Freed stared in awe at the grey stoned mansion he would be staying at, it was an ancient structure of crumbing stone and perfectly design. That however didn't stop it from appearing like it could easily have come out of a horror movie set with the twisted darkened ivy up the decaying walls and large windows pained with chipped paintwork but to top it all off this haunted house sat on the edge of cliffs, the roar of the waved crashing upon the jiggered rocks below and the dark grey sky of night blending with the cold sea. The current stormy weather of the night was not helping either, he was tempted to take out the phone in his pocket and call back his taxi.
Freed could not help but sigh, it was just his luck that he would be suck on a deserted mansion, in the middle of nowhere haunted mansion. Freed worked for the company known as Fairy Tail, a place where the sick and the evil could be captured, locked up, reformed and given a chance.
The organisation was split into two sides and from there split into several teams. The first side is capture; people like the famous team Natsu, the well-known shadow gear or the impossible strong Strauss siblings. Their jobs are to find the evil and corrupt and take them down. Then the second side comes in like Team Phantom or the Thunder Gods. They reform and bring them into the light, by any means necessary, it can be as simple as one to one therapy like Max does or exploring the mind like Warren does, but there was the more controversial therapy's, and what is meant by that is the immoral and wrong Phantom's steel rod work or the Thunder Gods shock therapy. Freed had just been transferred to the Thunder Gods, so excuse the pun but may the Gods help him.
Rumours of their work were well known and their characters, shall we say, even more well-known. First there is Bickslow; he is the body guard and head of security. It is said that he is as good at twisting someone's head as he is looking up skirts. Then there was Evergreen, she was a receptionist and nurse who has a very low tolerance for just about anyone and a glare that were so scary it would turn you to stone if possible. Also there was the assistants, a girl named Z who is head of surgery, with a short fuse and morbid sense of life and the other, a girl named A who is the main assistant and joined the same time as the boss, she is described by most as bitter sweet as she is the happiest and the most hyper person known, yet has some very twisted ideas. And of course the Boss, strict, tough, cold and dethatched, these were common words to describe the boss. His real name was Laxus and Freed had to spend at the very least three months here, working under this rumoured brute of a man.
Freed shook off the feeling of dread and begun to walk up the cold and dull steps to the front door, it was huge and made of a strong wood, he guessed it was oak. The wood was damp and he could see it was rotting, the door handle was of a dark brass and was chipped and cracked and lastly the huge door knocker of the Fairy Tail sign in the same damaged bronze like metal. Freed's hand grabbed the handle and hit it down three times hard with a steady beat.
The man stood in the cold for six minutes pulling is dark pink coat around him attempting to block out the harsh winds whilst fidgeting awkwardly on the spot and checking his watch to see if time would go any faster. Freed began to tap his feet impatiently, this was already getting on his nerves and they were already rather thin to begin with, with an aggravated huff he reached out to knock on the door again. Upon doing so he heard a light crash and soft curse that was too muffled to make out which caused him to stop and pull back his hand. A buzz and a click made Freed turn his head to a small box that stood out among the gothic like stone.
It was a type off security system with a camera attached to the top, a key pad with numbers which must be the way to enter the password of some kind and a rounded whole which must be the speaker with a red button with a small microphone hole next to it, the box sounded and a muffled voice from the other side of the door sounded from it 'hello?' the voice sounded young and kind with a very high pitch tone, much like a kid who had drunk to much coke 'who is there?' the voice questioned a bit more determined now.
Freed calmly looked at the off-white plastic box and pressed is finger to the red button as he leaned his head into what he guessed was the microphone hole "hello, this is Freed Justine" he spoke clearly and without much feeling, he was to tired "I have been sent here by the master" he heard a slight hum from the girl at the other side "I'm going to be head of paperwork and files" he finished and removed his finger from the button.
A small gasp was heard from the microphone as the girl spoke again "oh I see, I am so sorry, give me one moment please" even behind the thick wood of the door Freed swore he could hear her smile, he took a step back as the door opened and winced his eyes as the yellow light from the house hit his vision. The girl from the other side of the door pulled it back towards her and gestured with her hand as she held out the palm flat pulled it through the air in a way a servant would as though she was bowing as she giggled lightly.
Freed frowned at her childish behaviour but took a couple of steps over the threshold before turning to look back as the as she closed the door, before turning back to the newest member of staff and smiled to him welcomingly.
The house was huge with three stories, from what he could see this was a sort of waiting room with an empty desk in the corner and three doors, the room had a modern interior which was quite bright and warming, nothing like the creepy outside would have suggested.
