Fairytale of Doom

By CrimsonStarbird

Chapter Eighteen – Bittersweet and Strange

Following their successful escape from Maleficent, Lucy, Levy, and Jellal had decided to head back to the Rose Kingdom. Though it was unlikely that they would make it all the way to the Beast's Castle before night fell, Maurice's village was a lot closer, and he had offered to put up the travellers from another world if they ever needed it.

Personally, Lucy didn't think Jellal was in any state to travel. He'd taken a nasty hit from Maleficent, and a blow a mage would normally have shaken off became ten times more dangerous in a world without magic. However, he had declined their offers to stop and let him rest, and continued to force one foot in front of the other in silent concentration, while Levy recounted the story of their rescue mission to Lucy.

"-so, yeah, after seeing a dragon kidnap you in the Beast's mirror, we tracked down Sleeping Beauty's Castle with Maurice's help and came to rescue you."

"Hmm," Lucy mulled, dissatisfied. "The Beast's mirror still has its powers from the original story, then. I guess there is some magic in this damn place that's actually useful, unlike what I've been stuck with."

"Unfortunately, the mirror broke while we were fighting Maleficent," Levy admitted. "But anyway, a golden shield that can repel a dragon's breath is incredible magic! Alright, so this fairytale world might have slapped a slightly weird condition on its use-"

"That's an interesting way you have of pronouncing morbidly embarrassing," Lucy grouched.

"-but you don't have to tell people about it! You're the only one of us who has actually managed to recover any magical ability at all; I think that's amazing!"

Lucy sulked in silence.

"…You're really hung up over this whole fairytale thing, aren't you?" Levy sighed.

"Easy for you to say. You're brave, heroic Belle!"

"Mulan, actually."

Lucy made a strangled sound.

"Jellal's the Beast, which makes Erza Belle," Levy explained, misinterpreting her response.

"Yeah, he did tell me, I just forgot." Deliberately blocked it out, more like. "I can't believe there are at least two badass female leads in this world, and I'm stuck as bloody Cinderella."

"What's wrong with Cinderella?" Levy sounded genuinely offended on behalf of the not-as-fictional-as-Lucy-would-have-liked character. "She's iconic! Mention fairytale princesses, and she's the first that comes to mind!"

"What's wrong with Cinderella?" Lucy echoed incredulously. "She's a weak heroine with no agency, who only escapes from her situation by marrying a prince she danced with once! The very fact that she has become an icon to little girls everywhere is half the problem!"

At this, Levy actually stopped walking. There in the twilight forest, a million miles from home, she rounded on her friend in astonishment. They may have been in the same fairytale right now, but they couldn't have been further from the same page.

"Lucy, Cinderella isn't weak, she's abused, and by the only person of power present in her life. She has no friends, no prospects, no world beyond the house that is her prison – and yet throughout it, she maintains her kind heart and her faith!"

"Ah, yes, the bastion of traditionally feminine values," Lucy sniped.

"Saying that a female character can only be strong if she represents traditionally masculine values is just as harmful," Levy warned.

Lucy knew that, honestly she did, but at the same time, she didn't get how Levy could understand some things so well and yet not be able to see the obvious conclusion. "Yeah, well, that would be easier to accept if Cinderella didn't spend the entire time cooking and cleaning."

"I think you might be missing the point of the story. It's not women belong in the kitchen, it's don't enslave your stepchildren! Besides, Cinderella isn't about man against woman. All three of the key players in that story are female: Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, and the Fairy Godmother. They are good, evil, cruel, kind, powerful, petty, and wise."

"Yes," Lucy shot back, "and why couldn't I have been one of the powerful or wise ones? Heck, even being Lady Tremaine would have been better than this!"

"…Lucy, she literally enslaves her stepdaughter."

"Yes, well, she's entrepreneurial, isn't she?" Lucy blustered. "Ambitious! Makes use of what she has, and actually makes some decisions for herself!"

"Evil decisions."

"Still better than just waiting around for someone to save her."

Levy reflected, "I think you're overlooking a lot of very deliberate details in the story. When the Wicked Stepmother tells Cinderella she can only go to the ball if she can produce a suitable dress from thin air, Cinderella uses her creativity and resourcefulness to meet the challenge. The mice don't help her because she's a princess; they help her because she regularly risks the wrath of her captors to protect them from mousetraps and that evil cat. Even the Fairy Godmother is a manifestation of Cinderella's unwillingness to lose faith under the most awful circumstances!"

