Wendy didn't know what to think. In front of her stood the open coffin containing a comatose Jellal. She didn't understand. It sure didn't help her when Happy spoke up saying, "That guy is bad news. What's he doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" Wendy asked the blue cat, "Do you know him too?"

"It's not like we're friends. He tried to kill me and Erza and a bunch of other people! He was the one who got the Magic Council to fire the Etherion Cannon." Happy explained angrily. He glared at the unconscious blue haired man.

"I know..." Wendy whispered, her hair hiding her face. "I heard about that." She didn't know what to do. The Oración Seis wanted to revive him. The Allied Forces wouldn't want her to revive him. But Wendy, it wasn't like she was a big part of the Allied Forces. She couldn't fight and in the end, she only wound up getting herself caught and in more trouble. Even worse, she dragged Happy and Dealana with her too.

Dealana had gotten hurt trying to protect Wendy, but here she was wanting to revive the man who gave her most of what she had today. He helped her when she was alone and she felt indebted to Jellal because of it. Wendy was at a crossroads with no idea which way to go.

"But I thought Jellal was ancient history!" Happy shouted at Brain.

"He is indeed, a shell haunted by a restless ghost," the commander of Oración Seis told them, "Full of miserable ideal. But also the man who's given you the greatest gift." His last statement directed at the blue-haired girl who had yet to reveal her torn expression.

"What? He did?" Happy questioned. He looked up at Wendy, "What does that mean?"

"This is your opportunity to return the favor and revive him!" Brain said to Wendy.

"Don't do it!" Happy was quick to tell the Maiden of the Sky. "No matter what this guy says, don't wake him up!"

Wendy couldn't help it. She was shaking. She didn't know what to do at this point. If she revived Jellal, she would be returning the favor he did for her in giving her friends in Cait Shelter. Saving Jellal would also be a move against the Allied Forces. If she didn't revive Jellal, she would be condemning him to a life forever comatose. It would be like she was turning her back on the man who helped her when she was alone. Not reviving Jellal would also be good for the Allied Forces, seeing as he had done so many evil things.

But never to her.

This all confused her. Filling her with so much guilt, doubt, pressure...it was too much for Wendy to bear. Normally she would ask Carla for advice, but her cat companion wasn't here. She wanted to ask Dealana, recalling her friend telling her not to listen to Brain. But she also recalled talking with the sky-blunette back in Magnolia.

Dealana had been showing Wendy the Kardia Cathedral, explaining how some of the floor was brand new after the incident weeks prior to her visit. Something about Wendy made Dealana feel comfortable enough to share about her conflict with Laxus.

"He was my older brother in everything but blood. He was the one who found me all alone on the streets and brought me to Fairy Tail. He saved me and gave me my friends and family."

When Wendy nervously asked what happened to Laxus after the battle, Dealana had finally opened up about things she would normally keep to herself.

"He was expelled. He did a lot of bad things and hurt so many people, but even so, if I had a chance to bring him back. I would do it in a heartbeat. Wouldn't you?" Dealana gazed out the large windows of the Cathedral, "To find a way to bring things back to the way they were before, to help him find his way again...if I could..."

Here, in front of Wendy, was her chance to bring back someone who helped her. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way for her to help Jellal find his way again, even if he hurt all those people.

"Please don't do it," Happy told her softly, but looking at Wendy's sad eyes, he knew. "No! You can't!"

The sound of a knife being drawn brought both of their gazes to Brain, brandishing a sharp dagger, "So, are you refusing?" he asked moving the blade closer to Jellal's neck.

"No! Please stop!" Wendy cried out. Brain stabbed the knife into the coffin, intentionally missing Jellal's neck by less than an inch. Wendy fell to her knees begging, "Please...I beg you!"

"Revive him. You have the power to do so." Brain told her after pulling the dagger away from Jellal.

"No! That's the last thing you want to do!" Happy tried to convince her. "They're planning to use him to steal Nirvana. They're going to use him and Dealana!"

