-Wendy POV-
"Master?" I said but it sounded more like a question. We were both standing next to the unconscious Laxus and the mysterious girl's bedsides.
"What is it Wendy?" he asked kindly.
"It's about that girl," I couldn't help but hesitate, "She's been injured a lot," I said, "and not by us." I took a shaky, nervous breath, "It happened over a long period of time and she wasn't given proper treatment. I really think-" I stopped. I didn't want to say it. I felt Charle put a comforting paw on my leg, but I didn't feel much better.
"Wendy, it's okay," the Master reassured me, "You can tell me."
I balled her hands into fists at my sides, taking a shaky but determined breath before continuing. "There are cuts up and down her arms, cigaret burns on her shoulders and scar tissue around her ankles." I took another deep breath, getting to the point. "I think- well I know really, that she's been abused badly and that it's been going on for a long time now."
The Master's face slowly darkened as I described the girl's condition.
"Master?" the I asked. He still hadn't responded.
"Don't mention this to anyone Wendy," he ordered, "I think that girl's been through enough without people pestering her about it."
"Oh no, I wouldn't" I assured him, "I just thought you ought to know."
"Yes, thank you Wendy." He looked up at me, "You should get some rest," he ordered. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," I told him, I heard Charle 'humph' near my feet, clearly disbelieving, but ignored her. "I'm not that tired," I continued, "All that can be done is to limit the pain they're in for a short time. And I fixed the girl up properly, but it wasn't that hard. As for their magic, that they'll have to recover on their own, I can't help with that."
"Do you know how long it will take for them to wake up?" he asked.
"Laxus should be up within the hour," I said. "But the girl… It depends entirely on how long she was possessed." I just wasn't sure, but there was something I had noticed about her recovery. "As far as I can tell," I added shyly, "she must have some resistance to this magic or she would have been in much more pain than she was. As it is, she doesn't seem that much worse than Laxus."
Master appeared concerned. "She has a small resistance?"
"Not a small one. It must have taken years." And with that I lost her composure. It was just so horrible to think of anyone having to go through that kind of pain over and over again, to be beaten when they were awake, to be abused so horribly. I couldn't help but to cry. I collapsed to my knees, "It's just so cruel," I gasped out.
Charle put a comforting paw on my shoulder. "Wendy, it's okay," she said, "I'm sure the girl will be fine. Like you said, she should recover on her own and then there will be nothing to worry about. Stop crying okay?"
I nodded, wiping my eyes. "Charle's right, Wendy," Master said. "Bad things may have happened to her in the past but she'll be alright. Why don't you go talk to Mira and get something to drink. I will help calm you down."
I nodded, tears subsiding. "Right. Everything will be fine!"
-Laxus POV-
I slowly became aware of the infirmary's ceiling. Why would I of all people be in the infirmary? Maybe I had decided to take a nap or something… I don't take naps though. Why…?
That girl. The one who tried to knife gramps. She had a freaky magic coming off her. She was being controlled. She was passed out in the bed next to mine…
I sat up quickly, alarmed, but immediately regretted it. I won't admit to being in pain- but it did hurt and my muscles weren't responding properly. There was practically no magic in my system. What the hell? Did I get into an actual fight and not remember? There's no way I got this tired fighting that girl.
"Oh, Laxus! You're awake!" Wendy, a master of stating the obvious, came into the infirmary. Apparently she had stepped out momentarily to get something to drink. I also noticed she'd been crying but decided not to say anything. "Everyone was so worried!"
"What happened?" I asked, "I remember that girl showed up… and then…"
"You touched the choker she'd been wearing and- um." She stopped talking.
That wasn't a good sign. I got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Wendy," I had to ask, "What happened?" I insisted, "What did I do?"
"No one got hurt," she said quickly before reluctantly explaining, "but you attacked the guild."
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and let myself flop back onto the bed, ignoring the bolt of pain it cost me. I attacked the guild. Again. And after I swore to myself… at least nobody got hurt this time.
"It's not your fault Laxus," Gramps promised me, coming in through the door after Wendy. "There is no way to avoid a spell like that. It's forbidden possession magic. It also takes quite a toll on it's victims. How are you feeling?" I just 'tch'ed. There was no way I'd admit how much it hurt to be me right now. Gramps seemed to understand that, not waiting for an answer to his question before continuing, "And you were unconscious for a full hour after only being possessed for a few minutes."
