Large bronzed orbs kept looking down at the stoneground work he was walking along and watching morph back into earth as his hands held tightly to the bags which he had been given due to his most recent visit to the market on orders.

He could feel the sun beating down on him through his clothing , parts of his back working up a sweat from the heat intruding and making him feel a lot more stuffier than he usually would. Drips of sweat had started to line down his face too , his body becoming near overheated in the process due to his layers and also by the thick fabric of the cloak which did more to trap in the suffocating heat and had him coming to a boil underneath.

However despite all this discomfort , he did not think to remove or shift his clothing one bit. Not just because of the warnings that had been imposed on him , but also due to the fact that he personally didn't wish to remove anything again.

Not after that incident.

As silly as it sounded , uncovering his body or face in a public setting almost felt like a trauma to him. Something that everyone did so easily and without a care to adjust to the blazing sun and the like , for him it felt so threatening and just scary.

It was awful to think about.

Awful in the fact that he would rather prepare to be cloaked in searing shadows than risk anything alike to that happening again. Though of course even with this fabric of protection over him , it didn't dismiss his problems for good. He still felt stares whenever and wherever he went , stares that lingered longer than they should have , and he didn't know why.

Was it maybe because of how out of place he looked with these rags over him? Covering his face and being , especially in this beating heat? Was it because he was pretty much a child on his own all the time and that was something strange to see as other children were usually accompanied by their parents or peers?

Or was it something else?

He really did not know.

It's because of factors like this he was starting to become sensitive to , that he didn't want to go outside as much.

First being called a 'devil' and having those kids do such to him , it had turned his peaceful and kind outlook onto the world a bit more menacing than he would have liked to think. And now all this other unwanted attention that he seemed to attract like a magnet wherever he went , it all just fuelled his paranoia in the worst way and had him feeling so on edge and apprehensive if something bad again like that was going to happen.

Or worse.

To the point that even now he couldn't shake this feeling that someone or some people were watching him or something. From when he went to the marketplace and now coming back. But every time he had stopped to check when that feeling bothered him too much , there was nothing there and he couldn't help but get both frustrated yet also worried for his own being.

Going outside just didn't feel the same as it did a few months back.

When he would be so happy and driven to just get the smallest glimpse of the world beyond him…He felt strangely afraid now.

Really…The only reasons he could find wanting to go out now , was to have a change in scenery here and there. When the silence and look of the walls got too droning to bear , he would ask for leave and spend some time with his addled heart , enjoying the beauty of nature whilst tensions seated in him.

There was also the fact he still had to find a flower for his mother , one that she would acknowledge and accept his feelings with. Something ultimately beautiful and that she just couldn't ignore or leave to rot like the ones he had sourced beforehand.

And then of course there was Hazel , he couldn't forget that. To be his feline friend's companion , that was one of the wishes that gave him the strength to mettle with the strange outside world again. To put a smile on his furry friend's face and see their eyes light up with excitement.

Even if he didn't do the same as much.

His thoughts went back to the young cat , thinking about how it had been when they met and how it had changed.

Hazel had been so small when he found her. Probably just a bit bigger than the two of his hands together , and she had been rather malnourished and stressed too. Her fur being dull looking , her eyes sharpened with dread and fear , and she wouldn't speak as much.

Now though when he saw her , the cat had definitely gone through a change. Both appearance wise and also it seemed emotionally too.

The fur it had sprouted plentifully and it looked better tended to now with the colours looking deeper and healthier than they had been. The weight of the cat had also increased a significant amount , denoting to him that it was eating a lot better , and surprisingly hadn't gotten that much skinnier when he couldn't see it. In fact Hazel had gotten heavier than he remembered , though it wasn't much to carry , he certainly felt the weight change and it was surprising.

But if his friend was eating well , that's all that mattered.

A little too well considering how much it was fattening up so quickly , but if Hazel's health wasn't at harm or anything then he had nothing to worry. The cat seemed a lot happier even though it does laze around more. As he noted it liked to sing more and brush up against him compared to usual , however it had become a bit particular to rubbing some bits of it's body too.

Namely the belly.

