Kyandi: ...
Rette: What are you doing?
Kyandi: I'm putting on protective gear.
Rette: Why?
Kyandi: My readers are going to kill me when they finish reading this chapter.
Rette: Well you really only have yourself to blame.
Kyandi: Gee, I love you too.
Rette: Don't you think you should greet your readers?
Kyandi: Hello all Kyandiacs, goodbye world.
Rette: You're being over dramatic. I guess I'm going to have to wrap this up.
Kyandi:...I'm so dead...
Rette: Everyone, please enjoy and review. Kyandi-sama does not own Fairy Tail.
Chapter 53 Done and Over
Silence.
Silence was never good, silence was deafening, but Rette couldn't bring herself to look up from the ground, her head hanging. She couldn't even began to think of something to say, some excuse to give, and she wouldn't give excuses. Her father was right. This was who she was.
The halfling spawn of a demon.
Her guild, her friends, had accepted a lot about her, but everything paled in comparison to this reveal. With all they had learned of her, she had asked them to accept and wave off a lot. This was just too much. Far too much. How in the world could she expect them to accept a creature like her.
Lachlan's laugh rang in her ears then, making her shoulders hunch more. Damn him, damn this whole thing, damn her and this cursed form. Rette was so sick and tired of living in fear, whether that fear was of Lachlan, of being thrown back into the darkness of her past, or of others finding out exactly what she was. It always seemed as if her father and life were constantly trying to tell her that, instead of being free, she would burn for something she couldn't control.
It sucked being different.
And maybe it was the form she was in, maybe it was the demon's influence in her, but she could feel her anger at her father rocketing up one notch at a time. She hated this, she hated him. What she wouldn't give to kill him, to end this constant fear and anger. Then she could leave, she could vanish and never darken Fairy Tail's doorstep again. After all, how could she even began to ask them to accept this?
"We don't care."
Rette's head flew up, shock shaking her out of her thoughts. Her eyes landed on Natsu, who, firmly, stated that they didn't care. He was staring directly at Rette, his eyes locking on hers, refusing to let her look away from him.
"What was that?" Lachlan demanded.
"We don't care what you have to say! We don't care about any of that stuff!" Natsu snapped.
"We know exactly who she is and nothing you say can change that. Her name isn't Amoreta. It's Rette!" Sting added.
"We know everything we need to know about her. She's stubborn and pessimistic, yeah, but she loyal and devoted. She protects those she cares about, fiercely, and she's a supportive friend. She's our friend, our family!" Gray chimed in.
"She's a thousand times better than someone like you." Rogue agreed.
"We aren't going to stop supporting her, stop being there for her, because of something you did to her! Rette is our friend and we refuse to let you take her away!" Natsu yelled. "We'll fight you for her!"
"Guys..."
Rette couldn't even put to words what she was feeling. She felt like her heart had just tried to jump out of her chest. She...she...she knew she couldn't let them fight for her. Ultimately, in the end, she knew she wasn't worth it. Her friends, the people she had been surrounded by all this time...they were too good for the likes of her. She had allowed herself to bask in the dream for too long. Now it was time to wake up and face the truth.
She was a monster and they deserved better.
With that thought firmly in her head, Rette rose to her feet. All eyes locked on Rette, Natsu grinning, thinking he had reached her and had given her the heart to carry on the fight.
"Rette-"
"Stay out of it."
Her four friends froze, staring up at her as she raised her head. Her expression was something they could only describe as seriously deadly. There was nothing in her eyes except something along the lines of disgust. Though they didn't know what it was directed at.
"Rette?" Gray called.
"This is my fight. Stay out of it, for your own good. Focus on winning and living." she told them.
With that, she turned to face her father. Lachlan raised an eyebrow when he saw the expression on her face. It was almost...sad, as she looked at him. As if her heart was breaking under some kind of realization.
"You know, in some ways...you're right, Father."
Rette's admittance surprised them all and instantly rose protests from her friends. But Rette merely held up a clawed hand, silencing her four friends. She needed them to be quiet.
