Chapter 11

Lee completely ignored Iris as he entered the room. He walked right over to Amey and stood by her side. "They've been dealt with," he informed her, which made her grin.
"Perfect! Everything's going according to plan, now, what is she here for?" Amey wondered.
Lee turned to her, his eyes going to the lump on her head and then to the cuts around her wrists, before he looked her in the eye. "You need her, without her no one will ever have the power to pull off this plan."
"What do I do then?"
"Take her to the top," Lee said, "remember that thing I had you build?" She nodded. "You need her on there."

Amey nodded, clapping her hands lightly in excitement, "Uto, Arni, take her to the top floor."
Iris didn't respond at all when two men undid the cuffs around her wrists, nor did she react when they dragged her off the floor towards the stairs. All along her thoughts were on Lee, the man she trusted her whole life. The man who had betrayed her. Her eyes were glued to him, only leaving him when her body was turned away as they went up the stairs. Not once did he turn to watch her leave.

The men took her to the top, which was just the roof really. Iris could see clearly where she was, but that didn't mean she recognised the place. The castle, which she soon labeled the building as, was surrounded by trees that were much taller than the building itself. She was led over to a contraption and was once again cuffed to something. This time to a pole, her back against it and arms down by her back. In that position, it might be possible for Iris to write something. If she just had the time...

"Let's get this thing finished, the world's waiting!" Amey announced, walking perfectly despite the size of her heels, Lee by her side. "What does it even do?"
Lee motioned to the large, colourless, gem next to Iris. "That's a special rock, found in the northern regions of Earthland. It has the ability to drain the power from a single wizard, which is when it gains its colour."
"So, we drain her powers?" Amey asked, "and then we can use it?" Lee nodded and moved towards Iris.

"I'll let you set up," Amey informed him, "I just need to take care of something." Then she left.
Lee knelt down in front of Iris, who now refused to look at him. "Iris, I need you to trust me. If this goes wrong, then your life is at stake."
"Why would you care?"
"Iris, I care about you more than any other person in the world," Lee promised, "I love you like you're my own daughter, which is why I need to ask you something really important. If you don't want to do this, I won't do it."

Iris couldn't help but want to believe him, Lee was always the man she turned to when she needed help. He always seemed to know what to do. "Explain."
"Amethyst is insane," Lee began. "She truly believes this world is hers. If she gets the opportunity there's no stopping her. She will take over and if anyone opposes her she'll kill them. In the end she'll end up destroying the world, because, as I said, she's insane."
"Then why are you helping her?"

"I knew right from the beginning that she was after you. I took you because you were a Leith, so when she came along asking for a Leith because she'd heard some legend about them being powerful, I knew that I had to do something to make sure you stayed safe."
"So what are my choices?"

"I can help you escape, we can leave this place and hide you from Amethyst. Or we can defeat Amethyst, but the problem is there will always be people after your power. You'd never be safe," he explained.
"Where does the diamond come in?" Iris questioned, becoming restless. Surely Amey would be back soon.
"The rock will absorb your powers and seal them there. Once sealed it will be impossible to gain access to them or use them for anything. She, nor any other person in the world, will be able to use your power."

"But I won't be able to use them either?"
"No," Lee confirmed. "That's the problem."
"What if you smash it?"
"The power will be dispersed back into the land, making the ground around it thrive. I believe that's what happened here, that's why there are so many trees and such tall ones. How can a forest this dense and large be natural?" He wondered.

Iris shook her head, "I don't want that, I want to keep my magic."
"But the whole world could be at stake, your life could be at stake-" Iris cut Lee off.
"I don't care. It isn't fair that I lose all my magic just because some other people decide they want it for evil," Iris insisted. "Let me go, I want to leave."

Lee nodded, leaning towards her, when the tap tap tap tap of heels returned. "Is everything ready?" Amey asked, followed by a man. The man looked like Amey in many ways. His hair was the same purple and he had Amey's grey eyes and harsh features.
"This is my brother, Helio," Amey smiled at Lee, "he's an expert in anything that involves stealing magic from someone."
Lee nodded, suddenly feeling anxious. "Wonderful, this should be easier then."
Helio nodded and turned to his sister, whispering something in her ear. She nodded in reply. "I like the sound of that. Lee step back."

Lee looked uncertain, but he stepped away from Iris anyway, who felt more afraid by the minute. Helio knelt in front of Iris, his hands out, when there was a loud shout.
"Leave her alone!" Natsu shouted, running towards the group.
"Lee deal with him," Amey ordered.

Lee ran at Natsu, who threw a fireball at Lee. He dropped to the floor, missing the fire, and jumped back up. He wrapped his arms around Natsu, flipping him over and pinning him to the ground. "He's going to kill her," Lee whispered, his voice urgent. "He's going to steal her magic and kill her, and that's just the beginning."
"Why are you telling me this?" Natsu demanded, "and why should I believe you?"
"Because Iris is my family and I've done so much to protect her that I can't lose her now."

Natsu thought back to the first time he saw Iris, the way she struggled against his arms to get to Lee. He wasn't related to her by blood, but he was still her family, and clearly the feeling went both ways.
"I'll save her, don't worry," Natsu promised.
Lee nodded, "I'll pretend to be wounded, then when I get the chance and they're distracted I'll run in." Natsu nodded and faked a punch, Lee threw himself off Natsu, laying up the floor pretending to be unconscious.