The girl that still stood by the door was very small, maybe reaching five foot, pale skin so white she could blend into the snow just as well as a polar bear could, if it weren't for her heavy freckles that stood out on her pale cheeks and across the nose. She had large deep blue eyes that were almost fluorescent and luminous of colour, their shape was very similar to Levy's only with sorter eye lashes framing them and she had huge black circled glasses making her eyes seem bigger still. Her body was nothing curvy or busty but the girl was very thin, she wore navy blue denim shorts and a spaghetti strap top so strong and bright it made her pale skin seem translucent. Bur most shocking was her orange hair, ginger was a bit of a understatement as the colour was vibrant and strong, it had clearly been straightened and reached about half way down her breasts, a few inches over the shoulders, she also had grown her fringe out and it appeared as if she did not have one. The overall appearance was of a young girl maybe twenty or twenty one.
She held out her hand which Freed was rather afraid to break if he shook it with how thin she looked, as lightly as he could without seeming like he didn't want to touch her and be rude he returned the action with a light smile, she seemed nice although a bit childish. She let go of his hand and smiled once more "nice to meet you Mr Justine-"
Freed shook his head as he cut her off "its fine if you call me Freed" he clarified gently making the girl beam up at him and nod happily, her big eyes had light up further behind the huge frames.
"thank you Mr Freed, I find it odd addressing people that way" somehow Freed did not doubt that, the girl didn't look like she did well with formalities of any kind, he bit is tongue and let her continue "my name is A, don't ask me what it stands for because it doesn't really stand for anything, I am one off the assistants and I do most of the autopsies" she stopped panicked and looked up at him worriedly with her eyes frowned and eyes wide with shock before speaking so quickly Freed could hardly keep up "but that hardly ever happens, this is a good place and even though its shock therapy it isn't very dangerous" she took a slightly longer breath due to the fact she hadn't stopped for air as she rambled trying to stop him from thinking the worst.
Freed simply nodded at her partial gibberish to tired and drained for small talk and she took this as a sign to go on "we have a staff of six, including you, we have five patients staying with us and a couple that come in for sessions as they don't have as bad cases or have full time carers" she started walking and Freed took this as his sign to follow her.
They stopped in front of three doors that lead out of the waiting room and turned her head slightly to face him a little "the first door leads you down stairs, that is where surgery, shock therapy and other work related matters take place; this includes were the patents sleep and live, any participants or patients are only aloud in there or in here" she frowned, Freed noticed she looked older when she frowned "everywhere else is our living space and we like to keep them as separate as possible. The middle door is living area, it is the ground floor and has a kitchen, living room, library, game room, a study and some other facilities, and you can also get to the garden through there." She then stopped and smiled before opening the third door which leads to a set of stairs.
She begun to climb them with Freed at her heels "up here are our rooms, all your belongings have been placed in the room we have given you, all rooms have en-suites" she spoke as they reached the landing, which revealed a boxed shaped hallway which was more like a wide room with eight doors attached.
All doors apart from three had been decorated and one of the three undecorated ones left had his name on it on a white sign.
The small girl pointed a door that was painted green with lots of flowers drawn and crafted all over it and had small fairy's sketched into the wood "that's Evergreens, she has a quick temper but is quite nice once you get to know her, she works as a receptionist and nurse" then she pointed to a door painted blue with five wooden native dolls of some kind painted on it "that's Bixlow, he is really funny a bit of a perv though, he is are security guard and Laxus body guard" Freed would have asked why he needed one but he was cut off.
Her hand then moved to show him a door painted with dinosaurs "that would be Z's room" she bit her lip "don't piss Z off and you will get on great, she is the surgeon" she then pointed at the door with a collection of pictures of people he vaguely knew from Fairy Tail, Freed guessed this was A's as the door was filled with pictures of herself with the members, It didn't surprise him, she was sweet and friendly so she would have many friends "that's mine, I got the room because it links into Z's. And like I said before I am Laxus's assistant but I specialise in autopsies, occasionally from our department but mainly from other organisations and other Fairy Tail teams"
Next to hers was a door painted black with bright yellow thunder strikes going down it "and that's Laxus's. He, of course is the boss" She smiled and walked over to a completely bare door with the exception of his name on it and crouched down as she got a ring of keys out her pockets and grabbed a sliver one before un locking his door with it, she pushed the door open and stood up straight "here you go" she pushed the small little item into his hands "if you ever lose it tell me and I will make a copy"
Freed nodded but didn't speak making the young girl sigh "you don't talk much" she stated before looking at him coldly in the eye "Freed, I must warn you working here is tough, you can see some graphic and immoral things, if you are playing, toying with us or if you have any doubt in your mind, I insist you leave, we do not want our time wasted to say the least" her tone had changed from caring and childish to cold and detached and her warming eyes looked icy under her glasses. This must be why and where she got the nick name sugar and spice and bitter sweet from, the way her personality was capable of changing that is.