It seemed Hazel had gotten a bit annoyed with touches there now , maybe from all the food that she was scoffing down and it didn't feel right to her for him to touch. Which he could understand , and it's not like they still didn't share their usual cuddles so it wasn't really a hindrance.

A small smile curved painfully on his dimmed features as he continued to walk on. Thinking back to his cat friend and how much he did want to share a cuddle with it now because that loneliness he hated was once again starting to bother him , and make him feel dejected again.

Some feeling that he noticed came and went a lot he noticed.

Or well actually…Some feeling that hid inside him and reappeared when it was appropriate. A feeling he tried his best to push his mind away from by getting himself occupied with other things and interests , but somehow it would always find it's way to worm back into him and paint his innocent thoughts with darker tones.

And strip that smile away he would try to make shine for himself as he'd be pulled from his bubble and into an impending world of murkiness and chaos.

A world that always lingered around him now. A world he couldn't seem to get rid of and he didn't know why. On top of it just dragging his spirits down , he was just so confused and left in the dark , and he wanted to know why but he couldn't either.

Not if he wanted a repeat of what happened between him and his mother.

His fingers curled tightly around the handles of the bagging he held , thinking back to the midnight haired woman and her behaviours as of now. She was more quiet now that was true , but at the mercy of that disgusting drink she was drinking alongside many others.

He should have been happy that she didn't scream and shout as much and there were moments of peace in the house now , but for some reason he just couldn't enjoy it. Nor be thankful for it. As it felt like to him , it was one problem being exchanged for another.

And he didn't know what this problem would bring yet , but from what he could see it didn't look good at all.

A sigh left him as he reminisced about his recent moment with his mother. Though it didn't bother him at the time , having actually thought back about the circumstances , he realised how skewed of a situation it all was.

Just to seek the comfort of his own flesh and blood , she needed to be knocked out / unconscious for him to do so without injury.

That wasn't normal at all.

When he came across countless parents and their children in the marketplace just consumed in each other's presence and being so happy to be so , his only connection had to be achieved through such mischievous means. A connection that should have been his right by birth as he was her son.

But now somehow that was even feeling wrong too.

Just like everything.

And that was another reason why he disliked going out now. Because it seemed whenever he would be sent out on some errands , he would be cruelly mocked in one way or another by the blessed reality that others lived with their own family , just to be reminded of the dismal state of his that he would return to.

He wanted it all to change.

So badly.

And he thought that it finally was going to be the doing of the gods , but now he didn't know how he felt about that. As with all that had happened , he wasn't sure what the gods were doing in regards to him. He had been in the belief that they were finally making his life go for the better , and that's what it had been looking like for the beginning months of the new year.

And he was ever thankful because of that.

But now…Why was it all of a sudden devolving? Had he actually done something to anger them without knowing? Was this a punishment on his behalf? Or was it maybe his prayers being granted had run out of their time of effect and he would need to ask again to make them come back?

He had been ruminating over all the possibilities for days on end now. Incessantly baffled by how all of this could come to be without warning and unable to find an explanation why. But eventually he stopped trying to wrap his head around it as the matter was becoming mentally draining and there was probably so much he didn't know to come to a proper conclusion.

About the gods and what fate they had in store for him.

So he came to the thought eventually that whatever wrong he did and they may have been punishing him for it , he would make his prayers again and earn their favour once more. Or if it was the case that the time of effect his prayers had expired , then he would make them again and everything would turn good soon after that.

Whatever the case was , it must have been due to lacking on his own part , and now he had to make up for that.

Which he would start when he would go back home after delivering the groceries he was made to buy. Oh and also after getting his time with Hazel in for the day before sundown commenced.

Since the days were longer now due to the warm season , even though he had gone to the marketplace quite late into the day , he hoped he would still have a sufficient amount of time to see Hazel for the day and look for a better flower for his mother to give.

In fact he had an idea for his next pick in mind.

A flower he had seen that had more droopy long petals , white in colour but this time instead of blue patterns , there was soft pink that stroked across the outer side of the flower. The smell was also a lot softer too from what he remembered , syrup-like.

He imagined that maybe that flower would be something his mother would like more than the ones he picked beforehand.

