Thanks, shut, for the reminder; somehow it slipped my mind ':D
randomusername2, thanks so much for the unbelievably quick review as always! Very happy you find the chapter intense; that's a big compliment!
lovespirita, thank you so much for such a fired up review! Glad you're liking it ;)
foxydame, thank you so so much for such a wonderful and full review! So loong! I really didn't think the introduction conversation to be anything special, so I'm surprised it made you laugh, thanks for letting me know; made me smile in turn! And that's a really good thought about Ambrose and Meredy, I have to say. I could very well start calling this a fandom-author-collaborative work since you all inspire me with your comments so often :D "not so innocent boy anymore" xD I think he crossed that line at least in Era thanks to Erza xD Thank you so much for letting me know you're invested in the mission - it's a huge boost of confidence in my non-cheesy-romance skills :D (imagine heart here cause we all know the smaller than key doesn't work 3 see?)
damnyousillygoose, that were so many reviews in one day, you really made me smile so much throughout the entire day and I'm smiling again just skimming the reviews! Thank you so much! And those were some praises; I can't say enough how happy they make me! Also quootes, thank youu! I feel very appreciated, and no matter how invested I am in this, you're just as much with the comparisons you just knock out :D and then the capital letter scream on chapter 116 made me laugh! Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments; I'm super happy to know what you liked and how it really reaches you (and about the OC, of course)!
Guest, thank you so much for your review! Haha, I love how everyone is so in love with confident Jellal :D You cracked me up at the 'why didn't they make out though' xDxD I'll be working on that as soon as I reread this chapter and uploaded it (salute)! Also that sounded beautiful, how Jellal should join Fairy Tail 'for real' and I have to say, that really intrigues me, too. I'll be sure to work on that for future chapters!
Without further swooning on my part, hope you enjoy!
Jellal felt his breathing coming short. He turned a corner when the others did. Iron Fist's former master was still audible, snapping at his men left in right in search of the sudden magic energy Jellal now kept in check. At least Erza would be off the hook this way, though whether being lookout was any less dangerous, he did not know.
The cluster of tired delinquents dispersed, and Jellal quickly filed into one of the rooms alongside a smaller group. Bunks were attached to the walls, three to each side of the high ceiling. Another mat of straw laid on the ground, right below the slit of a window. Three of the bunks were already taken.
With confidence, Jellal claimed the first one to the right by sitting down.
"Oi," a man with sideburns all the way to his neck nagged, "I slept there yesterday," he accused. Did he know Jellal had not been there the day before? Was it easy for the members of the organisation to spot that he was not the person he imitated to be?
He tightened his jaw beneath is hood, letting indifference reign his tone.
"And that makes it yours?" He huffed back. The man growled something under his breath, balling his fists. Jellal squared his shoulders, sitting up straighter. It was enough to demonstrate his height, it seemed, because his contestant spat on the floor, then turned away. He threw another, less muscular man out of his bunk. The latter had to settle for the mat on the ground.
Lying down, Jellal faced the wall with his back. It was something one was compelled to learn in prison, whether one wanted or not. Never turn your back on them.
Closing his eyes beneath his hood, he kept his collar high to overshadow what might have somehow been visible of his mark if anyone in the room possessed night vision. Not that any of them were mages. He really was too edgy. But one could never be too cautious, he told himself, knowing he primarily acted this prudently because he had to be there for Erza should she need help.
He suppressed a sigh. Then he waited.
Minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. After what he measured to be nearly half an hour, he got up. Light filtered in through the slit in the wall – perhaps this narrow to be shot out of yet hard to hit from the outside. It was still afternoon, but apart from him, the men were asleep. Not a single step out on the corridor told him how the rest of building was any different.
Brushing his hand to each of his roommates' foreheads, Jellal immobilised them with Bind Snake. It was a risk; the risk of someone wanting to turn over in their sleep and waking from being unable to do so, crying out, but he had to take it. Non-magicians could be just as much of a nuisance to them with their weapons and sheer violence. And they were criminals after all. For a second, he wondered whether the police would have the capacity for all of these people.
He locked the door behind him for good measure.
