Chapter 40

Reflection

Abandoned at a young age, a young, dark-haired air mage found herself on a farm with an older woman who's said to have rescued her when she found her on the ground outside. The woman kept her and raised her as her own. Growing up, the mage eventually pieced a few things together and came to the conclusion that this woman was not her birth mother, but in her eyes, she may as well have been. She had no previous knowledge of her birth parents, and as the years went by, she cared less and less, granting the woman who rescued her the title of her mother.

A few years pass and trouble arises; a catastrophic event that led to the disintegration of their farm home and the death of her caregiver. A devastated air mage then looked up research on how to bring back the dead. Over several months, she'd contacted a handful of very strong mages and paid a hefty amount of Jewel for them to do whatever needed to be done to attempt resurrection, and sure enough, nothing changed. The woman was still dead. After hundreds of futile attempts to bring her back, she gave up.

Upon moving on, she was taken in by a guild of bounty hunters, where she befriended a girl who'd also lost her mother. The dark-haired mage quickly attached to the girl, and they even went on every quest together. One particularly dark day, her new friend died in her arms with no real reason or explanation. She was supposedly in good health and didn't have any injuries that anyone knew of. The air mage was shaken by her friend's death, feeling like she was the cause of her earthly departure.

After that, she fled. She went no particular direction; she just knew she needed to get away from everyone. She spent all her time understanding her new, unavoidable burden; her new powers, and with great difficulty, she managed to control her miasma.

Venturing back into civilization, she found she could care without killing, but it proved to be extremely difficult, that is, until she came across a young, white-haired script mage by the name of Revan. He'd been training to become a bounty hunter by a well-known organization called Obsidian Tribe. Jade was wary, but he didn't seem to be afraid of her. He didn't pity her. He showed her nothing but kindness and seemed genuinely interested in being her friend. He even understood and came to terms with the fact that she would have to be a bit cold to him whenever he was around to keep her distance. He took her into the organization and paired up, working small bounties together and slowly taking bigger and bigger jobs. Together, they were undefeatable.

For the small amount of time when she did age, she got used to controlling her emotions and it started to get easier. She was finally able to consider Revan her friend. They managed to get closer, seeming to tempt fate by testing her limits. She never tried getting close to anyone else. Not that she wanted to, anyway. Revan was all she needed and vice versa.

Revan eventually fell for the cursed woman and shifted the flow of their relationship ever so slightly. They could still be around each other, there were just some moments where the sexual tension between the two was high. Jade was a daring individual and very much enjoyed testing her limits, but she knew Revan was all she had, and she didn't want him to be the next victim of her curse. She wouldn't dare cross the line between friends and lovers… oh, did she want to….

Following Revan's death, Jade told herself she would never befriend anyone ever again. She took to the mountains, where she was secluded and away from almost all humanity. She spent the majority of her time there attempting to find peace and reflected on her life's events. At first, she very much enjoyed being secluded, but after a while, the hole Revan left in her soul started to ache.

What was she to do? She learned her lesson in playing with life and death; it was the reason she was cursed in the first place. Revan was her go-to guy for everything. She didn't need anyone else. Well, to be fair, she didn't need him, either. She sometimes felt like she regretted befriending him. She wouldn't be in the predicament she was in now if she hadn't. 'Too late for that…'

Jade spent eight years alone and was starting to get a bit lonely. She finally ventured out of the mountains in search of something to do for the next eternity. She considered becoming a bounty hunter again, but it just wasn't the same without her late partner. Unlike Zeref, she didn't have the urge to kill the innocent. She didn't feel the need to be evil. She also wanted to live. As terrible as the curse was, she was grateful to be able to explore Earthland and see how things progressed. How magic advanced. How humans operate.

Was she human? She was immortal and stopped aging once she reached full adulthood. She'd obtained the ability to not get attached to anyone, especially after Revan. She didn't feel human, only looked human. She secretly longed to meet someone, maybe not with the same curse, but someone who was also immortal. Someone she could spend eternity with. She eventually tucked that secret hope away in the back of her mind, uninterested in wasting her time and energy over something impossible.

Upon leaving the mountains for the first time in quite a while, she traveled to the town of Clover in hopes of finding something to do there. Maybe she could find work. Anything to keep her mind off being lonely. She wanted to do something good.

