The Fight for a New Life
Night had nearly fallen and the packing of Dym's belongings, which ranged from clothing to books, was done. The two were ready to head out, but both decided to wait before leaving as to try not be seen by the guards or those that attempted on Dym's life.
The two currently sat at the table that had once been cluttered with jewels and books was now near spotless, save for some food that the two had decided to eat after getting hungry. Most of the time had been spent in silence as Dym read while Juniper cleaned and sharpened her weapons.
However, Dym broke the silence by asking,
"Tell me, what's Fairy Tail like? Like I said before, I've heard of it occasionally, but nothing detail wise." Juniper looked to the boy with a smile as she placed her sword and cleaning rag on the table.
"It can seem a bit overwhelming at first, what with how lively the place can be. But after a bit of time there, you get used to it. Soon, everything seems fairly normal." She then muttered, "Even if it's far from that." Dym gave a confused look as she went back to a normal voice volume, "But that's what makes Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail." Dym watched her for a few moments before shrugging and going back to reading. Juniper smirked at the action and said, "I think you and Levy will get along very well." Dym looked up from his book.
"And why's that?"
"She very much enjoys reading, just as you seem to." Dym simply chuckled as he closed the book and placed it in his bag before retrieving another.
"I only read so I can gain more abilities and a better grasp on my magic. I don't read it because I want to, I read it because I have to. This way I can become stronger." Juniper rolled her eyes at the boy's explanation as she responded.
"You're too serious, Dym. Have you ever been told that?"
"Yup, and I punched the last person that told me that." Dym responded in attempt to seem cold, but Juniper could easily see past the lie.
"Oh? Do you plan on punching me if I say it again?" She asked to call his bluff which Dym just looked at her. And for a few moments the two stayed locked before Dym rolled his own eyes just like Juniper had moments ago while she chuckled. She then stopped as she suddenly looked towards a random direction.
Dym looked at her and asked,
"What is it?" But was answered with a raised hand to silence him. After a few seconds Juniper relaxed and looked back to her sword.
"Sorry. Thought I heard something." Dym just shrugged as he went back to reading when multiple figures broke through all the clock faces causing both Dym and Juniper to jump to their feet.
The figures then used that of grappling hooks to grab onto the platform's railing and pull themselves to it. Upon reaching it, all but one got to their knees. All the attackers wore the same colored robes of a pitch black and had that of a tattoo that was a snake wrapped around a knife on their hands. The amount of attackers came to that of 29.
"Well," Juniper said while grabbing her sword from the table. "Seems things just got much more interesting."
"Seems so." Dym said as he formed that of his Shadow Daggers. "So, who's who?" Dym asked, but was not given an answer. Instead one lone figure who wore a long cloak, pants, and shoes slowly made his way towards the two and removed his hood.
This revealed a man of his late thirty's who stood at an even six foot with long brown hair, piercing gray eyes and of pale complexion. He gave a smile that belonged on a snake towards the shadow wielder and said,
"Hello, Dym. How have you been?" But the boy did not say a word back, instead giving a small look of fear as he took a slight step back. The man gave a small chuckle as he spoke, "What's the matter? Didn't think you'd see me again? You shouldn't be so surprised to be honest. You have caused us quite a bit of trouble. Much more than it should have been, anyway. But, I guess I shouldn't be surprised either. You were one of the best we ever had. Such a shame fate dealt you this type of hand." By now Dym's look of horror had grown as he gave a nervous swallow and increased his grip of the daggers, which Juniper had by now noticed and asked,
"Who are you?" The man looked to her and answered,
"How rude of me, I have not yet introduced myself. Apologies. My name is Meister Morderca. Nice to meet you, madam." The man now known as Meister gave a slight bow with his snake like smile still present. "Do tell, who are you, my lady?"
Juniper did not say a thing for a few seconds as she stared down the man before her with narrowed eyes. She had met many like him in her life, but this one. He seemed off.
"My name is Juniper Bish. And from what I can gather, you seem to be the leader of the assassin guild that Dym had been previously affiliated with. Am I correct?"
Meister gave a chuckle,
"You are correct. If I may, how did you figure that out?"
"For one, how scared Dym is of you. And secondly, how the men around you have not said a word with the looks of obedient dogs on their faces along with staying on their knee for such a long period of time without moving of their own free will." This answer just caused Meister to laugh.
"What a lovely sense of observation you have, Miss Bish. Tell me, do you happen to be related to a guild at all? My men have told me you are, but I would like to hear from you myself."
"Yes, I am. Fairy Tail."
