Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 0.6 - Tears Pt. 2

Borwatt Town was once ruled by a meager yet ultimately authoritarian Mayor, who liked to keep all of the citizens firmly within his iron fist.

Thankfully, Jellal had come around to help the people of Borwatt Town out. Just not the Mayor, who refused to leave.

He watched as the people fled as fast as they could from the town, thanks to his advice. They were led by a small group of lightning wizards that'd been held prisoner within the depths of the town for some sort of experiment the Mayor wished to run. But they were not fleeing from him.

They were fleeing from the woman approaching at the edge of town, who was exerting an incredible amount of magic pressure. It had to be a member of the Spriggan Twelve, which meant there was no way he was going to abandon them to this wizard's wrath.

The town, thankfully, was small. They'd find a new home somewhere in the mountains, a temporary one. Borwatt had recently seen a surge in magical activity, no doubt inspiring this Spriggan Shield to stroll on down and see what was going on.

Jellal was thankful it wasn't Zeref, who seemed oddly interested in attacking high-level guilds, finding wizards that even he, Ultear, and Meredy had their eye on.

He hoped Ultear was doing well. They hadn't spoken in a few weeks—not because they were arguing, but because they were just so busy. Meredy was suffering for it. She needed Ultear, still, as a mentor and a friend. Jellal was always on the move, never in a place for the Empire to be able to get their hands on him.

He lowered into his stance. That changed now, as he had to face this threat.

The wizard approached, hoisting a long staff with a flowing cape and a ridiculous hat on her head. Red hair, a similar color to what Jellal yearned to see again, tumbled down her shoulders. He maintained his poise, charging his magic.

The wizard stopped well short of him. She raised her chin to sneer at him, and his stomach dropped. The resemblance was...

"Impossible," he muttered.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, young man," the scarlet-haired woman said. "Have we met?"

No, no, it couldn't be her. Erza was gone, sunk into the sea. And besides, she didn't have power like this. Erza was a knight who used magic; this was an honest-to-goodness wizard. Someone who wielded magic and knew all of its ins and outs.

Jellal faltered just a bit. His magic didn't escape but slipped away from him. He struggled to recoup. Why did they look so alike?

"Noble of you to stand in our way," she said. "What we want is the town, not the people. But then, you're here. Jellal Fernandes, our second-most-wanted criminal. Shame I couldn't find your partner."

He regained his focus. She was after Ultear, like the rest of them.

"Think you'll coax Ultear's location out of me?"

The woman lowered her staff, aiming it at him. "I won't coax anything from you. I'll pry that information out of your skull if I have to. Anything less will disappoint my Emperor."

"Shame, then," Jellal said. "Zeref's on such a good streak, too."

"Your humor isn't going to do you any favors," she said. "Go on and give me your best shot. I'm curious what a former Wizard Saint is capable of."

He had his spell at the ready, but...

Damn it. He had to ask.

"Before we get started," Jellal said. "I have a question."

"No," the woman said, and vanished.

A second later, she was in front of him, a green swirl of magic in her palm that Jellal had to redirect all of his magic toward just to block. He spun away from the cloud of smoke as she blew through it.