A/N: Hey guys! So... there is absolutely no way I'm gonna be able to finish my novel by the end of November... haha oh well! I won't give up on it, just won't be trying to get it out so quickly. And that means I can give time to this again! Hooray! I hope you enjoy!
I don't own Fairy Tail.
"What the hell's wrong with these people?!" Gajeel exclaimed as he caught up with a group of the villagers.
"Oh my- oh no Gajeel look." Lillian said as she pointed to a woman's face, her eyes wide open as they looked around.
When her gaze landed on Lillian they filled with tears as she stared at her in a silent plea for help.
"Ma'am don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of this, all of you." Lillian said.
Come to me.
A soft breeze wrapped itself around Lillian, like an embrace from a long lost lover, as it began beckoning her deeper into the forest.
Come.
"Okay." she breathed out letting the air guide her.
Despite her fears the wind seemed to put her mind at ease as it lead her.
"Oi, Lillian!" Gajeel called as he took off after her, only to be thrown back onto his backside when he came within a few feet of her.
She didn't seem to notice as she continued to walk trance like through the trees. Gajeel growled as he got to his feet to run after the white haired girl. What the hell had come over her? And what attacked him? Lillian had strayed from the path the villagers were following as Gajeel followed close behind.
After a few minutes of walking the tress finally parted into a large circle that stretched around them as Lillian continued to walk towards the middle. She came to a stop in the center of the clearing as a dark figure emerged from the tree line, heading towards her. The figure smiled wildly at Lillian as he reached a hand out to stroke the side of her face, but Gajeel hesitated as he stayed behind a tree, until he noticed the darkness licking at the mans heals.
A deep growl erupted from Gajeel's chest as he sprinted towards them. "Don't you dare touch her!"
The mans head snapped up at the sudden noise and he bared his teeth, hissing at Gajeel, before flicking his wrist causing Gajeel to hit an invisible barrier. The man then created a sphere around Lillian, completely encasing her. She seemed to snap out of whatever hold he had on her because she began looking around frantically, then froze when her eyes landed on the man in front of her.
"N-no. No please." she whimpered, pressing her back against the sphere.
He grinned as he slowly walked around Lillian. She began shuddering as he stepped into her space and began to caress her arm, leaning in close to her ear.
"Oh sweet, innocent Lillian. Have you not missed me?" the man asked, his hand traveling down her arm to her waist.
Something inside Lillian snapped. A flame began burning in the middle of her chest as anger built up inside her. Anger at herself, for getting trapped so easily. Anger at what he had done to her in the past. She stared at the dark eyes in front of her as they tried to pierce through her soul, and she lost it.
"Leave me the fuck alone!" she screamed as she threw her arms out "Water Dragon's Piercing Rage!"
Water began assaulting the man from all sides as he was thrown back out of the sphere and onto the ground, waves of water continuing to attack him rendering him immobile. Lillian began pounding the walls of her cage, willing her magic to pierce through the relentless walls. Gajeel watched in slight shock before beginning to do the same thing to the invisible wall that still held him back from helping Lillian.
"Iron Dragon's Iron Fist!" he yelled as he tried thrusting his arm through the barrier.
Suddenly, a scream a pure terror erupted through the night, causing Gajeel to stop and look where the noise had come from. His blood ran cold as he looked over to see Lillian bent back in an unnatural way, her eyes completely black and her mouth open wide, as if she were still screaming. The man began laughing as he slowly got to his feet, brushing off stray water from his jacket as if he hadn't just been tossed around like a rag doll.
"Now than. No more games." he said as he extended his arm out toward Lillian. "Let's see what makes you tick." He quickly twisted his wrist and Lillian fell to her knees, yelling.
She held her head in her hands as she continued to scream and scream, her hair violently whipping around her.
"NO! Simon I'm sorry!" she screamed as tears spilled down her face. "I'm so so sorry!"
