Hello everyone!
This is it, the sequel you've been waiting for! (Unless you're from the future and is coming directly from Tears of Rain, in that case, kudos to you!)
If you haven't read Tears of Rain, I recommend you do it, unless you want to be totally confused by this story. (You: What the hell happened to them? What the hell is going on now?! Who the hell is Leon?!)
Kids aside, thank you for your patience, persistence and perseverance, your courage and strength, your present and mind! (I think you get the point.) Just, Thank you for being here.
I am stoked to be going further into this story with you guys and hopefully we both enjoy the ride. Well I don't think I wanna keep you any longer so go ahead and read now.. There's no more A/N, so just read.. Why are you still reading this, the story is below! Geez..
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail with my own two hands, but maybe one day.. (MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Unknown location. Two days ago.
Deep sounds of footsteps rung between the walls of a rather dark hallway. Shoes connected with the iron grid, that made up the floor. Underneath, shadows and silhouettes of walking bodies resided. They had no real pattern, they were just walking around, not knowing where to go. Big pipes, in different sizes, was plastered to the walls, all going one way, and one way only.
The rather skinny man eyed the pipes now and again, still wondering what their purpose was. The aforementioned man continued his journey down the hall that was lit up, by a series of lamps that gave off red light and the little amount of moonlight they got in through the tiny windows to the left of him.
The man's appearance was another story. His green eyes flickered nervously around, while his grip on a stack of papers got even tighter as he went on. His, short, red hair was pushed back into a tiny ponytail, keeping it from getting in his eyes, which would have been almost impossible anyway, since the glasses he wore protected him from that. His white lap coat swung at his feet, as his steps was fast, yet uncertain.
Nearing his destination, his behavior became more and more nervous and he then quickly stopped for a minute, to catch his breath. A small scar revealed itself on his lifted right hand, showing signs of old battle and fights wounds. Having sighed a deep breath, he swallowed a gathering amount of saliva and continued down the red lit hallway.
Making it to a massive iron door at the end, he once again took a deep breath and knocked. The sound of his fist slamming against the entrance, made his ears ring in pain, as the noise was loud and greatly annoying. Next the man's tired voice sounded.
"Master Vandettos, I come with a status report."
Without the slightest sign of life on the other end, the two double doors slowly, and loudly, swung open, allowing the man entrance.
The room he entered wasn't much unlike the one he had come from. Much bigger of course, but it still kept it's creepy appearance. The same iron grid floor, the same pipe covered walls. An enormous aquarium was filling out the room, covering the entire north wall in front of the red haired man. A throne-like chair was placed in front of the huge water tank, it's back towards the fairly nervous man. A fitting little, most likely mahogany table was placed beside the chair, filling out it's purpose of carrying a red vine bottle and a half empty vine glass.
"Proceed."
The deep masculine voice made the red haired man flinch so much, he almost dropped the papers in his hands. Though he held steady, keeping a firm grip on them.
"Y-Yes sir, two weeks ago, subjects 101, 108, 109, 303 and 304 got sent out on a mission to brand. As you very well know yourself sir, their main targets was 01, 02, 03, 04 and 06." The man took a break, waiting for approval to continue.
"I seem to remember there were six targets." The deep voice said, in a rather curious manner. Of course, his statement seemed to both startle and anger the man.
"O-Of course sir, but we discovered that target 07 was no longer valid." He explained. That seemed to amuse the man in the throne-like chair even more.
"And why is that, Nerov?"
The man called Nerov flinched again, as his name rung throughout the room.
"Target 07 was not a mage, sir." Nerov stated in a sigh, as he kept staring at the papers. He wanted this over with as soon as possible.
Vandettos shifted in his chair, as he reached out to grab the vine glass. He held it in his hand for minutes, thinking things through, then he studied the content of the glass by swinging it around a bit, but then stopped and spoke.
"And what happened to this target 07?" The deep voice asked, making Nerov tighten his grip on the papers. The master knew all about his connection with target 07 and apparently found it funny to torture him with that question.
"Target 07 died, sir." The red haired man stated, rather quietly.
Vandettos chuckled a deep and rather amused laugh, as he continued to study his vine glass. "That's too bad, I know how much you-"
"With all do respect sir, I would rather refrain from talking about my past." Nerov cut him off, fear and anger waving in him.