"I'm not worth anything." Rette silenced her friends' protests once more. "I'm well aware of my short comings. As a human and as a demon, because, sadly, I can never be either or. I can try to deny one side or the other, can try to continue on as if I never knew this is what I am, but that's just trying to fool myself, as well as those around me. Constantly, it feels like I'm awake, but my world, who I am, is half asleep. So, you're right...I am tired of trying to hide what I am."
Rette fixed her eyes on her father, her shoulders stiffening as she straightened them. Her back went straight and she braced her feet. She knew what she said was true. Whether she was trying to be a human or a demon, she always came up short. She was forced to walk the middle ground in a situation where none existed. But she had managed to thrive, all these years, creating just enough ground for her to take that vital next step.
She had built herself a life, had changed, bit by bit. So, yes, she was aware that, someday, everything would eventually catch up to her. There really was no getting away when a person was trying to run from their past. Eventually, it always caught up and Rette had been running for way too long. She knew that someday she would have to face what was inside her, would have to accept everything she was and everything she had been forced to do under her father's orders.
Someday.
For now...she could accept the person she had become, the better person her friends had made her.
"I'm tired of being afraid, of being angry, tried of constantly feeling like the little child you use to shame by making her walk around naked after you whipped her." Mard Geer glanced at Lachlan, who merely shrugged his shoulders. He had done a lot of things like that to Rette when he was bored. "I'm tired of everything, of constantly never getting enough sleep because of nightmares, of always having to fight just to keep control of my body...I'm tired of feeling angry at myself because some, tiny part of me is still trying to find approval from her heartless father. One kind word, or even a half decent word, just one! Would that have killed you!?"
"Yes."
The answer was quick and blunt, and left Lachlan without a moment's thought. Rette heaved a sigh. She should have known. If ever there was a person in the world that shouldn't of had kids...it was Lachlan Banesbloud. Funnily enough, despite expecting it, she couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her lips.
"Go figure. You always were the world's worst father." Rette said lowly. "Well then, I call it quits."
"What!?"
Rette ignored the yell from her friends. She hadn't meant what they thought she meant. She wasn't calling it quits in that way.
"What do you mean?" Lachlan done.
"I done with all of that. I know I'm not worth much, but this is my life and I'm calling my own shots for now on." Rette replied, pointing one claw at her chest. "So, no, I don't care if not good enough for you and I don't care what you want to think about me. I honestly don't know why I ever cared, because, frankly, all that you are, everything that makes you, you, is everything I don't ever want to be."
"That's right. You won't ever be like me, because you are nothing in this world without me, Amoreta." Lachlan growled, making his daughter let out a curt laugh.
Maybe she had lost her mind and that was where she got the courage to say what she was saying.
"To you, I'm nothing, simply because I'm nothing like you. You only think you know me, but you have no idea. I don't want to be you, or anything like you. Yes, I'm not fully human, but I'm not fully demon either and I never want to be. You're a foul, disgusting creature, so shove it where the sun don't shine. I'm done! When everything is done, and this life is over, there's only going to be one name on my grave and that's not Amoreta. It's Rette Starrilia." Rette snapped. "You don't control me anymore, and truthfully, I think that scares you."
"Scares me!? You're awfully full of yourself, girl. I don't fear anyone." Lachlan snapped back.
"Everyone fears something. Even demons like you. All you've ever done is try to build yourself up, put yourself above others so they would fear you, so that you could tear down others, like me. You want to know what else I'm tired of? I'm so tired of you telling me who and what I should be, tired of you telling me what I can and can't do and what in this world I should believe. I'm so sick and tired of you telling me that I will burn in hell, that I will never be free! I hate to break it to you, but you don't have control of me anymore."
Lachlan didn't like hearing this, but with each word, Rette felt her confidence grow. Everything was coming to light now. Why not share with the world what she had been holding back for so long. All her fears, her concerns, what she was so tired of, what she constantly kept hidden. She was done hiding, done holding it back.
