Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. All characters and concepts that are not my own belong to Hiro Mashima.


"Slow down, Wendy! I... can't keep up..." muttered Kyrie as he struggled to run after his fellow Mage, breathing heavily in between phrases.

"Um, sorry..." replied the Dragon Slayer, "but tag doesn't work like that."

"Can we take a break then... please?" he begged, sweating and ready to pass out from less than thirty minutes of continuous running.

"Oh, um... of course!"

"Thank you..." Kyrie collapsed in a heap on the floor, looking as if he'd run a marathon, "I had no idea... that playing... could be this hard..."


A few hours earlier...


"For a scrawny, emaciated runt, you sure know how to pack away a meal." muttered the nurse as she led her patient into the room.

"Huh? I didn't pack anything. I just ate stuff."

She sighed, "It's just a figure of speech. It means you eat way too much for a kid your size."

"But I was hungry..."

"That doesn't mean you can eat nine full plates of food!"

"B-But I was hungry." he repeated, unsure of how to respond, "You can't eat when you're hungry?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. What I meant to say is that eating too much is bad for you."

"How can eating be bad for you? Everyone has to eat right?"

She sighed, "If I tell you right now it's just going to go in one ear and exit out the other. How about we focus on your Transformation Magic first?"

"Oh, okay! Um... here I go!"

Kyrie's magical power flared, this time only taking a brief moment to complete, giving the boy ample time to look over the results.

His eyes immediately shot to his left hand... which now perfectly matched his right hand in both coloration and texture.

With his anticipation mounting, he quickly took a look down the collar of his shirt, allowing him to see that his torso was completely devoid of the crimson scales that had covered it for so long.

He soon found that the results were the same all over, with all remnants of the damned experiment had vanished like a bad dream. Excitement wouldn't even begin to describe the feeling that was welling up in Kyrie's chest at the time.

"Nice job, but you missed a spot." said Higana with a small smile.

His ballooning sense of joy was quickly and neatly pierced with that single statement.

"Huh?! W-Where?!" All of the boy's excitement was immediately replaced with panic in an instant, with him feeling up his arm and leg in a frantic attempt to find it.

"Calm down. It's your eye. You forgot to use your magic on your left eye."

Kyrie froze for a moment before sighing deeply, "O-Okay... phew... Let me try it again!"

With another flash he redid the magic, paying especially close attention to the way his eye looked.

The smile turned into a frown, "Not quite, try again."

So he did, trying even harder than before.

"No change here, keep trying."

Irritation became visible on his face, "I am trying!"

"Nope, one more time."

Finally, he had it, "Why isn't it working?!" he growled in frustration.

The nurse's voice grew stern, "Don't you start growling at me. I don't know why it isn't working, I just managed to find the book. You should at least be happy that you were able to get so much done on your first try. After all, Transformation Magic is usually used to transform into other people."

"I guess but..."

"You'll get it in time. For now, I have a little solution." she drew a small black eye-patch from one of the cabinets, "Just wear this for the time being. It'll cover your eye just fine."

Kyrie took the eye-patch from her gingerly, staring at it for a few moments before asking, "How do I put this on?"

She sighed, "It's easy. You take the strap, you stretch it like so... and fit it over your eye."

As soon as the piece of cloth covered his eye, Kyrie noticed an immediate difference in his vision. All of the extra colors caused by the auras of every object vanished, leaving him with nothing but the mundane colors seen by everyone else. He flipped the eye-patch up and down, the colors vanishing and returning each time.

"Something the matter?"

"Ah, no... it's just that everything looks different with the eye-patch on."

"How so?"

"Um... ever since I got this eye everything seemed to give off an aura. How big it was and how dark it was told me how strong and honest someone is. All of the auras vanish when I put the "

"Oh... I've heard of this. Your left eye has a type of Eye Magic."

"Eye Magic?"

"It's exactly what it says on the tin. Yours sounds a lot like a subset of Human Possession Magic, which allows the user to see souls and determine their qualities. If you can memorize the appearance of one's aura you'd be a pretty good tracker. However, there's another thing I want you to worry about."

She pointed directly at the covered eye, "That left eye of yours is much sharper than your right, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you-"

"You move your left eye a lot more than your right eye., but let's get to the point. With that eye-patch on you're going to be a lot more clumsy because you won't have both eyes available." she pulled out a cotton ball, "Let me show you. Catch."

The boy moved to catch it, but despite its high and slow arc the cotton ball seemed to pass through his fingers.