Swallowing a fair amount of vine, the master spoke again. "Very well, proceed with the report." He did not sound happy.
Nerov busied himself with finding the right page and then cleared his throat, when he found it.
"Well, after a much delayed investigation, and I deeply apologize for that, we came to the conclusion that target 03 and 04 was successfully branded, sir." Nerov stated, his voice sounding with a resentment of such magnitude towards Vandettos, he could barely contain himself.
"How did that transpire?" Vandettos asked, set on picking out every little error he could find.
"Subject 101 branded target 04 all by himself, but failed to brand target 06 in the process. Subject 303 and 304 failed to brand target 03, therefore subject 201 and 202, who was in the area, stepped in and did it." Nerov finished reading from the paper and looked to the chair facing away from him.
"I see." He placed the vine glass back on the table. Never a good sign. "Where are the targets?"
"At their homes, sir." Nerov reported and still waited for questions or permission to leave. A small bean of sweat rolled down his cheek, as the room was incredibly hot, but the master liked the warmth.
"Any problems with the counsel?" Vandettos asked, his voice portraying a bit of curiosity.
"No sir." Nerov stated, "Subject 201 took care of it all."
"Very well, the failed subjects are disposable, I say lets-" Vandettos began, but was once again rudely cut off by Nerov.
"But sir, Subject 101 was.. He was.." Nerov dived deeper down into himself, as he knew he had made a mistake.
"Are you questioning my order?" Vandettos asked, mildly amused once again.
"N-No sir, but-" This time it was Nerov's turn to be cut off.
"I get it. Since you carry such strong attachments towards Subject 101, I will keep him alive, but he is to remain in his capsule at all time, understood?" Vandettos gave in, all interest having left his voice.
"O-Of course! Thank you sir!" Nerov was lifted and mildly happy for the master's 'kindness'.
"You can leave now." The deep voice rung again and startled Nerov out of his thoughts.
"Yes master." Nerov bowed and then turned on his feet, proceeding towards the door. He was glad that Subject 101 would live, even if it was in a capsule.
"Oh and, the other subjects." Nerov froze at the door, having reached out for the knob. "You know the procedure, get rid of them." Vandettos' voice rang with such finality, Nerov had no chance of stating his disagreement on the matter.
"As you wish, Master." Nerov continued out the door with a sour and disgusted look on his face, leaving Vandettos to his thoughts once again. Soon, screams of pain and agony sounded throughout the building and the man who had ordered their suffering, smiled as he took another sip of his vine glass.
Magnolia. Present time.
Cana Alberona was a peculiar woman. Not only when speaking, but also in her actions and the two often contradicted one another. Having been a member of Fairy Tail since childhood, she still hadn't told anyone of her reason to join and it still remained her secret. With the sadness and guilt for not being able to trust her guild mates enough for her to spill that information, she spent her time drinking her sorrows away. This method usually worked for her, but when it didn't she became her old self. The one who didn't speak much. The one she was right now. Not having been able to drink for two weeks, had her on serious edge. And this was all the fault of Fairy Tail's master; Makarov.
Two weeks ago she, together with her fellow guild mates, had been practically kicked out on missions, with strict orders not to show oneself in the guild for two weeks. All do the the homecoming mages with serious issues and injuries.
Gajeel had come home with several broken rips in a very dangerous area, or so they were told by the 'doctor' Micheal, who had accompanied Levy home in a hospital bed. So the big teen were assigned to a months bed rest, which was very unpleasing to him. The little bluenette, to everyone's joy, was very much alive and funnily enough, very worried about the iron dragon slayer. Natsu and Lucy didn't seem to have any physical wounds, but their eyes were shadows of themselves, as Natsu carried the body of the cute red haired boy, who had been there to warn them only days before. Juvia's leg was incredibly worse off, but miraculously Micheal seemed to think, no drastic measures needed to be taken and assigned her bed rest as well. Carrying the unconscious Gray, was Erza, who seemed without any injuries as well.
This is where Makarov had told everyone, that the beaten and broken wizards needed rest and a noisy, mage packed guild was not a very good treatment plan. So practically everyone had been either sent home or out on missions.
The long two weeks had finally come to pass and Cana was now on her way home.
