Chapter Seven:
AN: Eating Disorder Trigger warning for the first part of this chapter. If you have an eating disorder, or are recovering from one and feel like reading about it might trigger you skip down to the asterisks and read from there. They'll look like this ************
The first day of the Grand Magic Games was done. The scores currently stood as:
Twilight Ogre in first with 20 points.
Phoenix Grave in second with 18.
Fairy Tail in third with 16.
Sabertooth in fourth with 14.
Lamia Scale in fifth with 3.
Mermaid Heal in sixth with 2.
Quatro Cerberus in seventh with 1.
And Blue Pegasus in eighth with 0.
The fact that Twilight Ogre went from being the underdogs to the current leaders was highly suspect. Persephone was fully aware of that as she watched a replay of the day's events on one of her archive screens.
"Hm…" Persephone frowned as she scanned over the footage. She'd been over this a hundred times since they got back to the hotel, and she still couldn't find any sign of who had attacked Roman.
She cringed as he began screaming on her screen and rewound the footage.
"Ugh, there's gotta be some sort of hint somewhere in here!" she grumbled as played it again, zooming in and running analyses over the various things going on in front of her.
Her head spun slightly, her body felt light, but she shook it off and kept going about her work.
"PERSEPHONE!"
She jumped at the shout and whirled about. Cato was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, a frown on his face and a satchel thrown over his shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" Persephone asked as she went back to her work.
"Koree came and got me," Cato answered. "She said you haven't moved since we got back."
"So what?" Persephone asked.
"Persephone, it's dark out," Cato said.
Persephone turned and looked out her window. "Oh."
Gosh, how long had she been here?
Her head began spinning again and, once again, she shook it off.
"Well...what do you want from me?" she huffed as she went back to her work. "Our parents are missing, Roman was attacked, and we've got no clue about how either of them happened we...we...w…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head again.
Cato's eyes narrowed. "Persephone…"
"What?" she asked in an agitated voice.
Cato sighed. "Don't get mad or take this the wrong way but...have you eaten anything today?"
Persephone blinked. She felt a slight chill go over her body. Had...had she…
She hung her head. "Well...I...um…"
"Perse-"
"It's not what you think, okay!" Persephone quickly insisted. "I just forgot!"
"You forgot to eat?" Cato asked, a twinge of disbelief in his voice.
"Well, yeah," Persephone answered. "I've been so busy trying to figure out what's going on I didn't stop to-"
"So let's stop now," Cato cut her off.
"I can't."
"You can."
"You wanna find our parents or not?"
"And how am I going to explain to your mom and dad that I let you starve yourself?"
"I'm not starving myself."
"You're refusing to eat right now!"
"Because I'm busy."
"Really?" Cato crossed his arms.
Persephone didn't answer, but kept tapping away at her screens.
Cato sighed. "Memory Make, archive screen."
An identical screen appeared next to Persephone's. She jumped slightly.
"Hey, how long have you been able to-"
Cato took the satchel off and dropped it in Persephone's lap.
"I'll take over for a little while," he said as he sat on the edge of Persephone's bed and began playing around with his screen.
Persephone opened the satchel. The smell of food hit her in the face. Inside was a burger, a box of french fries, some chicken nuggets, a burrito, and a slice of apple pie.
"Geez, how much do you expect me to eat!?" Persephone asked.
"I dunno. But you haven't eaten all day so I thought I'd bring a lot."
"You-hey…" Persephone's eyes narrowed. "How'd you already know that-"
"Because I don't remember seeing you eat today," Cato answered, zooming in on a particular area of the arena and replaying the footage.
"So, maybe you just forgot-"
"Not likely," Cato cut her off before tapping his brow. "Memory make, remember? Not forgetting things is kinda my thing."
"Oh, right," Persephone sighed as she looked back at the food. She knew she should eat, and she was hungry, but she couldn't force her hand to reach in and grab a bite. Even as she tried, her hands shook. She wanted to, she knew she needed to, but she just couldn't make herself do it.
Cato sighed deeply, closed his screen, and turned towards her.
