Sinners

Cold stone walls lined with flickering candles. Fragments of loose debris scattered across the floor, stains of brownish blood splattered all over the walls and the ground. That was all her mind could register as Erza looked up with tired, bleary eyes, her vision still compromised at the moment.

"Are you awake?"

The cold voice was swallowed up by the walls but it sent a wave of pain rushing through her head. She squeezed her eyes shut until the aching pounding had subsided but they snapped open as a sudden chill hit her.

The first thing that she noticed was that she had been stripped completely naked, legs pried apart and chained to the floor. Her hands were cuffed to a single chain above her head, pulling her body upright and just a little higher so that she was lifted off the ground slightly. This meant that she would have to support her entire body weight with her toes or with her arms alone.

Her eyes widened and a sudden fear shook her to the core as the gravity of her situation sunk in.

What had happened? The last thing she remembered was arriving at the ex-Chairman's house with Mira to protect him from…

"Welcome to Tartaros."

Her head snapped upwards and her sharp inhalation reverberated around the torture cell. One of the demons stood before her, one clawed hand resting on her hip casually as she shot her a look of amusement.

Erza forced herself to keep calm. "Where's Mira? And the ex-Chairman?"

Kyouka laughed. "Foolish girl. The ex-Chairman is our ally. He's been working with us all along."

"No!" The redhead stared at the other in horror. "It can't be!"

Her head was reeling with the latest revelation. The ex-Chairman was one of the most powerful figures in Earthland. He knew all of the Council's secrets and the locations of all of the past members. To think that he was working with Tartaros to destroy the world…

Erza struggled against her restraints, trying desperately to summon her magic. Kyouka's smirk grew even more prominent at the sight of her prisoner's futile struggle before she said, "Don't waste your energy. Those shackles are made with magic-sealing ore. You won't be able to use any magic."

Her body was slick with perspiration, muscles taut as she strained against the chains.

"Mira," she gasped out anxiously. "Where is she?"

Kyouka's eyes held a glint of sadistic glee as she replied, "I haven't killed her, but we're modifying her body in order to turn her into our slave."

"No! Stop!"

A hand cupped her chin roughly, tilting it up so that she was facing the demon. Erza's body shook with the effort as her arms faltered and she was forced to bear the brunt of her weight with the tip of her toes. A choking noise slipped through her lips.

Kyouka leaned in, her claws digging into the woman's skin. "Where is Jellal?"

The sudden question hit her hard and Erza froze like a deer in the headlights. Of course. Jellal was the only council member whose location was unknown even to the ex-Chairman.

The demon's grip tightened around her face. "I know the two of you were intimately involved."

Her heart was pounding in her chest and her voice trembled as she asked, "Why do you want Jellal?"

A searing pain tore through her body as Kyouka raked her claws across Erza's abdomen.

"Where is he?" She hissed, "tell me."

Erza screamed as another wave of pain hit her with full force, her body convulsing violently, limbs thrashing uncontrollably in their rigid restraints. The agony clouded her mind and she could barely make out Kyouka's voice.

"My magic allows me to alter a person's sensations. Your sensation of pain is now at its most sensitive."

The pain left her suddenly and Erza grew limp, with only her bonds holding her exhausted body up. Kyouka waited for a few seconds to allow her prisoner to catch her breath.

"Tell me."

There was no joy or sadistic enthusiasm underlying her tone. The words were said as a command rather than a plea, and that was what scared Erza more than anything. This creature did not enjoy what she was doing but rather carried out torture as if it were a daily occurrence. There would be no mercy. It was just the way it was.

"I don't…know…" Erza ground out shakily, hot tears mixing with the sweat dripping down her face.

Kyouka let out a long suffering sigh and dragged a razor sharp claw across Erza's abdomen in one practised stroke.

Erza threw back her head and let out an animalistic scream. Her body seemed like it was on fire, it was like her blood was boiling in her veins. The chains binding her rattled loudly with each sudden jerk as Erza lashed out blindly, her muscles bulging with the strain. Her back arched backwards, hoarse screams ringing in her ears, and the tears spilled over onto her cheeks.

The pain stopped once more and Erza struggled to breathe. Her ragged gasps were laboured, eyes glazed over with anguish. She had never experienced anything like this before. This was utter agony. She didn't think she could survive this.

