"What the hell…" Erza barely coughed out in abject horror. "How could…why is the…"
She stared up at the alight, active tower, her side hurting like a bitch. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Natsu and Lucy struggling to get off the ground to help Gray and Juvia. Juvia. She was not moving. Was she – no. She could not be dead. There could not have been a sacrifice. Her mind started spinning, and she dry heaved for a minute. She closed her eyes, all but willing the nausea to dissipate. She was not the only one scared. She could hear the footsteps of Jellal growing closer to her again, and steeled herself. I'm not ready to die. A loud crash rang out. The movement stopped. Erza opened her eyes. Jellal had been knocked and skidded back halfway across from her again. Nearest to her, however, was the last person she wanted to owe anything to. Siegrain. She swore quietly to herself, her throat aching. Can I even requip? I need to get – Her mind started reeling again. Something had gone very, very wrong. She pushed herself onto her arms, and took a look towards her friends. Natsu and Lucy had finally managed to get off the ground, and were trying to help Juvia. Happy was with them. Gray was shockingly panicked. She struggled up to her knees, and sat up, catching her breath. Her eyes met Jellal's. And, to her disbelief, he began to laugh.
"Etherion," He continued laughing as he got back on his feet. "Is the only thing on the continent with enough magic energy, enough power to activate the Tower," He turned to his twin. "I can't believe you walked into this!"
Siegrain gaped at him. "How?" He hissed. "How could you have possibly known the Council was even considering –"
"Grimoire Heart," Jellal wheezed, laughing even more when he saw Angel had regained herself, too. "They're –"
"A dark guild," Siegrain snapped. "But that doesn't explain this. Are you even suggesting that you have connexions inside the Magic Council?"
"Yes, Ultear, to be specific," Jellal grinned at his brother. "Can you believe it? One of your colleagues is implicated. A colleague you once dated, too. How long has it been since the two of you called it off? A year, or two?"
Siegrain clenched his fists. "My personal history with her has nothing to do with –"
Just barely, he jumped out of the way of a sudden attack from Angel, who otherwise had her sights on the others. She had all but grounded Natsu again, who looked sick. Pathetic. It's not even that complex to manipulate someone's field of vision. Her spirits and feathers flurried around her. Happy began tugging at Natsu's hair, trying to get him to stand up. Just about ready to puke, however, Natsu fell flat on the floor. Lucy ran to help the cat drag him to his feet again. Angel betrayed nothing, her fingers clicking. She looked back at Siegrain. The young Wizard Saint met her gaze. Steadied himself. I am going to have Ultear's head for this the second I arrive back in Era. She cannot – will not – pin this mistake on me. He looked between his twin and Angel. Neither of them made a move. His eyes narrowed. What are they playing at? This is – He didn't get much more time to think. Jellal finally lunged towards Erza, seeing her finally manage onto her feet again. Without thinking twice, Siegrain swung out his leg, effectively tripping his brother. Seething, Jellal pushed him to the ground. The two brothers began to wrestle, kicking and scratching at each other. Erza took a look around. Then, she focused, long enough to requip, and long enough to separate Jellal and Siegrain. Angel began to laugh, and took a shot at Siegrain again, missing him by mere centimetres.
"Swifter than you look," Angel noted with a dark smile. "I can see how you and your brother are evenly matched. Now…" She looked over at the unconscious Juvia. "What do with –"
She shrieked when Happy flew at her, and latched onto her headdress with his teeth, kneading against it and her hair. Lucy and Gray were supporting Natsu, who was still dizzy and could barely stand. The world was, still, coming back into focus. Gray let go of him and leapt back over to Juvia, who was mumbling and shaking. Natsu shuddered, and Lucy snatched his arms to keep him upright. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Erza started towards Angel, with only a short glance at Siegrain, who had begun dodging from his brother's increasingly frenzied attacks. I cannot believe I honestly had to separate them to make them stop fighting like children. She refused to take her thoughts any further. Startled by her, Angel pulled her sword on Titania, who quickly parried the attack. The two began to focus intently on each other. Happy became nothing more than a nuisance to her, and, with a summon of a second sword, nearly sliced off part of Happy's tail. He flew back and away, towards Natsu, Lucy, and Gray, the former two struggling to get any semblance of a hit on Angel, and the latter sitting Juvia up.
