Chapter 26: Control

Dark themes are coming up in this chapter such as that of cutting and suicide. Don't like then don't read.

LEVY POV

Thank goodness I had put down those protective charms when we first arrived here.

It took a minute or two for them to activate, just because of the power of the defensive spell, but they clearly worked as currently a still-feral Yaseika loomed on the other side, banging against the barrier in anger. The last few minutes still had everybody reeling. Yaseika had lunged for Natsu's throat, clearly with intention to kill. Erza managed to knock her away just in time, but Yaseika continued to snarl and move slowly, her eye focused on Erza. I called for the others to hold her back long enough for me to activate the runes, but it was more difficult than we had expected. Yaseika didn't even seem to really be human anymore, her movements more reminiscent of an animal than anything else.

She had completely caught us off guard as she had never acted this way before. Something must have happened over the past year in order to bring her to this state.

She beat us up pretty badly with just her fists. No magic was emanating from her, it makes me wonder how powerful she could be with magic and not just any magic, but dragon slayer magic!? We were watching her for a few moments to make sure that the runes would hold up, as she prowled on the other side. While she did twitch her head to the side from time-to-time, she did appear calmer as she slowly just stopped moving and sat down on her bed in a meditative pose. Natsu and Rogue looked like they were both about to lose it. They were both on the verge of tears. I could imagine why Natsu was upset, as he had grown up with her, but why Rogue too? As far as I knew, he had only met her once during the fight against Tartaros.

Yaseika had been sitting quietly, still twitching occasionally for about a half-hour when her hand snapped to her eyepatch. Her other eye went wide in desperation and the other hand grabbed the hand on the eyepatch. They struggled against each other briefly until the one that had been restraining against the eyepatch whipped her sword out of her harness and slashed harshly across her arm. She was fighting herself…? The hand that had been straining for the eyepatch fell limply to her side and her eye softened slightly. She made another cut across the same arm, blood beginning to seep out of the thin wound.

That was when Rogue broke, "Yaseika! Stop!" She didn't appear to hear him as her eye glassed over in relief. She continued making cuts as her entire body began to relax. Bright red began to drip on the white sheets below her, as she made yet another cut. She pressed her hand against them and hissed lowly in pain, but moved her sword into position to make another cut.

Natsu began to roar, "Yaseika, why are you doing this!? STOP!"

Erza then summoned another sword and told me, "Lower the barrier, now!" I got to work. It took a few minutes, with Yaseika still cutting across her arm and wrist area. There were times where I thought I heard her sigh in relief as I heard the faint sound of metal scrape across skin. By the time the runes were down, Yaseika had made at least 20 thin cuts along the same arm.

As soon as the barrier disappeared, Natsu leaped forward and stole the swords and arrows away from Yaseika. She didn't make any move to prevent him from taking them, as her entire expression was blank and unfocused. He put them aside and then he grabbed some bandages on the counter beside Yaseika and immediately moved to wrap the wounds up. Then Yaseika finally reacted and screeched, "No!" She wrenched away from him and curled into a ball in a corner of the room.

Natsu said in anger, "Hold still! I'm trying to help you."

She turned away and didn't move, murmuring "no" to herself. She muttered, "No help. No relief. Just pain. Need pain." Her entire body was shaking and she scratched at the wounds in order to keep them flowing the scarlet liquid.

Then Rogue stepped forward and moved Natsu over, taking the bandages from his hands. More gently than I ever thought possible, I heard his voice ask, "Why do you think that you need pain?"

She stopped shaking but didn't turn to face him, "Pain hurts. Pain keeps me me. Deserve pain. Need pain."

Rogue's expression did not change and he kneeled down to the ground and asked another question, "Why do you deserve pain?"

She still faced the wall and she did appear to hear him, but instead she said, "Promised Titania. Promised Igneel. Promised myself." Erza stiffened at her name but Yaseika continued, "Broke promise. Deserve pain."

Rogue moved closer to Yaseika but no one else dared to move a muscle. He was somehow getting through to her, while Natsu and the others could not. We needed to continue like this for now. Rogue asked finally, "You feel you deserve pain because you broke a few promises?" His voice was calm, not in the slightest bit judgmental. It seemed to be working.

Yaseika finally faced Rogue and I could see that her eye was clear again as she replied, "Not completely true. Promised to explain. Explain why I need pain. To Titania." Her speaking was clearing up and her hands stopped scratching at her arms.

Rogue then said, "Well, we don't know why you deserve pain. Can you explain it to us?"

She stiffened but her expression seemed to return to normal, "I don't know if I can. At least, not here. Not now."

Then Rogue asked, "How about a new promise? When will you tell us about yourself? The real you I mean."

Her gaze fell to the floor and she said, "I can't promise. I can't keep promises."

Then Rogue said, "Okay. You can tell us when you think you can. I'm going to be putting these bandages on you now. Will you give me your arms?" Yaseika shook her head and he followed up with another question, "Do you feel that you need pain for right now?"

