"Something wrong, Ifrit?" Loneila knelt down to him, seated on the steps of the Fairy Tail guild's gates.
His eyes covered every inch of the large building and it's surroundings. It felt familiar, comforting. He wanted to enter it for some odd reason but he pushed away that urge, nodding to Loneila.
"I'll be fine, just a little impressed." Ifrit threw over his hood, blocking the sun from his face. He got to his feet and offered out a hand to Loneila. She accepted, dusting off her jeans and fixing her short black tee.
"If I had known you were going to come early, I would have been ready by now!" A voice called. The group turned to see a short elder smiling at them from the entrance of the guild.
Loneila smiled brightly, "Makarov, it's nice to see you again. I apologize for the inconvenience, we arrived earlier than expected."
"That's quite alright my dear," he noticed the basket on Tomah's back. "Did you have something planned?"
"So you noticed," she laughed, "I was wondering if you'd go on a picnic with us. I brought enough food for everyone."
Makarov waved, "Of course, let me get my crew together."
He spun around and entered the large doors as Loneila turned back to the others.
"Tomah, you behave yourself," her eyes narrowed at him.
"Yes, ya majesty," he grumbled.
She could see Ifrit frowning underneath the hood. She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, and the other to his. "Are you sick?"
Ifrit dropped his grimace and affirmed her as the doors swung open. Out stepped Makarov, a male, and two females behind him. They were all formally dressed. The black haired male wore a bright white dress shirt, and a large disappointed frown. The blond female wore a sparkling purple dress that glittered in the light. The redhead female wore a crimson red kimono that opened just enough for Ifrit to… He shook his thoughts free of that and turned back to Makarov and Loneila.
"Hi there," Loneila greeted, "I'm Elizabeth Barony, but you can call me Loneila!" She smiled warmly at the three new faces, watching her in bewilderment.
"Welcome," Makarov replied customarily, "these are my guild members: Gray, Erza, and Lucy. They will be joining us today."
Loneila motioned for the others to introduce themselves that was planned for Ifrit to begin but as he opened his mouth, Tomah jumped in.
"Nice to meet ya'll," he blurted sarcastically, "I'm Tomah."
Shaking his head, Katsugi flipped his hair out of his face, "And I'm Katsugi."
Ifrit paused a moment for them to finish, "I'm-"
"Can we get going? I'm starving!" Tomah complained.
Ifrit gave up on the idea and reserved himself. He watched Loneila give Tomah the usual threatening glare that always put him in place. "I-I'm sorry ya majesty, forgive me fo' my outburst." She held her glare until he bowed low to her. She smiled for her audience and brushed it off with a wave.
She gave a quick glance at Katsugi, and then to Ifrit, as to see if he was still sulking before turning to Makarov, "Well, he is right, shall we go?" She put one hand on her hip and other up to her eyes to shield the light.
"Yes," Makarov replied as they started down the street, "you have trained them so well." He chuckled as they others obediently followed their masters. "Why don't we catch a ride on a carriage?"
Loneila glanced back at Ifrit, still a chiseled, emotionless walking statue. He's had several issues with transportation and motion sickness. Even the elevator in the spire seemed to effect him. "Uhm…" she started, "That's alright, I prefer walking…"
Ifrit trudged along; furthermore, he was stuck beside the redhead wonder, Erza. She had a weird energy around her. He felt out of place, yet, comfortable. He constantly glanced at her, wondering if she'd notice his presence. Disappointment swept over him, she didn't take a single glance toward him... but why was he disappointed? He looked forward at Katsugi who was enjoying his time socializing with Lucy.
Suddenly a light flashed in the corner of his eye. He snapped back to see that Erza had changed out of her red kimono in less than a second. She now wore a white blouse, blue skirt, and ponytail. Right as he was about to turn back another light flashed in her hand, and in it appeared a white patterned scarf. He watched her in awe as she slung it over her neck, and caressed the materials gently. How her eyes went over the ends of the scarf, and a smile built in the corner of her mouth.
His mind completely set on the secretive red haired beauty beside him, he was oblivious to where he was walking. His foot stubbed a rock that slightly protruded out from the ground. He stumbled forward before recovering his balance in a panic. He turned back flustered to see Erza giggling at him. Her laughter was oddly cute to him. She turned to Lucy and shared a few words before turning back to him. The comical smile and attractive laughter was gone; her glare changed his attitude in an instant.