"Eh? But I thought I-"

"It's called depth perception. Your brain normally uses both eyes to produce an image, but with only one eye the image is stilted, making it harder to gauge distance. Naturally, this would apply to your perception of your own movements."

Her voice then turned grave, "I think you know that you're the type of kid to get into trouble, so let me warn you right now. If you ever get into a fight, don't hesitate to take that eye-patch off. Given the state you were in last time you fought a monster, it could mean the difference between life and death. Your Transformation Magic also drains your stamina, so don't be afraid to stop using it if you need to. Got it?"

Kyrie gulped before nodding quickly, prompting Higana to lighten her tone, "Alright then, how about you go play with Wendy?"

He gave her the blankest of stares, "Huh?"

"You heard me. Leave the work to the adults. Go off and play like all kids your age do..." she paused, "You've never played with anyone your age before, have you?"

Kyrie merely shook his head, maintaining the same blank stare all the while.

"Okay, how about you and Wendy go play tag. Even she can explain the rules to you on the way."

After all for that he finally managed to come up with a proper response, "I-I can't just go and goof off when you've done so much for me and all..."

"I told you. Don't worry about it. This kind of work is a job for adults. Go and be a kid, you won't be one forever."


Present Time


"Are you okay now?" asked Wendy as Kyrie caught his breath.

He took a deep breath before exhaling naturally, "Yep. We can keep playing now if you want."

"Sorry to bother you like this... I've never played with anyone my own age before so..."

He shook his head, "No, no, it's okay... this is my first time too... So I um, didn't really know what to expect either."

After that the two wouldn't say another word to each other not out of reluctance so much as insecurity. What would two children who had never played together say to each other?

Finally, Kyrie got up from his seat on the ground before slowly walking over to the log where Wendy was seated. His face grew closer to hers, his uncovered eye staring directly into Wendy's own.

"U-Uh, what are you doing?"

He lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "Tag, you're it!"

"Hey, t-that wasn't nice at all!" she sputtered as he took off.

"But you said those were the rules of the game!"

"Still..." Wendy pouted, "I'm going to get you!"

That moment came sooner than she thought, as Kyrie tripped over a root in his haste to get away, resulting in a spectacularly terrible spill that ended with him rolling down the nearby slope and into a tree.

"Ow..." he muttered as he rubbed his head, "I wonder if trees hate me..."

"Ah, are you okay?"

"Yeah... Still getting used to walking around with only one eye."

"I'll be right there," she called back, "Hold o- wah!" She soon found herself tripping over the same set of roots and tumbling right into him.

"Ouch..." the both of them muttered again.

"Are you okay?" the two of them said to each other at the same time.

"Um, yes..."

"Uh, yeah..."

It took a few seconds before they realized that their faces were even closer than before, causing Wendy to back away quickly while Kyrie ended up pressing himself against the tree in embarrassment.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to!" they said in unison.

Their next thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves.

"What's that? An animal?" The Devil Slayer looked around quickly to look for the potential threat, completely oblivious to the fact that the sound was actually coming from above.

This also left him unaware of the fact that a large, round object was descending upon his head, subsequently colliding with it and left the boy seeing stars as the object bounced off and rolled over to Wendy.

"What's this?" asked the Dragon Slayer as she picked up the object, which was surprisingly light for its size.

"What's wha-?" asked Kyrie, his speech slurred.

"It's an egg!" Wendy finally declared after observing it for a few moments, "But what could lay an egg this big?"

"Maybe a really big chicken?" suggested Kyrie, who was slowly regaining coherent thought as he rubbed the bump on his head.

Wendy's eyes widened as she noticed the ornate pink markings on the side of the egg, "These look just like a dragon's talons! Could this be..."

Her lips curled into a smile, "This has to be a dragon egg!"

"D-Dragon egg? Don't you think that's kind of dangerous?"

Wendy's face fell, "Grandeeney was so nice though..."

"Oh... so what do you want to do with it?"

She hugged it tightly, "I want to hatch it."

"H-Hatch it?! But if it's a dragon how are we going to feed it?"

"We'll catch fish and buy meat. How else?" she replied matter-of factly as she caressed the egg.

"Um... We should probably ask everyone else if it's okay first." he suggested, afraid of doing anything particularly rash.

"Hmm... okay... Let's go then!" declared Wendy cheerfully, making her way back up the hill and towards the guild hall with a spring in her step.

"Hey, wait up!" he called with the same smile on his face, racing after her as best he could.


Cait Shelter Guild Hall


"We're back!" shouted Wendy cheerfully, practically waltzing in with the egg in her hands.

"Y-Yeah... we're back... we found... an egg..." Kyrie added, panting the whole time, his short stamina only exacerbated by his constant use of Magic.