"I'm not talking about the cat-obsessed middle part of the film. I'm talking about how Cinderella's only way out is by marrying a man!"

"The prince is symbolic!" Levy cried. "There's a reason why he has literally no personality, and hardly any spoken lines. He represents a happy ending – the reward for our heroine's hard work and unyielding belief. For Cinderella, who is unloved by her family and forced into servitude, the resolution of her story arc is exactly the opposite: true love and a comfortable home. The fact that this is represented by marriage rather than, say, a beachside villa with a minibar full of piña coladas is just a matter of personal preference. There's nothing wrong with dreaming of either. The point of the story is to show that dreams can come true, not to dictate what those dreams should be!"

Lucy folded her arms. Her scathing tone sliced through the growing dusk. "And what a coincidence it is that Cinderella's dream is to slot neatly into the patriarchy. What a sterling example to set for impressionable young girls."

"That's an interesting point, actually. Quite aside from the fact that both good and evil are represented in the story by strong, well-defined female characters, with Prince Charming and the king only really there to chivvy the plot along, I'd say the portrayal of men is actually worse. Did you know that the king outright says that he's trying to find a wife for his son just so that he can have grandchildren? Not only does he have next to no personality, but Prince Charming is explicitly portrayed as a vehicle for producing offspring. He's the trophy in this situation, not Cinderella."

"Well, Cinderella certainly doesn't object to the idea of her so-called 'freedom' being conditional on becoming a wife and mother, does she?" Lucy snorted. "That's the worst part: how she just goes along with everything. She doesn't try to fight back or change her situation. She just waits for someone else – the Fairy Godmother, the prince, the mice, the glass slipper – to be her change."

"What could she have done? She was isolated, abused, and cut off from anyone able or willing to help."

"She could have run away."

"It's not that simple-"

Lucy raised her chin. "I managed it."

For the first time, the passion in Levy's eyes flickered as she realized she might have overstepped her bounds. This wasn't just a hypothetical debate about their favourite – or least favourite – fairytales. This was real, this was personal, and this had consequences.

"Well- ah-" Levy stuttered.

"No, go on," Lucy pressed. "Tell me exactly why Cinderella had to sit around and wait to be saved."

"Well- the circumstances of the story were pretty different," Levy defended, flustered. "For one, it is a lot safer for a woman to travel alone now than it was at the time of the story. Not to mention, you're an amazing mage, Lucy, and your Celestial Spirits are never far away – but Cinderella was just an ordinary person, with no means of defending herself. Plus, I know you didn't take any of your father's fortune with you when you left, but you didn't go out penniless, either. You had a deposit for a flat, you had cash to spend in magic shops along the way – and I'm really not trying to undermine your bravery, Lucy," she added hastily, "but-"

"It sounds like that's exactly what you're trying to do," Lucy said dangerously.

Levy wrung her hands. "It's only that the circumstances were very different, that's all; I'm not trying to say-"

It didn't sound like even she knew what she was trying to say, but before she could work it out, the person they had both forgotten about in their argument spoke up.

"Do you really think so little of Cinderella?" Jellal asked softly. "Or are you simply frightened that this story won't let you run away from her problems like you ran away from your own?"

Lucy's heart almost stopped. That cut too deep, too close. Every bitter memory seemed to push the knife in deeper: walking out of Cinderella's life only to learn that meeting her true love at the ball was the only way to return to Fairy Tail; trying to escape her story on Prince Eric's ship only to find herself powerlessly awaiting rescue once again.

And what if she hadn't had her celestial keys growing up? What if escaping had been as far-fetched a fantasy as true love, unable to do anything but pray that the husband her father picked out for her was even half as gentle as he was wealthy-

"Oh, honestly," Levy said crossly. To Lucy's astonishment, her friend wasn't looking at her at all, but the final member of their trio. "If you wanted us to wrap up our argument and hurry on to the village, you should have just said so. None of us will think any less of you for needing to rest. We saw you get hurt."

"Ah… I apologize." Jellal gave a rueful smile, though Lucy's attention was drawn to his side, where his right hand was pressed. Was that where Maleficent's claw had caught him? Was it just shadows clinging to his cloak, or worse? The gloom had settled in thick and fast while she had been arguing with Levy.

