Chapter 14: Phantoms

Christopher walked out of the cave, it was the middle of the day. When he saw the guild he felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, he might not be one for emotions but he felt like he could make an exception. There were metal poles sticking out of the guild left and right, each one piercing the guild hall. Entering the guild he found Natsu yelling at the master who was drunk.

"They wrecked our Guild!" shouted Natsu.

"Well, calm down. It's nothing to make a fuss about." said the master placing his head in his hand.

"What!" shouted Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. They couldn't believe that the master would say such a thing, he was the one who always claimed about how great Fairy Tail was so why he wouldn't do anything or care was beyond them.

"Phantom right? This is as far as those idiots will go. I don't even see why they bothered to attack an empty guild?" he said chugging his whiskey.

"Empty guild?" asked Erza curiously.

"It seems they did it in the middle of the night when no one was here." said Mirajane, "No one got hurt because of it."

"There's no need to get cross with someone who's was too much of a coward to only do a surprise attack. Leave them be." said the master brushing the issue off.

"I can't accept it! I won't feel right until I knock them down a notch!" shouted an enraged Natsu.

"That's enough, Natsu this discussion is over!" said the master before leaving to take a leak.

"Natsu…..she master is just as upset over this as anyone else. But inter-guild fighting is prohibited by the council," said Mirajane in an attempt to calm the dragon slayer down.

"But they attacked us first!" cried Natsu.

"If the master says so, then we must accept that," said Erza as everyone clenched their teeth in anger knowing that it was true.

Lucy opened the door to her apartment when she saw Erza, Natsu, Happy and Gray all in her home.

"What are you all doing here!?" she shouted angrily.

"Seeing how Phantom decided to come to our town, it is possible that they know our addresses. They might attack us when we're alone so Mirajane suggested that we should all stick together tonight," said Erza, Lucy truly couldn't argue about it.

"Plus you're of marriageable age and I didn't feel right having Natsu and Gray here with you," she added as Lucy sweatdropped.

"So them staying over was a given?" deadpanned Lucy as a knock was heard on the door and Natsu began complaining.

Opening the door she was shocked to find Christopher standing there, "Christopher? What are you doing here?" she asked as the man pointed at the people in Lucy's apartment.

"I see," she said as she let him in.

"Chris-nii! You'll help me take down Phantom, right?" asked Natsu hoping that his brother would take his side.

"Don't do it, Chris," warned Erza as the man sighed.

"I don't fight," he said as Natsu's excitement faded. Erza nodded in approval.

"You don't?" asked Lucy looking at the man curious as to why.

"I don't," he responded.

"Well that was pretty vague," deadpanned Lucy. The next morning the group were walking to the guild when they noticed a crowd at the park. Wondering what it was they went to investigate. Arriving there was a horrible sight.

Hanging on the tree was Levy, Jet, and Droy. Each one nailed to the tree with iron, it was clearly the work of the iron dragon slayer. They were covered with cuts and bruises, their clothes were ripped and they were all knocked unconscious and on Levy's stomach was the symbol of the Phantom Lord guild.

Christopher looked up at the bluenette, memories flashed through his mind. He always liked Levy, she was a sweet girl. They two would study and read together. He helped her control her magic, and even play rounds of chess. He felt anger swell up inside of him, she was like his little sister, and no sibling, no matter how rocky their relationship, liked seeing the other hurt. Whoever did this, was going to pay.

He kept his face cool as he heard the master walking up. The master, unlike Christopher, was openly showing his anger.

"How dare they…." he began as a tear fell down his face, "I can handle them wreaking out shitty guild hall….but no parent can handle the blood of their child being spilled….." His wooden staff shattered in his hand, his veins seemed to pop out in his righteous anger.

"THIS. MEANS. WAR!" he shouted not caring that everyone in Magnolia heard him. Christopher, while he didn't care about fighting silently agreed.

After the three had been moved, Christopher took care of their bruises and cuts with his healing magic. Luckily there wasn't any serious damage or else he might have not been able to do anything.

"I...can't forgive them…" Christopher heard Lucy admit as she sat next to Levy, a few tears began to stream down her face.

"I'm going to join the others soon," he said to Lucy as she looked up at him.

"I thought you said you didn't fight?" she asked through her sobs.

"I don't," he responded.

"Then why-" started Lucy.

"Because I can, and I will," he said darkly before leaving the room. He passed by Mirajane who only watched as he walked out of the building.

"Mira….what's wrong with Christopher?" asked Lucy worried about the emotionless dragon slayer.

"He's angry Lucy," she answered softly.

"Angry? He can show emotions?" she asked.

"Not very well, but I can see it in his eyes. Levy is like his little sister, ever since she joined the guild they've always been close. Seeing her like this is enough to actually piss him off, and trust me when I say that he does have quite a bit of patience." answered Mirajane worried that Christopher might do something rash.

At the Phantom Lord guild hall, the other guild members had entered combat with the guild. Each member taking out many of Phantom's members. The guild master entered the room where Phantom's master Jose was supposed to be. Somehow Jose had gotten to Makarov, he was thrown into the fray unconscious.

