They ran away from the guards, over the hills, through the woods all the way to Fairy Tail... it was like a bad nursery rhyme.

Lucy was inducted into the guild... and was shown what it was usually like. Natsu and Gray fighting, Lyon accidentally getting involved, Ur separating them, Cana drinking, Sting and Rogue playing a heated game of checkers that people placed bets on, Nab staring at the job board, all the good stuff.

Lucy got a pink guild mark on her hand, and she immediately showed it to Natsu, Acnologia sensed a team coming to be... what do you know, he was right. First, they saved Macao, then they went on their first job and came back successful, Lucy gained the zodiac spirit Virgo. Gray joined their team, and Lyon was asked to join the team... but he promptly refused and went on a solo mission. 

Then Erza, Jellal, and Simon came back, Erza with a huge horn, Jellal with a skull three times his size, and Simon with a huge book.

"Well, if it isn't the warriors three," Cana greeted.

"Whoa Erza, what do you have?" Romeo asked gawking at the three mages.

"It's a horn from the monster she slew," Simon said.

"Is that its skull?!" Lector asked pointing to Jellal's trophy.

"No, that's just the skull of a monster we ran into after we beat that one," Jellal shrugged.

"What's with the book Simon?" Wendy asked.

"It's a collection of ancient spells and records, looked cool, and the townspeople were so thankful that they gave it to me, it's awesome," he smiled.

Lucy was introduced to the strongest team, and life settled down... Until they all went on a vacation to Galluna Island, where the natives where sort of demons that freaked the heck out of Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray. But apparently it went well; Lucy came back with the zodiac key of Sagittarius.

Loke acted strange around Lucy, Acnologia could understand why. Celestial wizards weren't his style anymore... well neither was the celestial spirit world. Acnologia wished that he could save Leo's life... but he wasn't Anna.

Then Erigor showed up. Wanting to summon Lullaby, destroy the other guilds, and all the normal dark guild stuff.

Laxus, Erza, and Simon easily destroyed the dark guild. Jellal and Erik went searching for these runaways who had actually gotten the flute and were going to try to summon it, the rest of the guild helped clean up the mess in the dark guild's wake. Acnologia flew to the gathering to warn the masters, he got there just as Makarov had gotten the kid with the flute to surrender.

"All is well king of the dragons, all is well," Makarov said as he watched the kid being sent to jail.

"He's a good kid Makarov, I hope they don't sentence him for too long," Acnologia sighed.

"Who knows with the counsel... they aren't very fond of me or my guild's input," Makarov sighed

Then there was a commotion behind them. Erik was holding Jellal as the blue-haired man doubled over in pain.

"Uncle, he's hearing voices," Erik said, his voice was wavering.

"Are you hearing anything?" Acnologia asked as he laid Jellal down and studied him.

"No that's the weird thing; he is hearing something that I'm not."

"Jellal!" Erza shouted from behind them.

"Is he okay?" Simon asked kneeling down beside his teammate.

"Don't know, it was really sudden," Erik said.

Then Acnologia saw the flute on the ground a few feet away, and it clicked.

"We have to move him," Erik yelled reading Acnologia's mind. Erik was only able to hear the panicked thoughts of the dragon king... and at the moment Acnologia was very panicked.

'Should've known, it's bad for people who have already been possessed to be around demons,' a voice in his head swore.

'Just don't let him touch the damn flute!' another voice roared. 

Erik went to grab the flute.

"Careful Erik," Acnologia warned.

"Yeah, Zerefy stuff, evil, very bad," Erik said unconcerned.

Acnologia went to help pick Jellal up when the flute flew out of Erik's palm into Jellal's hands.

Every voice in Acnologia's head swore and he saw Erik's ears twitch... he had just taught Erik a few words that he would regret. Jellal awoke and pushed Acnologia away.

Jellal rose to his feet, but when he opened his eyes, there was something different about it, Acnologia couldn't put his finger on it.

"Jellal, this isn't you, this is... Kinda like Zeref again, Jellal, you're in there somewhere," Erik coaxed.

"What's happened to him?" Simon yelled.

"He had been exposed to Zeref-esc stuff, so the demon Lullaby figures that he'd be a suitable host," Acnologia sighed.