"You," she called. He tried to act as if he hadn't noticed her laughing and turned slightly to her. "What's your name?"
He was a little surprised that someone actually wanted to know his name after ignoring him for so long.
Lucy leaned back and told her something, but Ifrit ignored it.
"I-"
"Here!" Loneila squealed with a large smile, "This is perfect!"
Ifrit zoned out, observing the three young Fairy Tail members interact with each other happily. Another sense he wasn't accustomed to, distance, hit him. An emptiness that almost felt physical. His hand searched his chest for any signs of deformities when he heard Loneila call again.
"Come! I made for everyone!" She handed out her famous turkey sandwiches that she made with her magical flavoring sauce that appealed to everyone. She had also insisted in baking her chocolate chip cookies that was finished in nearly seconds after opening. Ifrit just sat back and relaxed as the others ate, staring at the silver clouds that drifted along in the nearly clear sky. His mind began to drift along, daydreaming peacefully until a dark image flashed through his mind. A dusty room, chains clanking around him, a luminous sense of damnation hanging in the air; chills ran down his spine.
He gasped himself awake; sitting up quickly when he heard the words he dreaded to hear.
"Whaddaya say to a spar?" Loneila challenged Makarov. Ifrit's teeth clenched, the impending drama would ruin this peaceful get together.
"After all of that food? I couldn't keep up." He responded.
His reply brought Ifrit to sigh, the peacefulness would continue. He was leaning back into a comfortable position... until Loneila turned to Erza.
"What about you?"
"Me?" she asked, surprised.
After receiving permission from Makarov, both moved to a clearing some distance away. Katsugi noticed Ifrit first, springing to his feet just before Tomah started the match. He vanished, leaving a small ember that extinguished as fast as it appeared.
The match begun, Erza was approaching Loneila at an incredible speed. Just as she was in range, Ifrit rushed forward, creating a wall of fire in front of himself and Loneila. Erza skid to a stop, watching the flames dancing in the wind. The wall broke down and blew away like leaves in the fall. Erza stood with her swords blocking her, a scrunched up expression showing her disapproval of the intrusion.
"What? You want to challenge her?" Loneila sassed, he could tell she was actually upset. He shifted slightly towards her, keeping his eyes on Erza. "Fine, Guild VS. Guild. Call it, Tomah!"
"Yes Ma'am," he answered happily, eager to see Ifrit get pummeled, "FIGHT!"
Ifrit tensed, the match had begun but the only thing occurring was Erza holding her glare.
"Requip," Erza said, another burst of light, similar to earlier but larger, covered her body; but unlike earlier, she wore a new set of armor with flame prints over it. His natural grueling tactics - Ligament separating, bone fracturing, joint targeting, and other gruesome ideas shot through his mind.
She dashed forward, sword gripped behind her. As he was about to decide on which spot to attack, his mind drew a blank.
Unprepared, she got the advantage on him, swinging in his first choice direction. He barely ducked under her swing with a roll, and sprung to his feet. Half a step back, she was there attacking again. Fed up, he grabbed her hands and guided the blade into the ground. With a fiery hook, he was able to shatter the blade and released her hands. She leapt back, a look of horror on her face.
She mouthed the words he recognized as 'requip' transforming into a larger set of armor with silver wings and a sleeker blade. She flew into the air, "Circle sword!" Long blades appeared, spinning around her. He tried to make eye contact with her contrasted against the sun as he lit his hands ablaze. He lifted one hand to block the sun that was blinding him.
"Dance, My Blades!"
The silhouettes of the spinning blades were approaching him and his heart began to race. For the first time, he was enjoying himself. Maybe a little too much. He engulfed himself in flames, tucking low, and released an artificial controlled explosion. The blades were sent off their path at the last instant just before scrapping his abdomen; one of which was twirling back at Erza who hadn't the least bit of a heads up. Involuntarily, he lunged upward with another artificial explosion, kicking the blade to the floor just as it neared her. He descended with a large crash, leaving large imprints in the grass. He stared at his hands in horror. What the…
"Name," the voice commanded from behind him with a burst of light. He heard a small amount of desperation in her voice, it sounded almost a plea. "Name," she repeated.