He continued, "I was a little concerned about how long your argument might have gone on for if left without resolution…"

"Next time, please just say," Levy sighed. "We can walk and discuss literature. Jet always says that if I wasn't capable of that, I would never complete any jobs at all."

A moment later, the implication of Levy's words hit Lucy. "Hang on, did you just psychoanalyse me and tear me apart in a single sentence all because you wanted a sit down?" she squawked, pointing at Jellal.

"Uh." He blinked like a deer caught in the headlights of guilt.

Without waiting for an answer, she turned to Levy, voice soaring higher: "And did you just see straight through his scheme?"

"If it helps, he was doing it to me most of the way to Sleeping Beauty's castle."

"Hardly at all," Jellal protested, although even he sounded impressed.

"Huh," Lucy remarked. She should probably be annoyed that he had seen through her so easily – to a truth she hadn't even been able to admit to herself – but really, she was just bemused. Levy had embarrassed him just as much by calling him out on it. Besides, she couldn't help feeling bad for someone who found it easier to make devastatingly subtle attacks than just accept any of their multiple offers of help. "I bet you were everyone's favourite member of the Magic Council back in the day, weren't you?"

"Oh, they despised me," he assured her. "Unfortunately for them, I was so good at what I did that it took destroying their credibility and ruining all their careers before they were able to get rid of me. Anyway, since we all – ah – seem to be in agreement that I need to rest, might we continue on our journey? I believe Maurice's village is just over the next rise."

They resumed their trek through the darkening woods. By unspoken consent, Lucy and Levy both walked a little slower than before, and if Jellal noticed, he didn't say anything about it.

The little jewels of firelight had become visible in the distance when Jellal offered, "Lucy, I am sorry for what I said. It wasn't my place to comment."

"No, no, it's fine," she shrugged, surprised to find that it was. "It was a fair analysis. And I'm sorry too," she added, glancing around him to where Levy walked on his other side. "I didn't mean to become aggressive. I'm just so frustrated about this whole fairytale thing. I ran away from all of this for a reason, and now it's like I'm right back to where I started."

Levy tried to cheer her up. "It could be worse, Lucy. At least you only have to attend a ball to reach your story's end. Not only do I have to somehow defeat Shan Yu and his army, but I accidentally sicced Erza on them, so I doubt there are any Huns left at this stage."

"Only have to attend a ball…?" Lucy's voice tailed off as realization hit her. "You two don't know how to escape from this world, do you?"

They exchanged glances. "We figured we just had to get to the end of our respective stories," Levy reasoned. "That seemed like the sensible solution."

"It's not just the ending," Lucy recounted numbly. "In fairytales, a happy ending means finding your true love."

There was deathly silence.

"…You what?" Levy squeaked.

"The First Master explained it to me and Gray. The only thing in a fairytale world powerful enough to break the spell that trapped us here is true love. These stories are designed to push us towards our supposed true loves so that we can get together and have our so-called happily ever afters. So, no, I don't just have to dance until midnight, and you don't just have to defeat the Huns. I have to marry Prince Charming. And you have to win the affection of General Li Shang. Forget about military achievements or dress-making skills – true love is the only thing that matters in this universe."

"Huh. Well, now I understand your complaints about being expected to marry one of us," Levy said thoughtfully.

Is that all you have to say? Lucy wanted to shout, but this time, she restrained herself. Of course Levy could take this in her stride. She and Gajeel were already a couple, after all. Finding out that they were destined to be together forever would be a wonderful thing for her. Jellal, too – there wasn't a single member of their guild who didn't know about him and Erza, even if none of them were brave enough to talk about it where Erza could hear.

No: they would be happy with their endings, just like Cinderella and her maybe-symbolically-bland Prince Charming.

Lucy was the only one who wanted a different destiny.

Figures.

After the discussion they had just had, though – partly a scholarly debate, and partly the closest thing to an argument that the two close friends had ever had – the last thing Lucy wanted to do was bring it up again.

"Anyway, we were heading to the village," she stated, picking up the pace once more and deliberately not looking back. "Let's go before it gets any darker."

In that moment, all Gray wanted was to have Shan Yu back.

