139They had been fighting, then and there. Various enemies from the dark guild dropped nearly dead on the floor, defeated through combined power of two cloaked figures.
Both of them, especially the cloaked figure with pink hair, Meredy, was prepared for it; this was the purpose of their guild, Crime Sorciére, after all.
However, no amount of preparation could allow her to handle the situation she was currently facing.
While they managed to overthrow all the members of the dark guild they faced, this one obstacle, which neither did not expect, remained.
As she stood from the ground, she faced with widened eyes the scenery before her: Jellal was within large barrier, created seemingly by the gigantic, black gate behind him.
Jellal was trapped.
Abruptly, she cried, "Maguilty Rays!" causing several yellow blades to fly towards the barrier. White smoke formed from the spots struck by the rays, but not a scratch was produced from the impact.
"Maguilty Sodom!" Out came various short, teal blades which hit the barrier once more. However, the efforts were still futile.
Meredy was panicking. She continued her attempts to break it, from casting more of her rays to even throwing a rock at it. Still, none were effective. The barrier was really sturdy.
Desperate, she hastily approached the fallen enemies in an attempt to find a clue to deactivate the barrier. Badly beaten, they found it hard to utter clear words, yet the bottom line was: none of them knew.
She approached the barrier, towards her blue-haired guild mate's spot. She needed to get him out of there.
Jellal on the other hand found the scene ironic. If he was in no serious situation, he would have laughed. He was once again isolated, trapped within a cell, only it wasn't the steel walls embedded with lacrima. Seeing his guild mate, he approached Meredy as well.
"Jellal, don't worry! I'll find something!" she said, faking an optimistic tone. Her face displayed a toothy grin, but the corners of her lips were trembling. When they broke Jellal out of prison, it was mostly Ultear's doing, but now that she was gone…
"Meredy, listen," Jellal finally spoke, facing the pink-haired girl, "get out of here quickly."
He lifted his hand forward until it was stopped by the solid, translucent screen, effectively separating the two of them. He scoured his hand through the barrier and sensed it; no simple magic would allow him to break through it. He looked at the gate looming meters behind him. The majestic gate was opened; in it appeared a dimension towards the unknown, which appeared to be black nothingness. He sensed it would only take a few minutes before the magic on the gate would start taking effect. And he knew it wasn't good.
"No, Jellal! I'm not leaving without you!" she screamed back, tears forming around the corner of her eyes. She clenched her fists tightly, fingers digging onto her palms, and started striking them on the barrier. "W-we'll find something! I'm s-sure there's some way to break this…"
He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Meredy, no. Run away."
Meredy thought he was being ridiculous. She quickly turned her head away from him and ceased hitting the barrier. "No, Jellal! You're the only one I have now!"
All of the sudden, a pink glow emitted from her wrist, and then, a similarly hued projectile from above hit Jellal's own. Tears started streaming down her face.
"If this is what it takes, no matter what happens to you, I want it to happen to me as well!"
Looking at the pink seal on his hand, Jellal clicked his tongue. It was Sensory Link.
"Meredy, you…"
"Please, Jellal… I don't want… to be alone again…" she whispered, wiping her face with her sealed hand.
Jellal's eyes then widened, and he shifted his eyes from his sealed wrist to the barrier above.
"Wait, how could it pass through-? Could it be?" He glanced at the person in front of him, who still was not showing any intention of going away. Then, he felt a strong force slowly absorbing him from behind and at the same time, he could feel it absorbing his magical power. He turned his head back to the gate. "Shit, it's starting... There's no time left…"
Meredy sensed it too, feeling an unknown force pulling herself and her magical power. Unlike Jellal, however, she was behind the barrier and would be able to escape easily.
"Meredy," Jellal said, as he lifted his hand once more, touching the surface of the barrier, "remember what Ultear said?"
Upon the mention of that name, Meredy's figure flinched.
"'Carry on my spirit,"' he said, recalling the final words of the letter addressed to them.
"'And continue to fight,'" she finished. She momentarily recalled the old lady that sent them the letter; the memory left her quietly sobbing once more.