"He used to be a guildmaster?" Amey questioned, "no wonder the guild got captured. I'll handle him. Helio, you do it."
Helio nodded clamping his hands down on Iris's shoulders, who immediately began to scream. The pain was unbearable, like hundreds of volts of electricity running through her body. Like her whole body was being burned from the inside out. Not once had she felt something as painful as that.

"Stop it!" Natsu shouted, throwing a punch and fire at Amey, who just about dodged it. Already her hair was falling out.
"Trust me, dragon slayer, the world is better off without her."
"Argh!" Natsu ran at her, kicking her hard in the ribs and knocking her over. "No it isn't."
"How would you know?" Amey demanded. "Do you know anything about her past?" Natsu opened his mouth. "She was part of a dark guild, dragon slayer, do you really think her past is clean?"

Natsu struggled to listen to her words with Iris's screams so loud. But Amey was still in his way. "Everyone makes mistakes."
"But not as terrible as hers," Amey said. "No good can come from a person who's done the things she has." Natsu threw her out the way and she went without a fight. "You can try to save her, dragon slayer, but she's already gone." That didn't stop Natsu from making his way towards Iris and Helio. "She's murdered children." That stopped him. "Because of a job request, she killed a group of children. How can you save someone as terrible as that?"

Natsu listened to the tortured screams, the loudest sound he'd ever heard from Iris, and he knew that he had to help her. "Can't you see what's she's doing? She's here to save children. That's one step towards redeeming herself."
"Idiot!" Amey screamed, watching as Natsu got closer and closer to her brother. "Helio!"
He turned towards Natsu, dodging his attack and one hand came off Iris's shoulder.

The pain lessened and Iris tried to think of something she could so to help. But she was still cuffed, what could she do? Her fingers rubbed in the dirt beneath them, feeling the dampness in it. When had it rained? She wasn't sure, but she had to take advantage of this moment she had. As quick as she could, she began to write. T.I.M.E

Everything around her froze, in front of her she saw Natsu and Helio stuck mid-punch, Natsu's fist millimeters away from Helio's face. She began to move, knowing she didn't have much time... She jumped when she felt a pair of hands at her back.

"It's me," Lee said, "I knew a girl with the same power as you a long time ago."
"What happened to her?" Iris asked, standing up as the cuffs came off.
"She created this forest." Lee gave her a sad smile, and took Iris's hand, pulling her from the fight. "How much longer do you have?"
"Not long," she replied, before time started moving again. Immediately, Iris collapsed. Her body was weak and her eyes could barely stay open.

Lee shook his head, "Helio drained you of a lot of magic." Iris tried to speak, but was silenced by Lee, who laid her head on his lap. "It's still in your body, it just has a strong connection to him right now. He can use your magic at will."
Iris tried to speak once again, but Lee shushed her. "There's only one thing left to do now, Iris. I'm sorry." He leaned down, kissing the top of Iris' head, before resting her head on the ground and he stood up.

"No!" Iris tried to raise her voice, but only a whisper came out.
Lee couldn't look at her, it killed him to do this, but he had to. If he didn't, everyone would die. He placed his hand on the gem, closing his eyes and picturing Iris clearly in his mind, before starting it.

Natsu found it odd that, in the middle of his fight with Helio, Helio's strenght started getting lower and lower. While at first Natsu struggled to land a hit, it was now easy. He knocked him out quickly and turned to find Iris, who was led up the floor. "Iris!" He shouted, sprinting over to her and kneeling down. "Are you okay?"

Iris wasn't looking any good, she was a sickly white colour and looked so frail. Her eyes didn't look as bright as usual and her hair didn't look as vibrant.
"She'll be fine," Lee reassured him, looking sick and disappointed. "She just need to rest."
"What did you do?" Iris whispered, shocking them both.
"I'm so sorry," Lee apologised, his voice choked up. "I didn't want to."
"You said I had a choice."
"I'm sorry."

Natsu looked confused. "What did you do?"
Lee turned to look at the gem, which now had a colour; it was bright purple. "Iris no longer has magic."
"What! Why not?" Natsu demanded.
"It was the only way to stop Helio and Amey from using her powers," he explained feebly. "There was no other choice." Natsu looked angry.
"Your only choice was to rob her of her magic? That wasn't your choice to make in the first place!"
"I know," he whispered, looking away from everyone. From there he refused to speak.

The three of them sat there and soon guards showed up. Natsu had sent Happy to fetch someone, and the flying cat had done his job well. Once Helio and Amey were confined, Natsu stood up with Iris in his arms. Iris's eyes were closed, but she answered Natsu's questions so that he knew she was awake.

Natsu followed the guards back through the forest, trailing behind them slightly. "Natsu." By now Natsu was used to Iris's quiet voice, but he still heard her screams echoing in his mind. "Yeah?"
"Amey, s-she said something to you about my past."
"Yeah, she did."
"About the kids?"
Natsu sighed, "yeah."

Iris wanted to cry, she didn't want to lose her magic and friends all at once. "I-"
"Don't worry about it. Just focus on putting it right and redeeming yourself. Regret and pity won't do you any good."
Iris made a humming noise. "But I don't have magic, how can I do anything now?"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out. But in the meantime, let's get you home and rested, sound good?"
Iris nodded, turning her head to hide her face in his chest. Despite his words, she still wanted to cry. But she knew that this point in time wasn't the right time to sort her problems out. That would come in the future. So, in a normal Iris fashion, she pushed all her problems and worries away and rested.