Chapter 6: Fleeting Peace Comes with a Price
There wasn't a time in his recent memory that Jellal could recall being as at peace as he was when he spoke with Erza. They did no more than stroll through the populating roads of Magnolia, each doing their best to try and catch the other up over the last eight years of their lives. One would think that there would be some awkwardness in speaking to someone after so long, but it was nothing less than natural between them. That alone made Jellal happy. Rare was it for the councilman to have the privilege of happiness, especially in his particular role, but now that he had it Jellal would stretch it as far as he could. No excuse would be reasonable to justify his staying in Magnolia through the day. Era was a train ride away and his job was to merely establish a point of contact with Makarov and Natsu. A few hours at the most, meaning the late afternoon was when he would be expected back in the Council Chambers.
That didn't stop him from walking around the town for hours as he and Erza swapped stories with one another.
She was the same girl he remembered from that dark, dank cell they all shared. The grime was wiped away, cheeks were fuller, and clothes were more than shredded rags, but Erza Scarlet was still Erza Scarlet. She was tough, opinionated, and far more passionate than anyone had any right to be. There were differences, of course, between the small scared girl and the proud mage that now walked alongside him. She now believed in her strength, as was made clear by her straightened back and raised chin. She knew of the world, no longer making fantasies with him in the corner of what the greater world might be, and she told him as much of the world as she could as they walked. She also had more to lose than she ever had before.
Jellal was ashamed to admit to himself that the last observation was the first that came to his mind.
While Erza seemed to have retained the best of the girl from their time as slaves within the Tower of Heaven, Jellal wasn't sure how much of himself still lingered. No matter his reasons for it, no matter how much he justified his actions to himself, he knew that being one of Hades's generals within Grimoire cost Jellal much. Immediately he recognized how much Fairy Tail and her guildmates meant to her. They were something she clung to with everything she had, something that could be used as a weakness for anyone who cared to move against her.
"I am glad you stopped to visit, Jellal." Erza's light words broke Jellal from his thoughts, her voice barely carrying over the crowd around them. They found themselves stopped in front of the train station knowing that their reunion, as brief as it was, had come to an end. They could only track so many circles before justifications fell short. "I understand you came because of the Akuma and Master's issues with the Council, but it was good to see you." Erza smiled up at Jellal with ill-restrained happiness. Her eye that was uncovered by hair was glistening, but he noticed that the other that was hidden under locks of scarlet was as dry as could be.
Not an entirely perfect replacement. When he last saw Erza, as he forced her onto the only boat that left the island in chaos during their raging revolt against their captors, she was bleeding from her right socket that was better off empty and various lighter wounds across her body. He figured that, though imperfect, the replacement eye was better than the alternative.
"I needed a reason to sneak off to your little town, didn't I?" He joked, earning himself a poorly withheld chuckle from his friend. "I believe it's your turn to visit next time. Hopefully there are a few more familiar faces to greet you back in Era." Jellal sent the woman a conspiratorial look, and as eyes slowly widened, it seemed Erza caught on to his less than subtle hidden meaning.
"They're there with you?" She asked breathlessly, clearly not wanting to believe it in case she was wrong. Jellal's lips broadened at the reaction, letting his lack of an answer hang for a moment before responding.
"Before I left I made sure that the right strings were pulled to get them by me. Should be official in a few weeks." Even as he tried to remain the more composed between the two, Jellal was more than happy to be around more of those he trusted while sitting on the Council. The few friends, real friends, he had in this world were something of a packaged deal when they all encountered Hades for the first time. Jellal may have been the only one to truly rise within the guild, but he always looked out for those that were born in the same chains as he was. Now that his seat was established, it wouldn't be long until they were with each other again.
