I couldn't wait. I was sitting on the edge of my chair.
"Yes, I do." whispered Cobra, almost lovingly. "And no one and nothing will save you this time."
His grip tightened around her throat, and, Dalila felt with horror his skin turning into scales.
But she was not giving in so easily. I don't want to die!
She had survived a long century trapped in a crystal in a cave. I won't die now! She had started all over again, in another time, and another place, far from when and where she belonged. I won't die here! And she was determined to not let Cobra end her life now.
At least, not without fighting for it. Her hand reached the wrist of the poison slayer, pulling, scratching. She was hissing like and animal, trying to break free.
Cobra let out an amused chuckle. It was like fighting with a puppet, really. I rarely had a job so easy.
He got hold of one of her hand, so tightly Dalila felt her bones cracking. She fought even more fiercely, feeling sharp nails dipping in the skin of her neck. I am not... dying!
But breathing was getting harder and harder any second, and her vision was starting to get blurred. I don't... I don't want to die! She pressed her free hand against Cobra's chest, trying desperately to push him away, but it was like trying to move a wall.
She could hear his laugh vibrating under her hand. He was playing with her. She had no hope, against the dragon slayer.
Hey! A thought popped in her mind, simple and clear. But I am a dragon slayer as well!
Cobra was strong, and possessed skills beyond her imagination, and was covered in scales, and so what? She could fly, and already one time she had escaped him. I am a dragon slayer! she thought again, I am a dragon slayer, the wind dragon slayer!
And then, as if it had been only waiting to hear her call, the wind came to her.
Through the fissures in between the boards on the floor, howling it came in loads from the open window, and even from the cracks of the door closet behind her. Hissing, rolling and crying, it came to her aid like a trusty friend, surrounding her, circling around her limbs and body, running in her hair and filling her lungs.
Cobra felt a wave of power surge in the wind slayer, and he saw thick, white and silver threads rushing towards the girl. He could have fought them, but once again, the wind dragon slayer had caught him off-guard, leaving him too little time to react.
The wind washed him away from Dalila, grasping his fingers and arms, dragging him back and slamming him on the wall on the opposite side of the room.
"Ahh!" Finally free, Dalila took one, two huge breaths. She was free. Her neck was hurting, sure it was going to leave a livid. But she could breath again, and that for now was the most important thing, she thought, swallowing a huge mouthful of wind.
Dalila was feeling the wind swirling around her, and this time, she knew she could master it. It was her herself the wind. It was her body and will. She was the wind dragon slayer, and like when Natsu covered himself with flames, Dalila was coated with a soft, silver gleaming, and it was her the source of the wind now. Inside her, she cried with joy. You were not expecting this, uh-hu?
She had little to exult, though. She seemed to have forgotten what wickednesses Cobra was capable of.
Only one so wretched and hurt could conceive cruel ways to break his opponents, like the one Cobra had in mind to pull out. It had always been his ace in the hole, something he had learned to use to his advantage. Another way of hurting, that was not physical. Making his enemies taking themselves down with their own hands.
He bought himself a few seconds, standing up slowly, much more slowly than he could have. The wind slayer couldn't see the maliciousness of his smirk, hidden behind his red lock, but of course, she smelled it. Soul Hearing magic, rushing towards her, passing thought the wind, more impalpable than air. \textit{No!} she cried in her mind, defenceless against that attack.
Cobra dipped himself in her soul, diving back in time, soaking in that mix of melodies and silences, and listened. And he heard them. He heard them all...
... A little girl was sitting on the piano. She was maybe six or seven, and blonde curls were shining in the light of the morning. She was playing a song, and Dalila was sitting next to her, moving her hands and keeping the tempo for the kid. "Very good, Anne!" she said when the song was finished. "You have improved a lot!"
The girl turned her head, and smiled brightly. "It's because you are the best teacher, Miss Dalila!"
Dalila chuckled, and stroke the head of the child gently. "Oh dear! You know you can call me Lale!" The nickname her sister had given her when they were kids was silly, but Dalila like it so much...
... "Lale! Lale! Sing a song for us, please!" two young boys were pleading her, jumping up and down, with big grins on their faces. "Please!"
Dalila smiled. Her pupils were so cute. "Ok, ok! Which song do you want?"
"The pirate song!" cried the two in unison. "And we will sing with you!" stated one, with his big, brown eyes glinting with happiness...
