A/N: Happy Canada Day from a proud Canadian, guys! Enjoy your day, eh?
The shadows cut deeper. She awoke in that darkness and tried to touch something, but nothing was there. She tried to speak, but nothing was there. She tried to wake up, but nothing was there. She called for help, somehow, and didn't expect anything… but someone was there.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in a dark hallway with the feeling that she shouldn't have been there. Yet, there she was, and another feminine figure with pale, porcelain skin, long bright blonde hair, and soft, gentle bright blue eyes was there as well. It felt faintly familiar. The figure stood at a very simple five feet and four inches, and was giving a very gentle smile.
She wasn't scared at all. This was a comforting presence, giving a very satisfying and gentle hug. She was lulled into security. This felt very, very familiar. It also felt precious. It was something to be protected. She drifted into nothingness as the figure's hands gently threaded through her hair, humming a familiar tune.
Katie woke slowly; quickly drawing in a deep breath and finding an annoying beeping near her ear. It sped up as she pulled herself awake, finding it to be like pulling herself above water. It was painfully slow progress. She couldn't see much right away, but her vision adjusted finely and she lifted a hand to rub at her face before she looked around, finding her back in the same place she had been only days before, and finding herself laughing at the familiar faces around her.
She just couldn't keep doing this, could she?
Something was nagging at the back of her mind, like some sort of hole in her memory. She was forgetting something, but she decided that it didn't matter when she found Charles and Seph both safe at either one of her sides. All she cared about was keeping others safe, and that's probably why she always ended up in these kinds of situations.
"… How long was I sleeping?" She asked softly, noting the IV drip at the side of the bed and pushing herself up to sit, although she needed a bit of help.
"Three days." Seph suddenly blurted out, gaining a bunch of looks as if she wasn't supposed to tell. She looked ashamed before she was given a pat on the head to be told that it was okay.
"You were in the hospital for a bit, Kat. Your wrist is sprained and two of your ribs are fractured, but that caused internal bleeding. They needed to… open you up to fix it. It's gonna scar." Charles explained with a soft voice for once. It was usually stern. "You have a minor concussion, too, and your leg is a little messed up as well."
"Wow…" Katie managed to get out, running her fingers down her side only to find stitches and wince, gaining a small slap on the hand from her companion. She then realized that she definitely did ache all over and she swallowed thickly, closing her eyes for a moment to take a deep, uninterrupted breath. "… I'm stupid, I know, you don't have to say it."
"Glad." Charles said simply, making her chuckle a bit although his voice had obviously shook when he spoke. He took a deep breath himself and Seph looked like she was trying to speak, but she couldn't, so he did for her. "Thanks." She knew what for and gave a small nod, although the couple of others in the room were so confused over the small exchange.
There was a pause before Seph took a shaky breath, one that scared those in the room because it either meant she was going to panic or she was going to cry. Upon seeing the look on her face, she was going to cry.
"… I-I… d-don't want to g-go b-back…" She got out softly. They had heard that many times before, but they still didn't know entirely what that meant. Katie reached forward ever so slightly, gently rubbing Seph's back, and she shook her head softly.
"We're… not going back, okay?" Katie told her, although she sounded a little unsure. Seph luckily didn't catch on like the rest of them did and she gave a small nod to Katie, putting her head in the human girl's lap and taking deep breaths as Katie continued to rub her back.
At some point, Seph had fallen asleep and questions were demanding answers… enough was enough.
"… Who hurt her?" Laxus started, his tone growling. Katie merely paused, rubbing at Seph's back before stopping and taking a deep breath that caught in her throat, making her cough. They would all wait as long as they needed for the answer and she knew that. She wasn't trying to stall, she just… didn't know how to talk about it and she didn't want Seph waking up.
"… I-I can't say his name." Katie finally got out. His name always stained her tongue and put a bad taste in her mouth, and Charles cringed from beside her, both of them looking ready to throw up. "But, we came from…" There was a pause as tears gathered in her eyes and Charles leaned against her to give her comfort, or maybe to bring some comfort to himself.
"You came from a bad place with bad people, right?" Mira asked softly, taking a seat on the other side of the bed. Katie paused before giving a small nod, and Mira suddenly grabbed her free hand gently, giving her a soft smile laced with kindness. "We need to know what that place is… and who those people are. We can't help otherwise. Seph doesn't want to talk about it, you don't want to either; we know that, but… We can't keep letting this happen…"
"It's only a matter of time before you end up straight back where you came from if you don't talk to us." Gray stated a little harshly from the corner, gaining a couple of harsh glares although he didn't dare to back down from his statement. There was a silent pause before Katie spoke up again.
"I know." She stated strongly, her voice shaking ever so slightly as she fought back her tears and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "… W-We came from… a-a…" She took a deep breath and finally just got it out, her voice shaking much more than before. "… A-A Dark Guild… c-called Chaos Phoenix…" There was another pause as Katie tried to think of what to say, but she really couldn't say much. She and Charles didn't know too much of what happened to Seph, and she had gotten the most pain out of the three of them. "… W-We were kept there a-against our will, a-as slaves, y'know? I-It's awful either way, but… S-Something happened to Seph w-with this Exceed in the top five Mages of the Guild and… sh-she's been so scared ever since. Sh-She escaped before we did without even telling us properly…"
Katie didn't know what else to say and didn't figure that she had to when a hand was placed gently on her back to comfort her. She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes to keep the tears from falling, and took a deep breath to try and stable herself.