He nodded, as a thin smile formed on his lips. Just then, the surge of the force became stronger; Jellal took one step back and shifted his weight.
Snapping back from the flashback of her memories, Meredy felt alarmed with his action. Again, she hit the barrier with her palms. "But Jellal, what about you..?"
"Don't worry about me. I'll…find something. But I can't risk you getting hurt, so you should go." He took another step backwards. "Go to Fairy Tail. Tell them what we discovered here. They'll be able to help you in getting to the root of this, I know it."
Tears began dwelling once more on her eyes. "But…"
"Release Sensory Link, and go," he said, attempting to have a stern tone. However, tears also began flowing from his face due to their connected emotions.
He cursed inwardly. He felt her fear, the possibility of being alone. He was well-aware of Meredy's past- the tragedy that befell on her before Ultear took her in. Her fear was overpowering his emotions, which was filled with his self-doubt at that moment. He cursed again; he had to fight her emotions.
He had to be stronger.
He thought of Erza.
Erza, who didn't give up on him despite all the things that he had done.
Erza, who served as his inspiration to stand up and fight once more.
Erza, his light.
He roughly wiped his tears and faced her again. The force became stronger twofold, their capes now wildly flapping towards the direction of the gate. "I SAID, GO, NOW!"
Hearing the shift in Jellal's voice, Meredy snapped back to her senses and noticed the serious expression on his face. Because of Sensory Link, she felt it too; there resided a tinge of newly-found strong will. She wiped her tears as well.
He closed his eyes, clenching his fists. "Continue to fight, Meredy. Do it for me, for Ultear," he paused, and then opening his eyes, "for Crime Sorciére."
She looked at him and saw the unwavering glint in his brown eyes. Finally, she nodded and started running away. For one last time, she turned her head back. Seeing he was still standing with strong will, she finally released her spell, causing the seals from their wrists to disappear.
With the shared emotions, she sensed his doubts, but she also felt his determination, growing stronger by the moment. She faced forward and forced herself to run faster, farther away from the gate. "Be safe, Jellal…"
By the time her Sensory Link had dispersed, he watched her retreating form. Sighing in relief, he smiled faintly. While he did find the determination to fight his current obstacle, truthfully, he was unsure of the outcomes. "Farewell, Meredy, and forgive me, because we may not see each other again…"
Jellal faced the gate; the force was getting more resilient by the second. For one last time, he looked back at the spot where Meredy was fleeing, making sure that she was already beyond the reach of the spell he was about to cast. As he felt the force absorbing more of his power, he realized that it could not wait any longer. He closed his eyes, and briefly, an image of a smiling scarlet-haired woman flashed on his mind. "Erza, thank you, and I'm sorry too…and farewell."
Immediately, he bowed down and pointed his hands downwards. Slowly, he began to motion his right arm until it pointed upwards, which then caused the formation of dark, circling clouds above the area. At the same time, the force pulling him became intensely stronger, which was already starting to pull Jellal from his spot. Not wasting his time and intending to strike the gate immediately from above, he casted: "True Heavenly Body Magic: Sema!"
Then, a large, dark explosion erupted from the area. Meredy, who was still running away, felt an immense wave of gust behind her which caused her to trip and be pushed roughly towards the ground. Fatigue and emotional stress taking over her, she was unable to lift herself and remained prone, her eyelids becoming heavier. Trembling, she weakly clutched the dirt on her palms.
"Jellal… Ultear…"
And she lost consciousness.
As the heavy smoke cleared from the spot of the explosion, the dark gate was no longer found, and so was Jellal.
A/N: Hi there! This idea just came to my mind one night, and I know Lyon/Meredy isn't a very popular pairing. But I just had to get this off my head, haha. I'll be doing introductory chapters first, but they'll be able to meet around the third chapter. This story takes place after the Grand Magic Games arc, by the way.
Reviews are highly appreciated! :3
Edit 02/21/15: I rewrote this chapter so it's less wordy and easier to read!