"But I have to repay him," Wendy whimpered. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him." she admitted, tears now flowing down her face, "He was so kind to me. I heard all those horrible stories about what he did, but I don't believe them." she told Happy standing up.

"I swear they're true. I was there!" Happy told her.

"He's not the kind of person who would do that!" Wendy shouted.

"But he did, Wendy," Happy said softly

"Please!" Wendy asked Brain, "Just give me some time to think about it."

"Why? Tell him no!"Happy exclaimed.

Brain smiled, "Very well, you have five minutes." Wendy only stared at Jellal's comatose body hanging in the coffin.

As Wendy continued in her downward spiral of choices, they heard the familiar shout of Natsu Dragneel calling out their names, "Happy! Dealana! Wendy!"

She barely heard Brain instructing Racer to intercept them. But she did hear him when he said, "Time is up."

"Please don't do it Wendy!" Happy begged her. Brain finally had enough of the blue cat and shot him with a burst of dark magic, sending him flying into the wall and bouncing off onto the floor.

"Look," Brain said to Wendy, "your magic can bring him back. So? Will you help your friend or leave him like this?" when Wendy said nothing his voice grew louder as he shouted at her, "You must!"

"Happy! Dealana!" Natsu's voice sounded from afar.

"Wendy!" Carla shouted.

Their calls only reached Happy's ears. But it was enough for him to call out, "NATSU!"

Wendy's brown gaze was fixed on Jellal, Dealana's words from the Cathedral echoing.

"He did a lot of bad things and hurt so many people, but even so, if I had a chance to bring him back. I would do it in a heartbeat. Wouldn't you?"

"Even if he did a lot of bad things and hurt so many people, I have a chance to bring him back." Wendy whispered taking a step forward. She made her choice and could only hope the others would forgive her.

➵

"Can I ask you a question?" Dealana asked after about five minutes of having Gajeel's song on repeat in her mind. Cobra looked over at her, knowing he would likely have that stupid tune in his head for a long while after.

"You just did," he snapped.

Dealana gave him a look, "Alright, I'm going to ask another one then. That creepy guy in your guild, Midnight, can he evade physical attacks in his sleep like he can magic ones? Natsu's flames had no effect, they went around the creep."

Cobra tilted his head back, already wanting to silence the half-pint of storms, "Why would I give you an answer like that about my––" he stopped and turned to stare at Dealana as if she were crazy.

"Have you considered drawing on his face while he's asleep?" Dealana voiced the thoughts that Cobra no doubt heard in her head.

Cobra had no words.

This cycle repeated with Dealana asking the most bizarre questions in reference to the Oración Seis. Of course, Cobra knew she was also asking them to potentially gain any insight on their abilities in hopes of finding a way to defeat them.

"But why Brain?" Dealana questioned, "I get that it's a reference to him being smart and the leader, but I don't get it. Racer, Midnight, Hoteye, Angel," she listed, "those are cool names, Cobra is cool name for someone in a dark guild, but Brain?" the maroon-haired man rolled his eyes as she continued to spew out a barrage of nonsense.

"What's the deal with the snake of yours? Cubellios, right?" Cobra glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, noting the genuine curiosity of her question. Her heterochromatic eyes staring at the purple scales of his faithful companion before tripping on a tree root.

Out of instinct, her wrist flicked to summon a cloud, but halfway through mentally casting the spell, she realized she should save her magic as much as possible for the battles to come. So, with as much dignity as she could muster, Dealana let herself face plant on the ground.

Cobra held back a laugh and shook his head. Fairy Tail's Tempest was something else.

Dealana rolled over onto her back looking up at the sky, trying to see the puffy white clouds. "I know you hear thoughts and you've heard all of my questions and comments. You've heard all of my makeshift plans should I ever see an opportunity to escape." Dealana sat up, "I want to know, why? Why would you join the Oración Seis?"

"Get up," he told her, ignoring Dealana's question. She frowned, but did as told. Her magic was coming back and she knew she was capable of casting a few powerful spells, but she planned to save them.

