Chapter 34: And Let Hope Reignite For All 1/2

Getting a grip on the coursework stuff and even managed to replenish my chapter stockpile. It was all good, and then I saw SOPA. We've got to stop it. There is also something similar alongside it called TPP. I thought it would be worth letting you all know but didn't want to release an AN without a chapter with it. That is just annoying when that happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did

Protector Of The Fairies

And Let Hope Reignite For All

Brain stumbled through the trees, rushing away from the cave that had been his base. He couldn't afford to stay there anymore. It had provided suitable cover at the time but the Light Mages were regrouping to some degree, and now Jellal had turned against him.

He could understand Jellal stealing the girl. She was extremely valuable after all. He wasn't concerned about losing her too much, but what would Jellal do next? If he left then it wasn't that bad, but if Jellal didn't leave then there would be problems. That man knew where Nirvana was after all.

Could Jellal be after Nirvana for himself? If that was the case then there would be conflict. Nirvana belonged to him, not Jellal. He refused to give it up to anyone.

Scenarios ran though his mind, questioning events one after the other. Brain knew he was arrogant, it was something of a fact to him, but he was never stupid. That was for lesser minds. Angel, Hoteye, and now Racer. Three down, and three left. If they all fell, there was still a chance. There was still that man after all, but it wouldn't be a good idea to rely on him.

At the very least, those still standing were the strongest. Cobra wouldn't lose to just anyone, and he was sure that Cobra would at least take down the opponent with him if they were strong enough to beat him. As for Midnight, well let's just say that he believed that you would have to be a fool to fight him. Even he recognised that Midnight rivalled himself in strength.

There was no point panicking. He had a plan. Some things had changed from the original plan but they had always been variables in the first place. The main requirements had been cleared and only one thing was left.

A hand lifted up slightly and a small screen appeared in front of him, little light being emitted from it so he couldn't be detected. He smirked as he saw the attempts the other Archive User had been taking to break through his shielding before typing a few commands, setting the Mage back to his original start position. Another button quickly activated a communication link, allowing him to access where Cobra was.

"I hear you," said Cobra. The man always was listening to everything, and Brain knew it. It was hard to hide things from the Dragon Slayer after all.

"Have you found it?"

"I heard the Jellal thing didn't work out."

"Cobra!"

"Hey, I'm just saying. If he has the girl, do you want me to do that thing for you?"

Brain thought for a moment, realising what Cobra was referring to. "No, I still believe that things will play out in our favour. Do you not remember what that man said? He has been right so far. I feel like we should trust his words a bit longer for now."

Cobra sighed. "Can we even trust the man? I read his thoughts for a second before he realised and then nothing. I don't know how but he stopped me from hearing anything else."

"I did warn you that he was dangerous. Just be thankful that he was there to help us. As for trust, well you have to take some things with a grain of salt. So far everything has played out okay for us but we still have to be cautious. That man could also be after Nirvana and just lacked an opportunity to get it."

"It's too late if that's the case." Brain could practically see Cobra smirking from his words. "I found it."

Brain's eyes widened before speaking urgently. "WHERE? Where is it? Did anyone follow you? Are you-"

"Relax already. I'm there now. And there isn't anyone-"

Brain looked at the Archive screen in confusion. "Cobra?"

"Sorry, I was wrong. There is someone getting closer. I think I'm being tracked by that Shinigami that turned up after Ichigo did."

"Deal with him."

Another pause happened while Brain waited for Cobra to finally speak. "It may be troublesome to fight where I am right now. This guy is angry, that's for sure, but he could easily get the advantage in such an enclosed area."

"Where are you? I'll come to you now."

"No need," said Cobra confidently. "I've got a present for you. Look up at the sky."

Brain looked up, confused at what Cobra meant. And then he smiled as a pillar of black light shot out from the ground. "Nirvana…" Brain chuckled. "You shouldn't have."

Protector Of The Fairies

"They aren't there," said Hibiki suddenly, Jura glancing up at the blonde haired Mage.

"Who isn't?"

"Oración Seis. Erza says she found where they were and where Wendy should have been. No one is there."

Jura frowned. "That is indeed troubling. Why would they leave their base undefended or even abandoned? I can understand that it is only a temporary one but it should have still been necessary to some degree."

"I agree. Something has made them leave, and Erza can't work out if it is good or bad."

A quick glance at Ichigo and Natsu brought up Jura's next question. "What about Wendy?"

Hibiki shook his head sadly, Jura realising the answer from that simple answer. "No sign of her. There was a coffin of some kind but too big for her."

"You don't think…"

"No," said Hibiki, hearing the sign of relief that escaped Jura's lips. "Why kill her and then have to carry her body around as dead weight? No if she was dead then she would have been left there. Her value is in her skill after all and killing her takes away all her value to them."

Jura stood up, grabbing his staff from beside him. "Locate her again. I'm heading out."

"Already on it." Jura heard the sound of tapping before it suddenly stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?"

"We aren't alone."

A golden light shot down to the ground beside them, Jura not waiting to take any chances. They knew no one with Magic like that which meant this had to be an enemy. His fist extended towards the intruder and the earth around him obeyed, spears of earth bursting out of the ground and propelling towards the intruder.

