Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters in it.
Chapter Seven: Memories of Fire
Natsu and Cobra sat in an awkward silence, an occasional glance from Natsu's wandering eyes as she had managed to calm the other down enough to the point of getting him back inside. Only now she wasn't quite sure what she should do, given she really still doesn't know all that much about him.
"Uh, so..." she said slowly, breaking the silence. She rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably.
"What happened with the guards, back in the prison cell?" Natsu began, the fire Dragon slayer was choosing her words very carefully as she avoided meeting Cobra's eyes, feeling the poison mage's eyes snap up to her with a guarded expression similar to the one he wore back when she first saw him with the master.
"Were they... the first? Like, the only ones who... you know..."
Natsu struggled, unsure really of whether or not she was going further into dangerous territory. Cobra said nothing at first, partially making her wonder if he was simply choosing not to answer and ignore her, in which case she would probably figure it best not to pry and all, but... a heavy urge to sate both her curiosity and a new growing concern had risen within her.
She just didn't want to push him too much or anything, still... he was kind of her responsibility now, just like with Happy when she thought Lisanna had died. She paused in her train of thought, an image of her snow-haired friend flashing through her mind and making her frown a bit as small salty tears stung at the corner of her eyes, recalling her smile as she promised to return with a souvenir from her very first S-class mission with Mira and Elfman.
She remembered walking into the guild, expecting her friend to be there waiting, maybe bruised and roughed up a bit at the most... only to hear she didn't make it. An accident they said, with Elfman spilling out apology after apology and Mira's non-stop crying. It was all too much. She shook her head of such depressing thoughts, trying instead to focus on the positive, Lisanna was back now after all... right?
She hadn't realized Cobra was even paying attention as he turned away with a slight twitch of his ears, hearing her thoughts without actually meaning to, growing more uncomfortable by the minute as he quickly stood and turned towards the room Natsu had showed him earlier, calling over his shoulder. "I'm tired..."
Natsu blinked, seeming to snap out of her daze nodding. "Oh right! Uh, o-okay then, goodnight!"
She called back, watching him leave the room.
Cobra could not sleep, despite his earlier words. Every time he closed his eyes, he was back in that damn cell, or worse... hands that weren't his own were touching him again while lips that felt cold and uncaring ran along his jaw and neck. He shivered a bit, turning onto his side with dull, glossy looking eyes.
He felt cold. Shivering more and more, even under the thick covers.
A shaky breath of air slipped through his slightly parted lips as he shifted some more, trying to get comfortable and settle into sleep. Exhaustion ate away at him and caused his eyelids to slowly close on their own, only to snap back open and to full alert seeing the room he was in was no longer the one at Natsu's house.
Blinking in confusion, he slowly pushed the covers off, swinging his legs over and pushing himself up off the bed just as a sharp pain made his head throb. He hissed, clutching his aching head while leaning against one of the walls, feeling his legs buckle beneath him, shaking it off, and heading for the door.
The sight that greeted him made his stomach churn in disgust, feeling a heavy shiver of fear run up along his spine, hearing the breath rush out of his lungs while his eyes began to burn. He felt a lump forming in his throat, involuntarily clenching his two fists as though the pain would assure him what he saw was only a dream.
It had to be, there was no way... she could still be alive, much less standing in front of him again.
A younger Cobra sat tied down to a chair. Thick leather straps secured around his wrists and ankles while bright red rivulets ran down the visible surface of his legs and upper arms. Blood.
The present day Cobra cringed, recalling the way his own blood made him want to hurl after being exposed to it so much, the smell becoming near sickening while the sensation of having it caked on his skin made him want to crawl into a corner. He didn't like it one bit.
Then there was her.
Her appearance was the same as it was back then, the same long, flowing, pale blonde hair accompanied by porcelain skin. Her eyes gave off an eery glow, looking like dull rubies. That blue dress she wore, with slight ruffles on it and a few feathers tucked into her hair. Despite the cold air about her, she was breathtakingly beautiful as she carefully reached out a hand to cup the child's face before thrusting it forward a bit, hearing him whimper at the strain it put on him.
"Liliah..." Cobra whispered, his voice cracking on the name.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked, noticing the way he flinched at her tone, pushing his legs closer together, a pang of fear going through him as he tried to swallow, but his throat hurt from long hours of screaming and crying. He really needed some water.
"I-I'm...so...rry..." he croaked weakly. The only thing keeping his face up was her hand as a few stray tears escaped from his eye, running down his cheek before feeling her thumb wipe them away.
