By the time you read this, the poll will be closed. The result will be at the bottom of the chapter.

P.S. Last week, I just made my very first block. The guy was a troll. He was saying I should kill myself, but before he said that, I made a reply to him after he said my story sucked. So when he said to go die, I felt a little smug, and wanted to send this, " ;P " at him, but I didn't, because in the end it meant I won, and I already told him that I was not going to waste my time with him any longer. I blocked him after that and reported him.

Now then, ON TO THE STORY! XD

44

Recap: "Oh, Lord Zeref! I am here before you! I offer this woman's body as your sacrifice!" Jellal called out with his arm spread open. Harry tried to get Jellal's foot off his body, but he is smaller and weaker than him. He hissed under the gag, trying to call out for Erza, while Erza shouted Jellal's name.

All of a sudden everything stopped. Harry abandoned his struggling and looked over to Erza – followed by Jellal – and saw that Natsu finally showed up, pulling Erza out of the lacrima.

Natsu dragged Erza out of the lacrima with such strength that they went falling sideways. After getting his balance back, Natsu laid Erza down on the blue, crystal floor. He looked up to Jellal and smirked cockily.

"Both Erza and Harry belong to Fairy Tail. I won't be handing either of them over to you. So, how about we start with you get your foot off of Harry's back," he said.

"Natsu Dragneel…" Jellal said it so softly that only Harry heard him.

Natsu looked back down to Erza and asked her what she was doing, because they have to get back to the guild so they can take on missions or else they won't be able to pay the rent. The mention of rent made Harry remember that he needs to pay his rent almost as soon as he gets back home.

'I really need to start looking for a house,' Harry thought with a sweat drop flowing down his head.

"I'm sorry, Natsu, but I can't really move my body right now," Erza said, and Natsu had an impish spark shine in his eyes. Harry said something behind his gagged, but it was muffled. He tried to say, "Erza, you made a mistake when you said that you couldn't move." Not long after Harry tried to say this, Natsu started to tickle the down, red-headed, woman.

Erza laughed loud and hard. "Is that right? Then this is for all the times you beat me up. Take this and that!" said Natsu with a grin while still tickling her. Erza starts begging for him to stop, which he complied shortly after.

Once Erza caught her breath she said, "Natsu, you need to get Harry and get out of here. OW!" The cry of pain was due to Fawkes diving down and pecking her on the forehead. She snapped her eyes to the fire bird and demanded, "Why aren't you getting Harry out of here?!" Fawkes just pointed toward Harry with his wing feathers to show that even if he wanted to he wouldn't be able to bring him anywhere without bringing Jellal with them. Once the phoenix saw that Erza got that message, he placed his beak right between her eyes, and then stepped away, turned to face Jellal, and held his wings out to the side at their full length like he is shielding her from oncoming attacks.

Erza and Natsu's eyes widen when they realized what Fawkes was trying to tell them. Erza glared at Harry. "Harry…" The wizard gulped when he saw the look she was giving him. "You told Fawkes to protect me, didn't you?" Harry slowly nodded his head. He feared that any faster and there will be an explosion. "You also told him to get me out at the least should things go south…?" His face is now as white as a ghost, but he still replied with a very shaky nod.

Natsu started to laugh, because this is the first time he's ever seen Harry scared of Erza. Harry's bright – and scared – green eyes focused on the dragon slayer like he is insane. Oh wait, he is.

"When we get out of this, Erza is so going to kill you, Harry!" Natsu said loudly, but Harry's sure he heard pride in his tone as well. Natsu then turned slightly to face Jellal again. "Now, get off of Harry so we can fight."

Harry couldn't see, but he could tell that Erza's eyes widened at Natsu in fear. "No! He is dangerous. You don't understand him at all," she said.

Natsu looked at her blankly. "I won't win if I don't understand him?" Erza nodded in reply, so Natsu sighed and lifted her off the ground again. "Alright, have it your way," he said, but Harry has this feeling that Natsu meant that they are doing this the hard way; he was right. Natsu jammed his fist into Erza's gut hard enough to knock her out. Fawkes squawked in shock, and Jellal's irises got smaller while the lids of his eyes got farther apart, and his mouth was open just the littlest of bits. Harry just hurt himself when he smacked his head down onto the cold, hard, crystal.

"Your more repulsive than I thought," Harry heard Jellal say from above him. "Did you enjoy striking your friend while she couldn't even move?"