"Oh, you two are back early." remarked the Guild Master while taking sips from a bottle of wine "What's this you said about an egg?"

"Wendy... says... we found... a dragon egg..."

"A dragon egg? May I have a look?"

Wendy complied, carefully handing the egg to Roubaul for examination.

"I must say, I've never seen anything quite like this. Where did you find it exactly?"

"It fell out of a tree and hit Kyrie on the head."

"Don't remind me..." the boy muttered as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

The old man stroked his beard, "What do you plan to do with this?"

"I want to hatch it! Um... please!" asked Wendy with a bow, hoping the Master would allow it.

Roubaul sighed, "There are very few types of magic that can make this egg hatch, and I am not capable of using any of them. You'll have to let nature run its course. That said, I don't mind allowing you to hatch it, but it'll be a great responsibility. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Wendy nodded, "I'll be the Mama and Kyrie will be the Papa."

The Devil Slayer felt his face turning red hot, "W-What?! Mama? Papa? I'm not sure if I'm ready for this!"

The Guild Master chuckled, "She just wants you to help her keep the egg warm. Since you're the boy taking care of it, it places you in a father-like position."

"O-Oh, when you put it that way it doesn't sound so embarrassing..." Kyrie then noticed something very peculiar, "The hall is so empty. Where is everyone?"

"Well, they've uh... gone out to buy groceries."

The boy lifted an eyebrow, "Everyone?"

"Well, there are other things to get as well. I was just being general is all."

"Okay..." The boy resisted the urge to flip up his eye-patch to see if the old man was telling the truth. After all, this was the man who had taken him in. What reason would he have to lie?

"Hey, let's go!" Wendy began tugging on his arm, "We have to make a nest for the egg!"

"Eh? Why can't we keep it in the guild hall?"

"Dragons live outside. We can't leave it in here!"

"I guess that makes sense- wha!"

She was already walking out the door, "I know a place, come on!"

"H-Hold on, I can't walk that fast!"

Roubaul couldn't help but smile as she watched the pair leave the premises, "Why, I've never seen Wendy so excited before."

He took another sip from the bottle, "Perhaps this is a consequence of gaining her first real companion in years."

"I wonder when the day you won't need us anymore will come." the old man mused, "Well, only time will tell now won't it?"


A few weeks later, the pair were tending to the egg in a shelter they made of hay, grass, and straw. Their fellow guild members had helped of course (neither of them could even erect a tent properly), but the rest of the responsibilities in regards to taking care of the egg fell to the young mages.

Wendy's naturally caring side allowed her to take to the role of the egg's primary caretaker like a duck would to water. Being motherly came pretty easily to a girl who only wanted her foster mother back.

Meanwhile, Kyrie's jittery demeanor made him an effective guardian as well. He was always on the lookout for danger and could never really settle down enough to lower his guard. His experience with beating up monsters made chasing away unfriendly wildlife come as second nature. As a consequence, much of the friendly wildlife also learned to keep their distance, much to his displeasure.

At the moment, the weather wasn't particularly nice, with gloomy clouds and strong gales blowing through the area frequently. Those same clouds would soon herald the arrival of rain.

"What are you doing?" the Sky Dragon Slayer asked as her friend gazed at the egg intently with his left eye.

"Higana-san said that if I memorize the aura of the egg, I'd be able to to find it no matter what, just in case we lose it."

She began hugging it tightly again, "We're not going to lose it!"

"I think I made her mad..." he thought to himself, "Um... I think I've almost got it. Could you put it down so I can finish?"

"That does sound helpful... okay..." she placed the egg back into the center of the hay.

"And... done! There's no way I'm going to forget the way the egg's aura looks like now."

"What does the aura look like?"

"It's pink and shaped like a pair of angel wings."

"Really? That sounds really pretty!"

He turned his eyes downward, "It is... it's one of the only good things I can do with this stupid eye that won't go back to normal."

After a few moments of awkward silence the topic was soon dropped when the egg back to shake.

"Ah, it moved again!" marveled Kyrie as he watched the egg move again, "It's the fifth time today."

"Yeah! Do you think it's going to hatch today?" replied Wendy.

He shrugged as he replaced the eye-patch, "Um... it moved a lot of times before but it didn't hatch. So I don't know. But we've been taking care of it for a few weeks now, so it's gotta hatch soon right?"

"I guess... I just wish Grandeeney was here." she sighed, "I miss her."

