A/N: And here we are with a new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: No One's Special in Jaborosa

May 5th, X784

Nika could only let out a long sigh as she looked at the three young mages in front of her, Lillian laughing in the background after hearing of the three punks antics.

"It took you all of ten seconds to pick a fight with each other," Nika sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'm disappointed in all three of you. I really am."

"Hey, sorry Nika," Vincent started to say, but was quickly cut off.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it!" Nika snapped, "You should all consider yourselves lucky I'm not going to report this to Master Jose! He'd be furious with all of us! Hell, he might even see it fit to kick you all out of the guild!"

Rocco, Iva and Vincent could only let out a sigh at Nika's harsh words, each of them doing their best to avoid eye contact with the woman.

"If it wasn't for Darling, Iva's injuries could've gotten much worse than they already are. Did you not see the bandages wrapped around her stomach!? Her shirt doesn't exactly hide it!" Nika continued, now pacing back and forth as she continued to scold them.

"But she-," Rocco tried to say, but was cut off just like Vincent.

"I know! I'm getting there!" Nika shouted, "And Iva! I know exactly what sort of behavior they tolerate at the main branch! I know exactly what sort of behavior Master Jose allows his favorites to get away with! But I don't tolerate that here! Just because you're a Dragon Slayer or some special little mage doesn't mean you get to get away with whatever you want! Do I make myself clear?" she finished harshly, now standing in front of Iva and staring right into her eyes.

"Crystal," Iva growled.

"Good," Nika stated before stepping away from the girl, "I'll let you all know what your punishment is once Iva's injuries are healed. Until then, Rocco, Vincent, you two are forbidden to leave Jaborosa Town, can't have you running away, can I?"

"But I was about to go on a job!" Rocco protested, "You can't keep me here when I've got work to do!"

"I can and I will, Rocco," Nika stated harshly.

"Aww… The poor big, bad boy is all upset that he can't hide from his punishment," Lillian teased.

"Lillian here will be more than happy to take the job off your hands," Nika added, a smirk now appearing on her face.

"What!? I didn't sign up for that!" Lillian protested.

"You can take lazy bones with you if you really want to. He hasn't taken any missions for three weeks now," Nika added dismissively.

"That useless guy? Can't I take Raoul instead?" Lillian pouted while moving right up next to Nika, "Pretty please, Nika? For me?"

"No."

"What about Cleo? Irma? Someone of actual substance who won't make me do all of the work?" Lillian continued, practically begging at this point.

"Nope," Nika said while pushing Lillian off of her, who just fell to the ground in defeat, "Now then, Rocco, Vincent, you two are dismissed for now. Iva, follow me. We have paperwork to go through to finalize your transfer."

Rocco and Vincent watched as Nika walked away, Iva following her. The Dragon Slayer took one single look over her shoulder just to see both of the men flip her off and she returned in kind, using both of her hands before turning back around to follow Nika up a set of stairs.

Once Nika and Iva were gone, Vincent took the opportunity to walk up to Lillian who was still crying in defeat on the ground, "Poor girl, stuck with Zeke of all people for a mission."

"This is all your fault," Lillian cried, "It's your fault, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you did something to deserve this treatment though. With all the shit you pull," Rocco huffed, crossing his arms as he watched Lillian stand back up.

"I've done nothing wrong, ever, in my entire life," Lillian stated before a sly smirk appeared on her face, "Unlike you two bad, bad boys."

"Oh god, here we go again," Vincent groaned.

"I don't gotta stick around for this shit," Rocco huffed before stomping off.

"Wait! Roc! You can't leave me with her!" Vincent protested as Lillian began to corner him.

"Already did, jackass!" Rocco shouted back as he approached the stairs.

"Eat shit and die, Rocco!"

"Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too, Vince!"

. : + : .

"So which one then?" a tall man with short, royal purple hair asked as he and two others stared down the mission board in the guild's main hall, a loud clamor around them as various mages went about their own business.

