Author's Note: First off, I'm an amateur writer, so don't expect much. You can leave criticism (as long as it's constructive), but anything offensive/insulting will be ignored. If you really don't like this fic that much, just close your tab. See? Problem solved. I probably won't respond to reviews unless I REALLY feel like it. The plot might follow the main storyline, or it might diverge. I might even use some arcs and not others. Who knows? 'Cause I don't. Some characters might be OOC (it's been a while since I've watched Fairy Tail). Update schedule is non-existent. I'll work on this whenever I have free time, but...uh...yeah. Anyways, this is my first fanfiction, so it'll be like an experiment.
This will be a Female OC x Erza fic. Don't like it? Don't read it.
Finally, any first-person narrative is from the point of view of my OC. Though I might add some third-person p.o.v. in the story for a better understanding of some details.
"Speech"
'Thought'
Italics mean either flashback, dream, or emphasis (You'll know which one when the time comes; it'll be obvious…I hope)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Chapter 1 - New Target
I requipped a dagger into my hand and sliced open the throat of the man lying beneath me. He made a gurgling noise and coughed up blood.
"You bitch," he managed to croak out as he drowned in his own blood. Soon enough, his eyes were devoid of life.
Six months is what it took to kill this corrupt mayor. I accepted this job because I thought it was gonna be easy. Little did I know was that his manor was heavily guarded. Not by your average sword-wielding knights, or your gun-wielding men in suits.
But by magic-wielding mercenaries.
It didn't help that one of them was adept in detecting magical auras, meaning I had to keep my magic hidden during the entire mission. I mean, as a maid, it would've been pretty suspicious.
For the first five months, I was only allowed to meet with the mayor's secretary. Afterwards, I was finally able to meet with him. After six months, I seemed to finally be trusted. And so, I convinced the mayor to go into town one night to visit the night markets he liked. I made sure to lose the guard that came with us in the crowd before taking the mayor into an alleyway and finishing the job.
I looked down at the body.
I grinned wickedly.
To think this was the guy who not only taxed the hell out of the town and used those taxes to pay dark guilds to do his dirty deeds, but also was in charge of a slavery ring. From what I gathered, which wasn't much, only children and young teenagers were enslaved and were sent to construct something for some wizard.
That was another reason why I took this job.
Even though I couldn't care less about what they were building, it was the slavery part that pissed me off. I absolutely despised slavery. The physical abuse from the slavers, being unfed and locked up, the emotional trauma that scarred a person for life.
It made me sick just thinking about it.
"You're one to talk," I murmured to myself.
I picked up the body and sneakily carried it through town, ducking into alleys and into shadows. The town was eerily quiet. I paused and looked at a house in front of me. With its crumbling stone foundation, cracks in its wooden walls, and broken windows, it reminded me of my old house. I was once again reminded of how poor this town was despite the festivals they held and everyone's smiling faces. I looked at the mayor's manor atop the hill at the edge of town one more time with disgust, and silently walked into the forest with a body on my shoulders.
I figured it was a good place to bury a body without it getting found.
After walking long enough, I set the body down in the perfect area and saw something in the corner of my eye. Under the moonlight, slightly swaying due to the wind, were the flowers that I was named after.
Asters.
I walked over, plucked one out of the ground, walked back to the body, and placed the purple flower on the man's chest.
I stared at the flower for a bit.
My trance was broken by the sound of footsteps rushing up from behind me. I quickly swerved around just in time to cross my arms and block a downwards slash from a sword using the metal wrist cuffs I always wore.
'Too strong,' I thought as I gritted my teeth. I was being pushed deeper into the dirt beneath my feet.
She yelled, "Now, Gray!"
I looked in the direction she yelled at, only to see a giant freakin' hammer made out of ice slam into me, knocking me off my feet and into a tree at least a dozen metres away.
I grunted after my not-so-soft landing and melted into the shadows. They chased after me and I could make out two figures: a shirtless guy and a girl in armor.
"Damnit," the girl cursed.
"Who was that?" the shirtless guy asked.
"I don't know. But the mayor's dead."
The guy sighed. "Let's bring him back to town and bury him later. Lucy found where the slaves were being kept. We need to go help free them.
"Alright. When we get back to the guild, we should discuss this with Master."
I came out of the shadows as soon as they left. I rubbed my aching side where the hammer hit and knew it was gonna be bruised tomorrow.