"Hey, shouldn't you be-" Persephone stopped as Cato reached into the satchel, grabbed a chicken nugget and held it out to her.
"Open up."
"Cato, I'm not a baby," Persephone frowned.
"Just open up," Cato said.
Persephone sighed but did as she was told. Cato put the chicken nugget into her mouth and she began to chew, despite the blush forming on her face.
"I'm ridiculous aren't I?" she grumbled through the mouthful.
"No, you're sick," Cato replied.
"Gee, thanks," Persephone hung her head.
"Ack! I didn't mean-I just-I'm not trying to get onto you!" Cato quickly back pedalled. "I mean, it's not like you asked to have an eating disorder."
"I don't have an eating disorder!" Persephone shouted. "I HAD one! But I've gotten over it!"
A short silence fell over the two. Persephone hung her head and stared at her hands.
"At least...I thought I'd gotten over it until today."
"Hey," Cato set a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay."
"No it's not!" Persephone pulled away from him.
"You're under a lot of stress," Cato said. "Stress can cause relapses for these sort of things."
"I'm not relapsing!" Persephone insisted. "But, yeah, I'm under stress! We all are! How can we not be. It's not like our parents just poofed into nothingness leaving behind no clues, and now someone took out one of our best friends, and we've got no clues! And no one who can help us because if we go to the Rune Knights they'll try to kidnap Nashi, AGAIN! And the other guild masters have no clues. So yeah, I'm stressed! That's not the question. The question is how are you not!?"
"Who said I'm not?" Cato asked.
"You're calm as can be right now!" Persephone shouted. "Aren't you scared!?"
"Of course I am," Cato said in a soft voice. "I just...well…" he scratched at the back of his head.
"Well...I mean...Roman's already hurt. You're on the brink of a spiral. Storm's gotta be on high alert in case anyone else gets hurt and he has to heal them. And Nashi and Koree are...well, Nashi and Koree. If I start freaking out where's that leave you guys? I mean, sure, Farrah and Benedict are here, but they've got bigger things to worry about right now. So, if I freak out that's just going to put us in a bigger mess than we already are in. It's not that-"
Cato gasped as he felt something hit him in the chest. He looked down and, to his shock, found Persephone hugging him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't realize-I didn't-"
"Hey, it's not your fault," Cato said, still too shocked that Persephone, cold, cool, sarcastic Persephone, was hugging him to say much else.
"But it is! You've already got so much to worry about and now I'm just adding to your plate!" Persephone shouted. "I've always been so caught up in my own issues I never even noticed you've been the one holding us together."
"Well, I mean, we're in a tough spot and we've all gotta do our part," Cato said.
"But even before this. It's always been you holding our team together, hasn't it?"
Cato shrugged. "I mean, I guess-"
"And I never noticed."
"To be fair I don't think anyone does. I didn't even think about it until you pointed it out."
"That's not the point!" PErsephone tugged at her hair. "All this chaos going on and I can't even force myself to eat!"
"But, like you said, you got busy and forgot-"
"Yeah and then when you gave me food I couldn't even pick it up! You had to feed me like a baby. It's just food! It's not a big deal! So why am I having to fight just to get a bite down?"
"Because you're-"
"No, Cato!" Persephone insisted, pointing a finger in his face. "I am not sick! I do not still have an eating disorder! And I'm not relapsing!"
A silence fell. The two stared at each other, then Persephone dropped her head and hand.
"At least I...I don't want to…"
"Hear," Cato held another nugget out to her.
A small tear fell down Persephone's face. "This is so stupid."
"No, it's not," Cato assured her as he wiped the tear away on the back of his sleeve. "C'mon, eat up."
Persephone let Cato feed her for a bit longer. AFter about five bites she finally got the strength to eat on her own. Cato watched her for a little while to make sure she was okay, then went back to observing his screen.
Persephone devoured everything in the bag, then promptly fell asleep behind him. Cato smiled and sighed in relief. She just needed a bit of a push to get over the hurdle. He was just glad he caught her this early before she had a chance to spiral into a full relapse. Now, so long as she remembered to eat tomorrow she should be fine.