Sharp claws dug into her scalp as Kyouka lifted her up by the hair. Kyouka's voice was soft but sinister and Erza felt her legs turn to jelly as her captive spoke the damning words.

"If Jellal dies, we can release the seal on face." Erza could feel her hot breath caressing her face and she flinched as the claws scraped against her cheeks roughly.

Seeing the look of devastation on Erza's face, the dark mage laughed mockingly. "Oh my, looks like I've said a little too much. Now even if you do know, you'll never tell me."

"I don't!" Her heart was beating so quickly that she was finding it almost impossible to breathe but her tortured cries fell on deaf ears. "I really don't know where Jellal is!"

Kyouka circled her like a hunter and its prey, eyes never leaving her naked form, instead roaming all over. They gleamed with malice, lingering slightly longer on the scars that remained and those that were recently inflicted by herself. No doubt she was conjuring up new ways of torturing her.

"How about this." Her voice was sickly sweet. "If you tell me Jellal's whereabouts, I'll return Mirajane to you."

Erza looked up in shock. Would she really do so? No, it couldn't be. Tartaros would kill them either way, or at least keep Mira as their slave. But it didn't matter anyway. Erza didn't know where Jellal was. And even if she did, she wouldn't give up the location and sacrifice one life for another. She would be more than willing to give up her own life for Mira's but there was no way in hell she was going to let them reach Jellal.

Spasms racked her body, the fresh wave of pain coursing through her veins.

"Please," her voice was weak, the helplessness evident in her voice. "I don't know. Please, I beg you, spare Mira's life."

Another scream pierced the air as Kyouka dealt another slicing blow, this time to her thighs.

"Is that so? Guess I'll enjoy myself a little more then."

The demon unleashed a fury of swipes and slashes across her back, chest and thighs, each blow eliciting an agonizing scream from Erza. Neither of them noticed the soft rumbling behind the walls or the slight shaking of the ground until the wall was blasted open from the sides, sending stone debris raining down upon them.

A blue blur flashed past Erza, slamming into Kyouka at an insane speed and crushing her against the opposite wall. With a gurgle, the demon crumpled to the ground. Erza blinked and squinted through the dust, trying to see what was going on.

A dark figure emerged from the rubble, shaking off the loose chunks from his shoulders. A look of relief crossed his face as Jellal caught sight of Erza.

"Erza!" He crossed the cell in two strides and with a few strokes, sliced through the chains and the cuffs. He caught the falling woman before she could hit the ground. His choked gasps rang in her ears as he cradled her close to his chest. She smiled up at him, noting the silent tears brimming in his hazel eyes.

"How did you find me?"

"I saw Natsu flying past and I knew there was something wrong. I knew I had to find you."

"You shouldn't have come," she whispered. "They're trying to kill you. You have to leave now."

"I would have burned down the world myself for you," he nuzzled her forehead, planting a gentle kiss there. Draping his cloak over her, he stood up with her in his arms. "Natsu's up there wrecking havoc so we're going to go."

"Mira," Erza managed to gasp out, "she's still here. We need to save her!"

Jellal grunted in acknowledgement and headed for the exit. "We get you out first, then I'll come…"

He was cut off suddenly as something grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him down. He tripped, dropping Erza in the process. Kyouka towered over him and stabbed downwards with her claws. Jellal rolled out of the way a split second earlier and his eyes widened as Kyouka extracted her claws from the stone floor, dislodging a few loose chunks.

"Go!" He howled at Erza.

He raised both arms to block her next strike aimed at his chest and leapt back with a loud roar as his arms burned with pain. Shoulders heaving, Jellal dodged the next few blows hurled his way. He slammed his leg against his opponent's stomach and brought his elbow down the side of her neck but the demon managed to duck just before he could connect.

She body slammed into him and the two of them crashed through the other wall into a room full of tanks. Jellal picked himself off the floor painfully, head spinning. Stumbling to his feet, he launched himself at her once more, throwing magic-infused punches left and right.

He tilted his head just as Kyouka rammed her fist through one of the tanks, shattering the glass. The greenish waters spilled onto the floor like a waterfall and he nearly slipped on one of the numerous tentacles lying around. He righted himself and leapt to his right, rolling over his shoulder and onto his feet as he evaded another strike.