"Ifrit…"
"What?"
"Ifrit," he replied louder.
She paused for a moment, "Ifrit, huh? Remove the hood."
Hesitantly he turned around, and threw the hood back. The sad, heartbroken look she gave him reached out to him desperately. At first, he didn't know what to do, but he did know he wanted that look to go away.
"Ifrit," he repeated again. Her hand found its way to the scarf, clutching it as if it were going to blow away.
Curiosity finally got the best of him, "Is-"
"Sorry," she started quietly, loud enough for only him to hear. She lowered her face from him, "I just-"
"What the hell is going on!?" Tomah yelled, "FIGHT DAMN IT!" Ifrit snapped to see Tomah's face had turned red. It was there again, the surprising wave of anger that had continuously raised its head when Tomah or others, such as the bandit leader, had offended him or someone he cared for.
He strode up to him when Tomah started, "You good for nothi-" Ifrit held nothing back, throwing his own body into an uppercut that whipped Tomah's jaw and face upward.
Ifrit, still enraged, watched as his large body crashed to the ground, as well as three yellow teeth. His golden eyes glistened in the sunlight. He took another step towards Tomah's unconscious body; suddenly there was resistance on his arm.
"It's alright, calm down," Loneila whispered. For the first time, he gave her a glowering expression that shocked her. Yet she continued in a firmer tone, "Calm down." Their eyes locked, both showing a resistance towards each other. As his fist loosened, she slipped her hand into his. She tip-toed to his ear, "We'll deal with this at home." Turning back, everyone had risen to their feet.
"I think it's time for us to go," Loneila faked the disappointment, "Ifrit is still a little upset. Sorry to ruin the fun, especially you, Erza."
"Don't worry about it," Erza dismissed.
"Alrighty then, we're going." Loneila motioned to Katsugi who groaned a sigh and said goodbye to the others and dragged Tomah's body with them.
As they were leaving, Erza ran up to Katsugi for a quick moment before she allowed him to catch up to Ifrit and Loneila.
As she led Ifrit away, he turned back to see something he hadn't wished to see... Erza... The sad, heartbroken, discouraged Erza.
Back in the depths of Province's dungeons…
His limp body hung by the wrist shackles. His head hung low, covered by his pink hair and the dried blood that ran from the cuts on his face. He couldn't tell when he was awake or not, fading unconscious every now and then. Awakening to another stranger who hurt him with a sly grin. This sucks…. He thought to himself over and over. Why am I here?
A bright blue light gleamed in front of him. He was looking at the leaves brushing around from the wind. The bright blue sky with silver clouds behind of them. There were noises… voices… he knew them… he tried to turn his head, but nothing happened. He continued to watch the sky, listening to the voices. The voices turned to laughter, when he realized who they were. But it couldn't be… I'm going crazy…
He jerked himself forward, hitting the lengths of the chains again. I must have been dreaming… Pain struck immediately in his shoulder. Wincing in pain, he remembered the moments before he went unconscious. A man had came in for the same reason everyone else had. He was much stronger than the rest and had dislocated his arm.
His entire body ached, covered in mud and other things. It was impossible to tell what was blood, or what bled in this darkness.
Small hands touched his chest, releasing a small eerie green light. A small frowning face lit up. Eyes focused entirely on its hands.
"Who… are you?" Natsu voice was broken, and dry.
"I'm Hannah," the small weak voice trembled.
"What are you…"
"I'm healing you," she replied. "You don't seem like a bad man. Why are you here?"
"I don't… know," his head dropped back to a rest. "Why are you here?"
"I asked a lady for help and she threw me in here." Her hands dimmed as the light faded out. "I'm sorry mister. I'm not very good at this." Her voice cracked as she began to cry.
Natsu raised his head, looking her in the eyes. The dim torch's light hitting his face.
"Don't worry about me… I'll be fine." He tugged at the chains, pulling with all his might until his arms fell limp again. "I'll get us out of here."
"No," she patted the top of his head with a weak smile, "just rest for now. You look sleepy."
A small grin formed on his face, "Yeah, just give me a minute…" His eyes crept to a close. He did feel a bit better. There was definitely less pain in his chest, but his shoulder still caused excruciating pain. Who throws a little girl in jail?