"Ah. Fairy Tail. A rambunctious guild from what I hear. Well, Miss Bish, that must mean you are the Archangel of Fairy Tail. Correct?" Juniper gave a nod. "Well then, let me give you a proposition, if I may?" Juniper was hesitant but nodded again. "The very boy you have beside you has killed many people in his life. So many, you could not comprehend it. He has been telling everyone that he was framed for his parent's death, when in reality, he has indeed killed them and has been gaining the sympathy of others so that he may slice they throat while they sleep at night. We have been hired to stop him by a family member of a previous victim, which was also a member of our guild. We may be assassins, but we also have morals. No killing one another without reason, which is exactly what he did. Now, I have heard you punish the guilty. So, obviously that must mean you should punish him, no? So why don't you just hand over the boy and allow us to save you the hassle of doing just that and allow us to do our job? Surely, you see the sense in that!" Juniper was silent for many seconds and as she was, Dym's look of fear only grew with each passing.
Juniper looked down at the boy while he gazed up at her. She stared into his eyes and searched them. Finally, she slowly began to chuckle before it turned into full blown laughter. Everyone watched the woman with some faces of shock and others of it being disturbed.
When her laughing calmed she spoke in her childish tone,
"Oh, that was too good. You're quite the weaver of stories. Any other person would believe you, I'm sure." She looked towards Meister with eyes full of confidence, "But I'm not like any other person. I have met many individuals in my life. From the best to the worst. And you, are part of the worst. You have smile of snake and tongue just as sharp." She smiled widely before rising her sword towards the gray eyed man and spoke. "Now, allow me to give you a proposition: You allow Dym and I to leave peacefully and you forget all about us or," She placed her free hand on Dym's now slightly relieved shoulder but her tone became dark as her eyes. "I kill you and every single one of your lackeys here. None of them are the ones from earlier today, so that either means you killed them or sent them back to your guild. Most likely the former knowing your type. And, these men here have the same tattoo on their hands, most likely signifying they are some type of possible guard for you. So, obviously they must have done something to earn your trust to become your guards. Such as, oh, I don't know, kill someone closet to them." By now Meister's smile had vanished and was now a deep frown.
"And judging by your frown, I'm correct. Like I said, I've met a lot of people in my life. So I know all about your type of organizations. Now, usually I give people second chances, but those like you and your lackeys," Juniper's tone became even darker. "You do not deserve such mercy. Instead, you should all be killed by my very blade if you force my hand. So what will it be? Allow us to leave, or die?"
Meister simply sighed as his fist tightened to the point his knuckles became white before saying,
"It seems you leave me no choice." He turned while giving a flick of his wrist with his pointer and middle finger together and began to leave while the others got up from their knees and drew a weapon of some kind. "Kill them both." He muttered as he was just about to reach the railing of the platform when a polearm suddenly slammed into the wooden railing in front of him. Everyone stared at the weapon and man who slowly looked down to his side to see his clothing had been torn. He reached his hands down and rubbed his fingers on his side. He then brought them up to reveal that of blood. Suddenly, he tightened his fist just as before followed by turning around while yelling,
"Kill them! Kill them both!" His calm demeanor had vanished and replaced with it was that of a burning rage.
"Oh no. Juniper, what did you just do?" Dym asked as he went to take another step back, but was stopped as the now smirking woman placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him to her side.
"About to show you my true strength, while also testing yours. Show me how much you to be a part of Fairy Tail." Juniper grabbed her helmet and placed it upon her head followed by cracking her neck.
"But what about killing only when necessary!? Don't tell me you're going to do a total 180 on me like that!"
"As I just said, Dym," Juniper blocked an incoming attack from one of the attackers that had a large sword with her own followed by kneeing him in the groin and kicking him back. "They do not deserve the mercy of a second chance! I gave them the chance to let us leave and told them I would end their lives if they did not take it! They have thrown away their chance to continue living! And surely you know what they have done to get to such a position, no?!" She then parried another attacker and shoved her sword deep within his gut, before slicing the sword across allowing blood to pour from his body.
Dym stared at the display and though he was no stranger to death and blood, watching how vicious Juniper killed him with ease scared him for some reason. But he could not argue with her logic. She was right about what the men before him had to do, in order to get where they were now.
Dym went to say something but stopped as he had to block an oncoming attack from one of the other attackers that had twin daggers as well.
"Tell me, Dym, how does it feel knowing you've killed members of your own family?!" The attacker asked as he struggled against Dym.