... "Laleeee!" Two boys about her age were running towards her. Her heart warmed just at the sight of her friends. "Jared! Jean!" she waved her hand.
"We have been looking for you for ages!" said the taller on. "Come on, or we won't get any berries!"
Dalila laughed merrily, and run after them. "Coming!"...
He was seeing them. Dozens of smiling faces, calling the name of 'Lale'. Memories warming as the summer sun, bubbling laughs like a rolling brook, and soft, caressing voices, lulling her to sleep when she was crying alone in her room at Fairy Hills.
Memories of the people she had met. Memories of her family and friends, of her pupils and of her previous life. Memories that were giving her the strength to wake up every day and smile.
Because if she had been happy once, she could have been again, right?
Cobra chuckled darkly. He despised them, all those people, that had built that body of confidence and hope Dalila was relying on. He hated all of them, for being so loving, so gentle. He was going to destroy those memories, make Dalila hate them, all of them, run away from those sweet memories, calling the name of 'Lale'...
... A plump woman stopped her on the street. "Oh, Miss Dalila! I wanted to thank you, my Sybyl is so happy with her piano lectures! I haven't seen a kid so involved in all my life, I can tell you!"
Dalila smiled kindly, her heart filled with joy. "I am happy to hear it, Mrs Pie! Sybyl is an incredibly talented child! I am glad to be her teacher!"
The woman squeezed her shoulder. "No, it's us who must thank you! She is always talking about you, 'Lale' here, 'Lale' there! She's so happy to be your pupil, so happy!"...
... The kid squeezed her in a tight hug. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"For what, honey?" Dalila smiled fondly at the kid, caressing his red hair.
"For being so a kind and pretty teacher!" the kid looked up at her. "You are the best, Lale!"...
Dalila was still feeling, smelling, his magic all around her. She saw Cobra first grimacing in disgust, then smiling evilly. He was listening to her soul!
"Stop it!" she ordered angrily, but the poison slayer didn't listened to her. His smile grew, as he was busy listening to something else...
... She was walking with two girls on a field. They were arm in arm, giggling about something one had said. "And so, Lale, what did you said to him? You kissed?"
"I won't tell!" giggled Dalila, putting a hand on her mouth.
"Yes, you will!" "Come on, Lale, we want to know!" surrounded by her girlfriends, Dalila blushed and put a hand on her mouth, as her heart started to race at the memory...
... A girl was lying on a bed. She had raven hair, but her eyes were shining like two diamonds. "Would you play something for me?" she asked with a weak smile.
Dalila heart skipped a beat, seeing her sister finally able to talk, after months of soft murmurs and long silences. "Sure!" she said happily. "What do you wish me to play, sister?"
"Oh, anything you like!" the girl on the bed let out a small laugh."It doesn't matter really! I just love so much hearing you playing the piano, Lale!"...
"Stop it!" growled again the wind dragon slayer. The wind rushed over Cobra, swiping his face.
But the poison slayer, now standing tall on his feet, and he threw his head back, laughing. The wind passed over him, and when his laugh died, he turned to face her.
"You shouldn't be so defiant with me... Lale."
Dalila froze.
"What?" 'Lale'? She remembered that nickname, all too well. But why was Cobra calling her like that? What did he wanted now?
"What I want?" he said casually. "Oh, nothing. I just found it... It's a pretty nickname."
Dalila started to feel her chest getting heavier. "You have no right of calling me like that." 'Lale' was a nickname for her pupils, for her friends and her family. Not for him. And it had been buried long, long ago, in a cave of an old mine, and Dalila wanted it to stay there. Lale was no more.
"Me?" Cobra looked surprised. "But it's not me calling you that."
And then, the name exploded in her head. "Lale!" "Lale!" "Thank you, Lale!" "You are the best, Lale!"
Dalila heard them. Voices she remembered sounded in her mind. "Lale!" "Sing a song, Lale!" Calling her, giggling happily. All of them, she heard all of them...
"Stop it!"
Her mind crushed, collapsing over itself. "Lale!" "You play so well, Lale!" She could give a name to each one of those voices, deafening her. And memories she had locked away flooded her mind. She tried to pushed them away, begged them to let her alone, but it was of no use. More came, and under the triumphant gaze of the poison slayer, a tear escaped her eyes.
To Cobra, it was immensely delightful to hear Dalila's soul shutting down, silent as if she was dead. And then, exploding in aching pain, at the remembrance of what she had lost.
