Erza POV
Much to our surprise, and relief, no one came barging in for the rest of the day. It wasn’t till several hours later that Mira returned with four servants each lugging a large trunk. They each set the trunks down on the edge of the room and left, never looking in our direction. Mira stood there grinning as she began to open the trunks. “Gifts, for you and your sisters.”
Lucy and Levy, who had been braiding our hair out of boredom, stopped and leaned over to see what it could possibly be. Mira flipped the brass latch on the first two trunks and opened it. She pulled from the first one a magnificent orange gown, embroidered with what looked like a silver thread. From the next trunk, she pulled out a majestic pink gown that was embroidered with gold thread. “For you, Miss Levy and Miss Lucy,” she said, dragging it across her arms and carrying it across the room.
“Oh, my word,” I breathed as I stared at it in awe. It was amazing. And it was literally their favorite colors. “With your hair… my goodness.” Juvia’s eyes sparkled, imagining them in the dresses.
“No one will be able to keep their eyes off of you.” I finished, mirroring her expression. Both Lucy and Levy were practically drooling as they ogled the dresses like little girls.
“I can’t argue with that, but they’ll have firm competitors in their sisters,” Mira said, going to the third and fourth trunks. From them, she pulled a ruby red silk gown, this one embedded with tiny rubies all across the bodice and the hem of the dress. Juvia gasped when she opened the last trunk and saw a blue dress that literally looked like flowing water that started light at the top then darkened as it neared the floor and was embroidered at the bodice and hem with- are those DIAMONDS?!
I gaped at her. “I can’t wear such a thing. It is way too beautiful.”
Juvia, Levy, and Lucy nodded frantically in agreement.
“It is only fitting for them to honor you so,” Mira said with a dismissive snort, “If not for you four, Phantom Lord would have never been destroyed.”
“But Juvia’s wound,” Juvia said, pouting, “She’ll never be able to wear that gown.”
“Nonsense,” Mira said. “ Gray has seen to every detail. He had the seamstresses cut it a couple of inches wider so that there will be plenty of room to bind your wound so it won’t chafe.”
Juvia stayed in shocked silence, her mouth hanging open at the announcement that Gray had been the one to order the dress for her.
I looked her in the eye. “This is a gift from Gray?”
“Juvia’s dress? Yes,” Mira said, smiling at me quizzically as if to say ‘Who else?’ “Your dress was from Jellal.”
I joined Juvia in her shocked expression.
Lucy and Levy turned to Mira. “Are our gowns from Jellal and Gray as well?”
“Actually, I think that was more of Natsu and Gajeel's doing,” she said with a tap to her chin and with that, she went out the door, closing it softly behind her. The silence stretched on before Lucy spoke up.
“Okay, I so wanna wear that gown.”
Levy immediately jumped a little on the bed, “Ha! I knew I wasn’t the only one! I’ve never seen anything so pretty. It’s like something out of a dream.” She went over to it, lifted it into her hands, and then draped it across her body.
I smiled and shook my head. “You’ll both look amazing in those.”
“You and Juvia be gorgeous in yours, too.”
Juvia looked giddy with excitement. I looked at my own and then back to her, hope lifting my heart. We don’t have to go. Yet. “So…we’ll try to get to the tomb after the feast?”
They didn’t answer me for a moment.
“What’s one or two more days?” Lucy finally said, cracking a smile. “We don’t have to stay for the entire feast, right? And Juvia still needs a few more days to heal. Gildarts would freak if he saw those sinew stitches.”
Levy didn’t seem to disagree and Juvia squealed in excitement, begging us to show her the dress again. A knocked at the door interrupts our little dress up party
Lucy walks to the door and opens it a crack, Juvia whispers, “Who is it?”
“Simon,” she responds, opening the door a bit wider so we can see him at the doorway, leaning heavily on the arm of his servant.
“Simon,” I scolded while getting up to help him to a chair. “You shouldn’t have gone through the trouble of climbing all the way up here.”
His eyes, beneath concerned brows, he grinned and said: “I thought I’d come to save you from boredom and read you a book.”
This immediately got Levy’s attention. “Yes, please!”
Her eagerness made Simon laugh. “You must be Levy, your sisters have told me about you. You are quite smaller than I imagined though.”
Levy pouted at that.
“Juvia is so happy, you seem better than last time we saw you,” Juvia said.
He gave her a rueful smile. “I bear no wound of battle like you, just the ones I bear in my lungs.”