There was one thing none of them could deny.
The tower seemed to be gathering more and more energy.
What it would do, however, was up to question.
Jellal, all too eager to force his brother to become the sacrifice, flew at him with renewed vigor. Siegrain, shaking and exhausted, matched every attack his brother sent at him. The two brothers and their swords crashed against each other in nothing short of pure fury towards the other. Which of them were more angered was up to chance. Jellal held nothing but contempt for his brother in his eyes. Siegrain. He had the perfect life. What had he ever been at want for? Gritting his teeth, Jellal's hands tightened almost painfully around his sword. The voices in his head were back, and louder than ever. For once, however, they were not controlling. They demanded Erza. He focused on his twin. Don't make me kill her, Siegrain. If you do, I'll have to kill you both. He was unsure if any words left his mouth, but they could have. Those thoughts, his thoughts, almost were, for a few seconds, as loud as the voices that resided in his head. He drowned out those voices the best he could with every attack he made against his twin. Siegrain just barely skid out of the way. Jellal, what are you playing at? Give – He nearly slipped. The floor was starting to shake, and the room was becoming harder to stand in. The two brothers just about skated to opposing ends of the tower. While they got back onto their feet, Angel took advantage of the moment to charge on Lucy. She pinned her to the ground, forging an angelic spear in her hands. Lucy screamed, fumbling for her keys, and tried to reopen a gate – any gate. Angel kept trying to blast the others away, but, seconds before she could stab Lucy, Natsu shot her off Lucy, and tackled her.
"You're quite troublesome," She remarked with a laugh. Only her eyes betrayed her true fear. "Who would have thought –"
"Don't," Natsu barely shouted out. "Don't – try – to – hurt – my – friends! You –"
Angel slapped him, regaining footing in the process. Natsu fell over, but she was still smacked with the force of the spirit, Virgo, from behind by Lucy. Angel let out a low hiss. How? They're just teenagers! And from Fairy Tail of all guilds! Enraged, she stood up, her hair and feathers fluttering around her like a tornado. There was an almost ethereal quality to them. In her rage, too, her eyes seemed much darker, and her nails seemed to get longer. It was shocking. Disturbing. Her hands shaking in waves, she cast a few of her spirits over to Jellal, in an attempt to help him recover quicker. With an ease that bordered on lazy, she opened another gate to release more spirits, the appearance of which could only be described as demonic. She did not realise, however, that the power she was wielding pulled something out of Jellal, and his mind. It caught him off guard, and Jellal fell over in his run at his brother. Siegrain did not attack, instead grabbing him by the shoulders to restrain him. Angel barely noticed, and cared little about what aid he could provide her. She had her own issues. Erza. Lucy and Virgo. Natsu and Happy. She chose not to care about Gray and the girl he seemed to be protecting. Her spirits whipped around like mad. For a moment, Lucy could have sworn she could not breathe. She looked to Virgo, then Erza, then Natsu, then Happy, and, finally, Gray and Juvia.
We aren't going to die here, right? We can't! We can't die here!
Angel felt her heart pick up pace when all of their magic slammed into her. Even shielded, her arms crossed in front of her face and chest, she skidded back. Taking the brief opportunity, Gray took one more look at Juvia before running at Angel. She let out a shriek of pain when a knife of ice and one of Natsu's flames collided into her side. Panting, she spun herself back to her feet, and summoned a new shield of spirits. She barely escaped an attack from Virgo, and, to her shock, the damn cat. A bit of a shriek left her against her will. The darkness to encase them was growing thinner. She focused. Jellal and Siegrain were focused, were they not? Use them as your example, to be that focused or more. Fury threatening to consume her whole, she blasted them all back. I have been through too damn much for you all to be the end of me. That will not happen. I refuse to allow it. She summoned a new sword, and nearly knocked Erza's out of her hand. Erza. Angel briefly looked between her and Jellal. Between them, it's 'I love you, now die.' She let the sword dissipate into dust when Natsu, Gray, and Happy leapt towards her, to summon a brief protection. Yet again, she summoned a shield and sent out her energy, her spirits to fight them. Reckless. They were reckless. Darkness which had lingered around her, which she had allowed to harbour, crept into her thoughts. That girl, the unconscious one. She was defenceless, and unprotected, now. They were closing in on her. Angel took in a deep breath, and pulled the unconscious Juvia into her, summoning a knife which she held at the base of the girl's throat.