"Wendy..." he scratched his head as he tried to find the words to tell her, "Um... I never really got to know my mom that well, since I was a baby and all, so I'm not sure if I should be saying this but... I think she'd be uh... proud of you for taking care of this egg."

The girls eyes widened, throwing the boy into a panic, "W-Well I'm uh, not saying I know how your mom thinks. I never met her or anything so I-"

He was silenced by the sight of her smile, "No... Thank you."

Kyrie couldn't help but smile goofily as well, "I-It's not a problem..." he replied, breathing a sigh of relief all the while.

When he did so, he couldn't help but notice something odd about the air, "Do you smell that?"

Wendy took a whiff of the air, "Yeah... it smells like... strawberries?"

They looked outside of the shelter to see a basket chock full of the fruit a few meters away. There were no tags, and thus no apparent sender.

"Did the anyone we know leave this here?" asked the Dragon Slayer.

"I don't think so..." the Devil Slayer replied as he flipped up his eye-patch, "Let me check if the person is still around."

As Kyrie scanned the premises, he noticed that there was one yellow aura amongst the green auras let out by the trees. "Hey! Mister, are you there?"

The aura quickly shrank as the unknown man took off, with the boy catching the glimpse of a yellow pinstripe suit before it vanished amongst the trees, causing Kyrie to flip his eye-patch back down. "He's gone..."

"Does that mean these strawberries are for us?"

"Um... He's not coming back for it, right? Finders keepers, I guess." Wendy shrugged as Kyrie walked over to the basket to take one berry before putting it in his mouth.

"It's good!" he remarked as finished eating it.

"Let me try!" they ended up sharing the basket, smiling and chatting the day away.

Only a half hour later, Kyrie stopped short, prompting Wendy to ask, "What's wrong? Are you full?"

His expression quickly turned grim, "I just remembered something. A lot of monsters love the smell of fresh fruit."

"Huh? Really?"

He nodded, "In a forest like this, strawberries would attract..."

A loud thudding could be heard outside before the face of a green and purple ape peered inside, "Ooooooh..."

"Gorians, also called Forest Vulcans."

"Why aren't those strawberries?" the monster asked, "Oh, an egg too! Hand them over!"

"Over my dead body!" Kyrie yelled as he tackled the Vulcan out of the shelter, the ape managing to escape his grasp as they rolled outside.

"That's the way it's gonna be huh?" asked the Vulcan, "Well, that can be arranged!" It snapped its fingers, causing multiple identical Gorians to appear from the shadows, their numbers approaching a half dozen in total.

"Wendy, take the egg and run!" she complied, grasping the egg tightly as she took off. The Gorians would have pursued her if it weren't for the Devil Slayer standing in their path.

"You'll have to go through me first!" he exclaimed with unusual gusto.

This only enraged the six monsters, which charged towards him like a herd of bulls on stampede. If he didn't move, he would certainly be crushed by the wild beasts.

It was around this time that he realized just how much danger he was in, "W-What did I get myself into?!"

But those thoughts were shoved aside as more important things took hold, "Don't think about that! I have to protect Wendy and the egg!"

His right fist burst into flame as he lunged forward, "Fire Demon's Damning Fist!"

However, to his surprise, the attack missed, the Gorians pouncing on him as a consequence.

"Ooh! This kid has a lot of magical power. Maybe we should use Take Over on him."

"Ooh! That's a good idea! Take-"

The Devil Slayer began to scowl, "I am not becoming a monster!"

The Gorians found themselves thrown in all directions as the boy overpowered them, "Eat this! Fire Demon's Rampage!"

He began slinging veritable twisters of molten rock and flame towards the group of monsters, who quickly rolled out of the way.

"Ha! Your aim sucks, brat!"

"Tch!" It doesn't take a genius to realize that against mobile foes such as these, Kyrie's usual tactic of simply throwing fire at them wasn't going to work, compounded by his impaired depth perception.

Higana's words echoed in his mind, "If you ever get into a fight, don't hesitate to take that eye-patch off."

As much as he didn't want to, the Devil Slayer knew he had no choice in the matter. "Fine... you asked for it!" He not only removed the eye-patch but dispelled his Transformation Magic as well.

The Gorians froze as they gazed upon the boy's true appearance, "T-This kid is..."

Kyrie launched a knee kick into the face of one, breaking the ape's nose and knocking it out from the impact. He didn't stop there. Kicking off the hard muscles of the ape he just knocked out, the Devil Slayer than threw a fierce elbow strike against the temple of another one of the monsters, incapacitating it instantly.