"You're the ones that tried to kill me first, you bastard!" Dym yelled as he struggled back.
"Yes, and you should accept your death honorably!"
Dym did not respond, instead he scraped his foot along the man's shin, causing him to yell in pain before Dym delivered a hard knee to his femoral, followed by giving a head butt then shoved his daggers into the man's throat.
Dym jumped back to gain his bearings to see Juniper blocked an attack with her sword before pushing the attacker back and cut him in half with lightning fast speed. She then whipped around and delivered a brutal kick to the man behind her followed up by spinning the sword in her hand and shoved the blade deep into his neck, severing the spinal cord and killing him instantly.
"Jeez," Dym muttered. "She doesn't mess around when it comes to killing either." Then he looked to see one of the attackers had pried Juniper's polearm free and was aiming to throw it at the woman.
He thought of what to do, and just as he had, the attacker threw it. Dym shot out his hand, which caused a shadow arm shoot from the platform and caught it mid-air just as it was around a meter from the intended target. Juniper looked to see the now caught polearm before the shadow appendage held it out to her in a polite fashion. She grasped it with a smile and sheathed her sword before twirling the newly equipped weapon in her hand and gave a bow to Dym who smirked at the action. Then multiple attackers converged on Juniper, most likely realizing by now she was a bigger threat than Dym, but the four were fought off with ease.
One lunged at her with a sword, but Juniper thrusted the blunt end just below his chest followed by slamming the sharp end onto his head, then swept it along the floor and sliced it upwards to the second attacker behind her. The blade sliced through his chest, knocking him back as he clutched the wound. Juniper then twirled the weapon above her head before suddenly moving towards a third in front of her and moved to where she was going to go for an attack on his right side but stopped mid swing and did a quick 360 while moving to his left and stabbed the blade into his ribs. She ripped it out and stabbed at him again, this time into his neck. Suddenly, the fourth and the one who had a slice in his chest, jumped onto the woman's back as a struggle ensued. But Juniper levitated into the air at rapid pace causing the one wounded in the chest to fall onto the platform. Then, she elbowed the fourth in the ribs, grabbed at his hood and attempted to throw him off by rolling in mid-air, but he held on tightly. So Juniper changed to where her back was facing the floor and let herself fall. Before the man could react, he had already met the wooden floor along with his death, literally being crushed by the sheer weight of the armour that Juniper wore.
The blonde haired mage levitated back to her feet and as she did, she shoved the bladed end of her polearm into the man's skull, making sure he was completely dead. When she then heard the groan of the man that had a chest wound, she slowly levitated towards him and looked into his eyes.
They begged for her to let him live.
Juniper slowly reached her hand out for him to take, which he did so shakily and began to get up slowly. But just as his chest met hers, in a flash her sword was requiped and shoved through his stomach.
The man froze, stunned before Juniper gave another hard thrust to increase the damage. Then, she let him slide off her sword and fall to the ground dead. As he laid there, a small dagger rolled out of his hand and onto the floor. Juniper snorted at such a cheap trick, trying to use mercy as a way to kill someone. then the sound of a yell caught her attention.
She looked to see a man clutching his side before having a dagger made of shadows being shoved through the back of his throat. Then the blades were moved away from each other, cutting the head clean off causing blood to spray from the wound. Juniper looked to see Dym behind the man covered in a good amount of the crimson liquid, but what worried her, was the look of pleasure in his eyes. Suddenly he ducked an incoming attack. She watched as he dodged a second then parried a third by causing the man's weapon to slide to the right and shove the second just under his sternum while he twirled the first in his hand and shoved it into his throat.
But before Juniper could watch anymore she heard that of footsteps approaching behind her. She turned to see at least three more cloaked figures with weapons drawn ready to attack. Juniper requiped her sword, allowing her to wield the polearm and got ready to fight. She knew that this fight had just begun, but could they really waste time on dispatching all of them? It was late into the night and the last train would most likely leave soon. Time was of the essence.
The three charged, the two on the sides giving quick vertical slashes while the one in the middle gave a stab forward. But Juniper blocked the vertical slashes with her polearm while levitating into the air to dodge the attack followed by kicking the one in the middle in the face. She then let go of the polearm and shot behind the one on the right and grasped his neck before snapping it with ease. Then just before the polearm touched the ground, she shot towards the other and caught it followed by shoving the bladed end into his stomach and ripped it out of his right side. This had the blade cut into the middle one's face, who had recovered from the kick, and blind him. He fell back as he screamed in pain, but was soon silenced as Juniper shoved the blade into his throat; ending him.