Once out in the hall, Jellal crept along the wall to the next room. He had memorised where the rest of the cluster from the dining hall had gone into, paying each a visit and leaving the present of his winding spell. Looking around, he mused on how to proceed. Not least where he was.
Down the second corridor – or was it the third? – were the stairs that led to the stables. The other way was the great hall, which was also the direction Erza had been sent. Possibly where Iron Fist's leader resided, too.
Deciding on the way he knew least, Jellal snuck down the third corridor. More rooms lined the walls, and he listened at the doors for any noises, then sent a Thought Projection into the corners of each room in order to see without opening the door. Only one of the rooms held more beds, all taken and a moment later, all rendered useless thanks to Bind Snake.
He continued on.
On silent feet, he began to ponder. Trout, something with 'trout', he tried to remember. Salmon Trout? Brown Trout? The other code names came to him more easily, their voices echoing through his mind. He wanted to contact Erza, but he was not sure whether his own telepathy would be broadcasted like that of the delinquents. Calling for a random member would answer that question once he got a reply. Plus, it would show whether anyone was still awake.
Then again, the person could just not be at headquarters, it dawned on Jellal. They could be asleep or out and he would not know. They could keep quiet or answer, asking him a question. Whichever of the scenarios would happen, he would undoubtedly raise suspicions.
His speculations came to an abrupt halt when he did.
Forced to turn a corner, Jellal reached two flights of stairs. One going up, one going down. He knew by now that the building was square and that the main hallways led around it – one on the first floor, one on the second, and most likely another atop before the lookouts on the roofs were stationed.
The upper one would lead him closer to Erza, though pose the problem of finding his way around a whole new storey. Not only that, but seeing as he had already taken care of the sleeping quarters, the people above had to be awake. He could be noticed before finding Erza, putting her in trouble and making both suspicious. Apart from that, there were still the lookouts, currently his biggest problem. If any of them gave a sign to South Pole, they were in for a brawl. And even if they only signalled to leave, half of their prey might escape all together.
The stairs going down intrigued him, since he knew them not to be the ones to the stables. Directly to the stables. Something had been off about that – the impossibility of going anywhere but upstairs from there on, the overgrown front gates no one used, the lack of ways down to the ground level… It was cut off on purpose.
He did not have to think for longer than a heartbeat to know where to go. His boot touched the first step going up and to Erza, when he suddenly heard more boots coming his way. Spinning around, Jellal hasted, almost fell down the other flight of stairs, crouching in the shadows. The steps became louder, strutting down to the first floor as if possessing each and every speck of dust beneath them.
They stopped on the first floor where he could only just see heels from below his hood. Slim heels.
"Hmm… if I were exceedingly handsome and stood over 1.80 metres tall, where would I go…" Erza mused out loud, tapping a finger to her chin. Jellal chocked on his held breath, then spluttered out in unsuccessfully kept in laughter. His heart's racing had changed into a lovestruck appreciation.
Erza threw a wide grin over her shoulder.
"You could have just said that you saw me," he chuckled as he returned to her side. His foot stumbled slightly. Jellal frowned at the stairs he had nearly met with his face for a second time.
"I wasn't entirely sure whether it was you," she admitted with the same playful grin as before. "Not that anyone else would have stood a chance against me, anyway," she crossed her arms with a poised smirk.
"You know, a lot of men find over-confident women unattractive," Jellal shrugged in a pretendedly uninterested tone. She raised a brow. Her ears were as perked as his for any enemy movement while at the same time relaxed with her beloved watching her back.
"Then it's a good thing I know with certainty that my husband finds me undeniably sexy even if I chomped down a broom on the spot," she declared proudly. He struggled as not to let his lips betray his amusement.
"Anything that isn't a suit all fat with a ton of clothes," he countered. It earned him a slap to his biceps. "How do you even come up with such examples?" He asked, shaking his head as he laughed quietly.
"You love them," Erza smirked. Her eyes narrowed when there were steps reverberating from the walls. He followed her gaze, staring into the darkness below. There was no haste to the pace, no sensing of their intrusion.
Jellal felt his hand being taken. He kept his focus on the ground level while she backed them away, into an alcove down the hall.