Juvia reached out and put a hand on his arm. “It is enough.”
He patted her hand and looked at all of us fondly. “You all have done so much for me, for Fairy Tail, for the town. We are eternally grateful to all of you.”
I smiled. “We only did what we could. Although honestly, we were mostly fighting to get Lucy and Levy free more than anything. ”
He raised the golden volume. “Shall we?”
We nodded and Juvia scooted over on the bed so Lucy, Levy, and I could all snuggle beside her, careful not to touch her wound. Simon sat at the foot of the bed and began to read. His voice was surprisingly strong, but he still paused often to catch his breath. About thirty minutes to the reading Levy jumped a bit, startling us since we were just a few pages from conking out.
“Please. Read that last line again.” She almost yelled while shaking Lucy and me.
“ 'To get back up to the shining world from there,’ ” Simon read again, “ 'They must go into that hidden tunnel; Where they will come forth, and once more see the stars.’ ” He lowered the book as we looked at each other with startled eyes. “What caught your attention?” He asked with a frown.
“May...May I see the cover of that book?” Lucy asked. Simon closed the book and turned it so we could see the old, worn hardback cover. It was so old that if you hadn’t seen the image before it would just look like a blob of dark patches. But we had seen the image before. It was four handprints, exactly like in the tombs.
“Who wrote this Simon?” Levy pressed, trying to hide just how visibly shaken she was.
“I don’t know, it was given to my late aunt from an old friend of hers. She cherished it greatly.” Simon stroked the worn cover of the book gently. “Oddly enough, she kept it in a wooden box hidden in the library, but my cousins followed her one day and saw where she hid it. My cousins have already read it but I’ve never read it until now, it's quite a remarkable story.”
“This friend,” I continued. “Are they still alive?”
Simon gave us a sad smile, “Unfortunately, she disappeared many months before my aunt's death.” He gave us a confused look. “Why the sudden interest?”
“Oh, umm, just curious if the author was one I had heard of in Bellum.” Levy stuttered. He didn’t seem all too convinced but he let the matter drop. He left about an hour later, leaving us more confused than ever before.
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Levy and Lucy insisted that I get some rest and they would take turns watching over Juvia at night. I had little strength to argue with so I let them have their way this time. Imagine my surprise when I wake up the next morning and find Jellal seated right beside my bed, staring down at me with such a soft expression that I panic and bolt upright and put as much distance between us as possible.
“Erza-”
“I’m sorry!” I repeated over and over again. “I’m sorry I lied! I’m sorry I almost got you and our brothers killed! I’m sorry that I’m one of the vile creatures that are responsible for your mothe-”
Jellal silenced me by reaching over and sealing his lips over mine. I made a surprised gasping noise and Jellal took that opportunity to deepen the kiss for a moment. Two seconds before I pass out- from shock or lack of air, whichever came first- he pulls away and gathers me in his arms. “You are nothing like the monster that killed my mother.” He said strongly.
“B-but-”
“Listen to me, Erza.” He said, absentmindedly stroking my hair. “The witch that killed my mother inherited dark magic. For as long as magic has existed in women, it has always been dark magic. But you,” He gently pushed me away and held me at arm’s length and stared at me with an intense look in his eye. “Your magic is unheard of, and it most definitely is not dark magic. You used your magic to protect your sisters and to protect us. I’ll admit, I did doubt you for a minute when I recognized the spell you had cast.” He gave me a guilty look. “But when you formed the protection field around us I lost all doubts. You are not a witch. You are a wizard, like me. The first female wizard.”
A wizard….
“I apologize for not visiting you sooner, Erza.” He drew me back into his arms and began to stroke my hair again and I was so relieved that he didn’t hate me that I let him. “I constantly thought of you, but there is so much to do with the feast happening so soon. My father wasn’t prepared for such a task so our days”- I assumed he was talking about him and his brothers- “have been spent with cooks, bakers, vintners, falconers, and dignitaries, all swirling in plans for the grand meals and festivities over the next days.”
I nodded, but I lifted my eyes to meet his. “‘Is all of this really necessary? Couldn’t Fairy Tail have this party in town?”
He smiled and shook his head. “This is a great deal to Fairy Tail, where better to celebrate it than here.”
He had me there. “Jellal, what happened to Jose?”
“He was captured by the town knights and is currently waiting to be transported to the Grand Council for judgment.” His eyes flicked away, to the window. “Given his actions, they won’t give him a light punishment.”