They looked like guild wizards that were on a mission, but I couldn't see their insignias correctly. I did, however, make out a striking detail about the girl.
She had scarlet hair.
"Just great," I muttered to myself. There was no way I was getting that body back since people were gonna be panicking left and right in town. That's an issue.
The request said to leave no evidence.
I think my pay just plummeted.
The girl in armor and her companion walked back to where the mayor was left. She noticed something on the mayor's chest.
Right on his disheveled tie was a purple flower.
"What's wrong?" the shirtless boy asked.
"Nothing," the girl responded. "Let's go."
The boy nodded, picked up the body, and they left for town.
I made a three hour trip back to the village I lived in. It would've been a lot longer if I wasn't using my Speed Magic most of the time. The village was located in a valley that was thick with trees. From the outside, the village was not visible due to the barriers set up by the village leaders. They needed to conceal their village for one reason and one reason only.
The only ones allowed to live in the village were assassins.
I passed through the barrier thanks to the necklace around my neck. Every assassin got one once they became a Beginner Assassin. Mine had a hexagon shaped amethyst hanging from the chain.
I walked down the stone path surrounded by luscious meadows and beautiful trees.
'Such a serene view for a village focused on killing,' I thought. Reaching the village entrance, I walked in and decided to take a bath first so I made my way towards my lodging. I passed by some kids playing while their mothers watched,
They all wore masks.
Most of the houses were either built using wood, stone, or both and were usually two stories. The place I was staying at was a stone, one story lodge. It wasn't very big but it had what I needed. A storeroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. I headed towards my destination.
In the bathroom, I looked in the mirror as I finished undressing. My long, toned, cream-colored legs were probably my best assets as my chest wasn't…as developed as other girls my age.
Not that I was jealous or anything. They got in the way of training, after all. They made your back hurt - from what I was told - and they slowed you down.
Right. Not jealous.
My hair wasn't its usual color. I had to dye it black since my original purple hair would've been too noticeable to pull off the recent assassination.
I even wore color-changing contacts to make my eyes look grey. Just to be sure.
Red eyes do stand out, after all.
After my bath, during which I finally got rid of that annoying hair dye, I got dressed in my usual clothes. I put on a plain, black bra and the same colored panties. I slipped on my black leggings, my metal wrist cuffs, and a long-sleeved black shirt. I stared at my necklace before putting it around my neck and tucking it into my shirt. My black, knee-length overcoat was hanging on the bathroom door, so I grabbed it and put it on. I buttoned up the top of the robe and strapped a grey belt around my waist. I tied my shoulder-length hair into a short ponytail and pulled on my hood. I put on my black, fingerless gloves and my black, grey trimmed cloak. I walked over to my front door, slipped into my tall, black boots and laced the front of each boot. I looked over to a shelf that was right beside the door. On it, was a full white mask that had a scar over the right eye. I grabbed it and put it on.
Finally ready, I was about to open the door when someone suddenly threw it open and crashed into me, giving me a bone-crushing hug. I looked up to see green locks of hair and instantly recognized who was suffocating me.
"Runi," I attempted to speak. "Let go. You're hurting me."
She released me from her arms. "Oh, sorry! And I told you to call me by my given name!"
It was common courtesy to call people by their last names in the village, but this girl was the only one I could consider a friend, so I usually called her by her given name in private. I smiled a bit. "Fine, Ella."
She squealed, "Yay!"
The girl in front of me was Ella Runi, a Junior Assassin - only one level above a Beginner - and my only friend. Like all assassins, she was trained to use Requip Magic, Strengthening Magic, and Speed Magic. But I knew that her primary magic was Iron-make Magic. At the age of twenty-one, only one year older than me, she was more than a few inches taller. Even though I was technically ranked above her, she always treated me like a little sister. She was wearing her usual outfit that consisted of a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, brown, baggy trousers that reached down to her shins, and a long, brown overcoat that reached her knees. Her overcoat didn't have any buttons so I was always reminded of how she was more developed in…that area. Her boots were the same as mine except they were brown. Her bangs were parted to the left and her long, wavy, emerald-colored hair cascaded down to her lower back. Her jade necklace hung from her neck. This girl was always hyperactive and nice. She played with the village kids and helped out wherever she could.
It always made me wonder how such a nice girl was able to kill so easily.
