His feet picked up with a brisk pace in the direction he went as he was tasked to do errands once again on the behalf of the stone faced ladies. This time being , the lady with the greying hair and stern face had sent him out to do some shopping for the household's essentials , something she said that he should 'make himself useful' with , but he didn't mind that.

It had been quite a long time since he had been able to visit town again after all that had been going on and messing with his mind.

Now walking to the market square , witnessing the passing of the height of summer around him, slowly becoming ready to turn towards the vibrancy of autumn and being able to actually observe around without his mind being too troubled by what had been rambling him beforehand , it did feel nice.

His large bronze orbs shone with forthcoming brilliance as he looked over at the emerald bright leaves that gleamed with warmth from the sun as they took their numbered lavish soaks of the heat rays once again before they would soon start to lose their greenery.

The plants around in the fields that lead up to the town were also at their arguable pinnacle of beauty , flourishing with bursts of colours that decorated the grass and adding life where they burst.

Not to mention the sky , deep blue and in the process of clearing as the sparse clouds around started to push away from obscuring the sun. He looked up from his hooded vision and felt the warmth of summer heat on his face , having given his normally creamy ivory toned skin a subtle tan even with all the clothing that covered him. Wind blowing through and cooling that which was exposed to him in a gentle gust whilst he continued to walk on to his destination.

It had been so long since he had been able to enjoy his time out again to even this degree. Without feeling he needed to stick to anyone , doing things at his own leisure and his thoughts not being something that entirely suffocated him for once.

Though that wasn't to be said, his thoughts still didn't cause him troubles now and then.

Of course not.

Ever since that day, the fight(?) broke out between him and the older boy , he felt pangs of anxiety , thinking what would happen next when he would meet them after all that happened. After he blatantly ignored orders and had somewhat stormed off. Riddling his heart and mind with the confrontation that he didn't doubt would come if they were to come back to him after for an explanation.

But for some reason,

That never happened.

Usually the children would come and meet him outside his house and try to play with him when he was allowed , or they would be out already and he would join them after. But this hasn't happened since the incident. And he didn't know if it was because he was spending more time at home or what before going out to meet Hazel (and her friends ), but he didn't see them at all anymore.

As if their absence was an indirect message to him of the friendship between them being over.

And thought that was a thought that did stir some emotions in him , strangely enough he didn't find it as heavy as he thought he would process it.

In fact.

He for some reason thought he felt…relieved?

Wasn't that such a strange thing?

And why he would feel like that addled him to a great extent. As it had always been one of his wishes to the gods that he had been making to make friends , play with them , adventure with them and what not. But after the gods had in a way granted that , this wish didn't hold the same value anymore like it did before.

And honestly…

More than just saddening him , it shocked him.

But after some hard thinking and all the time he had been patient , he was beginning to wonder if maybe having friends might not be as great as he thought it would be. Well human friends if he had to specify. As Hazel and her cat friends were great company to him , and with more of them there he could get his mind off things and play with them a lot!

But he couldn't say the same with confidence for Marik and the others.

They were an incredibly strange bunch , even to the likes of him. Most of them huddled into themselves and spoke between themselves , some of them barely even speaking to him , their eyes having seemed to take sharp glances at him whenever they could…It was all so strange with them.

The only one that he seemed to like and trust (to an extent) was Marik himself. As the boy did make an effort to interact with him more than others even if sometimes his choice of words were not the best.

And to a smaller extent , the only other one he thought of alright from that group was Kaden. The incredibly quiet one , who kind of seemed to be in a similar position with him that he observed. Being pushed around by the others and barely being able to say anything and keeping to himself despite being part of the group. To be honest , with how similar the both of them seemed in dynamic to the group , Jellal couldn't help but wonder why that was the case?

Was it because Kaden was just normally shy or something? Or was he a new member to join recently before him too and he hadn't warmed up to the rest yet? He really did not know , and in all sincerity the azure haired Fernandes wanted to go upto the boy in confidence and speak to him as they seemed alike in that respect. But every time he tried to do that , something would happen to take that chance away from him.

Either someone else would try to take the charcoal haired boy's attention or somehow he would end up being accompanied by Marik. Someone who also seemed to be looking up to the leader a lot. Probably more than the rest of them , and he definitely had some kind of attachment to Marik that hadn't been told , but yet he was the opposite of the older boy in nearly every way.

Meek , quiet , kept to himself , almost…scared?

Though that being said , since he probably wasn't going to come across them again now that their friendship had unofficially ended , there was no point in ruminating over something which didn't involve him now.

The bluenet gave a sigh as he left that train of thought to pick up another which actually did have more relation to him. That thought being , he still needed to find a worthy flower for his mother.

And he needed to find it quick before the seasons would turn again and there won't be an abundance of pretty flowers to choose from until the next summer. Which he obviously didn't want to wait for as that would be tedious and he really wanted to reconcile with her as fast as he could.

All these flowers he would look over , all these thorns that would prick his fingers and leave scabs over his hands , all these shrubs and bushes he would look through. Just to find the one .

The perfect one.

Which somehow he had yet to source as all the others he would leave in her room with a brief announcement still hadn't caught her eye somehow. Just be left to rot in the place where he had placed the initial one , and he couldn't lie and say it wasn't disheartening.

Because it was.

Every time he saw the new flower being left to wilt on the side , his heart would break a little. The vibrant colours and beauty being left to rot and become discoloured in the dark. Not touched , nor looked at , not even acknowledged. At some points making him think 'will it even matter'...But before those dark clouds could take over him and drown him in dejection , his will would spring back into him and make him try even harder to find something more suitable.

As there had to be something out there she would like.

There had to!

And he would find it before they went away for the year.

He was sure of-

"Hey Fernandes!"

In mid step Jellal came to a freeze when he heard a voice calling his name he didn't expect to hear so soon.

Or even again.

His heart that was steadily beating away as he took leisure in his walk to the capital grounds now felt jumpy as the sound of approaching footsteps filled his ears , and he listened to distance being closed in a haste until finally he felt the familiar presence of being surrounded before he felt a weight lean into him , arm slung over his shoulder.

