Preparations For War

(Jason's POV)

"Yea, so how much time are we talking about?" I heard Jellal's voice over the communications device

"If we're lucky, it could be done within a few months." I said, "If Alvarez doesn't decide to declare war within the next.....say...4 months? I think that should be more than enough time to get it ready..." 

I was sitting down at a table at a restaurant at Magnolia, I still haven't left the city. I was going to have a couple of talks with some of Fairy Tail's members before I left. 

Jellal and I were talking about collaborating with the council and the Royal Family in a project to have defenses in the country set up. 

"I see..." Jellal said, "I'll speak to the council to see if we can start right away." 

I nodded, "Yea." I said, "I'll deal with some stuff first and we can go ahead and do that." 

"You don't think war can be avoided, do you?" Jellal asked

I shook my head, "Nah." I said, "War's gonna happen. It's only a matter of when. Hopefully the Council gets to buy us a few more months...." 

"Yea." He said, "Very well, I'll go and speak to them." 

"Alright." I said, "I'll see you soon then." 

The signal then stopped. I placed the device in my pocket as I stood up, patting my coat. 

"Alright then..." I said, "I'm gonna go see them, I guess.." 

*********************************************

"Here." I told Erza as I dropped a massive black iron chest in front of her, "Try it on." 

She was talking with Lucy about something when I approached her out of nowhere. Both of them were standing in the middle of the room when I dropped the massive chest in front of them. 

"Eh?" She said

I smiled, "You forgot?" I asked, "The gift..." 

She widened her eyes, "Oh!" She said crouching down as she looked at the chest, "J-Jason, it's done?" 

I nodded, "Yea...." I said, "Try it on see if it fits or something....The Greatsword isn't finished yet but its okay, I'll send it to you when it is..."

"What's this?" Lucy asked Erza

"Uhm..." Erza said, "A....gift.." 

She was about to open it when I looked at it. 

"Whoa!" I said crouching down and placing my hands on top of the chest, "Not here, Erza..." 

She looked at me with a confused face, "Then where?" 

I shrugged, "Anywhere but here, woman." I said, "Somewhere isolated where nobody sees it...this thing ain't something the light-hearted can handle, literally....it's a bit too strong..." 

"H-How strong?" She asked

"Let's just say that your strongest armor..." I said, "Stronger than that." 

She blinked, "I-I see..." She said, "Okay then....I'll try it on later..." 

I straightened up, "Yeah, the chest is enchanted." I explained, "That way you can't feel the overwhelming power. When you open it, though, that's when you'll find out what's up." 

She looked at me, "Okay..." She said, "T-Thanks..." 

I nodded, "No problem." I said while looking at Lucy, "As for you, I got something in the works for you, but it ain't gonna be ready yet."

She blushed slightly, "W-What?" She said surprised, "A gift for me?" 

I nodded as I walked past them, "Yep." I said, "I'll see ya later." 

I walked over to a table, feeling all eyes on me. Just recently, they've been on guard with me. I don't blame them though, the tensions are war can get someone stressed out enough. 

I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make them believe they have nothing to worry about with me. I am in no way shape or form going to join Alvarez. 

I'll rather die than do that. 

The table had Natsu and Gray sitting on it while they ate. 

Natsu looked at me with a mouth full of ramen, "Oh!" He said through his chewing, "Jhwason!!" 

I frowned, "Swallow your food before speaking, idiot." I said annoyed

He gulped his food down, "Yo, Jason!" He said with a smile, "I'm gonna start training tomorrow!" 

I raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?" 

He nodded, "Yea!" He said with a smirk, "With the powerup I got from our fight, I think I can get stronger." 

I chuckled, "Good." I said, "That way you can actually put up a fight." 

He stood up, "Hey man, I almost had you!!" He exclaimed, "Next time, I'll win for sure!" 

"If there's a next time, Natsu." Gray said, "Things are a bit too serious to worry about matches." 

I looked over at Gray, "As for you." I said

He sighed, "Jason, I wanna apologize for what I said a couple of days ago." He said, "It's just that-"

"I don't care about that." I cut him off, "There's something I gotta talk to you about." 

He looked at me, "Eh?" He said, "What do you mean?" 

I pulled out a black tome and placed it on the table, "This." I said

He looked at it, "What is it?" 

I watched as Natsu leaned into it and began to sniff it as Happy floated above the table. 

"Smells kinda funky." Natsu said

"Aye.." Happy said

"Shut up." I said pushing him out of the way, "This doesn't concern you." 

He scowled, "What was that?!" He said, "Wanna go?!"

"Natsu..." Happy said, "He'll beat you up." 

"As if!" He said

I snapped my fingers, using gravity to push him down to his ass. 

"Settle down, man." I said

"Ahh!" He shouted in pain, "Okay." 

I disabled the gravity and stood up, patting his clothes down. He then sat down again as he looked at the tome. 

Gray looked at me, "So?" He said, "What's this?" 

I sighed, "A choice." I said, "If you wish to get stronger, Gray." 

He raised an eyebrow, "What are you saying?" 

"If you want the power to slay a god..." I started, 

"This here is it." 

*******************************************

"Felicity." I said

"Yes?" She responded

I was standing on the hill, overlooking Magnolia. I was about to leave and won't come back for a while. 

"Have you started?" I asked

"Yessir." She said, "I have done calculations." 

"Give them to me." I said

"What you asked me to do, it'll take approximately 4 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 15 hours, with 33 minutes." She said, "Without rest. After I'm done, I'll have to enter a week-long slumber."

"Good." I said, "The Council will buy us as much time as they can. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly." 

"Of course." She said, "Aside from helping out, sir, what will you do in the meantime?" 

I crossed my arms, "Train." I said, "And craft more weapons with my War Magic. That said, don't worry about the modifications on the Nemesis, Felicity. I'll handle those. You focus on your task." 

"Yessir." She said, "May I suggest adding the hangar to your 'Project' onto the Nemesis?" 

I nodded, "Already planned on it." I said, "As for that 'Project', It's almost done, isn't it?" 

"Yessir." She replied, "It needs time to adjust and charge." 

"Good." I said, "I have others to work on. We'll be incredibly busy, Felicity. And when the time comes, I'll need you. Your power will come in handy." 

"Of course." She said, "You have nothing to worry about with me." 

"I was created for War.