Erza chose to simply ignore Irene. Mother. What a horrid card to play at this moment. What a deeply unnecessary motive. What did she think to accomplish, even if she was telling the truth? Did she truly believe Erza would simply abandon her friends, abandon the world, all for a mother who had abandoned her?
She was a former General of the Twilight Empire, she was someone whose influence was once as great as August's. Erza was not so easily fooled.
Irene did not pursue Erza as she walked away from the woman, not even entertaining what she was trying to tell Erza. All Erza left her with was a simple warning to stay away from Natsu and Wendy. Going after them was going to lead to nothing but pain for Irene.
So, Erza instead chased what they'd come to Edolas for. She pushed away Irene, pushed away the implications of their conversation, and moved through the Edolas Fairy Tail building as she searched for Jellal. It was nice to see everyone, indeed, but time was of the essence. It was fine for them to stray from the path momentarily in Edolas so long as they were ever moving forward, but they couldn't dawdle in Edolas any further.
At any moment, an Imperial scout could spot Mystogan, and pour a whole heap of trouble on Edolas all over again. They could possibly assassinate him, leaving Edolas without a king. Erza would never forgive herself for that.
Jellal had almost entirely vanished from the building, so, Erza took to finding some of the more secluded areas around in the forest and found him in the first one she looked at: a small grove that allowed him to stay practically completely hidden. It wasn't too dissimilar to the one he'd been found in before, but this one was not up in the valley.
He unfolded his arms as she approached.
"I'm not surprised you found me."
"Why won't you come with us?" Erza asked.
Jellal sighed. "I'm not sure you'd understand, Erza."
"Explain it to me so I would."
"It's actually simple. I'm tired."
Erza narrowed her eyes. "Tired? You're tired?"
"I was fighting the rising tide of Dark Guilds before the Alvarez Empire even showed up in Fiore, or was a threat against Ishgar. When they stormed in during the Grand Magic Games and all hell broke loose, I did my best to fight against them. I tricked myself into thinking that maybe there was a chance. I was forgiven by Kagura, I founded Crime Sorciere, I—I thought I was actually going to be the hero.
"And then we lost Ultear, and everything started falling apart. Zeref's plans came to fruition. More Dragon Slayers, more wizards, more allies. He had Stellanium to sell off to other nations and keep them from fighting, he had more and more people that could've been allies since he was Breaking them.
"When I came here, ran here or whatever you want to call it, I set out to do the one thing I failed to do over a year ago. I saved Fairy Tail. I've protected them. This world became safer with me in it. Why would I go back to a world that I have no impact on? What can I do against the Twilight Empire, Erza, but die as, maybe, a martyr?"
Erza strode forward. "You once stood against a wizard guild so powerful it threatened the entire world, all because you believed it was the right thing to do. You were ready to take down Zeref."
"After attempting to resurrect him."
"You weren't yourself. But when you were, you saved Natsu, you saved all of us. You had no reason to do so then, but you have every reason to do so now. Your allies are still alive. Your fight is still out there, on Earth Land! Come home, Jellal. We need you."
She remembered the frustration that came with Jellal giving himself over to the Magic Council after the Nirvana incident. He deserved more than that since his mind was finally back. Back then, he'd also given some sort of justification that he deserved that sentencing.
It had to be the same here. He had to believe this was some sort of punishment or indictment for his sins at the Tower of Heaven. Yet, he'd said it himself: Kagura forgave him. Millianna forgave him. It was not the same at all.
"You were a Wizard Saint."
"What does that mean against the Spriggan Twelve?"
"It means someone else to fight them. Someone else that can help defeat them."
Jellal folded his arms, shrinking back. "Erza. Don't do this to me. I won't be guilted."
"It isn't a matter of guilt!" Erza shouted. She was sure someone at the guild hall heard her. "It's a matter of being the hero you were going to be, Jellal! What happened to that man?"
"He watched his friends die," Jellal said, "and saw the world for what it was: a place where heroes fall."
"Then explain my friends," Erza said. "Do you even have any idea what we've done since we came back?"
Jellal set his jaw.
"We defeated the Dragon Division," Erza said, "at a cost. But we are here, looking for help, because we have to fight to honor what they've done for us. We've seen people freed from the grip of the Twilight Empire, we've shown so many more that it isn't darkness that holds the world together but light."
Jellal smirked. "Typical Fairy Tail, I suppose."
"Hope is not dead. It just needs more kindling to become the flame that will banish the Twilight Empire forever."
"And I can be that kindling?"
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so, Jellal. If you believe you're no help, then fine. But then choose to believe in me. In us, who have put our faith in you."
