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Laxus offered to drop me off but I felt like walking by myself. It was weird talking about Arashi to someone, even though I'm glad I did. It felt nice being able to share that with someone. Especially Laxus.

Laxus was pretty cool. A little grumpy and serious, but he still knew how to have fun. Like those nicknames. I thought he'd just ignore it but then he started to give me a couple. And the one he'd given me after the mission (Sunshine), which went way better than expected, gave me butterflies.

I fought the urge to smile and glad the shadow of night hid my blushing face since I was almost certain that my face look like a tomato or something. It wasn't my fault; Laxus was just...amazing. Complete opposite of me, but still amazing. And he made me feel good. That's why I told him about Arashi.

Unfortunately, that brought back the painful memories I always remembered whenever I thought about my brother. Including that night. I didn't even bother to fight the flashbacks. Maybe it would be good to think about it. If it wasn't, I'd just throw myself into working on various jobs or something until I was too busy to think about it.


My parents were gone. That much was certain. They'd yelled at Arashi to get me out of the house. I had protested, wanting to help them by using my magic. But my brother just picked me up, grabbed the briefcase filled with all of my parents' research, and ran out through the backdoor of our home.

He kept running, never looking back. I guess he was too scared too. I, however, had to look. The only home I'd ever known was on fire. Smoke clouded the sky, blocking the night sky. Before I lost sight of the house, I heard my mother scream in pain. Never had I heard her scream that loudly.

Arashi kept running until we were had gotten past the border of the town, and then he gently put me down before he laid down underneath a willow tree, the leaves shielding us from anyone who might walk by.

"Arashi! Page! Where are you!?"

It was Raijin. Arashi looked ready to pass out, so I slowly crept towards Raijin's voice. I stuck my hand out and then ran back to Arashi when I heard rustling. Our mentor's head stuck in, his expression going from worried and afraid to relief. "Thank the heavens you're safe."

"They got Mama and Papa!" I whispered. Arashi sat up when he heard my voice, tears in his eyes. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. But I promise you that- did you hear that?" Raijin looked around, and Arashi got up to try and listen. That's when I heard it. The sound of a sword being drawn. "Look out!"

Raijin jumped in front of me, arms spread out to protect me. It was too dark to see the sword until it was shoved right through Raijin's torso. I saw his white shirt turn red as blood seeped through. The sword was pulled out, and out of the corner of my eye, Arashi clapped his hands together and shouted "Thunder Dragon Roar!"

Whoever was there was pushed back by Arashi's magic. "Come on, we gotta go!"

"What about Raijin?" I asked. I heard my mentor's raspy voice tell me to listen to my brother. So I grabbed the amulet from around his neck, so he could at least die in his true form. Then I grabbed my doll and allowed Arashi to pick me up again before he began to run.

'I won't forget about you, Raijin,' I thought as my brother took off towards the neighboring town to try and get to safety. We never made it though.


As I was walking, I saw the shadow of a person in the alley, as if the person was trying to hide. The glint of a sword gave him away though as it reflected in a nearby puddle thanks to the moonlight. I stopped and pulled out a small dagger I always kept with me.

"Thunder Dragon Vanish!" I cried, summoning thunder clouds that allowed me to be hidden from view. I could see through the clouds but no one else could. Or at least, no one else was supposed to be able to.

But even with my shroud of darkness, someone somehow managed to find me. And the next thing I knew, something came into contact with my head and everything went dark.


AN: This is going to be a little shorter but with good reason. And the suspense? Duh-duh-duh! You guys will have to wait to see what happens next on the next episode of 'Howling Sun - Page's Tale'. Until then...

Kitkat Out!