girl replied with a sweet child like voice and threw the ball one last time, bouncing on the ground, before the dog snatched it and played with it on his own, leaving the owner to attend her guests.

"You here for business?" turning around Madam Potra was facing now the duo with open eyes, before directing her gaze at Zoro with great interest. In return the swordsman coldly stared back into her…. terrified and pained eyes?!

This was rather odd. The eyes were the gateway to a human soul as they say and mastering this skill was always a great indicator with what kind of person you were dealing with, but this here felt too contradictory. Were Zoro younger he would just brush it of as her being a great actress or him just getting a wrong read on her, but not this version of him. He could clearly feel what kind of predator she is, but her gaze didn't match it at all.

Not taking any risks, Zoro was silently observing her. Now that he was thinking about it, didn't Jellal call her the Body Snatcher…. The former pirate sure hoped that his hypothesis was dead wrong or Potra would get a one-way ticket to hell, but he did not want to jump to any conclusions just yet. Who knows if she just made herself look younger than she really is using youth magic? Zoro wouldn't know. So he let Jellal do the talking for the time being.

"Yes, I have something I wanted you to look into." he gestured towards Zoro.

"Then let's go inside. You're probably all exhausted, coming all this way to me. Follow me." moving towards the heart-shaped doors, they magically and especially slowly opened themselves before her, with a loud cracking sound. Zoro was not quite prepared for what he saw.

Hundreds of eyes glowed inside the darkness, like a sea of pearls showing off their beauty, but it was not a pretty sight when the candles lit up to reveal its secret origin. The entire walls were made out of very convincing looking humans of various ages, body types, expressions, and positions, stacked on top of each other to hold the whole building in place. Just the wall on his left had to be made out of thirty people at least, their arms reaching for something, or shielding their faces from… something.

Moving closer Zoro inspected them and had a hard time to decide if they were real or if this was some sort of hyper realistic models to suit the tastes of this little girl… and something told him that the latter option was very unlikely. Still it was not enough evidence to justify action on his part, yet.

With that in mind he followed behind the talking duo of mages, as they entered a room where the amount of those statues was the highest the swordsman had yet to see. This time the ceiling was also part of it, as were all the furniture in the room. Chairs in the shape of whole human bodies, bend in such a way it hurt just looking at it. The only thing that wasn't made out of this was the floor (thank god), some crystal ball and the kettle in the room, which was already boiling with some yellow substance.

"Hmm, that's quite a lot to ask." walking closer to the kettle, the young girl sat on the weirdly distorted furniture and faced the duo, who in return preferred to stand. "Changing the dominance of souls is a pretty exhausting task, if that's the case that is, but…. Fernandez, tell me. When was the last time you read the news?"

"The news...?" Jellal looked rather confused, not seeing the correlations of why that should have mattered. "A weak ago, maybe… I didn't have time to worry about that at all, but why are you bringing that up now?"

"It would have saved you a lot of trouble." reaching for that crystal ball, with her small stature bearably reaching it, the young brunette handed it over to the young, but still older mage, displaying something what Zoro presumed where news article of the past few days.

At first Jellal was his normal calm self, analyzing the contents with his sharp mind, but the further he read, the more unstable he became. His hands started to shake, then his entire body. "This can't be…", he exclaimed, before dropping the lacrima onto the ground and shattering it into thousand pieces.

"Did you really have to drop it Jelly? We haven't talked about the matter of payment, yet!" signing the girl was rather annoyed, but still showed some restraint, before turning her gaze at Zoro, who didn't like the predatory look she was giving him. "But seeing that you have no use for her anymore, with your precious girl all well and good. I WILL TAKE HER INSTEAD!"

With that, out of the young girl's mouth flew out a green spirit, who in the broadest sense of the word looked like an ugly shriveled up old hag, the likes of it you would only find in typical horror stories. She quickly shot towards Zoro in a zigzagged pattern, hoping to catch him off guard, while Jellal was still in shock and oblivious to the world around him.

Impressively, as if expecting this attack, Zoro dodged at the last second by tilting his head to the side, but Potra was not done yet, flying straight into the mouth of one of the statues in the wall behind them.

Suddenly, as if struck by lightning itself, the entire wall crumbled as the people ripped themselves out of the walls and sprinted towards the swordsman in a frenzy. This happened with every wall in the room and even the ceiling, making it rain big burly men trying to crush the mosshead.