"It's been some time."

"We missed you!"

Marik chirped in a tone that was almost uncharacteristic. Jellal's large orbs looked to the side of his vision , his heart feeling tense from seeing Marik's arm wrapped over him like that. He didn't know why that was the case , and he didn't have a chance to think why when he heard the ebony haired boy speak more.

"Didn't you miss us too?"

The shaking was back in him again , his throat feeling heavy like he swallowed a coin as he didn't know how to answer that without causing conflict. Because he didn't know if he missed them. After all that happened , was he meant to? He thought they just ended it , but now with what he was hearing , this wasn't the case?

"I-I t-thought w-we stopped b-being f-friends."

He mumbled , evading the question as he could feel a tremble rooting into his body. He swallowed thickly as his mind somehow was thrown back into confusion after being in a state of calmness. Unconsciously he sucked in a breath as he felt Marik's fingers prodding into his body as he secured his grip on the bluenet.

"What?"

"Why would we ever stop that?"

Marik exclaimed in almost disbelief , using his closeness to the younger boy to further his point. His deeply pressed smile formed on his features again as he bent over to see what expression was shadowed on the young Fernandes's face.

Jellal found that he couldn't articulate himself again as the sight of piercing honey gaze slipped into his vision and trained on him. His lips vacillated in an attempt to get some words out as his mind was clouding from sudden anxiety which had his solid reasoning forgotten in the moment.

Only after some time passed in thick silence did he find the words to speak again.

"A-After a-all t-that h-happened…"

He started with the speech tumbling from his lips. His bronze orbs failed to look at the intrusive honey ones that were indirectly asking him for more as his sight felt inclined to look towards the ground than at the slightly older boy.

"A-After I-I l-left…"

"I-I t-thought t-that-"

Jellal's speech was cut off with a sound of something almost alike to a snicker from the ebony haired boy's lips. The sound of it made him feel a way he couldn't decide , and he was further addled when his instant thoughts were contradicted by that which he heard next.

"Awww…"

"You're so naive, Fernandes."

Marik remarked in a way that had the bluenet's features knitting in confusion to a point he couldn't hide it. That comment of his almost had an edge to it , or at least that's what he thought but the effect left over was covered by a small laugh that came from the ebony haired boy's lips before he went on.

"Friends have fallouts all the time."

"We wouldn't just stop talking and seeing each other due to one misunderstanding."

Jellal blinked from what he heard , for some reason the words being half processed by his brain. Whether that was due to his anxiety or shock he didn't know. But hearing that for some reason didn't bring him the ease that it was supposed to.

"W-We…w-wouldn't?"

He barely could utter in response , to which he heard a sound of agreement come from the taller boy , giving Marik the means to continue with what thoughts he needed the bluenet to follow for his plan. Though before the notion could be solidified , something played about in Jellal's mind which he just couldn't ignore.

"B-But m-me and…"

"Z-Zekiel…"

He rasped , knowing that given what happened with him and the beefy brond , it wasn't just a fallout that he could just gloss over. The boy actually hit him and Jellal still had no understanding why he had that sort of reaction in the first place.

Having said that reasoning , honey orbs trained on him , observing his timid expression before he heard the ebony haired boy speak up after a few moments?

"Oh about what happened?"

"I spoke it out with him when you were gone and he said he didn't mean it."

"He just has anger issues."

Jellal couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did this mean that he got him to admit that the brond was in the wrong for what he did? That Zekiel admitted to hurting him unfairly? A gasp caught in the back of Jellal's throat as his smaller body was pulled into an awkward embrace by the older boy before he felt the both of them were turned around.

"You can forgive him for that right?"

And he saw the surrounding figures in their entirety looking over at him , eyes untelling of anything other than the stares in his way , notably the male in question. The azure haired boy swallowed again , not having expected to see them all so soon , and face them after all that.

Especially at a time he was so unprepared too.

His eyes having fallen directly onto the beefier brond as he could feel sweat starting to form on his skin. Whether it was due to the heat or something else , he didn't know , all he could register was Marik's voice near his ears , making it hard for him to think once again.

"Come on Fernandes…"

"He didn't mean it."

The voice slithered into his senses like a snake , causing the young child to feel even more confused with what to think as this all seemed so similar to before. When they were making their apologies , even then it was just Marik telling them to him rather than the others.

So how could he hold weight for those words if it didn't come from the one who wronged him in the first place?

He struggled to find what to say as he could feel the focus of the eyes on him intensifying , namely Marik and Zekiel's gaze. His fingers having unknowingly started to play with themselves out of restlessness as his heart wanted him to dismiss this conversation entirely and just be left to do his errands in peace,

But then he heard it.

"Fernandes , I didn't mean it okay?"

Zekiel huffed with his arms crossed , keeping his eyes on the bluenet for a tad bit more before striking his gaze away as he looked elsewhere.

"I got a little carried away."

The words fell on his ears with barely any emotion , but Jellal was stunned by them anyway. He felt the grip on his body tightening again through the courtesy of Marik's grip as he was met with another bout of words.

"See~?"

"He's sorry."

"You have to forgive him now."

Marik chimed , absoluteness defining his tone as his gaze secretly ordered the bluenet to do the same. Along with nearly everyone else's. Jellal swallowed again as he felt his heart beating uncomfortably , his sight having taken a look at everyone else around for better judgement (who looked the same as ever) , seeing some of them look towards the ground (whether that was out of shame or what he didn't know) , before looking at Zekiel as he was still struggling to come to a conclusion.

Until he heard something that had his conviction swayed.

"We want to be your friends, okay?"

"We can play what games you want and do what you want to do."

"And you can be involved in what we do from now on."

"As the centre of attention."

"To let you know how sorry we are."

The offer was posed to him by the kids who just blurted out the statement without warning. He felt a little flustered from this attention , his eyes gradually turning a bit wider than they normally were as a red cast covered his face from slight embarrassment as he decided that there was actual geniality.

'What I want to do…?'

'They never asked that before…'

As they hadn't spoken like this to him at all before.