Even if she had so many redeeming qualities, I was always bothered by one thing.
She never wore a mask.
Not wearing a mask was risky. You were recognizable and easily tracked. Most of the people who didn't wear masks on their missions were killed. They weren't safe in the village either. Grudges often resulted in assassination attempts in the village, because the only law that existed here was to not go against the village leaders. It was hard to tell who was who if everyone was wearing similar masks and it didn't help that people often changed their attires. So those who didn't wear a mask, more often than not, were ironically assassinated.
"So, Aster, how was your mission?" she asked as her blue eyes sparkled in curiosity.
"It was okay, I guess," I told her. "The mayor was a sleazebag and it took a while before I was finally able to gain his trust."
"Oooh. So how'd you kill him?"
I made a hand gesture towards my throat and smirked. "Sliced right open."
She gave me a thumbs up. "Nice!"
"It was a well-deserved kill, though I ran into some problems at the end." I furrowed my brow and looked down a bit.
"What happened?"
"I…couldn't hide the body. In fact, it was even taken back to the town to be buried."
"WHAT!?" She then realized how loud she yelled and lowered her voice. "You'll get in trouble! You know how he feels when a mission isn't done right."
I tried calming her down. "I know, I know. I'm on my way to discuss it with him right now."
"You want me to come with you?" she worriedly suggested.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll be fine."
"Alright. If you say so." She didn't sound too convinced.
I departed my lodge and looked back at Ella to see her standing in front of it. I waved at her.
She just stared at me with a sad smile on her lips.
I turned back around. 'Well then. Time to see how bad my punishment will be,' I thought to myself as I walked down the path that led to the giant temple at the edge of the village.
The temple looked pretty cool. White marble steps leading up to a grand archway that had a snake sculpted on it. Torch bowls lined up each side of the stairs. Right after passing through the arch, I was treated with the entrance to the temple that was comprised of a set of wooden doors. A large crow and a skull were clearly etched into each door. The top of the temple looked like a tower with a pointed top. The place had no windows and the rest of the building looked like an architect tried to hard and decided to make the stone placements as complex as possible.
I mean, at least it looked nice.
I always wondered, though, why an organization comprised of assassins chose a temple for one of their bases of operation.
Who were we worshipping, anyways?
I pushed open the doors, and walked into the main hall. The inside was less…pleasant than the outside.
Don't get me wrong. It does look kinda nice. What with all the torches mounted on the tall, stone pillars that reached the ceiling of the temple. Weapons mounted on the stone walls for those who needed to buy new ones. Round wooden tables were set around the hall. And the most noticeable decoration of all: a ten foot tall statue of a three-headed dog in the middle of the floor. The problem with the place was the atmosphere. Everyone was always on edge since everyone was an assassin.
I hated that tension.
I walked up to the counter near the back and addressed the man behind it. "I'm here to see the Doc."
He responded in a gruff voice. "Aster Lok. The Doc has been expecting you." He pointed me to a wooden door in the corner of the hall.
The Doc was the leader of the Fiore branch of the organization I belonged to. The organization didn't actually have a name 'cause it was better if the council didn't have a name to pin the blame on whenever someone was assassinated. We didn't want any recognition for what we did either. That said, we still had something called assassin's pride.
Especially me.
I took a lot of pride in killing difficult targets. It also gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.
As I was about to grab the handle of the door, it opened and out walked a man I didn't expect to see.
"Lok," he said in a monotone voice as he nodded.
"Master Sano," I responded while bowing a bit.
The man standing in front of me was a Master Assassin, the highest of the four ranks given to any assassin in the organization. If I recall correctly, there were currently only seven of them left, and it was rare enough to see one. No one ever saw what Master Sano looked like. He always wore a long, black cloak that reached the floor and was tied in the front. The only way people recognized him was from his black mask that had a blue line going through each eye.
All I really knew about him was that he assassinated a lot of important people. His targets ranged from guild masters to council officials. Missions weren't shared between assassins, but I asked the Doc out of curiosity what kind of missions Masters got, and he told me.
He continued walking and I stared at his back for a couple seconds before proceeding into the room.
The first thing I saw were shelves, shelves, and more shelves. Each one held an assortment of…body parts. I saw jars full of eyes, arms and legs with metal jutting out of them, and even a few skulls.
