Sorry about yesterday's chapter. No, my profile didn't get hacked, and no, it wasn't a dare. My older sister and I have an ongoing argument over who's hotter, Natsu, or Monto-Khan. (Natsu wins by far) I had left my writing up so I could go get something, and she wrote a reverse version of what got posted. I 'fixed' it, and saved it, then forgot about it. I meant to post this chapter yesterday, but made a mistake and posted the lastest version of the argument. I didn't take it down because it was funny. Here's the chapter that should have been posted yesterday.
Back at the guild, Erza sighed. They were trying to give Natsu a bath, but he was frantically pulling away from the water, terror on his face. She quickly pulled the curtain, hiding the water from view. Why is he so afraid of the water? she wondered. Then it occurred to her. The strange bruises on the back of his neck… like someone had been forcing his head down into something… and now his terror of water… It took all of her willpower not to show her rage in front of Natsu. He was frightened enough as it was.
They had to resort to a sponge bath, which Natsu reluctantly surrendered to. Whenever the sponge went over a bruise or an open wound, he would whimper, but made no move.
Dressing him in one of Gray's outfits - he wasn't using it, anyway - , it was painstakingly obvious how thin Natsu was. His cheekbones jutted out and his eyes were hollow.
He still refused to eat. His suspicion of food made them wonder if his captors had put something in his meals. Something that wasn't supposed to be there.
It watched the people who rescued him. They were talking about it, it knew, but it ignored them for the most part. It only payed enough attention to make sure that there wasn't a punishment coming. There was never a reason behind the punishments - it never did anything wrong - but they didn't really need one. But these people were different. The only pain they had put it through was when they had been cleaning it. Being clean felt good, it decided.
It still refused food. It wasn't sure that they wouldn't do something to its food, like the other people had. It cringed when it remembered the violently ill spells it would go through after eating. It had refused food after the first few spells, but then they had force fed it.
Then again, when its hunger had overpowered it and it had eaten the food it had been given, it hadn't been sick. Maybe it was a trap. It wasn't sure.
The one with the short white hair was hovering by its side. It tried to ignore her. She touched its shoulder, making it jump. It tried to pay attention as she spoke. The food in her hands was very distracting.
"Natsu? Are you hungry?" The starved look in his eyes answered for him. She placed the bowl in front of him. He started to reach for it, but then hesitated and pushed it away. Lisanna sighed. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked, then a sad thought occurred to her. "Can you even understand me?" To her relief, he nodded slowly. Relief flooded through her. "Can you speak?" Natsu stared blankly. Evidently not. She pushed the bowl back towards him. "It's some food," she said carefully. "It's for you." He reached for it slowly, his eyes darting between her and the bowl. He grabbed it clumsily, spilling a bit of it. Natsu froze and looked at her, evidently wondering if he did something wrong. Lisanna just soaked it up with a towel and smiled at him. He resumed pulling the bowl towards him, hunching over it to protect it, as well as with the crook of his stick-like arm. He ate only a few bites though, reluctantly giving up the bowl.
"He's not recognizing anything," Erza was arguing with Makarov. "If we attack them again before they recover, we might be able to find it."
"Find what?" Lisanna asked, unwillingly leaving Natsu's side.
"His scarf," Mira murmured. "Erza thinks it will help him remember." Lisanna had to agree with Erza there. If anything would help him remember, it would be the scarf Igneel had given him.
"How is he doing?" Erza asked Lisanna, changing the subject. The women looked at Natsu, who was resting his head on the table. Despite only being twenty-five, he looked like he was somewhere in his forties or fifties.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "One moment, he seems like he's about to be like he used to be, and the next he's terrified of me. I don't know what to do." Erza patted her shoulder.
"We'll get through to him somehow," she promised. "I know it."
It watched the women. It still wanted the food, but couldn't stomach it. One question was going through his head, a solitary thought - Why were they being so kind to it? It hadn't done anything to deserve it. It struggled to remember something before the constant pain. It knew that it was close, as it could barely remember a time when it had been more brash. More insolent. But the masters had punished it until it had discovered its place.
A bright light from an open -What was it called? - door suddenly shone in its eyes. It clumsily tried to shield its face, but failed miserably. All light was painfully bright. It couldn't remember a time when it had seen the light before being led from the Room.
The girl with the red hair sat next to him. The one with the short white as well as this one always seemed pained by the fact that it didn't know her, and that created an interesting kind of pain inside of it. It didn't like it.