Juniper ripped the polearm free and looked to see that Dym was fighting one of the assassins with a second about to go for his back. Juniper tossed the weapon into the air, caught, aimed, and threw it. The polearm found its mark, landing in the second assassin's head and pinning him against the platform's railing. Dym glanced back at the now dead assassin, then at Juniper and gave a nod. He then dodged a vertical slashed, followed by a diagonal. He kicked the assassin's knee, causing a sickening crack. The assassin yelled in anguish before Dym's shadow daggers were shoved into his throat, silencing him. Dym then summoned a shadow arm to rip the polearm from the railing and tossed it to Juniper, who had been engaged with another assassin as the two locked swords.
"Juniper!" Dym yelled as he tossed the weapon towards the blonde, who glanced just in time to see the polearm coming to her aid. She smiled as she stomped on the assassin's foot and kneed him in the femoral. She then elbowed him back, turned just in time to grab the polearm and gave a hard thrust on the weapon's blunt end into the assassin's stomach. This made his eyes go blank before falling over unconscious.
"Dym!" Juniper yelled, catching the young boy's attention. "We have to go! Forget fighting the rest!" She commanded as she parried another assassin's attack and redirected him towards the railing and threw him off it.
"All right!" Dym called back as he ducked a horizontal strike before grabbing ahold of the assassin's free hand and quickly snapped however many fingers he had grasped. This made the assassin yell in pain, and while distracted, Dym jumped behind him and shoved one of his daggers into the back of the man's throat. Two more assassin's converged, but Dym pushed the now dead man's body at them while using a shadow arm to grab ahold his belongings from the table.
"Juniper! I got my stuff! Ready to go!" Dym yelled as he ran towards one of the platforms railings.
"Stop them, damn it!" Meister suddenly yelled as he drew a throwing knife and launched it towards Dym. But it was easily caught by Juniper who shot towards the young boy and stopped it midflight. Then she twirled the small blade in her hand and threw it back at Meister in flash; causing the blade to strike him in the face.
Meister let out a cry of pain as he recoiled, clutching himself in anguish. Some assassins rushed to their master's aid, while others charged towards the attacker. Juniper smirked at the display before blocking an attack from one assassin and kicked him in the stomach, launching him into a small group of others.
"Come on!" Dym shouted as he formed a shadow armed and shot it out towards one of the many rafters and swung towards another, repeating the process four times. As he did this, Juniper followed close behind and landed next to Dym, who opened up a random section of the clock tower's wall, into the moonlight. Juniper followed, but not before looking back one last time at Meister, who stared down the Fairy Tail mage with hate. Juniper gave a quick wave before launching herself into the moonlight with Dym, who was already halfway down the clock tower.
Juniper levitated next to Dym who glanced at her before placing his attention back towards the ground,
"So, we leaving then?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.
"Yes. I feel it's the best course of action seeing as how I just angered him even more by possibly blinding him in one eye." Juniper answered with a hint of pride evident in her voice.
"I agree!" Dym said as he found himself touching the ground and immediately began making his way towards the train station with Juniper in tow.
As they made their way through the town's streets, they would occasionally duck into an alley that Dym claimed would help cut their time down, as well as avoid possible guards. After multiple minutes of running through the alleys and streets, the two saw the train station in sight, and no guards near it.
Juniper smiled at the current fortune they had and swiftly made her way to the ticket vendor and spoke in her child like tone,
"I need two tickets for Magnolia, please!"
The ticket vendor, an old man with a beard reaching his chest, looked at Juniper and said,
"I'm afraid the last train is about to leave. You'll have to come-" But just as he was about to finish speaking, a blade struck him in the head causing him to fall over dead.
Juniper turned to see the remaining 10 assassins, including Meister himself leading the small pack. A bandage had been wrapped around his head, covering his right eye. His teeth were bared and his visible eye burned with rage. Yet when he spoke, his voice was as cold and calm as the ocean.
"Kill them." The nine remaining assassin's charged towards the duo. But just as they were about to reach them, multiple guards intervened and got between the two groups.
"Halt!" One yelled as he drew his sword but the order fell on deaf ears as one assassin drew a blade and threw it at him. The guard just barely blocked the blade with his sword before charging back, ready to draw blood. But, he along with the other guards, were no match for the assassins as they made short work of them.
However, while the two groups clashed Juniper turned and Dym by his shirt and rushed towards the train.
"Juniper, we don't have tickets! What are we going to do?!"
The blonde looked towards him and said with annoyance,
"That hasn't stopped you before, or have you forgotten that already?!"
