The mind manipulation wizard was coming up behind his exam partner, ready to catch her unaware. But though she was enjoying the view, the young dragon slayer was proving herself to be anything but a fool, making it impossible to grab her from behind. Each time she felt Mest trying to sneak up on her, she'd turn to look at him, only to see him doing something that not even her other guild mates would be caught doing in their right mind. The whole scenario was seriously beginning to unnerve Wendy. The poor girl was never more glad to have been trained by Grandine to trust her instincts—

"Achoo!"

And her sneezes…

"Wow, that was a big one. Is someone talking about me?"

Steps were closing in behind her. Turning to look at him revealed that he seemed to be trying to eat nearby…rocks?

"I sher ish jush yer maj nashun (I'm sure it's just your imagination)," Mest said as he chewed.

Okay, now she was thoroughly creeped out. Cautiously, she looked back to shoreline, where she could see the outline of basecamp, where everyone would reassemble later. She really had a bad feeling about Mest now. A sudden shift in the wind, however, gave both of them enough warning to jump out of the way of the incoming star mage and Exceeds. Wendy's eyes widened as she took in PantherLily's large form and Carla's attempt to come between her and her supposed partner. But those weren't the only things that threw her.

Jellal's face and body were ready to come to blows with the boy in front of him.

"Stay away from her, Mest—or shall I call you Doranbolt?"

The other guy smirked at him. Clearly, he didn't feel threatened by his confronter, and had no intention of surrendering. "Tch—you barely missed. Is this part of the new S-class exam now? Weaseling your way in to it mid—say what?" His head finally cleared enough to recognize the way both of his aliases had been said.

"You can quit playing the fool," PantherLily snorted. "Jellal told us who you really are!"

Carla sent a glare his way that made him go from just being "afraid" scared to "I may need a clean pair of pants" scared. "I have to thank you for your stupidity in allowing your fellow Rune Knights to follow you here—Jellal might not have remembered you otherwise." Sarcasm dripped from her voice like venom.

"What?" Wendy watched the interaction with confusion, then hurt.

"Basically, this guy has been blocking the memories of everyone at the guild, though I'm sure this year's exam takers are the primary targets," PantherLily answered. "But I have to wonder what his purpose is in doing this. And why isolate you in particular?"

Mest (or was it Doranbolt now?) snickered. "Figured me out, huh? Don't play dumb, cat. Everyone knows how close Wendy and Jellal are. We know how he helped her find a home after years of wandering, how she healed him before the fight with the Oracion Seis, how clueless she is about his past sins..."

"Sounds more like you're clueless as to what kind of girl Wendy really is," another voice snarled, closing in on the gaggle of mages.

"Gray? What are you doing back here? And where's Loke?" Wendy asked the newcomer.

"We had to split up to fight against Grimoire Heart," he explained. "Turns out one of the seven kin of Purgatory is also one of Loke's fellow Celestial Spirits, Capricorn. Once Lucy figured it out, he went all in. Man, I sure hope they'll be okay—Capricorn doesn't even look like he really wants to fight Loke or the other way around, so they must be holding back. Lucy's working with Natsu against the voodoo doll guy, and Juvia's going against someone else—I think her name's Medley? Melody? Maddy? Anyway, I'm on my way to take down someone named Ultear."

Jellal's breath hitched when he heard the woman's name. "Ul…tear…"

Gray faced him. "You know her?"

"Somewhat, I think. She…" His friend stopped for a moment, trying to word his thoughts carefully, as Doranbolt was still there. "She had been behind the R-System, trying to bring Zeref back, maybe her mother, as well. That's what I had heard, at least."

"Wait, her mother?"

"She said her name was Ul Milkovich."

"Bring…Ul…back? But that's insane!" The ice-welder exclaimed. "Her mom died to save me and Lyon from Deliora, and she was just going to undo that?!" Jellal was watching the edges of Gray's vision turn red with fury, and felt the temperature drop. "And if Ultear is her daughter, how is she alive? Ul died believing she had lost her!"

"Maybe you should ask Ultear that, then," Jellal stated.

"Fine, I will—" Gray began, rushing in the direction he could have sworn he saw the woman going, only to be stopped by a firm hand.