"Cana-chan! Haven't seen you in a while, where have you been?" It was the man from the pet store, his name believed to be Kent. Cana had known him all the way since she first stepped foot in this city. The much younger Cana had seemed lost on her way to Fairy Tail and had been invited in by a teenage boy, named Kent. Kent was a good friend of hers and had been since he showed her the tiny rabbits in the window stand of his - at that time his parent's - shop, all those years ago. They had now both grown up, Kent into a middle aged man and Cana into a young woman.
"Oh hey, yeah I've been out on a mission. Sorry for not coming to visit more often." Cana let her voice portray the guilt she was feeling and shifted on her feet. They were both standing on Magnolia's main street, where shop after shop laid spread out on both sides.
"How's it going with Fairy Tail? That festival last month sure did wonders on the city." Kent spoke about the whole battle of Fairy Tail ordeal, the truth about which had yet to be announced to the public.
"Uhm yeah, we're doing fine. Some of our guys got a little hurt lately, but no biggie." She laughed all the while her head screamed; 'I am such a liar!'.
"Oh well, say hi to Makarov for me." Kent smiled and went back to work, which included feeding a rather hysterical parrot, who seemed to have developed a strange hobby of snapping at the much confused Kent.
"Will do." She answered and went on her way. Hatuzu-san, the butcher's wife waved, while Mi-chan, the waitress from the breakfast cafe mumbled a quick greeting, as she rushed off to serve Jiji-kun, the son of the town's most famous fishermen. All these people being more or less, someone Cana knew. It felt great being back in familiar surroundings with familiar people. The brunette continued her merry way up the street, saying a hurried 'hello' to Kuna-san, Kent's wife, who was on her way back from the hairdresser and now had beautiful blonde curls brushing against her back.
The Fairy Tail building did all members proud. The huge castle-like construction had taken quite a lot of time to build, but all and one thought it worth it. Some mages, mostly Natsu, had complained about the differences from the prior guild building, but even the fire mage had to admit that the structure had it's perks. The giant iron gate stood it's position in front of Cana and blocked her way. She only had to push it open slightly to slip through and made sure to close it behind her. It usually resided open, but since it had been forbidden to set a foot in the place for two weeks, no one had really left the place either. The other guild members must have been slowly coming back from their trips by now, but when Cana entered the big guild hall, only a few had made their way back.
Mirajane stood at her usual place in the bar and smiled while cleaning a glass, looking awfully lot like a bartender. The thought of booze made Cana's stomach rumble in hunger, but lot the normal one. Her hunger for alcohol lit in her and she quickly power-walked to the counter.
"Welcome home Cana." Mira smiled and handed her a mug of beer, already knowing she would ask.
"Thanks." The brunette downed the mug in seconds and silently asked for a refill. "How have things been?"
Mirajane had been one of the few, who had been allowed to stay in those two weeks. She had therefore been charged with the assignment of cooking for the patients in the sickbay, a chore she found much enjoyable.
"Fine, I guess." Mira's smile faded slightly, but she still maintained her cheerful features, all the while filling Cana's mug to the brim and sent it back. Only one problem; Mirajane never guessed. She either knew or not, so the 'I guess' comment must have come from nervousness. What did she have to be nervous about?
"The others are fine, right?" Cana felt a small panic slowly rising in her of the thought of something happening.
"Don't worry, they're fine! Or mostly fine.." Mira's smile had completely vanished and her eyes showed deep worry. She fumbled a bit with her white hair, hesitant to speak.
"Well?" Cana urged her on, not minding the guilt for pressuring her.
"Well, Natsu and Lucy spend all their time in the cemetery, god knows what they're doing all day." Mira sighed and eyed the empty mug Cana had placed in front of her. She quickly began refilling it.
Cana shifted in her chair, unsure of what to say. Natsu and Lucy was clearly still upset about the Leon boy and now spent all their time visiting him in the graveyard. Lisanna's grave being nearby probably wasn't helping in Natsu's case.
"It must be because of that kid who died." Cana voiced her thoughts, to which Mira nodded.
"Gray hasn't even woken up yet and Juvia is so worried about him, she isn't getting any sleep." Her eyes traveled to the door of the sickbay and she sighed. "She's refusing to eat as well, but on the bright side her leg is nearly healed." Gray not having awoken was bad. What could have happened to him, to make him go into such a deep sleep?