"Good point!" Dym responded as he got to his own feet and sprinted towards the train that was slowly beginning to take off.
Meister saw this and suddenly yelled out with rage,
"Stop them, damn it! Stop them or I'll kill you all myself!" The assassins, who had finished off the guards with ease, looked towards the two targets and began to chase after them. One drew another throwing knife and threw it towards Dym leg. But it was stopped from reaching its target by Juniper for a third time by using her own armoured leg.
The two were now just a few meters from the train. Dym formed a shadow arm and launched it towards the train's roof and hoisted himself onto it. Juniper simply increased her levitation speed and floated to the top of it before setting down. But the train was still slowly moving, and the assassins were just about the same distance from the train. Meister now included, and the fire in his eye burned only fiercer.
Dym could feel panic in his heart rise. Even though Juniper seemed extraordinarily strong, he didn't have full confidence in her taking on the leader of the guild. Dym knew Meister was much more brutal when he became like this. Almost as if he was a rabid animal.
Now the assassins were just two meters away from the train and Dym knew he had to do something. But what?
Suddenly Dym focused and yelled out,
"Shadow Ōkami!" Two dark purple rings formed before two large wolves rose from them.
The assassins stopped mid sprint and stared at the snarling creatures that stood at the height of an average man and had large sharp teeth. Their eyes were a dark red while the rest of their bodies were pitch black, save for their teeth that were white. But soon they became stained red, as before another word could be spoken they charged at the pursuers, biting and ripping into them like toys.
Both Dym and Juniper watched the display with widened eyes as the train quickly began to catch up speed. Soon, the screams from the assassins were heard no more and instead just the passing wind and the train itself moving.
Juniper looked to Dym before she said,
"That was pretty quick thinking. Was that your first time trying that spell?" Dym only nodded as he stared at his hands for a brief second before he said,
"Yeah. I just… came up with the thought and tried it. Surprised it worked…so well…" Dym then went silent as his gaze returned down at his hands.
Juniper looked at Dym, whose eyes were wide once more. Either at the fact that he had just done that with ease for the first time, or the amount of brutality the creatures used when they tore into the assassins, or could possibly be both. But she could not completely tell which it was. She gave a small slap onto his back, snapping him out of his trance and made him look up at her. To which, she gave a reassuring smile and ruffled his hair.
"None the less, you saved our skins. So just focus on that." Dym stared at her for a few seconds before giving a small smile and nodded, much to Juniper's satisfaction.
"Now, we'll wait a bit before trying to find an unoccupied car. If the ticket vendor asks for one, they'll most likely accept a bribe. That way they can't say we didn't pay to get on, right?" Juniper asked while wrapping her arm around Dym who nodded with a widening smile.
After a few minutes the two did just that, and the two settled into the car for the night. Dym dug out a book and attempted to read, but after having to refocus his thoughts for the fifth time, he placed the book back into his bag and stared out the window. Meanwhile, Juniper requipped the weapons she had used during the fight and began to clean them.
After many minutes of silent, save for the train itself, Dym suddenly asked,
"Juniper?" The mage continued to clean, but let out a small 'Hmm' in response. "What's the real reason you're letting come back to Fairy Tail with you?" Juniper stopped cleaning her weapon for a moment before continuing to do so again.
It wasn't until a minute of silence passed that the mage answered,
"I see a potential in you. You use your magic with ease, and the fact that you were able to summon those wolves like that proves my point." Juniper went silent for a moment to study her sword before making it disappear and replaced it with the polearm. However, she did not begin to clean it immediately. Instead she looked to Dym and said,
"Look at me, Dym." The boy did so, eye filled with a hint of intrigue at what else she had to say, and her own eyes stared deeply into his. "In life, we continually search for a place we feel safe at. A place we can always come back to. A place that we know those we love and care for will always be there to love and care for us. A place to call home. A home to go to and be with those that will always be there for you. You once had a place like this, but it was ripped away from you in the blink of an eye." Juniper went silent for a moment, her eyes flickering away for a brief second before returning back to Dym's. "I have had this happen to me once. I have also known this feeling. It's an experience that no one should live with. That is the reason I am bringing you to Fairy Tail with me. Okay?" Dym stared into Juniper's eyes, searching for any hint of lies, just as he had learned to do long ago. And saw none. Nothing but honesty. A look that seemed so foreign to him.
He nodded in response and learned back into his seat before returning his gaze back out to the passing landscape. A small smile now prevalent on his face, as he thought of the near future…
