Born an orphan, in a small town, I wandered aimlessly for as long as I can remember. That was, until I met a dragon. Her huge icy body fascinated me. Her name was Frostmel. Frostmel was ill, weak, and dying. Yet she took me in. She taught me about culture, language, food, and many things, but most of all, Magic. That was, until she vanished. I woke one morning in a strange town, alone.
A sudden boom brings me from my thoughts and I hear screams from all over the town. Not knowing what to do and being only six years old I try to hide.
I squeak as I fall to my butt after running into a large man. "Owwie."
"Oh would you look at that. One came right to me," I hear the voice say before a painful shock is sent through my entire body and everything goes to black.
I soon wake to the sounds of kids crying. The air is cold, damp, and smells of blood.
"Be strong my child." I hear the all too familiar voice of Frostmel say.
I look around and realize the voice was all in my head. I'm in a ship no bigger than Frostmel's body. I find myself curling into a ball and hugging my legs as tears rush down my cheeks. The rocking of the ship makes me feel sick, and combined with the fear and sadness, I can't hold back the vomit.
"Poor girl, motion sickness on top of all this," I hear an older man say as I continue to sob.
Most of the people near me scoot away as far as they can. The smell of vomit drives them away. I don't spend long alone in my vomit. A man comes and orders us to get off the ship. I have a hard time getting off the ship due to motion sickness. My body still stings from whatever knocked me out in the town.
We are marched into cells under the eyes of strange dog like beasts and many guards. The cells smell more uninviting than the ship. The cracks of whips and sounds of screams come from anyone who tries to disobey the guards in strange masks.
I sit down on the damp, hard, ground in a corner of the large bleak cell and hug my legs, resting my chin on my small knees. I take in a good look around me and sigh, tears well in my eyes as the events of today sink in. The realization of losing the only mother I have ever known hits me like a truck. My stomach twists, my throat knots, and I find my hands over my eyes as they catch the flow of tears.
I don't know how long I cried, it felt like eternity. No one in the cell did anything to help. Probably because I wasn't the only kid crying. The night sky soon fell on the window and the room was lit only by the glow of the moon. Many of the kids grew cold except for me. I was used to the cold and it never bothered me. Normally the cold made me feel safe, but not this cold. This cold is different. A memory of Frostmel jumps into my head.
"There are two types of cold: Temperature, one that will give you strength; and Cold heatedness, one that is devoid of love, care, hope, and everything that when you have with the temperature cold with makes you your strongest. When you feel a cold that brings you discomfort and sadness, one that is full of hate and evil you will need friends and family the most. When someone is alone they will grow to hate everyone. They will lose all value of life, no matter how caring they are. A black heart is not an empty heart, but one that is alone. Show kindness, strength, and love to those who need it most. Don't push them away, but don't push them in either. Reach out and let them decide. When you feel a strong sense of that cold, they are lost. When a heart is black, it is nearly impossible to save."
More tears come as I remember her wisdom. My throat knots more and the tears flow faster.
"Be strong my child. Don't let a black heart turn yours black." Frostmel's voice echoes in my head making me cry louder.
I wake the next morning to guards yelling for everyone to get up and get to work. Before I have a chance to do anything I am pulled to my feet and a pair of cuffs with a red stone are linked to a weird floating totem that shoots a red beam to the red stones and I am pulled to a cart and a pick axe is shoved into my arms. We are led out of the cell area to a dig sight with other people already working.
"Get digging!" I hear a guard yell and, not wanting to be whipped or shocked like the others, I obey and start digging.
We are worked all day and given no time to rest. Each time I slow to try and rest I can feel a powerful shock bring me to my knees. A guard yells and I get back to work, in pain, hungry, and tired. All I want is to see Frostmel fly down and save me, but that never happens. She is gone, I am alone, but I must stay strong for her. She may be my only family, but I will find friends or someone to comfort me. It may not be another person, but I will find one. No matter how long it takes.