"I immobilised every man I found on this level," Jellal reported under his breath when the steps had faded. They had not come upstairs, telling him that this was the way to the hidden ground floor. "There are several lookouts on the roof, right?" He asked. She nodded briskly. "I can't go up there and do the same without one of them seeing me," he whispered.
"I already saw to that," Erza informed. He frowned, blinking down at her beautifully focused eyes.
"Saw to it?"
"Knocked them out," she clarified as if explaining to him how two plus two made four. He could not help a squeeze to her hand. Of course she had not let go yet. Not that he wanted her to. She glanced up at him then, her smile softening. "We should alarm the police now," she quietly added.
"Meteor would be the fastest way, I suppose…" Jellal muttered. Her cushioned side pressed into him, and he met lovingly shining eyes with surprise.
"I'm going," she volunteered. His heart skipped with gladness. She knew he did not want her to be staying behind on her own, even if only for a few minutes.
He accompanied her through the corridors and to the stairs of the stables. It would take her at least half an hour if she chose the same way they had come. While he readied a horse, Erza requipped.
"Much better," she sighed under her breath. He helped her up despite her protests. He knew it was overdone but he could not help himself. She might not have looked like three times her usual weight anymore with her armour snug around herself, but he imagined a pregnant belly to be cumbersome. Not to mention her bosom – not a day went by when he did not wonder how women coped with something of that size.
"Quiet!" Erza bolted upright at the voice in her head. Jellal's first reflex was to duck, right after came his arms, one outstretching towards the doors while the other shielded his wife had she been on his level. "You go down, I'll go up," someone was calling, now in person and not via telepathy. It came from right atop the stairs beyond the doors.
"Go," Jellal hissed under his breath. He could hear the horse's careful but perfectly audible clacking behind him. So he went to fetch another one. Erza left as silently as possible, and he closed the gates behind her. Pretending to be readying his horse as if to flee, Jellal made it turn around itself a few times to cover up any more noise from outside with the clacking of its hooves.
Inside, the noise was getting louder.
"Here! There's definitely someone here!" Telepathy again. Jellal knew Erza must have heard. He picked up a saddle as loudly as he could, the stirrups clinking as he dangled them against one another.
"Here? Where's here? I don't know where the hell you are, idiot," that was the dark guild master's voice.
"At the stables; someone's trying to get away," the rather obvious whisper could be heard through the doors already, echoing in Jellal's head, too.
It did not sound as if there were more people waiting to ambush him than one. Throwing the doors open hard enough would probably suffice; smash the poor lad into the wall. But he had already leaked the possible departure on horseback. If he knocked him unconscious now, chances were high for Erza to be looked for and pursued. That little fish would have to rephrase.
"Then get in there, imbecile!" Iron Fist's former master barked. It was all taking too long, so Jellal kicked open the doors. His persecutor shrieked.
Running past him, Jellal made his way upstairs again.
"He-he-he's on the first floor!" The boy informed. "Man, that was close…" he sighed where Jellal could still make out his voice from below.
"After him!" The substitute leader hollered. The boy gave a reluctant whimper, then crept up the stairs. Waiting around a corner Jellal quickly ended the newbie's misery with a precise hit to the neck, Bind Snake sealing the deal.
He hurried to find the stairwell that would bring him higher, hoping he would not have to confront whoever was left directly, but get it over with just as painlessly as before. Painless for the delinquents, that was.
"Crime Sorcière…" a voice momentarily spooked him. Freezing, Jellal let his shoulders sink. His hood had edged backwards, he noticed. Nonetheless, he adapted a confident poise. The second or the third corridor? He narrowed his eyes, glaring down the second. "And I thought we'd be rid of you scum with an ocean between us," Iron Fist's former master's steps neared where he strolled down the hallway. More steps. Down more hallways. Jellal tensed his muscles, realising to be surrounded from all sides.
"As did I," he coolly answered. "I also see you've made new friends," he acknowledged mockingly. His opponent did not unclasp his hands from behind his back, his eyes cold and unimpressed. "And you were kind enough to bring them all here. I should thank you, really," Jellal allowed the twitch of a smirk to flash over his otherwise collected expression. "Now they can all enjoy an encore of your defeat from last time we met," he raised a brow.
