Kane woke up, as he smelled burning. Leaping to his feet, he looked all around himself, before turning back to the burning village. Horrified, he stepped back, as he heard the screams ring out. And then he realized what was happening. It was the same nightmare that he'd been having, all over again. He wondered who was going to call out his name this time.
"Hello? Can anybody hear me?", he called out, as he had done always. "Anybody?"
And swiftly, the reply came back.
"HELP! HELP ME!", a woman shrieked, as Kane felt a strange tinge of relief. At least it wasn't the little kid this time. And despite the fact that he knew what was going to happen, he replied back.
"YEAH! I'M HERE!", he shouted back, as he entered the village, trying to avoid the flames and the debris. "WAIT RIGHT THERE!"
The woman continued screaming, as Kane quickly navigated through the embers. He knew he was running barefoot, and the wounds smarted, but he didn't seem to care. He needed to reach the source of the voice, no matter what. And all that he had to guide him there were the same agonizing cries.
"Please, don't be what I'm expecting.", the blue haired boy muttered under his breath, as he turned right, picking up the pace. But it was not to be. Yet again, when he finally thought he'd closed down on the source of the voice, They were waiting.
Kane woke up, with cold sweat over his forehead. 'Goddammit, I must have fallen asleep.', he thought, as he struggled out of the bed. His vision felt groggy, and as he looked around, recognizing the hospital room he was staying in. Well, it was a hospital room in name only, because the Rune Knights wanted to keep him under their supervision, while they collected the evidence against him. Not that they'd be able to find anything of substance.
"Is everything alright?", the guard outside the room peeked in, looking at him suspiciously. Kane scowled at him, before nodding. The guard nodded back, with the same surly expression. Kane looked outside the little window, as he realized it was still the middle of the night. He knew he wasn't going to go back to sleep, he never did when he had dreams.
Not for the past six years of his life that he remembered.
11th July X774
Thirteen year old Laxus Dreyar wiped his brow, as he continued looking for the Silver Beetle, a rare species found in Magnolia's East Forest, only during the month of July. Having accepted a job from a local zoo to find one to take the place of their own specimen, he had been hunting for an hour without luck. After all, the silver beetles were not only able to camouflage themselves, they could produce a near deadly sting, which was why Mages often took the job of searching such animals.
Tall for his age, with spiky blond hair and a distinctive, lightning bolt shaped scar running over his right eye, Laxus had been an Active Mage since the age of ten. Mentored by his grandfather, the Master of Fairy Tail as his father was a travelling S-Class Mage, Laxus had drastically improved his skills. However, he never thought such a seemingly simple job would be so frustrating.
"Damn it, where are these things?", he muttered under his breath, irritated by his lack of success. Minutes had turned to hours, and he still couldn't find a single trace of those cursed bugs. At his wit's end, he punched a tree, which most boys his age would have done, when similarly frustrated. The only difference was that Laxus's punch quite literally had the power of a thunder bolt, given that he was a Lightning Mage. And what was left of the tree was nothing but a hollow husk.
And as luck would have it, a silver beetle was living in the tree. Unfortunately, the species could grow to be half a foot long at times, and this particular insect was rather agitated, as it pounced on the young Mage. He backed away, and watched it unleash its wings, taking flight.
"Wait!", he yelled, as it flew away. "Get back here!"
Giving chase, he ran as fast as he could, all the while shooting small streaks of lightning from his hands. Unfortunately, the beetle was much too quick for him, and just as he was about to catch it, he tripped and fell. Getting up and dusting himself, he turned around angrily to look at the rock that he had tripped on, only to find out that it wasn't a rock, it was a kid.
A kid who also happened to be bleeding profusely.
Laxus screamed in fright, falling backwards. After all, even in his field of work it was rare to see dead bodies, and especially ones that had been mutilated so brutally. He considered running away for a split second, but stopped when he saw that the boy was wheezing, and possibly still alive.
"Okay, what do I do? What do I do?", he thought, sweating bullets. "Wait a minute, I could go to Porlyusica!"