Because those memories calling her name meant one, and one thing, and that was that no one was going to call her 'Lale' anymore. Gone... they are all gone! Even it was just a name, and a silly thing really, it was by that simple, insignificant detail that she knew that all the people she had known and loved were out of her reach, forever.
Cobra chuckled again. His amusement would not be complete if she stayed alive after that. Now, he was ready to finish her. No thought of Fairy Tail, his team, or Master Makarov crossed his mind. Fairy Tail was a distant reality, a party going on just behind that kitchen door, noisy and chaotic, to the point no one of the fairies had even heard them.
Perfect. thought Cobra, slowly advancing towards Dalila. She had shut her eyes, and was still surrounded with wind, but her power was not nearly enough to fight him.
"Don't worry, Snow White," murmured Cobra, "you shall not miss them for long. I will help you reach them!"
For a moment, he considered that maybe he was about to make a mistake, but he pushed that thought away. He lifted his scaled arm, ready to tore Dalila to pieces.
However, the wind slayer surprised him again.
Her head snapped up. Her eyes were filled with tears, but Cobra saw the fury shattering those perfect diamonds. The wind around her increased its fury, spreading all over the room, knocking on the floor plates and bowls, and it surrounded Cobra, entangling in his hair, swiping under his clothes and grazing his skin.
Angered beyond measure, without bothering of controlling herself anymore, and without really knowing what she was about to do, but just knowing by instinct that she could do it, Dalila raised her hands and spoke. "Don't you dare call that name ever again!" she cried, "Because I can hear you as well!"
The wind howled in response. "I can hear you..." she growled, as silver threads dancing frantically among her fingers.
What was that meaning? She couldn't hear him! That was absurd! No one could...
Cobra drew a step back, enveloped by gusts of winds, that his scales could not stop from running over his skin. He had the scary sensation it was getting under his skin, searching for something, going way more deeper than just clothes... He felt it swirling on his scars, and they hurt, for a terrible moment, as if the wind had opened them again. And then, it passed away, going back to its master.
There was a moment of quietness, in which both of them held their breath, one too surprised to speak, the other overwhelmed with anger and pain.
And then, without really knowing how, Dalila tore the wind, freeing the sounds trapped among its folders, and the room filled with screams.
"Please! I am begging you!" a man was heard crying. "Not my child... Take me, not my child!" a woman sobbed. A strangled cry, like a slaughtered animal. Another man whimpering like a wounded beast. A woman letting out small, hysterical cries.
Screams of pain, of horror, of fear deafened the slayers.
Cobra gasped, looking frantically around. From where did they come from? He didn't know those men and women, who they were. "What the fuck..."
"Please poison slayer, I will do... I will do anything!" the plea resonated in the room, and a cruel laugh followed. Cobra felt his heart pounding more furiously, as the laugh filled his ears. He knew it too well.
It was his own.
A sense of suffocation overcame him, as more and more voices filled the kitchen, and he heard himself laughing mockingly at those desperate people begging him. "No, stop! Please!" "Co-Cobra?" "It hurts!" and he heard himself cackling, mocking those desperate beings begging him. "No!" "I am innocent, I swear!" "Don't! Oh my god, don't!"
This is it. Dalila thought, as the spell she had called unfolded in front of her eyes, growing in strength. She felt satisfied and proud, for giving the poison slayer what he deserved. "Memories for memories!" she cried angrily. "This is what you get for calling me 'Lale'!" The name burned on her tongue, and new tears came to her eyes. "And don't you dare... Don't you dare come even close to me ever again!"
But Cobra was not paying attention to her. His heart had stopped, his skin had itched, and all the scars he had on his body were suddenly burning, when he heard another man voice raise above the others.
No, no, NO! Cobra fell on his knees, pressing harder on his ears. It couldn't be. Not again, please!
Behind the tears in her eyes, Dalila saw the poison slayer falling, pressing his hands on his ears, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, as if he was in pain, and she heard it as well - oh yes, she did - she heard a laugh, cold and heartless, that made her blood run cold. This... This isn't Cobra's voice, she realised.
The laugh stretched in the air, resonated many times, increasing in volume and cruelty, suffocating the other voices, until it was the only thing that could be heard.
"Not again, please!" A new scream tore the air, a thin voice among the laughs of the man Dalila didn't know. A child voice, that was not entirely new to her. It's Cobra!