"I must warn you, Gray; she may be a powerful wizard, but she is also difficult to win over. Don't be surprised if she acquiesces too easily to your words, and never let your guard down when you fight her." There was compassion and anger in his face, no doubt based on experience with said woman.

Gray calmed down, having seen the look in his friend's eyes, and nodded. "Got it—thanks, man."

He released his friend, and turned back to the remaining mages present. Particularly the one who had been unable to catch Jellal admitting to his past.

"What'll you do, now that your friend has left to find your ex-girlfriend? Kill me?" The boy mocked. "Or the others?"

"No, I have a request for you, and it's imperative that you fulfill it."

This caught Doranbolt by surprise, as he was expecting Jellal to turn back to his old ways, in one way or another.

"Heh, like I have to listen to you—"

"It's a matter of life and death for the other Rune Knights—possibly my guild mates, as well."

Now he was listening. "So…"

"You need to clear your fellow knights away from shore as far away as possible while we deal with Grimoire Heart and the enemy who will follow. I have it on good word that a particular dragon will be arriving shortly afterwards to attack."

The other guy burst out laughing. "Wait, a dr-dragon? How—hahaha! How's that possible? They've been dead for hundreds of years! Ahahahahahah!"

Jellal kept silent for a while, until his laughter died down. "The dragon's name is Acnologia."

It was then that Doranbolt realized the severity of Jellal's words. And he froze. There was not a joke to be had here.

"Doranbolt…"

He looked up in fear.

"Get your friends out of here—this is the last place they, or you, should be right now."

"But Grimoire Heart!—"

"—Has been at war with Fairy Tail for a long time, but they've brought the battle to our sacred grounds. They will not win. Acnologia, however, is another story. We'll fight for as long as we can, and as hard as we can, but the last thing that you need is to lose Fiore's bravest warriors to protect our lives. You need to get them out of here."

Jellal's calm but firm words kept him silent, as Doranbolt stood to his feet. Whoever it was that he had just talked to and smarted off at, this clearly (in his mind) was not the psychotic man that had tried to destroy everything just over a year ago. With a nod in his direction, Doranbolt transferred himself from the overlook to the deck of one of the Rune Knights' vessels.

Once the boy was gone, Jellal turned towards the other three. He could already tell what was on Wendy's mind by the look on her face. "I'll see if they need help at basecamp. Wendy, I think the others will need you. Carla, PantherLily, cover her, okay?"

"We're on it," the two Exceeds said, before taking off in the same direction their young friend had.

Once out of sight, he fell to his knees, out of breath. He didn't know if the others could feel it yet, but he could. The magic was getting weaker. He had no doubt that if Erza was fighting her own battle, she would be able to feel it, as well. Jellal had to force himself towards where, unknown to him, some of his guild mates lay resting and injured. He continually had to lean against the nearest firm structures he could find, as he pressed on that direction. Looking up, he saw the Tenrou tree, snapped in half, and laying in the ocean. Something told him that was the source of his fatigue, and had he seen his friends, he would have no doubt his suspicion was correct. He could vaguely hear the familiar cries of a crimson-haired woman, as she fought as hard as she could against her own foe. He so desperately wanted to go and encourage her face to face, but he was extremely weak and next to powerless.

"Stay strong, Erza—don't lose…Take my strength…Win!"

With no more energy to move, Jellal collapsed, just at the edge of the campsite.

=+FT+=

She had just briefly closed her eyes, not quite as tired as her comrades, but in pain on seven different intensities, and barely able to move.

Stay strong, Erza—don't lose…

They shot open. It can't be! Jellal?

Take my strength…

The crimson knight sat up, muscles aching, but now unafraid to face her opponent. Make no mistake—I know it was you, Jellal! No…not just you—my friends!

The energy she lacked coursed through her veins again.

Win!

For Jellal…for my team…for my guild…I…

Have as good as won!

"Grrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

=+FT+=

Just a brief author's note: The chapter title is inspired by the song "Lions" by Skillet. And with the statement about Wendy trusting her sneezes, it's kind of a gag in anime, that if you sneeze a certain amount of times, someone mentioned you in a discussion.