He could cope with being a captive, tied upside-down to a tree. He could stomach the prospect of being used as a hostage against whichever of his friends had been cast as Mulan (oh, who was he kidding, it had to be Erza, and she'd rescue him in no time). He even thought he could face whatever medieval torture methods this fictional world had yet to outlaw.

Anything would have been preferable to being rescued by Juvia.

Or, to be more specific, being rescued by Juvia in a world where eternal love meant everything and free will meant nothing at all.

Desperation seized him, just as it had on Prince Eric's ship, where he had probably ruined his friendship with Lucy for the slightest chance of avoiding the ending that had been written for him. But he couldn't risk ruining his friendship with Cana too, and there were no other options when you were hanging upside-down from a tree. There was no convenient storm about to sweep in and capsize the ship before he had to face the consequences. There was no Natsu to bulldoze his way through a romantic ballroom and all the literary clichés that came with it. He was bound and helpless, at the mercy of the narrative.

Hell, Juvia probably had fantasies like this.

Closer and closer she came. Surely, she wouldn't. Cana was right there. Not that the presence of their friends had ever dissuaded Juvia's advances in the past. And in a world where the ending she had always wanted lay within her grasp, why would she hold back?

There was a flash of a tiny dagger. The snap of ropes.

And a slump, as Cana fell into Juvia's waiting arms.

Huh.

"Here," Juvia said, carefully setting Cana back on her feet. "Can you stand?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so." Cana sounded as bewildered as Gray felt.

"And now, dearest Gray…"

Gray barely had time to brace himself before his bonds were cut too, and he tumbled into Juvia's arms. She caught him easily. Even with the ropes hanging loosely from his skin, Gray was paralyzed as the returning blood prickled all over his body, knowing he was unable to fight back against whatever tight embrace she had planned…

But she simply set him down, just as she had Cana.

This… was not what he was expecting.

"-ay? Earthland to Gray?" Cana was waving her hand in front of his face. "Is anyone in there?"

"Yeah. Just dazed," he grunted. Which was completely true, just not for reasons in any way related to his stint as a tree decoration.

"I was just saying what good timing Juvia has," Cana was saying, eyeing Gray deliberately. "We could have been stuck as that foul Shan Yu's captives for days without her help."

With an effort, Gray met Juvia's gaze and gave the most normal smile he could manage. "Thanks for the save, Juvia."

Juvia beamed. It was her usual, brilliant smile, eyes like hearts and soul given wings.

Unlike usual, though, it did not end with her fainting in delight or squealing about how happy she was to be praised by her dear Gray.

As if trying to hide her blush, she turned away and gave a slight cough. "There could be more enemies nearby. If you're both okay to travel…"

There was nothing but concern in her tone – concern for the both of them. As if she hadn't even noticed that Gray had been tied up with another woman. Or, rather, she had noticed, but for the first time in her life, she was quietly acknowledging the fact that it had clearly been against his will, and so she wasn't bringing it up.

Cana nodded an affirmative, and Gray did the same.

"Great," she beamed. "There's a place not far from here where we can rest. Let's go."

She set off purposefully into the woods, Cana at her heels. As Gray watched them march through the haze of his disbelief, he felt something sink into his stomach, something he never thought he would feel around Juvia.

Guilt.

He had spoken so harshly of her. Reacted to her feelings with nothing but fear.

Somewhere amidst the upheaval of being thrown into this world, he had forgotten that Juvia was first and foremost a good friend and a Fairy Tail mage.

He clapped his hands to his cheeks briskly. "Do better, Gray," he murmured, and he set off after his friends at a jog.

Cheerful Maurice was possibly the only person in the world who could look delighted at the sight of three bedraggled, weary, and penniless travellers turning up on his doorstep. He was more than happy to let them stay in return for a tale of their adventures, which Lucy and Levy duly recounted while Jellal rested in the corner. Maurice had even offered to fetch the village healer to take a look at his wound, but Jellal had – to Levy's total lack of surprise – politely declined. He assured them that he just needed rest.

Levy wasn't sure she believed him. Following his little verbal skirmish with Lucy in the forest, he had been unusually quiet for the rest of the journey. Though she tried to rationalize it away – maybe he felt bad about what he'd said to Lucy, or awkward about butting into the well-established friendship between the two Fairy Tail mages – she couldn't help but worry, especially since he had already demonstrated that his pride could edge out his common sense where his own safety was concerned.