Freed bowed and nodded "thank you but I assure you I will be fine" the green haired man spoke with no uncertainty
The girls face transformed once more with a bright grin "good, I was hoping to hear that" she giggled and yawned "I will go over your patents tomorrow and if you're a light sleeper please invest in some head phones or ear plugs, this house is old and not very sound proof, it is unfortunate so I apologise greatly about that" she pointed downwards to where the mentally unstable slept "they scream sometime a bit too loudly some times, not that they don't have the right to"
Freed nodded and she yawned again, louder this time "someone will also give you a proper tour and you will have some time after breakfast to look around for yourself. We meet at seven thirty to eat, you will be able to find the kitchen easily, Bixlow and Ever will be arguing so loudly anyway" her tone was amused she laughed and shook her head "I have been here as long as Laxus himself so don't hesitate to ask for anything, okay" she gave him a sleepy smile.
Freed frowned "wait as long as Laxus but that's eight years" he glanced at her sceptically "pardon my rudeness but how old are you?" he asked with a frown has he looked with confusion at the young looking girl who simply laughed at him
"It is okay, I get that a lot, I am 29" she smiled as Freed's eyes widened in disbelief "Laxus is also 29, Bixlow is 28, Z is 26, as is Evergreen" Freed nodded, that explained the pictures, she was five years older than some of the members of Fairy Tail like Natsu and Levy and she had been here far longer than him, she must be like a big sister type of person to them. The pale girl paused and frowned "and how old are you? I told you my age so it's only fair to you tell me yours" she questioned with a smile.
Freed wanted to sigh, even her Logic was childish "I am 27" he stated, he was to tiered to fake any emotion in his voice
She laughed lightly and once again yawned "that's nice" she said but Freed didn't see how a simple fact could be classed as 'nice' "just to let you know your room and door is free for you to decorate, if you have something in mind for the door, tell me and I will do it for you, only not now because I am very tired and I need to sleep, as do you" she gave him a final smile and walked off to her own room with a tired expression "night, night, don't let the bed bugs bite" over her shoulder and disappeared behind her memory door.
Freed then shut his own door and looked over his room, it was big and bare but it was modern like the rest of the house with a light wooden double bed, freshly made black sheets ironed to perfection with crisp folds and four plump pillows with black cases that stood against the back board, the bad had two tables either side of it with two black lamps, both turned on for him.
A large window was at the back of the room with silk dark curtains to match the bed, a desk opposite the bed and a wardrobe next to that made out of the same light wood. His brown leather bags he noticed where at one corner and a door which he assumed was the en-site stood next to that.
A wave of tiredness came over him and Freed sank into the bed full clothed, he took his phone out of his pocket and set a seven alarm and let his brain shut down. His impression of this girl named 'A' was not so bad, slightly irritating maybe, but even so, working hear would not be as bad as maybe he once thought and besides the master had chosen him as best suited so he wasn't about to let him down. The house also was not as scary as it had looked on the outside with its open space and modern furniture, it actually came across slightly homely or a rather posh hotel. Freed's eyes shifted to the door, maybe having it decorated would be okay, he certainly didn't want it to look like he was only planning on temporally staying or like he would give up at any moment.
He closed his eyes as a few ideas came to him, the one that stood out the most was a lost language called ruins, having his door in a language that only he could read could be satisfying, and it would be painted over easily when he leaved. He breathed in deeply through his nose and bit his lip; he was also working under him.
Whenever the staff of the lightning God came back to headquarters to report their progress Freed would admire the blonde haired man from a distance, and now he had three months working in close proximity to him, he couldn't tell if this was a blessing or a curse, one million ways of how he could screw up or embarrass himself in front of the man came into his mind.
He turned over, he wouldn't let that happen, he would show the man what he was capable off and show his skill, and after all he was chosen for a reason. Freed turned over once more and switched off the lights with a click, tomorrow he would meet the man he had admired for so long and slowly.
Freed let his mind drift.