Natsu didn't say anything for a moment, he didn't even bother turning around. "Erza," said Natsu finally. "She was crying."

Jellal tilted his head, and Harry looked confused. He didn't see her crying, but then again he is far enough away to have not seen her clearly.

"She was saying depressing things with a shaky voice…" Natsu continued with a growl. Harry noticed that the dragon slayer's fist is shaking and a vain throbbing under the skin.

{Fawkes, move out of the way, now…} Harry told him cautiously. Fawkes didn't need to be told twice, sensing the danger. He flew off closer to Harry and perched on the back of the throne.

"I've never seen Erza like that. She should be strong, mean, and scary." Natsu turned around to finally face them, and the look in his eyes makes Harry very glad that he is friends – practically brothers – and not enemies with the fire dragon mage. Hot steam was coming off of Natsu in waves all around his body. "When she wakes up, I hope she'll be the Erza I knew. That's what I'll fight for!"

Jellal lifted his hand in a bring-it-on kind of way. "Well then, let's see the power of a dragon slayer," he said, and Natsu thrusts his body forward with fire dancing around him.

Harry made himself as flat as he could on the ground, hoping that none of the fire will burn him. He felt the heat from Natsu's flames, but they didn't stay there for long. He also felt Jellal's foot get forcefully removed from his back, and he is sure that Natsu just kicked the blue-haired man in the face as a follow up for missing with his punch.

Harry snapped his head up to see what is happening, and found that Natsu slammed his left fist in Jellal's abdomen. With his right, he punched the left side of the face that didn't have the tattoo, and then with his left again, Natsu threw an uppercut to Jellal's jaw.

With a battle cry – more like a roar in Harry's opinion – Natsu showered the one who was going to kill Erza for Zeref and give Harry away as a pet to the newly living dark mage with punches. After raining down his attacks, Natsu covered both his fists with his flames, and brought them down like whips while shouting, "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" He covered his foot right after, and brought it down in an arc on Jellal's head. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" he finished the follow up casting of his dragon slayer magic.

While Jellal was flying away from Natsu, who is upside down, the dragon slayer inhaled deeply, making his cheeks puff up like he ate two basket balls. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" he called out, breathing a long, powerful stream of fire at his enemy. Along the path, bits of crystal broke away by the force, but when the smoke and debris cleared, both Harry and Natsu got a clear view of Jellal. He is standing tall; not looking winded at all, and doesn't appear to even have a scratch on his body. The only thing that is different is that Jellal removed his more than likely scorched over coat.

Harry's eyes were wide at what he is seeing. 'He took that like it was nothing…' he mused.

Harry couldn't see it from where he is lying, but Natsu had an expression that is a mix of disbelief and anger. Jellal dusted himself off, getting rid of anything that may have fallen on him, and said to Natsu, "To think, before I destroyed you, I had wanted to see the destructive power of a dragon slayer." He shrugged. "But this level of power is nothing special," he said with a sneer.

Natsu dashed forward at Jellal while shouting, "What'd you say!"

Jellal smirked darkly. "You had the nerve to interrupt my ceremony. I'm going to crush you with my heavenly magic." He dashed forward at a speed that Harry could barely follow. He has to use all his focus if he ever hoped to keep up with his movements. "Meteor!" the name of the attack was shouted, and not a second later, Jellal was behind Natsu.

He jabbed an elbow into Natsu's back. The dragon slayer turned around, but Jellal was no longer there. He is in front of him, and this time slammed his knee under the pink-haired mage's chin. Jellal followed up with a punch to the face.

Natsu cursed and swung out with a well aimed punch; alas, he was too slow. Jellal dodged the attack, and Natsu's lost his balance, falling onto the floor.

'Darn, he's fast!' Harry thought, not noticing that Natsu said the same thing, but aloud.

"I can't rely on my eyes right now," Harry heard what Natsu said this time. But how are the other senses going to help track this speed demon that claims to be a mage?

Harry started to worry, because Natsu wasn't moving, and Fawkes was telling him that his eyes are closed as if he's willing himself to focus as much as a dragon slayer can. Jellal is charging at him now, making Harry force himself not to shout out from behind his gag to warn Natsu of the oncoming attack – he didn't want to distract him. Just as Jellal was upon him, Natsu's eyes snapped open. "There!" he said while swinging his fist out to hit him, but he missed. Natsu's eyes widened, as well as Harry's, in disbelief. "He's gotten faster?!" the mage said aloud what the wizard was thinking.

