Chapter 2 - Friend
Written by LastationLover5000 and Demod20
It towered over her. Standing before Wendy was a shadow black mass; a gargantuan demon composed entirely of quivering blackness. Its eyes, a staggering pure white, gleamed, contrasting against the darkness that constituted the entirety of its form. The visage of this creature — constantly shifting, phasing, and never able to be clearly defined by her mind — terrified the young girl even moreso than its size, and she found herself rooted to the spot.
Then the entity roared. And the sound left the girl petrified more still; it was horrible, an unearthly shout from another world. Wendy's body trembled, her legs felt like jelly; when the beast turned its attention to her, Wendy's only action was to let out a barely stifled whimper, tears flooding her eyes. The shadow demon's clawed hand reached downward, snatching Wendy up from the ground, causing her eyes to widen with shock and surprise. Squirming, the girl looked to and fro for help, shivering in
horrified fear.
Wendy was lowered towards a gaping maw — a clear, vivid red amid the filtering shadows — steaming hot breath impacting Wendy's struggling form; she could smell the sweet, rotting stench of a carnivore. The tongue, dark purple, reached outwards, twisting and bending around her body as it drew her into the cavernous mouth. Unable to fight against the strength of the muscle holding pulling her firmly towards the creature's throat, Wendy accepted a terrifying fact.
She was going to die.
Gasping heavily, Wendy sat bolt upright in bed, her body sweating, feeling as if she'd just run a mile. Blinking rapidly, the girl glanced around; she was laying in a bed, tucked away in some strange room that she didn't recognise. But she was mercifully alive. Whatever that had been, it was nothing more than a nightmare. Wendy placed a hand to her chest, desperately reaffirming the fact that she was indeed still alive when she felt her heart pulsating madly.
I...I'm alive...but where am I...?
Wendy's eyes scanned the area; it was a small room with stonework flooring and walls that had the feeling of being cleaned once every few days. It was dimly lit, but as her eyes adjusted, Wendy could see it was sparsely decorated. The room hardly felt lived in. Moving her hand around the bed, Wendy felt it was empty. Wherever she was, Charle was nowhere to be found, and this simply made Wendy even more uneasy.
"Charle!" Wendy called out into the gloom.
No response.
"Charle! Where are you?!" Wendy's voice, stronger than it had been back on the island where she'd awoken before, was tinged with panic and desperation. Her call was greeted by unbroken silence. Wendy slid out of the bed, her bare feet touching the cold stones of the floor. This was, besides her voice, the only noise she'd heard since waking up and it did little to comfort her. Standing at her full height, she was able to get a slightly better view of the room, she could see in closer relief the scattered pieces of furniture. To her left was the door that she assumed led out; it was sturdy, made of mahogany — or so it smelled to the young Slayer.
Wendy realised that she still found if difficult to stand; her legs were rebelling against her, the young girl's muscles weak. She felt much older than she actually was, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Wendy hobbled to the door as quick as her weakened body would allow, and it opened with the ease of turning the handle. She walked out into an empty corridor — made of the same stone that her room had been constructed with — and realised that she was still very much alone.
I have to find Charle... Wendy's thoughts were frantic. Everyone else is gone...please don't leave me too, Charle...!
Wendy turned left, edging herself along the wall. She proceeded by touch, due to a lack of any real light, and her eyes adjusted to the further darkness. Several doors adorned the wall of the corridor, spaced sporadically from one another; an inactive part of Wendy's brain had to assume this was a residential floor. "Charle!" Wendy shouted again the name of her companion, the response once again being silent. "Charle, are you here? Where are you?!"
Continuing to navigate the hallway, Wendy could see a faint shine of light clinging to the side of the wall. The blue-haired girl's eyes fell upon an arched window; the sunlight was practically blinding after the darkness of the hallway. Giving her eyes time to recover, Wendy reached the window and looked into the outside world. A city spread out below her, initially appearing as a massive, scattered jumble of shapes she couldn't immediately discern. White buildings jutted out to the sky in between flecks of green, yet she could see hints of smaller, more homely dwellings closer to the window. Roads twisted and looped around the town like rivers of stone, and Wendy could see the bustling shapes of people.
Wherever she was, at least it was civilisation. This was a slight relief to Wendy, who turned away from the window...
...to come face to face with a child.