A few seconds passed, just a black emptiness in front of him but there was someone in that dark space.
She frowned, clutching her neck. He reached out for her, but she moved further away. She apologized, 'I'm sorry." He stared at her for a moment before it clicked. It's Erza,… and… she's sad. The picture brightened. There were others. A man stood beside her, crossed arms, looking off into the distance. Gray… Another girl was there; her arms were clasped behind her back. Lucy… Why are you here?
"Guys," Natsu called out. His friends looked at him with apologetic eyes, turned around, and began to walk away. "No… Guys, wait!" he ran after them but the distance only seemed to grow as they disappeared into the darkness.
"Guys!" his eyes shot open, shocking Hannah. Tears welled up and streamed down his face, choking out sobs as he struggled to his feet.
"AAAAH!" He grasped the chains in both hands, tugging as hard as he could. The veins in his arms and neck bulged out, his beaten muscles strained to its extent.
"Mister! Calm down!" Hannah cried.
"I'll… Get… Us… Out!" He pushed himself further. His dislocated shoulder popped back in with immense agony and a loud click. He let out a small cry but didn't let up, pushing through the pain. He was done being here; he'd do anything to get out. Tired of being here. Tired of being chained. Tired of being hurt.
Hannah took a step back as the concrete buckles where the chains were secured began to creak, louder and louder. Right when hope of escape began to flood their minds, Natsu let out a large exhale, collapsing to his knees. His head dropped back down.
"I'm so glad it's over," Loneila exclaimed, leaning into Ifrit walking beside her. "I hate acting like that."
"Acting?" Katsugi asked. "You actually used to be like that, what happened?"
She scowled, "People change."
Katsugi simply nodded. She turned her attention to Ifrit who was lost in his own world. What was that I saw? That dark room…
"Heeellooo," Loneila called into his ear.
Ifrit leaned his face into hers, "Yes Master?"
She had a sly grin, "Now that that's all done with, whaddaya say to spending the night with me?"
The group entered the walls of Province and Katsugi released Tomah's foot, leaving him out cold on the sidewalk.
"Actually, I was-" he started to decline when he overheard a discussion between two Province newbies that were passing by.
"I can't believe you haven't gone to the testing cell yet!" the newly invited member exclaimed.
"Don't have the time," the second year explained. "I actually have duties to do."
Ifrit watched the two men walk away before turning back to Loneila. She had an irritated scowl on her face.
"So?" she hissed.
"Sure,... Yes master. Thank you." He bowed slightly.
She lifted his face to hers with one finger, "Don't thank me yet." She winked and turned to continue walking.
"I'll be there soon, I just have a few things to do."
She considered the serious focus he gave her and smiled before continuing to the spire. Ifrit turned to follow the men but found Katsugi crossing his arms with his eyes shut.
"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that," he said.
"Do you know what's a 'testing cell?'" Ifrit asked with a blank expression.
"Sorta. It's gotten quite popular this past month. Someone is willingly ready to let us practice our combat and magic skills on him."
Ifrit leaned back, "So where is this exactly?"
"Dunno, but I don't recommend it for you. You might kill the guy."
"I'm just interested, that's all."
"If that's the case, then Reo might know; he knows most of the gossip in town."
Ifrit turned to the spire, "Alright then, let's go find him."
The walk there was awkward in utter silence. Fortunately, they had no trouble finding Reo. He was on the dining table fiddling with his spears and polish.
"Reo," Katsugi called cheerfully.
He turned with a smile that disappeared at the sight of Ifrit, "What's up guys?"
"We have a favor to ask. Have you heard of the testing cell?"
"N-no, sorry Katsugi," Reo turned back to polishing his spear.
Ifrit yawned, "I guess that's it for me then." He turned without another word and left to find Loneila.
Katsugi's friendly tone dropped, "Reo, what's the testing cell?"
Reo had a slight grin, "You could see through me?"
"I didn't even need to read your mind."
Reo set down the bottle of polish and turned to him, "Look, Katsugi, Ifrit can NEVER go to the testing cell."
A small moment of silence passed before Katsugi shook his head, "Must I ask why?"
He had a strained expression as wiped down his spear tip, "It's a long story…"
"I have the time."