So they must have been wanting something to change right?

With the tension on his face subtly subsiding , a forgiving smile broke out on his small features as he looked at them , confirming acceptance of their words. The shivers in his body slightly dissipated , but not entirely as he was naturally kept on edge , but even then he didn't let that stop him from telling them what they wanted to hear.

"I f-forgive y-you."

"I-I w-want t-to s-still be f-friends t-too t-then."

He mustered the will to bring those words out into the open , his smile lining wider along with the others he could see breaking onto the kids around him. However, whether it was because of the tension that he still felt troubled by , or the fact his anxiety had yet to fully calm from his system , he thought that for a split second he saw a darkness form on the faces of some of the children.

A darkness that was making him think what if he would regret his choice.

Though before he could focus on that thought , he felt his smaller body being squeezed by the ebony haired male in an uncomfortably tight side hug.

"Yay! We're all friends again , let's go and play out then~"

"M-Marik t-that h-hurts-"

Almost like his ribs were being bruised by the amount of force that was being applied and yet it was still increasing.

"We're going to have so much fun together!"

"S-Stop M-Marik-"

And it was getting harder for the young boy to breathe as the honey eyed child went on.

"Wouldn't you agree?"

"M-Marik-!"

Jellal gasped with the saving breath he had , finally feeling the pressure subside as the proximity around him finally was given space and the taller boy stepped back enough to allow the azure haired boy to recollect himself.

"Oh I'm sorry, Fernandes."

"I just got too excited at the thought of what fun we're going to have together now that you're with us."

The older boy said with a grin looking at the younger boy who was still in the middle of catching his breath. Jellal heaved as he used his hand to touch where the hug had occurred , slightly wincing from the initial touch as he couldn't help but feel sore from the one sided embrace that was shared.

'Wow he's quite strong…'

Though as he was in the process of recollecting himself , a thought crossed Jellal's mind as he thought back to the piece of parchment that was still in his trouser pocket , still waiting to be read and followed to get his errands out of the way.

"W-Wait…"

And from looking at the tone in the sky which had dimmed over time and the clouds that had accumulated , he could tell the weather was getting a bit darker and less pleasant so he needed to hurry with his duties. Otherwise the old lady who was always somehow cross would get angry with him.

And he didn't want to deal with that.

"I-I need to g-go to the market place…"

"A-And get s-some t-things d-done."

"B-Before we c-can p-play o-out."

He mumbled with less confidence , not knowing what reaction would come as last time he said he wouldn't be allowed to do something , they all just kind of left him for the day. Which honestly if that was the case again now , he wouldn't have minded much as he knew he had to get his priorities out of the way before any trouble could befall him.

The bluenet looked around for the reaction , awaiting for rejection to come forth but instead he was met with a response he really did not expect.

"Sure we can do that."

Marik chirped with a honeyed tone as the azure haired boy's eyes widened in surprise. His lips having left parted in unexpected shock as the honey eyed boy came back into his vision along with the others as said something else that had him stunned?

"In fact , why don't we accompany you?"

"Show you how sorry we are by doing this."

"And give you a hand so we can get things done quicker?"

The older boy suggested to the bluenet in an enthusiastic manner , posing the offer in such a way with his words and actions that could not be refused. His lips widening with his sharp grin as his light gaze trained on the younger boy,

Just awaiting him to take the bait.

Jellal hadn't ever been accompanied by anyone to the market other than the stone-faced ladies…and of course that was an experience he didn't really like reliving due to what had to happen alongside to even go out. But this time to have others accompany him , and not having to fulfil those conditions which he disliked…

He was not opposed to the idea.

And thinking about it more , if they worked alongside him , he could get things done quicker so the stone-faced lady would not have to wait so long or get angry at him.

'That's not a bad idea…'

After some consideration on the matter , and thinking back to how much time had passed and with the weather starting to get a bit more unruly , eventually he finished weighing out the factors and decided to accept the offer at hand as it was in his best interest.

And it would be rude to decline if his friends were asking this earnestly of him?

Also between his personal thoughts , perhaps seeing them help him and witnessing the trueness of their intentions would get rid of the paranoia which was still playing back in his head and didn't wish to leave. Help convince him and his addled mind with what words and sorries weren't capable of enough alone now sadly.

"A-Alright."

He nodded to the group , unaware of the smirks that were growing on some of the kids' faces as his attention turned to sourcing his list from his pockets so that he could remind himself how much he needed to get done for the old stone-faced lady and tell his friends what they needed to do alongside him.

Though as he was in the process of unfolding the paper to them , he saw a hand cover the paper which made his features knit into themselves. Looking up , he saw that Marik had been the one to stop him.

"We should just get there so we don't waste anymore time for you."

And with what was told to him and the winds he could feel turning for the worse gradually,

"The last thing we'd want is for you to get in trouble…"

He believed it was best to go with Marik's input.

"R-Right!"

The walk to the market grounds was a lot more different than he was used to. With his friends being his company and huddling around him as they all walked on , he didn't know where the time went and by the time sceneries had changed to notify they had arrived back in that bustling atmosphere.

Which was good too as he had seen through his peering vision and felt the temperature drop throughout the journey that signified the weather was in preparation of turning for the worse. He didn't know if he would be able to play out with them if it did , but really that wasn't his biggest concern at the moment.

It was making sure he got the old lady the things needed before she could have another reason to have a go at him.

Or worse.

And he was really not looking forward to meeting her anyway with how incessantly stern she looked. As if the emotion of fury had literally lived in her face and the lines around it , left there to settle. He didn't want to give any reason for her to ignite , hence he was focused on getting his duties done as swiftly as possible.

And thankfully his friends had understood that.

Not only just being understanding of his situation (which he knew varied a lot from the rest of them) , but Marik had told him that to speed the process up , they would split up and go to the necessary stalls for him and wait in his stead so he didn't need to multiple waiting times through his own means.

All that he needed to do was give the money necessary to them , tell them what was of need and they would go on his behalf to purchase the items and hopefully cut the duration taken to complete his errands to a fraction.