"The weakness of every Gorian is the face, which contain the only muscles they're unable to train at all." he remarked as he threw them a deadly glare. "I'm not going to miss with my left eye free! My magic is made to tear creatures like you apart! Do you really want to keep going?"

Their response was to turn tail and flee, taking their comrades with them in the process, anything to get away from the demonic child.

In response, the boy merely scratched his head at the creatures' apparent cowardice, "Wow... compared to the behemoth that was really easy."

He then realized that he didn't tell Wendy where to run, meaning that he had no idea where she was. Kyrie hadn't quite memorized the appearance of her aura yet, so all he could do was wander aimlessly until he found her.

"Wendy! Where are you?"

When he finally discovered where his friend had fled... and it was immediately apparent to him that he had failed.

He had failed as a father.

He had failed as a protector.

He had failed as a friend.

She was beaten and bruised, her short blue hair covered in dirt, grass, and leaves, a clear sign of a struggle. Her arms were attempting to grasp at something that simply wasn't there anymore.

To make matters worse, the egg was gone.

The one thing he had sworn Wendy he'd protect, was taken, stolen by some punk who wanted to make a quick buck.

He felt his hands ball into fists as the thoughts raced through his mind, only relaxing when he remembered his first priority, getting Wendy to a safe place.

This was not going to be the end of the matter, the half-devil was going to make sure of that.


Roubaul sighed as he watched the clouds turn darker and darker with thunder rumbling in the distance. Skies such as these were always foreboding sights, and this one was no exception.

His fears seemed to come true when he saw the blond-haired mage running up the path to the guild hall with an unconscious Wendy in his arms.

"What happened?" he asked as the boy approached.

"Someone lured me away by luring Gorians to attack us. He beat Wendy and took the egg." the boy seemed outwardly calm, as if he was carefully thinking things through, but the old man knew better.

"It was the right move to bring her here immediately, but what are you going to do now?" the guild master asked cautiously as he took Wendy into his arms.

"I'm going find the person who did this and get the egg back."

"You're not going to do anything else?"

Kyrie's brow furrowed, "Master, he needs to pay."

"Then how do you plan to make him do so?"

"I won't kill him." the Devil Slayer stated bluntly.

"Then what will you do? Maim him? Break his bones? Scar his face? Revenge is empty. You'll get no satisfaction from it. Trust the words of this old man, I've learned from experience."

The boy paused for a moment, "You can't stop me."

"Of course I can't. I'm but an old man. Just promise me one thing, boy. Don't do anything you'll regret. It's never good to become what you're trying to defeat." the old man's expression became melancholic, even wistful as he told Kyrie this, "That is... also something I've learned over the course of my life."

The half-devil unfurled his cloak and wrapped it around himself before pulling the hood over his head, "I understand, Master. I'll keep that in mind."

The boy removed the eye-patch that sealed his left eye once more, gazing off into the distance, taking the time to lock on to the aura of the egg. With that task finished he began his hunt for both the egg and the culprit as raindrops started to fall.

Roubaul could only look on helplessly before turning to bring Wendy to the infirmary as thunder boomed and lightning danced across the sky. Neither of these things fazed him in the slightest due to his knowledge of a single thing.

The real storm was brewing in Kyrie's heart.


The thief was busy counting the Jewels he could make from pawning off the egg he took from the girl in the cave. It was easy enough to find. Word spreads quickly, especially rumors that involve things as mythical as the egg of a dragon. As soon as he heard that all that was guarding the egg was a pair of kids, he knew he had to take advantage of this.

He wondered who he'd sell it to. He'd make a killing if he sold on the black market. Then again, if he sold it to a research society he would still make a boatload of cash while making himself famous in the process. The possibilities were endless...

His thoughts were interrupted as his door suddenly burst off its hinges, the howling storm taking the opportunity to rush into the cabin, the flame of the fireplace stamped out by the fierce wind and rain.

*Tower of Heaven Theme*

"What the hell?"

The man turned to see a small figure shrouded entirely in scarlet cloth standing in the doorway. The entire upper half of the figure's face was obscured by a hood as it stared directly at the thief.

"Give the egg back." it ordered in a low growl.

"Huh? I got this fair and square. Buzz off."

"Give it back." the growl turned into a snarl, "Give it back right now!"

"I ain't got nothin' to give back. So why don't you scram before I make you, kid?"

"I know the egg is here! Give it back right now or else!" the figure demanded.

"Or else what? Cause I'm thinking of just killing your ass and getting this over with!" The thief threw a jab straight at the figure, who did not move an inch from his current position.

The figure instead caught the attack with effortlessly by grabbing the thief's forearm with its left hand.

"Or else this!"

