Dawn of Adventure {Book One of The Paths We've Traveled}

Chapter Forty-Five: Square Up

Jellal walked through the empty countryside, nothing but his thoughts and his footsteps on the dusty path to keep him company. His bag hung heavy against his back, stuffed to the brim with a few pairs of clothes, his now unneeded jacket, a communication lacrima at Meredy's behest, snacks he knew the pink haired wizard snuck into his bag when he wasn't looking, a letter entrusted to him by Meredy's best friend, and most likely a bunch of other random things his guildmates threw in there.

He rolled his shoulders, raising his gaze from the empty road to lock on the far away horizon partially hidden by a distant grove of trees. "Utterly unattainable," he sighed, feeling the need to speak aloud after spending the past day and a half by himself.

Once he arrived at the train station, he was able to figure out which train Erza and her team had taken. And then at the next town, he figured out where they had gone next. At least, he hoped he did. He just took what he knew about Erza and Natsu, paired it with his limited knowledge of the others, and determined their most likely course of action. But since he had only spent a small amount of time with Erza overall in the past twenty years... he was worried he didn't know her as well as he thought.

No trains came this way, so he was stuck walking. Not that he minded it. Sometimes he missed the days when it was just him, Meredy, and Ultear in Crime Sorciere, when there was occasional peace and quiet. Of course, he enjoyed the change all of the new members brought. But he couldn't remember the last time he'd been completely alone since they'd joined the ranks of the guild. His guild, he supposed. Although Meredy was pretty much his co-guildmaster at this point. Maybe he'd let her take over completely when he returned. Then he'd have more time to do whatever he wished. Even if he wasn't quite sure what that was yet.

Jellal desperately hoped he would be able to find the seven Fairy Tail members quickly. He hated being so far away from Fiore; there was always danger stirring, and he didn't like the idea of leaving the action to his friends and fellow wizards when he was more than capable of helping them himself. And everyone was worried about this team. He owed it to them to find Erza's team as soon as possible.

But the odds stacked so high against him. He was searching for five people and two cats in an enormous country. And there was no guarantee that they would remain in Coracre. For all he knew, Lucy's search for the Zodiac key may have brought them to the far reaches of the continent. How was he, a single man, supposed to find their group out of the hundreds of thousands of people on this continent? He really was digging up the dregs from his drained cup of luck.

He sighed again, shoving his hands into his pockets and tightening his fists. Magic swirled beneath his veins and through his limbs, begging to be used after a month and a half of nothing. His last spell had been cast while breaking up a fight between Sawyer and Erik (he suspected that Erik let him break up the brawl since the Poison Dragon Slayer had to have seen the attack coming). But he'd had no need for magic, not once he boarded the boat in Hargeon. His body hummed with energy, pointless energy that had nowhere to go except burn through his skin and into the air around him. He supposed he could cast a simple spell to dispose of all the excess magic power, but he quickly discarded that idea. Who knew who might be watching him or might be nearby, and he had no idea when he might need to be at his strongest. No, far better to suffer with the slightly trembling limbs and inability to sit still than to be caught off guard.

It was wise Jellal was so paranoid. Or, perhaps just prepared. Whatever the case, his vigilance meant that noticed the instant the group came into view once he entered the grove of ancient trees. He continued to walk, not letting on that he knew something was amiss. But he loosened the straps of his bag, preparing for whatever was to come.

He lowered his head, the new position allowing him to look around without alerting the strangers that his gaze wandered. Figures moved amongst the trees, but they cloaked themselves in shadows, either through skill or luck, and he was unable to estimate the number of opponents he faced. He tried to move with ease and give off an air of unbothered arrogance that Erik constantly exuded, yet he didn't think he pulled it off quite right. He hoped his bag hid the tension in his shoulders well enough.