"It hurts!" the child was sobbing. "It hurts! Stop it!" But only more laughs followed, and Dalila grimaced, as more and more sobs and whimpers were carried by the wind. "Please! I will do anything!" "Someone help me!" "Please, it's scary!" "Aaahh!"
"Aaahh!" Cobra's scream mimicked his own, the same desperate note, the same pain, as if time had not passed. As he was still that child whom sobs the wind were filling the air.
It's Cobra! The thought make something click inside the wind dragon slayer. She suddenly didn't know what to do or think or say. It's Cobra! she thought again in utter confusion, taking a step back.
Dalila's suddenly uncertainty was enough to put an end to the enchantment. And as sudden as they started, the voices stopped. The wind swallowed them, and then it retreated, back in the cracks of the floor, out of the window, in fissures and cupboards. Dalila felt her magic subside and die away, the threads that where enveloping her vanished.
There was a moment of perfect silence and stillness. From the half closed door of the kitchen, the sounds of the party could still be heard. No one seemed to have heard them, and the words of an out of tune song was now the only sound in the room now.
Dalila exhaled slowly. She hadn't processed what she just heard. The name of 'Lale', the dear voices of her beloved ones, were still echoing in her head, and her own grief was the only thing she could feel. She looked at Cobra, crutched on the floor in front of her, fists closed above his head, trembling.
This serves you well, next time you'll dare talk to me! thought the wind slayer, moving towards the door. Her steps had a strange sound in the motionless air.
But that sound was joint with another one. A growl, low, desperate, deep and angry.
Dalila had only time to turn her head, to see the poison slayer raising on his feet. A strain of tears was running over his left cheek, an a mask of hatred more demonic than human had deformed his features.
"Poison dragon's roar!"
Dalila was fully hit by the attack. The poison burnt her lungs, and she felt part of her clothes being tattered and torn. Had it been a wall behind her, she would have probably smashed on it, and lost consciousness, and then Cobra could have carried his maiming purposes.
However, if that had been the case, now we wouldn't have a story to tell.
Stories happen thanks to small, little coincidences, that despite lasting the time of an instant, have consequence that stretch over a lifetime.
The coincidence here called was that Dalila, circling around the table in the attempt to escape the poison slayer, had found herself with her back to the kitchen's door.
Cobra's attack therefore sent her flying out of the kitchen, over the bar counter, and onto a table right in the middle of the guild hall.
"Hey!" "My beer!" "Do you wanna fight?" "Now she has magic, let's fight!"
The mages around her - Macao, Wakaba, Levy, Jet and Elfman - all clapped their hands happily. "Beast mode! Lizard! Nab, fight me!" From a nearby table, a loud 'bear the knuckle' was heard, and the huge form of Nab Lasaro jumped in the middle of the table.
But Dalila was already on her feet, jumping from the table, moving towards the kitchen again, with her fangs glimmering. Come out from there, you bastard!
And came out he did.
His fangs bared, growling, and his pupil slit to a thin, purple line, Cobra was out of his mind. But the wind dragon slayer, seeing him so ready to tear her to pieces, felt no fear. Instead, a rush of adrenaline, anger and magic overcame her. She stopped thinking rationally, as she run across the guild hall, dodging her drunks guild mates, aiming at Cobra.
In the music and the cries inside the guild, no one had heard them fighting in the kitchen. And busy as they were now fighting one another, no one noticed the crazed look into the silver eyes of the wind dragon slayer, nor the scales that were covering Cobra's arms, up to his shoulders, which had burnt his sweater. No one was sober enough to discern the suffocating, deadly smell of poison, and they were all too drunk to notice how several windows had suddenly opened, letting in a strong, cold wind, cutting their skin like a razor.
Cobra smiled madly, and jumped on the bar counter, his smile as wicked as ever. Ready to kill that little insolent, who had dared coming close to him, and hearing what only he could remember. 'I am waiting for you.' he mouthed.
Dalila gritted her teeth, and accelerated. She was feeling it - the power, the magic, all that Gajeel had described her, rising in her being, revolting at the name he had called her with. Lale had died one hundred years ago, with the world she knew.
Cobra jumped on the ground, waiting for her to come closer. Closer enough to grab her neck and snap at it. So stupid it was from her, coming blindly against him. She didn't even know what she was going to do once she was upon him.
Dalila saw the poison slayer ten feet before her. She growled.
Five feet. Cobra smirked. This is your last day on Earthland, Snow White!