The two sprang apart. Jellal shifted his weight around, eyes following Kyouka's every movement warily. In one swift motion, he spread his arms, fingertips glowing as he summoned his magic. He sidestepped Kyouka's lunge and slammed a palm into the demon's chest, blasting her across the cell.

"Jellal!"

He whipped around at her scream as the Kyouka he had attacked melted into a black shadow and he could only watch as the real demon hurtled towards him, claws aimed at his heart.

Blood splattered down around him, slowly forming into a pool around his feet and he stumbled backwards in shock as he looked down. Erza had wedged herself between the both of them, crouching down with her sword outstretched. The weapon had penetrated through Kyouka's entire torso, the tip protruding from the back. With a sickening squelch, Erza withdrew her sword sharply and the demon slumped onto the ground, eyes wide in disbelief.

The sound of their laboured breathing and of dripping water were the only things that could be heard.

Jellal blinked in bewilderment and slowly turned to face Erza.

"Thank you," he said, still unsure as to what had just happened. "I…"

He stopped as something slimy wrapped around his leg and started making its way up his thighs. "What the…"

He was suddenly dragged towards one of the broken tanks by one of the tentacles and he let out a yell of surprise, falling flat on his face as he lost his footing. The other tentacles wrapped around his torso and limbs and started spreading themselves across his body and up his face.

A low chuckle sounded to his right.

"If I'm going down, then I'm taking you with me," Kyouka said with a sneer.

Erza charged towards her with her sword raised. She brought it down with all the energy she could muster but Kyouka stopped it with a hand. Growling, the redhead pushed down. The demon had lost a lot of blood and she could feel her hand giving way to her sword slowly. Releasing one hand from her sword, Erza summoned another one in a flash and loped off Kyouka's head cleanly, fury washing over her like a tidal wave. She leapt over to where Jellal was and severed the tentacles with one stroke. Free from the bonds, the blue haired man collapsed onto the ground. She reached for him but a hand shot out, encircling her wrist.

"No…"

His eyes were hidden by his messy locks, the shadows obscuring his face and his hand was shaking.

Kill her.

"Jellal?"

"Get away from me," he barked out harshly, shoving her away from him. His hands shot up to clutch at his head and muffled cries rumbled in his chest.

He sank to his knees, his cries growing louder.

"Jellal!" Erza knelt down beside him. "What's wrong?"

Do it.

She shrank back slightly as he looked up at her, his eyes flashing with a hint of red. "My head," he grunted, "she did something to me. I…I can't control myself…get away from…me."

"No!"

Kill her now.

Her cry took him by surprise. She placed both hands on the side of his head. "Look at me. Damn it Jellal, look at me!"

He complied and she stared into his eyes. "You can do this. Fight it! You can't lose. You promised to make up for all the horrible things you've done in the past. You promised me!"

Jellal closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Concentrating, he slowly moved his magic throughout his body, pushing out the dark magic. The dark magic felt viscous and foreign. Eyebrows furrowed in concentration, he fought against the urge to follow the small voice in his head. He shuddered. It almost felt like when he had been possessed by Zeref. The quiet poisonous voice in his head, whispering beautiful lies, promising him true freedom, promising him paradise.

Kill her and you will be free from everything holding you back, holding you down.

He shook his head, hands tangling in his hair. No, he had promised Erza that he would live, live and atone for his mistakes. He couldn't make another mistake now.

With a roar, he released all of his magic. He felt his own magic expel the dark magic from his body and he opened his eyes to see her staring back at him, a smile on her face.

"Jellal…"

He didn't let her finish her question but leant forwards and captured her lips in a tender kiss.

"Thank you," he kissed her once more. "Thank you for saving me. Thank you for believing in me."

His thumb brushed away the stray drop of tear on her cheek. She laughed and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"You idiot."

Jellal hugged her even tighter, a hand stroking the back of her head.

"Thank you for loving this idiot."

Author's note:

So, like insane chapter, brought back my Jerza feels which I haven't had in years so yeah. Not a very good piece, guess I've been stuck in the Mystwalker fandom for too long and I've forgotten how to write Jerza haha.

Wrote this because it doesn't look like Jellal will get to rescue Erza since Natsu always has to save the day in this stupid manga. Let's just pray that Jellal doesn't die either.