"So it has possessed him?" Erza asked.

"Yes," Erik nodded.

"Can it do that?" Simon asked.

"It just did," Erik scoffed.

Jellal looked around, but when he spoke, it wasn't his voice. "It took so long for you mortals to even think of summoning me, and when you get the chance, you refuse. Weaklings. I had planned to emerge in my true form, but with a perfect host such as this one, how could I refuse, especially when you humans have such difficulty killing your own." As the demon said this it inspected Jellal's body as if he were wearing his favorite clothes.

"Jellal, snap out of it!" Simon yelled.

"Jellal, the name is fitting... tell me, did you care for him?" the demon/Jellal said.

"Hell no, I wanted to kill him when I first met him..." Erik smiled, "but then he grew on me."

"Release Jellal, or suffer the consequences," Erza said requiping into her Nightwing armor.

"Hmm... no," Jellal smiled, he used meteor and launched at Erza.

The fight that broke out was brutal; Erza had many chances to hit Jellal, but she constantly hesitated, Simeon did the same... Erik however-

"You feel the burning in your veins, every time I touch you, you will feel agony unlike any other," Erik threatened. He had hit Jellal multiple times.

"You would do this to a comrade?" Jellal taunted.

"ERIK! YOU'RE GOING TO FAR!" Erza cried.

"Shut it Titania!" Erik growled fiercely, "Come on Jellal don't make me beat him out of you!"

"Well then..." Jellal smiled, then he got into the stance for Sema.

Acnologia moved to stop it... but it was too late, the sky grew dark. As the fireball raced down to the mages, Acnologia transformed and... ate the spell.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Simon shouted.

"Acnologia has no element and because of that, he can basically eat anything," Erik shrugged. The mages on the ground turned their attention to Jellal but he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Erza asked.

"I can't hear him, he must have moved while he cast the spell," Erik growled.

"We can't wait for the others," Erza said.

"You guys go on, I'll wait for everyone else," Erik said the two ran by him but Erik reached out and grabbed Erza.

"I'm not there to save your skins, fight him for real Erza or something bad's gonna happen," he growled. Erza gave a firm nod.

Acnologia used his senses to feel for Jellal. When nothing hit him he transformed and flew up into the sky. Once he was in the headwinds he felt for Jellal again, nothing. Then pieces came together, where would Lullaby go, it would seek to cripple Fiore; the capital? Too far away, then Acnologia got a haunting feeling, he looked towards the magic counsel... he would go there.

Acnologia began his decent when the building collapsed internally.

He flew towards the entrance and kept it from collapsing by shoving his body weight against its foundation, small figures scattered under his claws as they attempted to flee the building.

Then Acnologia saw someone going against the flow... it was Simon, he must have followed Acnologia knowing the dragon king would find Jellal.

"Simon, wait, you can't beat him alone," Acnologia growled.

Simon only moved faster, and then Erza jumped across Acnologia's claws and went after Simon, "YOU NEITHER TITANIA!" Acnologia roared. Both adults ignored him and ran into the building.

Acnologia held up the structure, he couldn't move, unless he wanted to crush everyone inside, he would have to use other methods. Very carefully he reached out and touched Simon's, and Erza's mind, he saw what they saw... Jellal/Lullaby looking over the destruction in glee.

"Jellal, stop this, you must break free!" Simon begged.

"It's too late, he can't force me out," the demon's voice hissed.

"I'm sorry Jellal," Erza said, with that, she requipped into her clear heart armor. She summoned two swords and attacked Jellal, she was his equal and was able to dodge most of his attacks, but so was he. Then she hit him, he collapsed, she moved in...

"Erza?" Jellal asked in his normal voice, Erza froze. "Run Erza," he shouted, then the demon was back, he hit Erza in retaliation, then he used Meteor and hit her multiple times. Erza cried out in pain.

"Jellal, stop," begged Simon, he behind Jellal and Erza.

"I'll destroy you both, then, I'll move one to the rest," Jellal hissed, he began summoning a spell, a dark spell, like a black hole... it was dark magic, and Acnologia knew what it meant. "I'LL START WITH YOU TITANIA!" he laughed maniacally as he released the spell, it rushed towards Erza, destroying all in its path, Erza wasn't going to be able to move quick enough. Acnologia struggled, he needed to do something, but if he moved, everyone would be crushed.