His enemy's jaw tightened.
"Go ahead and bluff all you want," he retorted. "You might be stronger in battle, but we have your precious comrade," a wicked glint sparked up in his eyes. Jellal's stomach lurched. His face revealed nothing, and he told his racing heart to calm itself. There was no way Erza had been captured. In fact, it hit him, their knowledge of him bringing a partner could be part of the bluff. And he knew just the way to test that.
His stance widened, cape flapping as his hood dropped to his nape. He put two fingers to his temple. The gesture was not necessary for him to do, but it would add to the dramatic affect. A smirk settled on his lips.
Erza kept her heels in the horse's flank. She could not spur it to a trot – she did not dare shake her fragile baby like that, forced to remain in walking pace, if a quick one. She had been calm, happy even throughout the entire mission so far. True, it had not been too long since her last, but the feeling of becoming useless to her hard-working husband gnawed on her more and more – this was salvation. Plus, missions with him were impossible to excel.
Not ten minutes into the woods, an uneasy twist unsettled her insides. She knew he could cope by himself. Only… only it felt as if she betrayed him. That she was willing to help and then backed out when they were in over their heads. Which they were not, she told herself. Her task was just as vital.
And yet, it felt as if it was not…
"Starfish to Swordfish," Erza's eyes widened. Lacing his words with magic, Jellal's telepathy transmitted further than expected. Caelum's Ethernano really was incredible. She had to laugh, knowing he would hear. The tiny cramp of her stomach amalgamated with her joy, switching into an amatory flutter.
How did he always do that?
"I'm just about ready with clearing out the rubbish. How are things looking in the south?" There was a smirk in his tone. She mirrored it immediately. And he called her genius.
"Peachy; close to finishing," she lied back. Whoever was listening in was now left to believe that she was kilometres away, seizing the second stronghold and possibly only other manned hideout. Most importantly, they would not try to find her anywhere near the fort or in town. Just where she was going.
Jellal's voice had not returned all the way back to the heart of Stansburry, and Erza assumed it would not be able to reach her by now anyway. The direct route straight through the woods was a lot faster, and she tried to remember it for the way back. Dismounting, Erza tied her horse to the post outside the police station, patted its neck, and climbed the few stairs to the entrance.
A young man was sitting behind the front desk. He was twirling a pen between his fingers, reading a magazine while his feet crossed over the desk. Erza cleared her throat. He jumped, his reading material rustling loudly where it vanished beneath the wood, a sheepish blush tinting his cheeks.
"How are things up at the mansion?" Erza directly asked. He frowned shortly in thought.
"I… don't know, but I can send someone to ask, I guess…?" He vaguely proposed. Right, they did not use any telepathy or lacrima communication. It was almost as if Caelum was trapped in an earlier age of Fiore.
"What about a signal? A light, a flag, smoke?" She put her hands on her hips.
"Uh…" he looked so utterly clueless, she dropped the issue. Some police they were. If only civil servants were paid like mages on a mission – by performance and not simply by the hour.
"How many men are still here?" She went on. He began counting on his fingers, muttering the names of his colleagues. She was just about to roll her eyes, hitch up her sleeves – or gauntlets – and march back to the hideout on her own, when a door to the side opened.
"Ah," an older, grey-bearded officer stepped into the room, "I was wondering when you would be back." He went over to the boy at the counter, a quick flick over his head making the latter yelp. "I told you to call me once someone came," the officer hissed. With a good-humouredly, apologetic smile, he turned back to Erza. "The captives have awoken, but I have only given them water so far – they can't really move, it seems…" he mused to himself, and she knew Bind Snake was still at work.
She prayed it would not tire Jellal out too much. Half the building was under his spell after all. And then there was that Thought Projection strolling around in their hotel room.
"No one but me has seen them," the man's chest swelled where he was about ready to salute to her as his superior commander. As long as it got things done, she thought.
"Good. How is the situation at the mansion?" She tried again. The last thing they could use was information leaking and reinforcements to surprise her husband unexpectedly.
"Last I heard, unaltered," the officer reported. "Roughly an hour ago, we conducted a shift change and no one testified any suspicious activity around the property."
"How many men are available right now?"