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

"And you're a pesky half-pint." Cobra retorted without missing a beat. Dealana stuck her tongue out at him before they fell into a bit of silence again. Well, Dealana only heard silence, she was well aware of Cobra being able to hear essentially everything around him. It was part of the reason why she voiced her thoughts and questions, even the irrelevant ones. In doing so, Cobra would be forced to hear her twice as much in hopes of annoying the heck out of him. She couldn't use magic, so being annoying was the second best trick in her arsenal.

Dealana let her mind wander. She couldn't do much else aside from bide her time, regain enough magic power, and annoy Cobra. She wondered if Wendy was okay and safe. Had Natsu and the other been able to find her and Happy? Dealana thought about when they were first facing the Oración Seis, and if there was anything from that battle she could take away for the future besides how pathetic the Allied Forces were.

"Yeah, you were pathetic," Cobra smirked.

"Oh, shut up!" Dealana shot back at him before a small snapping sound was heard. The Storm Dragon Slayer stopped dead in her tracks and her blood ran cold. Cobra turned to look at her funny only to see her shakily look down at her ankle, where a pink bracelet had torn on a fallen branch.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Dealana murmured instantly kneeling down to pick up Lisanna's bracelet. The young girl looked at the frayed edges of the bracelet sadly, remembering when she and Lisanna first made them together. "Damn it, why?"

Cobra could see the memory of the girl with short white hair. He saw how they were friends, how they spent time together playing or doing jobs. He saw when she left, leaving Dealana with the pink bracelet and Dealana giving her a sky blue one. He saw that Lisanna didn't come home. He saw rain and storm until Dealana finally returned to the guild. He didn't say anything as Dealana gingerly placed the now broken pink braided cord into her hoodie pocket. They continued walking and Cobra tried not to notice the small tears threatening to fall from the half-pint's eyes.

It was then that he heard Brain shouting about Jellal out to claim Nirvana for himself.

He replied with a smirk saying, "I hear you loud and clear boss man, as loudly as I hear that cowards footsteps." Dealana turned to look at him curiously, having outwardly recovered. Inside, the storm only grew louder and her thoughts became cloudy again, only hearing snippets.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Dealana stated, hoping that it was her friends saving Wendy.

"It's something alright," Cobra replied listening for Jellal's footsteps. "Follow me and don't try anything."

"Yeah, yeah," Dealana sighed, "What's going on anyways? I'd bet a good amount of jewel that it has something to do with Natsu."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Cobra smirked. "He was revived, and apparently he wants Nirvana for himself."

"So the mysterious 'he' awakens!" Dealana gasped dramatically, making Cobra roll his eyes. Her expression grew neutral as she continued to follow the Oración Seis member, unaware that her thoughts were growing increasingly foggy to him. "Who is this guy anyways?"

Cobra thought about it for a moment, considering the consequences before shrugging, "Jellal."

"Wait, Jellal? As in destroyed the Magic Council Jellal? Supposed to have died at the Tower of Heaven Jellal?" Dealana questioned, not missing the flash of something in Cobra's purple eyes at the mention of the Tower. She didn't receive an answer, nor did she need to. "That bastard's still got to pay for what he did to Erza," Dealana growled, trying to discreetly begin to eat the air around her. Little did she know, with Cobra's attention on Jellal, and her stormy mind he couldn't even hear her.

➵

Dealana and Cobra have a fun dynamic. They're not quite acting like enemies but they're not quite acting like friends. Let me know what you thought about it, I'd love some feedback on how accurately I'm portraying the canon characters.

I also kept wanting to write "Erik" instead of "Cobra" but we aren't there yet so I ended up writing "Cork" a lot. xD

One last thing! What is your favorite thing about Dealana? I'm curious. It can be a particular moment or something about her character, personality, appearance, whatever. I just want to know. Personally, I like how she finds more comfort in older-brother/father figures than she does older-sister/mother figures. (Granted, you may not have known that about her, but it's a thing about her.)