"Yeah, you might be able to control this seal, but guess what...I'm the one in control, not the demon! You really think I would have gone this long without learning a little mental fortitude?" Rette asked. "So if this form is what it'll take to end this once and for all, then to hell with it!"
Lachlan's eyes widened as Rette's wings spread and she was suddenly shooting towards him with more speed than she had before. All four of her friends hissed when Rette smacked her father hard enough to send him flying straight through a thick slab of broken wall. Rette's clawed toes barely touched the ground before, with a whip of her tail, she was on the move again. Lachlan was quick to react this time, moving before she could hit him. Following the two after that, was a difficult task. Her friends were only able to tell where she was by the sudden explosion of rock and dirt when they crashed into something.
They soon found out that Rette's "curse" was similar to her actual magic. She was able to copy and combine the curses of all the other demons she had come in contact with. Evident by the the fact that after punching her, Lachlan's fist exploded, thorns bursting forth to wrap him tightly. Rette perched herself on a cliff over head, her long tail flicking back forth over her head. Opening her mouth, she imitated the sound of high speed, slicing winds and a tornado burst to life, black water sprouting from it's base to flood the bowl shaped crater Lachlan had ended up in after the explosion of his fist.
Natsu and Gray jumped away from Mard Geer as the tornado suddenly veered their way, smashing into Mard Geer, who was able to pull himself free and jump clear.
"Lachlan, control your daughter." Mard Geer called.
"If you think you can do a better job, then you take her! She's stubborn, just like her mother!" Lachlan snapped back.
He cursed when Rette suddenly landed on his head, pouching on him similar to the way a cat would pouch on a mouse. Her tail flicking and all. Lachlan threw her off with an annoyed yell. Rette simply rolled with the action, popping back to her clawed feet, gave a single hop, and was crashing back into Lachlan once more. It was almost as if her energy had doubled from her normal levels. She would pounce on Lachlan, dealing damage, and then would bounce away.
Lachlan finally grew tired of it.
With a stomp of his foot, a thick, dark cloud exploded outward. As it rolled over Rette's friends, all any of them could see or hear was their worst nightmares coming to life. It left each and everyone of them pale and shaken.
"What the hell was that?" Gray asked.
"When I said he was what my nightmares were made of...I meant in a literal sense." Natsu and Gray both jumped, looking down at their feet to find Rette, literally, popping up out of a hole in the ground. She was now right between the two, her tail curling over her back as her wings shifted. "Lachlan Banesbloud is the demon of nightmares. Every person in the world has something they fear. He taps into that and brings it to life for his victims and when they're paralyzed in fear and unable to see, much less fight back against, an enemy...he slowly cuts them to ribbons."
"This guy is seriously twisted!" Gray snapped.
"Now you see why I'm so messed up, myself." Rette replied. "You don't have a father like that and not come out of it less than human."
Gray and Natsu looked down at Rette, but her eyes were set on her father as he got to his feet and angrily dusted himself. Spinning on the spot, he yelled her name, sounding pissed beyond belief. If the way his eyes were glowing, the whites turning black, was any indication, then he was far beyond being angry.
"You are really starting to piss me off." Lachlan snapped.
"Tribulation is to be in a state of great trouble, strife, and suffering. I am only as you made me." Rette retorted.
Rette suddenly spread her wings, shooting straight into the sky. To Gray and Natsu's great surprise, she latched onto the back of their belts and took them with her, saving them from Lachlan and Mard Geer's combined attack.
"Well...obviously, I didn't get my temperament from him. He becomes angry far easier than I do." Rette remarked as they looked down at Lachlan and Mard Geer.
"Yeah, well your temper is nothing to sneeze at." Gray retorted.
"Yes, I know, but now you know why. Anger is one of the easiest emotions for a demon to latch onto and then act through. It's why I always tried to hide emotion, to fight it back. It was just...easier." Rette replied. Gray and Natsu glanced over their shoulders at Rette. "She, the demon, is Amoreta, not me. We just got lumped together under one name. Amoreta is very...vindictive. She doesn't like that I've had the control all these years."
"You make it sound like two different personalities." Gray said.
