If there was one thing Jellal should've remembered about Erza aside from her name was that she was stubborn. Erza rushed forward toward Jellal, letting a few tears slip down her cheeks as she shouted at him, "Don't do this!"

Dealana followed after the redhead with a much slower pace. She didn't want to interfere with Erza's interactions with Jellal. She watched idly as Erza lifted Jellal slightly off the ground by his collar to see the self-destruction seal spreading further. Cobra wasn't far off either mildly panicking about Jellal taking the only way to prevent Nirvana's destruction with him.

"Listen to me! You can't!...I won't allow you to die like this!" Erza cried out shaking Jellal's semi-conscious form. "You have to atone for your sins! It means nothing if you die now, ignorant of what you've done!"

Dealana stiffened at the sight of tears continuing to stream down Erza's face, never wanting to have seen Erza cry. Personally, Dealana had only seen Erza cry once when Lisanna died, but other than that, Dealana always saw Erza as a strong, fiercely loyal mage. To see her crying felt wrong.

"Own your guilt and live, Jellal!" Erza screamed at him, causing his once dull eyes to widen at the sight of this woman he had caused so much pain.

"Erza, don't cry," Jellal told her with a soft smile, "There's no reason to." Erza paused and it was in that moment that she realized she'd been crying, and doing so from both eyes. "You're a good person." Jellal said before once more falling into a mix of sleep and unconsciousness. As Erza told Jellal to pull himself together, Dealana caught the scent of dark magic. Glancing up, she saw none other than Brain.

The Oración Seis' commander tapped his staff on the ground and Dealana had since gotten in a defensive position and readying her magic, subconsciously allowing a crackling lightning storm begin to form around her fists. "What could be the meaning of all this foolishness?" he asked, catching the attention of Erza and Cobra.

"He's back," Dealana heard Cobra say. Erza wiped her eyes and turned to glare at Brain as the man studied the magic seal on Nirvana.

"A magic seal of self-destruction?"

"This is Jellal's doing," Cobra told him. "We've gone through all this trouble to bring about Nirvana and this idiot is trying to destroy it!"

Dealana didn't like the way Brain smirked. She watched with sharp eyes as he moved forward saying, "Spare the hysterics, I don't answer to the name Brain by mere chance. Do you know how I came to be called that?"

"Is it because your ego got so big you decided to name yourself?" Dealana snapped at him. Brain scoffed and disregarded Dealana's comment.

"I once worked at the Bureau of Magical Development. During my tenure there, I produced hundreds of spells including ones designed to bring about destruction such as this one. I still hold that knowledge to this very day." Brain walked past Jellal and Erza, past a seething Dealana before revealing, "In fact, I was the one who taught you how to use them. Or have you forgotten, Jellal?" the white-haired man looked down at Jellal who shifted slightly in pain from the seal continuing to form on his chest.

"So it seems he's placed himself under one as well. He intends to take the disarm code to the grave does he?" Brain asked Cobra.

"I don't think he's going to be traveling down memory lane with you, Brain," the maroon-haired mage replied, "Sorry, but it seems like that Ethernano wiped it all out."

Brain only laughed, "Is that so? How comical," moving forward and ignoring Erza's glare he continued, "We have no further need for his assistance, and I suppose the Tempest wasn't necessary like we thought. That's a shame, the hidden powers of her magic shall remain unseen." Dealana quirked an eyebrow hearing this, wondering what that could possibly mean as Brain then lifted a single hand to the circle of self-destruction. "I know how to nullify this magic circle, quite simply." Raising his hand in the air, a warm green glow spread from the center point of Jellal's seal outward, disarming the self-destruction magic and freeing Nirvana from the intended fate.

"No!" Erza and Dealana shouted while Jellal groaned, "You can't..."

"You tried your best, Jellal but now Nirvana is finally under my control!" Brain explained with an evil grin. Dealana growled but halted as the sound of static electricity finally reached her ears. Glancing at her arms, she quickly dissipated the storm in favor of ice. She still wasn't ready to risk using lightning again.

"We'll see about that!" Erza's voice snapped Dealana out of her thoughts and the Storm Dragon Slayer watched as she charged forward with her sword.

Before Erza could make it to Brain, he lifted his hands on either side, basking in the pillar's light calling out, "Nirvana, arise!" The ground shook and the ground beneath Erza began to rise, throwing the woman off balance.

"Erza!" Jellal called out in alarm.

"Show your true face!" Brain continued. Dealana leapt nimbly onto one of the rising rocks before glancing down at Jellal, who lay mostly immobile. She had a choice here, let him potentially die getting crushed by rocks, or she could save him so Erza could get him to face atonement. Not wishing to go against Erza, Dealana flicked her wrist conjuring a cloud that took shape under Jellal. He seemed startled as it lifted him into the air until he caught sight of Dealana and the small magic seal by her hand.

She rolled her eyes when he had a small smile on his face. "Don't get used to it, I'm still hoping you'll get punched in the face." Dealana told the blue-haired man.

However as the rocks kept crumbing, rising and falling, Dealana found herself separated from the sight of the others only hearing Erza call out for her and Jellal. She had to shield her eyes from the widening pillar of light and she conjured a second cloud for herself as things around her got worse. In its final shape, Nirvana was an ancient, slightly ruined city with giant legs.

Elsewhere, Erza found herself on the edge of an opening in the stone walls having been unable to find Jellal or Dealana in the whole mess. "Jellal! Dealana!"