The child was a head shorter than Wendy, with dark crimson hair, done up in a ponytail, staring at her with exuberant blue eyes. She was, if anything, brighter than the light pouring out of the window behind Wendy, dressed in a simple shirtdress of pinks and blues. She tilted her head quizzically, owlish eyes blinking in rapid succession.
"Um..." Wendy was taken aback by the strange child. Brown eyes stared into blue, and she tried to phrase the question without sounding impolite. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sherria!" replied the girl brightly. "Everyone is looking for you!"
Deserted Island
Hope.
It's what Doranbolt - code named 'Mest' while infiltrating Fairy Tail on behalf of the Magic Council - felt upon finding a faint trace of Ethernano within the ocean. Where the mass of Aura that made up the infamous guild of Fiore's mages had once presided, they and their sacred island of Tenrō had vanished in a single breath spell from the Black Winged Apocalypse. Once it had dispatched its quarry, Acnologia had left to the horizon, leaving no trace of its vector nor an idea where it was intending to be next.
That was, after combing the sea for the following day, they had found something. It was essentially a trace of unusual magic that was discharged in the air, and dispersed into the tumultuous sea below. The agents for the Council scoured for an exact feed, but couldn't find anything precise. With this lead, though, he had left Lahar behind to continue searching for anything else while he went in the estimated location the burst of magic was sent.
Luckily for the teleporter, he had found something.
It had taken him the better part of the following day, of course, but he saw signs of actual disturbance of the earth where something small and even smaller still had lied on the soil. The magic was fresh, barely a day old at best.
"A survivor! It must be!" He thought, blinking as he shoveled through the ground, trying to see if something had perhaps been buried.
Sure enough, after his sleeves were stained by blotches of brown, the crimson-striped topped man withdrew a long strand of bloodied wrapping. A bandage!
"A bandage...a small form the size of a toddler...and a smaller than average sized human...this can only mean-!"
A sudden crackling sound came from the satchel slung around his left shoulder. A muffled voice was calling for him, and he knew whom it belonged. Reaching into the leather container he withdrew a crystal sphere - a Communications Lacrima - and it showed an immediate transparent image of bespectacled, teal-white robed man in charge of the Rune Knights himself; Lahar.
"Doranbolt, I have news," He intoned with a cagey expression on his face. "During our search we have found not a sign that the rest of the Fairy Tail Guild has survived. Not a hint of magical energy of theirs, nor the abundant life force that made up the island, can be found. It is likely it was completely annihilated, down to the last atom."
"Please don't tell me things I already know," The scarred man grimaced, his hand clutching at the orb with barely restrained emotion he had repressed inside of himself. The guilt, the gnawing sensation that he had done nothing to save anyone. But now, he had a lead and a promise that not all was lost. "I had already found signs that something resembling a survivor had assuredly made landfall off the coast of Fiore. Tracking them from here will be difficult, but not impossible-"
"That's the other thing," Lahar cut him off, holding a hand up to the sphere of his own that he had set up on a pedestal on the ship he was operating at. "Apparently, a guild operating near your location known as Lamia Scale has reported taking in a member of Fairy Tail into their custody. They haven't been able to contact her peers so they sent a notification to one of our nearby branches whom notified us."
Withdrawing a piece of paper, he began to read off the message in its entirety, "Due to the absence of immediate comrades, we are nursing an unconscious Mage of Fairy Tail back to health. We don't know the cause of injuries but it is safe to say that there had likely been a violent altercation. Once she awakens, we will try to find out the truth but until then, please let us know if you can find anything else out for us. With earnest haste, Guild Master Ooba."
"Lamia Scale," Doranbolt whispered, his eyes already looking towards the mainland with a fixed stare in the distance. "I know where to go next. Thanks, Lahar."
"Wait, don't you want me to tell you the description of the Mage-?"
"I don't need it," He dismissed, deactivating the Lacrima and placing it into his satchel. "Please be who I think you are...!"
And, in a flash, he disappeared; off to Lamia Scale to confirm his singular hope.
Lamia Scale Guild Building, Fiore
Much to her surprise, Wendy felt herself being pulled along by this small, red-headed child. She'd said her name was Sherria, and that everyone was looking for her, but she hadn't bothered to clarify a thing before she grabbed Wendy by the hand and began to tug. Too exhausted to resist, Wendy let herself be pulled, and had to wonder where exactly the girl was taking her — and with such enthusiasm? The fact that the emotion of happiness seemed alien, foreign to her now; a lifetime away. Wendy didn't enjoy this.
