Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and its characters. They all belong to Hiro Mashima, though the plot's mine. ;D

Prologue

The town of Kolten was a small town with people living in simplicity. Modernization hadn't reached their town because of a forest separating them from the eyes of the whole world. No one dared to cross or even go near that forest because of the rumors spreading from the whole country of Fiore. They say that within the forest lived the most vicious animals you could imagine. A merchant once dared to go through the forest and ended up being reported as missing. Since then, the people believed the spreading rumors. Unbeknownst to them, no vicious animals were really living within the said forest and that forest was the place where the people of Kolten got the lumbers they used for their daily lives.

The citizens of Kolten were very peace-loving and jolly people. It didn't cross their minds to leave their hometown in exchange for a better life out in the city. Koltenians love their town so much and swore that they will never dessert their hometown. Their main form of living is farming. The soil in Kolten was very rich in minerals that made it suitable for farming. Every year, they held a festival for the gods; thanking them for another year of successful harvesting. With all of these, the people of Kolten were very contented on what they had except one whom practically betrayed their hometown.

The S.S.S. Railway Corporation was the only company who provide railroads and trains across the whole country. They managed to connect all provinces, cities and towns of Fiore except for the small towns beyond the most feared forest such as the town of Kolten. They wanted to spread their influence all throughout the country but the forest was preventing them to do so. All their hopes were starting to vanish until a very fateful meeting.

It came to their knowledge that no vicious animals were living in the said forest, thanks to a Koltenian who approached them the other day. Of course, this made them very delightful and paid the said Koltenian with a great amount of jewels in return. After their transaction, the said Koltenian vanished and they never saw him again.

After a year they finally did their plan. They started cutting down half of the trees in the forest and cemented the pathway they made. After that, they implanted railroads connecting the forest from the world. They continued on doing these until they saw a clearing. For the first time, the view of Kolten amazed their eyes. For a town where modernization never existed, that town was very civilized.

A mass-murder killed all the people of Kolten. After the Koltenians disagreed and revolt against them, the S.S.S. had come to a decision to kill them and burn all their houses into ashes. The Koltenians struggled to survive but their efforts were no match to their hi-tech weapons. The sound of crying children echoed all throughout the small town. Mothers tried to bring their children to safety. Men were fighting for their family and town. Chaos was bestowed upon the town. After months of bloody war, Kolten was eradicated.

The knowledge about the war never reached the world. No one dared to know it. No one cared for Kolten. Those made a man in rage. That man was the sole survivor of the mass-murder and he swore to his breath that he will get revenge for what they done to his hometown. Someday, he will get revenge.

7 years later

An orphanage called 'The Heaven's Children' had a child who was also a survivor of the war but the nuns managing the orphanage never dared to tell him. His past was very bloody and chaotic, and they never wanted to make that little boy traumatized. They found him within the forest. He was still a year old then. He was with his mother who was lying dead on the ground. His shirt was full of blood and he kept on crying. After they saw the pitiful state of the child, they decided to bring him to their newly opened orphanage and named him Jellal.

Jellal was a very sweet and nice boy. He was willing to help other children in trouble which made the nuns loved him so much. He had an unruly blue hair and for some odd reason, a red marking across his right eye. He had sense for justice and a very good leadership skill. The nuns were so happy that despite his tragic past, Jellal grew into a very good boy.

One day, a new orphan arrived on the orphanage. She was so tiny and had a very intriguing scarlet hair. She was very timid and never interacted with the children there. The nuns kept on asking for her name but she said nothing. When she felt answering their question, she murmured an 'Er...' which was never continued, so the nuns decided to call her 'Er-chan'.

"Hey miss newbie, why don't you show us what you draw there, huh? We all showed ours", one of the children said with a scowl on his face. He seemed very annoyed at the newbie's behaviour. The little girl tried her best to hide her drawing. She perfectly knew that they will just laugh at her work like the children in the town she used to live. But despite all of that, she never gave up on drawing. She loved to draw and she wanted to become an artist just like her mother.