She spotted a kiwi stand, the memories of her and Revan sharing kiwi juice flooding her mind. 'I guess it wouldn't be so bad. It has been a while since I've had some,' she thought to herself as she approached the stand.

"Jade!"

The dark-haired woman turned around, swearing she heard someone call her name. Not finding anyone, she turned her attention back to the stand.

"Jade! Over here!"

She heard her name again, this time, a lot louder. She looked to her right and smiled as she saw a brown-haired girl with pink eyes waving at her. Jade held up a finger to indicate that she would be there in one moment. After she ordered her juice, she made her way over to the girl and sat at the table the brunette was stationed at.

"Ryn," Jade said with a warm smile. "It's been too long."

"Jade! Oh my gosh! It's been forever!" Ryn said, still her bubbly self.

Jade and Ryn weren't exactly the best of friends, but they harbored no negative feelings or emotions toward each other. They've always been cordial with one another… not that they spoke much. They may as well have only been workplace proximity associates. They worked for the same organization and nothing more.

"How's the Tribe?"

"Oh! They're good!" Ryn said, stuffing a piece of cake in her mouth. "Under new management, though," she mumbled.

"New management, huh?" Jade thought back to the old leader. "It's about time they did something with that crazy old bat."

"Yeah, but this new guy, Eli, he's power hungry. He works us hard. He wants his reputation to stand strong."

"Well, hard work makes strong mages," Jade replied, sipping her juice. "Hopefully he's not too rough."

Ryn scoffed. "You'd be surprised. People started dropping like flies once he became leader. Some just aren't cut out for it. The only people who remain are now hardened. Their once pure souls now tainted."

"So, he uses his powers and his mages for evil?"

"I wouldn't call it evil, per se, but it sure ain't good!"

"And you?" Jade scanned Ryn's attire, noticing the Obsidian Tribe symbol on her sleeve. "It seems you've stayed. Have you not been corrupted?"

Ryn sort of retracted into herself, if that were even possible. She looked ashamed.

"Look, everyone has their demons," she said, fiddling with her fork. "I've done things I'm not proud of, but I can't change time, ya know?"

"I understand."

"But enough about me," she said, trying to change the subject. "What's new with you? I sense magic coming from you that I've never sensed before."

Jade smiled softly as she looked down into her lap.

"Now that I think about it, weren't you always with that tall guy with the white hair? What was his name?" She tapped her chin as she thought. "Oh! Revan! Yeah! You guys disappeared, though. What happened?"

"Revan is no longer with us," Jade said, her voice soft. "We were hired by an outsider and offered a large amount of Jewel. Circumstances changed and the target was no longer a target," she explained, remembering the dragon slayer. "The outsider didn't like that and killed Revan."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Ryn said sympathetically. "I bet you let him have it, huh?"

"I did. And then I left. I couldn't bear to be around anyone else. I couldn't stand to get hurt again."

"You've been hiding this whole time?"

"I wasn't hiding," Jade said, disgusted at the thought. "I wanted to be alone."

"So, where'd this magic of yours come from?"

"I've always had it," she said, matter-of-factly.

The pink-eyed girl was confused. Surely, she would have remembered someone in their organization having that much power, right?

Jade sighed. She didn't feel like explaining her curse to anyone.

"Revan, being a script mage, was able to enchant himself so that my powers would be hidden when he was around me."

"I see," Ryn said, the pieces all coming together. "That makes a lot of sense. You guys were the best hunters in the Tribe and nobody knew why."

"I try to keep my personal business just that—personal," Jade said, crossing her legs.

"So, what brings you out into the open, now?"

"I got bored."

Jade would never admit that she was lonely to anyone. The only person who ever knew her true feelings was dead now, and she wasn't looking for a replacement.

"Looking for something to do?" The bubbly girl asked, hope in her eyes.

Jade nodded, wary of what her old associate had in mind.

"Well," Ryn said, digging around in her satchel and pulling out a folder with the Tribe's symbol on it. "It'd be nice to have you back with us. You were Obsidian's best, and judging by the power I feel coming from you, I don't doubt it."

She slid the folder toward Jade.

"How did you get this?" Jade asked, surprised. The only people who had access to Tribe files were the higher-ups, and if she remembered correctly, there weren't that many. "This is classified information."

"Yeah, well, when you pledge your loyalty to Eli, you get good things in return," Ryn said, standing. "I have to get going. Take a bit and look over the file. Then we can meet back here tomorrow morning for your decision."