"And I can come see them?" A childlike hope filled Erza's voice when she asked her question. Big brown eyes cut to him and scanned his face for any sign of deceit, making Jellal frown. He thought he noticed something off as they spoke, something that might have made Erza hesitant as they spoke to each other, but now he was sure it was there. Even if they all chose to do it, even when they made the choice for her, and after they carried her weakened body into the boat, Erza found herself feeling guilty that she was the only one that escaped that day. Jellal's rise through the magical world was intentionally loud, yet Erza made no attempt to contact him. She didn't think she had a place around him or their companions from the dark days in the dungeons of the Tower.
"Whenever you want. I'd make sure your lodging would be taken care of myself so long as I get a head's up." Jellal did his best to reassure her with a smile, a smile that was shakily returned by Erza. He couldn't stop the laugh that rippled through his throat at the sight, but the temporary distraction proved to be costly. A gauntleted hand was suddenly gripping the side of his head, a head that was violently tugged into a strong piece of steel with a deafening clang rattling through his skull. Eyes rolled back into his head, a groan fell from his mouth, but it only took a few seconds of confused paint to recognize the brutal attack as Erza's version of a hug. A damaging, heartfelt hug against a sturdy breastplate likely imbued with some brand of magic.
"Thank you, Jellal. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." Her words were muffled, either from one ear being covered by steel or from the head trauma from the impact, but Jellal still caught them.
"No problem, Erza. Any time." Luckily he was somewhere no one could recognize him. If he was in Era and anyone saw one of their respected councilmen found pitiful and stuttering there would be hell to pay, in more ways than one, but luckily there was no such consequence here. Instead, the pair were given complete privacy from the busy bodies around them until his train came and he was headed back to the Council's capital. Goodbyes were shared but emotions were nothing but high through them all. Neither saw the departure as a sad affair, but only a promise of further reunions.
It felt good having something to look forward to that was so short-sighted. Yet, as he boarded the train and sat in a cabin he purchased for himself, and himself alone, Jellal knew that it was time to return to the rest of the world. The stroll down memory lane, the basking in a once lost and newly rebuilding friendship, all of that had to be pushed away for the time being. Before the train even left the station, the hand Jellal held in front of him, palm facing the ceiling, was filled with a shimmer of golden magic and suddenly filled with a crystalline lacrima. Magic flowed through it immediately and a scowl immediately filled the face that was so easily filled with smiles only minutes ago.
Red eyes, neatly trimmed purple bangs, a fair complexion, and a dangerous scowl amplified with blood red lipstick filled the lacrima only moments after Jellal filled it with his magic. Although technically his higher-up within his guild, it was a rare occurrence for Jellal to contact Ultear and even rarer in reverse. No matter, this was one of the few times that a wrinkle had been found in their plans, especially when that wrinkle was due to their own negligence. Her own negligence.
"Have you ever read a book by the name of 'Your Heart's Incantations' at all? I found it quite eye opening." Despite the tightness of his face, the tightness of his jaw, and the overall annoyance swimming in his mind as he saw red eyes rolling at his question, Jellal ensured that his voice stayed light and airy.
"Get to it already. I'm in my office, you fool." The words came with audible annoyance as Ultear's face already showed her disinterest in whatever it was he contacted her for. How the hell would I know you're in your office? His mind trapped that question and countless others of the same ilk, albeit with more colorful language, as he made sure to stick to the point.
"Why didn't you tell me you made contact with the Akuma? Sounds like something I should know before I come here to talk to him." The train rocked into motion, initiating the start of his trip back to Era. Fortunately, due to his empty cabin, there wasn't a need to keep appearances now that he knew they were having a private conversation. His voice was filled with aggression that stemmed from both being caught off guard with his meeting in Fairy Tail as well as his natural dislike of his guild mate. Working together and liking each other was, thankfully, not mutually inclusive.
"Because it didn't involve you." Ultear cut out with aggression matching Jellal's own. Her eyes narrowed dangerously within the lacrima in his palm, almost like a predator eyeing an intruder on its territory. Jellal had thought that she would continue further, but the tense silence that followed proved otherwise.
