Fairy Tail Volume 11 by Hiro Mashima

Natsu, Ezra, Gray, Juvia and Lucy are still in the Tower of Heaven. Sieg is trying to convince the Council to use the power of Etherion to destrpy the tower, and now he only needs one more vote. But somehow, Sieg is linked with Jellal, the boy who used to be friends with Ezra, but who was possessed by a demon when he was young and turned into a monster in human form.

Ezra tells her friends that she abandoned the people who she thought of as brothers and sisters for eight years- that's as good as a betrayal, and that's why they hate her now. But Shô says that's a lie- she tried to blow up the ship they were going to sail to safety on- and only Jellal rescued them. That was her betrayal, and that's why they think she betrayed them. One of her former friends, Simon, comes up and says he never believed that story and that he still believes in her. Shô is angry that someone could know and trust Ezra, his sister, more than he could. He beats himself up for believing what was obviously a false story, and forgives her.

The rest of them go in search of Natsu and Happy, who they will need to defeat Jellal's men. Natsu finds Milliarna's room, which is a shrine to cute cats. Natsu sticks a round cat mask on his head, but it gets stuck, and when Wally decides to shoot him in the back, Milliarna saves him, thinking he's a cat. Wally and Milliarna argue about whether Natsu is a real cat or not, but with the assistance of Happy, Natsu takes out both of them after a short battle.

Meanwhile, Jellal sends out his second in command, Vidaldus, to destroy the intruders in his tower. Vidaldus reverts to his true form, the leader of the Assassin's Guild Death Head Squad Trinity Raven, and summons his fellow assassins, Fukuro and Ikaruga, to his side to take on Ezra and her friends. Jellal summons mouths to appear on every surface in the tower and tells them that there will be a seven on three battle- whoever wins wins it all, whoever fails, dies. And he says the Council might use an Etherion square against the Tower, which will kill everyone, game over. So it's up to everyone to fight or die.

Wally and Milliarna realize that Jellal is the liar and Natsu and Happy take off to fly to the top floor of the tower where Jellal might be. But they are intercepted by Fukuro, who Simon recognizes. He tries to tell Natsu to flee, but Fukuro, who looks like a man with an Owl Head, is on them. He takes out Simon, and Natsu is left on his own.

Lucy and Juvia go to look for Natsu and face off against Vidaldus himself. He manages to make Juvia his rock slave with a water succubus attack, and he pits her against Lucy, who isn't really strong enough to fight Juvia on her own. But as Juvia sheds tears inside because she is hurting Lucy, Lucy, trapped in Juvia's waters, can feel them, and she feels sympathy for Juvia. Using her gold Key, she summons Aquarius from Juvia's waters. The two woman and Aquarius combine their powers and take out Vidaldus.

Natsu is swallowed by Fukuro, which allows him to use Natsu's fire. Gray comes back and takes out Fukuro with his ice, dropping the owl-man and rescuing Natsu. Meanwhile, the Council is set in disarray when Sieg reveals that the man Jellal is trying to revive is a black Magician known as Zeref. This moves the council, and they quickly vote to use Etherion almost to a wizard. Only one votes against it, Shitou Yajima, because he is appalled at the loss of life it will cause. Sieg doesn't seem that broken up about it, so Shitou follows him and finds out that Sieg and Ultear, another sorceress on the Council, are working together, and that Sieg will die if the Etherion isn't used.

Then, Shô and Ezra are fleeing, Shô because he wants to protect Ezra and Ezra because she has no choice: Shô has sealed her inside a playing card. But when they run into Ikaruga, Ezra is able to break free. But how can she fight a woman who can destroy her armors so easily? Does she have a chance to save Shô, herself, and the rest of her Teammates?

An interesting book. I keep wondering what is going on with Sieg (or Siegrain, his full name) and what is the connection he shares with Jellal? They seem to be linked in some way, but at this point, we're not sure how, exactly. And if he does turn out to be Jellal in some way, how did Ezra, who grew up with him, not know who he really is, given that they are physically the same? I find that very confusing, honestly.

The villains in this book are all based on Birds. Fukuro is an Owl, Ikaruga is some kind of hawk (I think) and Vidaldus is a crow or raven. And just like the birds of prey they are, they are ruthless. Towards the middle, the story gets a bit silly, with Vidaldus's hair having the power to absorb Juvia's water. But the end, where they team up to fight him, is even sillier, as he ends up completely bald. The water scoured his hair off?

I am still enjoying this volume and the series as a whole so far. I want to know what is going on with Jellaj and Siegrain, and if they will succeed in banishing the demon inside him or end up having to kill him. At this point, I'm not sure. I could see it going either way. Hopefully, they will banish the demon and the real Jellal will come out- but it may be too late and he might be too compromised. All I know is that I want to know what happens. Recommended, both for the volume and the series.