"Lillian!" Gajeel called, anger rising in him. "You bastard! What are you doing to her?!" he didn't wait for an answer as he relentlessly pounded against the wall.
A loud crack caused Gajeel to smile and send a final punch right into the wall before it shattered. Growling Gajeel ran right towards Lillian but was unable to get through the barrier that held her in, so he began hitting the walls, but to no avail. A dark laugh came from the man, barely audible over Lillian's cries of pain and fear, but Gajeel heard him. Oh, he heard him.
"N-no... please Simon. This can't be real." Lillian cried.
"Tch, what a waste. You could have been useful to me." the man said, readying a deadly attack to throw at Gajeel. "But it seems you've chosen a side."
"There's so much blood... SIMON!"
The air suddenly turned colder as black-like flames began wafting around Gajeel as he turned towards the man, his eyes glowing a dark red. "I really hate people who talk too much." he said as he pulled his arm back and yelled "Iron Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Fool! Do you really believe you can hit me?" the man said, smirking.
But Gajeel wasn't aiming the attack at him, he was aiming it at Lillian's sphere. With as much strength as he could muster, he sent an iron rod right into the wall, instantly penetrating it. The air became eerily silent as Lillian's screams stopped as she collapsed forward onto the ground. The man was stunned, which was a terrible mistake because Gajeel took the opportunity to ram an iron rod right into his face, throwing him back a few yards, out cold.
"Bastard."
"G-Gajeel...?"
Gajeel turned toward Lillian's barely audible whisper. She was still laying on the ground, but she was smiling at him.
"Did you get him?" she asked her voice becoming even more distant.
"You're damn right I did." he said walking over to crouch by Lillian, ruffling her hair. "You did good kid."
She smiled more at him, let out a small laugh, then passed out. Gajeel bent down and lifted Lillian into his arms bridal style before going over to see what happened to the man. However, when he turned around, the man was gone. He scowled but decided the best thing to do was get Lillian back to the village safely. He held her close to himself as he made the trek back through the forest and into the mostly deserted village.
When the duo entered the town Gajeel was not prepared for what he'd see. There was a large, sharp pole positioned right in the middle of the market and the guard they had met earlier, Andrew, was deposited right on top of it. The spear like end of the pole had been thrust right up into Andrew's jaw and out through his skull, killing him painfully.
"Shit." Gajeel muttered to himself. "What the hell happened here?"
Lillian must had felt him stiffen, because she stirred awake before slowly opening her eyes and smiling at the man above her. Her smile faded quickly when she followed his gaze up to where Andrew was hanging.
"No!" she shouted, scrambling down out of Gajeel's hold only to find her legs like jelly, therefore falling to her knees.
"Oi Lillian! What are you doing?" Gajeel said, grabbing the hysterical girl by the arm.
She quickly shook him off as she tried to get to her feet, but her legs would not obey her. "Goddamn it all!" she yelled, pounding the ground with her fists. "I should have killed him when I had the chance. What's wrong with me?!"
"H-hey, what are you going on about?" Gajeel asked, beyond confused.
"Mezun of course! I had the opportunity to slice his head off, but I was too weak." Lillian said, her voice empty and catching in her throat by the end.
Gajeel sat in front of the white haired girl, forcing her chin up to look at him.
"Lillian, you aren't making any Goddamned sense." he said, frustration rising in him. "You haven't told be everything that happened between you two. I need to know so I know what we're up against!"
Lillian looked at the frustration and fear in his eyes and felt a twinge of guilt pull at her heart. She was convinced that if he knew the truth, he'd hate her for sure. But she had to tell him. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to form the words to finish her story.
"Mezun had really become like a brother to me over the year he was with us. He was odd, yes, but he always looked out for me. One day though, he came back after disappearing for a few days, and he was different somehow." Lillian shook her head and sighed. "I was so naive. I saw the signs, but I ignored them in fear pointing them out would drive him away."
"And then it happened, the day he so desperately wanted to teach me a technique. A technique he later revealed to me could not only control people," Lillian looked down in shame. "but could also take someone's magic away."