The first sound to be heard was a nice little

Snap.

Followed by a harsher and nauseating

Crackle.

Which was then succeeded by an extremely loud

Crunch.

Before finally culminating with a resounding

Scream.

The thief recoiled, falling to the ground and backing away as he saw his splintered forearm penetrate his skin, "What did you do?! What did you do?!"

"What does it look like, dumbass? Your bones are no harder to break than a twig in my hands!"

It was then that the injured man noticed something terrifying about his assailant.

The entirety of the figure's left arm was covered with scales with the same pigmentation as human blood.

"W-what are you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the figure approached, gripping its victim by the jaw before pinning him against the wall at eye level, allowing the thief to see a pair of golden serpentine eyes burning with sheer enmity. "I'm a..."

"D-D-D-!" he cried.

The figure removed its hood to reveal crimson hair and the same scales lining the left side of its face, its maw lined with dagger-like teeth.

"Demon."

"W-Wait! S-Stop, please! Y-You can have the egg back, just-"

"Do you think I'm stupid? You're not sorry. You're just afraid of getting hurt!" the figure cracked its knuckles as he looked into the thief's dread-stricken eyes,"I'm going to make you feel every last bit of pain she did. Prepare yourself, you bastard! I want to hear you squeal like the pig you are!"

The scaled hand began secreting molten earth, searing the entirety of the man's jawline, the face of the victim contorting in agony as he screamed for mercy. His cries of terror drowned out by the equally unremitting tempest.


The storm had cleared by the following morning, allowing the sun to stream through the treetops. The area was completely still and devoid of sound. Along with the warm temperature and the crisp, clean air, the makings of a perfect day were all present.

It was on this day that a still sore and tired Wendy snuck out of bed in search of her friend. She had awoken in bed, where the others told her that the Devil Slayer had left to go find the culprit and bring the egg back.

She didn't have to search for long, as she found Kyrie resting against a tree, his clothes drenched with water. In his lap was the egg, warm and dry as a result of being covered by his crimson cloak.

"N-Not a monster... not a monster..." he mumbled in his sleep.

Wendy gently nudged him, "Kyrie? Are you okay?"

His eyes slowly fluttered open, "Huh? Oh, good morning Wendy."

He paused, "Wait, Wendy? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in- a-achoo!" His nose began running, prompting him to quickly wipe it away with his sleeve in embarrassment.

She shook her head, "Don't worry about me. The thief didn't hurt you did he?"

"N-No, not at a-achoo!" he wiped his nose again, "You won't have to worry about him anymore either. I made sure of tha-achoo!"

He sighed, "I think I caught a cold..."

She took the egg into her hands, "Maybe you should dry yourself off first."

"Y-Yeah, good idea." He lit himself ablaze and sustained the flame until he was toasty warm, "Much better..."

"So um... yeah, I got the egg back like I promised. Sorry for making you worry."

"Uh... sorry for making you go find the egg."

"No... if I did a better of job of being the Papa and protecting you then the egg would have been safe. Sorry!"

"But if I was better at using my magic to defend myself then you wouldn't have had to works so hard. So, sorry!"

"Would you two stop saying sorry already!" came a voice out of nowhere.

The two jumped, turning to see their nurse and babysitter looking down at them. "Geez, it's seriously grating how apologetic you two are."

"W-When did you get here?" the both of them asked.

"I heard you while I was moving a few things around. Anyway..." She began tugging on Wendy's ear, "Who gave you permission to get out of bed?" before following suit with Kyrie, "And who gave you permission to run off like that last night?"

"Ow! Sorry! Ow! Sorry!"

"You two..." she finally let go, "Still, let's get you both inside. I can't have one sick kid and another injured kid running off on their own today. Right?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

As they responded the egg began to shake again, "It looks like the egg agrees too."

However, as the trio approached the doors of the guild hall, the egg began to shake even more vigorously, nearly tossing itself out of Wendy's arms in the process.

"I-It's about to hatch!" the blonde mage sputtered as the egg continued to move.

"Why thank you, Captain Obvious!" Higana remarked as she quickly ushered them inside and shut the door.

Soon afterward the egg managed to wriggle free of Wendy's grasp, rolling into the center of the Guild Hall before stopping on its side. Cracks formed along the egg's equator that quickly turned into holes before it finally burst open, revealing a small, white orb of light.

The light soon faded away to reveal...

"A cat?!" was the almost universal reaction.

Its fur was snow white and its eyes were brown. Unlike most creatures, it seemed strangely calm, wearing a small pout instead of the usual confusion that most animals bore when they first enter the world.