Three feet.
Two.
One.
Cobra hand lowered, so quick Dalila didn't even see it. But it missed her, for someone had suddenly grabbed her from behind, pulling harshly away from Cobra's reach. "Grrr!" Dalila let out a roar, angered beyond measure, trying to break free. "Let go!" she roared, with a voice that was not quite hers.
She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill that dragon slayer. No one could ever dare to stand in between her and her enemy.
But the arm around her, way bigger than hers, only tightened its grip, pulling her backwards a few feet, despite all her kicking and roaring.
In front of her, the poison slayer was being subject to the same treatment. "What the fuck are ye doing?"
Furious, Cobra instinctively dug his nails in the arm that had suddenly blocked him, pulling him back. But the poison slayer hissed, when his claws met strong, impenetrable metal.
"Let fucking go!"
A chair passed above them, missing Gajeel's head by an inch, and crashing beyond the counter. Above the brawl, Mirajane's voice could be heard, that anyone who broke another piece of furniture would have been subjected to a week in the kitchen.
It was a surreal scene, thought Gajeel, the four of them, lost in a dimension completely detached form the rest of the world. The two slayers that were about to cut each others' throat - in case of Cobra that was a certainty, and Dalila was probably not much distant from the poison slayer on that moment - and Gajeel didn't dare to think how could have it ended if he and Lily had not stepped in right then.
The iron slayer had immediately seen from Dalila's eyes and movements that something was off. The way she was on her feet after falling onto a table was too quick, and when he had seen the poison slayer emerging from behind the counter in that state, he had felt his blood running cold. It was a luck Lily was with him in that moment. No one else had noticed the two of them ready to slaughter one another there and then.
And now there they were, Lily fighting to keep Dalila on her place, and him, covered in iron, in the attempt to make Cobra stay were he was.
Feeling Cobra wiggling out of his clasp, Gajeel roared right in his ear. "Fucking stop!", but the poison slayer was already almost turned to him, and sensing he was going to get a good bite from those fangs - damn, when the hell did they get so long? - Gajeel pivoted on his legs, pulling up the other slayer, and slamming him to the ground with all his strength.
Cobra ended up against the counter, hitting the floor hard with one side. His eye went wide open - how did he not heard the iron dragon slayer coming sneaking behind him? was his first thought as his head hit hard the floor.
"Let me go!" Dalila's voice was still not her own. She had her nails clasping and scratching Pantherlily's arm, and she had almost found her way out of his embrace. He grunted when she kicked him in the shin.
Gajeel promptly stepped in front of her. "Oi!" he cried, grabbing both her wrists and almost headbutting her. "Stop it, ya featherweight!"
He fixed his red eyes onto the wind dragon slayer, and for the first time, he saw her gaze full with an emotion that, despite all, had seldom clouded her sparkling, beautiful eyes.
Hurt.
Behind him, Cobra stood up, slowly. The iron slayer went tense and he turned, but Cobra didn't look at him. The poison slayer bared his teeth, and hissed, looking right at the small, white form, that was still struggling in Pantherlily's arm, with hatred, and hurt.
Dalila looked back at him, and he saw the silver on her eyes dulled, like an immense, plain wasteland.
It was silence between them all, and around them, a drunk song could be heard.
But is was only and instant.
With a grunt, the poison slayer stormed out of the guild, making his way among the drunken, avoiding Grey's enchantment and knocking a few mages on his way. He made it out of the door, and disappeared.
Dalila followed him with his gaze, and as soon as he shut the guild door behind him, the tension left her all of a sudden.
Her body went heavy and limp. Her muscles felt like jelly. Feeling her finally calmed down, Lily slowly released her, putting her back on her feet, opening his arms and sustaining her when he saw Dalila's legs shaking.
The wind slayer inhaled slowly. Her throat was sore, and in her mouth she tasted her own tears. She felt horribly empty.
She placed a hand over Lily's forearm, finding her balance, and felt a thick liquid among his fur, smelling of blood.
She frowned. Blood?
Yes, it was. A few, small red striped were visible onto the Exceed skin, and as soon as Dalila saw them, she realised that it had been her nails digging into his skin, while she had tried to break free. Dalila shivered, and at the sight of blood, she was suddenly aware of all that had been going on int he last few minutes.
"Li-Lily?"
She started shacking violently. What have I done?