"In a way, it is. We're two separate beings sharing one living space, basically. Only, the other one is a crazy psychopath who finds joy in taunting and tormenting others, in making life on this planet a lot more difficult than it really should be." Rette replied. Shifting her attention below to where Mard Geer and Lachlan stared up at them, Rette shifted her grip on her teammates. "I'm going to drop you on him. Best of luck."
Gray and Natsu nodded, bracing themselves before Rette released them, letting them drop towards Mard Geer. Rette instantly followed, dive bombing Lachlan, who took the full body attack with a grunt. He landed on his back, Rette on his chest, and his expression that of someone highly annoyed.
"If I knew you were going to get this big, I would have done something to keep you that same size as Lamy." Lachlan retorted sourly.
"Are you calling me fat?" Rette demanded.
"It's the damn horns!" Lachlan snapped, reaching for the horns curling out of Rette's temples. Rette jumped into the air, her wings spreading to catch her. "I really want to rip them out!"
"Temper, temper." Rette tsked.
Lachlan's reply was swipe of clawed fingers that sent dark blades flying her direction. With a pump of her wings, Rette rocketed backwards. She twisted, turning her head to make sure she wouldn't run into a rock face or anything. Instead, she was greeted with the quickly approaching back of Jiemma. Twisting, she hit feet first, driving the male forward. Sting and Rogue stared at her in surprise as she twisted once more and took off again, leaving a furious Jiemma cursing her.
It kind of scared her how easily being the her demon form came back to her. She hadn't used the form since she was five, and yet, it was as if no time had passed. She had quickly fallen back into how to move her wings, how to make her tail whip out how she wanted it to, how to use her curse. It all came back to her so easily. While it helped with fighting, it upset her. It only showed that she had a demon half as well.
Not that she could dwell on that long.
Lachlan appeared in front of her face. Rette dropped, sailing right between his legs. Lachlan whipped around, his eyes widening when Rette clicked her tongue to make a sound like that of an explosion. With a grunted yell, Lachlan was sent flying right into Mard Geer, knocking the demon to the side. Rette took the chance to pounce on both of them, driving her feet into Lachlan's back and Lachlan into Mard Geer.
"What was that about me being too big?" Rette demanded.
She jumped away with both demons suddenly surged up. She landed between Gray and Natsu. Lachlan and Mard Geer got to their feet, Lachlan dusting off his clothes as he muttered to himself.
"Is it really so difficult to handle one little girl?" Mard Geer asked.
"You're more than welcome to try to deal with her, if you want. I'd be happy to take the two little boys off your claws." Lachlan retorted, waving a hand in Rette, Natsu, and Gray's direction.
"I think daddy dearest isn't too pleased with you, Rette." Gray remarked.
"Story of my life." Rette retorted.
"Wait...what are they doing?"
Natsu suddenly asking that, had Rette fixing her eyes completely on Lachlan and Mard Geer. Much like Sting and Rogue had done earlier, the two were getting ready to combine their attacks. Rette didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Get down!" Rette snapped.
She jumped up, pushing her two friends down and joining them. Her wings spread to completely cover her two friends. When the attack hit, all Natsu and Gray felt was the increase in pressure on their bodies. Rette, though, felt the burnt of the attack right between her shoulder blades where her wings sprouted. It ached too much to move her wings that Natsu and Gray had to move them off of them.
"Rette!"
The moment they laid eyes on Rette's back, they were met with a bloody mess. Rette, braced on her hands and knees, really just wanted to collapse then and there and not move again, but the fight wasn't over.
"I'll be fine." Rette told her friends, as the two hovered over her. "Demons' curses can hurt and even kill each other, but when compared to the damage done to humans, it's less. That would have killed the two of you, but I'll be fine. It's about the only good thing about being half and half."
"Listen to her boys. About all she was ever good at was remembering facts." Lachlan called.
Rette glanced at her father before lowering her voice. She turned to look at Gray.
"Gray." Gray turned his eyes to Rette. "If I can create an opening, do you think you can hit him with your Devil Slaying magic? I can't handle this on my own. Not with my wings out of commission and I can't use my magic in this form."