Harry could no longer keep up; Jellal was moving at speeds that he could only dream of while hitting Natsu every now and then. "I won't let any of your attacks touch me," Jellal said to Natsu.

{That's cheating,} Harry thought.

{Not really… It's, sadly, Natsu's own fault for picking an enemy this powerful,} Fawkes replied.

Jellal kicked Natsu in the gut, resulting in blood passing the victim's lips. Jellal flew up into the air and finally stopped.

"It's over. Time for you to have a glimpse," he held up his hands in front of him, "of real destructive power," he said. His right hand is in the open palm of his left while the pointer and middle fingers are facing up with the rest curled in. "Grand Chariot!"

Harry shouted Natsu's name in fear, or at least tried to, when the attack made a direct hit on him. The attack was so powerful that a giant chunk of the tower fell off, which just made Harry worry more for his friend.

Natsu is on the ground, unmoving. Jellal landed right after, and stood up straighter. "This magic is comparable to an actual meteor. I'm impressed you're still in one piece," he said, and looked at the hole his magic made. "On the other hand, it looks like I went a little too far. Anymore damage to the R-system would be troublesome. The magic is already starting to leak out."

At this very moment, Harry wishes that he could start using explosion spells just so he could create more damage to the tower and be done with it. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen; not while he is stuck in the snake binding, and couldn't move or speak.

Jellal turned to face Erza, who has not once moved since Natsu knocked her out. "We'll have to hurry," he said with a dark, creepy look in his eyes. "Right, Erza?" Before Jellal could move closer to her, however, a pebble bounced by his foot. Harry looked over just like Jellal to where the piece of crystal came from, and saw that Natsu is in the process of grabbing another pebble. Once in his clutches, he threw that one too at Jellal.

Natsu did this two more times, each throw better than the last, with Harry and Jellal both being confused as to what he was doing.

{I think he's trying to keep him away from Erza,} Fawkes said.

{Seems to be working…?} Harry wasn't too sure if what Natsu's doing will work for long.

The last pebble Natsu threw hit Jellal on the chest, making the dragon slayer laugh weakly. "I hit you…with my attack."

{That was what he was going for?!} Harry and Fawkes said in unison.

Natsu started to slowly get back up, and Jellal didn't bother stopping him. He just kept glaring away at him. Harry believes that that will be somewhat of a mistake.

"This tower is made of crystal, right?" Natsu asked. "If it were damaged, it would lose its powers, huh?" Natsu lifted his fist and punched through the floor of the tower, creating more damage to it, just like Harry thought he would. "Then that's too bad for you!"

Jellal cried out negatively, but Natsu didn't care. The pink-haired dragon slayer got up off the ground to stand. He wasn't holding himself high, but that wasn't what he was going for. He is getting ready for round two of their fight.

"Mages of Fairy Tail specialize in property damage!" Natsu said like he was proud of it. Although, at the moment, Harry and Fawkes couldn't help but agree just this once on that statement. "I'm still in the mood for fighting. Never felt better in my life!"

Jellal's eyes appeared murderous enough that it sent the cold claws of fear to trail down Harry's spin. "You little punk," the heavenly body mage growled out through tightly clenched teeth. "I'm going to finish you within an instant. You're going to regret getting up again…" Jellal's hand is up in front of him; the fingers tense and ready to claw someone's eyes out. Well, that's what Harry would have thought if the finger were really claws.

"I'd like to see you try. Come get me if you can," said Natsu with a confident grin. Jellal's eye twitched right before he sent his attack at his enemy. Natsu dodged all of them by doing flips and spins.

Harry started to shake his head in disbelief, because Natsu has a cocky smirk on his face. It was no surprise that a powerful, but not nearly as powerful as the last one that destroyed some of the tower, attack hit him. Natsu didn't cry out in pain, but over the roar of the heavenly magic, Harry could hear a growl coming from the dragon slayer.

Harry realized that the attack didn't fully hit, Natsu blocked it with his arms. He ripped the ball of heavenly magic apart, surprising everyone in the room.

Between pants, Natsu said, "What's the matter? Are you holding back 'cause you're too chicken to damage you precious tower? Your attack had no effect on me at all."

Jellal sent out another attack. "Don't get too cocky!" he shouted. The shockwave-like attack knocked Natsu back hard. Harry jumped when he heard Erza's voice call out the pink-haired mage's name.

