Chapter 24: Recovery

Beth groaned as she woke up, her whole body sore. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to go back to sleep, ultimately failing. Deciding that trying was pointless, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in the guild hall still, in the medbay. She noticed others in beds as well, though not all were occupied.

"Beth?" The Forest mage turned her head to see who had called her. Siprix stood from his chair. He held out an apple to Beth as he walked over. "Eat."

Beth didn't argue as she took the fruit, and devoured it as a sense of deja vu came over her. She ignored it and turned to face Siprix when she finished. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," the bluette replied. "I woke up about an hour ago. Your magic helped a lot with that. Thanks."

"No problem. Seems like the battle took a toll on quite a few of us," Beth commented, looking around the room. Siprix grunted in response.

"They're just tired. None of us wanted to take the risk of meeting those goons in town so soon after fighting, so we're all still here." Beth hummed in response.

"How's my family doing?"

"They're fine. They stuck together during the fight, so they weren't hit like we were. They're waiting in the main hall. They wanted to wait in here, but it was too crowded with the way Ken was sprinting around. Said he was pacing" he replied. "How're you feeling though?"

"Better. My side's killing me though," she said. She produced the same pain killing herb she gave Siprix before and popped it into her mouth. Her face soured. "I remember it tasting better."

"Maybe it's because you're injured," Siprix suggested, turning. "I'm going to let the others know you're awake." Not a minute later was a crash heard and Ken burst into the room, Seth and Katie following a few seconds later.

"How are you feeling?" Ken said as they took turns embracing and fussing over her.

"Better than earlier," Beth replied. "How are you guys doing?"

"Clearly we're fine," Katie said.

"You should be worried about you right now young lady," Seth said. "You're the injured one here."

"I've been injured before and toughed it out," Beth said as Ken handed her a salad. Her face lit up when she saw what kind it was. "Thank you!" she said before shaking it up.

"Is that your favorite?" Katie asked, curious as to what her daughter's likes were.

Beth nodded enthusiastically. "It has all sorts of fruits and nuts in it like apples, berries, seeds, and nuts. And lettuce! It's so good!" She opened the container the food was in and took a big bite out of it. "I'm in paradise."

"Glad you approve," Ken chuckled, knowing that that would be her reaction. Seth patted Beth's head. The Forest mage leaned into the touch, rubbing her head against her father's hand as she purred. This surprised not only herself but the others in the room.

"When did you start doing that?" Seth asked.

"I'm not sure," Beth responded as she ate more of the salad. "Maybe I picked it up from Naymmi... she did purr whenever I scratched her..." She popped a stray berry into her mouth. Everyone else shrugged.

"We'll leave you to rest, okay sweetie?" Katie said as she hugged Beth one more time before leaving, Ken and Seth following suit.

Beth finished the rest of her salad in silence, listening to the sounds of the others sleeping and chatting outside. She curled up on her good side, and eventually fell asleep again.

-XxXxX-

"...e... he... fin..."

"Yo... gon... wake...up, Happy!"

Beth groggily opened her eyes as she took in the voices around her.

"But she's so warm!" a high pitched voice that Beth knew belonged to a certain flying blue cat said.

"You keep saying I'm warm too!" Natsu said.

"You actually are," Lucy muttered as she placed the back of her hand on her friend's arm. The pinkette didn't either notice of care.

The now awake Forest mage looked at her friends around her, one of which was actually curled against her chest. Gray sighed when he noticed she was awake.

"Sorry Beth," the ice mage said.

"It's fine," the Forest mage yawned, stretching. She gave Happy a scratch on the top of his head before getting out of the bed. "How long was I asleep for?"

"A good while, actually," Erza replied. "It's nearly night." Beth's eyes widened slightly.

"Wow. I needed it though," she muttered as she tested out her side, finding it didn't hurt at all. "Is my family still here?"

"Yeah, Ken just convinced them to head over to your apartment," Lucy said. "You should be safe from those guys for a little while."

"They wanted to drop the job pretty badly, they screamed it to the whole town!" Natsu said. "No way they would try again so soon!"

"Please don't jinx it," Beth muttered. Natsu laughed and patted Beth's head reassuringly.

"Hey, they tried and failed. Hard. We wiped them!"

But they did a number on us too, didn't they? Beth thought as they exited the room. She was surprised to find that the guild hall was nearly empty.

"Where is everyone?" Beth asked.

"Basically everyone went home to get cleaned up. Not many of us were injured," Erza replied.

"Then why were there a good number of us knocked out afterwards?"

"Sleep magic."

"Oh."

"I hate that stuff," Gray muttered to himself.

Beth spotted her parents and uncle and, after bidding her friends farewell, went over to them.

"Gotcha!" she said as she put her arms over Seth and Katie's shoulders, sticking her head in between theirs.

"Hey kiddo, feeling any better?" Seth asked. Beth nodded enthusiastically. She squeaked as she got splashed in the face with water.

"Siprix!"

