Lucy and I had been sitting in a stone cell for hours. There was a brief moment, when we were first arrested, when we were placed in yokes, but a short girl with light brown hair and bare feet ordered those to be exchanged for wrist shackles instead. My crossbow was obviously taken, but Lucy was able to keep her keys; they clearly had no idea what they were. But it didn't matter, anyway. The manacles prevented us from using our magic. It was a very strange feeling, almost hollow, to know you have the ability to do something, but it felt just out of reach.
When we were first thrown in the cell, Lucy had yelled down the hall for a time, demanding to know where Wendy and Natsu had been taken, but no one answered. Eventually, she sat down on the floor across from me, fuming, taking off her strappy heels.
At a certain point, I was sure we were forgotten.
"I can't believe it. I refuse to believe it!" Lucy muttered.
"Believe what?" I asked, rather quietly.
"That Happy and Carla would betray us!" she responded, practically seething. "Even though we've only known Carla for such a short period of time, you could clearly tell how much she cares for Wendy. And as for Happy--"
"He'd literally rather die than betray Natsu," I agreed. "But, didn't you see Carla's face? She didn't mean or want this to happen. She was just as shocked. I'm wondering about those info bits she was getting… What if someone was tricking her into trapping us?"
"Maybe," the blonde mused. "The knights called them 'Exceed.'"
"Yeah, I heard. Didn't your book mention that race? You said something this morning…"
Merde, was it only this morning? Feels like…maybe seven years ago, now.
Lucy nodded. "In this world, they are sorta close to 'angels' and their queen, Shagotte, is a god. Her word is absolute, and it's her job to regulate the humans."
I blinked. "Regulate?" I echoed. "What do you mean?"
"She decides if a human should be spared, or killed. If she declares 'death,' that human must be executed."
Suddenly, Lucy started rolling around the floor, agitated and yelling out, irritably, "Stupid, unreasonable law!!"
"Oh, you've studied our world quite a bit," a familiar voice rang out, as our cell door opened.
"Erza?!" Lucy cried.
I rolled further away, and stood up, taking an awkward defensive pose with my bound hands. Lucy, however, scuttled a bit closer.
"Is everyone safe?!" she anxiously demanded.
Edo-Erza coolly stared back before answering, "Yes, they are all safe."
Lucy immediately slumped in relief, sighing out her gratitude to the gods.
'Don't relax quite yet, Lucy. This is not our Erza!'
"I'm surprised you can make such a face," the red-head commented. "Your partner has the right idea. Do you even realize the position you are in right now?"
Lucy glanced back at me, and I tried to silently point out how dangerous our position truly was. She turned back to the knight, just as casual as before.
"I guess you're right," she agreed. "Both your face and voice are exactly like the Erza I know, so I've relaxed a bit."
"The Earthland version of me?" came the low query.
Lucy nodded. "In our world, you're a member of Fairy Tail."
"What?!"
I tensed up even further. Edo-Erza sounded absolutely appalled and disgusted at the thought. As though it shook her to her core that any version of her would do such a thing.
Lucy continued to describe our Scarlet, and I watched Knightwalker's face turn darker and darker with each word. She slowly reached for the blonde, as though to place a hand on her shoulder.
'Oh, que non.'
I dove forward, grabbing the back of Lucy's dressy shirt, and yanked her away from the dangerous claw. Lucy had cried out in surprise, and Erza's face darkened further. She stepped closer to us, and then smoothly turned into a roundhouse kick.
I barely had the time to bring up my arms to the side before the armored boot crashed into me, sending me to the wall.
"Jeanne-san!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Stay out of this," Knightwalker hissed. "And you," she grabbed Lucy's hair and proceeded to drag her out of the cell, "stay silent. I am not the Erza you know."
After blinking the stars away from my vision, I stumbled after them, following Lucy's cries of pain.
"But it feels as though your roots are the same!" the stellar spirit mage was insisting. "You're not the type of person who can laugh at someone's suffering."
I caught up in time to watch Edo-Erza throw Lucy against the wall of the balcony. I hurried over to her to help her stand up again.
"Please!" Lucy begged. "Lend us a hand! We only want to save our friends!"
