Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Chapter Four: Origin of Sin: Envy

For the moment, let us stop the clock and instead turn around to a time many, many years ago…

A woman was busy reading in her garden, taking a break from her day-to-day routines with a nice novel. She turned her head to see a bird bathing in the stone birdbath, smiling at the lovely song it was singing. Behind her was the sprawling house that she and her family lived in.

The woman's name was Maria Amethyst, who was a renowned Wizard. She had been a prominent member of a guild before retiring to raise a family. Her name came from the Crystal Magic that she wielded in her youth. It was a talent that was passed on to her three children.

Or rather, two of them.

Maria looked up from her book when she heard the sound of a child's sobbing. Leaping to her feet, she walked into the garden and searched for the source of the crying. Walking past a rose bush, she saw a young girl crouched behind it, her face buried in her knees. Kneeling down, Maria put a hand on her daughter. "Camilla, what is the matter?" she asked.

Sniffling, the child looked up at her mother with her bright purple eyes. Her pretty face was red as she cried rivers down her eyes. "Mama! Marisha and Penelope were picking on me again!" she cried. Maria could see that her clothes were covered in red and blue dust. "I just wanted to play!" she cried out before her mother wrapped her arms around her.

As Camilla cried into her shoulder, Maria sighed in exasperation. Unlike her sisters, Camilla didn't possess any magical ability, leaving her to be ostracized by her fellow sisters. Sadly, it wasn't just her sisters that were cruel to her. Her father, in their private moments, would often lament how disappointing Camilla turned out to be and the rest of their extended family followed suit. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins treated her poorly compared to her talented sisters. Had it not been for her mother, Camilla would be all alone in a sea of resentment.

Picking her daughter up, Maria carried her back towards her chair. Sitting down, Maria ran her hand soothingly through her daughter's jet-black hair, the one thing she inherited from her mother. "There, there, Camilla. Mama's got you…" she whispered.

Soon Camilla had stopped crying and looked up at her mother with pain-filled eyes. "Mama…it's not fair. I'm just the same as my sisters but still…" she resumed burying her head in her mother shoulders before crying. "It's not fair! I want to use magic too! I want to be happy!"

"Shhhh…" Maria cooed, calming her daughter down. "Camilla, you don't need magic to have a happy life." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Maria smiled lovingly at her child. "The only thing you ever need to live happy is a kind heart."

"B-but…" Camilla choked, feeling the dust on her skin.

Standing up, Maria carried her daughter into the house. The sounds of servants clamoring about filled the mansion while she carried her up the stairs. "Magic isn't everything. You'll learn as you get older that talent comes in different forms. Whatever yours is, Camilla, it will be just as beautiful."

Pacified by her mother's calming words, Camilla's tears stopped. Once they reached her room, Maria set her child down and patted her head. "Why don't we play with your dolls some more?" she said, pointing to the dolls on her daughter's bed. She knew how much her daughter loved her dolls.

Camilla's smile made Maria believe that everything was going to be alright. They sat on the bed and started to play, neither noticing the twin pairs of eyes staring at them from the cracked door….

Sometime later….

The three children stood together as their parents walked over to them. Their father walked past them, heading for the coach ready to transport them away. Stopping in front of her daughters, Maria looked down and smiled. "Now behave yourselves, girls. We'll be gone for a week. In the meantime, mind your manners." Turning to Penelope and Marisha, her lips formed a small frown. "Girls, no magic while we're gone."

Penelope, a girl with short, blond hair and emerald eyes, pouted in frustration. "But Mama! That's not fair! Marisha and I have been working really hard!" She gave a scathing glance towards Camilla, who stared at the floor.

"When it comes to magic, part of that discipline is restraint," Maria advised. "It's not something you go flinging about at a moment's notice." Patting her twin daughters heads, she smiled, "Be nice to each other, okay?"

"Yes, Mama…" both twins said, though neither of them looked her in the eye.

Turning to Camilla, Maria knelt down and kissed her head. "Be good, Camilla."

The girl wrapped her arms around her mother and hugged her. "Yes, Mama…."

The three girls watched as their mother joined their father in the carriage and departed. Camilla turned to her sisters and cringed when they saw the angry looks on their faces. "Penelope…Marisha…" she started.