"Erza," she heard Jellal's voice and searched around the darkening sky to see a familiar cloud carrying Jellal. The blue-haired man had been able to carefully maneuver the cloud around with his knowledge of air magic and guided the cloud to Erza.

"The magic circle you placed on yourself, you must undo it this instant," she told him, pulling Jellal off the cloud roughly. "You have duty to stay alive!"

"I failed. I wasn't able to put a stop to Nirvana. Now, the world is doomed." he said.

Erza smiled softly, "No, there's always hope. Look there," she directed Jellal's gaze to a dust trail being kicked up by someone running along Nirvana's leg in the distance. "You see as long as we draw breath in our lungs, we shall keep hope alive in our hearts. And that hope will guide you throughout your life," Erza turned to Jellal, "so live."

"I will," Jellal told her, "Now let's go."

"Yes," Erza replied, "but first, did you happen to see where Dealana ended up?" she questioned, worried for the sky-blunette. She hadn't been on the cloud she evidently formed for Jellal and that worried her.

"I don't know," Jellal admitted. "She formed a cloud for me before getting separated. She's a friend of yours no doubt."

"One of my closest friends in Fairy Tail," Erza smiled fondly.

"She did tell me something before Nirvana took shape," Erza looked at him curiously, "she was hoping I would be punched in the face." Jellal admitted with a sheepish smile while Erza only chuckled.

➵

Dealana groaned, the feeling of imbalance and impending vomit overpowering her ability to move as Nirvana was set in motion. Her cloud had dissipated, leaving her motion sick and alone. Looking up at the sky, she knew she had to get moving no matter what and stop this thing. The Storm Dragon Slayer couldn't help but feel guilty for technically working alongside one of the Oración Seis, Cobra.

He could have killed her after Nirvana was unsealed by Jellal, in fact, he mentioned this fact a lot when they first went out in search of it. But he didn't. Cobra had actually helped her too when catching Lisanna's bracelet that now remained safe in the pocket of her black shorts, this way, it wouldn't fall out as easily. She couldn't help but wonder why he had done that. He certainly didn't have to, but he did.

She knew there was something in all the irritating thoughts she procured to annoy Cobra that he heard that changed the way he saw her. No longer did he see her as an annoying brat, but there was something else. Could he have seen Lisanna when her bracelet snapped? A lot of people could relate to someone's death, but someone like Cobra? A man who no doubt killed people during his time in Oración Seis? It made her wonder if there was more to the man than the Allied Forces had been lead to believe.

Cobra had been so determined to find Nirvana, but why? What drove him to such lengths as being in a dark guild?

Dealana groaned again as another wave of motion sickness washed over her. She had to get moving, but Nirvana being a walking city made her limbs feel like lead. Pushing her questions on Cobra aside, she pushed herself up using her arms. Maybe, if things had been different for them, she and Cobra could have been friends. In another chain of events, she could have understood why he wanted to use Nirvana's power.

"Got to...conjure...cloud..." Dealana grunted before collapsing pathetically on the ground again. She attempted to form a cloud but it was difficult and she realized that even if she did form a cloud, she would still need to drag herself onto it, which would be equally as hard if motion sickness limited her mobility like this.

What to do, what to do? Dealana lay thinking, gazing at her arm with an empty stare unable to shift her head around in fear of needing to vomit immediately after. The lightning storm she conjured before scared her. She still hadn't been able to use her lightning magic without getting flashbacks to fighting Laxus and the harsh words and blows traded between them.

Even so, she still couldn't help but love her adopted older brother. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, there was still an ache in her heart whenever it was brought up, though she hid that behind a mask. Was it because she wasn't able to accept what happened? Or was she just being haunted by the trauma of the Battle of Fairy Tail.

"Damn it! Why is it...that I can't focus...on the task at hand?" Dealana scolded herself before flicking her wrist and forming a cloud nearby. Painfully, she crawled and slowly heaved herself onto the cloud and manipulating it to rise in the air just a bit while she began to feel soothed as the motion sick feeling left her.

It wasn't long before she was able to move without bile threatening to rise in her throat and Dealana found herself back in action. Floating a bit higher, Dealana tried to spot anyone she knew, but only found what appeared to be endless rows of ancient housing. Wishing to go faster, Dealana stood on her cloud and changed its shape to be almost like a surfboard.

"Alright, let's find a way to stop the walking city," Dealana grinned and took off in search of the remaining Oración Seis, her friends, and honestly, she hoped to locate Wendy and make sure she was alright after everything had gone to madness. She could hear the distant sounds of Natsu' fire magic and figured she would want to get involved. She had faith in Natsu, though she would never admit that out loud.

➵

Fun fact and potential spoiler, though I'm fairly certain most people reading this have seen Fairy Tail and the truth behind Dragon Slayers and stuff. Arashi didn't teach Dealana the cloud spell. Dealana wanted to keep up with Arashi but not waste her energy running, so with the help and inspiration from Wendy at one of the meetings the dragons had, she created the cloud that has become her most iconic spell. Wendy suggested that with the threat of motion sickness when they grew more skilled in Dragon Slaying magic, Dealana would have to modify the spell somehow to counteract it. Part of the cloud spell that Dealana uses has a form of the Troia spell that Wendy helped teach her woven into the magic cloud. It's why on trains, she'll be sitting on a cloud rather than the bench.