They were all real and they were all human.
I knew 'cause I asked the first time I saw them.
The Doc was sitting in the far left corner of the room at a desk, working on something I really didn't want to know about. Next to the desk was a door, though I didn't know where it led. He turned around and smiled his usual I-promise-not-to-kill-you-but-I-might-anyways smile.
He was in his usual attire. He wore a grey, button-up shirt with a red tie, black dress pants, and a white lab coat with oversized pockets. He also wore black-rimmed glasses with rectangular lenses.
His attire plus the room he was sitting in screamed "I'm a mad scientist."
He motioned me to the couch in the middle of the room. "Let's have a chat, shall we?" Though it sounded more like an order than a question.
I awkwardly sat there for a few moments before deciding to try and break the silence.
"So, uh, what did you want to chat about, exactly?" I asked nervously.
He instantly responded, "Oh I think you know."
"..."
When I didn't say anything, he continued. "The mayor you assassinated was worth what, like five million jewels? You had such a great streak going…I'm a bit disappointed, really. Need I remind you of what happens when you fail a mission?"
I flinched. The scars on my back ached, but I stayed silent.
He sighed. "To be fair, I guess it was only incomplete. Not a complete failure."
I sighed in relief.
"Although, no evidence means no evidence. The client was extremely unhappy when they found out. And if the client's unhappy, I'm unhappy."
I felt myself tensing up.
He sighed once more. "The client has agreed on a seventy percent deduction."
'Okay, that's not too bad,' I thought.
"But I still need to punish you."
"..." I was expecting that much, at least.
"No one is exempt from punishment." Suddenly, at a speed I couldn't even begin to comprehend, a needle was injecting some sort of fluid into my forearm. My eyes widened as I looked up to the blurry figure standing in front of me. He sighed for the last time. "I'll see you in a bit."
And then I fell unconscious.
I woke up and was greeted by darkness.
Moments later, I heard a loud creak as light flooded into the room and I saw the Doc standing in the doorway. He walked in, turned on the lights, and closed the door behind him.
I finally saw where I was.
I was in a metal chair that was hooked up to some machine in the middle of the room. My wrists and legs were cuffed to the chair and my upper body was strapped in.
I tried using my Shadow Magic to get out of the chair but it didn't work.
He seemed to notice my struggle and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't bother. Those cuffs restrict the wearer's magic."
I decided to look around the room and noticed a lot of…tools lying around.
By tools, I meant sharp, dangerous knives.
I felt a bead of sweat rolling down my temple. "You're... not gonna dissect me, are you?"
He seemed confused by my question. "Huh? Why would I do that?"
I looked over to the large cleaver hanging on the wall.
He followed my gaze and snickered. "Those are just for my little experiments. Your punishment is different." He moved to the back of the chair. "As soon as I get this wiring fixed up, we can start."
I was still a bit sedated, so I really couldn't tell what was going on until he stepped in front of me, seemingly done with whatever wiring he was fixing.
"You're going to help me test this new torture device," he said as he smiled wickedly.
My eyes widened, and I started struggling against my restraints.
As assassins, we've been trained to never disclose any information about anything if we were ever to be captured and tortured.
It still didn't mean that it didn't hurt, though.
He pulled out a remote with a switch on it. "Remember this pain. This is for discipline." He flipped the switch to turn the machine on.
And I finally found out what it did.
Pain shot through my entire body as I was electrocuted from head to toe. I struggled in vain against my restraints as the machine was turned off.
The Doc seemed to be contemplating something as he looked at me, or more specifically, the machine.
"Hold on," he told me. "I need to fix the output."
I heard some tinkering behind me and flinched in my seat when he came back into view.
"Alright. This one should hurt more," he promised.
'It's not like I want it to hurt mo-' My thoughts were interrupted by the shocks running through my body as the machine was switched on.
This time, I screamed.
The Doc kept the machine on for longer this time and I felt darkness creeping up on me as the pain was unbearable.
The electrocution stopped and so did my screams.
"Hmm…I think the device works well enough. I'll obviously do some fine tuning on my own later. In the meantime, your punishment isn't over yet."
I tried to look up at his face but couldn't.
My screams rang out for a while as I was electrocuted over and over.
After who knows how long, my throat dried up and my screams turned silent.
Soon enough, I passed out from the pain.
