"Are we seriously going to plan a war?"
Destiny thought Ruri's question through as he sighed, nodding soon after. His sigh was followed by her own before he smiled at her softly in reassurance.
"We're Fairy Tail; we'll win no matter what the cost of winning is. We always do." Destiny reassured her. "And thank you for bringing Micah and Marcy's egg in for when Fate wakes up again."
Ruri shook her head and smiled at him before looking down at his lap, which the currently sleeping Fate was using as a pillow. Her smile suddenly faded and she sighed, looking down at the bed. Destiny frowned.
"What's wrong?" Destiny asked.
Ruri's shoulders seemed to tense before they dropped in defeat. She couldn't lie to anyone.
"Only Rory knows, so you can't tell anyone, okay?" Ruri asked. Destiny nodded and Ruri sighed once again. "I don't actually come from Seikatsu like Rory. I didn't grow up there. In fact, I only spent a couple of months there before the village was burned down and we lost Rory's older sister, Ava, who was the previous Sapphire. It was a little after that that we came across the group and became partners with Adam and Cathy. I actually come from Wycliffe."
"The thieves' village...?" Destiny asked.
If there was anything he learned while being a prince hauled up in a castle, it was that the neighbouring villages full of thieves always caused trouble. They would steal from them a lot, but Ruri didn't seem like she could hurt a soul. That was when he remembered the Tenroujima fight against Kurai and how Ruri matched his power, and he was a God-Slayer.
"You don't seem like a thief..." Destiny mumbled.
"Yah, I know... it's because I don't really see the point in stealing anything from anyone. We go through so much already; we don't need anything else on our shoulders. I used to think that some people deserved to be stolen from, but that was before I lost my family and my both the villages that I lived in were burned to the ground. I basically lost my points of living... if it wasn't for Rory, Cathy and Fairy Tail, I don't think I would've lasted this long..." Ruri explained.
"Why are you telling me this...?"
Ruri shrugged and it made Destiny frown even more.
"Hey..." Ruri muttered, catching his attention.
"What is it?" Destiny asked.
"Tristan and I are good friends, we've talked a lot and he went on a job with Cathy and I once, so if he says something, then I'll believe it no matter how stupid it seems to me, but... What do you think of Jered?"
Destiny almost groaned, but he didn't. He didn't know what to think of the certain red Exceed with dark brown eyes and he knew that a lot of his guildmate's would be especially wary of him.
"I don't know and that's the truth." Destiny sighed in annoyance, making Ruri giggle a bit before she sighed herself.
"It's not only Tristan that's making me believe it... I knew someone named Callias Minnet a long time ago when I was still a thief..." Ruri mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"You did...?"
"Yah... he was a sweet little boy, though... Well, sort of..."
"Sort of...?"
Ruri decided to explain, even if it might not have been a good idea to.
"Just... don't freak out about anything, okay?"
The forest was always dull and often quiet, with the exception of the wind flowing through the leaves. Suddenly, footsteps thudded on the hard dirt and a stick broke underneath someone's foot. The loud sounds of laughter broke through the branches as some young Exceeds ran between the trees: 3 boys and a girl. The girl was running the fastest, glancing over her shoulder at the boys every now and then.
"Hurry up, you slowpokes! We'll get caught if you don't!" The girl yelled in a bit of a joking tone.
"Hey, respect your elders!" The tallest Exceed yelled, his tone also in a joking way.
The girl laughed, jumping over a root.
"I-I think we're far enough!" The smallest boy yelled, causing all of them to stop.
They all laughed and panted, catching their breaths as they looked around, just in case.
"Holy shit, wait until Mom and Dad hear about that." The tall Exceed laughed.
"Shut up, Ezekiel! If Mom and Dad find out, we'll never hear the end of it." The Exceed that was nearly the same height as the girl sighed.
"Calm down, Caleb. Live a little, bro!" Ezekiel laughed.
"None of us will live if Mom and Dad find out!"
"Please calm down! You're acting like we killed someone!" The smallest Exceed pleaded.
"Dakota's right, calm down. You guys are acting like teenage daughters." The girl joked.