"Just go away!" Penelope shouted, not caring if anyone heard her. Storming off, Penelope exited the room, Marisha giving her sister another angry glare before taking off. Sighing, Camilla decided to head for the garden. One of her favorite pastimes was tending to her mother's tulip beds.

The breeze was cool later that day as Camilla knelt in the dirt, removing the weeds from the tulip bed. Despite being only eleven years old, the girl was a happy gardener, her talent in caring for greenery surpassing her sisters.

"Hey, Camilla…."

Turning around, Camilla saw Marisha walking over to her. The girl, whose hair was long and black like Camilla's, smiled a friendly smile while standing behind Camilla. "Penelope and I wanted to know if you wanted to play with us?" she asked. She held up a doll and wiggled it in front of her. "We know how much you like playing with dolls."

Camilla's eyes lit up. It'd been so long since she'd played with her sisters. Once their father had started tutoring them in magic, they had lost all interest in "playing with dolls", unlike Camilla. Nodding happily, she leapt up to her feet.

Chuckling, Marisha took her sister's hand and led her away from the garden. But Camilla was confused when they walked around the house to the back of it, hidden by some thorny bushes. "Marisha, I thought you said we would play?" she asked, wondering if this was another of their sisters' displays of magic in order to taunt and bully her.

"Oh, we'll be playing…" Marisha's eyes lit up with jealous anger, her lips forming an ugly grin. "Playing with you, you little witch!" Dropping the façade, Marisha struck her younger sister.

"Kya!" Camilla cried out as she hit the ground. Hearing rusting from the bushes, she saw Penelope emerge, the same evil look on her face as well. "What are you doing?"

"You no-talent, worthless brat!" Penelope spat. "You've been trying to steal Mama's affections all for yourself!" she accused. Both she and Marisha had noted how much time Camilla was spending with their mother and had come to the assumption that in her jealousy Camilla was trying to steal her away from them. "You, with your stupid purple eyes and your flawless face!"

Camilla felt fear grip her as Penelope held up a hand, shards of red crystals emerging from thin air. "Pen…Penelope…" she whispered. To her horror Marisha summoned her blue crystals, each small and triangular, like arrowheads. And they were all pointing at Camilla's face.

"Well, let's see how much Mama loves you when you're so ugly she can't even look at you!" the evil sister taunted.

"No!" Camilla screamed. She tried to stand but Marisha kept her rooted to the ground by encasing her legs in crystals. Tears ran down her face when the two girls pointed their crystal shards at her.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Three Days later….

Camilla opened her eyes, the stinging pain the first thing she felt as she regained consciousness. Sitting up, she felt the weight of the bandages on her face.

A hand touched her shoulder, making her cringe. She looked up to see their family's butler and caretaker standing next to her. "Lady Camilla, thank goodness."

The butler told her that her sisters had found her like that after hearing her scream. Penelope had told the staff that Camilla had wandered off and had gotten caught in the bushes, her injuries belonging to the sharp thorns.

Camilla knew better than to tell the butler the truth. She knew that, like her family, the members of the household adored her sisters and knew they wouldn't believe her words. No doubt her sisters were busy telling her about what a clumsy oaf she was to let herself to be injured like that. To make matters worse, the butler informed her that the damage to her face was severe and that despite the doctor's best efforts, she would remain scarred for life.

Tears began to fall as she got out of bed. Her hands reached for the bandages and removed them. She could barely recognize herself as she stared in the mirror. The deep, horrid scars had destroyed her beauty. Only her purple eyes let her know she was staring at Camilla Amethyst.

"What a shame…."

She didn't even need to turn around to know that Penelope was standing in the doorway. "I wonder what Mama will think when she sees your horrid face. Maybe she'll do what father suggested and send you away." Walking into the room, Penelope leaned forward and whispered into her sister's ear. "Oh, and if you tell Mama or Papa where those scars really came from, Marisha and I will give you plenty more…" she threatened. "I'd start packing now if I were you…ugly," the girl taunted before walking out of the room.

Camilla stared at the mirror's reflection before wailing in agony, knocking the mirror to the ground. Ignoring the broken mirror, Camilla ran out of the room and into the garden. "Why?!" she sobbed as she knelt by the fountain, looking at her horrible image. "What did I do to deserve this?" Burying her face in her hands, she wept and wished that her mother was here to console her. "I wish I had magic! I'd make them pay! It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!" she shouted at the world.