My eyes slowly opened and I instinctively shielded them from the light shining through a window.
I felt the softness under my body and it took some time to realize that I was lying in my own bed.
'I'm at home…?' I groggily thought as I looked around. I was wearing the clothes I passed out in.
I was still wearing my mask, so I took it off and put it next to my necklace on my nightstand.
By the looks of it, the sun was setting. I sat up to admire the orange-reddish light outside my window when my bedroom door opened.
"You're awake," Ella said quietly as her eyes widened. "Hold on…I'll go get you something to drink."
She quickly rushed out without bothering to turn on the lights.
After she came back and I downed a whole glass of water, I asked her, "What happened?"
She pulled up a stool next to the bed. "I was called to the Doc's office thinking I was going to get another mission." She smiled sadly at me. "Instead, he told me to take you home since he was done with you. You were unconscious and twitching on the couch."
"I see…thanks for taking me home, I guess."
I looked down at my arms to see them bandaged. I looked up and confusedly stared at Ella.
"You had electrical burns on your forearms," she responded to my silent question.
"Oh." I couldn't even remember getting them. "Thanks…again."
She wasn't finished. "I was really worried, you know." I turned to look at her. She bit her lip and I noticed the tears in her eyes.
I didn't really know what to say. "Sorry."
Her eyes were downcast as she said quietly, "Hey, can we run away?"
My eyes widened as I looked at her. "You know we ca-"
She looked up at me with tears freely flowing down her cheeks and her fists balling up on her lap. "I don't want to stay here anymore!" she yelled and then barely whispered, "I hate this place."
I couldn't find any words to comfort her. "I do too. But you know we can't just leave. We try to escape, we die. Even if we do manage to escape the village, we'll never be free. The organization will constantly send assassins after us."
She looked down again before quietly saying, "I know but I just…" She trailed off.
I lifted her head up and, using my fingers, I brushed the tears away from her eyes. "It'll be fine," I tried comforting her. I gave her a small smile which she returned.
She leaned forward and hugged me. "I'm just happy that you're okay."
I hummed in response.
We sat there in each other's embrace, not realizing how much time had passed until it got too dark to see.
She didn't say anything, and I didn't realize till later that this was the first time I showed her my face.
It was a few days after I recovered.
I was lying down in the meadow outside the village, trying to relax after some training. Even with my mask and hood on, the slight breeze felt nice.
'Too nice for a village of assassins,' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the pleasant weather.
I felt someone's presence above me and opened my eyes.
Blue eyes stared down at me.
"Hey," I greeted with a smile.
"Hi," Ella said back as she sat down beside me. "Tough day?"
"Ehh…training is training. If anything, it lets me vent."
She tilted her head and asked, "Are you stressed?"
"Just anxious. Wondering what my next mission will be."
"Oh, speaking of missions." I turned to her and her face lit up as she talked. "I just received my next one!"
Even though she couldn't see it, my eyes widened. "Is it…?"
She seemed to know what I was gonna ask. "Yep. It's my rank-up mission. If I successfully complete this, I'll be promoted to a Senior Assassin, so I'll be the same rank as you!" she exclaimed with a little twinkle in her eyes. She then mockingly added, "I just hope that I don't trip and fall into a mud puddle on the way back to the village afterwards."
I turned back to the sky and frowned a bit. "Hey, that was one time! Remind me again. How long have I been a Senior Assassin?"
She pouted and then murmured, "About three and a half years."
"So I'm still the senior Senior," I somewhat proudly stated before inwardly cringing at how bad my joke was.
She giggle a bit before saying, "That was horrible, and you know it."
"Yeah, I know." I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment before continuing our earlier conversation. "Then again, two and a half years is nothing compared to how much time people spend to get to Master."
She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right."
"People usually don't survive long enough to become a Master, and I've heard that those who have been promoted were Seniors for decades."
"..."
I looked back at her.
She was longingly gazing at the edge of the valley, in the opposite direction of the village.
I stayed silent as I stared at her, getting lost in my own thoughts.
"Hey," she said as she suddenly stood up, breaking me out of my stupor. She now stood in front of me. "Do you know why I love meadows so much?"
This was new. "No," I responded as I sat up.
She turned around so that her back was facing me. "They're so peaceful. Something I wish my life was."
"..." I barely caught that second part since she whispered it so quietly.