The bully kept on until Jellal noticed the commotion. He approached both children and shoved the bully away from the little girl. He stood in front of the little girl protectively. The bully and Jellal glared at each other until the bully surrendered. He perfectly knew that if the nuns knew about this, they will just defend Jellal and he will be again the bad guy in their eyes. They always saw Jellal as the good guy which made him very annoyed. He couldn't wait for someone to adopt him so he would have a reason to leave that place.

"Hey little girl, are you alright?" he said to her with his very soothing voice. That made the little girl relaxed a bit. She knew that this boy in front of her was very nice but that would not make her guard down. As a response, she nodded.

That made Jellal sighed. "I'm glad you're alright. By the way, why do you keep on hiding your drawing? I bet that's really good". He waited for her response but he received none. If this girl doesn't want to, then he'll never force her. He just smiled a bit and patted her head lightly. "You know what; you should not hide your talent from the world. It's a gift from God that you should cherish and be proud of." With that, he smiled a bit and turned away to leave. When he was about to move his little right foot forward, someone grabbed his wrist. He turned his head and saw the little girl holding his wrist.

"P-please don't g-go. W-when I got here, no one, except for the nuns, was nice to me. Y-you're the very first one who actually talked to me. A-and, if it's okay with you, I-I wanted to be friends with you", she stuttered. She couldn't look at his eyes. She was so embarrassed and felt her cheeks heat up. She waited for his response but Jellal was too surprised to answer. "I-if you don't want to..."

"Yes. I wanted to be your friend" he answered, interrupting her. He smiled a bit and the little girl let his wrist go. He offered a hand and she gladly took it. They shook hands and this made her smiled timidly. "By the way, I'm Jellal"

3 years later

"No! Why are you taking her", Jellal screamed as he watched Er-chan being taken by a couple who was visiting the orphanage for some time now. Is she being adopted? Is she going to leave the orphanage? More importantly, is she going to leave him? The nuns kept hold of him so he wouldn't make a scene. They never saw Jellal like this. Perhaps, this little girl was very important to him.

Er-chan kept on sobbing. She couldn't do anything. She was being adopted. Even she didn't want to, she couldn't oppose. That was the very reason why they were at an orphanage, to get adopted. Her foster parents pitied her and the young boy so they decided to give them a minute to talk to each other. As they released their hold on her, she immediately ran towards Jellal holding a folded paper.

"J-Jellal, as much as I wanted to, I can't stay here forever. Getting adopted is our purpose for staying here", she said while crying and sobbing. "D-don't worry, I'll never forget you. Here, have this." She handed him a folded paper. "You're my very first friend"

Jellal weakly took it from her hand. It was revealed that the paper had a drawing in it. Her drawing. It was the first time he saw her 'masterpiece' and he was glad but he never stopped crying. "I-I promise you that I'll find you, wherever you may be. Count on that".

She smiled a bit and nodded. He smiled too. Her foster parents went to them and took Er-chan away from him. It was heart-breaking for him but he will fulfil his promise to her. They waved each other goodbyes as the car she was in started moving.

Six hours had passed when he last saw her. It was sad but his life must continue. He must be happy for her. Her dreams of having a complete family will now come true. Even so, once he gets out of that orphanage he will still fulfil his promise. He will find her. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a nun running towards the main office. She was in a hurry like she has something important to say. His curiosity grew and secretly followed the said nun. When the nun reached her destination, she quickly shut the door, not noticing the small figure following her. As for Jellal, he cupped his ear and brought it close to the door. He could hear everything they were saying. The next thing he heard made her eyes wide open. Tears were starting to well up. He wouldn't believe it. It couldn't be! She was...

"Er-chan and her foster parents died in a car accident!"

A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for making an effort to read my very first chapter. I cannot promise you a faster update but I will try my best to do so. ^^

I would gladly accept criticisms from you guys so click the 'Review This Story' link and start reviewing. ;D