"Well, he was just able to describe you and Zancrow to me without much issue, so I'd say it does involve me, don't you think?" He bit back sourly. Whatever Jellal thought Ultear's response would be didn't prepare him to hear the cold, humorless laughter from the woman within his lacrima. Quirking an eyebrow, Jellal listened to the unnatural sound until it abruptly stopped so she could glare at him once again.
"Try to rein in your stupidity before you think to contact me, Jellal. I'm not stupid enough to show myself in front of him should he come here, council member or not. If Master Hades wanted you to know we approached him, he would have told you. Just follow your orders and come back." Without any further word or warning, the magical connection between the lacrima they communicated with was cut off and the image of Ultear's scowl faded away into nothingness.
Clenching his teeth, Jellal felt his frustration spike at the abrupt dismissal. Before he could help it, Jellal's arm reeled back and launched the lacrima without care of where it was going or what it would hit. Vaguely, amongst his agitation, Jellal heard the lacrima shatter against the wall near the train cabin's door, but it was far from being a care in his mind. Instead, Jellal's head was filled with hateful words and foul phrases directed entirely toward Ultear. From the first day they met, Ultear and Jellal had a tumultuous relationship. The only thing that saved them was that they could be professional when it was necessary, but anytime it wasn't their conversation was filled with verbal jabs and blatant disrespect. They both knew that Natsu Dragneel knowing Ultear's face being tied to Grimoire Heart could never become relevant information, nor have the chance to be. They both knew that, so long as he was of Fairy Tail, there was little that could be done about it. Yet, because cooperation with him was so far below her, there wasn't a chance to discuss a plan for when the former rogue mage made his way to Era. It was an inevitability at this point, and it's hard to keep confidentiality if Natsu is brought before a woman that tried to recruit him into one of the three heads of the Balam Alliance.
Taking a moment to regather himself a little bit, breathing deeply and bringing his mind elsewhere as the desperate tension slowly melted from his body, Jellal stood and gathered a bulk of the shattered portions of the lacrima and shoved them into the nearest receptacle. When he sat back down, Jellal's eyes fell toward the window to watch the scenery race past him as the train sped down its tracks. There wasn't anything of note to gawk at, no landmarks that deserved his attention, but Jellal wouldn't have paid it any mind if there was. Instead, the councilman focused on the conversation he had with the rogue mage that sent him to Magnolia in the first place, as short as it was.
The conversation with Makarov, though equally important to the Council as the discussion with Natsu, was much less interesting to him. Makarov's qualms far preceded Jellal, both in his tenure on the Council and his tenure with life. Old feuds that were ultimately petty and unnecessary weren't of use to him. Fairy Tail wouldn't break from the Council and the Council wouldn't let their strongest guild be lost to them. What drew Jellal's curiosity was the newest addition to Fairy Tail's ranks. A man that was spoken as both an uncontrolled phenomenon and as a mindless beast frothing at the mouth for its next taste of blood.
There was a hope to find someone that was cut from the same cloth as he was. Jellal demolished dark guilds, made an example of dark mages, and became a threat to the underbelly of the magical world. All of his acts were done at the behest of his master, every guild to be made an example of as a branch of Grimoire Heart that didn't follow the expectations that came with such an honor. Jellal didn't hold any grand ideas of what Grimoire Heart was or is, he didn't do it out of glory or reputation, but out of necessity. Jellal wanted the light that was at the end of the dark tunnel; he wanted the glory of the fresh start that Hades's machinations led to. He also wanted to ensure the safety of his friends that were little more than hostages when Jellal agreed to Hades's offer to make him one of his Kin.
Maybe, with a little bit of digging, Jellal would find that the Akuma would be a man of similar circumstances. Admittedly, little of anything remotely personal from the man was shared, but Jellal had a feeling that wouldn't change no matter what question was asked. Either I follow bad things or bad things follow me. I don't know which yet. Those words were the only ones related to Natsu specifically that caught his ear. It spoke much about who he was talking to while not sharing much at all. It made Jellal want to believe that there was nothing more to it than a man that wandered around killing dark guilds and turning their guildhalls into smoldering ash. Maybe that was the case. Maybe all the talk around the Wandering Demon of Fiore was chatter too in depth for a man that encapsulated the moniker more than anyone could know. He wouldn't leave it at that, however. Jellal had time to dig, he had time to discover, and maybe there was something worthwhile to be found in one of the more controversial mages to enter greater discussion within their world.
