A/N: So after some thinking, I've decided to try my hand at a Jerza fanfiction. I got an idea for an AU setting and thought that it could really work between these two. This is also one of those stories that will take time to build so hopefully I stay motivated and inspired to keep at this, because I really enjoy the idea of this story. Hopefully you all who take the time out to read it enjoy it as well ^-^/

O.o.O.o

His hands were stained in the thick crimson of her blood. Her eyes were wide, blue pools of frozen agony and despair. Thin threads of her hair fanned over her paling face; her lips formed a crooked 'O' and blood leaked over the corners of her mouth. Her throat was gashed, life still sluggishly pumped from the wound; the flesh like beaten meat inside. He frowned down at the body, obvious distaste and disappointment swirling in the red that consumed the natural colour of his brown eyes. He blinked down at the girl's lifeless body. It was probably the glazed look of her eyes, the thick and raw scent of her cruel death that made his consciousness sink in and with a few more rapid blinks, the red was gone from his eyes and brown orbs stared down at the body.

He scrambled away from her body, his hands braced against the gravelly ground of the alleyway as he looked down at her nakedness. The fabric of her blue dress was torn. Innocence was ripped from her. Her stomach was punctured in several places, blood drenched the skin and soaked the earth beneath. Her beauty became distorted by the blood; a frozen and terrified look on her face.

Moonlight rinsed her body in an intangible comfort; the shadows encroached, trying to hide her. He continued to stare at her body then at his hands, his eyes wide in confusion and terror. Had he done this? Had he…

His face was marked by dots and splashes of her blood. His shirt was stained by it and drenched in the fresh odor of her death – the entirety of his being was enveloped in it. He wanted to run and scream that he hadn't done this. Then came the flashbacks; the screams of different girls but all mirrored the same frantic desperation to escape, the plea that he not kill them. He covered his ears as if that could help to block the screams and cries that ricocheted off the walls of his mind.

Everything seemed to close in on him and he gasped, his throat constricting as if he couldn't breathe. It was the soft whisper of his name that chased away the memories that haunted him. Her voice. He looked up towards the disembodied voice, his brown-eyed gaze expressing his panic, reminiscent of a child's.

The footsteps were slow and methodical against the gravel and the silhouette of a female form solidified against the shadows. He blinked up at her; the ivory of her skin glowing in the moonlight. She was beautiful; all of her – from the long silk of her jet black hair that framed her face, to the serenity of her perfect face. Her gentle expression and comforting smile eased his fear.

"Ultear, I-"

"Sshh," she said. Her voluptuous body was clothed in a blue dress that clung to her curves, a white band tied at the waist. Over the dress, she wore a cloak and the sleeves hung limply at her shoulders. Her soft palm caressed his cheek and she looked beyond him to the dead girl.

He saw the tick of her jaw, the fleeting look of disappointment that crossed her dark eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, knowing he had done something wrong.

"It's okay." The smile was back and she helped him to his feet. "Let's go."

"What about her? We can't leave the body here."

"Yes, we can. She' be okay." Before she walked away, she whispered something in the tongue that he hardly understood – at least not in his conscious state – then took his hand and led him down the opposite end of the alleyway.

Ultear kept her composure about her but when she finally put Jellal to sleep and left their bed, she screamed in the room where the sound would not carry. This didn't need to happen. Not when she was so close to unlocking one of the seals of Zeref's demons that would bring her closer to finding the Dark Mage. Why was he no longer staying under the possession? What was she not doing correctly? The first, few times she had sent him to kill those girls, it had gone well – without a hitch – and he had been there during the sacrifices. What had changed now? Was it because they were now in Magnolia? Did he have some connection here?

Whatever it was, she needed him to snap out of it because she needed his power to bring her closer to Zeref.

O.o.O.o