While Zoro was focusing on the mass of people rushing him, Potra spirit thingy tried to blind side the swordsman. Using the wall of people as a distraction, she was dashing along the ceiling, before dropping at incredible speeds towards Zoro.

Then suddenly everything stopped in place, as Potra felt an incredible dense wave of pressure hit her entire spirit to the core. She couldn't move, she couldn't make her puppets move, which in turn one after the other dropped like flies. The worst, she couldn't even form a sentence when it dawned on her that she was only inches away from the demonic gaze drilling into her spirit.

Even Jellal could feel this massive pressure hit him, waking him up from his dazed state back to the real world as he just watched what was unfolding before him, sweat dropping down his face.

Zoro meanwhile continued glaring at Potra's petrified ghostly form, as he slowly reached out for his sword and grinded it against the scabbard to lit it aflame, making it clear for her that she screwed up, as the flames lit up part of Zoro's face, making him look a lot more menacing and deadlier than before.

"This is the end, spirit. You revealed your true colors to soon. It is clear to me now, what has to be done. Begone from this world and go back to where you belong!" before Potra had any time to respond, she was cleanly cut down the middle of her ghostly body by Zoro's inescapable slash.

Madam Potra's spirit was starting to deteriorate at an even pace, while she was cursing in agony.

"AGH_- yOu, -bitCh, krhaa. THIs Can't bE hApPOening, nO magic, shj-Ould-, hoW di-, you c-ut mEEee?!"

"It seems my spirit was just too powerful for you." sheeting his sword Zoro dispelled his haki and just watched as the ghost disintegrated before his eyes until nothing remained.

With the threat taken care off, Zoro walked towards the little brunette girl. Reaching towards her, the swordsman checked for a pulse and was relieved when he could feel it. There was no guarantee that cutting down this witch would have undone what she has done, but it seemed his gamble was worth it in the end.

"You alright?" turning around Zoro addressed the only person still conscious in his presence

"Y-Yeah, I-… I just need to check on something so don't worry about me." replied Jellal, while he got comfortable sitting down and got into a typical meditational pose for some. It could have been a calming method. Not that the feminized swordsman cared. Right now he needed something to drink.

Sniffing the air he could smell that somewhere around these corners he could find some much needed refreshments. He was on a four-day trip after all and hadn't a single drop of alcohol since. Kagura was really headstrong throughout the entire journey to not stop the cart for any reason.

It was a hard time, but now Zoro needed to relish on the now and not cry about yesterday's sake. So with nothing better to do he just walked out of the room and left Jellal there alone, as he was going to search for his well-deserved reward.


Inside a small shack just on the outskirts of Magnolia a strange circular device with a magic circle engraved on it lit up. It shined in a bright yellow light that didn't escape the closet it was hidden in.

Opening the closet door, a blue haired young man with both hands attached and a red tattoo over his right eye appeared out of it. This was of course not the real Jellal, but a thought projection created by him, using an automated magic circle to cast the needed spell from a distance whenever he needed.

Of course this thought projection here was not on the same level as his Siegrain one, which inherited most of his magic to perform any deeds it needed to become a Wizard Saint and high-ranking member of the Magic Council.

While it did not have as much magic, it still had enough of it to have a physical body, which was needed if he wanted to infiltrate another very important place, in order to spy on a certain person.

Reaching for the clothes inside the closet, Jellal dressed himself until he resembled his third alternate persona almost no one knew about, called Mystogan, the Staff Mage of Fairy Tail, known for his tendency to put people to sleep.

The reason why Mystogan relied so heavily on magic staffs was to make up for his low magic affinity, but in reality, this was the best way for Jellal to be in three places at once, without dividing his magic reserves too much. Afterall, he needed Siegrain to be strong enough to become a Wizard Saint and as Jellal he needed to have enough power to remain in a position to lead his operation without outside interference, but all Mystogan needed to do was spy on Erza's every move and complete some quest to hold up his farce. That he had become an S-class mage in the process was just an added bonus and helped him to disappear for a longer time than necessary.

Still controlling three people so far away from each other was very taxing, so having the chance to relieve one of duty was a welcoming change.