One thing Jellal didn't have to research, didn't have to analyze, and didn't have to do much else but simply look to find was what lay just beneath the surface of the former rogue mage's surface. Every word he spoke was met with suspicion, every advancing step was met with tension, and every other movement was caught with sharp eyes analyzing what he could be doing. Jellal spent his early years being lorded by slavers, his formative years within a dark guild filled with only the harshest of mages the world has to offer, and now, as an adult of his own mind, Jellal skulked around the political capital of the magical world on their continent. He could identify people with the best of them, especially when those people were of his ilk. Fighters, predators, survivors, or anything else that follows that same line of thought. As distinguished as he was, as confident in his abilities as he's earned the right to be, Jellal wouldn't walk into a fight with the Akuma without a certain trepidation. Not out of fear or lack of confidence, but simply because it would be a fight that could end at any moment. One mistake, one misstep, and the other wouldn't hesitate to end it.
An interesting trait for a Fairy, to say the least.
When his train finally slowed into the station of Era, Jellal had to force himself out of his own head lest he want to endure another hour of travel within his own thoughts. Rising to his feet, hands swept over his clothes to fruitlessly straighten himself to fit into the environment he was walking into. Fairy Tail, known for its uncouth brawling and carelessness, wasn't a place to fret over how he appeared, but Era was the opposite. Image was first and foremost with everything else falling away to wayside. Finally finding himself acceptable, Jellal pushed through the opened doors of his cabin and onto the platform. He was intent on marching straight up to the Council Chamber and report what he needed to. By the time he was done, maybe he would be free to retreat into his home within the city until morning. However, before he could even take one step, Jellal was halted by the sight before him. Air was stolen from his lungs, eyes blown wide, and his jaw was left open and hanging as gasped breaths of unformed words leaked out.
"How?" Was finally heard amongst sputtering and choking breaths coming both before and after the sneaking word. Before him, lined up together triumphantly, were four familiar faces garbed in the captain's uniforms given to the Rune Knights kept within Era to protect and guard the "high value" individuals there. A white cloak draped their shoulders, a bright blue clasp in the shape of the Council's crossed symbol holding each side together at the center of their chests, and laid over a dark blue coat. Under their coats was a lighter blue shirt with the same symbol of the council showing large in a dark black above fine white pants. None of them carried the staff of a Rune Knight, or any other weapons, as Jellal knew that each of them were talented mages in their own right.
"We couldn't let you get yourself in trouble all by yourself, big brother." Sho spoke with his amusement as clear in his voice as his bright smile showed on his face. Despite being in uniform, the younger man still wore a dangling earring on his left earlobe and his golden hair sat untamed over his head and showed brightly against his dark skin. Although none of them were related, nor resembling one another by any means, all they had was each other. None of them remembered having any other family outside of those within the cell they all shared in the Tower of Heaven. No blood flowed between them, but nothing less than siblings they were.
"Enough of that, Sho. Show some respect. We're guards to a member of the Council, act like it." Standing directly to Sho's right was Simon's large standing body. As opposed to Sho, who was on the shorter side with a lithe frame, Simon was a tall figure with a broad frame who stood straight and rigid in his uniform. His dark hair was wild on his head, coming down to hide his left eye, only showing the tail ends of scars running down toward his cheek, one of the many wounds suffered over the years. Between them all, Simon was the eldest of the group. Where Jellal held rank in various portions of their lives, Simon was the one that truly held the leash in terms of behavior. When one of them acted out, it was Simon who cracked the whip, for a lack of a better phrase.