Porlyusica, the Healing Mage was a veteran of Fairy Tail, who had been a comrade of the Guild Master, Makarov in his youth. While she had retired from public life, she still worked as a medical advisor to the guild. Thankfully, she lived in the East Forest itself. He house had been hidden away, to prevent intruders, and troublesome mages from disturbing her. However, his grandfather had told him the exact location where she lived.
Dragging the boy with him, Laxus felt himself strained by the effort. However, the boy's breathing became more irregular, which frightened Laxus even more.
"Please don't die on me.", he said, as he continued heaving him. It seemed that Laxus wouldn't be bring the boy with him in time, but an idea struck him.
"Lightning Body!", he cried, using one of his spells, as his body transformed into lightning. Lifting the boy, Laxus travelled across the forest, until he discovered the tree in which Porlyusica lived. Turning back into a himan, he let the boy down, before banging the door.
"PLEASE! OPEN THE DOOR!", he shouted, before an elderly woman with pink hair opened the door.
"What is it, boy?!", the ever grumpy woman yelled. "I've told you and the rest of your friends that I am not to be disturbed over any trivial matters!"
"It's not trivial, it's an emergency!", Laxus cried, pointing to the bleeding boy. "I found him while I was on a job, and he was bleeding all over!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get him inside!", she yelled, as both the old woman and the teen heaved the injured adolescent inside. Laying him down on a bed, she began applying the potions that had been prepared in advance for such situations.
"So is he gonna be alright? I found him in a pretty dire condition.", Laxus asked. "I hope I'm not too late, Por-"
"SILENCE! You're not going to be helping him with your babbling.", the doctor reprimanded the Lightning Mage. "In fact, it is best you wait outside."
"B-"
"Did I stutter?"
Laxus went out, still anxious about the boy's fate. It would be a while before Porlyusica came out of the house, with what appeared to be a relieved. expression.
"He's stable now. But he will be unconscious for a while.", she stated. Laxus sighed, knowing that everything had gone through smoothly. Going inside, he now had a clear look at the boy. When Laxus first saw him, the kid was red all over, his skin and hair covered in blood. But now that his wounds had been cleaned, sealed and bandaged, he looked much different. With long blue hair and dark skin, he looked a little younger than Laxus.
"What happened to him?", Laxus asked, as he shut the bedroom door.
"I'm not sure myself, but it seems that the attack didn't just harm his body, it harmed his very soul.", Porlyusica said.
"What do you mean?"
"Earlier, I thought this child wasn't a Mage, given I couldn't sense any Magic in his body. But as I healed him, I sensed something different. The flow of Magic in his body had been fragmented."
"What does that mean?"
"Magic is simply nothing but the physical embodiment of a Mage's spirit. And a healing mage like me can easily figure out how much Magic a person is carrying by sensing it's flow. But this is a special case. There is still Magic in his body, but it's rigid, and broken."
"Is that bad?"
"I don't know. This is the first time I've ever seen something like this."
As the two Fairy Tail Mages discussed the strange boy, they heard a scream. Not of pain, but of terror. Rushing in, they found the boy had woken up, and was breathing heavily. Shivering, he looked at them, terrified.
"W..Where am I?", the bewildered boy asked.
"You're safe. I found you in the forest, bleeding out, so I brought you here to Porlyusica-san's place.", Laxus said.
"Forest? No, that's not right. I was outside this village, and everything was on fire.", he sobbed. "And then I saw..I..I."
"What did you see?" Laxus asked.
"I don't know!", he cried. Laxus stared at Porlyusica, who looked equally as concerned.
"Are you alright?", Laxus asked.
"Y..Yeah. I think I just had a nightmare or something. But it felt so real!"
"Calm down. Whatever you saw, can't hurt you anymore.", Laxus said, with a reassuring grin.
"I guess.", the boy answered.
"Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Laxus."
"My name's Kane."
Hi everybody, AbandonedBy here with 'Mark Of Kane' chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and do follow and favorite if you did. And please, do review!