She faced me again. "Don't you wish that everyday could be like this?"
"Sometimes." I looked past her. It was nearing the end of the day and the sun was setting behind her.
"I'll be leaving tomorrow for the mission," she stated. "It'll probably only take a few weeks."
"Good luck," I wished her. "Though you probably don't need it. You're pretty good."
A soft smile graced her lips as she sat back down on my right. She leaned her head on my shoulder and started humming a tune I didn't know.
We simply sat there for a while longer, enjoying each other's company and basking in the remaining sunlight before its source disappeared over the horizon.
It was a couple weeks after Ella left.
I was walking to the temple to see if they had any new weapons when I saw a peculiar sight.
The Doc was outside of his lab…taking a walk.
He saw me and jogged towards me with his hands in his oversized pockets.
I wondered how he never got hot in that stupid lab coat, but then I remembered that he never really left his lab unless there was an emergency.
He stopped jogging and stood in front before greeting me.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite Senior Assassin, Lok." I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
"Is that sarcasm?" I bluntly asked.
"Of course not," he assured. "You are one of the most successful Seniors here, after all."
I still didn't know why he left the temple, so I decided to ask, "Did you want something from me?"
He stared at me for a second with a frown on his face before saying, "You should probably head to the temple's infirmary."
I felt dread creeping up on me.
"Why?"
What he said next made my eyes widen in shock.
"Runi failed her mission."
I was sprinting to the temple while using my Speed Magic.
My mind flashed back to what the Doc said.
I couldn't believe my ears. "What?" I quietly asked.
"Apparently, she was interrupted by several dark guilds," he started to respond to my confused and shocked expression. "Her mission was to assassinate a wealthy merchant in a large town. The dark guilds raided the town and killed a lot of people."
"What dark guilds?"
"Apparently, they all worked for one of the bigger dark guilds, Oración Seis. One of them was recognized to be a guild called Naked Mummy. No one recognized the other two."
I had to ask. "Is she okay?"
"Well…"
I finally reached the temple and jumped the steps two at a time. I threw open the doors, turning a few heads on the inside, and rushed to the infirmary wing on the right side of the building.
I slowed down as I entered the room that was my destination. I looked around and saw her lying in a bed at the other side of the room.
I rushed over and saw how badly she was injured.
She had bandages wrapped around her entire upper body and bandages going across her right eye.
The amount of dried blood was unsettling.
I glared at the nurse nearby and snarled, "What happened to her!?"
The nurse, her voice monotone, replied, "Multiple gunshot wounds, slash wounds on the chest and the eye." She walked away after that.
I kneeled down next to her bed and clasped her left hand in both of mine.
She opened her eye.
"Aster?" Her voice was quiet and rasp.
"Ella, I'm here…I'm here…" I tried to talk to her.
"I'm sorry," she apologized as she tried to smile. "It doesn't look like I'll be joining your rank.
"That's fine," I tried reassuring her. "You can do it next time."
I could already feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.
What she said next broke my heart.
"You and I both know that there won't be a next time."
I knew.
I knew all too well how severe her injuries were.
She held out her right hand to me, her jade necklace sitting on it.
"Here." She beckoned me to take it. "I want you to have it."
I shakingly took it from her. And for the second time in the eleven years I'd known her, I took off my mask.
I tried cracking a smile.
"Hey," I started. "Don't talk like that. You still need to reach my level, right?"
She stayed silent.
I choked back a sob. "Please don't go," I pleaded as I looked down.
"Your…birthday," she started to speak again and I whipped my head up to look at her. "It passed when you were on that long mission. I…left you a present. I worked on it for a whole year and a half. It's…under your bed. I wish I could see your reaction when you open it. I think…I think you'll like it."
I could see the light fading from her eyes.
"No…don't leave yet," I begged her. "Please."
She stared at the ceiling and slowly raised her right hand upwards as if trying to grasp something before managing to speak.
At this point, she was barely audible.
"It's…so very peaceful…here."
The slightest smile dawned her face.
My sobs grew louder and louder.
That night, I cried myself to sleep without an ounce of shame.
For the first month and a half, I was depressed.
There was no funeral. We didn't have those in the village.
What we did have was a cemetery, and I visited it almost every day.
It was where Ella was laid to rest, after all.
After my depression, I started to put all of my energy into my training.
All of my frustrations.