"Don't worry Simon, so long as none of my stuffy colleagues hears him I don't see the issue." Jellal reassured with a chuckle before stepping closer to his friends, taking a moment to look between them all. On the other side of Sho was a very angular man, angular in the most literal sense possible. Magic had a tendency to have certain effects on the caster, depending on the magic itself, and with Wally that fact was much more obvious than it was for others. His face was as flat as could be, his nose being the only thing to break its plane, while his features plastered themselves over it like an image on a canvas. His "jawline" quite literally sloped inward before coming to a stop at his blocky cleft chin. His ears protruded as perfect cubes, hair plastered on as if it were an attachable piece, and his limbs were perfect prisms that seemed impossibly attached to each other at every bending joint. At the opposite end of the line to Wally was Millianna, who shared an altered look in a much different way compared to Wally. Her eyes were sharp, a stark contrast to the overall innocence plastered around the girl at all times. Her nose was small and subtle, lips curled tightly to hide the sharp canines just beneath them, and ears poked from the light brown hair that gently spooled past her shoulders. It was a strange union of her near-obsession with cats and her peculiar magic that seemed to have brought Millianna to a midway point between woman and feline. Even the red triangle marks that sat angled in pairs on the light brown skin of each cheek seemed like whiskers when paired with all her other attributes.
Peculiar they all were, in their own sort of way, but it was hard to separate each of them from their quirks. They were perfect just the way they were, in Jellal's mind, and he would be in need of their bizarre normal if he was going to see the other side of his performance with the Council. With the four of them with him, Jellal could find at least some comfort and be shown a reminder of why he was doing it all in the first place.
"Let's go, I have a meeting to attend and after that we have some things to talk about." Jellal announced as he slid himself between Simon and Sho to walk down the uniformly constructed streets of Era. Unlike Crocus, the capital of the kingdom itself, Era was only the capital of the Magic Council. It wasn't a large tourist location with grand eccentricities, but a district dedicated to running and maintaining order in the magical world. Streets weren't packed with bodies, vendors weren't shouting at passersby to sell their wares, and attractions were nowhere to be found. Fine cobbled streets were systematically placed to web outward from the center of the city where a large rock formation jutted toward the sky, a winding path climbing upward to come to a stop at the grand doors of the Magic Council. It was a long walk, one that would have been instantaneous, or near enough, if Jellal cared to use his magic. Instead, he allowed conversation to flow easily between the five of them. Although they weren't separated terribly long, they all filled in everything that Jellal could've possibly missed and jumped to squeeze out any information he could be holding out on them. Despite the long walk, the trip might as well have passed in an instant. Before he knew it, Jellal was walking under the massive double doors of the Council building that seemed more a castle than anything else. Their voices all silenced in an instant and their ears were filled with the reverberating echoes of their footsteps that bounced off of the fine walls of the open hall.
"Stay out here and don't make a mess while I'm gone. Given how late I am, I should have skipped most of it already." Jellal wasted no more time walking through the doors to the Council Chamber and bathing in the bright blue light that ever emanated from the meeting room floor. Unsurprisingly, despite being a member short, the members of the Council skipped no days bickering back and forth like children. Even with his arrival and interruption, words darted back and forth through the room with a passion too high for it to be genuine.
"We cannot afford it this year, Chairman. With more and more dark guilds testing the Council, we cannot set aside weeks worth of preparations for some commercial attraction for the King." Councilman Leiji barked across the room at Chairman Crawford from beneath the heavy hood of his gray jacket, his brow furrowing over the dark lenses of his circular sunglasses. As the intense words flew past his colleague's mouth, it was hard not to notice the shaking of the man's hair that came down so uniform it looked like a helmet on his head that curled upward from the jaw as thick horns would. To the Chairman's credit, he remained unmoved at the ridiculous sight before him.
"And I am telling you, Leiji, that we cannot let the frustrations of our guilds boil over upon each other. That remains doubly true when taking your point into account, sir. The Grand Magic Games have long stood as a proxy for guild warfare as much as it was a treat to the civilian world. Allowing bitter guild rivalries interfere with the pressing aggression from our enemies is foolish." Despite the leveled and thought out response from the chairman, there was no stopping the explosion of noise that came shortly after. At the sight of the uproar, Crawford's eyes remained as tired looking as they always had when peering down from above the massive tufts of white hair cascading from his face.