With an offer like that , Jellal couldn't help but be incredibly grateful that they would go to this extent for him. It almost felt unreal considering all that had happened between them and all the emotions which had been clouding his brain up to now. And that disbelief was prominent on his features , unable to hide as he was in pretty much shock at such an offer in his cause.

To which he knew was acknowledged by those in the group , especially the leader.

But to his comfort , the words the honey eyed boy would tell him for their avid efforts in wanting to help , were these:

'To show that we really do mean what we say , we're gonna show you how considerate we are of you as our friend by helping you out in the marketplace.'

And he heard that and the like as many times as he needed from both Marik and those accompanying him whenever it became apparent that somehow something was lingering inside him which made him feel otherwise.

Such as the glances he would catch being casted between them when the conversations that took place would fall to an awkward silence. Or when he caught from the corner of his eye the murky green eyed boy Kaden looking his way , intensely for a few seconds as if wanting to get his attention or something , but then when he did , the boy would look away at the last moment (almost like he was scared or caught doing something he shouldn't be doing) , his features tensing up on themselves as his lips would close up on whatever the charcoal haired boy had to say.

It was still a bit strange with instances like that.

But given how much help he was given by the group and how genuine they seemed to be in their actions , he warded away the remnants of his paranoia as this was all enough proof to tell him his mind was worrying for nothing.

However…

Now with the group having split up in the marketplace and having taken the needed money and being told what was necessary to purchase , the young bluenet stood in the stall for the bakery/breads , which usually had the longest wait time regardless of when he visited the market , and this time was no exception.

And despite the fact that his friends said that they would do everything for him , Jellal felt bad to just push it onto them (even if they had asked) and wanted to do his own part in his duties as they were originally delegated to him. So he decided to wait with the leftover money in the stall that would take the longest anyway whilst the others went to get the other things (eggs , milk , flour , spices , vegetables etc).

It would get things done quicker too now that he was doing this.

However as he was waiting , the hooded bluenet peeked out of his space in line every few moments to see what rate the queue was moving at. A sigh having left his lips as he could see it wasn't an ideal pace , but given how popular this stall was all time around , he expected this.

The line being so extensive , there was at least like 8+ people in front of him (from what he could see) , and given how foods like grains/ bread (and also rice) was pretty much a stable in Almeta , there was no shock to him why there was usually such a voluminous queue when he would go to purchase from them.

From the range of selling all sorts of breads ; baguettes , loafs , flat breads that were made with different grains and flavours , to the more savoury choices of pastries , rolls , these breads which had a hole in it but were not sweet and had different fillings , and then the sweeter side of the spectrum with freshly baked delicacies…This stall had undoubtedly the most variety probably of all that was sold in the market place despite is all being derived from one kind of food.

And Jellal hadn't even had the chance to try a lot of them , not just because he didn't have the means to but also the stone-faced ladies weren't really open to giving him that allowance for some reason. He should have been grateful for what he had and that was that.

Whilst it was quite limiting , he couldn't deny that the food he got now was a lot better than those stale breads , murky stews/soups and other foods which weren't as palatable.

But even with that being said , he couldn't help but wonder what those breads he hadn't had the privilege to taste yet , must have been like to eat. They all smelt so delicious and mouth watering. Even now , he could feel his senses being enticed by the assorted flavours hitting his nostrils through the heat exuded from the freshly baked food.

His eyes were trained and looking over at the different kinds of breads aligned on the stall tables and hanging from the top on hooks. Focusing on the details that some had and others didn't. Such as little seeds being baked into loaves , some bread having these arrays of colours in the slices which were left for display that showed the spices and herbs being used. Then also some breads which were stuffed with fillings which had his curiosity piqued as he wondered what those fillings tasted of.

Were they sweet or savoury?

Or something else?

Or did each filling have a different flavour?

Or-

"Hey move up!"

Jellal was taken out of his ruminations as he felt his body being budged , a gasp leaving his lips as he was pushed ahead a bit more by the queue that moved a bit forward. A look of shock flashing across his face before a bit of redness casted over his complexion , feeling a tad bit embarrassed that he spaced out like that when the line was still moving.

'I shouldn't be spacing out like that…'

Though he didn't see who exactly it was that told him those words , he could hear the growing irritation and felt somewhat anxious about it. Not wanting to cause any scene , the bluenet walked up more and closed the space now that a few people had left the queue after getting their shopping done and his time was coming next.

Though as he was doing so , he felt another weight push up against him which he didn't expect , making him turn his head a bit and glance cautiously to see what it was. To his surprise , it was the ebony haired leader , Marik.

'Marik?'

'What?'

'Is he allowed to just come into the line like that?!'

This sort of behaviour was absolutely unknown to him , and Jellal couldn't help but feel a bit panicked at such a bold move. He looked over at the honey eyed boy , doubting his actions in terms of how good they were in judgement , as he didn't want anything to erupt because of this by someone else who was in the queue.

"M-Marik? I-I don't think that's such a g-"

But his worries were met with this answer from the taller boy.

"Don't worry about it , I'm specially known around here so I got perks that others don't."

"Especially here."

Jellal was dumbfounded by what that was meant to mean. Marik had perks? In a place like the market ground out of all places? He must have been someone very important then , because he didn't think this behaviour would normally stand , especially not to him.

But given how the person behind him hadn't said anything to the boy , maybe then it actually wasn't wrong for him to do something so bold? Why that was though , Jellal couldn't help but wonder and be undoubtedly intrigued.

It seemed Marik's influence extended over the friendship group to even other places.

"Hey I got the stuff that you needed from everyone."

The boy told the azure-haired Fernandes in nonchalant tone , his hands filled with the groceries that were needing to be purchased in the fabric bags. Some of them looked a bit overflowing , but Jellal didn't think much about it as he was utterly surprised and delighted that they actually did this for him and got it all done in a surprisingly quick time.

"T-Thanks!"

The bluenet gasped as he took the bags from the older boy in gratitude , his hands weighing down a bit as his fingers wrapped around the fabric handles tightly , but he held the groceries steady.

"T-That's honestly s-so kind of y-you."

