Chapter 63: The Dragon's Arrival
The light faded. The dust settled. And Erza, still holding Jellal in her arms, felt the truth crash over her like a wave of ice water.
"You tricked me," she whispered.
Jellal pulled back from her embrace, and the vulnerability that had been in his eyes moments before was gone. Replaced by something cold. Something triumphant.
"Of course I tricked you," he said. "Did you really think I would let Etherion destroy everything I've worked for?"
He rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his robes, and gestured at the tower around them. At the walls that should have been shattered but stood intact. At the ceiling that should have collapsed but held firm.
"This tower was never meant to be a simple structure, Erza. Its true form is something far more magnificent."
He placed his palm against the nearest wall, and the stone... shifted. It rippled like water, then solidified again, but different now. Transparent. Glowing.
Crystal.
"The entire tower is a giant Lacrima," Jellal said, his voice filled with wonder. "The largest ever created. For eight years, my slaves worked not to build a monument, but to construct a vessel capable of containing the most powerful magical energy in the world."
Erza's blood ran cold. "Etherion."
"Etherion." Jellal turned to face her, and his smile was radiant. "The council's attack was not a threat. It was a gift. They poured enough magical energy into my Lacrima to power the R-System a hundred times over. Thanks to them, thanks to their fear, thanks to their willingness to sacrifice innocents... I have succeeded."
The air behind him shimmered.
Erza watched, frozen in horror, as a figure materialized from the light. Tall. Blue hair. Cold eyes. The same face as the man before her.
Siegrain.
He stepped forward, and as he moved, his form seemed to dissolve, flowing into Jellal like water finding its level. The two figures merged, becoming one, and when the light faded, Jellal stood alone.
But different. Stronger. More complete.
"My powers have returned to me," Jellal said, flexing his hands, watching golden light dance across his fingers. "Separating myself into two bodies was necessary to manipulate the council, but it left me weakened. No longer."
Erza's sword was in her hand before she finished thinking about it. She lunged, blade aimed at his heart.
Jellal moved.
Not fast. Not desperate. Just... slightly. A fraction of an inch. Her blade passed through empty air, and before she could recover, he was behind her.
"So slow," he murmured. "So predictable."
She spun, attacking again. And again. And again. Each strike missed by less than a hair. Each miss brought her closer to exhaustion.
"Thanks to Ultear," Jellal said, dodging another blow, "my plans have finally been realized. She guided the council. She ensured the votes fell in my favor. She made all of this possible."
"Ultear?" Erza gasped, swinging wildly. "Who is Ultear?"
Jellal caught her wrist. His grip was iron.
"Someone you will never meet. Someone who has given me everything." He smiled, and it was terrible. "Including the final piece I needed to secure you."
He reached out with his free hand and touched her chest. Just above her heart.
A mark glowed there. Faint. Almost invisible. But present.
"A Bind Snake," Jellal explained. "I planted it on you when we embraced. Such a wonderful moment, wasn't it? So full of emotion. You never even noticed."
Erza tried to move. Couldn't. Her body was frozen, locked in place by the magic woven into her skin.
"The R-System requires a living sacrifice," Jellal continued, releasing her wrist now that she couldn't fight. "A body to be decomposed and recomposed into Zeref's new form. Your body, Erza. After all these years, after everything we've been through... you will finally give yourself to me."
He stepped closer. His hand cupped her face.
"I loved you, you know. In the beginning. Before the torture. Before the possession. Before Zeref's will became my own." His thumb traced her cheek. "That love made this possible. Your trust in me. Your hope that the boy you knew still existed somewhere inside this monster. It was all I needed to complete the final step."
He gestured, and behind him, the wall of the throne room dissolved. Beyond it, suspended in a vast chamber of crystal and light, the core of the R-System pulsed like a heartbeat. A massive sphere of swirling energy, waiting to receive its sacrifice.
"It's time, Erza. Time to fulfill your destiny."
The Bind Snake activated. Erza felt herself lifted, pulled toward that pulsing heart of magic, her body no longer her own.
'No,' she thought. 'No, this can't be happening. I can't... I can't let it end like this...'
The crystal chamber loomed before her. The energy reached out, hungry, eager.
And then a hand closed around her wrist.
"Sorry I'm late."
Natsu Dragneel stood at the edge of the crystal chamber, his feet planted, his grip unbreakable. He was covered in grime and blood and the evidence of a dozen battles. His scarf blowing in the wind. His vest was shredded. His eyes burned with a fire that made the R-System's glow seem dim.
He pulled.
Erza flew out of the Bind Snake's grip and crashed into his chest. He held her there, one arm around her waist, his warmth seeping into her frozen limbs.
"Took me forever to find you," he said, his voice light despite everything. "This tower is really badly designed. Who builds a place with no signs?"