"WAIT!"

The spears stopped mere millimetres away from the intruder, Jura's eyes wide from who he would have almost killed. He recognised that voice.

Light vanished from the intruder, revealing the person they had believed to be one to actually be two. Wendy was one of them, and he was glad she had called out to them when she had done. A second late and... It would have been horrific. He definitely didn't want the death of such a sweet innocent girl on his conscience.

The other person was another matter. He recognised that face. Blue hair, a red tattoo around the right eye, there was no doubt. The man who had caused the Tower of Heaven incident and had been the cause of the previous Magic Council disbanding, a previous member of that same Council and a Wizard Saint on top of that, and the greatest enemy of the new Magic Council that currently existed. Jellal Fernandes.

The man certainly looked the same he had done when he had last seen him. Except there were some differences from what he could see and sense. The immense power the man had still was there, if weakened from something but that looked only temporary, but the arrogance the man had was gone.

He remembered how Jellal had acted, back when he had been known to all of them as Siegrain. How they could have been fooled so long was hard to believe but the man had been a good actor, pretending he had been Jellal's brother. And in reality he had been nothing more than an extremely powerful Thought Projection.

But even as Siegrain, the man had always had an arrogant aura around him, something that had subtly been saying that he was stronger and he both knew it and wanted to mock you because of it. But right now, that aura was gone. If anything he felt nothing from Jellal, as if the man wasn't sure of how he was suppose to be. Not even confusion.

Well that wasn't entirely true. The man looked fairly awkward at the stares he was getting from him and Hibiki, and seemed to also be slightly afraid of the spears extremely close to him.

Was this really Jellal? The man seemed so different. What the hell was up with him?

Before he could decide to do anything about the man, Wendy stepped forward, her arms spread out in front of herself in defiance. From her position it looked she was defending Jellal, but why? Why was she trying to protect this monster?

"Please wait," Wendy begged, taking a step forward towards them. She reached back and grabbed hold of Jellal's hand, slowly dragging him forward. Jura resisted the urge to attack with the earth, despite knowing that he would never get a better opportunity. He slowly let the earth collapse back down to the ground when Jellal cleared the last of the spears, conserving his Magic for if a fight broke out.

"Wendy," he said slowly, the girl looking at him in worry. "Would you explain to me what you are doing with that man?"

"Um… Oración Seis… They found him and… Well I couldn't just leave him as he was. He was hurt and… I couldn't stop myself. I wasn't sure of myself."

"Why would you heal this man?"

Wendy looked away. "I originally thought he was someone else."

"I see." Jura took a step forward. "I assume you know who he truly is now?"

Wendy shook her head. "I thought he was my Jellal, but I got the wrong person. That or he doesn't remember me, but I'm pretty sure I found the wrong person."

"Then step away from him. That man is a wanted criminal, and as such cannot be trusted."

A look of horror appeared on Wendy's face but she wasn't the only one to show that expression. Jellal's eyes went wide and he stepped forward cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

Jura glanced at Jellal in anger. "Don't pretend to not know what I am talking about. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you don't remember the atrocities you commit, the lives you ruined?"

Jellal stepped back, slowly raising a hand to look at in shock. He remembered the feeling he had felt before when he had fought Racer. He had been prepared to kill the man on instinct. The idea of pity had never crossed his mind till Wendy had stopped him. Was this what he was? Was he really just a monster?

"We can trust him." Everyone snapped towards Hibiki, Jura the most confused of the lot.

"Hold on," he said, raising a hand for emphasis. "You can't be serious here. What makes you believe a man like this can be trusted?"

Hibiki gestured behind him. "I've contacted Sensei. He says we can trust him for now if he really brought Wendy here. I've also been watching him react to you. From his body language, I'd say he truly doesn't know anything." Hibiki turned his attention towards Wendy. "What condition was he in when you found him?"

"Um…" Wendy fidgeted under the stares slightly. "Brain said he had been bathed in Eternano, and he did have a lot of poisoning from it. He was kind of lucky that he hadn't absorbed much of it so I managed to bring him out of a coma."

"There's our answer," said Hibiki happily. "Maybe Jellal is a criminal, but right now this man can't be classified as the same Jellal. Eternano can cause extreme effects in large concentrations of exposure, meaning that there is a good chance that he had lost his memories. It certainly explains how he is acting compared to old reports on him."

Jura stepped forward till he was practically touching Jellal. He just stared at the man, Jellal fidgeting like Wendy had been. It felt like Jura was peering into the man's very soul, judging whether he was worthy or not.

Eventually, Jura backed off, nodding as if he had gotten an answer he had wanted. "Very well then. I don't like this, but I can work with you for now if you aren't the same man as before. At least till the situation with Oración Seis is over. At that point we'll work out just exactly what to do with you. Is this agreeable to you?"

Jellal nodded, a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I promise you that I don't mean you any harm."