Natsu rolled on the ground backward, heading for a piece of crystal. Just before Natsu hit the wall, he cried out, "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" The huge ball of fire blasted through the floor, destroying more of the tower.

Harry felt a sweat drop fall down the side of his face with an expression that asked if Natsu was for real. He looked over at Jellal and saw that the man looked a mix between scared and enraged, but mostly the latter. Harry had a good guess as to why.

Harry shivered of fear when he felt the dark aura come off of Jellal in a huge tsunami sized wave. Jellal growled/hissed, "My…tower that I spent 8 years building…You…" He was so angry that he could hardly finish a sentence. He crossed his wrists high above his head. "Unforgivable!" A powerful shockwave of magic energy swept through the whole room, almost blowing Fawkes off his perch if he hadn't dug his claws into the throne.

{I got a bad feeling about this… Harry! Your shadow!} Fawkes said in shock. Harry looked down and noticed that his shadow is going toward the light, not away from it like it's supposed to.

'What is going on?' asked Harry to himself.

"Fall into the endless darkness, Dragon Slayer!" Jellal said loudly over the howling magic.

From the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Erza get up and weakly walked over to Natsu, or rather the space between Natsu and Jellal. 'She's not going to do what I think she's doing, is she?!' he thought in horror and worry.

His fear and concern were for not. Erza stood in front of Jellal shielding Natsu from the threatening attack. "You're going to have to kill me to get to him!" she said determinedly. Jellal paused, but did not stop charging the attack. "Zeref's revival requires a sacrificial body, right? So are you going to kill me?" Erza continued.

"That's true…" Harry does not like the look in Jellal's eyes when he said this. "The condition roughly requires the body of a mage as powerful as one of the ten wizard saints. But at this point, it doesn't make a difference with or without you," said Jellal, proving that Harry was right to be anxious. Jellal is willing to kill her now, and use someone else. Luckily for Harry he is nowhere near that level of power, so he doesn't have to worry that it's going to be him.

"The two of you shall die together!" Jellal exclaimed, getting ready to send the attack at them. Harry is shouting, but he can't be heard from behind the gag, and the roaring magic isn't helping much either.

Natsu ordered Erza to get out of the way, but she just smiled, knowing that this is the end, and that she would happily give her life to protect her friend. Jellal sent the giant ball of heavenly magic at the two mages. Harry wanted to look away, but he couldn't force himself to.

It was like everything slowed down. Harry saw someone – Simon if he remembered correctly – insert himself between Erza and the attack, taking the full force with his own body.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. The man held for a brief moment before collapsing onto the ground while saying Erza's name. Erza cried out his name and ran over to him. Harry was too far way to hear, but he could still see the expression in Erza and Simon's eyes. Erza was scolding him, but it would seem that Simon didn't care for that, because he looked purely relieved.

Harry didn't like to see Erza cry, and he could tell that Simon was dying. He did his best to turn and face Fawkes. {Can you save him?} he requested.

Fawkes shook his head. {Not with my tears.} Harry looked ready to start crying on Erza's behalf. {But I might be able to use my healing flames; however, within an hour afterward, I will go into a burning day.}

{That's all the time Natsu is going to need. Do it!} Harry ordered urgently. Fawkes flew over to Simon. When he landed on the mage's chest with his wings still spread on either side of his body, he began to glow gold, but the gold turned into a soft, warm green shortly after. The glow spread over Simon's body, and faded into it. Fawkes' chest was heaving from using his most powerful healing ability.

{He'll…be…okay,} Fawkes said, allowing Harry to breathe a sigh of relief.

Erza picked up Fawkes once she realized what he did, and thanked him. Luckily for them all, except Jellal, Natsu's anger didn't fade even the slightest bit afterward. He is still furious at Jellal for almost killing a friend of Erza's and making her cry all over again. (AN: Yeah, I know. This was a very sad scene, but I couldn't bring myself to kill Simon. I love the guy, and Fawkes was right there. I'm sure someone would have said something about it anyway. So in the end, I see this as a win.)

"I don't know why you bother saving him, Harry," Jellal said, knowing that he was behind it. "The three are going to die one way or another. I would kill the bird, but it's a phoenix. I guess I could use it to found out how to kill it later, but for now…" he didn't get the chance to finish, because Natsu punched the man in the face.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" Natsu shouted, sending Jellal soaring through the air and slid of the ground when he landed.