"It's so cute!" exclaimed Wendy as she gazed at the small feline.

Wendy's statement was also the universal opinion of nearly everyone in the hall, with practically every member rushing over to get a better look at the newly hatched creature.

"Hi, I'm Wendy." she reached out to the cat, "Nice to meet you."

The cat stared at her for a while, as if it was studying her for some reason or another before finally lending a paw.

"Aww..." Once again the guild members' thoughts about the cat were in unison as the girl took the mammal into her arms and cradled it like a baby.

"So, what are you going to call it Wendy?" asked Magna, a burly man sporting a mohawk.

"Um..." Now that she thought about, Wendy realized that she hadn't stopped to think about such a thing.

"How about Carla?" Higana suggested.

"Carla?"

"It means free one. It'd be fitting for someone who freed herself of an egg, right?"

"Wait, the cat is a girl?" asked Kyrie.

"What else could it be? The egg had pink markings on it."

"Oh..." Being an eight-year old, gender differences like that didn't really occur to him.

"What do you think, Carla?" Wendy asked the cat.

The cat merely nodded with an affirmative, "Uhn."

The Dragon Slayer beamed, "It's nice to meet you then, Carla!"

Despite the attention she was getting, Carla continued to pout no matter what members of Cait Shelter said or did.

Finally, Kyrie nervously held his own hand out to the cat, "H-Hi I'm Kyrie..."

It was this gesture that finally changed Carla's expression. It was not the motion itself, but what she saw as a result of it.

Instead of the shaking right hand of a boy she saw a set of massive talons stained with blood. The hall seemed to be engulfed in an inferno. The air was saturated with the sound of someone screaming for his life. The nervous face was replaced with the terrifying visage of a creature that could only be called a monster, its maw ready to unleash a jet of flame at a hopeless victim...

Carla immediately began squirming to get away from this creature, sprouting a pair of angel-like wings as she tried to create as much distance between them as possible.

"Carla, what's wrong?" Wendy cried as the feline flew out of her grasp. The cat's eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights, her once smooth fur standing in all directions.

The boy merely froze, his face falling as he watched Carla soar higher and higher into the air, "I-I... I'm sorry..."

"Carla hates me..." he thought as he turned around in shame, "I'll just go back to my room..."

Wendy grabbed him by the arm before calling out to the cat, "Carla, come down! He's not going to hurt you! I promise!"

"Wendy it's okay..."

She ignored him, continuing to call out to Carla who refused to budge from her position in the air. However, the cat's young age meant a comparatively low amount of magical power, causing her wings to quickly vanish.

Before anyone else could react, the boy darted outward leaping through the air to catch the falling feline before crashing landing in a heap on the floor.

Quickly getting to his feet, he handed Carla back to Wendy, "She likes you better."

"You can't just leave her! You're the Papa!" this was the first time that anyone had seen Wendy so cross.

"B-But... you saw how she reacted-"

"Just hold her!"

"O-Okay!" As Wendy deposited the cat into his hands, the feline's expression once again turned fearful for a moment until the vision faded.

"Carla?" The cat soon found herself staring into the eyes of not a monster but a boy.

His nervousness quickly made way for joy as the cat's expression then returned to its previous ambivalence, but not before making herself comfortable and falling asleep in Kyrie's arms.


Meanwhile, Higana and Roubaul were conversing at the back of the crowd.

"It's a good thing that Kyrie and the egg are unharmed." the elder mage mused.

"Yeah, who would've thought that the huge egg would have such a tiny cat in it."

His face turned more stern, "But something worries me."

"Are you thinking the same thing I am, old man?"

"I certainly hope not."

"Well, I've already sent Pepel to trace Kyrie's tracks. She should be back any minute now."

Soon after a pile of dust coalesced to reveal a woman dressed in a black cape and hood over a white frilled dress along with a matching black veil to cover her mouth.

"Right on cue, Pepel. What did you find?"

Pepel closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking, "It's as you feared. The boy tracked the thief down and brutally beat him before burning all of the thief's belongings with intense Fire Magic."

"Are you certain it was him?" asked the Guild Master.

The veiled woman nodded, "Yes. The boy's magical signature was strewn about the place. He was not intending to hide."

Higana gulped, "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but just how brutally did he beat the guy?"

"The thief's right arm was shattered in multiple places, with the bone penetrating the skin. He also sustained severe burns and bruising all across his body. His chin was especially burned. I do not believe it will ever completely heal."

Both Roubaul and Higana gaped in shock at the news, "How did he even survive those kinds of injuries?"