Jellal almost looked like he was going to take a step forward, it almost looked like he wanted to reach out and take her hand. Erza's breath caught, realizing how badly she yearned for him to do so, or even simply for his touch, but instead, his arms slumped to the side, and he sat against the foreign tree and folded his arms and legs in.
He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. Erza closed her hand into a fist, nodded, and backed away. She said nothing. She didn't have to, either.
Someone waited for her at the edge of the grove, someone driving a stake through Erza's brain with how annoying she was becoming.
Irene leaned against her staff, gesturing at Jellal.
"He's stubborn, that one."
"What is it?"
"If you're insistent on returning to Earth Land," Irene began and straightened off of her staff, "then I suppose I must come with you."
"I'd ask you not to."
"Too bad. I'm your mother. At least this way, we can be together, and, if you see the fight is a losing one, well, I'll be there for you. Otherwise, I can protect you."
"As if I'd trust you enough to do so."
Irene smiled. "As if you can really stop me, Erza."
Even without her magic to pressure against Erza, she was still able to instill chills in Erza, as if the power was still there as if she could still tap into it. As if something more brewed beneath the surface of this witch.
"Why," Erza began, "are Natsu and Wendy so important."
Irene smiled. "Take me to Earth Land and one day I'll explain. But it's also in my personal interest to keep them alive, too."
"I thought they were of interest to the Empire."
"You're pretending the Empire is the lone threat in the world. There is a third party, who is singularly as powerful as the full extent of the Twilight Empire, Erza."
A third party? Who could that possibly be? What could it be? Irene still maintained her self-satisfied expression but that inherent pressure remained.
Erza sighed. There really wasn't a way she could let Irenenotcome home. And, if Jellal was truly worried about the Twilight Empire and had been fighting them as adamantly as he had been, wouldn't he be more concerned about Irene being with them? Perhaps she had turned a leaf—neutral leaf, at best.
"We set off soon," Erza said. "Don't lag."
"Don't worry about me, Erza," Irene said, "I'll just be happy to be a family once again."
Natsu wasn't the most happy to be leaving Edolas behind. It was nice to get to hang out with their counterparts—and kids, which was just the weirdest thing—as a little break. But hitting the road to get home was also exciting. It meant getting the chance to knock some Imperial heads again.
Everyone had their strength back, everyone was raring to get back into the fight. Jellal was safe, and weirdly staying behind, but Natsu knew that business better left to Erza. Her look told him that it was something he had to stay out of, tempting though it was.
He, Happy, and Gray led the group back down the familiar trail, which they moved through even faster since they'd learned it and knew not to take any detours.
They marched to a steady rhythm, emerging back into the capital as day broke after they'd run into the Fairy Tail members. A few were inspired to follow them, but would only do so once Coco came by to confirm the king was back.
Lucy Ashley apparently wanted the guild to become installed in the capital, permanently, to help serve the king. She wasn't keen on being in such close proximity to Erza Nightwalker, whom she still held a pretty reasonable grudge against, but did want to be in the action. And the daycares were better, apparently.
Coco greeted the Earth Landers when they came back to the city square where Mystogan still held the portal open. Dozens of guards stood around him in both Edolas and Earth Land. Their weapons were magically imbued on the Earth Land side of the portal.
Mystogan's eyes were closed but it was clear he wasn't sleeping. He was meditating, constantly pouring out magic to ensure that the portal connection was as strong as ever.
The bouncy woman jumped with joy at seeing them.
"You're back!" she exclaimed. "But, where is Jellal?"
Mystogan opened his eyes.
"Not coming," Erza said.
"He liked it here a little too much, I guess," Gray said.
Juvia manifested from out of nowhere, clinging to Gray's arm. "And we've seen that there are certain things in our world that are severely lacking compared to yours."
Gray shivered. Natsu laughed. Ha.
Gray was gonna have kids!
Wait.
Did he have to tell Lucy about Nasha? His stomach almost fell, and Happy laughed at this, realizing what Natsu was thinking.
"I'd say you should come back," Mystogan said, startling everyone, "but you know it's best for all of us if the gate between our worlds is never opened."
"How can we ensure that's done?" Yukino asked. "The magic power of the R-System isn't going anywhere."
"I've thought about that," Mystogan said. "But I believe it may be possible to entirely seal the tear between worlds with that magic. It may take a bit of time."
"Meaning you'll have to hold the portal open a little longer," Erza said. "We can protect you."
"If I do it right," Mystogan said, "I can perform this from Edolas."
"And it means we'll never really see you again, huh?" Natsu asked.
Mystogan smiled. "I got a second chance to see you all, my friends, and lend a hand in this fight. I hope it was worth it."
