Talk With Brandish

(Jason's POV)

"You doing okay?" I asked Brandish

I was standing in front of the barrier of her holding cell, she was sitting on the bed, covered in a massive blanket. I take it she got cold over time since she's wearing very little clothing and doesn't have her coat. 

She looked at me with a serious face, "I heard the commotion outside." She said, "You were in a battle?" 

I nodded, "Yep." I said, "Ajeel attacked us with a fleet. They managed to track us down and decided to take the ship out of the equation. They failed badly." 

"Ajeel was defeated?" She asked

"Yea." I said, "With him and you, that makes 3 Shields defeated so far. I didn't want to stick around here so we're moving to a different spot in the air with a similar advantage." 

"I see...." She said looking down

I tilted my head, "You given it a thought?" I asked, "My proposal." 

She gave me a frown, "I will not betray my country." She said seriously, "What kind of fool gives the enemy a chance of redemption?! I'm surprised you're even keeping me prisoner....." 

I shrugged, "I am not like you guys." I said, "I won't needlessly execute my prisoners. I mean, I won't hesitate to kill in battle, but you're not someone I want to kill. Your power can be useful." 

"Hmph." She said looking away, "As If I'll help you." 

I chuckled, "You say that, but I know you'll cave." I said, "After all, you're working for a guy who doesn't care about any of you. He doesn't give a shit about his subjects and you should know that." 

She gave me a serious scowl, "What do you know about His Majesty?" She growled, "You know nothing!" 

"I know more than you think." I said, "Your Emperor Spriggan is the one known as Zeref, The Black Wizard. Even you lot should know about him." 

"Tch!" She said, "What does any of that matter? He's our Emperor regardless of his past, we cannot disobey him!" 

"So you'll blindly follow a man who's leading you to your demise?" I asked, "You won't win this war, I can guarantee you that. And even if you do, even if he gets ahold of Fairy Heart, what do you think he'll do with it?" 

She looked at me, "I...." She said with a surprised face, "I don't know." 

"I do." I told her, "He plans to end the world with it." 

She widened her eyes, "You lie." She said, "He wouldn't..." 

I nodded, "Oh no, he intends to do more than just that." I said pacing alongside the barrier, "It really depends on his mood, honestly. Will he use it to fuel an overwhelming powerful Time Magic and reset time, essentially erasing this world? Or will he use it to just destroy everything? Reduce all to nothing. Who knows." 

I'm only going with stuff I already know. If his goals align with what I'm aware of, he'll want to use Fairy Heart to activate Neo Eclipse and reset the timeline. But he did mention something that said otherwise, which is why I wasn't sure of what his true goals are. 

"What are you saying?" Brandish said while looking at me, "That he intends to lay everything to ruin?" 

"Yep." I said, "And here's a real kicker. What if I told you he intends to release the strongest of all demons: E.N.D. and just allow that guy to run around wild and destroy everything? I mean, you would think you guys would be fine, having 2 Etherious already amongst your ranks; Larcade and Bloodman, but the thing is, E.N.D. is not like those two. He will end up killing everything and everyone." 

"2 Etherious?" Brandish said, "There's more than just 2...and what you're saying can't be true. E.N.D. is nothing but a folktale." 

I looked at her, "We'll get back to the etherious part, I ought to interrogate you about that." I said, "But do you truly believe E.N.D. doesn't exist? Oh, he's real alright, just sealed. The thing is, I would imagine that Zeref was going to use him against Acnologia if he needed to...I mean I can't read what your Emperor thinks sometimes....." 

"Why are you telling me this?" Brandish said, "Do you really expect to sway me with these lies?" 

"These aren't lies, they're the truth." I said, "I just don't want to see you fall to the wrong side, that's all." 

"What do you care about me?" She said, "You're nothing to me. As I should be to you." 

I chuckled, "It's more than that." I said looking at her, "You act like this cold and heartless woman, but I know the truth. You're just a hurt little girl, Brandish. You carried all this hatred for Lucy's mom for years and now that you know the truth, you don't know what to think anymore. Well, I'm extending my hand to you. If you wish to fight for the right side, I'll gladly take you in." 

"That won't happen." She spat, "Over my dead body." 

"I am no traitor." 

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

"Man, that went well." I said walking down the hallways, "Went better than I expected." 

As I walked, I noticed someone walking towards me. 

"Oh, Jason-san!" Juvia said as she approached me

I raised an eyebrow, "Juvia?" I said as I stopped and looked at her, "What's up? Everything okay?" 

"Lucy-san said you have treated Erion-kun." She said, "Juvia wanted to know if he was okay..." 

I nodded, "He should be fine." I said, "He's sleeping right now. Felicity will tell me if he wakes up." 

"Juvia is glad..." She smiled, "Juvia thought that he would be hurt permanently. He suffered really bad wounds." 

I patted her shoulder, "He'll be alright, he's my son." I said, "He's strong." 

She nodded, "Yes, he is." She said, "Juvia is relieved." 

"Yea." I said, "Is that it?" 

She then blushed, "Oh, uh..." She said, "Well..." 

Okay, I know where this is going. And if I'm right, I ought to make it quick and get it over with. 

"Yea...." I said with a slight smile, "Well, Juvia....since I don't wanna anger a certain someone..." 

"We should do it real quick, okay?"