"… She had a really bad nightmare once, before the last day of the Grand Magic Games." Gajeel reminded Laxus, although that had been nagging at him to ask about. He gave a stern nod, gritting his teeth, and everyone understood that he couldn't speak or he'd get far too angry. "This Exceed that hurt her, his name is Julian, isn't it?" Katie paused and gave a small nod. "Who's Erastos?" She paused again and took a deep breath before speaking, her voice not shaking as much as before. She was a little more comfortable now, feeling more accepted now that they knew and they hadn't freaked out like she thought they might've.
"Erastos is the Guild Master." She responded as strongly as she could before continuing. "A-And that's his name… the Exceed who hurt Seph…" She paused, feeling her throat close up with a sob and tears welling up into her eyes again. "… I-It was really bad…" She got the sob out and everyone leaned forward a bit, knowing that it was serious and trying not to pressure her. "O-One day, sh-she was smiling a-and calm… a-and then sh-she went m-missing f-for a week and wh-when we saw her a-again, sh-she just… sh-she was d-devoid of hope. Sh-She didn't smile, sh-she barely spoke… sh-she didn't let us t-touch her at all… h-hearing his name w-was like hearing the world was g-going to end…"
Laxus gripped his hand too hard with the other and his nails cut into his gripped hand, causing it to bleed. He let out a wince through his gritted teeth and pulled his hands apart; letting them rest against the bed as Wendy quickly grabbed some bandages for him and gently took his hand to wrap it. They all understood his anger, honestly and completely. They were angry, too.
"… You're not going back." Erza got out, strong and absolute. Everyone gave stern nods alongside her as she got to her feet. "I'm going to talk to the Master, if that's okay?" Katie paused before giving a small nod and Erza nodded back, heading to the door.
"Just…!" Katie got out quickly and not too loudly, catching Erza's attention. "… D-Don't… Don't mention it around Seph, please… She's finally smiling again and talking about it, it's just… it'll destroy her all over again…"
They wouldn't let that happen.
A cold ghost of air was sliding up Seph's back, signaling that the covers she had been placed under were pulled back. She had waked up quite suddenly from the dream she had been having, taking a deep breath to balance herself. The bed shifted from someone's weight and something cold slid under the blanket beside her, causing her to stifle a jump and sit halfway up, blinking to adjust to the brightness in the room.
"… Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
It was Lily, out of all people. Katie was asleep on the other side of her with Charles in her arms, Laxus sleeping in a chair at the side of the bed. Everyone else was gone, so why wasn't he…? He had frozen with his voice quiet yet wavering a bit. Seph paused before shaking her head a bit, moving to make room for him and allowing him to crawl up beside her and fling his arms around her. She got out a yawn before putting her arms around him and gently rubbing his back.
"… What's going on…?" She asked softly, gaining a small hum from Lily as her shrugged in response. It wasn't very late, gathering from the light outside… or maybe it was just pretty early. That might've been it.
"I just want to make sure that you're doing alright." Lily finally got out, sounding fairly tired.
Seph couldn't blame him and merely hummed a bit with a small nod, running a hand gently over the back of his ribs, shoulder blades, and then down his spine, letting out a light laugh when he shivered from how gentle she was. Eventually, he relaxed and his grip loosened before she started to ease out of his arms, in which he immediately tightened his grip on her all over again. She didn't really mind, but his hands were shaking as if he was afraid to let her go and that worried her. She gently gave his hand a squeeze and rested her head against his shoulder, deciding to stay in place.
With a sigh, she contemplated the blankets for far longer than she should have before letting out a huff and sitting up, finding Lily's head in her lap and his arms just holding onto her waist as if she was going to fly away at any given moment. He looked really tired, but also surprisingly peaceful, and she couldn't help but gently run a hand over his cheek, gaining a small hum of appreciation. He looked a little pale, probably from the lack of sleep he must've gotten, and gave a soft smile as she ran her fingers through his fur, encouraged by his soft hums and sighs of content. The stress seemed to leave his body with every touch and he looked ready to fall asleep, but Seph had slept enough by then. She was just… a little out of it.
"… Something up with you…?" Lily questioned softly, gaining a light scoff from her because he had caught on so quickly. She paused, running her fingers through his fur a little slower before stopping altogether, and then she nodded a bit.
"… It's stupid." She told him, but he shook his head, leaning back a little bit to look up at her. It wouldn't be stupid to him, that's what he was trying to tell her, but she couldn't help but feel like it would be. Nonetheless, she needed someone to talk to… and really, Lily was the only one who had opened up to listening to her about her problems and such. "… I've always been afraid of what people would think of me, of my body and if I allowed them to see, and I guess I just… S-Something that happened awhile bad, I wasn't expecting it and every time I think about everything, it just… triggers all of my bad feelings at once."
There was a pause before Lily turned onto his back, his head still resting in her lap, and his hand found hers, squeezing it gently.
"You're absolutely wonderful, inside and out. You don't have to worry when you're with any of us." He told her, his voice soft yet stern enough for her to tell that he wasn't lying.
That was the part that threw her off so much, the fact that he wasn't lying.
She blinked back tears and carefully lifted his hand up to brush her lips against it, holding onto it as if he'd shatter and never come back. She took a deep breath and gave a small nod, glad that he allowed her to lie back down in order for the both of them to get some well-needed rest. Her head found his shoulder and nestled there, his arms wrapping loosely around her waist and her own resting across his chest.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Seph felt safe and comfortable.