"Of course!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Come on, then," Erza said. "We'd best be off."
"Yeah, time's wasting," Gray said.
Juvia purred. "Time is wasting, my darling. We should get a private room on the train home."
Erza led the way as they crossed between worlds, and at once, Natsu's flames ignited in his hands. He smiled. Happy leaped into the air, his wings flaring.
Natsu watched Irene come through, and then, everyone else turned to her as well, as without meaning so, all of her power flooded back and created such an immense amount of pressure that it drew everyone's gaze. Irene flourished her great witch hat.
"Is that everyone?" she asked.
"I believe so," Erza said, recovering from her shock.
Yukino stood behind Irene. "Care to take us to the mainland?"
Irene smiled. "My dear Yukino. You think I'd have us bother with such a silly thing as a boat?"
"We must travel conspicuously, so once we return to Ishgar's mainland we'll take another train north," Erza said.
Natsu grimaced. Great.Another train ride.
Mystogan stood and said his goodbyes to everyone. Natsu clasped hands with the king, giving him a hearty grin. They promised to take care of each other's worlds, and Mystogan stepped through. Natsu joined the others in the massive magic circle Irene created that'd teleport them to Akane Beach.
As they vanished, Natsu tried to capture the perfect image of a city freed from its darkness, a place that was filled with light and love, that was moving toward a promising tomorrow. That was the world they were fighting for, and the world, together, they'd make again.
Minerva sat up as Levy rushed into the meeting room. She and August, as well as Ajeel the preeminent General of the Crystal Division, had been coordinating a strike team that would quickly execute on Minerva's plan to wipe out Fairy Tail. None of their scouts could locate the group that Minerva hounded, though did confirm that Dimaria had engaged the Dreyars, Cobra and a group of his own had located the petty Fairies, and Zash brought the supreme might of the Dragon Division crashing down on just Gajeel, Panther Lily, Kagura, and Millianna.
August eased back, assured of victory, leaving only Minerva to wrap up her end of things and Fairy Tail would be good and dead.
"News, Levy?" August asked.
Levy nodded. "We've traced Natsu and Wendy's location. They're heading north from Akane Beach and will arrive in Bosiore Station within the hour."
August eyed Minerva.
"Good," Minerva said, "we'll finish what they started."
"We picked up a mighty power signature with them, which may be how they managed to get from off-shore back to the mainland so fast," Levy said. "But we haven't been able to identify it."
"It'll be handled, little girl," Minerva said. She rose from her seat. "Ajeel, you coming?"
"Sounds boring," Ajeel said. "Plus, I'm tired."
"From what? Your night out?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
What forces Minerva had mustered would be more than enough. Ajeel would be overkill. Minerva wanted to personally see to the ends of Titania and Yukino and Ajeel would just wipe them all out at once. Where was the fun in that?
"Thank you, Levy," August said.
He spoke so kindly to her, despite the clear damage he'd done to her. Minerva heard all about the betrayal Levy dared bring down to August as she tried to save her friend. Lullaby was gone, an artifact that August was confident could have killed several in the Empire, but not himself. At a price for that attempt, though, August crushed Levy's hands, leaving them in massive casts and rendering her ability to use magic obsolete.
"Of course," she said.
Minerva didn't want to let that thread, of torturing Levy, go. It'd rile her up for killing more of Levy's old friends.
"Your loyalty is admirable, despite everything," Minerva said. "But I'd imagine you won't suffer so simple a fate next time you double-cross us. Your informationiscorrect?"
"Levy knows what will come of her, and her friends, should she indeed try to cross me," August said. "Fear not, Minerva. We have the Fairy Tail situation under control."
"Then why let Heartfilia go?"
August sighed. "I told you. It's under control. There is now nothing Fairy Tail can do that will surprise us. It is something, a method, you should be familiar with."
Minerva leered, then understood. The only reason to let prey run away was so it could show you to a great bounty.
August was tracking Lucy's movements, which would lead him right to Fairy Tail, and soon, right to Hisui.
She was aware that Levy was faced with a choice in whether or not to kill Lucy. Minerva guessed that August had a backup plan if Levy did follow through with it—they still had Kip, a traitor in his own right, and Mirajane to use as dupes for the Fairies. August held onto Lucy as long as he did to ensure his victory.
Indeed, within the week, not just Fairy Tail, but all of the rebellion would be extinguished from Ishgar.
Minerva need only play her part, and she intended to do so quite flawlessly. She nodded to her peers, then stepped out of the room to muster her allies and prepare one final attack that history would forever remember.