Then a figure darted in front of Erza and used their magic to block the spell... it was Simon. He absorbed the full blast. Acnologia roared, begging someone to hurry... but it was too late. Simon fell to the earth; he saw it all through Erza's eyes. There were agonizing seconds where the time seemed to slow.

Erza rushed over, "Simon," she cried, tears started streaming down her one eye. There was a moment of silence... even the demon seemed to understand.

"Don't cry," Simon comforted, "You were always the one smiling, the one... who could... make me smile... "He said, tears streaming down his face as he lay on the floor.

"No, you'll be okay, hang on," Erza cried.

Jellal was laughing maniacally, "fool," he laughed.

Then Acnologia switched to Simon's vision.

'SIMON!' he called out to Simon's mind, 'Please push through Simon!' 

But Simon couldn't hear Acnologia even when the dragon king was in his own head. He was looking up at Erza. "Simon," said she yelled, but Simon saw it as young Erza smiling happily and calling his name. He reached up and touched her face.

"I will always... love you," he smiled, and then he breathed his last.

Erza screamed, but then someone else did too. Erza looked up, Jellal, he was screaming, with both voices.

"No, no this cannot be, I am in control," the demon screamed.

"Simon!" Jellal's voice cried.

"No, I'm in control," the demon screamed.

"GET OUT!" Jellal cried. Then the demon was forced out; the effort of possessing Jellal had taken its toll. Lullaby was drained of power and so it was smaller than how it was supposed to look. It was Erza size... that was bad, for the demon. Erza raced forward in rage, she reequipped into her purgatory armor and ran the demon through with her large sword. It gave a shaky breath.

"No! I was... so close!" the demon hissed, "I'm sorry, master Zeref," the thing wheezed and it transformed into a book and then crumbled to dust.

"That was for Simon," Erza gritted, she was still crying.

Jellal, who had collapsed was pulling himself towards Simon, he reached out but was a few inches short, and then he put his head in the ground and began to weep. Erza knelt down next to him and cried silently with him.

The rest of Fairy Tail got there too late; Jellal refused to be comforted, and Erza was silent. Then the magic counsel showed up, what was left of them. They demanded that they take Jellal into custody.

"No way in hell!" Natsu screamed.

"It wasn't his fault!" Wendy defended.

"It's true, Jellal didn't do anything," Lector said.

"Well..." Happy shrugged.

"Shut it cat,"

"You can't blame him," Gray said.

"Indeed, he is a member of our guild and we will fight to defend him," Lyon said coolly.

"No... I'll go," Jellal said shakily standing up.

"No, Jellal, you can't it wasn't your fault," Erza commanded.

"Erza, I destroyed so much, killed so many, murdered my friend, and attacked my own guild. Zeref has too much power of me, it's better for everyone if I am locked up," Jellal muttered.

"You can't truly believe that," Ur said.

"I do, please, just let me go," Jellal said.

"No," Acnologia growled. "You're blinded by grief and self-guilt, you don't deserve this."

"I-" Jellal breathed.

"Let us go with you," Laxus offered, it was indeed more of an order.

"Really?" Jellal asked.

"Let us walk alongside you, and be with you to defend you," Freed nodded.

"Yeah, we fairies have to stick together," Bickslow smiled solemnly.

Jellal smiled and agreed. He was put in cuffs and led into a cart, most of Fairy Tail walked with him all the way to a replacement Magic Counsel building where he would be tried.

"What do you plead?" asked a member of the magic counsel.

'Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, DAMMIT JELLAL DO NOT SAY GUILTY!' Acnologia prayed Jellal to say.

"I was possessed when I did those things, but I'm guilty of those crimes," Jellal stated.

An outcry broke out in the crowd. The witnesses had been called up, everyone knew what had happened, and many agreed that he was innocent. Even if Jellal didn't believe it himself. The trial took a matter of minutes.

"We, have come to a consensus, the jury may choose one of two sentences, Execution, or life in prison," said a tall angry looking magic council member.

The crowd erupted in outcry; they were mostly fairy tail members.

"ORDER! ORDER!" another member cried.