The dragon slayer bent down and picked up a bit of broken off crystal and bit into it, making Harry and everyone else in the room to call him a fool either aloud or silently. That one little bit was enough to cause a huge wave of power exert out around his whole body; however, Natsu fell and started coughing and gagging.

This didn't see to stop him though, because he grabbed more on the power coming out of the lacrima and ate it, making him even sicker.

"You idiot!" scolded Erza. "Etherion is composed to more elements than just fire!" Natsu didn't appear to have heard her. He was too busy clutching at his throat like he couldn't breathe, which is very possible.

He fell to the floor again, but then he shot back up with a roar and a dragon made of flames standing and roaring over him with its wings open like it was ready to take flight. Harry's eyes widened at the beautiful, yet intimidating sight, but when he looked closer at Natsu's face, he saw scales form around his eyes and forehead.

Natsu shot forward like a bullet and kneed Jellal in the chin with an enraged look in his eyes. "It's all because of you!" he shouted. "You're the one that made Erza cry!" Natsu had Jellal's face in his hand and drug him across the ground, breaking bits of it away from the force. "You almost killed your old friend, Simon!"

"Oh shut up!" Jellal said not really caring what Natsu was complaining about. He got away from the dragon slayer with using Meteor. "You can never match my speed!"

Natsu got prepared to jump, and when he did, he slammed his fist into Jellal's gut. Harry couldn't even follow him he was so fast.

Jellal shouted in disbelief, saying he could not be defeated. "I will create a land of freedom!" he vowed while Natsu was flying toward him. "Zeref called to me softly through the pain and fear! He asked me if I wanted true freedom! That's right; I'm the only one who could feel his presence!" Jellal had a wide, insane smirk on his face. "I am the chosen one! Together with Zeref, I will create a world of true freedom!"

"You will never be able to do that by stealing other people's freedom!" Natsu roared.

"The will to change the world – that alone is enough to turn the wheels of history!" Jellal said while drawing a magic circle in the air. "Why can you fools not understand that?!" He finished the magic circle, but Harry didn't recognize it. Erza, on the other hand, did.

"Abyss Break?!" she said. "Are you trying to take down the whole tower?!"

With the insane grin on his face, Jellal said, "Just give me another eight years… No, this time I'll have it built in five year! Zeref, just wait a little longer." Before Jellal could use the spell, he doubled over in pain. Harry wasn't sure why, but the pain was due to the sword swing from when Erza fought Jellal earlier.

Natsu was flying, with wings made of fire, all the while shouting, "You're never going to find freedom! There's no freedom for a guy who is tied down by some stupid ghost!" Natsu threw a fist back, getting ready to attack. "Release yourself from him, Jellal!" With a roar, the dragon slayer punched his opponent so hard that the blue-haired mage crashed into the tower, destroying a great amount of it in the process.

Jellal now lies on the ground unmoving, and Natsu lands on his feet with a hand to stop him from face planting the ground alongside his enemy. He stood up straight and tall with a daring look in his eyes that told anyone to try and mess with him or his friends.

TBC

This took a while to write. Anyway here are the results of the Poll.

Harry getting his old broom from Gringotts = 9

Harry getting a new broom from some other country = 0

It would seem Harry is getting his firebolt back, along with a bonus. ;)

Important!

I'm going to not write again until May. I'm close to the end of Understanding the Fallen I can see the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. So, April will be me just working on that. When I do finish, I have to go back and fix/edit it. It is still going to take a while, so wish me luck!

Voldy: Thank Merlin I'm no longer a chair, or else I would be stuck like that for a month.

Harry: I wish you did… -_-

Voldy: *pulling his wand out from his pocket.*

Enj/Dark: Voldemort… You do know I'm standing right here, right? If you try anything, you will not be a chair, but you will be something that will be far worse.

Voldy: Oh yeah, and what's that?

Enj/Dark: A bed. I'm sure I can find some pervert to take you in. *evil grin*

Voldy: O.o *puts his wand away slowly, making sure I see him do it.*

Harry, Natsu, & Zeref: That is the most evil thing, I think I ever heard.

Natsu: What did he do to make you angry?

Enj/Dark: I read a fanfic where Voldemort tortured Harry after his friends left him to die in a ditch. *eye twitch in anger*

Zeref: Good enough of a reason.

Harry: Glad to know you care about me so much. *leans over to Natsu* Remind me to never get her angry, will you?

Natsu: *whispers in return* As long as you do the same for me.

Harry: Deal.

Enj/Dark: Please review! ^_^