Words were thrown without much pause for far longer than Jellal cared to keep track of, only truly hanging on to enough words to leave him informed enough to respond should it be necessary. Dark guilds attacking Rune Knights in the southwestern corner of the country, something that he had already been notified of, and the worry of more bold attacks should their response not be harsh enough. Jellal didn't need to glance to his right to know that Ultear was withholding a savage smile from the others within the Chamber. He knew she was because he himself had a hard time not showing his amusement. They didn't need to do a damn thing to keep the Council unproductive. Arguments were run through in circles without any new information being shared amongst them until a deep, bassy voice cut through it all.
"Enough. Surely we've all heard ourselves on the matter enough, yes?" Org spoke with a tone of authority that one might have expected from the Chairman of the Council, but Crawford simply listened to the grumbling man as all the others did. Org stood tall and slender under a white high-collared cloak that sat atop simple brown robes. Long white hair was smoothed back before falling freely down his back with a length matched by the flowing beard hanging from his face. Words were spoken gruffly from under a bushy mustache that did no favors in his voice's smoothness, but wasn't a hindrance in drowning the power that the man spoke with. The only thing that didn't speak of a quiet strength in the councilman was the small bat figure that propped itself at the top of his head, seemingly without purpose. "Perhaps we should ask our friend what information he bears from his trip to Magnolia?"
Just like that, Jellal went from being a simple bystander to old fools arguing to having seven sets of eyes turned onto him with some curiosity. In truth, it didn't seem like any were keen to listen to what he had to say. For the most part, opinions were already made on Natsu and Fairy Tail. There wasn't much interest in hearing his opinion on the man's temperament.
"There's nothing to worry about." He spoke simply with an intonation that would have been used to speak on the weather or what he ate for breakfast. While he made it a point to have a certain frivolity when with his fellow councilmen, Jellal made it a point to be overtly so here. As a reward, glares were instantly leveled on him and none were more deliberate than Ultear's from his side.
"Nothing to worry about!? You spoke to that menace once and suddenly there's nothing to worry about?" Michello practically screeched as he leaned heavily on his cane. The cat-like ears atop his head folded back, the tail fluttering behind his back grew rigid, and the snarl on the stout man was far more intense than it usually was. "How could you possibly know that?"
Now Jellal allowed the smile on his face to widen, shoulders shrugging slightly as he spoke. "Because he told me. He seems like a trustworthy guy." The silence that reigned after those words was deafening. There was no benefit in recounting every word spoken between him and the Fairy Tail mages, and in this case the less his peers knew the better.
"Tell me, councilman, what makes you take his words so seriously. Is this not the same man that holds a running body count of dark mages everywhere he goes?" Chairman Crawford spoke with a reserved authority that was the staple of his reign. While his voice was less imposing than someone like Org, or showed less physical authority than Leiji or Belno with his soft body, when he took an active role in the conversation everyone else listened. Round eyes that usually sat half-lidded were now gazing down at Jellal with full attention.
"What would you have me do, Chairman? Interrogate him?" Jellal shook his head to answer his own question and continued smoothly while addressing the rest of the Council. "You've sent me to build a relationship with both the Akuma and Fairy Tail. I can't go there and demand answers to questions as if he owes them to me. For now, all I can do is take what he does answer as the truth and go from there. I'll build a file on him, and as time goes we might get to understand what we have in him. So, as I said, there's nothing to worry about."
When he finished, Jellal made sure to gaze purposefully at Michello's narrowed eyes before turning back to the Chairman. All he received was a simple nod in return before the conversation shifted once again. Inevitably, the argument circled back to the discussion of the Grand Magic Games and the Rune Knights attacked in the southwest. Nothing of true importance to anything Jellal was worried about.
