A/N: A friendly reminder that "Shattered Past" is the same story as SMH and follows the eyes of Laura. Trust me, you might want to check it out. It offers a whole new look at the story. Also, sorry about being late. Again. The stupid pandemic has made a mess of everything.
Lyla laid lifeless on the ground. Midnight had left to fight whoever else he might stumble upon, or had left to kill. The cold wind bit the wizard's skin, her hair a tangled mess and strewn all over the outlandish shaped stone ground.
A few minutes passed. Lyla lifted herself from the ground, brushing her hair into place, though it would take hours to comb it smooth with just her fingers. She didn't like playing dead, but sometimes it was necessary for survival.
She stood up and stumbled over to Hoteye. She slid down and knelt beside him, peeling an iron-clad glove off at the same time. It didn't look like he was even alive anymore. She placed her index and pointer fingers on his throat and felt for his pulse.
Lyla breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead. That was one less thing to explain. Now to go do something about that upstart shit. The only thing was, she was so drained for power that the black stuff had totally disappeared and her hands were magic free.
The shadow mage touched the shadows with her bare hand and watched in fascination as the black suddenly swirled to her palm. Her energy and magic power rose steadily as more and more of the black came to her. Her fingers sparked with magic once again as she stood up.
"That is so cool," the teen stared at her bare hand. She shook her head and put her glove back on. "Focus. Now is not the time to be all weird about magic." For the first time since this mess started, she felt normal. No pains, no excess magic, and no extra influences. The sparking from her fists was only from her desire to plant one right on Midnight's face.
The wizard jumped out of the crater Hoteye lied in and began running after Midnight, following his trail with her eyes closed. The young woman skidded to a halt. She had come up from an alley and stared down a wide road.
"Just a pathetic clown," Midnight taunted. Jellal had fallen to the ground with Midnight barely looking behind him at the downed man. Erza, on the other side of to enemy, looked horrified. "Did you forget how to use your magic along with your memories, Jellal-Kun?"
Erza stared seriously at Jellal. Midnight began walking towards Erza when the blue-haired man struggled to get up.
"Oh? Still alive?" He watched Jellal try to force himself up, obviously in pain. "I want to see you suffer in fear even more." The look on Midnight's face infuriated Lyla. He was unhinged and saw people as toys. She knew that look all too well. After all, that was how his father always looked when something he liked happened.
Within the next second, Erza lunged at Midnight with her sword summoned from Requip slicing him straight through his torso, but he still stood there completely unharmed. Another illusion?
"My sword curved away?!" The armored wizard jumped back, holding her sword up almost like a slim shield. Wait, curved? It didn't phase through?
Despite Jellal's warnings to simply run away, Erza summoned a second sword and charged at Midnight once more, slicing him only to conclude with the same outcome as before.
With a simple swipe of his hand, the wind blew Erza a few inches back. Her shoulders tense and she drops her swords as her armor stretched and wrapped itself around her, twisting around her and trying to squeeze her until her head popped off.
Lyla decided now would be the best time to intervene. She sharply pulled her arms back as if to hold a bow. She targeted Midnight's head and smoke emitted from her hands and stretched to form the vague shape of an arrow that glowed with purple shadow magic. She released her finger and sent the arrow flying.
He must have heard the arrow pierce the air, for he turned around and casually shifted his foot to move his body to the side. It barely missed Erza's shoulder.
"My prey has come back from the dead?" He said with amusement.
The teen smirked. He was cocky. That kind of person was always fun to crush. "Prey. I think that might suit someone here, but it definitely is not me." She taunted. It was so much easier to move now. Midnight barely looked away from her when Erza launched another sword at him.
"Such a shame. I was hoping to have some fun before I had to take care of you." The man gestured in Erza's general direction. Her armor wrapped around her like a snake and began to constrict once again. She struggled before quickly Requipping into her heaven's wheel armor. Lyla's smirk fell as she watched intently. Something strange was happening in the air around the enemy.
The weird fog surrounding Midnight had disappeared while he was messing with Erza's armor. It hadn't returned yet. Jellal was still struggling to get up from the ground right beside Midnight.
"What are you going to do, my prey?" He questioned Lyla. His cold eyes met her warm brown eye. "Watch in fear like the prey you are as I kill off your friends?"
He must have thought she was frozen with fear inspired by his lifeless, merciless eyes. The shadow mage had to fight back a grin, he must not know her. Another thing probably contributing to that impression was her shivering. Her clothes were not stopping the wind and her core body temperature was still low from using so much magic earlier.
"I'm not worried about her." She gestured towards Erza. "And for all I care, you can kill that bastard." She shrugged. Erza attacked again and the haze came back before the sword reached Midnight and curved away. He turned his unforgiving gaze to Erza. He had an unhealthy fascination with her for the teen's opinion.