Cana couldn't comfort her, as she still didn't know what do say, so she settled with asking more questions.
"It's bad huh? How's Levy doing?"
"She's much better now." She smiled, finally finding some good news to report. "That doctor Michael sure knows his stuff, he did get beaten with a broomstick when Porlyusica stopped by though." Mira laughed quietly. "That woman is an amazing healer."
Cana agreed to that. After all, it had been Porlyusica who helped Master Makarov when he had a stroke and brought him back, good as new.
"Gajeel still needs lots of rest," Mira continued. "But he has Levy as company, so I don't think he minds that much." She smiled knowingly again.
"I can imagine." Cana smiled with her. "Then what about Erza?"
Mira's smile faded slightly once again, but she remained her positive self. "She's not really hurt, but she has been spending a lot of time alone." Mira said, refilling Cana's glass a fourth time.
As on cue, the aforementioned scarlet haired woman suddenly stepped through the massive wooden doors and walked as fast as Cana had, towards the counter. She came to an abrupt stop in front of Mirajane and cleared her throat. She then lifted her hand and gathered her red hair into a long ponytail, a look you wouldn't see her with often. Her shiny armor almost fumed with heat and Cana quickly wondered how Erza was alive.
"Mira, you think you could fetch me a glass of water?" She asked, ignoring both Mira's greeting and Cana completely.
"Of course." Mira said and busied herself with the tap.
Erza was sweating, like she had either been running for miles or training heavily, both of which she could do simultaneously.
"Productive day?" Cana asked, slightly amused by Erza's fatigue.
The red head shot her a quick glare, but answered in a somewhat calm voice. "Yeah."
"Here you go." Mira said, and handed Erza a glass of water. "Sorry if it's not cold, I usually ask Gray if he could cool down our water supply in the tanker below when necessary, but given the circumstances.." She trailed off.
Catching the meaning Erza nodded and downed the water in one go, placed the empty glass on the counter and sighed.
"Mind of I go in there? I wanna check on Gray." She then asked and eyed the door to the sickbay.
"Not at all." Mira smiled sadly.
"Can I go with her? I wanna say hi to everybody." Cana asked Mira, but looked at Erza who had already started her journey towards the room.
"Go ahead."
At the permission, Cana left her half empty mug and followed Erza.
The sickbay was a sad excuse for a room. Everybody visible had this gloomy expression on their face and Cana was pretty sure her own face was showing depression as well. Erza had already made a left turn towards an area hidden behind white curtains further down the room. Deciding to visit Levy and Gajeel first, Cana made a right turn in the other direction.
Coming to an equally hidden area, Cana shoved the white curtains out of the way, revealing a sleeping Gajeel on the other side. The brunette eyed him for a minute, until a small voice interrupted her.
"Cana-san?"
Cana's eyes met with Levy, who was laying in the bed next to Gajeel's with a surprised look on her face. She then visibly relaxed and her eyes turned welcoming.
Shooting Gajeel a quick glance, Cana proceeded to Levy's bed with a smile playing on her lips.
"Hey Levy, how are you doing?" The brunette took a hold of the end railing of the smaller teen's bed and watched her trying to sit up. Cana didn't miss the flinch of pain washing over Levy's features for a slight second, but decided not to comment on it.
"I'm okay." Levy said shortly, settling into a sitting position.
"Okay." Cana finished quite awkward, her body screaming for alcohol yet again. "How's Gajeel?"
On cue Gajeel released a giant snore and tumbled over on his side, his back towards the girls. His long black hair was messy and laid loosely over his shoulder, creating a dark curtain over his face. His metal piercings shined now and again when the light hit them just right and a bit of sweat grazed his forehead. His black eyelashes vibrated, showing signs of being disturbed, but by the sudden silence of the two girls, he fell back into the abyss of sleep.
Levy chuckled lightly and ran her hand through her blue hair. "As you can see, he's fine. He did come down with a fever yesterday though, hence the sweating."
"I see." Cana dug her hand into the pockets of her jeans and sighed happily. "Well I'm just glad you're alright."
"We are, but I'm worried about Gray and Porlyusica-san won't let me out of bed to check on him." Levy sighed.
"I can check for you." Cana suggested and smiled when Levy's face lit up.