"Lucy-san, shut up," I anxiously muttered, holding her hands.
"But--"
Whatever she was going to say, Knightwalker interrupted by catching the chains of our manacles with her strange spear, and lifting us over the balcony!!
I shrieked in a panic, grasped the serrated blades tightly, and lifted my legs onto the shaft of the weapon.
"You both are going to die here," came the cool declaration.
"Erza would never do this to an unarmed person!" Lucy cried out. "She is nice! She would never do such a thing!"
"Lucy, tais-toi! Elle n'est pas notre Erza!" I screamed.
"What a happy fellow you are," Edo-Erza scoffed. "Too bad I love to see people suffering. As my title, 'Fairy Hunter,' suggests, I've killed many of the Fairy Tail mages."
I made the mistake of looking down. We were up extremely high. It seemed to be hundreds of stories! With a whimper, I closed my eyes, and clutched the spear with my whole body.
"Don't say such things," Lucy began, sounding tearful and furious, "with her face and voice…"
"Goodbye."
She shook the spear once, flicking it downwards, and casting us to the ground below. And I froze. All I could do was stare at my oncoming death, as it sped closer and closer. I couldn't even scream.
I could only think of my family, trapped in that lacrima in the plaza.
'Désolée, Maman, Papa. Mes frères et sœurs… Je suis vraiment désolée.'
"Lucy!! Jeanne!!"
I whirled my body around, searching for the familiar voice. Happy and Carla were flying toward us!
"You're alright now!" Happy called out to us. "Now that we've come!"
He swooped in and grabbed Lucy, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Carla grabbed me. I grabbed my glasses. Together, the Exceeds flew us higher, back to the balcony where Knightwalker was standing.
"Your wings!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Apparently," Carla began, "it was a problem with our hearts. We were too anxious to use the magic we were born with in our homeland."
I was too relieved- and maybe still terrified- to say anything, so I just focused on keeping my breaths steady and deep.
At this point, we were across from the Fairy Hunter, who looked at the Exceed in fear and confusion.
"What is this?" she gasped. "I'd received orders from the queen to execute them!"
"We're rescinding those orders," Carla said from behind me.
Edo-Erza hesitated. "But, even if it's an order from an Exceed, you do not have the authority to overturn the Queen's orders, do you?"
When the Exceeds paused for only a moment, her demeanor hardened. "Please hand those girls over."
That was clearly a demand, not a request.
"Hmph, your head is too high, human."
Carla's voice was haughty, and I glanced behind me to see her turning her nose up, looking mighty proud.
"Who do you think I am? I am Carla, daughter of Queen Shagotte, princess of Exteria."
Utter shock transformed the Fairy Hunter's face, but that looked mild compared to Happy's.
"My lady! Please, forgive me!" Edo-Erza cried, falling to her knees in repentance.
Carla did not acknowledge the request, but continued, "The two dragon-slayers. Where are they located?"
"They are in the West Tower, underground," came the swift reply.
"Release them immediately," the Exceed princess demanded.
"I… do not have the authority to do that," Knightwalker explained.
"I don't care!" Carla snarled. "Do it!"
"Erza!!" came a deep voice from down the outdoor hall.
We all turned toward the sound, and saw a dark, six foot tall, bi-pedal cat, wearing a military uniform with a rather ostentatious helmet.
"Who the heck is that?" Lucy cried in shock. "Is that an Exceed?"
"I've never seen one that bulky, though!" Happy denied.
"Panther Lily!" Knightwalker greeted.
"Those two Exceed are rebels!" the giant cat-man yelled out. "They've been exiled from Extalia!"
'Ah, bon sang, vraiment? Merde. So much for being a princess…'
"What?" Edo-Erza growled.
I heard Carla tut behind me, before quickly swerving away, calling to Happy, "We're running!"
"Wait!" Lucy yelled. "But I thought you were a princess?"
"Well, what does that matter?" I shouted over my shoulder. "They've never lived here before, so really, why would the military of Edolas listen to, basically, invaders?"
"It doesn't matter who you are," Happy agreed, "if you're a rebel, you're dealt with as a traitor."
"Damn you, Fairy Tail!" We could hear the feral scream over the rooftops.