Well that was for him to find out when he and Hazel would go and pick it from the shrubs he had seen it growing around. Though of course before he could think about that , he needed to get home first and release himself from his errands , only then he would be able to spend time with Hazel without injury.

'I hope she'll like this one…'

He thought to himself with wavering hope. The only thing keeping him from abandoning his efforts was the sad smile that forced it's way on his face to brighten his spirits even though it was becoming harder with each failed attempt.

Though the thought that he could possibly one day claim a glimpse of his mother's old self again , even as distorted as it may have become , it gave him the strength needed to bear the weight that was pushing him down.

The azure haired boy took another breath , his eyes having been filled with a returning semblance of life as he noted that the stonework he had been walking on had completely disappeared from his sight and all that was in front of him was earthen tones , signifying he was nearing to his home once again.

As he was doing so , the niggling back thought of feeling something yet again was watching him from behind and still rampant in his thoughts. His footsteps having come to a slow pace as his small features knitted with suspicion , feeling as if there was this laser focus on his back or something and like he could hear footsteps matching his in the background , but every time he had turned back he didn't see anything.

After 3-4 times of giving into his paranoia and halting in his tracks and surveying his surroundings to find out if his worry had weight , he eventually pushed it over as maybe it was nothing and just because his nerves had been all over the place , he was feeling like this? And believing he was hearing things.

Though thinking that way didn't do much to give him relief. As there was only so much he could do to push away those thoughts and keep them from pestering him. To the point that he was feeling that paranoia rooted in him again brightly and forced his movements to a stop as he finally gave in once again and whipped his head around to his surroundings behind him.

Believing if there was something or someone following him , then he would have caught sight of it now.

But…

'Nothing?'

That wasn't the case.

His alerted orbs looked frantically around to see if anything was misplaced in the way he came from. There were a bunch of plants and stuff around with tall hedges which could be used to hide in , but they didn't look like they had been just slipped into , as that would have at least made some movement.

Evidently annoyed , the bluenet exhaled his frustration before turning his body back the way he was going , knowing now that anything that bothered him had to be immediately dismissed and was most likely nothing.

Besides what would someone get out of following him? The thought of that was actually absurd. He was no one of value , he wasn't someone that apparently people liked to be around. So these fears and feelings must have just all been his imagination.

'I need to get home…'

'It's all just nothing.'

Jellal thought with finality , using one hand to rub his fingers in between his eyebrows to bring his thoughts to a stop. His eyes closed and he took deep breaths , mentally composing himself from these incessant annoyances before eventually opening his eyes with a placated mind as he was about to commence his steps again after this diversion.

Though as he was doing so…

He met a weight that blocked him off.

"!"

The bluenet was taken by surprise by the weight that stood before him without warning , his body having been repelled to the earthen floor , slightly sprawled out with his head spinning from impact. Absolutely taken back by something blocking him off , his features winced from the initial confusion before he sat up with intent to recover.

'What happened?'

However as his sight was returning to him , he started to become aware of sudden shadows that towered over him , blocking out the path of the heated sun and enclosing him in a bitter shade before everything started to feel eerily familiar.

And not in a good way.

A gasp choked his throat as his bronze orbs took in the haunting sight of those eyes again. This time looking down on him with unmoving stares , watching every movement he could possibly make as the horridness of this situation burned fresh again in his body.

'Where did…'

'…They come from?'

His muscles tensed up immediately as his eyes took in all the different iris tones that were peering down at him , his throat having turned dry from avid anxiety as he could already feel something horrible was about to happen.

That look they were giving him , the way they were over him , cornering him , the way they came without him realising…

It was all like before.

The striking realisation made the young bluenet scramble to his feet , using his hand to pull down his hood even further down his face so he wouldn't have to look at them.

"S-Sorry-"

He spat out in effort to keep things from becoming more troublesome. His limbs trembled as he tried to run away with what dignity he had intact , but before he could do so , he felt something tugging him back.

'Wha-'

There was a hold on him.

Notably his arm.