"Maybe something not so difficult this time? Please, Jaku?" a second man pleaded, "The stress of the last job is still getting to me."

"But how else are we gonna get better with our magics, Emrys?" Jaku asked, now stroking his chin in thought as he continued to stare a hole into the cork board in front of him. "What do you think, Layla?" he added as he looked down the much shorter girl in between him and Emrys.

"Eh!? Me?" Layla squeaked a slight blush on her face as she pushed her fingers together in embarrassment as her hot pink hair waved about under her large, witch hat, "I don't really mind what kind of mission we take."

"So you're voting for a tough one then," Jaku stated happily.

"I… did?" Layla questioned.

"No she didn't," Emrys sighed rubbing a hand through his tousled brown hair, "Don't put words into the poor girl's mouth."

"Sorry, sorry," Jaku laughed in apology, "I just couldn't help myself. But seriously, we need to pick a mission. Something with some action would be nice, at least. I need to get stronger."

"Just don't pick something too hard, all right?" Emrys sighed again, "I struggle to keep up with you two sometimes. There's only so much I can do if you don't give me time to prepare."

"I know, I know," Jaku stated as his eyes went back to the board, eventually, his eyes landed on a promising one. "How about this one?" he suggested, pointing at it while the other two inspected it.

"A missing piece of artwork?" Layla asked, a look of excitement gleaming in her yellow eyes, "We have to do that one! C'mon Emrys! Let's do that one!" she continued, practically bouncing up and down with stars in her eyes.

"Well… We'll have to find and probably fight the thief, or thieves," Emrys muttered, thinking to himself before Layla's pleading look got the better of him, "All right, all right. We'll do that one," he conceded as Jaku gave him a nod before reaching out to grab the mission flyer before a lightly tanned hand snatched it away from him.

"Hey!" Jaku shouted as the figure began to walk away, the clinking of spurs accompanying every footstep, "We were about to take that one."

"About to, doesn't mean you have, mate," the man stated harshly as he looked over his shoulder towards the taller man, his black cowboy hat casting a shadow across his face.

"It's a common courtesy not to snatch things out of people's hands," Emrys added stepping in front of Layla as he did so.

"What? You picking a fight with me over it?" the gruff man asked as his hand went down to his belt, resting on a dark gray revolver.

"Guys, c'mon, don't do this," Layla pleaded as she watched Jaku pull his large axe off of it's straps on his back.

"Guess you are by the looks of it," the man stated before quickly drawing the revolver, only for it and Jaku's axe to fly up into the air.

"Whoa there. Things are looking a little heated, dontcha think?" they heard Raoul call out from the sidelines before he walked over to them, his right hand up in the air as he held the weapons aloft with his Magnet Magic.

"Raoul!" Layla called out before running over to him, "I- They- They were about to…"

"Don't worry kiddo, I watched the whole thing," Raoul explained as he reached out and patted her shoulder with his left hand, "And I gotta say, I'm not too impressed with the display, kiddos."

"Sorry, Raoul, I lost my head," Jaku apologized.

"Yeah, sorry," Emrys added.

"Connor?" Raoul said quizzically as he looked to the gruff man.

"Tch. I don't got nothing to apologize for," Connor stated harshly as he turned his head away from Raoul.

"Really now? Then you wouldn't mind joining these three on their mission then?" Raoul asked as a vicious smirk appeared on his face.

"Raoul!" Emrys interrupted, "You can't be suggesting that we work with him!"

"Can't I?" Raoul replied, "I mean, I could just turn the lot of you over to Nika, and I hear she's in a bad mood after what Rocco and Vincent pulled with the new girl," he said as the color drained from all four of their faces. "So that's the deal, you all kiss and make-up and go on this mission together, or you can deal with Nika, capiche?"

"Fine…" Connor grumbled, "Let's just get this over with."

"R-Really?" Layla stammered as her glasses fell slightly on her nose.

"Yeah, so you lot better be at the station in thirty minutes or I'm leaving without you," Connor demanded, "Now give me my gun back."