"Trust me, okay? You'll be able to use the other person's magic! Isn't that neat?" Mezun said, pleading to a slightly terrified Lillian.
"I don't know Mezun... Taking someone else's magic for your own?" Lillian bit at he lower lip "That just doesn't sound right."
"Don't worry Lil, it doesn't take their magic from them, it just lets you use it!" Mezun said, smiling.
"Y-you sure?" she asked, skeptical.
"Would I lie to you?" he asked wrapping her in a tight hug.
Lillian laughed, despite the heavy feeling that rested on her heart. This was Mezun! What was she freaking out about?
"Alright, come on then! I want you to demonstrate your new talent to Simon." Mezun said, tugging at Lillian's hand and dragging her behind him.
"O-okay. I guess I can try." she said, a pit forming in her stomach.
The two hid behind a tree, watching as Simon trained alone in the middle of the woods. He was sending energy knives at a nearby tree, finally starting to be able to give his magic physical form rather than it just being pure energy. Mezun had instructed her on how to cast the spell, and that Simon wouldn't even know the spell had occurred. Then she could surprise him by mimicking his power. It sounded like a small, innocent joke.
Once she had confirmed once more that it was really okay, Lillian began the spell, chanting a few words and moving her arms a few ways. However, as soon as the last word left her lips, Simon began screaming in pure agony as he fell to the ground, convulsing violently.
"Oh no, Simon!" Lillian yelled, running over to her brother where he lay on the ground.
What happened?! What did she do? Did she do the spell wrong?
Simon was curled in on himself, laying on his side, still screaming when Lillian rolled him over. The smell of copper hit Lillian like a train, and she had to swallow the bile that threatened to escape her mouth.
"Oh no no no no... Simon oh no. There's so much blood. Simon I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." on instinct Lillian channeled her inner power, silently thanked Nero for teaching her how to heal, then proceeded to work on her brother.
Eventually his cries became whimpers, and he sighed when Lillian had healed him enough to let him fall asleep.
"Good," Lillian said to herself. "almost good as new."
"Well. That was unexpected."
Lillian rounded on his voice, her face a scowl as she began screaming. "What the hell is wrong with you Mezun?! Did you think this would be funny? Because guess what, I'm not laughing!"
Mezun chuckled and waved away Lillian's words. "Don't be silly." he said, turning a chilling grin onto Lillian. "It went exactly as I planned."
Lillian's heart dropped into her stomach. No... he couldn't possible had wanted to purposely hurt Simon. They were like brothers!
"So, you set all this up just to hurt him? Why?" she asked.
"No. I wanted Simon's power, but I was too weak to take it myself. Believe me, I tried. So I decided to get you to do it while I went and got stronger." he said, smirking. "After getting stronger I could have just taken it for myself, but it seemed better to get you to kill him, then me kill you. I forgot you could heal. Though I will say, it was an extra bonus to see that son of a bitch close to death." Mezun said, laughing.
She was on top of him so quickly, neither had much time to react. Her eyes burned with hatred as she straddled Mezun, an arm position to strike across his neck.
"Shut. The hell. Up." Lillian spat out the words in his face, pressing her weight down harder on his chest.
Mezun struggled against her hold as he growled, staring daggers at her. She didn't care though. A fire grew in her belly, boiling and threatening to spill over at the thought of spilling Mezun's blood. Lillian felt an unfamiliar power swelling within her as she raised her right arm, imagining it were a sword, and prepared to swing it down. Right through his throat.
"N-no...Lillian." a soft voice cut through the ringing in her ears, causing her to halt in her movements.
Lillian looked toward where Simon lay, where he was staring right at her, concern flooding his sweat covered face. What was she doing? She was about to... to kill someone. Pain erupted through Lillian's face as she was thrown backwards, landing with a hard thud on her back.
"Bitch." Mezun said, shaking and flexing his hand. "That's the last mistake you'll ever make."