Jade took the folder, not wanting to open it until she was alone. "Sure. What time?"

"Same time as today! See ya!" Ryn practically skipped off.

Jade sipped her juice as she watched the girl walk off, wondering what the Tribe had in mind. Given the width of the folder, it must have been a few years' worth of investigation. They were working on something big and it'd be a lie if Jade wasn't interested. She opened the folder and rolled her eyes, practically snorting. 'Nothing good can come from this,' she thought to herself as she flipped through the paperwork.

Maybe she could get her good deed in.

"So, what do you think?" Ryn asked, eager to hear Jade's response.

"This is a pretty big deal," Jade said, giving the folder back to her flamingo-eyed friend. "What makes you guys think you can pull this off?"

Ryn shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. This is all Eli's plan."

"Hmph. Let's just hope he didn't bite off more than he can chew," Jade said.

"You haven't met him yet. He's completely turned the Tribe inside out and rebuilt it from the ground up. His goons are pretty beastly. Nothing like you remember."

"I suppose I have been gone for eight years. A lot can change in such a short amount of time."

"Short?!" Ryn laughed. "Eight years is forever!"

Jade chuckled, the innocence and fragility of a normal human life was interesting. She literally had all the time in the world.

"Well, I have my answer, Ryn."

"Let's hear it!" She could barely contain her excitement.

"I'll help you."

Ryn beamed at the cursed girl. "Oh my gosh! That's super exciting to hear! I'll let Eli know that the 'Notorious Jade' is finally coming back!"

"Well, I'm not staying indefinitely. I'm helping with this one project and that's it," The dark-haired woman said, crossing her arms.

"Even so, that's still a big help! We'll need all we can get for this one. I'll talk to Eli and see if you can be on the front crew with me. He's heard about your work."

"Thank you, but I work alone," Jade said, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice.

Ryn understood. Nobody could replace Revan.

"Just tell me where to meet and what I need to do, and I'll do it."

She scribbled an address on a piece of scrap paper and gave it to Jade.

"Meet us here, tonight at this time. We'll get you up and started by tomorrow morning! I gotta go! Duty calls," she said almost running off.

Over the next few days, Jade spent time with the Tribe, getting the basics of what was going down. Surprisingly, she was able to gain Eli's trust pretty quickly and he agreed that it'd be best for her to work alone.

She was crossing through a small and poor looking village to get back to the Tribe when she felt familiar magic power coming her way. 'How convenient.' She went toward the power, confirming it was who she thought it was.

"I think that's… Jade?" She heard the blue-haired girl say.

She looked at Levy, seeing her hair just a bit longer and slightly curvier, then she looked at the dragon slayer, who still looked gruff and angry… and delicious… but she no longer was interested in those things. She thought maybe the reason she wanted to sleep with every target was because of the sexual tension between her and Revan, but now that he was gone, she just didn't feel the need to sleep around.

She noticed a third party, who looked like a mini version of the slayer, only with brown eyes instead of red. The power she sensed from him was incredible for such a young boy. He had more power than his father, but it appeared that none of them knew that.

She caught up with Levy, and apparently, they were taking their boy on his first job and decided she wanted to tag along. 'It'd be nice to see a second-generation dragon slayer in action. Even if he is young, he could still do some serious damage.' Of course, Levy was fine with her tagging along, but the bigger dragon slayer, on the other hand, was not. But she noticed the dynamic of their relationship and whatever Levy said, went.

Jade watched as Gajeel pulled his son to the side to talk to him about something… most likely warning him about her possible intentions. 'If only he knew…. If only he knew how sorry I was…' He just didn't seem like the forgiving type.

When they found the person who posted their job, Levy took the boy to speak with the individual, leaving Jade with Gajeel who, of course, interrogated her and all but threatened her to stay away from him and his kid. 'As expected…'

After some time, the boy got the location of the 'monster' that was eating the crops and led them underground and through a tunnel using his senses. Jade stayed a few feet behind them while they talked about the job and how Levy was letting them keep the reward money. She thought of how sweet and genuine she was and was reminded of how they were good people and didn't deserve half the shit that happened to them. Unfortunately, bad things happen to good people and there was definitely danger on the horizon.

She suddenly stopped as the tunnel rumbled. 'This must be the 'monster' the kid keeps speaking of.'

"Um… Dad?"