It wasn't until later on that evening that Levy discovered the truth.

She and Lucy were sharing Belle's room. Maurice had informed them brightly that his daughter had gone to visit a nearby town's library and likely wouldn't be back for a few days. Neither Levy nor Lucy had had the heart to tell him that Belle was currently holding the front lines against the Hun invasion.

It was only a bedroom. All wood and quaint little furnishings, it abounded with the kind of charm only seen in storybook illustrations. A small shelf of books accurately represented its owner's meagre wealth, if not her love of reading. There was nothing particularly special about it, and yet it was the bedroom of Levy's favourite fictional hero. The awe in her, the desire to preserve every little detail in her memory before she left this fairytale world, far outstripped her exhaustion from the fight with Maleficent.

So she was still lying awake when she saw a shadow slip by the window.

She was going to ignore it, but it struck her that she didn't know exactly where they were in Belle's timeline, and she wasn't going to let that ghoul from the asylum drag Maurice away on her watch.

Creeping to the window, she gazed out upon the starry night – and the figure slinking through it. The silvery light drained the colour from his hair, but nothing could conceal the distinctive tattoo that streaked around his right eye.

It wasn't any of her business. She barely knew the man, and if she hadn't screwed up her role in this fairytale world, their paths would never even have crossed here.

Even so, she still cared.

After a moment's deliberation, she left Lucy asleep and slipped out of Maurice's house.

Jellal wasn't difficult to find. He hadn't struck her as the kind of person who liked to be surrounded by others, even in a world where the authorities weren't out for his blood, and indeed he had found himself a spot on the lonely hillside, sitting atop a mossy boulder and staring down at the village.

The hour was late, but no human settlement would ever be truly dark, in this fantasy world or any other. Revelry pressed at the windows of taverns; torches burned in the grasp of the night watch. Lights winked and shimmered with unfulfilled promise. But it would never be their home, and it was no more welcoming to the man who watched the town from afar than the unfamiliar constellations were.

"Hey," Levy said softly, and was startled to see him flinch. "Sorry," she added hastily, seeing some – but far from all – of the tension leave his posture when he recognized her. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

He shrugged in a way that might have meant it was fine, but didn't say anything more.

"What's wrong?" Levy asked bluntly.

"Nothing's wrong."

"I find it hard to believe you've survived seven years on the run if it's normal for people to creep up on you by staggering blindly through the night," she shot back just as quickly. "Something is bothering you. What is it?"

"I was merely uncomfortable being in a stranger's house in a strange world."

This earned him an unimpressed look; even Lucy would have been able to identify that for the half-hearted misdirection that it was. "Three strikes and you're out, my friend."

He looked up at her, then, moonlight painting his face ghostly pale. His mouth opened and closed again, straining against words that didn't want to come out. Before this night, she would have said this man didn't know what fear was, but now she saw it trembling in his chest, carrying a little more of him away with every breath.

"Jellal?" she murmured, dropping all sense of levity. "What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

With the voice of a dead man, he said, "I don't love her."

"…I'm sorry?"

"True love is the only way out of this world. That's what Lucy told us on the way here. I was dragged into this world with Erza, to be her Beast, but I don't love her. I- I have doomed her. After everything she has done for me, my selfishness is the reason why she's going to be trapped here forever!"

He was crying, tears like the tails of comets down his cheeks. Levy was dumbstruck. Her mind flurried; what was she supposed to say to something like that? She hardly even knew the man!

…So maybe that was a good place to start.

Drawing on her courage, trying to appear as though she knew exactly how to approach this kind of situation, she sat down beside him. "Do you want to start from the beginning?" she began timidly. "If you want to talk about it, that is."

But he pulled away from her. "There is no beginning!" he exclaimed. "Love stories have beginnings. Great epic romances have beginnings! Cute meetings, instant sparks, clashes of magic and blade and personality bringing two people together! But there is nothing beautiful about falling out of love with someone!"

"Real life is never as beautiful as the stories make it seem," she murmured. "Not even in love."

And yet they had found themselves in a world that expected it to be that way. No wonder he found no comfort in her words; no wonder her presence, reminding him of the rules here, had done nothing to allay the tremors.

"Talk to me, Jellal, please," she tried. "Tell me in a way that I can understand."