"Sorry doesn't cut it... my dear Erik-kun." He cringed. "Or maybe..." she trailed off, a smile coming onto her face. She turned away for a moment, only to come back with a small scalpel that made the smaller, more feeble Cobra's eyes widen in fright, pulling back and shaking his head frantically seeing her grin. "I want to play a game."
It took every muscle he had not to turn away. For whatever reason, he felt he couldn't, watching in both horror and despair as the blade was relentlessly dragged across flesh, over and over again. His breath hitched as he heard the younger scream, pressing his hands over his ears to try in vain to block out the god awful sound.
Somewhere along the line he must've lost it since the next moment he was kicking and thrashing back in the bed, a pair of strong hands on him, trying to hold him still as he opened his mouth, screaming in terror. A terror he had faced long ago, resurfacing only now for reasons he couldn't fathom.
"Cobra! Cobra, open your eyes!" Natsu called out, tightly holding onto the other's arms as he flailed and struggled. Tears streaked against his face as a good several minutes or so went by before the fire-wielder decided: fuck it! and turned on the heat, literally, pulling his body flush against her own as her skin burned white hot and he cried out, snapping back to reality and panting heavily against her shoulder.
Cobra sobbed - actually sobbed! He sounded miserable and hurt as Natsu continued to hold him, blinking back a look of disbelief as he clung to her, desperately burying his face into the cloth of her vest, unmoving. His shoulders wracked with heavy shudders before she heard him give out a small, broken whisper, seemingly directed at no one.
"Please... please stop, no more...!"
Natsu felt something strange twist in her stomach hearing him sound so... so weak. It was like... like well, she wasn't so sure really. She had never heard someone sound so broken before. Having run in when her dragon senses picked up screaming coming from the room, she was rather shocked to see Cobra looking like he was in the middle of what she could only assume to be some kind of nightmare - and a seriously bad one at that.
"Cobra...?" she whispered, about to pull away when he stopped her. His fingers dug into her vest like talons, yanking her back towards him.
"Don't leave." he breathed. His eyes, still worn down with tears and fatigue showed that he probably wasn't all that aware of what he was saying right now. "Don't leave me all alone, please I-I'll do anything!"
Natsu blushed at the intimacy at which she thought he was going for.
Wait, no! She mentally screamed at herself. She couldn't take advantage of him, not with the way he is now! What the hell was wrong with her!?
"Liliah..." he breathed. Natsu felt him further closing the distance between them, his grip eased up a bit while he nestled his nose and mouth into the crook of her neck starting to kiss it. Her blush grew as she instantly pulled him away looking confused and at a loss for words.
"Cobra, what the hell do you-"
She stopped.
Cobra's violet jewel-like eyes were clouded over, a faint greenish glow enshrouded his irises while something seemed to burn through the sleeve of his shirt, drawing Natsu's attention towards his upper arm, blinking curiously. She hadn't noticed before how cold his skin felt when earlier today it had been so warm, granted not as warm as her own but still... and speaking of which...
Without warning, she lifted up his shirt as a huge splotch of red started to seep through and onto her fingers. He had a large series of fresh looking cuts and scrapes on him! When did this happen?
She pushed up his sleeve next and stared for a few seconds at what she saw. There, on Cobra's arm was a symbol. For what she had no idea, nor of how it got there, but it looked... well, bad. Like really bad and kinda ominous. Did he always have this? If so, where did he get it?
In the time she spent examining the foreign looking mark, Cobra's remaining strength had all but evaporated, leaving him limp in Natsu's arms, giving no further signs of afflicted nightmares, much to the pinkette's relief. She figured she would have to ask Master or someone more knowledgeable about what the heck it was that seemed to be carved, or maybe burned somehow, onto Cobra's arm.
Liliah smirked a bit. It was a show of amusement accompanied by an all too familiar thirst that needed to be quenched. Her eyes flared, feeling a spike of energy from an all too familiar mark she had given to a certain someone.
Her lips pulled back into a malicious grin, keeping her eyes forward and focused on a giant crystal-like orb. The outer shell looked like a map of some kind, while a single area seemed to turn bright red, showing some kind of significance. She studied it carefully while beginning to mutter to herself in thought.
"So..." she began. "That's where you've run off to, eh? Interesting." she remarked, sounding almost thoughtful for a moment of how to go about things, placing a hand against the orb.
"But a futile effort still, you'll see soon enough that trying to escape me is like trying to escape the sun itself, or even death."
She began laughing as light enveloped the dimly lit room around her, smiling in anticipation of the oncoming chase. Once more the game was afoot and she was ready to claim her prize.