"Since you asked so nicely," Raoul sighed as he simply dropped the gun out of the air, forcing Connor to catch it before it hit the ground while Jaku's axe floated down to him gently, "But remember what'll happen if you don't play nice together," Raoul added as Connor let out a huff and walked away.

"This is gonna go badly," Emrys sighed.

"I know. What an ass," Jaku added as he fastened his axe onto his back with the black leather holster he worn around his torso.

"Are we really going to be all right with him around, Raoul?" Layla asked nervously, looking up at the man who quickly lifted his hand to his chin as if deep in thought.

"Hell if I know!" he said with a laugh, "But that's what's so fun about it. He's only been here for a few weeks more than the newbie here," he added while gesturing towards Jaku, "But he seems competent at least."

"Great," Jaku sighed, "He's at least more experience than me, right?"

"I dunno, the brat's only sixteen," Raoul shrugged.

"Eh? He's my age?" Lalya asked, "But he's so much…"

"Doesn't really matter. But don't you have a train to catch?" Raoul mentioned before tapping his wrist as if he was wearing a watch.

"He's right. We gotta go," Emrys said before starting to walk off, "Thanks for your help, sir," he added as the three young mages started to chase after Connor.

"Sure, sure," Raoul mumbled as he waved goodbye to them all.

. : + : .

"Sit," Nika commanded as she watched Iva enter the threshold to her office, Nika following in once Iva was inside, the younger girl taking a moment to take in her surroundings as she walked through the room and sat in one of the two chairs in front of Nika's desk.

"Well organized, lack of needless clutter, not sterile like Jose's though," Iva thought to herself as she watched Nika walk around the desk and sit in her chair.

"With that display of yours, I can understand why Master Jose sent you to us," Nika began harshly, giving Iva a hard stare, "Undisciplined, lack of self-control, no sense of self-preservation. That was reckless beyond belief, attacking two mages whose abilities you had no grasp on. I'm sure Darling explained to you how bad your injury was and yet you ignored him anyways."

Iva could only grit her teeth in response, she was right, she couldn't argue against her onslaught of accusations.

"I don't know what you thought you'd be able to get away with once you were here, but you'll find that I can be far more strict than even Master Jose. I will not tolerate such reckless behavior from you," Nika continued, her stare only growing more harsh as she went on, "I'm sure you're upset, I'm sure you think it's unfair and I'm sure you've cursed every moment of your life since you were cast aside and thrown away here to the Jaborosa Branch, but you aren't the only one. You're not special. No one in Jaborosa is."

Iva was growling now, her anger boiling, but the smell of ozone filling the room kept her under control, "This woman… Is a threat," Iva's instincts screamed at her. Rocco and Vincent were nothing like this woman sitting right in front of her. She had the same oppressive air about her as the Element Four, why was she here of all places?

"You are to give me the same respect you would give towards Master Jose for as long as you're here. When I give you an order, you follow it without question as if it was Master Jose giving it to you himself. Am I understood?" Nika asked as the smell of ozone filled the room entirely, Iva's senses kicking into overdrive.

"I-I understand…" Iva conceded as her nails dug into the arms of the chair she was sitting in, though soon the smell of ozone started to dissipate from the room as she heard Nika open a drawer, Iva lifting her head back up to watch as Nika set a folder on the table and slide it towards her.

"Now that we've established who's in charge around her, you need to fill out these forms," Nika stated as she set a pen on top of the folder before Iva reached out and grabbed them. "For your punishment, as mentioned, you're on bedrest until that injury is healed. Afterward, you'll be taking on a job for me."

"That's it?" Iva questioned after opening up the folder.

"You'll also be joined by both Rocco and Vincent," Nika added casually.

"What!? You can't…! You can't expect me to work with those asshats!" Iva protested, slamming the folder in her hands shut.

