Jellal could no longer stand as the aura he felt when a solitary finger came out of the fissure, brought him down to his knees.
"Jellal...you asked me what to do, didn't you? What you could do to save yourself and everyone around you?"
The younger man looked up, fighting through the force, and managed to nod his head. The former gave out a small smirk and sighed before turning his attention back to the woman arising from the fissure.
"Do nothing. Do absolutely nothing. She gets a kick out of it only when you struggle to live...only when you struggle to break free from her control. You may not be able to defeat her once and for all, but you can kill her joy. That is the only way there to beat her"
Erza could not understand what was going on. She could feel the pressure, and it was definitely impressive, but not enough to choke her or force her down onto the ground. She hovered around Jellal in concern and turned her attention towards the older Jellal as she held on to her man protectively.
The moment she looked up, the finger had extended up to an arm and an eerie face peeked from the fissure. Cerulean hair flowed out of the fissure like a tsunami taking over a hapless village.
Erza noticed her face emerge from the fissure, and she visibly shivered.
If anger had a physical form, the woman was the perfect embodiment of it. The sheer heat sent by the glare of her eyes was more than enough to incinerate the soul of the person standing in front of her.
Akin to what Meredy had described when Jellal had lost control of his anger, glowing red marks ran all over her body like a tribal tattoo, and with a vicious grip, she grabbed onto the older Jellal's neck.
With the speed that seemed to make her boyfriend's Meteor seem like a snail, she darted forward, uprooting at least three trees, and slammed the man against the fourth that was sturdy enough to bear her strength.
"Did you finally catch on? Has your old age caught up with you, old hag? You don't seem as smart as you think of yourself to be"
Erza hated that all she could do at that point was wait and do nothing. If she charged like a fool, that woman would not hesitate to swat her down like a fly, because all that mattered to her was Jellal. The last thing she wanted to do was to offer herself on a platter, especially when her life with Jellal was just about to begin.
"You...how dare you? Did you think this would stop me from killing you? Did you think you could survive? Even if you did, how long can you live? Look at your stupid face! You don't even have the will to live. So why do you put up a fight?", she roared out as she planted vicious punches onto his face.
Even if it was not exactly the man she loved, Erza's heart tore itself with each punch the man bore. Even if he was just an anomaly from another timeline, he bore the same face as her Jellal. It was the same body language, it was similar power, and it was the same headstrong, dogmatic, self-loathing behaviour of the man she held dearer than any other being in the world.
She scooted in front of Jellal, shielding him from the woman's point of view. Considering the scenario where the woman would want to attack the two of them, Erza had the better chance at the moment, even with the loss of usage of her right arm. Jellal was absolutely in no state to fight, and might as well lose to a brand-new adventurer.
"I have no chance at survival, bitch. Killing me would be a favour to me... especially after what you did to me"
A disgusting smile made its way up her face as the older Jellal spat blood on her face which she ignored. The greatest joys those sadists would receive would be the hopeless and angry faces of their victims.
Every fiber of her being teemed in expectations of seeing that face yet again, but all she got was a bloody smirk from the man.
"I came here knowing that you would not kill him. I came here knowing that you would do anything to prevent me from killing my younger self. After all, he is your next prey, is he not?
When are you planning to devour him? In ten years? Twenty? If I killed him right now, you would have to start over from scratch, wouldn't you?"
Veins began to pop up all over Jellal's mother. The sheer stress going through her body at the moment was more than enough to burst open the blood vessels of a human being, and with the older man laughing at her with no remorse, things were not looking good for anyone in the vicinity.
Erza felt a short tug on her arm and turned towards Jellal. With a knowing expression in his eyes, he silently asked her to move to the side, which would expose him to the line of sight of his mother.
"Trust him!", she thought. She knew that he had no intentions to lose his life over that battle, on that very day. But there was a reason for it.
The moment she moved away from him, the older man's body started to envelope itself in white light. For a moment, the woman stared at the three of them in confusion as her eyes began to dart towards them like ping pong balls until they widened in realisation.
"TAKE IT!", the man screamed towards Jellal as the bright light enveloped him momentarily. Erza rushed behind him and hugged him, as she sensed the powerful magic and planted her feet onto the ground, bracing for impact.
It was pure instinct that drove her to do so, and it helped her yet again. Jellal leaned against her, as he lost whatever remained of his energy.
"Heavenly Body Magic, huh? Which God did you learn it from?", he laughed from Erza's lap. The Requip mage felt an immeasurable amount of magic surrounding Jellal, and his eyes began to grow in a brighter shade of green with each passing moment.
"You'll learn it one day...hopefully. I've given you my memories - at least whatever you need to know", the older Jellal growled through his pain.
There was a short pause for a moment and the two men shared a nod.
I will leave the rest to you - that was the message shared. Words were not necessary for Erza to recognise the meaning behind his words, and the man turned towards Erza, and grabbed onto the arm of the woman.
"I know I have caused you a lot of pain by hurting Jellal. I had to do it to drag her here, and to let him know. At least, that was my intention..."
Older Jellal turned his attention back towards his mother. For someone as omnipotent as she was, why was she unable to move from the spot? Why could she not crush his neck and finish it off? What was she waiting for?