She didn't think he would. Not a man who hadn't even been able to admit that his injury was hurting him and he needed to rest. Not a man who had used the cover of night to try and find some solitude, despite knowing that he was far from the only member of their trio who had issues with the rules of their new world.

But he responded in such an empty whisper that she almost wished he hadn't. "I loved her, once."

"Erza?"

A tiny nod. "She was the one who reached out to me when I was about to throw my life away in front of Nirvana. She believed in me when her friends only saw me as a villain. She saved me, in so many ways… and it wasn't even until my memories returned in prison that I realized what it had cost her to stand up for me; how many sins she had had to look past, just to be there for me. Of course I loved her. How could I not have done?"

The shake of his head was as insubstantial as the moonlight that was his shroud. "But by the time I remembered everything, Tenrou Island had already vanished, and Erza with it."

Seven years. For those who hadn't had their time suspended by the Fairy Sphere, it was an unfathomably long time. Their friends had welcomed them back with open arms, but it wasn't a surprise that those who had lost time gravitated towards each other, and those who had lived through the harsh years of separation had grown much closer to those who had endured it with them. Despite their best efforts, Team Shadow Gear had never been the same. She'd started going on more and more missions with Gajeel partly so that Jet and Droy didn't feel obliged to invite her along.

That was what she was thinking of, when she murmured, "It must be difficult to spend seven years changing and growing and learning, and then running into someone who hasn't changed at all."

"It isn't just the time. I would have waited for her. I did wait for her. Separation is nothing new in our story, nor is starting over from scratch. It's what happened in those lost years that mattered."

Slowly, he turned his pale hands over, seeking answers amongst a dozen faded scars.

"Ever since Ultear and Meredy broke me out of prison, I've been living on the run. It… isn't a pleasant life, knowing that there isn't a single place in the world where you can feel safe. Owning little besides the clothes on your back. Living in constant danger, fearing the revenge of the dark guilds and the Rune Knights alike. Not being able to let your guard down for a moment. And so it should be," he added, a touch of steel entering his voice. "Penitence isn't supposed to be easy. And so we bore it, without complaint, even after Ultear gave her life to the cause and left me and Meredy without our rock of support amidst this ocean of malcontent.

"Even in the face of that hatred, we carried on, clinging to the knowledge that we were finally doing some good in this world. That moment when you foil a dark guild's masterplan… the smile on the face of someone you've saved… the gratitude that doesn't care who you are or where you've come from, only that you were there, on that day, to rescue that kidnapped child… often, that was the only thing that kept us going."

If there had ever been a smile upon his lips, it was gone in the next moment.

"Nevertheless, that is a very long time. I had to watch as it all got too much for Ultear. Sometimes, the only thing making me get up in the morning was knowing that if I didn't, if I couldn't even pretend to believe that things would get better, I'd lose Meredy the same way. And, selfish and greedy that I am, I found myself asking more and more: haven't I done enough? Eight years I spent as Master of the Tower of Heaven, and now I have spent eight years paying for it. Isn't that enough?"

Levy wanted to tell him it was, but to this man, she had a hunch that empty platitudes would do more harm than good. What use was a promise she could not act on? She was a reader in his story, nothing more. The bitterness in his narrative would not be allayed by blind agreement.

And even that was nothing compared to the harsh self-loathing with which he added, "And then there's Erza."

"But she's on your side, isn't she?" Levy ventured, not sure where this was going.

"In a sense. But when she came back, those seven missing years didn't. The sins I had fought so long to try and move past had happened mere weeks ago to her; they still defined me in her mind. She didn't see the years I had spent trying to be a better person, learning how to live up to the hope she had for me. When she looked at me, she saw nothing but the wrongs I had tried to leave behind."

A sigh, long and heavy; a little more of his spirit escaping. "Erza is… a very moral person. She has such a strong sense of right and wrong. And somewhere deep inside, she doesn't believe I have suffered enough for my sins."

"That can't be true!" Levy blurted out. In her anxiousness, she had already forgotten her vow about false promises, and the cutting flash of starlight in his eyes reminded so vividly that she would never forget it again.