Yaseika shook her head again and said, "The struggle is over. I have won. I am me. I am Yaseika Dragneel." She showed her arms to him and in shock, I saw that the cuts that were once present on her arm had disappeared. The skin had returned to its usual untouched self. The only evidence that the last 10 minutes even happened was the blood that was drying on her clothes and the bedsheets.

I knew that the others saw this as well as I heard soft gasps. Rogue seemed as shocked as we were, but didn't let it show too much on his expression. He softly said, "Why don't you go back into bed and rest for a little bit?"

Yaseika shook her head and said, "Sleeping is bad. Sleeping brings nightmares. I don't want to sleep." She was saying more information than I thought we could get out of her, just by her focusing on Rogue.

Rogue added, "Then you don't need to sleep. Just lie there until we are ready to leave, okay? It will help you stay you." Yaseika seemed to consent as she stood up, crossed over to the bed and got under the covers, her eye not once leaving Rogue. She sat straight up and didn't move from there.

Rogue gestured for us to all follow him outside the room and we all shuffled out. Yaseika's eye fell upon each of us, and didn't seem to react this time to seeing Natsu. We all were in the hallway when Natsu finally exploded, "What the hell just happened in there?"

I was surprised beyond belief, still trying to understand what had occurred. I turned and asked Rogue, "How did you do that? She was totally gone and you brought her back."

He looked just as confused as we were and said, "I don't know. I was just following my instincts. You've seen me succumb to my shadows before." I nodded, remembering the incident during the Grand Magic Games, both during the tournament and what had supposedly happened to the Future Rogue. He continued, "I just did what I thought was right. She reminded me of me in that regard. I didn't want her to feel that kind of pain. She just needed to feel understood. Besides, I have a feeling that it wasn't just me that brought her back."

Wendy murmured, "The cutting. The pain may have caused her to focus on herself and regain control." What a horrible thing for a girl her age to watch. She was still trembling but she put on a brave face and said, "Maybe the other half, the Demon of Chaos, Erza was talking about isn't as dormant as before. A year has passed. It may have become more unstable what with Yaseika becoming re-aware of it. But Yaseika's still trying to fight it."

Erza held her chin in her hand as she thought for a bit then she said, "Still, that doesn't explain why Yaseika was after Natsu initially."

Rogue said, "That's true. She appeared to be completely calm when she woke up and I asked her some basic questions to see her mental state. Sting, Lector, and Frosch were all there and can agree to that. But as soon as I mentioned Natsu's name, she went ballistic."

Lucy murmured, "Maybe the other half sees Natsu as a threat."

Gray added, "But she didn't seem to react as violently to Erza. We are just throwing around accusations again just like before. The only person that knows the truth is her. Besides, that doesn't explain how or why she fell from the sky just today." The hallway fell silent as we thought about everything that had happened.

Then Gajeel told Rogue, "I need to talk to you in private Ryos." Rogue flinched at the name but then Gajeel looked at Natsu, "You too Salamander." He glanced at Sting and gestured for him to come along as well. They went off somewhere together. Only we girls remained, looking after them in confusion.

Carla then froze, her eyes widened in fear. Wendy asked her, "What's wrong? Did you get another vision?"

The white Exceed looked nervous and tears began to stream down her face. She murmured, "I can only hope that this one is only one of many possibilities. Because the future I just saw was so horrific," she shuddered.

She looked towards Lucy and said, "Hopefully it won't come true. If it does, it's not going to be good for any of us." Some part of me wanted her to tell us what she saw, but another part of me didn't I didn't want to hear the bad stuff that could be coming. And if we knew what was coming, we would try to change it, and thus possibly create another dire future.

Just then, Rogue came barreling back down the hallway, screaming Yaseika's name. The other dragon slayers were following just behind him. He burst into the room Yaseika was staying in and revealed with a jolt, the bed to be empty, the window open. It could be assumed that Yaseika had jumped out some time before during our conversation. Rogue took a long inhale of air. He swore and jumped out the window after her. The rest of us went around the other way.

Lucy cried out, "I don't get it. What happened?"

Gajeel growled, "We were talking and Rogue suddenly sensed that something was wrong with Yaseika. Now we're here and she's missing."

Erza cried out, "We've got to find her. If she loses control again…" She didn't even need to finish the thought.

Gray spoke coolly, "Rogue is clearly going after her scent. We follow his scent…"

Natsu spoke, "We find Yaseika." We left the building and followed as the dragon slayers tracked Rogue down.

Frosch spoke then, "Is Rogue going to be okay?"

Gajeel looked at the Exceed and for a split second I saw despair in his eyes. I had never seen that emotion on his face and it terrified me. He then looked at me and murmured, "I hope so. I hope so."

I haved hinted during this whole story what is happening to Yaseika, but I want to know what you think. Make sure to review so I know what you guys are thinking and feel free to guess the background behind Yaseika. There will be a HUGE revelation chapter coming up very soon.