"You said you're Sherria...?" inquired Wendy. "Where are we?"
"That's right!" replied Sherria. "I'm Sherria! And you're Wendy, right?"
"Y-Yes, but I'm still confused as to where I am!" Wendy's confusion was mounting, and her inability to cope with the girl's energy level felt like it was already beginning to wear on her. She was smiling so cheerfully, Wendy could only compare it to a blinding shine of light. "Please, I want to know where I am! And have you seen my friend, Charle?!"
"This is the Lamia Scale Guild!" Sherria chirped. "I live here with everyone, though they won't let me join the Guild yet!" She grinned broadly. "When I get bigger, I'm going to join, just like my big cousin! And I'll be a powerful Mage!"
Lamia Scale... The name of the guild triggered something in the back of Wendy's brain. It took a moment for the name to register, but Wendy remembered remembered the name of the Guild from the Oración Seis debacle — back when she'd originally met Natsu, Erza, and Lucy, as well as the members of Blue Pegasus. The faces of Erza, Natsu, and Lucy swam in front of Wendy's mind; the warm, kind smiles of her friends that she would never see again. Tears began to well up in Wendy's eyes again, and her sniffling caught the attention of the young girl pulling her hand. Sherria stopped pulling, turning round and looking up at Wendy.
"Are you OK, Miss Wendy?"
Wendy blinked, slightly abashed at someone younger than her, even if it didn't look to be more than a few years difference, being concerned for her. "I...I'm sorry. I just don't know how to deal with everything I'm going through...I lost people very important to me...and it's my fault...!" The tears began to flow again without stopping, and Wendy was unable to stifle the emotions rising up in her body again.
A small hand brushed against her cheek, swiping the tears away with a gentle motion. "That's why everyone wants to see you, Miss Wendy! You lost the people who loved you, but Lamia Scale wants to help you! And helping people gives birth to new love...or so my cousins says!" She added the last bit honestly, though the sincerity in her voice was clear from the first word. "You don't need to cry when you have people to help you!"
Fighting against the cold, hellish feeling in the pit of her heart was a warmth that followed this statement. The message spouted by the young Sherria was the ideal at the heart of any guild, one that Fairy Tail especially lived, breathed, and slept by; the bonds that tied people together. More willingly, Wendy allowed Sherria to take her hand and begin to pull her along the stonework walls towards a new hallway, and a flight of stairs. The sounds of voice — which she should have heard, given her Dragon Slayer's senses — made her little ears twitch.
"There's...people?"
Sherria pulled Wendy eagerly down the flight of steps, leading towards a circular common room, not unlike the bar at the Fairy Tail guild. Unlike her home, however, Lamia Scale's meeting room was made of the same grey stonework that constructed the rest of the building, held up further by pillars of a different kind of stone; various tables were scattered about, and Wendy could see several people seated at each table, speaking seriously with one another. The addition of her footsteps, along with Sherria's, indicated to everyone that new arrivals had entered the room. Heads turned, eyes scanned the room; when everyone saw Wendy, the energy changed from serious conversation to absolute silence, and every individual adopted a manner indicative of being at the sickbed of a close friend.
"Um..." Wendy stood blankly, her eyes traveling over the entire room. The young Dragon Slayer hadn't expected so many people to be in the same room, and froze up nervously. "I..."
"Now, now, let us not scare the young one," a deep, reassuring voice sounded out over the silence; the imposing figure of a muscular, bad man stood tall over the sitting figures. He walked through the room easily, and Wendy felt a giant, yet gentle hand on her shoulder. "I am pleased to see you well again, Wendy Marvell. It has been some time since we last met."
A much younger man with a shock of silver hair walked forward astride Jura, whose face was stern, spoke as well. "It really has been awhile, Wendy. Not since the incident with Oración Seis and Nirvana. I'm sorry we picked you up in such a sorry state, but I'm glad to see you're finally moving around."
"J-Jura...L-Lyon...?" The relief that accompanied familiarity welled up in Wendy's heart, her eyes beginning to mist with tears again. Forcibly, she held them back this time, quickly wiping her eyes to put on a brave face. "It's...good to see you again...!" She did mean it, earnestly, but her current emotional turmoil kept this reunion from being truly happy. "So this is Lamia Scale..." She hadn't wanted to doubt little Sherria, but part of her had wondered if the child hadn't been one hundred percent truthful. That part of her deeply regretted mistrusting the girl. "Um...have you all seen Charle?"