An hour? That's a long time to be out over something so small. I felt my eyes widen as a new thought occurred to me, "The girl-"
"Will be fine," Gramps cut me off reassuringly. "She is both unfortunate and lucky to have a resistance to the aftereffects of possession magic. She will recover faster than normal," the old man explained, "but this means that she had been exposed to this magic consistently and over a long period of time. Possibly or, to say it bluntly, probably on and off for years."
I couldn't help but frown at this. She was pretty young to be going through something like that. I looked over at the bed next to me again. Now that she wasn't waving a knife at my Gramps or trying to strangle anybody she looked quite peaceful.
"Master, I think Laxus should rest some more," Wendy said, "I don't think he's recovered yet and I don't want him overdoing it."
"That's nonsense," I lied immediately, "I'm fine. I just need some food is all and I'll be fine."
"I thought you were fine already," Wendy looked at me suspiciously. Honestly, the girl was a complete pushover, but let her hear a patient and she got all bossy. I rolled my eyes. "I will bring you some food so you stay right there and no moving. I mean it." And she marched out of the room. It was entertaining to see someone so small try to boss me around. I started to sit up.
"Laxus," Gramps frowned. "Wendy will talk my ear off if I let you get out of that bed," he warned.
"Oh c'mon Gramps," I protested, "this is nothing." I was lying through my teeth, but I didn't want to just sit here. Wendy had said that nobody got hurt but I was still worried. I wanted to go check on my guildmates. I had trouble believing that I had gotten possessed and that nobody had gotten hurt. And it had also occurred to me that if I left the Raijinshuu alone for too long they'd probably freak out. Freed would likely start crying (either that or he was crying already).
-Master POV-
Laxus still looked guilty despite Wendy and my reassurances. I don't think he quite believed that nobody had gotten hurt. I couldn't help but be proud at how far he'd come since the Thunder Palace incident. It had nearly broken my heart to have to kick him out of the guild, but I'd had no choice. It was good to see how much my grandson cared for his nakama, it was also how these things were supposed to be. Laxus was meant to care for his family, just as Fairy Tail was mean to care for each other.
Having seen that my grandson was alright, I returned to the guild. I could hear alarming sounds coming from the other side of the infirmary door and I didn't want things to get out of hand. I had been forced to rebuild the guildhall often enough.
-The Girl POV-
I opened my eyes. The ceiling was unfamiliar. That was not automatically a bad thing. I would prefer a strange, unknown location over returning… to the guild. I couldn't exactly call it 'returning home', now could I? Besides, I felt relatively comfortable considering how long I must have been possessed this time. It didn't hurt to breathe anymore and my ankle wasn't throbbing. In fact, none of my previous injuries were bothering me. The only pain I felt was from the actual posession. It felt nice to wake up on a bed and not chained to a wall on a stone floor… Wait. Why wasn't I chained to a wall?
"Are you awake?" Who the hell was that?! The voice scared the crap out of me and I cried out, flailing wildly, trying to get away from it. I succeeded in falling off of a bed, tangling myself in the sheets and falling on my ass. It hurt.
Someone in the next bed stifled what I identified as male laughter. The voice from before started asking if I was okay. I was not okay. As usual after being possessed, I hurt like hell. All that flailing and falling probably hadn't helped either.
"Ouch," I admitted. Who put this floor here? Don't people realize how dangerous these things are? Someone could land on their ass and end up hurting themselves. I didn't say any of that hough. Complaining was a good way to get beaten.
A young girl with long dark blue hair came around the bed. "Are you okay?" she repeated.
"I'm fine, I'm okay. Thank you. Sorry." I cut myself off, I shouldn't talk too much. "Um…" but there was something I had to know, "D-do you know w-where I am?" I asked sheepishly. I didn't want to be demanding, but I had to know.
"You're in the infirmary," she answered. Fat lot of good that does me, I thought. There are lots of infirmaries out there. Can you tell me anything more specific?...
The man's voice from before added, "You're at Fairy Tail." I couldn't see him from where I was sitting on the floor because the bed blocked my view. Maybe he was a patient too. He had a deep voice.