"A-And them."

Jellal blurted out quickly , hoping he didn't miss out his acknowledgement of what they did for him as that would be the right thing to do , to show that they were all on good terms again. Not just him and the leader.

Though he did wonder where the rest of them were , as if they had finished with their side of the errands , they should have joined him and Marik no? Or is it possible that they were waiting for the both of them elsewhere not to cause too much crowding?

Before Jellal could follow that train of thought as he subconsciously moved alongside with the budging queue , the voice of the leader came back into his ears.

"So what was it you were looking at?"

Marik asked in a low tone , causing the young boy to be taken back initially by the sudden question as he didn't know what it was referring to , until he thought back to the moment that he had appeared to him and what he had been doing.

'He saw me doing that?'

He felt another flush of embarrassment , first causing a hold up in the queue and now having been caught spacing out when he was supposed to be focused on completing his errands. Especially when all the others were ardent to get the other parts done for him.

"I-It was nothing…"

"J-Just the bread…"

"T-That's a-all."

He admitted in a mumble , not feeling proud of his lack of awareness and feeling bad that he confessed this to the leader who had made the whole plan for them to get his duties done quicker.

He was expecting a look of being unimpressed across the boy's face , like it had been before when he had been telling his interests. But weirdly enough there was this glint he caught flashing across his honey orbs that curved smile lined his lips again.

"Oh is it?"

"Which one?"

Jellal blinked at the question , not really knowing why this should go anywhere as at the end of the day he knew he did not have the means to buy it , and just talking about it would make him feel more hungry probably.

But if just for the sake of conversation and to keep them from getting bored as the line moved along , then he guessed there was no harm in speaking his thoughts about what he had been focusing on.

"Y-You see those ones?"

The bluenet shifted a bit as he pointed his finger at the baked savoury pastries which were filling trays on the stall. Having a lattice styled pattern of the bread on the top with a mixture of some of the melted cheese filling poking through the decorative holes made in the bread.

"The cheese and herb pastries huh?"

"Y-Yeah them."

Just talking about them was making his mouth water even more. His mouth swallowed back what temptation he had as he walked closer to the queue's front , a few more people having left the line and making the smells hit him with more intensity as he bit the inside of his cheek in frustration.

'It all smells so good…'

'I'm getting so hungry…'

As he went on to subtly fantasise about the savoury flavour of the pastry , of what succulent flavours probably existed with a bite of that bread , the next words he heard from the ebony haired boy stole away some of his focus.

"Do you want one of them?"

The fact Marik asked him that so bluntly was surprising. His features become tense for a split second as if he had his thoughts and temptation being put out into the open.

"Do you?"

He could feel the honey gaze of the boy pinning down on his features , making it harder to just evade the question. Though he didn't want to admit it out of humility , his stomach made a growl that was all but in his favour , and he knew then there was no point in hiding it.

"Y-Yeah I do…"

"B-But I d-don't have the money f-for more than w-what i've been t-told to g-get…"

The azure-haired Fernandes trailed off , allowing his pangs of hunger to be confessed just for that while so he wouldn't be questioned anymore on them. But he had enough self control not to give into them incorrectly as he was not looking to cause problems for himself.

"B-But it's okay!"

"I-I'll eat when I get h-home!"

He chirped in an effort to cover the initial sadness that left him when he admitted that misfortune of his. His stomach rumbling again in him , but not as loudly as before as he walked a bit more to close the distance of shuffling queuers.

With his attention shifted to the older boy , he wondered what the leader was thinking in response to those words he said. The ebony haired boy simply went quiet , as if he was in deep thought about something before something seemed to harden in his eyes.

He was hoping that he wasn't still pressed on about the subject and worrying about him , because it's not like what he said was a lie , he would eventually eat even if it wasn't something as intriguing as the pastries.

Though , as Jellal was about to make another remark on that so Marik had nothing to be concerned about , a new weight barged up against the older boy and he was greeted with a familiar face of a lightish haired boy.

Lars.

'Oh he's here now too?'

The young bluenet was about to greet the boy on his arrival , but the leader beat him to it. With his face breaking out into a sharp grin as his eyes set onto the slender boy with unknown intentions before he took the said child into a friendly grip with his arm slung around his shoulder.

"Lars!"

"How nice of you to join both of us,"

Jellal's eyes watched as the light eyed boy's lips pursed into a smile like Marik's , shooting the look his way for a split second before completely focusing on the older boy.

"Where are the others?"

Marik asked him almost with a sense of urgency , to which didn't go undetected , but he thought the reason for that was because he was concerned about the others and didn't want them to get lost or something. Since there were a lot of people in the market place anyway , it could be easy to lose your way in the sea of people that could just flood the grounds out of nowhere without warning.

"Oh they should all be in place, don't worry ."

Lars responded , though the tone used somehow felt strangely like something was slithering under his words. Kind of like how he thought of before , but that couldn't be due to anything bad since they all did this for him.

Yet with what he heard next from the leader , it did have him returning back to confusion.

"I have something I want to speak to you about."

Marik said through the undercurrent of a forming smirk before he turned to the blue haired child with his features sharpened yet removed of any trace of questionability.

"You don't mind if I leave for a bit?"

"Do you?"

Jellal didn't really know what to think of the question , other than shaking his head to give his consent. He watched as Marik's features seemed to brighten with unspoken glee for a split second as he took the other boy away in a close hold , the both of them beginning to whisper just after they were more than an ear shot's range from the hooded boy.

Though of course he was naturally curious about what it was that they were speaking about , especially so secretly again after they said he could be 'involved' in things from now on. But maybe it wasn't a group thing and just between him and Lars so he didn't really have any need to get involved?

That could have been it?

However as Jellal watched the two figures of the older boys getting obscured by the people crossing by , he felt something tug at the sleeve of his arm , causing him to be surprised in the moment.

'What the?'

Turning around , he found himself face to face with another boy from their group.

The one with the darkest shaggy hair and murky green eyes which looked almost drained if they weren't in a state of tension. The one who usually was at the side of the leader or who looked to the leader for approval avidly , even if it was just from the sides too. The one who was the most quiet and enigmatic of them all.