"The thief managed to secure a number of medicines and ointments when the boy left him to die of his injuries. I managed to transport him to the closest medical facility, but even then it may take months or even years for him to recover."

The nurse rubbed her temples, "Well, at least the bloke isn't dead. Hate to see what happens to his chin though."

"Still... for the boy to display such savagery... he could be dangerous."

"Master... he's not a bad kid. I spoke with him the other night. He's dealt with things no kid should have seen at his age. He only knows how to respond to violence with violence, but he's no threat to us." Higana said as she gazed at Roubaul with pleading eyes.

"Are you saying that I should overlook this?"

"I'm not saying that he's right. We'll have to work it out, but throwing him out would only make things worse for both him and Wendy."

"You're awfully close to them. I never realized that you got along with children so well."

"Well duh, you conjured all of us to take care of Wendy. I'd have to be this by necessity."

"Yes, yes... You're certainly right." Roubaul threw a glance at the smiling boy who was cradling the white cat as the rest of the guild continued to gush over its newest member.

"I suppose the real question we should be asking is this: Is Kyrie just a boy with the face of a devil, or a little devil in human skin?"


Omake # 2 – Stretchy Bands

"Hey Kyrie, did you know that there's something fun you can do with an eye-patch?"

"R-Really?" he didn't really sound all that convinced though.

"Yup!." she gripped his eye-patch before he could run away, "You pull back on the patch like so and... bam!" The nurse let go, causing the patch to whip him in the eye, the sudden pain causing him to trip backward.

"That's not fun at all!" he complained as he rubbed his sore eye.

"It is for me!" she replied with a laugh as the boy sulked on the floor.


Woohoo, title drop at the end! Sorry it took so long to write this. I know it's not really an excuse for a six month absence, but was extremely busy with two SATs, an AP US History Exam, Four State Exams, managing college applications, writing an eleven page paper (yeah I'm going to stop here because the list is too long). So please cut me a little slack here!

Moving on, if you couldn't tell, my main objectives for this chapter were to establish more of Kyrie's character and detail Carla's hatching. Yes, I took many details from Natsu's and Lisanna's little episode, but it was the closest l had to a manual for this type of thing.

I suppose I tried to deconstruct a few things in this chapter as well. The idea of the standard shonen comic policy of "an eye for an eye" doesn't really translate well into real life. When you're a lot stronger (and angry) things tend to escalate far beyond than a mere beating, as you probably inferred from the thief's suffering at Kyrie's hands. I also found the idea of raising the egg in the middle of the woods with no adult supervision without any repercussions to be far-fetched, especially when dealing with something that could probably sell for a lot of money.

About Kyrie's character, he's basically the inverse of what Lisanna said about Natsu when they were kids. He's soft, kind, reliable, and shy on the outside, but he's also a seething ball of pent-up anger and frustration waiting to be exerted on whatever sap dumb enough to piss him off. For as relatively intelligent and mature as Kyrie tries to be, he's an eight year old. He doesn't have the self-control to hold back once he loses his grip on his emotions, which when combined with his destructive potential leads to nasty results. Heck, the way he slowly beat the thief to a pulp is probably the darkest thing I've ever written up to this point.

Though to be honest, I wished there were a lot of things I could have done better with this chapter. I think I wrote Wendy a bit too out of character, but I attribute the way I wrote her behavior to the way my younger brother acts when he's excited about an activity as well as the 1st grade class I taught once. Don't try it. It's harder than actually being in school. Anyways... I also think I overdid it on the foreshadowing, as it was more like dropping an anvil on your heads than merely hinting at what's coming next. I guess there wasn't much action either, but that will come later I suppose.

In the end, the final verdict comes down to you guys, so thanks for reading and I hope to see you again next time. Don't forget to drop a review to tell me how you think!

P.S. I've started assigning character themes to each of my OCs due to the fact that all stories I'm writing for have amazing music in their source material. I'm trying to decide between Drumfire from Super Robot Wars or Blazing Dance from Fairy Tail for a standard awesome moment theme. I suppose I'll let you guys pick what you want.

P.S.S. I've realized how slowly I've been writing, and I came to the conclusion that I'm not going to be able to keep up with both school work and writing stories for you guys without help. So if anyone wants to help me out, I'd be extremely grateful and I'll certainly give you credit. After all, a writer is nothing without his readers right?

P.S.S.S. I only noticed it today, but as of 6/20 it's been a year since I've started writing fanfiction. Kind of hard to believe that I managed to do this. Also, Happy 4th of July to everyone who celebrates it!

Note to self: I've got to write shorter Author's Notes...