Well, as fine as they could be given the circumstances.
Cato rewound the screen once again and stifled a yawn. He should probably head back to-
"Wait a minute," Cato muttered as he paused the screen, and gasped.
"Wah! Wah! Wah!"
"Sh. Sh, sweetling," Jude sighed as he paced back and forth, patting a wailing Luna's back. Nothing he did seemed to calm her, though. He sighed as he sat down in the rocking chair in the livingroom of the Dragneel's suite and began rocking the chair back and forth.
"Luna, sweetheart, what is it?" he asked. "Do you want something to eat? A bath? Some fresh air?"
"Wah! Wah! Wuh-emph," Luna squirmed against him.
"Can't you try and tell me what it is?" Jude asked.
"Mm. Ma. Ma-Ma!" Luna cried.
Jude gasped, his heart breaking slightly.
"Ma-Ma!" Luna cried again. "Ma-Ma! Ma-Ma!"
Jude sighed and held his tiny grand daughter closer.
"Ma-Ma!"
"I'm sorry, Luna," Jude said as he stroked her hair. "Mommy's not going to be home for a while."
"Ma-ma!"
Jude continued rocking Luna, trying in vain to comfort her. He leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling.
"Oh, Lucy. Where are you?"
Jude didn't notice his three older grandchildren sitting next to their bedroom doors, listening to him.
Igneel sighed as he climbed back into his bed and hugged his yellow, stuffed dragon toy to his chest. He sniffled as he buried his face into the toy. He tried hard not to cry, but tears spilled over anyways.
"I want my Daddy!" he cried as he tightened his grip on the toy.
In the room next to his Nashi sat with her back against the closed door. She hung her head.
"Thea's sight," she whispered. The crimson sparks appeared around her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't look through either of her parents eyes.
Nashi gritted her teeth as she fought back against tears. She'd never struggled to use her Thea sight before, but for whatever reason she couldn't make it work this time. Where on earth were her parents. Could they be...were they...dead?
No!
Nashi shook her head. Until she was proven otherwise she'd continue to believe that her Mommy and Daddy were alive. She had to.
Layla sniffled as she tightened the blankets around her and watched her older sister slump against the door.
"Nashi?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Are we ever going to see Mommy and Daddy again?"
Nashi forced a smile as she looked up at Layla. "Sure. We'll be back together in no time."
The door opened and Igneel slipped in, his toy still tucked under his arm.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah," Nashi smiled at him. "Just wait and see."
"I just wish we knew where they went," Layla sighed.
"Me too," Igneel nodded.
Nashi sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. "Me three."
Igneel slumped to the floor to sit next to Nashi. Then he picked his head up and sniffed the air.
"You guys smell that?"
"Do we look like dragon slayers?" Nashi countered as Igneel stood to his feet and sniffed again.
"Smells...kinda like…" he gasped. "Mommy!"
"What!?" The two girls gasped as they stood to their feet. A golden light began illuminating in the middle of the room. The children all held their breath. Was their Mommy actually coming back?
"Oh, no, it's just Mommy's goat man," Igneel grumbled.
"Capricorn?" Nashi asked as she approached the spirit in question. "What are you doing here?"
Capricorn smiled down at the children.
"I come with a message from your mother, Miss Nashi."
"Mommy?" Nashi gasped. "She and Daddy are okay?"
Capricorn frowned slightly. "Yes, for now."
"What's that mean?" Igneel asked.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Capricorn said. "Your parents have been kidnapped and have been sent to another dimension."
"Another dimension!?" all of the children shouted.
"How?" Nashi asked.
"We are still trying to figure that one out," Capricorn sighed.
"Are they going to be okay?" Layla asked.
"Well," Capricorn pushed his glasses back up. "Where they are currently there is no food. And no water."
"What!?" Igneel shouted. "But...that can't be! They'll...they'll…"
"They'll die," Nashi whispered.
"For now Mrs. Juvia are able to make water for them," Capricorn assured the children. "But even she has a finite amount. You children must find out who did this to them and somehow convince them to bring them back. Otherwise…"
Capricorn trailed off, but his message had been made clear.