"Your cat?" inquired Jura. "Ah, yes. The little thing is in quite a state, Wendy. She exhausted all of her magical power and still pushed herself to the limit...all in order to get you here. It's been three days since you two arrived and we took you in; the both of you were unconscious for that entire time, and your cat is still recovering from overexertion of her magical power."
Charle...did all that for me...?! Wendy felt torn inside; first, everyone lost their lives to the dragon assault on Tenrō Island, and now Charle had risked her own life to save Wendy's. The young Dragon Slayer forced her trembling body to steady itself. "I can use healing magic...please, bring Charle to me...!"
Jura and Lyon led Wendy to an empty table, where she sat quietly. After a moment's continued silence, in which the Guild Members didn't have the will to break it, a beautiful woman with long, flowing red hair walked over towards Wendy, holding the figure of an unconscious Charle in her arms. This woman was another Lamia Scale mage that Wendy recognised; Sherry Blendy. A dull realisation struck Wendy; the little Sherria must be related to Sherry, perhaps the 'cousin' that she had mentioned. Too exhausted to comment on it, Wendy took Charle into her arms, and inhaled deeply.
A dull, jewel-like glow, hued green, spread from Wendy's arm towards Charle, enveloping her in its soft light.
"This...is your healing magic?" asked Sherria, who had been remarkably silent upon handing the Exceed to its partner. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more for Charle, Wendy. Our Guild doesn't have any sort of support Mage," She added as an aside. "But we were able to keep her stable with what we have! But it looks like what she needs now is you — you love this little cat, and I'm sure with your love, she'll be right as rain!"
Wendy nodded firmly, her face set. This was the first real task she'd performed since the attack on Tenrō Island, and she worried desperately that something might slip. Her abilities were not god-like, but they were simple and easy to execute; the cleanest air healed the deepest wounds. Focusing, Wendy applied her abilities to relieve her faithful companion of the stress that had been applied not only to her muscles, but to the physical organ which controlled an individuals ability to use magic. Charle...should be recovering on her own...just how far did she push herself?!
The Guild remained silent while Wendy worked, and it was after several long, hushed moments did the young Dragon Slayer look up towards the observant Mages. She exhaled, a long, deep release of breath that usually left one who had not inhaled in a disproportionately long amount of time. "Charle is...fine..." Her eyes began to swim again, looking up at everyone. "T-Thank you, for keeping her safe...I don't know what I'd have done if I'd lost Charle too..."
"Please Wendy, don't mention it," replied Lyon, showcasing an characteristic kindness that Wendy had come to expect when he wasn't dealing with Gray. "But that does bring us to the topic at hand...all of us here would like to know. What happened to the rest of Fairy Tail? How did you wind up outside our Guild?" The hushed silence became, if possible, more tenses. Every face in the room was on Wendy — Jura, Sherry, Yuka and Toby — and even Sherria seemed to show a hint of curiosity.
"Shouldn't this wait, Lyon?" inquired Jura. "Until the Master returns?"
"She's meeting with Fairy Tail's acting Guild Master right now," replied Lyon tersely. "News of the tragedy on Tenrō Island travels fast, given the Council was there to observe the events. But secondhand accounts are unreliable...and I believe I had a right to know, when Gray is concerned."
Sherry placed a hand gently on Wendy's shoulder. "Please, Wendy? I know it's hard to talk about, when you lose those you love...but Fairy Tail were our comrades as well...We'd like to know."
Had Charle been awake, she surely would have saved Wendy from this. She'd have snapped at Lyon, Jura, and Sherry in turn, barking at them to leave Wendy alone until she was ready to talk about it, and that would be the end of it. For such a small feline, Charle was very persuasive. But she wasn't conscious; she lay fast asleep in Wendy's arms, recovering. Clutching the Exceed for the emotional support she needed, Wendy swallowed the hesitation building in her throats.
Her friends were gone. And it was up to her to let everyone know. So their memory could be grieved for properly.
Thus, Wendy began to speak. She didn't cry this time. Her voice was hollow and weak, even as she explained how Acnologia, the Black Dragon himself, had descended upon Tenrō and laid waste to the entire battalion of Guild Members who were with her on the island. Only when Wendy described the feeling of terror she'd experienced when Acnologia released its breath weapon, and how she'd been flung away and knocked unconscious, did her voice finally quaver.