"I know she doesn't talk about me, even amongst her closest friends. Her feelings for me aren't something to be celebrated – they are a shameful secret. When we met up during the Grand Magic Games to exchange information, she always insisted that I be masked, even when it was only the two of us in the shadows, no risk of being stumbled upon by others. During Fairy Tail's separation this past year, both Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus sheltered my guild when the Rune Knights were closing in, and yet Erza will not let me come to the guildhall, even though she knows as well as I do that no one in your guild will turn me in. Some part of her thinks that being hunted and shunned is what I deserve."

He gave a bitter laugh. "And how can I blame her? I killed her friend in front of her. The fact that she doesn't hate me is a miracle in itself. And yet…"

His fists clenched. It wasn't a gesture of strength, but of desperation; it only made the shaking more pronounced. "When I first regained my memories, I also felt that I deserved nothing better than this life, but… does all the good I have done since then count for nothing? Did learning of Ultear's magical influence over my actions make no difference to her? How much more must I go through before she decides that it's enough?

"She supports me," he continued in a whisper. "But the time when I needed support came and went while she was trapped on Tenrou Island. What I need now is… is acceptance. For someone to see not only what I did wrong, but everything I have done to try and right it. To not be ashamed of loving me. To stand up and say, screw the Council, he has proven that he is a good man and I will fight anyone who dares to claim otherwise."

He let his head fall into his hands. "I don't deserve that. I know I don't. But, selfish fool that I am, I cannot help but long for it. After all these years, I want to be indulged, just by one person. And Erza… she is the harshest judge of all."

"She holds those she loves to the same high standards to which she holds herself," Levy murmured.

"That she does," he agreed softly. "Her sense of morality is stronger than anything, even love. She is a remarkable person, and I am beyond blessed that she still considers me a friend after everything. But I can't see her as more than that any more. We… don't have a future together. All because I am a vile, self-serving man who wants more than he deserves."

"Don't say that!" Levy began, alarmed, but he cut across her as mercilessly as Maleficent's claws.

"It's the truth. Erza is going to be trapped in this world forever because I am too selfish to return her feelings."

Levy pleaded, "There's still time-"

"Do you know what happened the last time Erza and I met, right before we were dragged into this world?"

She didn't answer. Of course she didn't know, and from the way he said it, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

"We were fighting one of the Spriggan Twelve, Neinhart. Erza and Kagura had been ambushed by his henchmen, and I stepped in to help. My guild had spread all across the country to assist the allied forces. Meredy and Juvia teamed up to great effect. The Rune Knights welcomed the former Oración Seis with open arms; they needed all the help they could get, and they knew it. And do you know what the first thing was that Erza said to me, when I showed up to fight alongside her?"

Numbly, Levy shook her head.

"She told me to hide my face," he said bitterly. "It'd been a whole year since we were reunited after Tenrou's return – a year in which she'd had the chance to see for herself the good I was doing out in the world. Lahar and Doranbolt trusted my outlandish plan at the Grand Magic Games. Yajima and Jura turned a blind eye after working out who I was. I managed to turn the escaped Oración Seis back to the light. Even Kagura, who spent seven years training to kill me after finding I had murdered her brother, gave up her claim to vengeance in that fight and saved my life instead. And Erza, the woman who loves me, is still ashamed to be seen with me."

"I'm sure she was just worried for your safety, nothing more…"

"I'm sure that was part of it. But, I can worry about myself."

He stopped before saying but I can't be proud of myself, or stand up for myself, or love myself, and yet Levy heard it anyway.

"That's why you were cast as the Beast, isn't it?" she realized. "It's like you said the other day. Any interpretation about the Beast having to learn empathy or kindness from his curse might have applied to you all those years ago, but they have no meaning now. However, when viewed another way, it isn't the arrogant prince who has to look past the exterior to what lies within – it's beautiful Belle. If Belle had started dating the Beast before the curse was broken, she would have been the one having to defend her choice against the ridicule and fear of the townsfolk."

He nodded, slowly, and with dark satisfaction. "Everyone in Fiore knows me as a villain on sight. Like the Beast, I must hide away, prevented from living in ordinary society. When people look at the Beast, they see only the physical manifestation of a single past mistake, not the soul just as capable of falling in love as any human being. When Erza looks at me, she sees only my past sin, not the man beneath it – the man I have spent eight years trying to become."