Yukino folded her legs and stared out the window as daylight poured through the window. She lowered the sun shield down a bit further.
Carla napped in the seat next to her while Wendy anxiously held her stomach. Natsu was doubled over next to her, Happy patting his back. Yukino wished to be in the room with Irene to keep an eye on her, but at least Erza was there.
And she could only imagine the…things Juvia was trying to pull on Gray.
She couldn't push aside the disappointment she felt in Jellal not coming back. Erza said he believed he'd be useless in the fight, but Yukino couldn't see it that way at all. There were dozens of high-ranking officials in the Empire who feared him and trembled at his potential.
Their journey wasn't fruitless. It was a long shot, but if Irene really had turned to their side for Erza's sake, that was an immeasurable victory. Plus, it gave them time to rest after the ambush outside Bosiore Station.
The high-speed train was taking them back to the station, where they'd move on to regroup with the main rebel forces. Irene was keeping her power completely in check, so she'd be invisible to any lacrima attempting to feel out the group. If the Empire knew Irene was back, they'd stop at nothing to either get her back or just find her.
Which, most likely, meant August knocking at their door. That was a fight Yukino did not want to be around for.
The train rolled smoothly along the tracks as the countryside blurred around her. Having such a ride on Edolas seemed impossible, as so many hills and mountains rose up everywhere from when the islands crashed together. Travel was truly only available by wagon or cart, which seemed so slow by comparison. One day, she knew, they'd figure out how to get things going faster.
Or, maybe they preferred to be slow. Maybe they preferred the quiet, rather than the constant noise of progress. The Twilight Empire surged onto the scene, wiping away the old to make way for the new, and common people were still putting out those fires. Were high-speed trains worth it compared to farmers still having land to call their own? Were bountiful airfields to and from Alikitasia truly something to marvel at if you knew what work went on behind the scenes to keep the planes flying?
It was hard to contemplate those questions from her tower in Crocus. From there, she only worried for her sister, for Sting.
With each passing day, Yukino's hope that she could one day see either of them again faded. Such loss pained her.
The world had broken so far that Erza could not properly be relieved at the sight of seeing her mother, that she could not convince Jellal to come back. She watched Happy console Natsu, she watched Wendy smile at a resting Carla.
But the world was not entirely broken. They were still there, holding together the threads of a waning hope.
The train eased to a halt. The lights onboard flickered. Natsu startled then smiled. Yukino locked eyes with Wendy, who nodded.
"Finally," Natsu said.
Yukino stood up, straightening out her dress, and unclipped her keys, feeling the power from them tingle in her hands as if the spirits there wanted the fight as well.
They all knew, the moment they chose the path to Bosiore, that another battle awaited them. It was, probably, what drove Erza to choose it. They had unfinished business.
Yukino and the Dragon Slayers clambered out to the top of the train while Erza, Gray, and Juvia emerged from the door nearest them. Natsu's grin widened while Wendy seemed to catch her breath at the sight before them.
Minerva, in full splendor as the Ethereal Witch, stood before a great host, one that'd threaten any neighboring country's armies. Her primary Generals from the Hunter's Division—Dobengal, Briar, and Araña—were right behind her, and flanking them were the Oni, the elite guard of Mercurius created specifically to kill wizards.
Around them were minor Generals of the Crystal Division.
The sheer number, alone, was intimidating. Yukino studied who'd been brought from the Crystal Division. Masters of the earth, masters of projectiles. It was an enemy built to prevent an enemy from escaping, walling them in for a fight with enemies whose magic was precise, lethal, and all supplemented by incredibly strong automatons. One Oni, alone, was said to have the power of a full squadron of Fourth Generation Dragon Slayers.
August lent Minerva ten Oni, each of whom wielded anti-magic weapons.
Yukino passed the information along to Wendy and Natsu, and Wendy to Erza through the wind.
Minerva opened her arms. Magic wafted in her hands.
Everyone braced, falling into their stances.
"Star Dress: Pisces!"
Yukino transformed. Erza transformed as well, into her Lightning Empress Armor. Wind and fire surrounded Yukino from the two Dragon Slayers.
But before the charge could be had, before anyone could move, something fell from the sky.
A star, careening down and landing in a perfectly formed magic circle that burned into the ground, and came with it a lone figure, rising among the smoke and dust kicking up all over.
"Glad I could make it in time. Hope you don't mind me joining in, Erza."
Jellal swept his cloak aside. Minerva's face that'd twisted in its confidence dropped. She amped her magic.
Yukino grinned.
Erza raised her sword. "For Ishgar!"
And the rebels launched at the stunned Imperials with all the might of a hope once more kindled to a brilliant dawn against the twilight.