'To think I must become Mystogan again.' reaching for his staffs and strapping them to his back, Jellal walked out of his home and ventured towards the Fairy Tail Guildhall.

The reason was quite simple. He needed to see it for himself, he must see her and witness her wellbeing. Only then will he be able to die a peaceful death.

All those years he managed to be off the radar and observe her every move from afar. Jellal was probably the only person, second to Erza herself who knew her every secret and even experience.

When she was nominated for the S-class exam. He was there. When she completed her first S-class mission, he saw it. Everything Erza did since her second year being in Fairy Tail, be it on a quest or in her free time, Jellal was there to see it. In a way, you could say, he never left her.

Suddenly, before his very eyes a young man appeared. His form materialized as each new purple rune brought out a piece of his body in place. He had light-green hair, where out of both side of his head a pair of stupid looking, lightning bolt shaped strands of hair stood out. One of his eyes was covered by his bangs, while his other was passively watching Jellal. He wore a dark red knee-length coat and was holding in his hands an already drawn rapier with the Fairy Tail logo acting as the guard.

"Fried." using Mystogan's low voice, Jellal addressed the leader of the Thunder God Tribe.

"Mystogan." replied the rune mage as lackluster as Jellal himself. "It's amazing how you got into my barrier without me noticing. You here for the Battle of Fairy tail?"

'Barrier? Battle of Fairy Tail?' Jellal was caught a little off-guard hearing this, having no idea what is happing. He was just dropping by to check if the news article were true.

Getting no reply it seemed that Fried understood that this was all just coincidence. So he explained everything what is going on right now.

Hearing this, all the young mage could think about was how bizarre this all was. Jellal didn't think that Laxus had it in him to make such a twisted game in order to take control over the entire guild, but seeing the Thunder Palace hovering over Magnolia, there was not doubt about his intent.

"Laxus gave me a specific order, if you showed up for whatever reason, he wants you to find him and battle him in order to find out who is the strongest person in the guild."

"Hm, shouldn't it be obvious," interrupted him Jellal " It's without question Gildarts. No one can match him!"

"Of course, even I wouldn't deny this, but we both know that Gildarts is no ordinary mage, even under the legendary ones he is one who stands out amongst them and adding his special conditions he wouldn't be able to take part in this game anyway, but Laxus doesn't need him to proof his worth. To him Gildarts is a god, what Laxus needs to know is who's the strongest mortal being. Nevertheless, I was tasked by Laxus to reveal his location to you. To show you how much more powerful he is in comparison to, and I quote a cripple who needs magic toys to even his lack of talent"

Not bother by that comment, Jellal was not happy with this entire situation. While he was thinking, multiple explosions could be heard all across Magnolia. The battles appeared to be hard fought, and it seems finding Erza in all of this chaos would be next to impossible, if he wanted to maintain a low profile. So Jellal after weighting his options chose the fastest solution to make his search for Erza easier and it was to cut of the head of the snake that was spreading all this chaos.

"Where is he?"

"He's in the Kardia Cathedral. Good luck, you will need it." with that statement Fried disappeared and Jellal made his way towards Laxus.


'This was perfect!' thought Laxus to himself after Fried gave him the amazing news. Mystogan of all people showed up on this special day… or rather the person who represented him has appeared.

Oh, this was just perfect and a welcome surprise. Throughout all this years Laxus thought that the Magic Council was just keeping a close eye on Fairy Tail, but after the Tower of Heavens incident it was clear that this was not the case.

'This snake needs to be exterminated and who better to do this than the next master of Fairy Tail!' Chuckling to himself, Laxus was prepared to face the sixth seat of the Wizard Saints and show his gramps, no, the entire world that he was so much more than just the grandson of Makarov Dreyer. He will win and claim what is rightfully his and nothing will stop him.


It took a while, but Jellal finally arrived at the Kardia Cathedral. Entering through the front door, he could already see Laxus hulking form turn around with a big grin plastered on his scarred face, ready to shove the blue haired mage into his place, but Jellal had something else in mind. Still in order to not rise suspicion he needed to act like Mystogan, so that meant showing concern for the common people and also letting Laxus have the first word.

"OH? You came, Mystogan?!" after releasing a small chuckle for his own amusement the grandson of Makarov continued. "I didn't think you'd be participating in this game!"

