xxiv.
Erik did not think of himself as a fearful man.
Fearsome sure. He'd grown to perfect the sort of bone-chilling look that sent good men (and lesser criminals) cowering in his sight. He liked to think it had been a while since the tables were truly turned.
If only her look was half as scary.
The darkness he'd witnessed early on in her mind grew increasingly heavy by the day, and the worst part was that she appeared more and more content with it; no longer crying out about it as frequently in the night. It unnerved him to think she was growing accustomed to such a weight at such a young age, even though perhaps it shouldn't have surprised him all that much considering everything else that was odd about her.
The primal fear of what may happen when those thoughts–now realizing they were more like past memories–gave way to a far larger terror, one that was his previous hunches come true.
Because it wasn't just her memories–the magic within her was growing stronger as well.
He could almost feel it churning within her. Just like the thoughts, her body was brimming with magic potential–the previous owner's at least. And if that unknowing body decided to unconsciously tap into that power…its chances of being unleashed by someone both not used to–and now no longer built to handle it–could prove deadly.
The dragonslayer shivered. Even as a part of the Balam Alliance, everyone knew not to trifle with the woman known as Ultear Milkovich. Ultear Milkovich. A woman feared by many even within the relative safety of the Balam Alliance. All that power equated to a toddler.
A toddler with no idea how to properly command any of it.
He berated himself for not speaking up earlier; Jellal quit asking him after he snapped one too many times. He'd fallen back to avoiding her and making the occasional quip, but nothing more. By now, he wasn't sure how to break it to him that Ultear wasn't just slightly unnerving, she was becoming more of a threat with each passing day.
He knew the danger at hand, but also that both of the people who could actually do something about it would most likely persist in the ludicrous idea of keeping her around. The looks in their eyes reflected a sickening form of love towards the creature, one that would keep them from taking any drastic action.
Except, perhaps out of responsibility?
He'd need to move quickly before anything actually irreversible happened. Personally? Erik couldn't bring himself to care much of the "kid's" fate, and only tangentially that her "mother" or reluctant uncle would escape unscathed. In fact, emotionally it might devastate them more to give her up than for Ultear to harm them herself. None of that mattered to him though.
He couldn't let another threat come between him, and his real family, ever again. That's one of the things he swore when he finished off Brain.
Just like that time, he wouldn't hesitate to strike down what he needed to in order for them to stay safe.