"I'll be the judge of that." Jura turned his attention back to Wendy before crouching next to her. "I know you must have been scared somewhat, being captured and held hostage, and I wish I could offer you time to recover from that but I can't. If you met with Ichiya then he would have told you why you were sent straight to us." Jura's head dropped slightly, forming a light bow. "Please help them. Natsu and Ichigo."

Wendy looked around awkwardly, the bow she was receiving unnerving her. She wasn't use to this, especially not from such a respected and powerful individual.

So she did what she did best in stressful situations. She looked for something to occupy her mind, in this case quickly rushing to Natsu. Kneeling beside the Dragon Slayer, she got to work, her Magic springing to life.

She ignored the impressed stares she could feel behind her as she worked, a faint light blue aura appearing around her hands. She had heard Brain mutter to his guild about how rare Healing Magic at her level was when he thought she wasn't listening. It hadn't been that much of a surprise to her, especially since her mother, Grandeeney, had always explained the importance of learning the healing aspects of her Magic. She had said it was special and that it would come to help her later on.

And her Healing Spells were special. Healing herself was impossible but she could manipulate the air around to heal others, whether it was fixing injuries, removing fatigue, or even doing something simple like she was doing now like removing poison.

Well maybe she was oversimplifying it when she described it as being simple but it really was to her. The only tricky part came from the drain Healing Magic had on her. She hadn't had many people to treat before, and as such had always practiced on minor injuries on animals. Healing a normal person however required more Magic, and right now she didn't have the greatest reserves to heal person after person without a break. Healing Jellal had already taken a massive chunk out of her reserves due to the man's death like state, and it really was good that she only had to remove poison here.

The people around her waited patiently, not daring to interrupt her. It was kind of nerve racking, the silence overbearing. It had been different with Jellal as she had completely lost herself in her job, but something like poison meant that she just had to wait as her Magic expelled it. It didn't require too much focus, even if it did feel more difficult that usual, and hence the silence felt more awkward than it should have been. Was the poison so bad that it was making her use more Magic than usual? It felt like she was losing her grip on it to some degree, but some poisons truly did strange things.

Finally, as the last bit of poison left Natsu's system, the Magic around her vanished. She slowly stood up, swaying slightly from the sudden drain she felt from the Spell. "I've healed him."

"Really?" Jura and Hibiki crowded round her in shock, Hibiki quickly running a few scans to confirm her words. A massive smile appeared on his face as everything saw confirmed what Wendy had said. "That's incredible. You're amazing Wendy."

"Indeed Wendy. Such a feat is truly incredible."

She ignored the praise, walking over to where she was Ichigo. And then she stopped. She could feel it, she could see it, the very think that made her unique and let her heal people so effectively was actually distracting her here, stopping her from approaching properly.

It was hard for her to describe. She wanted to step forward but she couldn't move. Jura looked at her in confused and stepped towards her.

"Wendy?"

"You need me to heal him?"

"Yes." Jura frowned before remembering the words Brain had said when he had taken Wendy. He may have barely arrived at the time but he still heard the words spoken. Brain had said that he wondered if Wendy would actually heal Ichigo, and that she had been afraid of him. He prayed to everything he could think of that Brain was wrong. But he could see it in her eyes, the same thing he was sure Brain had seen. "You're afraid of him aren't you?"

Wendy took a step back from Ichigo, ripped her eyes away from him as if she couldn't bear to watch him any longer. "Yes."

"I see." Before anyone could stop him, Jura collapsed down to the ground, swallowing all pride he had to kneel before the small girl. His head was touched the ground and his staff was abandoned next to him. Hibiki had to restrain a gasp from seeing Jura lowering himself to such a position. This wasn't simply asking for a favour. Jura was practically begging before Wendy.

"Please," Jura begged. "I know you say you're afraid, but you are his only hope. I'll do anything you want so long as it exists within my power to do so. So please, heal him. Else it won't be the poison that will kill him."

"It'll be Magic," muttered Wendy, not aware that she shouldn't know that. She frowned as she suddenly noticed the shocked faces around her, Jura raising his head slightly from shock because of her words.

"You know?"

"Um… Yes."

"But you hadn't examined him yet."

Wendy looked away awkwardly. "I did."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hibiki curiously. He had no idea what Magic the girl used apart from that it caused her to be known as the Sky Sorceress. Did she have some way to determine injuries and ailments from a distance? Brain did say that she could see and hear the very movements of the air so perhaps that played a role in it.

"I… I can see things. They help tell me the state of someone."

Jura slowly rose to his feet, his eyebrows raised. His eyes though were dead serious. "You see things?"

"Hold on Jura," said Hibiki, moving next to the man. He lowered his voice before whispering, "Have some tact here. You can't say that out right. It may be a manifestation of her mind or something to represent what she senses from the air."

"I can hear you," muttered Wendy, both men looked embarrassed at her hearing them. "And they are real." Hibiki looked at her, not sure exactly what to say but opened his mouth anyway.

"Wendy-"

"THEY ARE REAL!"

Wendy's hands shot up to cover her mouth, embarrassed from her outburst. "I'm sorry. It's just… Well my mother said it's natural for someone like me to see them. She said it wasn't normal for most… That they wouldn't understand very well."