"About… four?" He revealed. She wanted to drop her face into her armoured hands.
"Gertrude should be back from her break any moment," the boy at the desk supplied.
"Gertrude is a secretary," the officer sighed in disappointment. "We would never mobilise her for an operation; she is not a trained professional," he chided. Neither are you, Erza wanted to add. Biting her tongue, she asked for vehicles instead. The few men they had would have to do; they only needed to drive a carriage each.
She did not expect what the officer in charge showed her next. He led her to the bordering stables of the police horses.
"It's old and turned out quite useless; a money-swallower," he shrugged as he tugged at the hems of a big white dustsheet. Her eyes widened hopefully. A Magical Vehicle! Uncovering it, the officer ran his fingers over the seat, dust coating his skin. "It's kind of a failure to be honest. We only have two people who can actually use it and even then, it wouldn't surpass a snail at full speed…" he shook his head.
Erza stepped onto the vehicle. Brushing the dust off the seat, she made both of them sneeze. Her eyes itched, but she sat down regardless, whirling up more dust. Unequipping her gauntlet, she braced the SE-plug on her wrist. The Magical Vehicle rumbled as the engine turned on, and it jumped a few metres when she tried to move it. The officer's eyes were huge.
In awe, he measured the distance it had made within a mere second, taking large steps until reaching her.
"Incredible," he marvelled.
"Gather all the forces you still have and ready carriages that can transport people – we're going on a criminal hunt," she smiled down complacently. Nodding quickly, eyes still big, he affirmed.
"I don't know if I have the authority, but…"
"But?" Erza pressed. She could not wait to speed through the trees, already unplugged and tearing down the covers of two more Magical Vehicles against the wall of the musty hay storage.
"But perhaps with your order – I mean the Magic Council's order…" he hesitated, fingers fumbling inside their dressing gloves, "we could send for the army?"
"Consider it done," Erza declared. Extending the SE-plugs from the other vehicles, she went back to the first. All three of them droned where she fuelled them with her magic. "Tell them to bring their forces, their vehicles, and warm up some cells – they're going to get some company," she smirked.
The forest was silent once the engines died down. Erza was tense as she released her arm from the plugs of hers and the other vehicles. It had drained quite some magic, but she did not feel any less ready for a fight. The carriages were lagging behind, though on their way. It was fascinating how qualified the army was in contrary to the police.
Her breath came shorter when she led the way to the stables. She could feel the strange looks from behind, the way her armour was oddly fitted having drawn unwanted attention the entire drive through. The last belt's hole. The last days had arrived where she would be able to wear the outfit she had donned almost every single day for years and months. A strange feeling – like wearing trousers but no underwear; bizarre but not yet bad. Uncomfortable. Vulnerable.
Metal boots clanked on the stone flooring where she crossed the first corridor. Climbing the stairs, she delegated the men to wait for the rest of the troops, pointing the way to the sleeping chambers where their targets lied.
She pressed on. Down the dark hallways, no matter the sun's bright rays outside, she continued. In search of that staircase. He had to be there, he just had to. His lack of greeting at the stables had scared her. Surely, he had not lost a battle, she thought, though unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. That something had gone wrong.
She wished to be able to use telepathy herself. For him to have a miniature communication lacrima as well.
Mind drifting, Erza almost stumbled down the first steps as she descended. She could hardly see, gauntlet disappearing to find guiding touch against the bleak wall. She sent her heavy, armoured boots and shin protections into her storage dimension, too. On bare, quiet feet, she stole herself along the unknown brick walls, further and further into the hidden ground floor.
A light caught her attention. Harking, pausing where she stood, she scanned her surroundings for secret passageways or possible ambush opportunities. When sensing none, she snuck towards the light. An arched doorway, entirely out of bricks and with a thick, mossy oak door standing open.
Erza stopped short. As if paralyzed, she held her breath. And it were not the steps inside the lit room that made her freeze.
Something liquid was beneath her feet. Sufficiently close to the source of tangerine, flickering candlelight now, she saw the dark red where it squelched between her toes. Blood. The more she squinted at it, the more she found. Single traces, almost like strokes, intently drawn onto the ground in specific intervals. Runes. An Enchantment.