Acnologia was radiating anger, he was wondering how they could do this. He personally went up to Yajima and asked what was going on as the jury was discussing.

"It wasn't my choice Acnologia, it was the grand councilman, he wouldn't be moved, and the others just agree with what he says," Yajima sighed, "I tried Acnologia... I did try."

Acnologia growled and went back to hear the decision.

"Jellal Fernandez, you are found guilty, and are sentenced... to life in prison," a council member read.

"NO!" Erza cried.

"THIS IS F&^%$# WRONG!" Gajeel yelled. Erik didn't even reprimand him for crying such in front of Wendy who looked on the verge of tears.

Many similar voices were heard as Jellal was led away. Acnologia could only growl, he sought out the grand councilman. It was the same tall mean-looking man from before.

"Ah, Acnologia, what may I do for you?" he asked.

"You can set my innocent guildmate free this moment, and tell the crowd that you acted in bias," Acnologia growled.

"I did nothing of the sort," the counsel man sneered... he was reminding Acnologia of Ivan... that was very bad for the councilman

"You did, and you sentenced a young man to life because he was possessed?"

"There was no proof."

"The witnesses, Erza, Erik, Me? They all said the same thing."

"All biased, you all were from Fairy Tail, you'd do anything to save your comrade, the others claimed that they saw Jellal attacking, slaughtering, and destroying."

Acnologia spoke again, his voice deep and in a growl, "He was possessed."

The council member smiled wickedly, leaned in and said: "prove it."

Acnologia almost wished that he wasn't a member of Fairy Tail, that he didn't have something to lose, because he would have demolished that councilman there and then. He watched as the councilman walked away and swore to himself that he wouldn't let it stand. He didn't care what the councilman had against the guild... he would have true justice.

(a few hours later)

"It isn't right," Ur sighed.

"Jerks," Natsu growled; his voice was low and threatening.

"Rogue-gu, why did they take Jellal away," Frosch asked.

Rogue rubbed Frosch's head in reassurance, but his eyes were dark.

Acnologia sat in a chair, his hair covering his eyes.

"We can't sit here while Jellal is wrongfully imprisoned, Erza is crying, those jerks made her cry, we can't sit and pretend it didn't happen!" Natsu roared.

"Well, what can we do, break into the magic council and become fugitives?" Gray snorted.

"No, but what if we snuck him out?" Erik suggested.

"All I know is that we can't just sit here," Gajeel growled.

"Gajeel is right, we have to do something," Sting nodded.

"I've only been here a short while," Lucy began, "but I know that Fairy Tail doesn't stand for anyone to be treated like this, Jellal is one of us,"

"We have to get him out," Lyon nodded.

"We will, I have a plan," Acnologia said.

Everyone leaned in as Acnologia shared it.

(Many more hours later)

It was three in the morning when the prison began to grow very hot. The sleepy guards were immensely sweaty and itching to go home. It was three-fifteen when a shadow moved and changed the clocks without the guards realizing. It was three forty-five when the clock struck four and signaled the guards to change with another patrol.

The guards did as they were trained and went towards the showering area, all of them immensely sweaty from the sudden heat in the prison, not noticing that it would be another fifteen minutes till the other guards arrived. It was three fifty when a cool wind blew through a door left and delivered a key made of ice to Jellal's cell, it was three fifty when Jellal was spotted fleeing into the woods. It was three fifty-six that the clocks were changed back, the key melted, and the sudden heat stopped. It was four when news reached the counsel men; Jellal Fernandez had escaped.

(A day later)

Acnologia was lounging in the replacement Magic Counsel Building, eating a bagel, when the head councilman approached him, his eyes blazing. Acnologia could only smile... revenge was a wonderful thing.

"You're under arrest," he growled.

"For what crime?" Acnologia responded coolly.

"Aiding the escape of a felon," he sneered.

"What proof do you have? I hear that he escaped of his own methods, no evidence suggesting otherwise."

"I know you and your guild was involved," the councilman sneered.

Acnologia calmly stood up and leaned towards the councilman, "prove it," he hissed and with that Acnologia walked away. 

Jellal was safe, he was busy hunting other dark guilds down, and searching for a way to kill Zeref. But the council would never find him. Never.