'Kaden?'

His eyes blinked , honestly surprised that the boy had actually taken a chance to come up to him. Especially after all those weird glances he had been giving him (and receding from) whilst they were coming to the market grounds. Kaden's behaviour was surely a mystery to him , and what he was doing now was just another reason to add to that.

"Yes?"

Jellal asked in a soft tone , his features folding on themselves subtly as he looked at the boy with no understanding of what he was doing. His bronze orbs having looked down to where Kaden's fingers were still holding his sleeve , then looking up to the boy whose face didn't seem to be focused on him at all , rather on something behind him.

His gaze looked between the sight of Jellal's visage and that beyond him , switching between them wordlessly as the boy was struggling to find words to speak.

"Kaden?"

And whilst he was doing so.

His fingers trembled as he held the sleeve of the bluenet tighter.

"Kaden?"

"W-What's wrong?"

He asked with serious concern as this sort of action was nothing alike to anything which should be normal. Even the stone faced lady who was usually fumbling with things wasn't as rigid as Kaden was now. Like as if he was in the presence of something he feared. Like he was in the presence of something he dreaded.

But what could that have been?

It wasn't him , given the way the boy was holding onto him for what seemed like dear life. Gripping on with every passing second as his shudders became more violent and he kept switching his dark glance to and fro.

Jellal's features folded on themselves even more , about to say something else to the charcoal haired boy before he finally heard some words sound against his ears in a whimper.

"G-Go home…"

Kaden finally whispered to the bluenet , completely taking him off guard because first of all , this was like one of the first times he heard the boy speak , and the second , he couldn't understand why he was telling him to do something like this?

"W-Wha-"

"G-Get a-away f-from h-here…"

The young boy's voice trembled with each word , even more aggressively than his own when he would be wracked with social anxiety. The bluenet barely could process the whispers being told to him as nothing was making sense as to why he should do that , but with what Kaden told him next.

"G-Get a-away f-from u-us…"

It didn't help his confusion.

'Get away…?'

'Why would he be telling me that?'

"J-Just g-go…"

He only got dumbfounded by the moment as the boy's words both addled and in a way upset him. He felt the pressure on his sleeve increasing even more despite it being a trembling touch as he finally asked the charcoal haired boy about his actions.

"W-Why?"

Jellal asked the boy , who seemed to tense even more by the sound of this. As if this was the response he didn't want. And he really could not understand why or what had him so scared , but even then he wasn't going to stop from asking about the obvious.

But for some reason the child didn't want to give him an explanation.

Which turned Jellal to try and ask him something more directly.

"A-Aren't we friends now Kaden?"

The young bluenet questioned innocently to the dark eyed boy , a tinge of hurt in his voice as he did so as it wasn't nice for him to make the only interaction that the both of them had been something like this. Especially after what the boy and all the others had done for him.

They had to be friends.

Yet Kaden was here telling him to go?

Why?

He looked at the boy's face , trying to keep him from looking elsewhere as his bronze eyes looked at him in both worry and concern as it looked almost as if the boy's eyes had actually glazed up in the midst of their interactions , which really made no sense why.

And he had no time to even think about it , as the boy finally let his answer tumble from his lips again.

"N-No…"

And left the azure haired Fernandes horridly confused.

"N-No w-we're n-not…"

"N-None o-of u-us a-are…"

He didn't know how to take that. Kaden was telling him they weren't friends? But then why did he do this for him? And the others were not his friends either? But they were so nice to him? This really did not align with his logic.

What was Kaden saying?

'Is he the only one that still doesn't like me?'

'Is this why he's always been so quiet around me?'

'Why he usually kept to himself?'

'And he's saying this to get me to leave the friend group?'

The possibilities about such words being said to him started to race , his own bronze orbs becoming still on the sight of the charcoal haired boy who's articulation was being rendered near incomprehensible by the passing moment.

He was incredibly confused with what kind of behaviour this was , what he was hearing and what Kaden's motives were for telling him something like this?

But then what he heard next.

It really left him without words.

"J-Jellal…"

"P-Please…"

Not just by mentioning his name for the first time ever , but the tone that it was told to him by. His voice was incredibly frail , almost like it would break on itself and was holding on to the last breaths he could manage in the fit of anxiety. A soundless gasp left him as he saw tears threatening to leak from the boy's eyes , his features coming to a still as he was left amongst his thoughts before he felt the abrupt release of his sleeve.

And the face of the charcoal haired boy went towards the ground almost instantly.

Jellal had no understanding of that sudden change of behaviour.

And he didn't have a chance to ask about it with what he heard next.

"Oh have you been keeping him company in my stead?"

"That's really nice of you Kaden ."

Marik's voice entered his ears with surprise , forcing him out of the muddled thoughts he had been having with the encounter with the dark haired boy , who was still quivering like a leaf , if not even more with the tension that was seeming to thicken in the background.

"I think you should go and group up with the others."

The leader told the younger boy with his honey orbs pinned down on him. Gaze hardening with the lack of obedience that followed with each passing second before the boy found the will to speak again.

"Y-Yes M-Marik."

And off he dashed away from the both of them , his slender legs on the verge of trembling onto themselves yet he tried to run like the wind. Away from them. Considering he had no strength to barely speak to him , this was a really strange change in behaviour.

And it addled him greatly.

But he had no chance to ruminate on the matter as he was made to move up in the line again , and was actually next to do his purchases from the baker's stall.

'Ah it's me next.'

As he approached the front of the line , and was wanting to get prepared to get his paper out for the bread to be purchased , it was to his relief that Marik actually offered to take the bags from him for the meantime , so it would make shopping easier.

He felt grateful that the leader was such a considerate person , and since his hands were starting to hurt from all the weight carried , he accepted the offer graciously.

Though as he was in the midst of sourcing his paper , his mind couldn't help but think back to what the charcoal haired boy had told him. Silently ruminating the interaction as he still was trying to process what strangeness happened.

'Why was Kaden acting like that?'