Christopher wandered aimlessly until he found himself in the forest as far as he could see, he was alone. At least that's what he thought, Mirajane had followed him out of worry as she knew that he has little experience when dealing with strong emotions, especially one such as anger.

He felt his blood boil, as his aura flared around him. He held his head as his body began to change. Mirajane was shocked at what she saw, she looked into his eyes, the same pair of yellow eyes that she saw the day Christopher convinced her that she wasn't a monster. But this time she saw everything, the being that held those yellow eyes.

Christopher had turned into a dragon, his scales were a dark purple and his body seemed to glow. However she found that he seemed to have grace when he moved, he wasn't human, he had deliberately told her so the day they met. So why did he hide this? From the guild, from his family..from her. Stepping out from behind the tree Christopher finally noticed her presence.

"Chris…" she said softly attempting to get closer to her friend. The dragon took a step back as he glowed and turned back into his normal form. She looked at him in his eyes, she wasn't afraid, no. It was he who was afraid. His eyes were filled with fear and horror, Mirajane felt a pain in her chest because she knew what he was afraid of; he was afraid of her.

"Mira…" he finally managed as she took a step closer. Christopher took a step back, maintaining a distance between himself and her.

"You-" she began as he began to leave. She knew she had to stop him, running to him she enveloped him in a hug knocking him to the ground.

"M-Mira...p-please...l-let go…" he said trying to release her grip.

"No!" she cried holding him tighter refusing to let go. Christopher was losing it, he couldn't control his emotions, the one emotion he knew was most dangerous was making its presence known. The one emotion he needed to never feel...love. He remembered when he first figured it out, a year before Lisanna died. He wondered why he couldn't control his emotions like normal when he was with Mirajane, it was because he fell in love with her.

"Mira please!" he begged trying to push her away but not able to use his full strength out of fear of hurting her.

"Please!" he begged once more as he felt his aura begin to flare up once more. He needed to regain control, he could hurt her, and that was what he feared most. He could never forgive himself if he hurt her.

"Chris, you need to stop doing this to yourself! Please, tell me what's wrong!" she cried looking up at him. Mirajane knew that she had a deep crush on Christopher, it had started the day they met and had grown into a deep love. He was always there for her, and yet here he was in front of her and in pain. She wanted...no needed to help him.

Christopher knew what she meant and he knew that he couldn't hold back much longer, his magic was starting to get out of hand. His human form could only handle so much of his magic at a time, and his emotions just overloaded them. His heart told him to make a decision, and that was something he never ever did. He never listened to his heart, but now the woman he loved might end up hurt or worse because he was losing control. So, for the first time in his life, he listened to his heart. The consequences….well he would deal with them later.

Pulling Mirajane closer he took a leap of faith and kissed her. Didn't know what she would do, slap him out of anger, back away in shock, punch him is disgust and yet, she did none of those things. She leaned into the kiss, she kissed him back. Mirajane's stomach was doing backflips, while she had gone on dates and had been kissed by a man before she had never enjoyed it as much as she did now. And she hated it when it ended. Christopher backed away, as Mirajane had loosened her grip on him.

"I-I….I'm sorry…" he said trying to get up and get away, but Mirajane wasn't having any of it.

"Chris! Wait!" she called out as she grabbed his hand stopping him in his tracks. He turned and looked at her, he was blushing and yet had tears in his eyes. He was afraid, he was happy and yet he was sad. He felt all of these emotions at once.

"Chris, why won't you tell me?" she asked softly. He lowered his head in shame, kept averting his gaze.

"Chris, I love you. More than just a friend," she said as he tried to back away once more, "You have always been there for me, and yet you never tell me if you're hurting or if you're afraid. So please don't back away, and tell me what wrong!" she said hugging him once more.

"Why?" he said quietly, it was barely a whisper but Mirajane heard it.

"What?" she asked looking at him.

"Why do you bother? I'm a useless, worthless piece of trash that never was supposed to be born, I should've just died," he said, as each degrading word poured out of his mouth Mirajane felt a sharp pain in her chest. 'Does he truly believe that? Why? He is an incredible, helpful, kind and caring. Why does he think this?' thought Mirajane.

"Why do you think that?" she dared ask.

"Because it's true, my parents never wanted me. I was a mistake, an error. An unplanned child whose only use was when they needed something done." he said. Christopher knew what he said was true, with his parents he was a useless, extra mouth to feed. His mother and father never wanted a child, and if they did they wanted a girl, not a boy.

"Do you truly believe that?" she asked scared of what his answer might be.

"What other reason is there for my existence?" he asked, at this Mirajane gasped. She knew that Christopher had never thought highly of himself, he was modest and genuine but to think that he believed his life meaningless was just horrible.

"Do you truly believe that is how I see you?" she asked squeezing his hand.

"Yes." he answered, Mirajane felt heartbroken, "Isn't that what everyone thinks?" he asked. Mirajane didn't know how to respond, she just couldn't believe that her friend would ever think that everyone saw him as only useless.