"If you call off the Thunder Palace right now, it is still possible to pass it off as merely entertainment." Replied Jellal trying to convince Laxus the peaceful way.

"So blissfully ignorant. Haven't you heard the rumors about which one of us is the strongest in Fairy Tail, you or me?"

"Although I don't really care, aren't you forgetting Erza?" Jellal was asking this only because he wanted a confirmation from Laxus that she's alive. He knew that compared to Laxus and his power, Erza was not yet on that level.

" Her? Not a chance. She's on the right track, but still weak." this was a good sign, but not enough to satisfy him. He needed to see her one last time at least, but he can't do that if Laxus game continues to disturb his mission.

"Come on. Let's settle this. We will decide who's the strongest, Mystogan…heh, or rather another…." Not letting him finish his sentence, Jellal fired a purple beam using his staff.

Laxus being no slouch returned a bright lighting blast of his own to match the beam, resulting in the attacks colliding into each other, creating a small explosion that engulfed them both. The blast was in fact so powerful, it shattered all windows in the building.

As the smoke cleared it revealed both mages standing still, both of their bodies remaining in the same stance as before.

"Where did you learn of that?" Jellal couldn't believe this, how did Laxus find out about his true identity. Sure he didn't let him speak, but the young mage could already see his lips forming the letters J and e. More proof wasn't needed, especially if other parties could be present to eavesdrop unannounced.

"Oh? That's quite rare to see you panic. Where did I find out? Who knows? Maybe I'll tell you if you beat me." Taunted the lightning mage.

"You will regret this, Laxus." Now it was personal, but the longer Jellal thought about it, the less it really mattered if Erza found out that he was spying on her. Still, he needed to beat him in order to finally see her one last time before he had to return for his final matter. So overall nothing changed on his side of things.

"Give me your best shot buddy. I will show you just how much different we two are!"

So the fight started, and blows were exchanged, illusions were shattered, counter spells were deployed, and the church would need a brand-new makeover when all of this was over, but after making so much noise it didn't take long for the fight to be interrupted, as it attracted a particular duo of redheads.

"LAXUS!"
"LAXUS!"

'This voice…' it was unmistakably hers.

Jellal was not mentally prepared to meet her so suddenly. Still this was rather a great turn of events if she came all this way to make this scavenger hunt easier.

So grasping for this opportunity he slowly turning around, letting his eyes drift to the side as he caught sight of scarlet hair and her stern expression he loved to see every time.

At this moment Jellal was unable to express his joy. He hadn't killed her after all… he wasn't responsible for her death, at all, he wasn't. he was not-

"Your guard is down!" the shock of seeing her was too much for him, giving Laxus practically a freebie, who made good use of this opportunity to drill his entire fist through Jellal's chest.

Both Natsu and Erza were shocked by this action. Never in their wildest dream would they think that Laxus would go so far to kill on of their own.

"Relax." said Laxus dismissively as he reached with his other hand for Jellal's mask, exposing him for the world to see.

The young mage tried desperately to stop him, but he was to late and after being unmasked it was rather impressive seeing Erza's expression change so drastically. From deep concern for his well-being, to rage filled and disgust in two second flat. Might be a new record. Not that he expected a better reaction after all he has done.

"I was just getting rid of a little snake here, but don't worry." using another spell, Laxus fried Jellal to the point his thought projection vanished. Leaving behind only his clothes and staffs. "He's just a clone, dirty coward."

With that, the connection was lost and Jellal was back inside the pink house.

He needed a moment for himself as tears streamed down his face, unable to control them from falling down, wetting the wooden floor in the process.

After what felt like half an hour of crying tears of joy, Jellal knew what he needed to do. It wasn't going to be easy, but it was going to be his final act on this planet.


"Ahh. Not as good as the rest, but it's good enough for now." Sitting on the ground comfortably and tasting new flavors, Zoro was enjoying his time down here to the fullest, gulping barrels down by the minute.

It was not like he needed to worry about wasting it, seeing that the whole basement was more of a wine cellar and a considerable number of different drinks were available at his disposal. So with nothing to worry about, he let loose. Of course to a reasonable degree. What happened at the Tea Shop shall not repeat itself. EVER!