The day soon shifts to night and we are all sent back to cells and the totems let us go as we walk into the cells. Just as the first night I sit down in a corner and hug my legs. Tears then begin to fall down my cheek one by one as I whimper. I may not find a friend, but I will not let my heart be tainted black. I try to force myself to think that way, but I am overwhelmed by the coldness in the cells. The hatred of the guards, the loss of my mother, the isolation. I don't know what to do. I'm only a six year old girl and my small body hurts, my pail skin dirty, my black hair also covered in dirt as it falls to my shoulders, I have no parents, no home, and nothing to call my own. My purple eyes, the once cheerful and happy eyes of mine, grow cold and alone once again. I realize that the world only gives, to watch things be taken. I realize that I will always be alone. I gain an empty, hopeless, gaze; but I will not become the monster that does this to someone. I may grow distant, but I will not grow cold.
The food they give us is hardly good, but not eating will get me nowhere. I force the food down and try to keep it in my stomach. I soon sob myself to sleep just as the night before, but this night much quieter. My whimpers are barely heard.
The days are all the same. I work, get shocked for slowing down, eat poor food, and cry alone. That is, until I am moved. I am thrown into a cell with some new kids who were just brought in. One is a girl with beautiful scarlet hair and another is a boy with blue hair and a strange mark over his right eye. There were three other boys, one with blond hair and two with brown. Out of all the cute boys and the pretty redhead, the final girl caught my eye. She has simple brown eyes and brown hair. On her cheeks are the cutest red marks that go across two in a row on each cheek. I don't know why, but something about her made me feel strange. It was almost like I was happy. She made me feel safe in such a horrible place.
She gets up from sitting next to the crying blond to walk over and help me up. She props me against a box and sits next to me.
"My name is Jellal," the boy with blue hair says, bringing me from my thoughts. The boys start introducing themselves.
The blond is Shay, the more built brunet is Simon, and the skinnier brunet is Wally.
"My name is Millianna," the girl next to me says softly.
"Millianna," I echo only loud enough for her to hear, making her smile at me softly.
"What about you?" Jellal asks the red head before either Millianna or I can say anything.
"E-Erza," she says timidly.
"Just Erza?" Jellal asks.
"Yup, just plain old Erza," the redhead answers.
"You got to have a last name," Jellal says before snapping his fingers. "I know, how about Scarlet."
One of the boys goes to protest, but Erza speaks up.
"I like it. Erza Scarlet," Erza says cheering up.
"Now I'll never forget your name, all have to do is look at the color of your hair," Jellal says, making the boys laugh and Erza giggle.
It seems I am on the out- I don't even get to finish my thought before Millianna speaks up.
"What about you?" Millianna asks, bumping her shoulder into mine.
"K-Koi, K-Koi Nigh,." I speak softly.
"Wow, it's so pretty," she marvels, making me blush.
I pull my legs to my chest and hug them as the kids around me talk. I zone out, lost in Millianna's presence. Even with all the dirt and bad smells, her smell is so clear to me, her smell is unforgettable. Her image is engraved into my head. Her voice is mesmerizing. Everything about her, I could never forget.
I must have fallen asleep because I wake the next morning lying in Millianna's sleeping lap. She has one hand on my side and another in a bit of my hair that is touching the ground. My hand lays on her leg as she sits with her legs out. I must have fallen over onto her in my sleep. I lie there quietly and not moving so I don't wake her. Soon comes the time for everyone to wake. The guards yell and everyone wakes up.
"Wakey wakey sleepy head." I hear Millianna say as she gently shakes me.
"I'm up..." I say softly, making her giggle as we stand.
"Now, I was shaking you for almost a minute," she says rubbing my head.
"Oh," I respond softly.
I must have fallen back asleep while I waited. The guards get to our cell and we are put to work. Millianna seems to follow my lead as we are the last two out. We are forced to dig. The day is long and hot. I am the first to get shocked for slowing down.
"Koi! Are you oka-?" I hear Millianna say before she gets cut off by a shock.
"Just keep working. They won't hurt you if you do work." I whimper as we get back to work.
I get shocked many times throughout the day, but I don't slow down or stop so I grew confused. Later that day when night comes we all sit in our cell.
"That man hurts Koi just for the fun of it." Jellal says. "She works harder than all of us, but gets shocked more than all of us."
"He is sick," Millianna growls.
"They all are," Erza says.