"It's amazing that you and Charle survived a direct hit..." Yuka was stunned, his narrow eyes widening. "It's almost a miracle..."
"A miracle of love," chimed in Sherry, to which Sherria nodded emphatically. "Perhaps the love of her guild mates saved her from the attack."
"Whatever the reason, to think that the tales of Acnologia were true. Even if it wasn't the The Black Dragon in the Book of Apocalypse himself, a dragon attack on the island of Tenrō cannot go unacknowledged," said Jura gravely. "I will contact the Master through Lacrima later. The Council must be made aware of this."
"That is worrisome..." muttered Lyon, who had suddenly managed to ditch his overcoat and shirt, showing off a remarkable bare chest. "To think that the bulk of Fairy Tail would be snuffed out so unexpectedly by a Dragon. It's almost too unreal..."
"We're glad you agree, Lyon," nodded Toby, his face switching from calm to incredulous in an instant. "But did you need to strip here, Lyon?!"
"Regardless," Jura cleared his throat gruffly. "Our primary goal now is Wendy's safe return to her Guild. The handling of this Acnologia, and other matters, can be worried about once she is safely back among her own."
"In that case, I would ask that you leave that task to me," the voice that spoke next did not belong to a single person who was already in the room. It was a different voice, and Wendy Marvell recognised it immediately.
"I-It's you-" Wendy choked out, her voice stuck on reflex to say the name she had thought was the man's name. Instead, the scarred, short-haired man with a striped high collared shirt of red and yellow wasn't who everyone thought he was. He wasn't 'Mest' but someone the Council sent to spy on the guild of Fairy Tail. She remembered him being convinced, albeit temporarily, to help fight Grimoire Heart but he eventually fled before...before...
As tears renewed, the azure haired girl found herself weeping again, though this time louder. The memories were still fresh, painful and she couldn't help but fall to her knees as she let the moisture slide hotly down her face.
The Lamia Scale members assembled looked on her with a mixture of sympathy and surprise, though no one had anything to really offer to help reassure her. Sherria knelt down to hug the older girl, patting her back to help show her unabashed good nature still rang true. While she continued to sniffle and cry, the scarred man's no-nonsense gaze he had come armed with had melted into something of regret. His bright eyes soaked in the sight, a part of his own self breaking on the inside and his mouth became a trembling grimace.
"I'm sorry...!"
Wendy felt herself hiccuping as she looked away from the younger girl comforting her and up at the standing man. She saw mud caked his boots and pants, his fingers dirtied just as much along the cusps of his bright coloured sleeves. Disheveled to a degree, she began to draw conclusions from it; she even saw something that resembled one of her old bandages still clinging to one of his hands that balled up into a shaking fist.
"I was...a coward. I could have done something, anything, to help prevent what happened," He continued to speak, his eyes looking away with shame. "Instead, I blindly followed orders and left you and your guild - no, your family - to such an awful fate."
She was so weak that she couldn't help but look on in a daze. From what she knew, despite disparagement sent his way by Natsu and others, he did all he could to help make sure she could live through it even trying to persuade her to run away. But she stood and fought with everyone, despite it all; then came the nightmare.
"Dude, can you take your shoes off-?"
"Wendy," Doranbolt, cutting off Toby's inane comment about his dirtied boots, fell to his knees and palmed the ground while bowing his head to the flooring of the guild's ground. "I can't presume to ask for forgiveness. However, what I can do from this point forward, is do whatever I can to help you! Whether you treat me as a shield, or a tool, it makes no difference to me. I must repent and this is the only way I see myself making up to what cruel fate I abandoned you to. Please, take me if you'll have me, or tell me you don't wish to see me again. Just say the word and I'll do anything to make it right!"
There was a long pause that was only offset by the rustling of weight and movement of fabric of the various people standing at attention. Sherry thought this man permeated a deep hurt, obviously feeling conviction from what had transpired that she wasn't privy to. Lyon looked to Jura, and the pair knew that this man had a different atmosphere to him than people normally associated with Fairy Tail; it was likely he was an outsider, or someone affiliated with the Council. Toby just glared at the man's dirty body getting soot all over the floor when he had busied himself cleaning it only hours ago.
