Chapter 2

Ethan sat quietly in his room back at Fairy Hills, reading one of the short chapter books he borrowed from Levy's daughter, Liddy, and clutching the small teddy bear in one arm. He flipped the page with an irritated sigh, his mind still on the discussion he and his mother had earlier. Closing his eyes, he thought of the conversation that his mother and that man had a couple of years ago, remembering the next day when he was nowhere to be seen, only to see him walk out the front door. He clenched his arm and lowered his head, curling up into a tiny ball.

A knock was heard from the door, making him sit up. "Come in." He called. The door opened only for Liddy to step in, closing the door behind her. "Mommy wants to make sure all of my books are in order, so I'm gonna need that one back." She pointed to the one in his arms. Ethan closed the book before standing up and handing it to her. She nodded to him as a sign of thanks before lowering her head. "You know, I'm still confused on how you don't have a Daddy."

"Don't you remember what I said?" Ethan asked her. "My mother was fighting a wizard and she was cursed. I'm the result of that curse."

"I know but that's what I mean," Liddy replied. "I don't know if it's really a curse. You smell different from Ms. Erza. Well what I mean to say is you do smell like her, but there's another smell that's covering it."

That's the daughter of a Dragon Slayer for ya. Ethan thought to himself before setting the bear onto his pillow. "Maybe it's the smell of the wizard who cursed her."

"But it doesn't have an evil smell to it."

"Look," The red-head gave her a stern glance. "My mother told me it was a curse. If she said it was a curse, then it was a curse. She's not someone who would lie."

"I know," Liddy crossed her arms. "But here's what really bothers everyone. Ms. Erza had the same curse four years ago. If the results were the same as the first time, then wouldn't she have had a second baby?" Ethan froze and stared at her, clenching one of his fists. The two of them stood in silence for a minute, the small boy lowering his head. He was surprised at her theory, but was expecting this with her being the only daughter of the one and only Levy McGarden along with being the successor to Black Steel Gajeel.

"So am I right?" Liddy's statement snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned back into her direction. He sighed and placed a hand on his hip. "You're overthinking it. You're so like your mother."

"Hey! My mommy's one of the smartest wizards in the guild!" Liddy retorted back with a small glare. The red-head shrugged before sitting down in a nearby chair. "Yes yes I know. Now go take that book back to her before she starts hunting you down. You know how she is about books." The small ravenette gave him one last glance before turning her heel and walking out of the room. Ethan sighed as he heard the door close before falling back onto his bed with a loud sigh. He shivered and rubbed his arms, slightly wincing when he rubbed a certain way. The small boy looked down at the sleeves that covered his arms, a small glare growing on his face. Sitting up, he headed towards the bathroom to see if he could wash away a bit of the pain he was feeling.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, he slowly pulled his shirt above his head before turning on the faucet, water spilling inside of the bathtub. Hanging his shirt on the door he stood in front of the mirror, staring at the familiar tattoo that ran down his right arm. He muttered something to himself before turning off the faucet and peeking in the cabinet only to find a small green bottle of herbs. Slowly and carefully, he poured the small bottle into the water, transforming the clear color into a light green. Placing the bottle back into the cabinet, he stripped off the rest of his clothing, hung it on the door along with his shirt before stepping in the tub. Once the water reached his tattoo, he let out a pained gasp and slipped, the pain growing worse as the herbal water traveled up his arm. He threw his head, almost bashing it against the wall behind him, curling his fists as the tattoo on his arm started to extend before returning to it's original state. He sighed once the pain vanished. The small boy closed his eyes once again, relaxing his shoulders and taking in a breath. "She said this would help control my magic," He muttered. "It hurts a bit, but the more I do this, the less pain I feel when this magic takes over and I can't do anything about it." He shifted a bit, glancing overe at the tattoo. "Why was I cursed with such a thing?"

He tried to think about why he had this tattoo, but his mind went fuzzy because of the heat, and his vision became foggy from the steam. He slowly felt his eyes drop and his head lower, losing consciousness as he slid lower into the tub. Finally his mind went blank, his head and shoulders dropped, and his vision faded to black.

Erza entered her son's room when the sun was finally starting to set, looking around to see a stack of steam emitting from the bathroom. She headed into that direction and opened the door to see Ethan fast asleep in the tub with faint pink cheeks and slight breathing. She smiled before heading to his side and poking his cheek. With a small groan, the boy sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Mother?"

"You've been in here for a while," She said to him before grabbing his one and only towel hoodie and getting him to his feet. Ethan yawned and stepped out of the tub before Erza wrapped the towel around him, throwing the hood over his head as he dried off. "The Master wants to see us." He sighed as she sat in a nearby chair and pulled him into her lap. "Is it important?"

"Yes," Erza replied while loosening her grip and closing her eyes. "He's heard that my partner has returned." Ethan jerked his head up to face her with that look of hatred. The female wizard sighed at his reaction. She knew this would happen because Ethan hated that man so much. He lowered his head and pulled himself out of his mother's arms and towards his room. "Ethan-"

"I don't see how you could still love the man who betrayed us," He snapped while gripping his arm."If he was still here, she would too." She followed him back into his room and saw him on the bed, curled up in a ball. She sat next to him and placed a hand on his head. "Listen I know your hatred towards him, but you have to remember he is your-"

"I don't consider him that title. Not anymore. And I just hate how you just let him take her; You didn't do anything," He lifted his head with tears in his eyes, threatening to roll down his cheeks. "I thought you cared about us. Was I wrong?"

Erza lovingly pulled him into her arms and kissed the top of his head. "Of course I care; I've always cared about the two of you."

"Then why let her go like that?" The boy struggled not to let any tears fall, having too much pride to do so. He gripped the wizard's arm tightly, biting his lip in order to trap the sob that was currently rising in his throat. The two of them sat in silence as Erza rubbed the back of his head gently. "Let it out. It's alright."

The moment that first tear fell, Ethan hid in his mother's hold as he sobbed. Endless tears poured down his face as she held him tighter, also shedding a tear. All of the emotions that he had bottled up inside his heart released all at once; all of the sorrow and hatred he kept hidden from the world was being revealed by his tears, heard by his sobs, everything had been locked away until now.

After a while, Ethan had cried himself to sleep and Erza placed him under the covers, stroking his cheek softly as she sat on the edge of the bed. She stood up and was about to take a step forward until she felt something tug onto her skirt. She looked behind her to see her son's hand clutched onto the hem of her skirt. "Mommy, don't go." She heard him say and she smiled. "I'm not going anywhere." She sat back on the bed and stroked the side of his head. "Can you stay?"

"I'll stay with you all night." Ethan nodded before nuzzling his head into the pillow and succumbing to sleep once again. Erza silently chuckled; it's been a while since he called her "Mommy". She pulled the covers over him and he shifted around a little.

"I see you've been doing well."

Erza looked behind her to see a man step into the room through the window, carefully crawling across the bed so he wouldn't wake the sleeping child, and wrapped his arms around the wizard. "It's been so long since I've held you. I missed this feeling."

Erza leaned back as he tightened his hold, lifting her head and kissing his cheek. "And I missed you, Jellal."

Me: So now Jellal comes into the picture. I don't know when I'll explain what happened between him and Ethan, but I'll explain it soon. Maybe I should have added Jellal later since it's only the second chapter; I feel as though I'm rushing it. Then again, I didn't plan for this to be a long fic. I'm honestly not sure. Anyway he's here and that's all that matters. So until the next chapter I'll check you guys later.