I nodded, silently mulling over that information. I’ll admit, I was a bit disappointed to hear he was still alive. A man like that could quickly gather a mini army and raise havoc against Fairy Tail. Not that I thought Fairy Tail could lose to him, but he could take innocent lives down with him. Also, if he was still alive that meant Juvia, Levy, Lucy and I were still in danger.
“Erza, we must speak of something else.”
My eyes moved to his.
“Carmen and Ava are arriving tomorrow. With their families.”
I studied him, waiting. Knowing I should tell him the truth, tell him I was on my way out and that it couldn’t work between the two of us.
“I’ll break our pledge, make it clear to both Carmen and her father that no union will be formed between our families.”
I frowned, even though my heart pounded with hope. It was not good for Jellal to end his plans with Carmen. She wouldn’t go down without a fight; she’d try to bring me down with her. She definitely had a ‘If I can’t have him, neither can you.’ vibe. We’d all suffer her wrath and her father’s wrath.
Jellal was feeling strong, invincible even, with the capture of Phantom Lord, their main threat. But didn’t Fairy Tail need every protection possible? I mean, they were on the border, if someone else was to attack, Fairy Tail needed to know they could rely on reinforcements from a family as powerful as Carmen’s.
Jellal was studying me. “Erza, do you doubt me? Doubt my feelings for you?” He leaned down and placed his forehead on mine, stroking my cheek as he stared into my eyes with such love, it set my heart pounding. “‘It’s not simply what I owe you as a man loyal to Fairy Tail, it’s what I owe you as a man. Erza,” he said, looking intensely into my eyes, “You own my heart. My life, and all I have in it. You have captured me, like no one else. My hours are spent absorbed in thoughts of you, dreams of you. I can’t imagine a life without you in it. Might I dare believe that you would leave Bellum for good? To remain here in Fairy Tail, with me?”
A/N: MAYDAY MAYDAY!!! ELLY HAS COLLAPSED FROM FANGIRLING!!!! CALL THE FANBULANCE!!!! I KID YOU NOT I WOKE UP PASSED OUT ON THE GROUND FROM THIS SCENE.
My heart pounded so hard I swear it was gonna break my ribs. For a moment I was filled with excitement and happiness but then my mind started working. Would his father approve of this? When there was not a single thing to gain from it? Unlikely. The only thing we had going for us was that his father seemed pretty out of it since Simons asthma attack- I doubt he’s even fully absorbed the victory over Phantom Lord- but if he comes to his senses, this news of Jellal breaking his marriage to Carmen to pursue me would truly send him over the edge.
“I don’t know, Jellal,” I said, pulling back a little. Stick to the truth, Erza. “I can’t deny that there is something here, between us.” I looked at him for a long moment. “But both your family looks to you and your brothers to sustain them into the future. They rely on you. Promises between us cannot yet be made.”
He frowned and looked at me as if he had not heard me right. “Are you saying… Erza, are you saying that you don’t want me to break my pledge to Carmen?”
It took me a long time, but I finally found the words to say it. “Honestly, no. I want you to break your pledge, but I cannot ask it of you. You and your brothers are a future of Fairy Tail and I do not know where my sisters and I belong, here or Bellum.”
“Here,” he said, squeezing my hands, “you belong here.”
I shook my head miserably. “I don’t know that. I wish I did. But I don’t. We have so many things tying us to Bellum, it’s all so different here in ways I can’t even explain.”
The sad look that settled in his eyes made my heart wrench painfully in my chest. “How can I prove it to you that you belong here?”
“It’s not up to you, Jellal,” I said, reaching up to cradle his cheek this time. “I understand your feelings for me, I have them too, but I need to know if what we are doing is right or not. I need more time.”
“We have no more time,” he said in desperation. “She arrives tomorrow.”
“Then you must carry on as before,” I said. “For the sake of your family, for the sake of Fairy Tail.” I shook my head. “I can’t break such a union. Not yet.”
“Not yet?” he asked, broken hopefulness in his voice.
“Not yet,” I said.
🍜🍚🍘🍙🍥🍣🍱🍤🍛🍝🍖🍗🍟🍔
...Soooo...
Yeah, it's out birthday again! Thank you to everyone who is still reading this story and still waiting for the next chapter of my other story XDXD We are hard at work do not worry! It will not discontinue my stories!
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