"You keep saying that today, Ruri. Yet, this was your idea." Caleb said.
"Don't be so sour towards our sister, Caleb. You agreed to it." Ezekiel reminded him.
"Shut your face, Zeke."
Zeke put a hand up to the side of his head and then turned it, like he was closing a door. Ruri shook her head with a smile on her face.
"Let's get home. We're all going on a job with some others tonight, remember? It's a big one." Ruri reminded them, starting to walk before her 3 brothers followed her.
"There better be a prize..." Caleb grumbled. Zeke threw up his hands dramatically.
"Love and prosperity!" He yelled jokingly.
"I wonder... since they're royals, will they have money and treasure?" Dakota asked.
"They always do, Dakota, no matter what kind of "royals" they may be." Ruri replied.
Dakota smiled up at her as she smiled down, grabbing and holding her hand as he started to skip along.
"I've always wanted to fight pirates! What about you, my lovely siblings!?" Zeke asked.
The 4 Shiro siblings were back-to-back, fighting off person after person.
"Who would've thought that "royals" would traffic Humans and Exceeds!? What idiots!" Caleb yelled, fending off another one.
"Ruri-nee, I'm scared!" Dakota yelled over the sound of all of the others fighting. "Where are Mom and Dad!?"
"We can worry about that later! Cut back on the jokes, remarks and worries for right now! Our job is to find the captives and release them! We're supposed to be on the defensive, not the offensive!" Ruri reminded.
"Yah, yah, we got it! Can you just calm down, Ru!? We're doing our best!" Caleb yelled.
Ruri groaned, reaching into her pocket.
"I'll take care of it!" She yelled.
Ruri held up a gold and silver key that was decorated with the colors of sapphire blue, ruby red and emerald green, and she held it as high as she could.
"私は、theeにウィクリフの神を呼びます！私はエメラルドと私自身の力で午前、と私の仲間の力は、私はあなたが私に力を与えることを要求します！戦うために私に意志を貸します!"
Ruri brought the key down in front of her.
"私の魂に反映！私の心に反映！私の意志を反映！あなたが合う形で私の本当の自分を引き出します！この時に私を助けて!"
The key bursted into a bright light within Ruri's hand, burning her, but she didn't back down and drop it.
"SHIRO!" Ruri yelled, putting the key's magic into use.
"Everyone, please stay calm! The situation is under control and we'll all be leaving soon!" Ruri promised, looking over the group of captives.
"What happened to my wife!?"
"Where are my children!?"
"What about our parents!?"
"Forget that! What the hell happened to our town, you thief!?"
Ruri ignored the questions and mostly the rude comments, sighing. Zeke, Caleb and Dakota were out there fighting and she was stuck on defense.
"Excuse me, ma'am...?"
Ruri looked down at the owner of the tiny voice, who was a little boy. An Exceed like her, as well.
"Yes...?" Ruri asked cautiously.
The little boy suddenly started crying, making her feel absolutely horrible. She kneeled down to his height, trying to use her calming magic to calm him down.
"Hey, come on... What's wrong?" Ruri asked.
"I'm scared! We don't have a home to return to, do we!? Our families are gone, aren't they!?" He asked. Ruri shook her head.
"That's not true. They'll always be in your heart."
Ruri grabbed her pocket knife, handing it to the small boy.
"Protect yourself for right now, okay?" Ruri asked. He nodded and took the small pocket knife. "What's your name, kiddo?
"C-Callias... Callias Dain Minnet...
A searing pain ran through Ruri's body as she hit the wall, having been thrown against it by one of the Exceed's in charge of the ship. What she didn't expect was for Callias to run at him, knocking him to the ground and stabbing him. Callias didn't stop until the other Exceed no longer moved and the little boy was covered in his blood.
Destiny understood what Ruri meant by sort of and he was suddenly afraid of who they were up against.
"How are we supposed to win against that? He didn't even know it and he killed someone... Jered was controlled by him for how many years again? How did he survive...?" Destiny asked, though he wasn't really asking anyone.
Destiny admitted that he believed in Jered's story now... but he didn't believe in Fairy Tail's ability to defeat their enemy this time...