The paper crumpled lightly in his grasp as he took it out of the pocket of his clothing , slender fingers drumming away lightly at the smooth texture as he was subconsciously trying to make sense of it all.

The first time that he and Kaden actually speak , the boy was on the verge of tears , afraid and telling him these things which contradicted everything he had been told. And then after that running away immediately as if nothing had ever happened?

As if the whole thing never occurred?

Why?

"T-These please sir."

The confusion must have been present on his face quite a bit , as when he passed over his paper with the list of what he needed to the subtly irritated baker , a gaze had been pinned on him from the side. As if trying to read what was on his mind with a still honey coloured gaze.

Before Jellal could take notice of what that gaze held , the sound of the leader's chirpy voice entered his ears again.

"So…"

He almost jumped from the sudden words as he was on the verge of diving back into deep thought and was becoming less responsive due to it under the belief that he would have that time to himself now that the baker would be occupied with getting his things.

Though given what he heard came from Marik's voice , his heart almost started to beat in apprehension as the boy's words seem to pinpoint on his exact area of focus now.

"What were you and Kaden talking about…?"

Marik trailed off almost in a nonchalant manner as a smile lined his lips whilst looking at the hooded bluenet. But whilst he did that , there seemed to be a flicker of something else in his eyes that was quickly dismissed as the timid response came to him.

"O-Oh…"

Jellal found himself almost tongue tied as he didn't expect to be questioned on that so soon. Not just because he didn't expect it , but also he didn't even know what had happened or could begin to understand it to tell the older boy a genuine answer.

His teeth bit the inside of his cheek as he could tell the leader was waiting for an answer , and getting rather antsy about it too. Why though he wasn't sure? Was it just to make small talk as they waited for the baker to prepare everything he needed before they could leave?

If that was the case then Jellal thought there was no harm in continuing the conversation as that was the least he could do for the boy accompanying him in the queue and helping him out in his errands. And since it was probably just small talk , it's not like his words would have any weight on them or anything.

"N-Nothing…"

The bronze eyed boy mumbled in a low tone , which to his ignorance caused the older boy's gaze to sharpen on him wordlessly before something was breathed out by the leader.

"Really?"

The ebony haired boy almost scoffed as he turned his body to face Jellal more , his slightly larger frame blocking off the sight of the breads and pastries on the stall from Jellal's vision. For some reason the young bluenet could feel his heart beating a bit more in impatience as it seemed Marik wasn't convinced with his answer.

And for some reason that had a strange feeling starting to rise in him again.

But to quell that , he decided to give more on his answer so his response wouldn't seem as lacking.

"H-He w-was b-being j-just a b-bit weird."

"T-That's a-all."

Jellal stuttered , though knowing he could say more on the occurrence , something for some reason told him not to. Not just because he didn't understand it , but his mind couldn't forget how abnormal that boy's behaviour was. He was certainly dreading something , what that was , he didn't know.

But it felt like good judgement to him not to expose all the details that happened between them , as if anything he was planning to go and have a proper talk with the boy in confidence when this was all done so he could get actual sense out of his actions.

So he thought he would be more vague with the details he gave.

"Weird huh?"

But that didn't seem to satisfy Marik's curiosity.

"In what way?"

The older boy continued with his gaze trained onto the younger child. His honey gaze nearly froze on the azure haired boy entirely , but as he did so , his hands that were holding the bags , gingerly put them behind himself without causing alarm or notice. Placing the shopping behind his feet before letting his fingers make a little formation of some kind of gesture behind his back.

All that was completely done without Jellal catching onto a thing.

As he was too busy with trying to answer the question at hand.

'In what way?'

'How am I meant to answer that?'

Maybe it wasn't the best of him to have said that , as of course someone would question what he meant by saying 'a bit weird' , and would want further elaboration. But the thing was Jellal didn't want to give further elaboration , not when he could barely elaborate on it himself. It was all still so vague to him , but it was his mistake for answering Marik's curiosity with something that would spur it even more.

"I-I t-think h-he w-was s-scared…"

"O-Of being in t-the m-marketplace or s-something."

He blurted out eventually , hoping that his words weren't entirely a lie as that was the deduction he sort of could come to on such short notice. The boy was usually seen to be alone even in the group , so it's possible that maybe being amongst such big crowds and bustling atmosphere is something that startled him and that's why he acted like that.

Though some part of Jellal was not even that convinced with his own reasoning , but of course he didn't question it now as he watched what response came forth from the honey eyed boy.

"Oh yeah…"

And strangely enough , he seemed to be satisfied with the answer given.

"Kaden can be a bit like that sometimes."

Marik commented in agreement as if he was aware of the charcoal haired boy's behaviour and this sort of occurrence wasn't anything new to him. In some way that gave Jellal an ease of mind , as it wasn't just him who thought that the boy's behaviour and actions were weird , and it wasn't just him singling him out.

A relieved smile / slight laugh broke out from the bluenet as he was happy that he wouldn't be hounded on that topic anymore as it wasn't something that he wanted to stay on.

And hopefully they wouldn't anymore.

But before Jellal thought that conversation had truly come to an end , another couple of comments came from Marik which almost seemed offsetting to him.

"He's a bit different than all of us."

"He's always been."

Like as if Marik already had an idea of what actually happened.

"So you shouldn't easily believe anything weird he says."

Even without Jellal even properly explaining the reality that occurred.

"Okay?"

The azure-haired Fernandes was left speechless for a moment , finding it eerie how accurate Marik's remarks had to be about something he wasn't even present to witness fully.

But before that shock could confuse him further , he nodded in response and turned his attention to the baker , who was still getting his items ready. His bronze orbs having looked around the decorative bakery lined up around the stall as the talk between him and Marik seemed to have come to an awkward death.

With him confused with what he could say next on the matter , and Marik just leaving him with that final judgement , the two of them stood at the front of the stall as he watched with patient the burly baker getting his order ready. Occasionally hearing some shuffling nearby here and there , but he took it as the movement of the people who were around the both of them.