"Can't you just drop it?"
Katsugi didn't drop his gaze for a secondand Reo final caved in with a sigh.
"Well, unlike your magic, I can't manipulate someone's mind... and I also can't permanently-"
"My magic is not permanent. It is very simple to nullify me if the target-"
"Not permanent?" Reo repeated in surprise. "I thought you could scramble someone's brain to death?!"
"Oh," Katsugi snickered, "That one's permanent."
Reo fell backwards before picking himself up, "Anyways, my magic can break the bond between someone's mind, or soul."
"So you can split someone in two?"
"Basically. The only faulty side is that the procreator is supposed to be removed for proper results. I thought that was just some bullshit that my sister made up."
"So Ifrit is-"
Reo nodded.
"That means Natsu's-" Katsugi cut off and his brows furrowed. He clutched Reo at the collar, lifting him into the air. "What the hell have you done to him?"
"What does that matter? He's just Fairy Tail scum!"
Katsugi released him, crashing to the table. He tore off one glove and gripped Reo's face. "Give me one reason not to turn you into a mindless drone." His eyes were dark with fury.
Silence pressed on until Reo sneered, "I'm the only one that knows about his condition since my sister is dead."
"D-dead?!" Katsugi squeezed tighter. "You killed her?!"
"No, but that's a story for another day. Right now, there's a line of our friends waiting to beat on your little friend."
Katsugi's grip was knocked loose easily with one swipe.
"Hah, couldn't even kill me?" Reo sprang backwards to the other side of the table. "Well guess what, I am the one who created the 'testing cell' so I could kill Natsu without getting my hands dirty. I have to finish what we started."
"So Ifrit is just a copy of Natsu?"
"Not quite, he's half of Natsu. I took out his memories, and thoughts. They are physically totally different people, though they look like they're related." Reo scoffed, "I mean honestly, is Natsu that cruel and brutal?"
Katsugi gave him a look of disgust while turning to leave.
"You can't save him," Reo taunted. "He'll be dead soon enough. The only reason he's lived this long is some little brat was healing him... She's dead now though." he sneered. "Caught her this afternoon before you guys got back. He's in for a surprise when he wakes up."
Katsugi whipped back to Reo, his green eyes were glowing brightly. "I should kill you… but that wouldn't be my place. When I save Natsu, he'll have the honor of deciding your fate." Katsugi stepped out of the room, leaving Reo gritting his teeth, spear still clenched in his hand.
She was on the lanai, as usual. Ifrit leaned against the railing beside her but she didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Are you alright master?" Ifrit asked.
"It's cold," she replied, "winter is coming sooner than we thought."
He moved to her back, throwing his arms around her. His body was extremely warm. She leaned into him, wrapping her hands around his biceps. Chills went up her spine from the sudden change in warmth.
"What's up Ifrit?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been acting strange lately."
"Everything is fine."
She nudged his ribs softly with her elbow.
"Come on, I'm not stupid."
"Master, I'm-"
"I've told you not to call me that." She sassed, peering up at his golden eyes directed at the night sky.
"Loneila – I'm fine."
"…"
She spun around, returning the hold and resting her chin on his shoulder. He had gotten a bit more muscular than the first morning he had awoken to her. Probably due to the intense training he underwent when he didn't have jobs.
"Are you going to make me command you to tell me?"
"…"
She exhaled loudly, resting the side of her face on him as she closed her eyes.
"Your body is warm… but you can be so cold sometimes."
Her body jumped when he placed his hand on her head. She pulled back to look at his face. Their eyes met, but his didn't reflect the same emotion as hers.
"Is there really nothing bothering you?"
"Actually-"
Her eyes opened wide attentively.
"I've had a couple bad visions and dreams these past few weeks."
"Like?"
"It's dark, cold… and lonely…"
His red bangs hung over his eyes. She hugged him tightly, kissing the base of his neck before resting her head again.
He sighed as her weight shifted into him once more. She was asleep, he knew. This was the only way she had slept since he could remember.
He laid her under the covers of her bed. His rugged eyes watched her for a moment before returning to the lanai.
"I'm…"
His attention went to the moon, peaking out from the clouds. It sat there amidst the dark gloominess in silence. The same dark image haunted him all night.