Nashi, Layla, and Igneel glances at each other.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Nashi asked.
"Having spoken to several of the adults they all agree that before they were taken to this other dimension they saw a teenage boy with silver hair, a navy blue cloak, and an eye patch. It is there belief that this boy, whoever he was, transported them to this new location."
Nashi nodded. Igneel clutched his hands into fists. Layla whimpered and hugged herself.
"Anything else?" Nashi asked.
Capricorn sighed and nodded. "Yes actually."
He turned to Layla, who still sat on her bed. He knelt down in front of her.
"What is it?" Layla asked.
Capricorn held out his hand. Layla gasped.
"Your key?" She asked. "I don't...I don't understand."
"While I was under contract to your grandmother, she fell very ill," Capricorn explained. "She passed me on to one of her servants, but before doing so, I made a promise to her. I promised that if any of her descendants were to become Celestial Wizards I would care for them. This is why I sought out to be contracted with your mother. And now," Capricorn handed the key to Layla. "I'm asking to make a contract with you."
"What!?" Layla shouted. "But...but...your Mommy's spirit. Not mine! Don't you want to stay with her?"
"I would," Capricorn nodded. "But your mother realizes that there's a good chance she may not return alive. She wants to make sure that if the worst is to pass that her children would be cared for. And the best way she can do that right now is by passing my key onto you."
Layla's bottom lip quivered as she handed the key back to Capricorn. "No, I can't do it!" she wailed. "I know how much Mommy loves her spirits!"
Capricorn set a hand on Layla's head. "Yes. Miss Lucy does love us. But she loves her children more, as any mother should."
Tears rolled down Layla's face. "But I've already got spirits," she said as she held up her keychain. "I don't wanna take Mommy's."
Another golden light appeared in the room. A man with the tail of a seahorse appeared.
"Zellos?" Layla asked.
Zellos floated to Layla's side and hugged her close. Layla began to cry and clung to him.
"Zellos...tell him…" she whimpered. "Tell Capricorn I can't take him from Mommy!"
"Sweet child," Zellos sighed as he patted Layla's back. "I know it's hard for you to understand-"
"I could never give one of you up!" Layla cried. "Never! I can't take one of Mommy's spirits away!"
"But don't you see?" another voice called as a woman who looked like a genie appeared.
"Misbah?" Layla asked as Misbah sat next to her.
"That's why you have to take Capricorn. Yes, this might hurt your Mommy, but that's how much she loves you. She wants to give you one of her spirits to help and protect you."
"But I have you guys," Layla said. "You can-"
"We'd do our best," yet another voice called as a green woman with roses for hair appeared.
"Fyllo?"
"We will do our best to protect you, cutie, but you we're titan keys. Not gold keys. Capricorn is much stronger than us."
"Miss Layla," Capricorn said as he held the key out to her. "Though your parents are in dire straights, I do believe in you and your siblings and your friends. I believe you can save them. So...how about for now we make a temporary contract. Once your mother is safe and sound we'll talk to her about what to do next."
Layla sniffled as she took the key back. "Okay." she nodded. "Okay."
Nashi stood and walked to her little sister's side, hugging her.
"We're going to get Mommy and Daddy back," she promised as she kissed Layla on the top of the head.
"Really?" Igneel asked as he walked to his sister's side.
"Yeah," Nashi nodded as she ruffled his hair. She then stood.
"I'm going to go tell the rest what Capricorn said."
Nashi ran out of the bedroom and to the hallway.
"Nashi?" Jude asked as she zipped by.
As Nashi left the suite she found Cato and Farrah talking in the hallway.
"Guys," she said as she ran to them. "Guys, we-where'd you find that?"
Nashi gasped as she pointed to a screen in Cato's hands.
"Cato noticed him acting weird while reviewing footage from today's games," Farrah said. "Why?"
Nashi could only stare.
On the screen was an image of a teenage boy sitting in the stands. He had silver hair, a blue cloak, and an eye patch.
