Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 67 - Return to Earth Land

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 are 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."