After a considerable amount of time had passed , Jellal started to get the currencies needed for the purchase ready which were left over from being split up amongst those in the group. As he did so he felt a gust of wind blow up in his face and a droplet of rain hit his hood , signifying the weather was starting to morph again , and was probably going to start spitting soon too.

"Ere'."

The baker gruffed as he passed over the generously packed bag of the breads to the small child. His free hand being used to give the leftover money for the purchase as he took the order with gratitude. The smell of the fresh baked breads hitting his nose as he held the paper bag close to his chest , letting the warmth radiate into his body and abate the chills of the weather before he turned to Marik.

"T-That's everything."

He told the older boy in confidence , who had picked up the bags that were behind him and slightly heavier now. Jellal, feeling bad about having to have his friend carry his shopping , asked if he could be given back the bags and had them in his hold once more as they departed from the stall quietly.

After all that the boy had helped him with and been so considerate , it felt the right thing to do. And also his hands weren't as tired as much anymore so he could hold everything again like usual.

Though before that they were about to walk off , the older boy seemed to have a sudden realisation that stopped him in his tracks and he decided to quickly mention it to the younger boy alongside.

"Hey…"

"Do you mind if I catch up with you in a bit?"

"I just need to do something."

Jellal was surprised by this sudden mention of things , but of course he wasn't going to stop his friend if he had his own duties. He gave acknowledgement to the honey eyed boy's leave with small shake of his head as he started to walk on alone out of the proximity of the baker stall and towards the market gates , hoping to see some of his friends along the way if anything.

Though as the bluenet was making his steps away from the stall , he felt another violent burst of wind brush up against him with some more falling drops of water from the sky. His lips pursed into a line in disappointment from the brewing weather as he knew now that today probably wasn't the best to stay outside now.

'It's probably best for us all to get home and start playing from tomorrow if the weather is better.'

'I wouldn't want anyone getting sick.'

As he was in that midst of thought , he heard footsteps rushing up to him again , soon seeing the boy join his company again , though following slightly behind much to his surprise. Jellal wondered a bit what it was that the leader must have done in that short time as he was so swift with it.

And he thought that maybe since they were going to start journeying back with him , maybe he could attempt small talk again and keep them from getting bored.

"M-Marik, that was really quick."

"W-What was it you had to do?"

Jellal questioned softly to the boy who just had his hands in his pockets. Not even turning in his direction as the young child felt a little off about the lack of response from the older boy.

Maybe it was possible though that he couldn't hear him amongst all that was happening around them?

"M-Mari-"

He started with a louder voice to gain attention from the honey eyed boy. However just as he was in the process of trying to be heard , a voice bellowed in the distance that had him jolting on the spot.

"You!"

It was the voice of the baker from what he could hear. His features tensed on themselves as he could feel the sheer anger that was being spit out from this male's voice. It had him almost trembling.

And with what he heard next.

"The one with the hood!"

It did nothing to help his nerves.

"Come ere'!"

Jellal felt his whole body pulse with a surge of unexpected anxiety. His eyes blinked in surprise as he didn't understand what he was being singled out for. As he was the only one who was wearing such a thing , and this man was speaking to him with such aggression out of nowhere?

'What does he want with me?'

"You shouldn't keep that guy waiting."

"Go see what he wants."

Marik advised him with a low tone , but that didn't do anything to calm him down , rather it strangely added to this feeling of dread. But since he could feel the fuming male starting to get more impatient with how he was barking for him to come back , and Jellal's feet seemed unwilling to move with the more he said.

'That guy sounds really angry?'

'Why?'

Though anxiety was beginning to soar through him , especially now with the numbered different gazes that were turning on him from being bystanders to the whole scene , he swallowed thickly as he turned on his heel and headed back in the direction of the stall.

His eyes became startlingly still as he caught a glimpse of the reddened face of the burly baker who was looking close to popping a vein from the amount of blood filling his face , threateningly beckoning him to come right in front of his face with an impatient finger.

"Y-Yes s-sir?"

Jellal squeaked when he was in earshot of the man , feeling the aura of aggression radiating from him as tensions grew insanely thick. He could feel his body beginning to quiver as the gruff voice of the baker hit his ears unpleasantly.

"There's things missing from this stall."

And the attention on him from around the marketplace started to multiply as the scene played out with more intensity.

"Things that were here before YOU came."

He literally felt the spit of the man hit him as he emphasised that Jellal's presence around his stall seemed to have caused some sort of problem. His eyes were on the verge of glazing as he watched the man's thick fingers point at a tray aligned on the stall , and saw that it was the tray which had been holding the pastries he had been looking at , and now it seemed a handful of them were gone.

"Where are they?!"

Jellal nearly reeled back from the force of his reactions to the man who was barking away at him like a rabid dog. His eyes leaked out with tears of trepidation as his fingers clutched tighter to the bags he was holding as a support for dear life.

His head spinning from this sudden occurrence as he had no understanding why this man was thinking him to be the one behind this? Why was he the one to bear this man's vicious anger? Why was he singled out as a culprit compared to so many others around the stall with him.

So many questions that were flooding his mind from this shocking accusation yet the only thing that broke out from his trembling lips were the blatant cries he mustered to convey his innocence in the matter.

"I-I d-don't k-know!"

But instead of conveying the truth.

Those words acted as the spark to set this dreaded drama into motion with intensity.

With the whole marketplace beginning to spectate as the hooded bluenet was put on a horrific pedestal for all to notice . a devious smirk started to cross the ebony haired boy's face as he watched from the side with pleasure as the irritating bluenet was caught in the midst of impending torment.

All the signs apparent that his plan was finally underway and was going to play out the way he wanted.

And by doing so.

The devil blood would truly be made to suffer as it was meant to.

Suffer as it had deserved.

As it always had deserved.

And always WOULD .

Author's Note:

I've decided to make this one chapter split amongst two parts , as it will get incredibly heavy in the next addition and I don't want to overload you for now.

Just be prepared for some cruelness to happen to precious Jelly...And trust me this is going to be a harsh reality check for the child. God...My heart hurts thinking what I put him through and what's still to come...

But through such suffering , something will surely emerge.

Something terrible.

I can promise that.