Wait… had he said- "F-F-Fairy Tail?" I stuttered. Of all places! Fairy Tail! "Really?" I was so relieved, but then I remembered why I was in the infirmary and I got really scared. "What am I doing here? What happened? Did I kill anyone?" My panic steadied my voice and prevented me from stuttering. I looked at my hands which had started shaking again, there wasn't any blood on them but that didn't mean anything. They might have been washed while I was unconscious. There was no telling what I'd done, who I'd-
"Everyone's fine, don't worry," the blue haired girl promised quickly, apparently trying to reassure me. I realized I still didn't know her name but was too scared to ask.
"That's what she told me too," the guy's voice informed me, "But I haven't been allowed out to check on them because I'm still not allowed out of this damned bed," he complained.
"That's because I don't trust you not to push yourself and I don't believe you when you say you're not in pain." the girl told him sternly. Being stern didn't seem to suit her, she seemed more the kind and caring type to me.
"Tch. There's nothing wrong with me." Whoever he was really did have a deep voice. I found it oddly comforting, but it didn't distract from my real concern though.
"D-did you get poss-ssessed-d too?" I whispered. I was afraid of his answer, so I asked very quietly.
"Only a little," he shrugged it off. I was surprised. I didn't expect him to hear, much less answer me.
"Liar," I muttered. "It'll hurt like a bitch for at least a week and you shouldn't even try to walk for a full day. Just try using your magic and you'll knock yourself out again. Pushing yourself will only make it hurt worse."
"That's bullshit!" he protested, "I'm perfectly fine."
I realized that he had heard me and that I'd accidentally been telling him what to do. "I-! B-but, erm. Y-you know, you sh-should j-just do what-tever though. I-um, erm. Sorry." I ducked lower. Trying to hide my head with my hands.
The girl in front of me shifted towards me and I flinched involuntarily.
-Laxus POV-
I couldn't help but frown when I heard her flinch. There was a small 'eep' sound and some rustling of sheets. It sounded as though she was bracing herself for a blow. Was she scared of Wendy? Wendy was one of the smallest, most harmless (read: weakest) people in the guild, possibly in the entire world. She couldn't hurt a fly, much less a person. If the girl was afraid of Wendy then she must be afraid of nearly everything- or everyone.
"It's okay," I heard Wendy promise. "I won't hurt you. Let's get you back into bed. The floor can't be all that comfortable and you need to rest."
As soon as they got situated, which involved much wincing and shaking and sympathetic glances, Natsu banged open the door. The girl got scared all over again, flailing away from the noise with such force that she fell off the bed again, this time in the opposite direction.
-Master POV-
The girl jumped off the bed in fright when Natsu slammed the door open. I had told him that he could come, but only if he kept quiet. He was not being quiet. I wasn't sure that he knew how to be quiet.
"Oh c'mon Natsu!" Laxus complained from his bed, "We only just got her back on the bed and now you've gone and scared her all over again."
"S-s-s-sorry!" the girl squeaked from behind the bed. "I-I did-dn't mean-"
"It's fine kid," Laxus dismissed shortly. "Wendy, would you mind helping her again since I'm not allowed out of this damn bed?"
She gave him a look that clearly said she would have helped anyway, but offered the older girl her shoulder to lean on and held her hand as they made their way to their feet.
"I'll help too!" Natsu shouted. I saw the girl flinch when he yelled again but she didn't protest when he picked her up and set her on the bed, merely let out a small 'eep' of surprise and alarm and jerked back slightly.
"Natsu you must be quiet in the infirmary," Wendy ordered, noticing the girl's distress. "That means no more shouting or running or banging into things, okay?"
"Sorry, sorry!" he said. I couldn't help but notice that he didn't sound very sorry and that the girl flinched back from him and into Wendy, accidentally headbutting her, when he spoke so close to her ear. The girl apologized to Wendy, who then needed to reassure her that it was perfectly alright.
Once they'd finally gotten the girl back into bed and propped up against a small mountain of pillows I cleared my throat from where I was standing in the doorway. The girl flinched but, fortunately, didn't fall off the bed this time.
"Hello, I'm the master here. Nice to meetcha!" Before I could ask her name I noticed that she was shaking rather badly. She tried to hide it, fisting the blankets around her so tightly that her knuckles turned white, but I saw it anyway.
Apparently Natsu noticed too. "You don't have to be afraid of us, we're not that scary!" he smiled at her.