All around us, we could hear alarms, and commands being shouted about, all concerning escaped prisoners and killing them. Us. Whatever.
"Thank you, guys," Lucy smiled, relief permeating her voice.
"Ouais, thanks," I agreed, wiping away the tear tracks from my eyes. Something warm was left on my cheeks, and in surprise, I looked at my hands.
"You're not angry?" Carla asked in a small voice, slowing down enough so that Happy could fly beside her.
Ah, merde! The palms of my hands had deep cuts sliced into them. In my terror while falling, I hadn't even noticed, but now the stinging felt as sharp as the Fairy Hunter's blades had not.
"Huh? Why would we be?" Lucy asked, genuinely confused.
"We were the reason you were captured," the princess pointed out, still sounding unsure.
"Ouais, we discussed that," I piped up, keeping my hands closed and near my chest. Shouldn't get blood on the white cat. "You clearly had no idea what was going on. Both of you," I added pointedly.
"Besides," Lucy piped up, "you saved us! Right, Happy?"
"I'm sorry, Lucy…"
"I'm telling you, I'm not angry!" Lucy insisted. "Honestly, I'm more surprised that you were a princess this whole time, Carla!"
"I didn't know that, either," Happy mentioned. "When did you figure that out?"
"That was a lie," Carla bluntly stated. "Obviously."
Ah. Bien sûr.
Carla glanced over at the others. "What's with the face, Happy?"
Lucy looked surprised, though I couldn't say why, but Happy just shook his head, saying, "It's nothing. Just glad you're back to normal."
Carla turned away with a small scoff. "Shut up… Anyways, we have to find Wendy and Natsu."
"Aye! She said they were in the basement at the Western Tower," Happy reminded us.
Lucy's face softened, and she released a little giggle.
"What's so funny?" I asked, confused.
"Nothing," she sang softly. In a similar tone to any of my sisters when they know something I don't… Hmm.
Suddenly, a strange sound caught our ears, low at first, but growing in volume.
"What is that?" Lucy mused.
Our answer soon came: hundreds of flying cats were heading right for us!
"I've found you! You rebels!!" a deep voice bellowed from the flock.
"They've chased us?!" Happy cried out.
"That's a lot of cats!!" Lucy gasped.
"We can't stay in the air! Let's land!" Carla ordered.
"Madame, have you forgotten what's down there??" I shrieked.
Looking down to the earth, we could see what I imagined to be the entirety of Edolas' military waiting for us.
"Enemies on the ground, and in the air!" reported Happy.
Lucy lamented. "What should we do??"
I could feel Carla thinking hard and fast. "Jeanne, what about your magic? You can Conceal us, right?"
I bristled up, insulted. "If I could've, I would've done that ages ago!"
Lucy clarified for me, "These cuffs are sealing our magic somehow. Otherwise, I might have summoned a Spirit, too. Although, with so many enemies, I don't know if…" she trailed off.
Carla's head swiveled from side to side before diving down. "Quick! Into the buildings!"
Suddenly, horns sounded from the palace walls, deep and low, and dark red flags were raised everywhere. A great murmur could be heard from the militia down below.
"What's going on?" Lucy yelled over the din.
"We'll find out later!" I yelled back over the white Exceed.
Then I noticed the giant cannons.
"Activate Code EDT!"
Merde.
Those weapons started to glow, and then burst forth powerful beams of blue-white light.
Aimed above us.
Carla turned, so we both witnessed the army of Exceed caught in the fire, an energy field surrounding them completely, suspending them in midair, and clearly causing them pain. Cries of such filled the air.
"C'est pas vrai…"
"Why on the Exceed?" Carla cried, absolutely shocked.
"This doesn't make sense! Aren't the Exceed like gods here?" Lucy asked. "Is Edolas forming a rebellion?"
"What are they planning?" Happy whispered.
"I don't know, but let's take advantage of the commotion!" Carla demanded, once more diving for the buildings. "We need to rescue Wendy and Natsu!"
It didn't take long for them to find a place to land and we made our way to the West Tower on foot. When we found the entrance and started rushing down the stone stairs, Lucy had looked to me with excitement, before her face morphed into concern.
"Jeanne-san, your arms!"