"I can and I will, Iva," Nika stated harshly, the look in her eyes quickly making Iva back down, "You clearly need to learn a lesson in tolerating others and so do they. This is their punishment too, after all."

"Tch… I understand," Iva mumbled as she opened the folder back up and continued to fill out the forms inside.

"Good," Nika replied coldly as she allowed Iva to continue her work in silence.

. : + : .

Rena Miret sat quietly in the dining hall as she slowly watched her hands open and close. They were numb again… were they even her hands? Sometimes she couldn't quite tell if not for the fact they were attached to her. Slowly her hands moved upwards from the table they were sat on and began to scratch at the bandages on her neck, as if trying to claw at something or dig something out. But there was nothing until a warm feeling appeared on her neck and she brought her hands back down to the table.

"Blood again…" she muttered quietly to herself as her strawberry blond hair fell around her face, her seafoam green eyes holding a hollow look in them as she stared at the blood on her hands, "So they are mine."

"Oh dear… Not again," she heard Dr. Darling say out of worry as he quickly approached her.

"It's you…" she mumbled softly as he sat down next her, placing his briefcase on the table and opening it up before reaching his arm impossibly far into it to pull out a fresh roll of bandages, having used up the one he kept in his coat on Iva.

"Miss Miret, my dear, please," the good doctor begged as he began unwrapping the now bloody bandages from around her neck, "You know I hate to see you like this, I get worried sick for you every time," he began as he started to clean the scratches on her neck, seeing a myriad of old scars on it once the blood was cleaned up, "This will sting a bit," he added as he began to apply antiseptic on her fresh scratches.

Pain.

Pain was the only thought on Rena's mind as the doctor went about his business, "It hurts… so I must still be alive," she mumbled as the doctor let out a sigh. But soon a small faerie would appear, fluttering around Rena's head as Darling applied fresh bandages around Rena's neck, "Lilly says thank you," Rena muttered, having understood what the faerie was communicating to her.

"You're welcome Lilly. I do my best to look after your friend here," Darling said as he grabbed a hold of Rena's arms and pulled back the sleeves of her black hoodie, "Do show me your wrists, please, Miss Miret."

"Okay," Rena sighed as the bandages around her wrists were exposed, the white having been turned red since the last time Darling had seen them, the man letting out another sigh.

"My dear, you know I worry for you. I do wish you would stop this behavior," the doctor sighed as he began working on Rena's wrists the same way he had on her neck.

"I know. But I lose feeling sometimes," Rena said softly as she watched Darling work.

"I know you do, dear."

"Are you mad at me?"

"I could never be mad at you, dear. No matter how many times you scratch yourself up, I'll always be there to take care of you," Darling promised, a kind and warm smile on his face that made a small, soft one appear on Rena's.

"Thank you."

"Now then," the doctor said as he finished wrapping up Rena's other wrist, "What do you say to a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate?"

"That would be nice," Rena mumbled, a soft smile still on her face as Lilly perched on one of her shoulders, holding onto one of the bunny ears on her hood.

"Good," Darling said as he stood up from his chair and closed his briefcase before reaching his open hand out to Rena, "What say you follow me into the kitchen and we'll see if we can't both enjoy a mug together then."

"I'd like that," Rena said as she took the doctor's hand and stood up from her seat, following the man into the kitchen for some hot chocolate.

Credits:

Jaku Labane – Eternal Rain Spirit

Emrys Kindell – RedMoonRabbit

Layla Sparrow – Grimnack

Connor McKlyne – Joshua1277

Rena Miret and Lilly – Darker than Grey

A/N: And there we are! Chapter, complete! Four scenes this time around since some of them were a bit shorter, but I felt good where they ended and two of them didn't have any new characters in them.

But I'd like to thank Darker than Grey, XLil MEkoX, Origm2012, Grimnack, musicaldreams89, MyDearWatson, Benthino, Warmachine375, Paperman0 and Carla the wizard for the reviews! They are much appreciated!

Anyways, that's all for now.

Your host,

Dreadburner94.