"So-sorry, I-I jus-" She was having troubles forming a complete sentence. "ne-nev-ver s-s-saw so m-many p-people at once b-before."
"It's fine," I reassured her, "Natsu, Wendy, could you give us a minute?" Laxus moved to leave too but stopped at a glance from Wendy. She could be quite threatening for her age when it came to uncooperative patients. Laxus lay back down. I nodded. He'd made a good decision.
-Laxus POV-
I watched the girl from my position on the bed. She flinched at loud noises or whenever anyone moved to touch her. A permanently scared expression seemed plastered onto her face. Shen she was finally set up in bed, for the second time I might add, she started shaking like a leaf. I was shocked when she said that she'd never seen so many people before. There were only four of us! Just what kind of life had she been living until now?
When gramps asked the others to leave I tried to take advantage of the situation and escape too but Wendy shot me a look that froze me in my tracks. She'd probably throw a fit or something if I tried to move so I made the prudent decision and gave up.
Gramps sat on the foot of her bed. "Now, child, would you mind telling me your name?" he asked once her shaking had subsided, slightly at least.
"R-Rio," she stuttered, staring intently at her knees which were pulled tightly to her chest, "Rio Mal-Malkovich."
"Daughter of Magda?" Gramps asked, eyes widening. The girl, Rio, just nodded shyly. I had absolutely no idea who Magda was, but I decided to ask Gramps later. "She had a daughter?" Rio nodded again.
"Do you know why you're here?" Gramps asked. I couldn't help but think he was trying to stick to yes or no questions so she wouldn't have to talk. It was probably a good call. As much as she was shaking I worried that she might bite her tongue if she tried to speak.
Rio noded.
"Do you understand that you were possessed?"
She nodded again. She pulled her legs closer and hugged herself tightly like she was trying to disappear.
"Do you know for how long?"
She shrugged. "O-on and off f-for a long time. M-my hair w-was shor- short-t sh-shorter the-en," she stuttered. Gramps looked to me. She'd spoken so quietly that I needed to use my dragon hearing to know what she'd said.
"She said it's been years," I told him, frowning. That was a long time to be possessed like that. And if it hurt like this every time it was almost no wonder that she was so scared. That wasn't a kind of life I'd wish on anybody.
Gramps was silent for a moment, frowning. What was he going to do with the girl? She had attacked the guild, but nobody had been hurt and it wasn't really her doing it. Rio obviously had nowhere else to go and nobody to look after her. The chances of her being able to adequately take care of herself were slim to none. "Would you like to stay here, Rio?" Gramps offered.
Her head shot up and she stared at him, mouth gaping like she didn't understand. In her confusion she stopped shaking. Then she realized what she was doing and immediately lowered her head again to stare instead at the blankets again. "W-why would-?"
"You obviously have nowhere else to go," I pointed out, cutting her off. I didn't want to listen to her stuttering anymore when there was no reason I'd be letting her leave anyway. "And we can hardly kick you out when you so obviously need help." She turned to face me, but didn't, or possibly couldn't, meet my eyes. "You may as well stick with us here at Fairy Tail, at least for a while." I would have shrugged if I didn't know how much it would hurt.
Apparently she wasn't satisfied. "B-but I'd b-be a burden an-nd I d-don't want t-to i-intrude a-and I-"
"It's not a problem," I told her firmly. "You won't be a burden. You're not intruding. And, quite frankly, you need our help, so you should accept Gramps's offer."
Rio's shaking had started up again, but she nodded vigorously. "I-I'll stay," she said.
I smiled to myself. She may be staying out of fear, but it was best for her, so her reasons didn't really matter.
-Rio POV-
"It's not a problem. You won't be a burden. You're not intruding. And, quite frankly, you need our help, so you should accept Gramps's offer."
That made me really happy, scared because he sounded kind of angry, but happy. I wasn't a burden. I don't think he realized just how much that meant to me, having been a burden of one kind or another all my life. I wanted to stay. I nodded, but then I realized they might not be able to tell when I was shaking this much. "I-I'll stay," I told them with as much conviction as I could muster. It wasn't much, but it was what I had.
The man in the bed- I think they'd called him Laxus- smiled. It was strange because people didn't usually smile at me but it made me happy. I liked smiles. They were inherently friendly things.