The act of this made him incredibly tense , instinctually trying to pull away without giving a care as to what he did to get free , but soon that effort was overwhelmed with a new settled fear as he felt the placement of his hood being stripped from covering his head again.

Feeling his shadowed face finally being released from the darkness and illuminated by the light as a breeze blew forth and cooled him as waves of azure sprung out from underneath the fabric that was holding them down. He felt an immediate change of temperature from this , however it wasn't because of what you'd expect.

'They're doing it again…'

'No…'

All the invading heat of his body had been forced to a chilling still. His mind being thrown back to living in that atrocious memory of when they encountered him and caused himself to defile his face because of what they told and said to him. His wide orbs glazed over in unshed apprehension as his free hand went desperately covering the right side of his face with his hand , hoping he would completely hide all traces of the tattoo.

And his efforts still adamant in trying to release himself from the hold on his arm which was strangely not as threatening as he imagined it to be.

And the reason as for why that was.

Was revealed to him promptly.

"Hey…"

The older boy that had taken a hold of his arm and prevented him from leaving started in a low tone. The speech made all the nerves in the bluenet internally dread what venom was to come next as he felt the shadows of the past coming to haunt him. His face towards the floor in an effort to keep himself being looked at , he could feel his still limb succumbing to anxiety as he couldn't think about anything other than what horrid thing would happen next.

At least that's what he had been in belief of.

"There's no need to be afraid of us."

The older boy holding his arm said , the words lingering in the air for a supple amount of time as the young child started to ride out of the present pangs of apprehension and come back to a present he didn't know what to think of.

"We want to get to know you."

The older kid continued , feeling the muscles of the bluenet pulse violently. Jellal's current fear only somewhat allowed him to register that which was being said as he swallowed thickly before the words left his lips without realising.

"W-What?"

He questioned , in absolute disbelief of what he was being told. His mind was unable to look over the distinction of how they had treated him and how they were being now , making him all the more want to fold into himself as he once again tried to free his arm from the older kid's grip.

But was met with another puzzling sentence.

"Yeah…We want to be friends with you."

'Be…friends?'

The words hit his innocent ears with shock. Making the young boy instantly dumbfounded as his shivers only shook him deeper , dreading the shadows that were surrounding him. But soon he came to realise they weren't closing in like before and it really left him confused.

'What's going on…?'

'Why are they acting like this now?'

He couldn't help but ponder , finally lifting his sight from being hidden away as his startled bronzed orbs took in the sight of the children that were surrounding him again , expressions trained yet unreadable as ever , making him thickly swallow as an undeniable truth bothered him.

"B-But…Y-You said that a-all to me?"

The words made no waste to tumble out of his lips , both out of fright and sheer confusion.

"Y-You did that to me?"

He questioned with genuine shock as his waning gaze registered every single one of them , mind being haunted by their stony stares and even more by the virulent speech they spat in his way when he had been pushed down the hill.

"You called me a-"

He was about to continue , his gaze now turned to the older ebony haired boy that was holding his arm and keeping him from leaving. He saw the features of the said boy flicker with an itch of irritation , muscles clenching as he braced for what would happen next , yet then he was surprised again.

"We were just scared!"

The older boy cut him off , with a tone strangely exasperated than he would have imagined. From hearing such , Jellal's own features crumpled under more confusion as he couldn't fathom why they would do such a thing if they were truly scared. And also , that raised the following question in regards to why they were scared in the first place?

'Scared?'

"W-Wh-"

"You can't just hate us for that, you know."

The older kid expressed in a way that made the bluenet baffled to no end. Completely cutting off his response as he was met with a statement that he didn't expect. His large eyes blinked in hesitance as the response to those words just came from him in an attempt to diffuse this strange situation.

"I-I didn't say I hated an-"

He started , in his evidently tremble ridden tone as he could still feel the fear in him stubborn and unwilling to go away. Even with all that was telling him that there was no threat , he just couldn't shake off the feeling that something just felt so off about this situation and what was being said.

But he didn't even have a chance to ruminate on the matter as he was cut off again and met with another bout of bewilderment.

"So you wanna put that all behind us?"