Suddenly, he heard light footsteps ascend down the stairs, but the squeaky wood gave the person right away. Not that it stopped the one responsible from continuing and it also didn't take long for him to stand behind the alcohol loving swordsman, who in return did not let himself be bothered by Jellal's sudden appearance.

"So, did you find what you wanted?"

"…Yes, I have."

"So what about this Erza-girl? I didn't quite understand what you were reading there and judging by the witches' words, it seems that this whole adventure was for nothing? Is it not possible to bring her back after all?"

"That's not it." his tone was soft, as he released a small chuckle filled with life. "It seems that Erza was save and sound all this time."

"Huh?!" Now Zoro was confused, but he still didn't bother to turn around as he reached for another barrel, before pointing at his upper chest, trying to avoid touching what he didn't need to. "Wasn't she supposed to be inside this body of hers and thanks to your magic tower, I now live in?"

"I though that at first too, but it seems that the real Erza was separated from the tower just in time and now she's all save and sound at her guild. You are just in a copy of her body, for some crazy reason."

"Well, isn't that a fine happy end, Tattoo face. It looks like all is well and good after all." With that a relieved Zoro lifted the barrel high in the air and drank it as a toast to his second chance at life. He was happy to know that he can enjoy his new given opportunity however he wants and wasn't just stealing some young woman's time on earth. What a great turn of events.

"…Yes, looks like it." The swordsman didn't like the tone of his, but before he had anytime to react, Jellal hugged him from behind with both of his hands, making Zoro drop his barrel…... wait BOTH HANDS!?

When this oddity hit him, it was already too late, when Jellal's entire body exploded without warning. The blast so strong it destroyed the entire floating mini-island to the point it couldn't remain in the air and dropped down on the well maintained lawn.

It didn't take long for a certain swordsman turned woman to get out of this mess using his pure strength. Blasting off the mostly soft, but still heavy ground and the wooden structure high into the air as it revealed a pissed young woman, who was somewhat hurt, failing to protect his entire body in time. Still except some little cuts and burn marks, Zoro was relatively okay.

You could not say that about his clothes, which were all tattered beyond recognition. Revealing quite some skin and feet.

"Jellal, I liked those boots!" annoyed, Zoro addressed the person standing some ten meters before him in an upright position with his hands behind his back. " I hope you have a good justification for that stunt of yours!"

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Roronoa Zoro. But I can't allow you to live anymore longer."

With that statements the dust cloud cleared and revealed an army of Jellal's, which came in two varieties depending on how many hands they had still attached to their bodies, having Zoro completely surrounded.

At a quick glance, Zoro deduced they were around fifty of them.

"You are my last sin on this planet. So it's my duty to send you back from where you came from."

"Heh, so that's it. Sorry to say this, Jellal, but you are going to regret poking the bear with your flimsy chicken bone!"

Zoro released his conquerors haki again to intimidate Jellal, but most of his clones stood their ground. Only a few of them lost consciousness and disappeared in the wind, never to be heard of again.

The former duo was facing each other, standing in silence for just a moment, before the army rushed Zoro head on, who in retaliation reached for his slightly torn, but still functioning bandana. Wanting to show Jellal who he was messing with.

The two of them were ready to give their lives for this battle and neither of them was even thinking about backing down from this fight.

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BEHOLD MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET. I'm really sorry for the delay, but this chapter was a lot bigger than anticipated aaannnd I was feeling under the weather somewhat, so please forgive me.

For those worrying about the Edolas arc. It's not going to happen... like in cannon. At first, I wanted to drop it, but after some thinking I have found some other use of this world, but it will not happen in the foreseeable future.

Now this is one of the key moments I was talking about. Zoro vs Jellal, a battle where our little mage tries to bring wipe out his last sin on this planet and he's ready to give his best shot.

So what are your predictions or expectations? Will Zoro curbstomp him or is Jellal a lot craftier than suspected. Maybe Zoro's body will hinder him from dealing the final blow or another person or group of mages will steal the show.

Well, either way I hope this chapter is to your liking, dear reader.

P.S: Thanks for all the support. It means a lot to me.

If you find some errors and want to tell me, feel free to P.M. me. I still have no beta, so I might miss some of them. And if you have other question, concerns, or something else, P.M. me too. I'm a very openminded person and always looking for interactions.

Chapter version v3 : 30.12.2021

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