Gray nodded in agreement. Taking out one of the two demons would help matters considerably and up until that point, Rette had been relying upon speed to best Lachlan, who wasn't all that fast himself. In her current form, her wings were a key part of her speed. Without them...she was going to need help.
"But what about the other one?" Gray asked.
"Leave him to me." Natsu said confidently.
"Don't get yourself killed." Rette told him.
"I should be saying that to you!" Natsu snapped.
"Not happening. I've fought too long to hold on to this life. I won't willingly let someone kill me, unless it was for a damn good reason. Right now, I'm not seeing any reason. Are you?" Rette asked.
"Hell no!" Natsu snapped.
"Good, then don't worry about it. I'm not going to let him kill me." Rette assured him.
"Then let's get this done." Gray added.
"Right...go!"
With the single word, the three broke apart. Rette charged for her father while Natsu and Gray went after Mard Geer. Thinking that his daughter was still going at it alone, Lachlan turned his full attention to her jumping up cliffs and making her follow. Though her wings were folded uselessly at her back, cutting her speed, she was still fast enough that if he didn't focus, she would get the drop on him. As it was, Rette was able to plant one clawed foot into his gut, knocking him back. Lachlan rolled, coming back to his feet, but Rette had jumped clear of his immediate area.
Thinking she was running from him, Lachlan went after her, but something catching the light and reflecting it back, caught his eye. He turned, looking down, just as Gray let loose an icy arrow made of his Devil Slaying magic. Lachlan only had time to utter a curse before it hit him full on in the chest. It went straight through him, crumpling him to the ground, where he lay, his eyes wide open and lifeless. Rette gave one cheer, jumping in the air.
The moment she landed, though, she felt it hit her hard. It was like the draining feeling she had felt earlier, only worse. She stumbled and fell to her knees, her world suddenly tipping on it's side. She pressed one hand to her face as her world continued to rock and sway.
"Rette!?" Gray called. "What's wrong?"
"I-I don't know. Its like all my energy is suddenly gone." Rette replied.
When she pulled her hand back, she found that her body had reverted back to it's human form. Her energy had fallen so much that she couldn't maintain the demon form, even if she wanted to. On the bright side, her back didn't hurt as much without the damaged wings weighting her down.
"It's a real bitch, isn't it?"
Rette's eyes widened a fraction before an arm wrapped around her neck, heaving her up off the ground.
"Rette!"
Rette twisted, turning to see who had grabbed her. Her eyes were wide open, her heart plummeting in her chest when she saw Lachlan looking back at her, a sadistic grin on his face as he looked back at her.
"But how...!? Gray hit you!" Rette managed to choke out.
"You should be dead!" Gray yelled.
Lachlan, one arm holding Rette off the ground, spread the other arm, grinning at Gray and Natsu. Taking hold of his shredded top, he pulled it open, revealing his chest as the last little bit of the hole Gray had opened there, sealed shut.
"Hate to break it to you, boy, but I'm harder than that to kill. In fact, you and your Devil Slayer magic, won't be able to hurt me...not as long as Amoreta, here, is alive and well." Lachlan said, patting Rette's head.
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.
"See this?" Lachlan grabbed Rette's chin, forcing her head back to bare the black symbols that formed the seal around her neck. "This is actually two seals in one. One seals the demon in her, and the other...seals her life to me."
Rette's froze. It did what!? She had never heard anything about that. From the way he grinned at her, the knowledge that she had never guessed making his day, she knew he wasn't lying.
"See, Lord Zeref and I always knew that one day Amoreta would try to free herself by trying to kill me. So, while we sealed the demon in her, we sealed her life to me. As long as she lives, no matter what happens, I will always survive and heal. Its why, despite being killed twice today, I'm still here. It's also why she feels so drained." Lachlan explained. "Unfortunately for her, it's a one way deal, so she can still be killed."