Erza could understand the strength that was coming from him. Heavenly Body Magic, as Jellal had just said. She recalled him learning some of them, and their power was always incomparable, but it came at a price. What was the price that the man had paid to hold that insurmountable woman in place for more than a few seconds?
As a train of questions ran over her brain and overworked the gears of her mind, the man continued with his explanation.
"But a part of me did hope to kill him. I really did mean some of the things I said when we fought. I know that it does not excuse what I did, because I was conscious of it the entire time...but I am sorry.
I cannot remove what I have done, but I hope the pain and memories I have shared with your boyfriend might help you end up in a different fate", he smiled.
The ethereal glow of his body began to fade over time, and he was back to his weakened self. With a powerful grin, the woman leaned forward and thrust her other arm right into his abdomen, grabbing onto his entrails and pulling them out, causing the older Jellal to spit out torrents of blood and collapse onto his knees.
She turned her attention towards the younger man and Erza lunged forward again, kneeling in front of him defensively. The woman stared at her as if she were staring at an insignificant rock lying on the floor.
"Grow up and become even more strong, you little tadpole. I won't wait for too long. I just finished my meal...but you never know when you can get cravings, can you?"
Erza hated her face with every fiber of her being. It was the same face that stared at her lovingly, it was the same one that made her blush countless times, and the same one she could gaze upon for hours and hours, and not get bored of it.
But that face did not deserve to exist on that woman's face. She could not express the growing animosity that brewed in her heart as the woman licked the blood of her fallen son in a heartless manner.
"Well, you did put up a decent fight for all these years. Have your last moments, my little darling"
She blew a kiss towards the aging man who was busy gurgling on his own blood, and smirked at him with those condescending eyes before returning back to whatever abyss she spawned from.
It felt like all seven destructive forces had come together for one combined meal and left in a flash, looking at the damage around the place.
As Erza looked towards the older Jellal, realisation hit her. The man was hanging on to his life by a solitary thread.
She was initially indifferent towards him, and a part of her could even say she hated him for hurting Jellal, and almost dismembering her arm.
But the moment she could see the light in his eyes dim by the moment, the tears began to flow. It was as if her heart had taken over her brain as she scurried towards him and held the man, helping him lean against the nearly destroyed tree.
Blood spurted everywhere and Erza could only bawl as her mind started to replace the man in front of her with the man she loved, on its own.
"You would still spare some tears for the man who did this to you?", he chuckled as he rubbed the tears from her eyes.
Erza could not give any coherent answer and bawled out loud as she tried in vain to stop the blood from flowing out.
"That -"
"You should tell Jellal what he needs to know. Nothing important can come out of talking to me. I am not in any state to remember anything important"
Nostalgia hit the older man like a truck as he felt the distant feeling of compassion. The past half-decade or so had been significantly rough on him, and perhaps this was a final act of kindness fate had decided to give him.
"He needs to know whatever he needs to know", he replied with a smirk as he adjusted himself and stared at her eyes before pointing toward his younger self.
"That guy is an idiot. He won't ask you to marry him unless you threaten to throw yourself off a cliff or something. Take my advice and ask him first. If not, get him drunk and make him sign a marriage agreement.
I still have my pride, so I won't tell you what my Erza did to get us married...but in hindsight, I know I should have done it a long time back"
Jellal pinched the bridge of his nose and buried his face in embarrassment, while Erza was far too stunned to respond.
"I don't know what he says, but I know this for sure...he loves you much, much more than he lets on"
She didn't have to hear it from this man's mouth. She knew it from the simplest of his gazes and the softest of his touches; he loved her much, much more than he said out loud.
The man's eyes wandered to her neck and he reached forward to grab the jewel Jellal had given to her a necklace. With the last bit of his strength, he crushed it with his fist, which horrified Erza.
"That is not something you should bear, Erza. Trust me...you will understand why I did it. I can't say anything else, or..."
What more could Erza say? It was obviously something important, and he recognised it. Did that mean Jellal would look past his guilt? Maybe one day, she could see the smile of that child who adored AND annoyed her to the ends of Earth?
A loud sputtering cough broke Erza's train of thought as her blurry eyes concentrated on the dying man in front of her.
"Ah, I forgot...that half of my stomach was lying outside of my body"
In a vain attempt, she held her palm against the open wound. It was useless, she knew it very well, but she knew even more that she would never forgive herself if she did not do that.
"Hey..can you give me that smile before I go?"
She stared at him in disbelief as the question left his mouth.
"OF COURSE NOT! H...HOW CAN I SMI-"
It was a last request. He was barely hanging on to his life and spoke whatever he needed to, bearing the gruesome pain that woman had left him with.
He reached forward and lifted her chin to make him face her.
Erza was a sweaty and bloody mess, her eyes were puffy and tears coated her cheeks. Her lips were probably bleeding based on how many times she had bitten them, but she managed to give out her brightest smile.
She knew that if there was a mirror present, she would objectively flinch at how disgusting she probably looked with that miserable smile.
But the man stared at her in awe and his eyes grew misty. A massive grin made its way onto his lips and he clicked his tongue in appreciation.
"There's that! There's that divine smile...", he chuckled, and his arm went limp.
Erza gasped and blinked rapidly to come to terms with it, but not a single remnant of the man remained on the spot.
The place had become rather silent for quite some time, but from a distance, one could hear the most painful wailing of the Queen of Fairies.