The two stood there for what seemed like hours, neither speaking or moving. Mirajane wanted clarification, if he thought that she thought of him as useless then why did he kiss her? What were his feelings? Why did he hide the fact that he can turn into a dragon from her?

"Why didn't you tell me about being a dragon?" she asked breaking the silence.

"Because…..I was never supposed to be…." he whispered. He fell onto his knees tears pouring out of his eyes.

"Chris...what happened?" Mirajane asked hugging him.

"W-When I-I was….t-ten I fell i-ill...F-Fiera didn't know….what to do…." he said choking on his tears, "...she had n-never….raised a-a human...before….s-so she gave...m-me her blood….i-it healed me…..b-but it t-turned me i-into a d-dragon….."

Mirajane hugged him tighter, it wasn't right. While he might be able to turn into a dragon, he didn't have reason to hide it from his friends. After all, most of the guild would probably think that it just made him cooler, she knew that's what Natsu would think that at least.

"Why did you hide it?" she asked hoping that it wasn't just because he didn't think he wasn't human.

"F-Fiera said that I might get hunted," he said softly. Mirajane could understand that, dragons were supposed to be extinct and if you had the opportunity to have one, you could become rich, or use them as some sort of theatrical act and make money.

"What about your powers, are they out of control now?" she asked as he was showing his emotions.

"N-No, i-it's mostly fear a-and anger that sends them like that," he said trying to calm himself down.

"Chris...I need to ask you one last thing, will you answer?" she asked looking into his sapphire blue eyes.

"Y-Yes."

"Chris, why did you kiss me?" she asked hoping that it wasn't just because he wanted to calm himself down by distracting himself. Christopher felt his face flush, could he do it? Could he tell her right here how he felt? Would she accept his feelings?

"Because…...B-because….." he tried to say, Mirajane felt her heart drop. Was he going to just use that as an excuse? "Because I….." he tried one more time, he wanted to say the words, he truly did. They just wouldn't leave his tongue.

He looked into Mirajanes eyes, he could see that his lack of words was hurting her. He didn't want to hurt her, God's no. He couldn't live with himself for hurting her.

"Because I love you!" he finally managed, half shouting. He shut his eyes in fear of her reaction, he couldn't look into her eyes. He didn't want to see the hate she would have for him for feeling this way. But to his complete surprise, "I love you too." she whispered.

The two of them just sat there, Christopher felt emotions he had scarcely felt before. He knew the type of person he was when he didn't block his emotions. He was worried about what the guild would think of his true personality. He knew that they would eventually accept it, but he was still worried. Showing more emotion would be strange, but it was a new experience, one that he had to learn on his own.

Sometime later, he and Mirajane walked back to the hospital, Lucy was no longer there. Lucy had left a note saying that she went out. The two sat in a peaceful silence with only the sound of people's breathing and the noise from outside being heard.

The others would return soon. Christopher had a bad feeling, as Fairy Tail would almost lose something or someone. Christopher gazed at the wall as he felt himself being pulled into vision. He looked around, everything he saw was blank, until he saw a large mansion. He recognized it as the Heartfilia Mansion. The last time he had a vision involving the family was right before he met Lucy. He wondered what she had to do with this mess. Standing outside of the mansion was a man dressed finely in a suite. If he had to guess, he was the representation of Jude Heartfilia. He handed over a bag of money to a spirit-like figure that stood in front of him. It looked straight out of a fantasy book. A phantom.

He saw a blonde girl tied in rope standing next to the phantom. She was shoved into the mans waiting arms, as he received a money bag as payment. Pulling a cage out of nowhere, he saw a small fairy trapped inside. Crushing the cage, the fairy was ultimately killed. Christopher turned away at the horrific sight only to see two paths in front of him.

The vision faded as he was brought back to reality, Mirajane was shaking him trying to get his attention, "Chris, are you alright? You've been ignoring me for the past few minutes." she looked at him worriedly.

"Sorry," he said apologized sheepishly, "I got pulled into a vision." Mirajane smiled and nodded, she knew that it was an ability that he didn't have much control over. However, her heart fluttered when he spoke. He was allowing emotion into his voice, Mirajane was happy that he was trying to change, even if it was clearly difficult for him.

When he allowed for emotion to enter his voice, it was gentle. His voice was low and soft. In his eyes, were many different emotions, some of the clear ones were tenderness and sadness. Mirajane rested her head on his shoulder, the man she knew wasn't the man that sat next to her, but that was alright. She still loved him. However, she was unsure on how to proceed.

The man that sat next to her was in constant pain and turmoil. He was broken, vulnerable, and unsure. What had happened to him was horrific, no one should have to suffer the way he has, and yet he did. He toughed it out for the first nineteen years of his life, but now that she knows...she won't let him go through it alone anymore. Even if it killed her, she would heal him. Seal up every open wound, patch the holes in his heart and love him. Even if he didn't know it, she needed him just as much as he needed her. Not because she was in pain or hurt, but because he made her feel whole. They were two halves of a whole.