"You can't be serious? Phantom Lord knows better than to attack us so directly."

"Who's Phantom Lord?"
"Another guild led by one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jose. Our two guilds have never gotten along, but an attack like this is.. Far worse than we've seen in quite some time."

"We need to fight back! We can't let them get away with hurting our guild!"

"Natsu, we will not retaliate. This is not going to be an issue."

"Gramps-!"

The sound of chatter rang through my ears, echoing inside my head. Phantom Lord? What were they talking about? The last thing I remember is… The smell of a dragon. It had been Gajeel Redfox, Phantom Lord's Iron Dragon Slayer. He had caught us off guard and taken me out like it was nothing. I was.. weak.

I slowly sat up, bringing a hand to my head as I glanced around the room. Myself and the other members of Fairy Tail were held up in the basement of the guild, the aura in the room was tense. For good reason I suppose. Seeing the looks on their faces only made my mood match the air around me. I clenched my teeth together, my hands balling into fists. If only I had been stronger, I would've been able to stop this from happening. It was one person and I was useless against him.

"Cece, you're awake." I glanced over to see Erza looking back at me, her gaze soft. "How are you feeling?"

I planted my feet on the ground, gripping the edge of the table. "I'm fine." I stated simply before a thought crossed my mind. My eyes widened as I jumped to my feet. "Where's Phillip?!" I whipped my head around to try and locate my cat, finding him asleep in a certain Earth mage's arms. Stomping over, I gently plucked Phillip from Hayden's arm, cradling him in my own arms. "Thank goodness he's okay.."

Hayden sighed. "Don't worry, I'm fine too." He went to say more, but I cut him off by holding a hand up.

"I don't care. Phillip is all I'm worried about." I held my cat close to my chest and turned towards the stairs. "I'm outta here."

"Hold up." I stopped in my tracks and looked towards Natsu, his eyes narrowed. "Are you really just going to walk out of here like nothing happened? This is your home too."

I matched his angered gaze. "This may be my home, but I don't care for the people within. Phillip is all I need. This whole rivalry with Phantom Lord is your problem. The only reason I'm a part of this guild is to make money and live a stable life. Alone. You all should understand that by now."

Natsu's face twisted with anger at my words. "How can you say that?! Being a little quiet is one thing, but saying you don't care about us?! We're your family!"

"Family.." I muttered, glancing down at Phillip, my thoughts going back to the picture atop my counter at home. Family is just a false hope. A term that brings me no comfort, only pain. "I have no family, nor will I ever."

Before he could say anything more, I turned on my heel and headed up the stairs and out of the guild. There was nothing here for me right now. This was a problem they had the fix for themselves. As long as I could keep Phillip safe, nothing else mattered.

I stepped out into the sun, not walking too far away before I got a good look at the guild hall, the toll the destruction took on the building. Iron bars extended out of the building, parts of the walls looking as if they could cave in at any moment. A frown crept its way onto my face and I tightened my grip around Phillip. As much as I didn't care to help sort out the issue with Phantom Lord, I was still disappointed that I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. It only showed how weak I truly was. No matter how much training I did, I still wasn't good enough against an opponent such as Gajeel.

Maybe.. Maybe they were right to keep me away. Away from what really matters. Away from..

My thoughts trailed off when Phillip began to shift in my arms. I shifted my gaze towards him as his eyes opened. A soft smile returned to my face as I patted his head. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

He gave a small shake to his head. "I'm okay.. Is everyone else okay? The guild.." He looked towards the building, his expression distraught. "What are we going to do?"

"We aren't going to do anything. This isn't our fight." I spoke. "You're okay, that means our part in it is done."

Flying out of my arms, Phillip tilted his head. "What are you talking about? We have to help them. Fairy Tail is off against a full guild, they'll need all the help they can get."

I shook my head. "They'll be fine on their own. They don't need us."

Phillip crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. "Why are you acting like you don't care? After everything they've done for us, I thought you'd want to pay them back. Please Cece.. Let's do our best to help them."

"No." I snapped, glaring back at him. "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you. And you know.. I don't want to go anywhere near that Iron Dragon Slayer. It'll only show me what I've lost. He was his idol and if I can't beat Gajeel, it'll show I'm still not good enough to.. See Rogue again." My gaze softened as it lowered to the ground. I held my arms close to myself, fighting back tears. "I'm not ready to face that. My weakness.. I don't want to see it again."

Facing Gajeel would mean facing that I'm still too weak to see my older brother. After all these years, after all the work I've done to grow stronger, I still wasn't good enough. At the thought, tears flowed from my eyes. "I can't help them, not now, not ever."

"Cece.." Phillip muttered, flying up towards me to pat my head. "Rogue would want you to help, to fight back. You know it never mattered to him how strong you were. And think of it this way, helping in the fight against Phantom is just a way to see how strong you've really become." He grinned. "But no matter what, you're the strongest person I know."

I stared back at him, bringing a hand up to my face to wipe away my tears. "Maybe you're right.. But right now, I need time to think." Phillip landed down on my shoulder and I gave him a soft smile. "Let's go back home for now, I promise I'll sleep on your words, okay?"

"Thank goodness.. I'm proud of you." He smiled back at me as we continued our way back to our apartment.

Maybe Phillip was right. What was the point in holding back on a chance to show my strength. Even then.. Maybe I shouldn't be basing myself of strength at all. I really did have a lot to learn. This battle may be just what I need.