Wendy finally stood up, and the scarred man tensed. Walking away from Sherry and her younger cousin, Wendy, still carrying Charle, patted her feet over to the man.
To his wincing surprise, he felt her free hand reach down and touch his filthy ones. Looking up, his eyes met hers, her red-stained face weak but showing a surprising strength past the pain she was feeling.
"I could use a friend," She spoke, her voice almost cracking as she smiled at him. "Can you help me with that?"
As his own tears began to flow down his face, his own face grimaced as he nodded, his voice etched with affirmation, "Of course! I'll...try to not let you down."
"As touching as this is..." Lyon inquired, coughing to interrupt the moment between the pair. "Who are you supposed to be?"
Wiping his face, Doranbolt helped Wendy stand upright as he faced them with her in front of him, "My name is Doranbolt. And I...was, acting as a member of the guild in secret, by the name of Mest. I work for the Magic Council. Its thanks to my coordination with their efforts that I managed to narrow down where she was."
"That explains your dreadful state," Sherry commented, her face blushing as she held a hand up to cover her mouth.
"And what does the Council want with Wendy?" Jura inquired, his arms crossing over his chest with a less than happy expression on his face.
"Nothing!" Doranbolt exclaimed, his hands crisscrossing in front of himself. "My job was only to observe and report. Even if I should find Wendy, I have no orders beyond that. I simply have to report my mission was successful."
"I see," Lamia Scale's Ace replied, unfolding his arms as he seemed to visibly relax. "So, you said when you entered that you can help her get back to her guild?"
"I have Teleportation Magic," Doranbolt explained, waving a hand with emphasis. "Since I've been to their guild hall before, I can make the trip in a single go. All I need is to have physical contact with Wendy and I'll bring her home."
"Impressive," Lyon spoke, somehow now bereft of his pants as he leaned back with his arms clasped over his chest without batting an eye that he stripped; much to the visible chagrin of his colleagues. "I can see why the Council values your skills so highly to act on your own."
"Yes...well...thanks, I suppose," Doranbolt replied, awkwardly scratching his chin at being praised, regardless of how passive aggressive it sounded.
After Wendy recollected herself, she grabbed a hold of Charle in her arms and bid everyone in Lamia Scale farewell. She thanked Sherria for making her feel welcome and the rest for having her as their guest for so long. Promising to see them soon when she can, Doranbolt places a hand on her shoulder and nods stoically at the others, thanking them for what they've done for Wendy.
And, in an instant, they vanished with no trace behind but the soil he left from his clothes on their floor.
"Toby," Lyon commented, patting the dog-cat man on his shoulder. "Time to clean that up."
"B-But it wasn't my fault!" He lamented.
A/N:
LastationLover5000: I do believe hell has frozen over. I never thought I'd ever be excited to write a Fairy Tail fanfic again, but with my favourite character of the series at the helm — and about eight arcs with at least rudimentary concepts all planned out thanks to my partner-in-crime — I have never been more excited to start a new fanfic, much less just to do anything Fairy Tail related. I wanted to get out a new chapter ASAP because I want our prospective dear readers to know this story is going to be right up there with Heart of Adventurers and The Erased Chronicles on our update schedule; this story means business and we're going to have a blast! I'm not going to lie, writing heavy moments is not my forte, and a lot of this chapter was very heavy; Wendy is still working through her emotional grief, and she's not going to get over it anytime soon. But with the mysterious Doranbolt as her benefactor, and the young girl returning to Fairy Tail, I think she'll be fine. This also marks the first appearance of Sherria Blendy, who will also become far more integral in the future. I do hope you all enjoyed this update; we'll be back as soon as we can with the next chapter, so until then, sit tight!
Demod20: And a new update, so soon after the most recent one too! Yes we want to let you know this story is going to be a persistently recurring one, that we promise you. As for what I wrote, we divided this chapter proportionately. My co-author worked on Wendy and her coping while being introduced and reintroduced to new faces and old. Little Sherria is so precious! I, on the other hand, worked on obscure Lahar and confusing man that he is, Doranbolt. Though he had a weird history (especially in the Anime), both character and design wise, I want him to be a more proactive and permanent member of the Main Cast for this story. I hope I did well to convey the amount of emotional weight this man had in seeing Wendy, devastated but alive and feeling the guilt from doing nothing to even help them when they needed it most. Well, I look forward to seeing where we take him, Wendy and the rest of the story forward!