"At midnight, the fun will truly begin." The haze disappeared and reappeared around Erza and her armor began to writhe again.
Lyla began to laugh wildly. She knew it. The shadows bubbled up around her as she laughed. The three people around her all looked. Everything stopped.
"Oh, damn. You are probably the cockiest, egotistical bitch I've seen. And that's saying something." A haunting smile grew across her face. "I've met some pretty dumb fuckers." The unearthly echo crept into her voice.
"It seems I have anxious prey." Midnight tried so hard to sound threatening.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a silvery blur flew at Midnight. The only thing saving him was his quick reflexes. A long scratch now bled across his cheekbone.
Slowly, he reached up to touch the wound. "How?" Blood dripped onto the pristine white fur collar of his top.
That insane grin only stretched further. "I guess your 'father'," Lyla spat the word with such venom that Midnight flinched, "never told you about me. But that's fine. It just means you can experience first hand." The haze reappeared around him and Erza's armor stopped moving. She Requipped once again. "Although, that will take time and I really need to talk to that bastard."
"You…" A look of pure fury crossed her enemy's face.
Little black sparks of magic erupted from the right side of her face, mostly her hidden eye. "You'll eventually have to move to the offensive in order to defeat us and make the bitch you look up to proud." Midnight grit his teeth as Erza looked on in confusion. The haze flew at Lyla, who disappeared into the shadows that seemed to bubble around her. A crash echoed as a crater appeared in the buildings she had stood by. The teenager now stood by Erza and whispered into her ear.
"Have fun. I believe in you." Lyla said out loud, overly cheerful. "Buh-bye, brat." With that, she disappeared in a blur of darkness.
"Hah…" A young girl panted as she stared down a man. Blood dripped from multiple wounds covering her small body. She clutched an old yet threateningly sharp knife in her fist, blood trickling down her fingers and gathering at the tip of the blade.
She and the young man faced each other in a dark alley with money and crates strewn around them. Several other men laid motionless on the ground around the girl. It was easy to see that the child had interrupted something important. Important to the men, at least. She didn't need any of this money. The only thing she would receive after this task is praise and comfortable living conditions. It was nice to have those, but she could survive without them.
The man that still stood scoffed, "Congratulations. You beat all the weaklings."
The little girl smiled sweetly and wiped some blood off her cheek with her free thumb. "Thank you for the compliment," she retorted in an annoyingly high pitched voice, as equally sweet as her smile, "I appreciate the warm-up."
The knife glinted as the girl shifted her hand. Magic would be faster, but it would also be more dangerous. She didn't mind doing things the old way. It left a thrill through her body.
The girl ambled towards the man. Her smile stretched a little too wide for just a moment before returning. The man wondered if he had imagined it, but he's much more powerful than those she defeated. Like this child could intimidate him!
"Would you like to meet my friend now?" The girl asked as if this was a common question spoken between friends. It did not intimidate the man, but it unsettled him.
"He's special. Only you need to meet him, mister." She took an elegant step forward, stepping over the bodies limp on the ground.
Her opponent began laughing wildly. "That's a cute joke! Like your 'friend' could do anything to me." He managed to speak between gasps of air for more laughter. Tears formed at the edges of his eyes.
The girl continued with a graceful saunter, wiping the blood from her blade as she neared him.
"The only reason you beat them," he gestured to the unconscious men on the ground, "is because they are weak." He kicked the man nearest to him to emphasize his point.
The girl paused for a moment, taking a second before responding while keeping her lips curved, "You're not as weak as them, but you are still puny."
She continued walking towards him. Blood soaked her clothes as she continued forwards, causing more blood to leak from her tiny body. He continued to stare down at her in scorn.
The girl sped up, positioning her arms to slice through flesh. Suddenly, she tripped over her own feet, hitting the stone floor and making a slapping sound when her bloodied hands and clothes hit the ground.
The man cackled, throwing his head back with his hand over his face, You're all worthless! Absolutely worthless! All of you are beneath me." He tilted his head straight again, raising both of his arms up as he spoke through a dying chuckle, "I will rule all of you weaklings."
"You only stole some money." He heard the whisper in his ear, "Worthless."
A blade plunged into his throat, blood-spewing and his cries coming out as nothing but gurgles. Crimson filled his lungs and he collapsed to his knees before falling over and hitting the ground.
The child landed beside him gracefully, her movements becoming unsteady from there. Without anyone to maintain the illusion of strength, she let her wounds burn and the blood loss make the alleyway spin. It's nowhere near as bad as what she had to go through years ago, so she simply cleaned her blade with care and a hint of love.
"I hate cocky people." She told the corpse. "You all just hurt others when you do this, and it's always your downfall. You always underestimate others." With that, she disappeared into the darkness.