The older kid quickly butted in , making the young child trip on his own train of thought and unable to actually think concisely. He felt the eyes around him trained back on him again , what expression existed on them he didn't know , as he was too focused on the beaming smile and warmly crinkled features of the older child who had slipped his hand down from holding his arm and let go of the limb to show a lack of hostility.

"Huh?"

Jellal blurted out , wondering what was being referred to even to begin with. His dark eyes were simply in the midst of daze as he took another look at the children who were staring back at him , still having yet to say a word towards him about these intentions that this older child was talking about.

"Let's start over huh?"

The child suggested , to which the bluenet had undoubtedly become so addled in his mind that he was rendered speechless. He couldn't even think for himself what was actually being asked , able to only keep track of it being said towards him through the older boy's words , which even though sounded to be of amicability , he couldn't help but feel a slight edge to it.

Jellal's eyes trained onto the taller male , trying to find what truth existed in his actions as his words alone just didn't seem to be enough for him to brush over the matter. Though as his gaze remained on the older boy , he felt a sharpness looking back at him , one that continued until another voice broke him out of his concentration.

"Come on , don't be a stick in the mud!"

Someone else finally spoke out , catching the young boy off guard as he was met with another volley of comments of the same nature which addled his plagued mind even more than it was.

"Yeah we wanna be your friend."

"Don't think too much about it."

"We were just scared, that's it."

"Like he said."

More and more of them were speaking to him , but strangely their words didn't sound as convincing as he expected them to be. But with the looks that were focused on him and his nerves that were still rattled inside , he wondered if it was just him and his troubled mind making him think like that and cause these doubts to run rampant in him.

"Give us another chance."

The older boy finally asked , to which Jellal's eyes widened with hesitation. That which was being asked of him , no actually it seemed almost more demanded if anything , he never thought to hear towards him. They really wanted to be his friend and that's why they were all asking him so adamantly.

That was such a strange feeling.

Considering what they said ,

Considering what they did.

But yet they were here asking him…

He took another glance around at the faces surrounding him , his heart feeling on edge about the situation yet his mind blinded him to that which was apparent and told him that since they were asking this of him so eagerly , he shouldn't have been bad and rejected their offer.

Because in a way this was a form of apology wasn't it? And they justified their actions even though it didn't seem to make sense to him. But they weren't saying those bad words anymore , they hadn't laid a hand on him in a vicious way either. So maybe they did have a change of heart?

"...O-Okay?"

He finally let slip from his lips , but when doing so the atmosphere around him didn't seem to lighten one bit. He didn't know why that was the case though. His eyes looked over again at the kids surrounding him before looking at the older and tallest one , doing his best to give a smile alike to the one that was being shown to him , even though the pit of his stomach felt weird doing so.

After having said so , the atmosphere became weirdly silent. Leaving him waiting for what was to happen next from this strange encounter as he looked around himself warily , his hands tightening on the bags that he was holding and thankfully still intact despite the fall he incurred.

His heart drummed deeply in his chest as wind blew over his tense features , feeling his waves of azure rustle in the breeze and bring some comfort to his sweat-moistened face before he heard the tallest one finally speak again to him.

"So what's your name?"

He swallowed thickly , finding the confidence of the male speaking to him both admirable but somehow daunting towards him. The answer to the question welled up in the back of his throat , somehow unwilling to come out , maybe due to the eyes he could feel on him or that dread that was still running through his veins despite having no reason to.

"Well…?"

"Do you not have one or-"

The older kid started , making the azure haired boy even more panicked in his thoughts until he finally spat the answer they were waiting eagerly for , just hoping that he wouldn't feel so weird or strangely pressured anymore if he did.

"J-Jellal!"

The name left his lips with barely any graciousness. Tumbling out like everything else had with a loudness that took them back. Immediately he critiqued his manner of doing so , swallowing his mistake and taking a breath to say his name yet again but in a more understandable and calm tone.

"M-My name is J-Jellal…"

"….J-Jellal F-Fernandes."

He said to all of them , taking time to compose himself and his jumpy nerves through a shaky smile as he looked at their reactions from what he said. There wasn't much he noticed , they still beamed at him , especially the main guy who somehow seemed even more pleased from hearing that information.