A white hot fire, cold as ice, spread through Lillian's blood as she coiled and twisted on the ground. She began to hear screaming all around her, taking her a moment to realize she was the one screaming.
"Oh man. This is just too much." Mezun said, laughing maniacally. "Thank you so much for the show. Oh, and the new powers."
Lillian wanted to stand and fight, but she couldn't. All she could do was lay there as Mezun laughed, until her vision turned black.
Lillian sat there staring down at her hands, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks.
"When I woke up I was in so much pain. The same thing that happened to Simon happened to me, but he isn't a healer, so he couldn't help me very quickly." Lillian shuddered at the memory. "Simon was in hysteria over my injuries. He carried me ten miles to the closest healer who was able to help me, though I would forever have a scar."
Gajeel scrunched his eyebrows together. "Scar?"
Lillian nodded, tracing a finger diagonally over her stomach. "Seems when you force someone's magic from their body, you're literally ripping them open." She said shuddering again.
Gajeel, unsure what to do, reached out and gently laid his hand on top of Lillian's hair. She looked up at him and was startled by the somber look on his face. She thought for sure he'd be repulsed by her, or maybe laugh at her crying. But he seemed almost... sad.
"Why..."
Lillian looked up at Gajeel's question. Her heart slightly dropped at the sight of his face, which was scrunched into an angry scowl.
"Why do you sound like you blame yourself for all that?" Gajeel growled, gripping onto her shoulders tightly.
She dropped her eyes in shame fiddling with the ends of her hair, not wanting to meet his gaze, and shrugged. "I ignored all the signs that something was wrong and..."
"Just shut up." he growled again, startling her enough to look up at him.
Gajeel's eyes glowed angrily as he stared intently at Lillian. "He used you. You trusted him because he was important to you. He betrayed that trust. He's the one who's responsible!"
Lillian stared at him, confused by his out burst. "I-I thought... I thought you would hate me."
Lillian jumped at Gajeel's sudden laugh. "You really believed that? I'm sad at your lack of faith in me." he said, smirking slightly. "We're friends, aren't we?"
She didn't know she was crying until she felt the wetness hit her hands. Lillian threw her arms around Gajeel's neck, hugging him tightly to her. Slightly startled, he hugged her back just as tightly rubbing her back as she cried.
"Shh, it's alight." he murmured, and as if suddenly remembering, proceeded to stand lifting Lillian with him. "Come on, let's get out of this area and get you inside."
She nodded, letting Gajeel carry her as her legs still refused to respond. They walked back over to the mayors' home knocking on the door, and after a few knocks the door hesitantly opened. When he noticed who they were, his face paled as he shook his head back and fourth.
"P-please... leave us be. You coming here has only caused us more pain." he said, he voice riddled with sadness. "That... man came to me. He told me he would let all the villagers go... but he killed Andrew because we sent you two after him." the man was shaking. "He said he was bored here, then vanished."
Lillian and Gajeel looked at each other in surprise, but before either could respond, the mayor slammed the door shut. Gajeel raised his fist to pound again, but Lillian stopped him by resting a hand on his arm and shaking her head.
"We should go..." she said, sadness clouding over her face.
Gajeel eventually nodded and began trudging back toward the water, deciding they should at least see if they can catch a boat ride back to Magnolia. Exhaustion began to overtake Lillian and she tucked her head into his neck, not noticing the slight blush that crept it's way onto Gajeel's face. Much to his surprise, the boat man was still at the dock and gladly offered them a ride. Gajeel climbed into the boat, happy that Lillian had fallen asleep, and sat down, holding her like a small child.
He accepted the silence, letting his thoughts wonder freely, though they occasionally returned to the girl slumbering in his arms. Strange how in just a few days he could come to care for her so deeply. Jeez, he was hopeless. He told himself her saw her as the little, annoying sister he never had, but there was that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Every time light entered his life, the darkness of his past would quickly snuff it out.