"Natsu..." Erza's voice was barely a whisper. "You have to go. You have to leave. He's too strong. He has Etherion's power. He has..."
"He has a lot of things," Natsu interrupted. "But he doesn't have you. And he's not going to."
He looked down at her, and his grin was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"Besides, we need to get back to work. If we don't start taking jobs again, we're never going to have enough money to pay Lucy's rent on time. You know how she gets about rent."
Despite everything, despite the horror and the fear and the certainty of death, Erza felt her lips twitch toward a smile.
"I can't move," she said. "The Bind Snake. It's still..."
Natsu's grin widened. "Oh yeah?"
His fingers found her ribs. And tickled.
"NA... NATSU! STOP! THAT'S... THAT'S NOT... AHAHAHA!"
She couldn't help it. The laughter burst out of her, uncontrollable, helpless. The Bind Snake's hold shattered as her body convulsed with mirth, and suddenly she could move again, could breathe again, could feel again.
Natsu stopped tickling and helped her stand. For a moment, they just looked at each other.
Then Erza's face crumpled.
"Go," she whispered. "Please, Natsu. Go. Leave me here. Fight him and leave me behind. I can't... I can't watch you die for me. I can't lose you too."
Natsu's expression softened. He reached up and cupped her face, just as Jellal had done, but where Jellal's touch had been cold and claiming, Natsu's was warm. Steady. True.
"I'm not going to die," he said. "And neither are you."
"BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! HE HAS ETHERION'S POWER! HE HAS EIGHT YEARS OF PREPARATION! HE HAS..."
"I have you."
Erza's words died in her throat.
Natsu leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers.
"I have you, Erza. And that's all I need." His voice dropped, becoming something private, something just for her. "I need you to believe in me. Can you do that? Can you trust me?"
She looked into his eyes. Those green eyes that held fire and determination and something else. Something she had never allowed herself to name.
"I..." she started.
"You are min… Erza."
The words hung between them, simple and absolute. No poetry. No grand declaration. Just truth.
Erza's eyes filled with tears.
"Natsu, I... I..."
He kissed her.
It was deep and long and perfect. His lips moved against hers with a tenderness that seemed impossible from someone who had just fought through an entire tower of enemies. His hand cradled the back of her head, holding her close, and she melted into him, into this moment, into everything she had been too afraid to feel.
When they finally separated, they were both breathless.
"Tell me when this is over," Natsu said softly. "Tell me then."
Before she could respond, before she could argue or plead or say any of the thousand things crowding her heart, his hand moved. A gentle strike to a precise point on her neck.
Erza's eyes fluttered closed. She slumped against him, unconscious, peaceful.
Natsu held her for just a moment longer. Then he laid her gently on the floor, in the safest corner of the throne room, as far from the R-System as possible.
He stood.
He turned.
Jellal watched him from the center of the chamber, his expression curious, almost amused.
"That was quite a display," Jellal said. "Striking your own nakama when she couldn't even move. Did you enjoy that?"
Natsu walked toward him, his steps steady, his eyes never leaving Jellal's face.
"She wasn't herself," he said. "Fear does that. Makes people forget who they are. Makes them say things they don't mean."
"And you? Are you yourself?"
Natsu stopped ten feet from Jellal. Flames flickered to life around his fists.
"I'm exactly who I need to be."
Jellal tilted his head, studying him with new interest. "You intend to fight me. Knowing what I've become. Knowing the power I hold."
"I intend to beat you."
"Bold words from a Dragon Slayer facing a man who commands the very heavens."
Natsu's grin returned, sharp and fierce.
"She's my woman, Jellal. Mine. You hurt her. You used her. You made her cry." The flames around his fists intensified, turning from orange to white. "I'm going to make you pay for that."
Jellal's eyes widened slightly. Then he laughed, a genuine sound of delight.
"A woman, you say? Yours?" He spread his arms wide, welcoming. "Then come, Dragon Slayer. Show me what you can do. I have waited eight years for this moment. I have absorbed the power of Etherion. I have reclaimed my full strength. And now, a Dragon Slayer stands before me, claiming vengeance for his woman."
His smile became something terrible.
"I am very interested in witnessing Dragon Slayer Magic."
Natsu dropped into a fighting stance. The flames around him roared, casting dancing shadows across the crystal walls.
'This is it,' he thought. 'The battle I've been waiting for. The battle I've trained for. Weeks alone in the forest, pushing myself past every limit, burning through every reserve. All for this moment. All for her.'
'All for them.'
Jellal raised his hand, and the very heavens seemed to answer. Light gathered around him, the power of Etherion responding to his call.
"Let us begin."
Natsu's answer was a roar that shook the tower.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
He shot forward, a comet of flame and fury, and the final battle for the Tower of Heaven began.
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Next Time: Natsu vs. Jellal - The Conclusion of the Tower of Heaven Arc Begins