His smile had lined even deeper , eyes crinkling more with desire to look friendly. The emotion was so deep it looked in a way unnatural to him , but before he could follow that train of thought he heard another comment from one of them that made his features furrow.

"Your family is super well known by everyone…"

His family? His family only consisted of him and his mother. His father was never in the picture so he didn't count him. But why would they be well known by people? Was that because of what his father did or?

He didn't have time to think about it as the comment's trail was completed by another.

"Especially the men…"

A bout of sniggers came from between a few of the children that his sight wasn't towards. Laughing inwardly about what they said like it was supposed to be some sort of joke , but he didn't understand what was meant to be funny about it. Or what it was meant to mean.

'The men?'

What was that supposed to mean? Did they mean the men as in the guards that came around their house here and there? Or was it referring to -

"Haha! Guys shut up about that~"

The main guy quietened down the other kids with a command that was done in a joke like manner of it's own. The older boy's features finally relaxed enough for the bluenet to get a proper good look at his face as the taller male looked at him with eyes of a light yet warm hue.

Yet there seemed to be a sharpness behind them hidden between all of that.

Though he couldn't give thought if it truly existed or not when he heard a new announcement being made between him and his new group of friends(?) by the words of the older boy.

"Let's introduce ourselves to our new friend properly."

With this new commandment , he felt a change in the air almost drastically. Nothing was said but it felt like everything had gotten so strangely still around him , and he turned around to see what the deal was to find some of them looking between each other with some sort of intention.

But that all dissipated when the older boy's voice became present again.

"Ah they're all a bit shy…But to start things my name is Marik."

'Marik?'

Jellal took the name in consideration , listening to how the older boy whom he now knew as Marik went on to introduce others by their names respectively , though he did find it a bit weird that he was the one calling all the shots.

'He seems like he's a leader figure to them…'

"She's Alma."

Marik pointed at the smallest of them all , one that Jellal didn't take too long to recognise as her face that morphed with unexpected terror still was burned brightly into his mind. His bronze orbs stilled with a hardness he didn't expect , watching the golden haired girl look up at him before hiding away behind another kid of similar tones like her but being a bit older.

"Asta."

That's who the girl was hiding behind. A child by the name of Asta. He looked maybe just a bit younger than him or maybe they were the same age. He wasn't sure. Jellal's eyes levelled with the sight of the golden haired boy who didn't seem to meet his gaze as readily , instead trying to look away or something.

But if that was out of shame of what had happened prior or something else , he didn't know.

"Kaden."

Another boy was pointed towards. One quieter than the rest and had barely said anything in their interactions. Darker haired than all of them with contrasting yet deep eyes. Unwilling to move his lips even a bit as his eyes just stared back at him before looking towards Marik and then the rest of them. The intentions in his eyes were unreadable like the rest , but he didn't have time to think about what that stare between them meant as the final two in the group were introduced to him.

"Lars and Zekiel."

Marik ended by signalling at the two lightish haired , light eyed guys , who were huddled between themselves. They looked just a bit younger than Marik , a bit smaller than Marik too. And he noted them to be the more talkative ones out of the lot. They were seeming to budge each other a lot , making inferences between their eye contact which he didn't understand.

His sight had trained on them the longest until they shot a sharp grin his way , to which he returned with his own plastered yet warm smile , remembering the names that were just told to him as he took another look of all their faces and denoted their appearances.

Though as he was doing so , he felt kind of embarrassed that he went to the extent of introducing himself fully whilst none of them did that. His cheeks burned with evidence of his blunder , scolding himself for being so excessive in his introduction and for what impression he must have given before he heard one of them speak again.

"So you wanna start playing out with us, Fernandes?"

It was Marik again.

Jellal was stunned by the question that was posed to him. Still finding it unreal that all of this was happening and still confused why it was happening again. Yet now wasn't the time to be pondering on that too much as he could see they were awaiting an answer from him , and he didn't want to keep his new friends waiting.