-Grey POV-
I was starting to think that the master had been talking in the infirmary for a long time. I decided that it would be best to ask Wendy about the girl. Natsu had been in there and seen her, but getting information out of that flame brain wasn't the most reliable way to learn about someone. Wendy was apparently lost in thought and frowning over by Erza and Lucy. That wasn't a good sign. Wendy rarely frowned about anything.
"Hey, Wendy," I said, breaking her out of her revive, "How are they?"
"Laxus keeps insisting he's fine," Wendy said, looking up, "but I think he's still in a lot of pain otherwise he'd just ignore me when I told him to lie back down. He should recover soon though. It's nothing to worry about."
"And the girl?" Erza asked, apparently just as interested as me, "What about her condition?"
"She's been through a lot and she seems really scared," Wendy began, frown returning, "She obviously didn't attack us of her own free will and she doesn't seem to remember what happened. When I told her that nobody got hurt she looked so relieved. She's in a lot of pain too from having her body controlled for so long, but she'll recover eventually. I've already done all I can for her physically, but I'm still worried about her."
Any hostilities I may have been harboring against the girl for attacking my guild disappeared as I heard Wendy describe her and her condition. She was obviously just another victim here. She might even need our support to get through… whatever it was that she was going through.
I looked up and, meeting Erza and Lucy's eyes, realized we were all thinking the same thing. The girl would see nothing but friendly faces from Team Natsu when she woke up.
-Laxus POV-
I had already counted the rafters several times. Unsurprisingly, the number had not changed since the first time. There were thirteen, sectioning off the ceiling into clean white rectangles. Wow, I thought, I must be really bored if I've started doing math. Or does counting not count as math? Maybe it counts as basic math. And now I'm debating what qualifies as math. This ceiling really is boring. I looked over at Rio. She was also staring at the ceiling.
"So," I said, breaking the silence, "are you as bored as I am right now?"
"Actually, never in my life have I been this nervous," Rio answered.
"Hey," I noticed, "You didn't stutter that time. Good job."
"That only happens when I'm scared and when I've got to look someone in the eyes," she explained, "It doesn't happen all the time thankfully, that would suck. It still sucks that I can't always speak like a normal person, but it's not quite as suckish as stuttering all the time. If I'm calm enough I can speak just fine. But when I'm scared…" her voice trailed off.
Before thinking things through I asked, "Why are you so scared of people?" I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but I still wanted to know the answer and she seemed perfectly willing to give me a response.
"It's because I've never really met another human being that didn't hate me other than my brother," she said, still staring at the ceiling, "I don't trust people because I've never met anyone worth trusting." Rio spoke so easily. Her honesty threw me and I hadn't meant to get her thinking about such depressing things so I tried to change the subject.
"You've got a brother?" I asked.
"Had," she corrected, "He's dead now. Drowned when I was five. We were twins."
Okay, that backfired big time, I thought. "I'm sorry" I said, "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"It's fine," she replied, "It's not like it was your fault or anything." I could almost feel her blaming herself. She sounded so dejected.
Shit! I just made things worse. I realized. Quick, think of something cheerful to talk about before she starts crying or something! "So what kind of magic do you use?" Nice! Everyone's proud of their magic, she can't possibly get depressed about that. Or so I thought.
"My magic's pretty weak- well, it's actually strong magic. I'm the one that's weak," Rio began, "and my training is kind of permanently incomplete because my teacher just up and disappeared on me one day. It kind of sucked."
"So you're a dragon slayer?" I asked. I'd heard this story too many times from too many people before not to put the pieces together.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked. She sounded surprised.
"Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel. The same thing happened to them." I explained, "I'm a dragon slayer too but I'm second generation so I never met any dragons."
"Maybe that's better," Rio muttered, "That way you don't have to miss anyone."
Rather than let her follow that train of thought I asked her what kind for dragon slayer she was.
"Oh, I learned from Mosoroth, so I'm the water dragon slayer."
"That's cool. We've already got Natsu, that moron from earlier, he's the fire dragon slayer, Wendy, you met her too, the sky dragon slayer, and Gajeel. He's the metal dragon slayer."
"What about you?" Rio asked, still not looking at me but staring insistently at the ceiling to avoid stuttering.
"Me? I'm the lightning dragon slayer."