"Quoi, what about them?" I asked, worried I had missed something in my inspection earlier. But all I saw were the drying blood tracks from my palms.
"Oh my god, your hands!" She paused in her running to look closer at my injuries. They weren't profusely bleeding anymore, since I had kept my hands closed, but the ache was growing now. "When did this… Wait, did you grab onto the other Erza's weird spear thing?"
"She was going to drop us! She did drop us!!" I reminded her. "I've told you, I don't like falling."
"We gotta do something about this!" Lucy insisted.
"Later," I responded. "Let's find Natsu and Wendy, first."
"This is gonna get infected."
"We don't exactly have a first aid kit handy, Lucy-san. Allez, we'll take care of it later. Who knows how long those armies are gonna keep each other occupied."
Lucy shook her head as she followed me once more. "I never would've thought that the humans would fire upon the Exceed…" she mused.
"It doesn't matter," Carla snapped back in front of us. "It has nothing to do with us. Both sides are equally terrible, let them fight it out."
I heard a noise from behind us, and turned slightly in time to see Edo-Erza's strange weapon come flying at us! It landed between Lucy and me, and the impact sent us flying to the ground.
"You shall not pass," Knightwalker announced from the head of the squadron she led.
"Aren't we of no interest right now?" Lucy screamed, sounding utterly frustrated with this turn of events.
Erza said nothing, merely smirked at us. Then the spear started to crackle.
"Merde!" I shrieked, rolling away, pulling Lucy with me, just before a huge burst of energy emanated from the spear.
We still caught a bit of that explosion in our sides, but we were mostly okay. Carla and Happy, though, got hit more than we, and were lying on the ground, breathing heavily. I noticed that Lucy's clothes was smeared with my blood.
"Still alive after that?" Edo-Erza asked, sounding mildly disappointed as she stepped up and retrieved her weapon.
Suddenly, a young girl's agonizing scream came from down the hall, and all our hearts dropped, recognizing the voice.
"What are you doing to Wendy?" Lucy growled from beneath me.
"Extracting the magic from her body, in order to power up Code EDT."
This was too much. Hearing that voice, sounding so cold and cruel, just under the sound of cries of distress from our nakama… I stood up, still over Lucy.
"Stop it!!" Carla screamed.
The Fairy Hunter pointed her spear at the white Exceed's face. "It doesn't matter," she said, simply, "you're going to die here."
"Give me back Wendy!" cried the desolate cat on the ground.
Then, a blue blur flashed in front of her, standing with arms stretched out. "I will not let you hurt Carla!" Happy declared.
The three of us stared at him, not at all surprised, but very anxious.
Knightwalker was not moved. "Then you first."
She drew back her weapon.
Carla screamed out in protest.
Lucy started scrambling to her feet.
I ran toward the enemy.
And jump-kicked her in the solar plexus.
I caught her off guard enough that she went flying back to the rest of the army behind her, and I used that time to scoop up Carla in my arms, pinning her as securely as I could without the use of my hands. Lucy did the same with Happy.
"We need to run!" I yelled, demonstrating.
"You won't get far!" came the threat from behind us.
"Don't listen!" I ordered, before halting at the sound of Lucy's cry of pain. I turned around, and saw her back on the ground, her bare foot bleeding a little from a protruding stone. I ran back. "Lucy, allez!"
"I'm coming!"
"Got you."
I looked back and saw Knightwalker raising her spear once more.
But then an explosion of power occurred in the middle of the troops, distracting the commander. Whatever was going on, it was intense and important enough that Edo-Erza turned.
"You little fuckers!" somebody yelled among the cries of distress.
Huge clouds of dust and fog blew our way, and the whole tunnel suddenly grew cold.
"Are you harming them, knowing that they're a part of our guild?" a deep voice rang out from the fog.
Lucy sharply inhaled, and sat up straighter.
"We will never forgive anyone who raises a hand to our guild members," a determined female voice rose up.
Carla started shaking in my arms. "Why…why are you guys…?"
My knees started to buckle, but I stayed upright, Lucy began to tearfully laugh in relief.
"All of you are now our enemies," declared Gray Fullbuster, standing proudly beside Erza Scarlet. "Enemies of Fairy Tail!"
It was really them.