And then the world spoke back.

"Then why not make it fair?"

Looking up, Camilla saw a knight standing before her, his golden armor shimmering in the bright sun. "Who…who are you?" she asked, sniffling as she stared up at the knight's handsome face. The man offered the girl his hand and he helped her up. "Why are you here?"

"Whatever is the matter, my dear?" the man asked, not looking at the girl's scars but at her pained eyes. In truly chivalrous fashion he offered her his handkerchief. "Here, dry your eyes. Pretty girls like you shouldn't cry."

Wiping her eyes, Camilla shook her head. "I'm not pretty…my sisters made me ugly! I hate them!"

Kneeling down, the knight looked the young girl up and down before smiling. "I see. They have magic and you don't."

"Uh huh…"

Reaching into the sack he was carrying, the man revealed a shiny red apple. "Why don't we fix that, my dear?"

"With an apple?" Camilla asked, confused.

He held the apple out to her. "Eat this and you will never again have to be powerless before your sisters."

Taking the apple, Camilla looked at it. The fruit looked exquisite, like it had been just picked. More than that, Camilla could feel something compelling about it, as if there was a voice in her head telling her to eat it. With shaking hands, she lifted the apple to her lips. The shining knight grinned when he heard the satisfying crunch of her bite, followed by the swallow.

Before she could even blink, Camilla felt something within her pulse, as if something within her had been awakened. And it didn't feel good. "What…what was that apple?" she gasped, dropping the fruit. But it had been too late to back away now; Camilla's soul had now been tainted by sin. Her body stiffened and her neck snapped forward. The knight watched as Camilla's fair skin paled and her beautiful purple eyes became poisoned with murky yellow. In the span of several minutes, Camilla was no more.

Envy had been born….

Two days later….

Maria hurried on horseback, praying that her children were alright. She'd received no word from the manor and had decided to return quickly against her husband's wishes. She'd been informed of Camilla's accident and knew that her sisters played a hand in it, but her husband had told her they'd deal with them when they returned. Still, she knew her husband's punishment would be too lenient.

Her heart trembled when she saw the smoke. Cresting a hill, her eyes widened in horror when she saw that her home was in flames. "Penelope! Marisha! Camilla!" Praying that her daughters were still alive, Maria spurred her horse onward.

The flames were blazing out of control when Maria approached her home. "GIRLS!" she screamed, trying to brave the inferno in front of her. "Penelope! Marisha! Camilla! Girls! Where are you?!" she shouted, hoping that her daughters would answer her. "Where is everyone?" she said, not seeing anyone trying to put out the fires. Turning towards the garden, she grabbed a fallen bucket and ran for the fountain. She made it three steps into the garden before she dropped the bucket and screamed in horror.

Penelope and Marisha lay on the ground dead, their bodies impaled with red and blue crystals through their hearts. "NO! MY CHILDREN!" she screamed, the grieving mother running towards her daughters. Scooping them up, Maria cradled her dead children, unable to believe this was happening. "Camilla…where's Camilla?" she said while looking around.

"Mama…."

Whirling around, Maria saw her daughter standing in a burning archway, the burning house behind her making her yellow eyes glint evilly. "C-Camilla?" Maria gasped, unable to believe what she was seeing. "What have you done?"

Giggling, Envy held up a hand. In an instant, a doll made out of purple crystal appeared in the shape of her sister, Penelope. "I wanted to play with them, just like they played with me. Too bad they weren't good at playing…" she said.

Rising to her feet, Maria held out her hand to subdue Envy. She had no idea what had happened to Camilla but she had to stop her somehow. "Crystal stasis!" she shouted, intending to trap her daughter in crystal until she could reverse whatever it was that happened to her. When nothing happened, she looked at her hand before realizing she had no magic within her at all. "What? Camilla, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shouted, horrified at the look in her daughter's eyes.

"What's the matter, Mama?" Envy said as she slowly walked towards her mother. "I finally have magic. Your magic…." She held up her hand and a purple figured of Maria appeared. "Would you like to play with my new dolls, Mama?"

"Camilla…"Maria backed away, only to stumble and fall. "Camilla, don't!" she pleaded as her daughter stood over her.

"NOOOOOOO!"

To be continued

A.N.: Good lord, that turned out darker than what I thought it would be….