"But Belle surpasses that, and falls in love with the Beast anyway," Levy insisted. "That's the whole point of the story! There's still time…"

"Maybe there is, for her," Jellal said emptily. "But not for me. I care for Erza dearly, but I don't, I can't, see her in a romantic way. Even-" His voice caught. He was crying again, silent trickles of moonlight down his cheeks. "Even though she loves me. Even though she's the only reason I'm still alive today… I am too selfish to love her back!"

"That doesn't make you selfish, Jellal!" she burst out. "Your heart isn't something you can give away like money or clothes! No one can choose when they fall in love, or with whom!"

"But after everything she did for me-"

"You don't owe her romantic love! Other things, maybe – gratitude, respect, friendship. But you have no obligation to give her your heart just because she saved you!" She shook her head vigorously. "That's one thing I don't like about the classic romances. So many of them unintentionally perpetuate this harmful myth. You don't owe someone love just because they helped you out of a dark place. And I know Erza would be so upset that you felt that way."

He flinched back visibly, the first time he had ever seemed wounded by her words. She let her tone become gentler, though no less insistent. "You know she wouldn't expect that of you, Jellal. That's not why she did it. Heck, I'm sure we've all been saved by Erza at one point or another. By that logic, she's going to have to marry half the guild."

He didn't laugh. No, his response was just as cutting as ever. He was never so cruel as when the blades of his words were turned upon himself. No wonder he needed a partner who would indulge him; it was never a luxury he would allow himself.

"Yes, well, half the guild hasn't been dragged into this fairytale world for the sole purpose of finding true love with her," he spat. "She'll be stuck here forever, all because she had the misfortune to fall for a contemptible man who-"

"No one is going to be stuck here forever," Levy overrode him.

She was standing now, towering over him. With the moon at her back, he was cast into shadow, his pale skin a little more normal in shade, his body looking a little less like it was fading, ghostlike, with every second that passed. In the gloom, his eyes seemed to glimmer with a light all their own – a heavenly light refracted by tears, like rings around the moon.

"We'll find another way, Jellal," she declared. "You heard Lucy earlier – she's not letting this stupid world bully her into playing Cinderella. These fairytales can throw all the plot clichés they want at us, but they can't control our hearts. We will find another way to escape from here, all of us."

He lowered his head, sobbing silently into his hands.

"Don't ever let anyone make you feel guilty for not being in love," Levy murmured. "It doesn't make you any less of a human being."

Tentatively, for she was so much more confident with words than with gestures, she reached out and placed her hand upon his shoulder. To her surprise, he grasped it like a lifeline. Strong and scarred and criss-crossed with tears; the hand of a warrior.

"Will you come back to the house?" Levy asked. "You really do need to rest. I don't know how we're going to get out of this world, but I'm sure we'll stand more of a chance if all three of us are fully fit and ready to take on whatever these fairytales can throw at us."

"…I will."

He let her pull him to his feet, and they walked up to the house side by side.

"Thank you for talking to me tonight," Levy volunteered suddenly. "I know it isn't easy to be open about such things, especially to someone you hardly know."

Isn't easy was an understatement. Her guild made it look nearly impossible, secrets kept zealously even from those they were closest to until a life-or-death situation forced it out of them. Then again, she was surrounded by a bunch of dense and stubborn – if lovable – idiots at times. Speaking to a man who understood himself so well, and was actually in touch with his own feelings, made a nice change.

She caught a ghost of a smile in the moonlight. It was faint, and yet it looked a little freer than before.

"You are very easy to talk to," said he. "You are so very wise."

Levy glanced down at her feet, not entirely trusting the night to hide her blush. "I only say what I feel. It's not clever, or calculated, or…" Or like any of the tricks he used when he was trying to get information out of someone.

"I think that's why it works, even on someone like me," he said, with a rueful smile. "I can talk to you because I know you'll hear me. Thank you for listening to me, Levy."

A/N: Finding you can change, learning you were wrong.

I've been wanting to get to this chapter since I started this story, and now it's finally here. It's a bit of a different interpretation on Jellal and Erza's relationship; one that is only possible because it is set so late in canon, a whole year on from their post-Tenrou reunion, with a lot having changed for Jellal since then and yet nothing shifting in their dynamic. Anyway, I'm going to stop myself here before this turns into a chapter-length essay about why I wanted to take this approach with their relationship. I hope you liked this take on things - or at least think it has interesting possibilities. Thanks for reading! ~CS