"Stop, or she dies," Angel hissed.
Gray let out a noise he would later deny. Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Erza grew louder over him. Angel pressed the knife a bit harder against Juvia's throat.
"How would the three of you live if you knew you had a hand in one of your own dying?" She drew the tiniest beads of blood from Juvia, and they protested louder, angrier, terrorised. "I don't imagine," Angel continued. "That any of you would take it very well."
"Let her go," Erza ordered.
"Let her go?" Angel repeated. "Are you telling me what to do?"
Erza's hands clenched tightly around her swords, and her eyes became darker than any of her friends had ever seen.
"How despicable are you?" She hissed. "If you're willing to kill someone who is completely defenceless for the sake of a show?"
Angel narrowed her eyes. "Since when are you so bold?"
Erza met her stare unflinchingly. "Since I found more than one reason worth fighting for."
Angel cast Juvia aside and dropped the knife, blasting Natsu, Lucy, and Happy back to approach Erza. Gray just barely caught Juvia. Erza stepped forward to meet Angel, too.
"Tell me," Angel's voice fell quiet. "Did you ever so much as lose sleep over abandoning everyone you had ever known and 'saving' yourself?"
Erza's lips quivered.
"Well?" Angel darkly pressed. "Did you?"
"Of course I did," Erza swallowed hard. "That's why being brought back here, why…why I never wanted to come back to this place."
Her entire body shaking, Angel cast another spell, nearly draining herself completely, but effectively knocking everyone unconscious. Everyone except herself, Erza, and Siegrain. Pain ricocheting through his body, Siegrain started towards Angel. She only stared at him in surprise. Erza took a small step back, requipping. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see the others, still unconscious but very much alive. Angel set her hands to her hips when Siegrain was close to her. The twenty two year old Wizard Saint crossed his arms. The two stared coldly at each other. Are you going to say nothing, Siegrain? Were everything written about you when you were made a Wizard Saint, and a member of the Magic Council untrue? Are you really not as well read to know what could activate the Tower, or are you truly this reckless? Her eyes flitted between him and Erza. Her heart pounding in her chest, she forced herself to breathe. The three of them, just about alone, stood in stalemate. Or were they? Was someone going to make a move? Siegrain sighed, took a look at his twin, unconscious and helpless on the ground. Did things have to be this way? He did not linger on the thought. He could not. Angel stepped into the space between Erza and Siegrain, and shook her head. Then, she spoke:
"I have to say, to see a genuine Wizard Saint fight is a real treat. Although, I imagine, you only counted on fighting your brother."
Siegrain frowned. "We can end this without further carnage. There is absolutely no need for this. You have no connexion to this. Why –"
"Presumptuous, are we? I shouldn't be surprised, given who you are or, more accurately, who you became. Because you are sorely mistaken, or, at the very least, misinformed," Angel said, her eyes flaring. "Apart from our leader, all of us in the Oración Seis were once imprisoned here. When Erza," Angel swallowed her bitterness. "Left us, Jellal helped us survive. We kept building the tower, we got a grip on our own lives, and, eventually –"
She cut herself short, whipping around upon feeling the energy in the air change. Her eyes went wide in fear, and she moved into a defencive stance but, seeing a hooded man and Brain appear behind Siegrain, she forced a smirk. Erza and Siegrain turned around when they caught the look crossing her countenance, but they were seconds too late. The newcomers were gone, and, with them, Jellal. Before either of them could react, further, Angel kicked them both to the ground with her spirits. She returned the others to consciousness. In less than a minute, she vanished. Erza and Siegrain stared at each other, caught between blame, anger, and horror. They quickly let go of all of that when they heard their friends struggling, pained. Erza ran over to her friends, helping them regain themselves, helping them back to their feet or, in the case of Happy, paws. Siegrain, however, remained where he was. It was all too much. It was all too surreal. And none of it felt right.
"Siegrain?" Erza eyed him strangely when he finally walked over to join her and the others. "What the hell are you thinking?"
He sighed. "A fair question," The young Wizard Saint admitted. "I'm not quite sure myself, but…I am certainly going to have Ultear's head for this."
Erza let out a short, mirthless laugh.
"Of all the mysteries we have now, that was never among them. Not for me."