"Either way, what can us kids do?" I say making the room go quiet.
"Be strong my child," I hear a voice say, not Frostmel's, but an old man's. "Do not lose hope."
I look up at the man in wonder. He is old and calm. He smiles at me before continuing.
"I feel a long lost power inside of you Koi. You and Erza have so much potential," he says with a calming smile.
I hug my legs and lean into Millianna. She wraps her arm around me and pulls me close.
"He's right, we all have to stay strong," Jellal Says.
The room went quiet after that. I didn't sleep that night. Millianna fell asleep leaning on me but I was too scared to sleep. Afraid of a nightmare or afraid of being hurt, I don't know. All I know is that I couldn't sleep. I'm glad I didn't. A guard soon comes and orders me to come with him. I gently lay Millianna down and do as ordered. He take me outside and puts me to work before the others. He doesn't go easy on the shocks and he also whips me. It soon became clear he was enjoying himself.
"I can't wait for you to grow up. I'm going to have so much fun with you." He says and laughs as I work.
The sun soon comes and others trickle in. At about mid day he pulls me from working and takes me to my cell. He throws me on the ground and leaves.
"It would seem they see it too," the old man says.
"See what?" I asks distantly.
"Your magic energy," he says with a smile. "It's quite abundant."
"Is that why you're here? I saw the guild mark on your back," I say, bringing a wide-eyed look to his face.
Frostmel taught me about the guilds. she said that each guild has an emblem and that every member of that guild bears that emblem.
"I was once in a guild, yes. That is not why I am here; my magic is too weak now," he says softly.
"Can you teach me? She was never able to train me," I say looking down. A sad, but determined look in my eyes.
"I can't train you here, but I can teach you more," he says. "You and Erza."
"What is your name?" I ask.
"My name is Rob and the guild I was in is Fairy Tail," he tells me calmly.
Rob begins to tell me about magic and it isn't long before Millianna and the others come back. Millianna sits next to me and Erza is fascinated by the conversation Rob and I are having about magic.
"What about Dragon Slayer Magic?" I suddenly ask, making Rob's eyes widen.
"That magic hasn't been seen in over 400 years," Rob says in shock.
"It was magic that dragons gave humanity during the great dragon war," I say softly.
"Yes, and now I am beginning to see why you have so much power inside. If the extent of your knowledge about magic is that of dragons, you must have met a Dragon Slayer before now," he says and I shake my head to his later statement.
"No, a dragon," I say, stunning him.
"They still exist?!" Rob's voice is of pure shock, and I nod.
"They are few and hunted. I can only think she was slain," I say, looking down.
Millianna notices the pain in my voice and wraps her arms around me. I push into her as tears start to fall onto her shirt. Rob regains his composure before Erza speaks up.
"What about me, you said I have a power inside of me," she asks.
"I can't tell, as long as you believe, it will show when you need it most," Rob says softly, making her frown.
Rob and Erza continue to talk about magic. I soon calm down and listen, still leaning into Millianna. The boys do who knows what. It's not long before I fall asleep.
The days continue to pass. Each day I am taken out of the cell and forced to work from midnight to midday. My time with the others is limited and I have very little energy. Each day after I work I talk to Rob until the others come back. I spend about an hour talking to Millianna before falling asleep. Some days I fall asleep on Millianna, others against a corner with Millianna next to me. The days go smoothly, but the anger of our little group grows. Jellal is a leader for us and he often voices his anger that I am worked harder than others and longer than everyone. Then today I decided to fight back. I kick the guard who is always tormenting me.
"You little brat!" He growls and picks me up by the neck. "Don't you dare kick me!"
He then takes a knife and cuts the socket of my left eye three times. He drops me as I hold my eye. He missed my eye each time but the three diagonal cuts will leave scars that point to my mouth and stop at my cheek.
When the others come back from work and see my face Jellal is furious.
"Fighting back is what put her in this situation," Rob says, stopping Jellal before he can do anything stupid.
"I'll be fine, Jellal, but we have to get out of here," I say weakly.
My body has grown tired, but not weak. I haven't lost weight, but the weight is lighter for me. All the work they put me to has made me stronger, but tired. It was then that the plan to escape was in everyone's minds.