All of my stress.
And all of my tears.
Every day was the same. I would train until I collapsed from exhaustion, visit Ella, lie down in the meadow, take a shower at home, eat dinner, then sleep.
Today was no different.
The training grounds had several fields. There were buildings to practice assassinations or escapes, a forest to practice your maneuverability, and simple fields for target practice.
I headed to the last one.
The grounds were surprisingly really organized. Multiple people were allowed to book a field for an hour and a half and you were allowed to extend those hours if no one was waiting in line.
I went and signed my name in before entering the field full of moving targets. I didn't really understand the mechanisms behind it and I never questioned them.
I broke into a sprint around the targets as I requipped a dagger in each hand. I threw them both at the same target, nailing it in the head and the chest. Requipping more daggers in my hands, I repeated the process, even mixing my Shadow Magic to practice sneak attacks.
I requipped my daggers away and replaced them with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. The bow was made out of a light metal and so were the arrows.
When I drew an arrow back, I imbued it with my shadows, and when I shot, it snaked around the targets until hitting the farthest one.
After practicing with my bow, I requipped it and the quiver away, and formed my shadows into a spear.
I threw my shadow spear and, like my arrows, it snaked around, going through the moving targets, before coming back to me.
My shadows weren't always physical. Whenever I hit a person with a shadow spear, it either hit them like a train, or drained some of their magic and energy. If it drained them, I could replenish my own when it came back to me.
My luck was pretty good today. No one came to use the field so I was able to get another session in.
After my training, I went to the cemetery.
We didn't have tombstones, but I remembered where she was buried.
I walked along the dirt until I stopped at the farthest burial from the entrance.
I kneeled on the ground in front of it and requipped Ella's gift onto my lap.
It was a sword. I unsheathed it from its purple scabbard and held it vertically in front of me.
It truly was beautiful.
Its jade blade shined in the sunlight. My eyes travelled down the sword, past its non-existent cross-guard, and to its grip. It was wrapped in leather that was dyed red. Finally, the pommel was diamond-shaped and contained an amethyst.
I silently prayed in front of the grave until my knees started to get tired.
I decided to skip the meadow today and went straight home.
My shower was short and so was my dinner. I just went to my lacrima-powered fridge, pulled out some beef stew that I cooked a couple days ago, and reheated it.
Afterwards, I changed into my sleepwear, consisting of a plain red shirt and black shorts, and went straight to bed.
I didn't wake up to the sound of birds chirping, and I didn't wake up to the sunlight shining through my window.
I woke up to a call that came through the lacrima that sat on my nightstand.
I groggily sat up, took the lacrima in my hands, and answered it.
"Lok, the Doc has a mission for you," said a gruff voice before hanging up.
I sighed before slowly getting out of bed and starting my morning routine.
I took my necklace off my nightstand and put it on.
It now had an amethyst and a jade stone hanging from it.
After getting dressed in my usual outfit, I cooked breakfast. It was a simple eggs and toast since I probably didn't have the time to cook anything better.
Soon enough, I had my mask on and was out the door.
It was still dark out.
I ran, using my Speed Magic, to the temple. After entering, I quickly made my way to the door at the back.
I walked into the brightly lit room with the Doc sitting at his desk, facing the door as if he was expecting me, which he was.
I sat down on the couch and decided to speak first.
"So, Doc, you have a mission for me?"
"How do you feel about the guild life?" he randomly asked.
"Huh?"
"Guild life," he repeated.
"Uh, I don't know, I've never thought about it before." My mind flashed back to the day Ella died and my fists clenched.
"Well, for this assassination, looks like you'll be joining a legal guild called Fairy Tail."
"Never heard of them."
He sighed. "Well, we don't get news here so that's probably why. They're always in them."
"So where is this guild, anyways?"
"Magnolia."
"Huh…never been around that area before."
"You're to infiltrate the guild by blending in, get close to the target, then kill her. Don't kill anyone else. Can't have too many people dying or else people will get suspicious. Understand?"
"You got it." I was getting tired of this conversation. "So who's the target?" I asked as I crossed one leg over the other to get more comfortable.
He placed a picture of a person onto the table.
"A woman named Erza Scarlet."
Second A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter. You can review, follow, favorite, whatever you want. This'll probably be one of the longer chapters in this series. (About 6.4k words)
See you all in the next one.