Rette's eyes widened as the information sank in. Her father had linked her life to his. As long as she lived, so did he and as long as he lived, he would continue to torment and hurt others. It made it painfully clear that nothing she had done over the years, would have killed him. No matter how strong she got, no matter the magic she used, he would continue to live because she continued to live. She could see this knowledge sink into the heads of Natsu, Gray, Sting and Rogue. The change in their expressions, even had Lachlan laughing.
"It actually works out for us, doesn't it, Mard?" Lachlan asked, Mard Geer simply nodding. "You see, when I found out that the ones that were interfering with us, was the so called guild that my idiotic daughter had joined...well, I was ecstatic! I knew that if you ridiculous humans cared, even just a bit, about her and her life, you would never have it in you to do what is necessary to kill me. In other words, to kill me...you have to kill her first."
Lachlan's insane laughter filled the air as he swung Rette around so that she was standing right in front of him. He wrapped one arm around her throat again, grabbing her chin with the free hand. He grinned at the boys as he pressed his cheek to hers.
"Tell me, boys...do any of you have what it takes to kill me?" Lachlan asked. "Because, if you can't kill me, kill her, then I'll make my way through your guilds, torturing and killing each and everyone of her so called friends."
That wasn't a threat...it was a promise.
Rette knew he would do exactly as he said because nothing would bring him more joy. She also knew, looking at each of her friends, that they would never be able to kill her in order to kill Lachlan and save their friends. None of them were the types to let down one friend, even if that risked everyone else. They cherished each and every friend far too much. Even if she would rather die to save the others, even if she begged them to kill her to spare the others, they wouldn't do it. Rette, though, would gladly give her life to save her friends...
Wait.
Rette's eyes widened as the true meaning behind Future Rogue's warning hit her full force in the chest. He had warned that she would let herself be killed. Rette, herself, had said that if she let herself be killed than it had to be for a reason.
For this reason.
Rette completely understood the warning then. Future Rogue hadn't been warning them to guard her against someone else.
He had been warning them to guard her against herself.
While it hurt her, to think of leaving her friends behind, while she knew they would cry and mourn, if it meant they would continue to live...she would, indeed, forfeit her life. Now that she understood the warning, she couldn't help the small laugh that left her. All eyes focused on Rette as a smile, the sweetest her friends had ever seen, curled her lips.
"I understand his warning now." she said softly.
"Rette?" Sting called out, fear suddenly gnawing at his gut.
Rette looked at each of them in turn, already missing the friends she had held so dear, despite them being right in front of her. All four caught on to what she was thinking, just as she raised her left hand to her chest, placing the palm flat over where her heart rested. Just as the magic array appeared and the spell was released, Rette uttered two words before the beam of light sliced right through both hers and Lachlan's chests.
"I'm sorry."
Silence fell over the battlefield, her four friends watching in horror as, if in slow motion, Lachlan released Rette and the two fell from their perch, Rette hitting the ground below. All over the battlefield, Rette's guild mates and friends froze, each of them sensing the sudden vanishing of Rette's magical energy. Even in the control room, Thyme suddenly gasped, grasping at her chest with her tiny paws as the bond she shared with Rette, sudden snapped and dissolved.
"Thyme?" Mira asked, concerned.
"Rette..."
Thyme couldn't get the words to come to her mouth as tears filled her eyes, spilling down her fur covered cheeks. She didn't need to say it for her friends to know. They all stared in horror at Thyme as she sobbed, her heartbroken cries filling the room.
"N-no...it can't be..." Happy said lowly.
But there was no denying it. Thyme could always, without fail, sense Rette through their bond. If it was gone, if it had so suddenly snapped, there was only one real answer.
"Rette...is dead..."
END
Kyandi: Please don't kill me!
Thyme: ...
Kyandi: Are you mad at me, too?
Thyme...grrr...
Kyandi: I will take that as a yes. Everyone, please don't hate me. Believe me, the story isn't over just yet. I hope you all continue to enjoy and review. I will have another chapter ready as soon as possible. Maybe for my birthday, I'll be able to update another chapter, which means you'll have a new chapter in three days. Hopefully. Until then, please don't kill me! Bye!
