The Viking of Fairy Tail

Chapter 15

Erza and Aoife had escaped their cell, and were headed towards Jellal when Aoife stopped.

"Why have you stopped, dear?"

"Our friends are here. We have to stop them." They ran to them to make sure they left.

When they got there, Aoife stayed silent and shook. The fear of this place was coming over her in waves. They were all yelling to each other when they finally noticed Aoife's state.

"Leave."

"What's with you two? Aoife was so quiet I didn't realize she was there, she's shaking! And what happened to us coming along with you whether we wanted to or not?! Master taught us that even the strongest warriors need backup every once in a while." When Erza turned around there were tears in her eyes. Aoife walked up and put her hand on her shoulder. On the brink of sobbing she spoke quietly, her voice breaking.

"I'm sorry, but you can't help us now. The odds are stacked against us. No matter what, we lose. We're not dragging you down with us."

"What do you mean?" Erza responded to the question this time. Aoife and her had talked on their way there, so she knew what she was going to say. She went and sat down, knowing her shaking legs wouldn't hold her much longer if she didn't shed some of her tears. She put her head in her hands and sobbed quietly. Gray put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, but he was attentive to the story.

"This place is known as the Tower of Heaven, or the R-System. The Revival System. About ten years ago, a dark magic cult kidnapped people from surrounding regions, forcing them to slavery. I know this because I was one of those people. Anyone who tried to escape, or caused too much trouble, would mysteriously disappear. We never had a moments peace, we lived in constant fear. But, we bonded, we made friends. One of my friends names was Jellal, another was Aoife." At this they gasped, and Aoife cried a little harder.

"Aoife always rebelled, and tried to help others. She was tortured constantly. They wouldn't kill her because she was such a good worker. Closer to the end, they moved her to another cell for awhile. I thought she'd died. But anyways, Jellal was always kind and brave. He was a brother to Aoife and I. One day we were caught trying to escape. They took me to torture, because they thought I planned it. And Aoife just because. Jellal tried to break us out of there. We were caught unawares, and they took him in our stead. So we took a stand, tried to break out our dear friend. But, he changed. The only way I can describe him now is pure, unaltered, evil." Aoife started to speak after her.

"This is a place of despair and pain. You shouldn't have to be here. You don't deserve this pain. I wished there was some way, that we could've gotten them. We had revolted, and so many of us had gotten away. Our friends, those people, we couldn't help them th-they. I had gotten seriously injured, there was nothing I could do! I-i tried so hard. You have to understand! I don't want you to suffer the same fate. YOU CAN'T STAY HERE!" She sobbed harder, and they could see how much pain she was in. Erza continued to tell the story of their rebellion.

"We had freed so many, and cleared a space where we could stay, if only for a little while. Until we were ambushed, by horrid creatures we called Magic Soldiers. They could make massive explosions, that greatly damaged our ranks. I was left to die on the front lines, and I would've if it wasn't for Aoife. She ran in front of me, and it was there she discovered the incredible things she could do. When she got hit, it let out a burst of magic power that killed the Magic Soldiers." 

"Like what happened when I returned her magic power?" Lucy questioned.

"But, much more destructive. Back then it was almost uncontainable, she had to wear specially crafted limiters. Otherwise, she would have been constantly releasing lethal amounts of magic energy. Anyways, Aoife was badly hurt, and a man we had doted upon our entire time at the tower, had given his life to protect us from the volley of soldiers coming after us. I had to do something, so I unlocked my own magic power. Out of grief, and to protect the girl I already loved. We continued to fight, battling our way through torrents of soldiers. Aoife and I went to personally free Jellal, and that's when we saw that he had changed. He kept ranting about how true freedom lied with Zeref, he had gone crazy. He told us to leave, and that if we ever told anyone of the tower, tried to free anyone from the tower, or told our friends what he had become, he would kill them. We had no choice then, and we have no choice now. We have to kill Jellal." Erza was crying as well by that point, and went to comfort Aoife. The others took a moment to digest what they heard. That such awful things had happened to the people they cared about. 

But, Gray knew they were hiding something. He looked over to Aoife and was shocked, the look of resignation on her face, he knew something was wrong. But before he could voice his concerns, Sho appeared. He claimed that the two had blown up the boats, and that they were drunk on magical power. That Jellal had saved them. The others stood up for Aoife and Erza. They knew they would never do anything like that. Sho refused to believe, until Simon walked in behind them. This caused Aoife to smile and run to him, as he had explained everything on the boat. Juvia explained that he meant Gray no harm, he knew he was attacking his ice double. Simon had been on their side the entire time. He apologized to Sho and told him that Jellal had put him under his spell. There was no way to snap him out of it so he had to play along.  Sho had collapsed to the ground, and Aoife was at his side in an instant. She held him and apologised over and over again, as he told them about the pain he had been in when they left. He was so confused, and he was sobbing. Aoife felt she couldn't apologise enough for what they'd put them through. Erza knelt down before the two, and said her piece.

"I know it's been many years, and this must be a lot to take in, but know that we never once forgot about any of you. Did you know that Aoife prayed to her gods every day, for each and every one of you? She always asked them to make sure you were okay, for them to protect you since she couldn't. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to stand up to him, but I was so weak back then." Simon smiled.

"But you are stronger now, and ready to face him. I've waited all these years for this moment, when a group of powerful wizards would gather here."

"So, what do you have planned?" Lucy asked.

"We're going to take down Jellal. We can do it if we work together."