It only took standing through a couple more hours of bickering before he was free to take his leave. Naturally, if he had his way, Jellal would have wanted to lead his friends and new personal guard to the humble abode given to him within Era, but there was a matter to attend to in his office before he could. Jellal, followed by his four friends that kept a distance of a few steps behind him, snaked through the halls of the building before coming to a stop outside his office. After telling them to wait outside, Jellal walked into the office and immediately pulled the lacrima, untouched by his outbursts, from the bottom drawer of his desk and took a heavy seat in his chair.
After a calming breath, Jellal's magic filled the lacrima only for a connection to be established immediately after.
"Good. I was beginning to think you would put this off." The cold voice of his guildmaster reverberated from the lacrima and all the muscles in Jellal's body went rigid in response. Ultear gave him a passing word near the end of the meeting that hinted at contacting Hades, and while the news wasn't inherently foreboding, there was never a good reason for having to speak to their master like this. "I hear you had a productive trip to Magnolia."
"Yes, Master." Short and clipped, he spoke as if it would save him from whatever this meeting was intended for. Clearly there was an issue to be had on this trip.
"I trust you have reunited with your friends in Era?"
"Yes, Master." Once again.
"Do I need to speak this warning, Jellal?" The eye of Hades that wasn't covered with a patch narrowed at him as a frown was seen beneath white facial hair. Jellal swallowed, trying to sink the lump formed in his throat.
"What warning would that be, Master?" Jellal asked, not entirely false. He had a feeling where this was going, but he'd rather have it clear and open than a vague assumption. At his question, Hades gave a shallow scoff before adjusting the lacrima before him. Somehow, despite the ball showing only the man's face, Jellal felt as if the man was sitting straighter in the throne he never left.
"If you allow Ultear to be revealed with your new connection with the Akuma, your friends will be removed as easily as they were inserted." Hades's voice was never conducive to warmth, but there always seemed to be a new degree of iciness it could fall to. This one was harsh enough to make Jellal's blood freeze in his veins and his eyes lose their focus as his head rose to gaze at the door to his office. "And don't allow that woman in Fairy Tail to cause unneeded distractions, boy. As you've heard, things are progressing. There is no room for mistakes."
Jellal provided his affirmations and parting words to his master before communication was halted. It wasn't new, threats to the few things Jellal still had in this world, but it was hardly so deliberate. When Jellal was on his rise to be inserted into the Council, his friends were often kept close to Hades's operations. When he was afar, Hades made sure that he knew they were strictly underfoot, but now the unspoken was brought into the open. It grounded him some. It was easy to forget certain things when he was living the comforts of a Wizard Saint and a councilman. After so much work, it felt like he was reaping the fruits of his labor when he was very much still in the labor. The fruits came when the world could be set to rights, when Hades gathered all he needed for the New World to be born. Maybe he was reunited with his friends and had them close, maybe he was able to now be in contact with Erza, but he couldn't get too comfortable. Only small liberties were allowed, and even those were to be taken with great care. He was a dark mage, one of the Kin of Purgatory in the ranks of Grimoire Heart, and a man that has done terrible things in the name of his final goal. Forgetting that for the sake of small liberties would only get them killed.
Now that he was reminded of that, Jellal stood and rejoined his friends outside his office. They talked and laughed down the rocky path toward the city proper and retired in the gaudy home given to him for his position on the Council. Even as he laughed into the night with his friends, when Jellal laid down in his bed there was no smile on his face as he already looked toward the morning.
Bouncing between writing new chapter that's like 100k words ahead of this, then coming back to reread this before posting it is almost enough to give me whiplash. Shit is throwing me around tryna switch gears between one and the other.
I always think about sharing more right after the chapter, maybe diving into certain things I tried to accomplish in the chapter or with a character, but then I realize that ruins the entire point of actually writing it out. So, instead, I'll just say that I appreciate the reviews after the chapters. I've been surprised at how consistent they've been and hope they continue to be. It always makes it easier to have some things to be mindful of...even if I am way too ahead in my own writing to actually change anything significant. I'm an idiot.