The water mage chuckled. "Yeah, she's fine."

"Oh, my reaction to water tells you everything?"

"If you get angry, you're not fine. If you squeak and giggle and accuse me, you're fine."

"Why though?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you splash me?"

"Who, me?" He blinked innocently.

She swatted his head lightly. "Dork."

"I am not a dork," he denied. Beth giggled.

"Sure you aren't." She flicked her wrist and grew a time ring of white flowers in his hair, wrapping around his head. He reached up to feel them.

"For the king of dorks." he scoffed and took off the flowers, placing them on Beth.

"Now who's queen?"

"Okay you two, settle down," Makarov said, sitting down amongst the small group at the table. "How are you feeling, Beth?"

"Like I could take on the whole guild." She placed the flowers back on Siprix's head. He didn't object this time.

"That's not gonna happen," Siprix said.

"I could beat you." Siprix rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Beth. "But in all seriousness, I'm feeling a million times better."

"That's good. I talked with the Vineghoul guild master, and they have informed me, quite fearfully, that they have dropped the job that involved you and promised to not bother us again. They were kind enough to also inform me of who posted the job. Apparently it was posted under the name Death Wings." Siprix succeeded in not reacting to the name. "Does that ring a bell to you?"

"Nope, never heard of them. That sounds like a group, not a person though," Beth said as the other murmured their agreement.

"So are they a dark guild or something?" Aaron, who had joined the group while Makarov was talking, asked.

"If they are they must be new enough for no one to know about them," Makarov said, brow furrowed in though.

"They sound like a dark guild," Beth muttered. Seth nodded in agreement.

"But why would they want Beth?" Aaron asked.

"I have no idea. I haven't told you this yet, but I ran away from my at-the-time destroyed village at the age of five, got adopted by a dragon and practiced magic in the forest for nine years, and got left here only a month and a half ago. I don't see how people would know about me before I joined Fairy Tail," Beth said. "I haven't done anything to these guys. They clearly know me though."

"Wasn't it Naymmi who taught you magic?" Seth asked, a little confused.

"Maybe they want you for something else?" Siprix suggested, not hearing Seth's question.

"Doubt it. Other than knowing a Lost Magic, what make me so special? And it appears that Dragon Slayer magic isn't as 'lost' as we thought."

"There are just a lot of Dragon Slayers here, Beth. It's not a common magic to see. Most folks don't even know about it, unlike Celestial Magic and Maker Magic," Makarov explained.

"True."

"But why you?" Aaron's question silenced the whole group. "It doesn't make sense."

"They want me to be a tutor? I don't know." Beth thought for a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with why Naymmi left."

"Again, who's Naymmi?" Seth asked.

"The dragon that adopted me for nine years."

"Thank you."

"Maybe it does," Katie said thoughtfully.

"Why though? Why did Naymmi leave? Why did she leave me here of all places instead of the clearing in the forest we lived in? Why do these guys know me? Why did they just show themselves?" Beth let herself go limp on her parent's shoulders.

"That is a lot of questions."

"Oh trust me I have more."

"Are we even getting anywhere with this?" Siprix asked.

"No," everyone muttered. Siprix sighed.

"Then I'm heading home. Let me know if you guys figure anything out." With that the water mage stood and left the table, trying to keep his pace lax.

"I think we're going to follow suit," Katie said standing. Seth did as well.

"Stay safe you four," Makarov said as the family left.

"We need a bigger apartment," Beth said as they walked home.

-XxXxX-

"Come on, pick up!" a voice muttered as he waited for the communications lacrima to stop pulsing light. His wish got answered as the pulse faded into a steady glow.

"Report?" came a gruff voice from the other end.

"Vineghoul gave our name from the job to Fairy Tail. They know of Death Wings now and are on alert."

"Do they know of the Servant's relation to us?"

"No sir."

"Very well. And on the Dragon Slayer girl?"

"She's injured, but already up on her feet and has recovered quite a bit it seems. She should be fully healed after about a week or two."

"Very well. We will hold off from making any more moves or suggestions to lure her in for the time being. Keep an eye on her. If you see any opportunity to bring her in, do so."

"Understood." The boy put the stone down on its pedestal as it dimmed and turned to look out the window. Sighing, he exited his apartment and headed towards the forest. He spotted a tall maple and climbed to the middle of it, near the trunk. He sat for a moment before punching the tree and growling.

They're right. They've got to be right. They wouldn't lie to me about this. The world is full of dangerous people, who hurt and use others. That's what they told me all my life. It's our job to stop them. The boy suddenly sat up rigidly and confusion filled his ocean blue eyes. But Beth isn't like that. Fairy Tail isn't like that.

So why target them?

Yep. This is what happens when I am in need of length for a chapter. And it turns out that Beth is part cat. Apparently Naymmi too.

Shout out to Lonteen for following the story! Thanks for the support!

Also y'all are now being called fey. So...

Hope you all had a good week and have an even better weekend! Go get 'em fey!

-ThinMintE