"That would be amazing Cana-san!" the bluenette said thankfully, but lowered her voice when Gajeel turned in his bed again. "Thank you." She whispered.
Cana nodded. "I'll come back later."
Carefully placing the curtain back, Cana sighed and made her way towards Gray's bed in the other end of the room. Erza was already there, her eyes portraying worry as she looked at the scene in front of her.
Gray was laying motionless in his bed, his face pale white. His black bangs brushed against his eyelids and covered his sweaty forehead. His right arm was hidden away under the covers, while his left was being held by a very distraught looking Juvia. The bluenette had entwined her hand in his, while she kept staring at his face. She looked awful. Her body was shaking, yet unclear if by lack of food or the cold. The black rings under her eyes indicated she hadn't slept in days, but her blue orbs were determined and hopeful. Cana didn't know how long she had been staring before Erza spoke.
"Juvia, you really should get some rest." The red head's voice sounded worried.
Juvia didn't take her eyes off Gray as she spoke. "His hand is so cold."
Erza looked lost for words, she had no idea how to cheer Juvia up. They weren't the best of friends, but she still cared. She knew nothing could make Juvia let go of Gray and she wasn't about to be the one who forced her, but sooner or later someone would have to.
Juvia didn't care who it was, no one could make her walk out of this room without Gray. He had been unconscious for two weeks now and she missed him terribly. She missed his smiles, his warm eyes and just him talking. Yes, he had sometime ignored her and her feelings, but she didn't care about that now. That was just how he was, unable to face his true feelings. If he had any feelings for her at all, which she didn't know. She just wanted him to wake up and say something to her.
A shiver ran through her and she tried shaking it off, but it continued, making her panic slightly. How many days had it been since she slept? She couldn't remember. When did she last eat something? She struggled to keep a hold on Gray's hand, which ironically enough, was cold as ice. Her eyes threatened to close and she was angry at her body for not doing as she told it to and just stay awake.
For a split second, she thought she felt his hand tighten in hers, but she was shaking to much to be sure if that small sensation, in fact was from Gray.
Cana shifted back and forth on her feet, unsure of what to do or say, but she did try to convince Juvia to eat something. A request she knew, surely would be rejected. Which it was and the room once again went back to it's slightly awkward silence. Cana inched closer to Erza and whispered to her.
"What are we gonna do about her? She's killing herself."
Erza looked at Cana for a weird second. "I suppose, if she doesn't eat within the hour, we'll be forced to sedate her."
"Yeah, but.. Doesn't that seem a little-"
"Thank god." Juvia cut her off, her hoarse voice portraying relief and happiness. Both Cana and Erza snapped their heads in her direction.
"Juvia was so worrie-" Juvia instantly fell asleep, her head landing on Gray's bedside, the teen of which was so obviously waking up.
The dark haired mage's eyes fluttered open and seemed out of focus for a while. After a couple of minutes his irises gained life and his stare met with Erza's worried, yet relieved features. He then swallowed a gathering amount of saliva and moved his eyes to Juvia by his side. Her hand was still in his, but he didn't seem to mind it right now. Either that, or he was just to tired to remove her.
"Hmmmm." Gray let out a voiced sigh, likely testing his vocal cords. When he was satisfied, he spoke. "What happened?"
Now that, I wanna know too! Cana thought to herself lively, as Gray touched his forehead, while slightly tightening his grip on Juvia's hand.
Yes I ended the first chapter with hand holding! Aw come on, it's cute xI
Now, you have a decision to make. Will you read further chapters or not? (Personally I think you should, but it's not my funeral- I mean regret that's gonna come out of it if you don't.)
Feel free to drop a review, or two, or three. Also, If you find some grammar and/or spelling mistakes, then screw it! Because of Fanfiction's new 'No copying' update (Which was about time) I can not copy my own chapter to change a few things. (Which is also why I haven't been able to edit the earlier chapters of Tears of Rain, without having to rewrite the whole thing)
I don't know when Chapter two is coming out, but keep your eyes, ears and mouth open for when it does. And have you heard?! Fairy Tail the anime is continuing in April! It's gonna be epic!
Oh well, I will leave you to your own thoughts now. Fare well on your path and remember to look both ways before crossing the street.
Sigi-san signing out!