"E-Erm…S-Sure-"

He replied , the smile on his face breaking out more naturally as the pangs in his chest seemed to have died down enough to get his mind stable and less jittery like it had been. Though he was still in kind of two minds about it all , with the way things had turned out and the lack of hostility presented , he eventually dismissed his doubts as paranoia and wanted to enjoin in being a forgiving soul.

"That's great!"

Marik exclaimed , so quickly that he didn't wait for his words to finish. The enthusiasm was shocking indeed , given all that had been done before. But maybe they were so eager in making that up to him by being friends that's why they wanted to show their kindness so readily?

But then something hit him in the midst of all this wonder when he saw the sky's fading colours that were beginning to transfuse again with the darkness that was soon to emerge.

"Oh!"

"B-But I need to put t-this stuff back that I was told t-to get."

He admitted , completely having forgotten about getting back home and putting the groceries back for the stone faced ladies. He bit the inside of his tongue from his mistake as he didn't know how much time had passed , seeing that the sky was taking on another hue , the answer didn't seem promising.

But hopefully , the stone faced ladies wouldn't give him hell for it.

"C-Could you wait for m-me?"

Jellal asked with hope , thinking that if he dashed it home and put everything back , then if he was swift he could spend a good amount of time with the children and end this day on something eventful.

But his question wasn't met with an answer he'd call desirable.

"Well today might be a bit too late , so how about next time we're all out , we can start playing then?"

Marik asked , that same smile stretching over his face which the bluenet found somewhat off-putting but he didn't know why. Given the reasoning , he knew that the suggestion that was made was probably for the best of all of their interests.

He knew it was definitely right for him.

"S-Sure!"

He nodded his head , feeling subtle anxiety still drumming underneath his fingertips , but he warded it away with the new hope that was coming through. His hands held tightly onto the bags that were in his palms , feeling all the looks of his new friends on him before they finally gave him leave for the rest of his endeavours.

"We'll see you some other time then Fernandes?"

The older boy asked , to which Jellal found it a bit strange that he wanted another confirmation from him , when he already said that he would be willing to do so. But maybe another agreement was needed to know that all water was under the bridge between them and he wouldn't leave them or their efforts wasted.

"Y-Yeah!"

He exclaimed back , stuttering still prevalent in his tone , but was being smoothen out through the growing confidence and strikes of happiness that were starting to alight in him.

He soon saw the group of the children beginning to disband and make their way back towards town , away from the direction of him. And to his surprise they had made quite the distance in that short amount of time.

His head turned over his shoulder and looked to see the kids walking away , the only one who stopped and turned in his direction to meet his lingering gaze was the leader himself.

Marik.

To give a proper farewell to his friends , the bluenet waved his hand in their direction, A warm smile beaming over his small features despite all the confusion that was still riddled inside him. His bronze orbs watched their figures recede into the distance , a bit disheartened none of them thought to wave back to him , but maybe it's because they couldn't see him as well now?

Deciding not to think too much on it , Jellal turned his being back in the way that he had meant to go all this time. Until he had been disrupted in his cause by Marik and his intentions. To which he couldn't lie…He still was feeling dubious about considering a lot of the situation did feel so off and out of alignment with his logic.

But seeing how they had all departed with no further injury , he decided it was just his incessant paranoia that was making him think like that. Because why would they act like that to him if they actually hated him like he first thought?

It must have been a misunderstanding the first time.

He was finding it easier to believe that now.

With how they acted with him for sure.

Though something did spin about in his brain. The fact that they admitted to being 'scared' of him and hence that's why they did that the first time. And their comments all that time had been about his tattoo , the reason they called him a devil and were so cruel to him.

But this time they didn't even make mention of the thing.

It was so weird.

What made them not scared of him or it anymore? He wanted to ask but that question hadn't thought to have come to his mind then. And maybe it was something best asking when they were closer?

He shook his head of any intruding thoughts that tried to weigh him down. Wanting to put his focus on getting home and then having his awaited reunion with Hazel so they could source the new flower for his mother , he started to pick up the pace in his steps as a new thought started to brim growing hope inside his battered heart and soul again.

That maybe…

Everything was changing for the better again?

Author's Note:

Brace yourself for what's coming up in the near chapters...We're coming very close to a vital point this whole story that will change EVERYTHING...