She tried to put some distance between her and the Exceed, but she was trembling so much Lily didn't trust to let her go. "It's nothing." breathed the cat, holding her gently her and slowly letting her go only when he felt she was able to stand on her feet again. "It's just a scratch - Wendy will handle this in no time."
"But-But..." Dalila's voice was her own again now, the Exceed noticed with a relief, and it was all that mattered.
"I am good." he said again, with a small smile. "And you are yourself again. Which is the most important thing."
That simple sentence of the black cat, now shrunk back to his usual form, hit Dalila like a stone. "Myself?" she asked with a cracking voice.
She turned her gaze to Gajeel, in a mute pray, of explaining her what happened. But she could not fully explain her question, and the only word who came out of her mouth was a shacking "Myself?" again.
The iron slayer was studying her attentively. She might have been poisoned and burned a little, but she was going to survive. No need of the rascal. Which was good, because Gajeel had no idea of what had happened and explaining it to Wendy might not be the best choice for the moment. Dalila had a few bruises and her clothes were ready to the thrown in the bin, but apart form that, she looked ok.
But she had used her magic, he could smell that. Of all people, right with Cobra ya needed to start a fight, featherweight? he groaned, but didn't said it out loud. "What happened?" he asked instead, trying to be as gentle as possible.
"I... I..." Dalila swallowed. "I... I don't know... We had a fight... And..." What have I done?
The wind dragon slayer gaze was solely focused onto Pantherlily's scratched arm, as if it was the only tangible proof of what happened. The Exceed looked back at her. She looks lost, and terrified. "Dalila, how come that you two had a fight?" he asked politely, folding his paws and hiding the scratch.
"We... He called me... I..." Dalila took a deep breath.
Fighting to order her own thoughts, Dalila closed her eyes, but the name of 'Lale' resonated in her mind once more, and her breath started racing again.
"I had no idea." she whispered, trying to maintain her focus. "But he was angry at me, I don't know why. I tried to say I was sorry, but he was really... And then, he called me... He called me..." surrounded by the yelling of Titania to whoever dared to touch the last strawberry cake slice, Gajeel barely heard the wind dragon slayer whisper. "He called me Lale."
"Lale?"
Dalila nodded quickly. "Don't repeat it, Gajeel, please." she pleaded, whimpering. "Don't repeated, and don't tell anyone. That name refers to someone who is no more. She had died a long time ago, and... And she is not to live again."
Gajeel raised an eyebrow. Lily looked curiously at him. He hadn't heard but the last sentence. "So, it was just because of a name?" he asked, a little surprised.
"Names are powerful, and one should not play with them lightheartedly." a voice said behind them.
They all turned, and saw the small form of Master Makarov, standing right on the counter. His eyes traveled gravelly onto the three mages, and ended up on the wind dragon slayer. "Dalila, child." he said, "Come with me for a moment."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked towards the stairs that led to his office.
Dalila felt her heart sunk. Gajeel moved his head. 'Go.' he mouthed, with an encouraging smile. She looked pretty much fucked up. Hope Master can sort this shit out. He looked as she swallowed, glanced at them one last time, and then followed the small Master up to the stairs.
"What do you think has happened?" asked the Exceed, looking at them, as they disappeared on the second floor.
Gajeel shrugged. "Sure Master knows how to handle this kind of situations. Ya know Cobra's touchy about many things, and I guess featherweight is none the less." The iron slayer leaned over the counter. Around them, the party was at its highest, with a certain fire dragons layer and his Exceeds running among the beams of the ceiling to escape a very, very angry Celestial mage and her drunken Lion Spirit.
"We all know that." murmured Pantherlily. "But Dalila? I didn't think she could react like that."
"Think about it, Lily. She had lost everything, and we never seen her cry once. Sure she was copin' with her own grief in her way, but Cobra can be a sneaky bastard when he wants to, and for whatever shitty reason, he has surely touched a weak spot."
Lily nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that sounds like him." Cobra was no saint. The poison slayer could be reckless, when he felt in danger. They got used to it, but maybe the wind dragon slayer had yet to fully understand it. But why would he?
"Let Master handle it, Lily. I am sure he knows how to treat two stubborn dragons." Gajeel stood from the counter. "Let's go and find the pipsqueak. Let's heal that scratch."
Far from the madding singing and fighting of the guild hall, in the quietness - or so to say for a dragon slayer - of her Master office, Dalila was trying her best to explain what had happened.
Makarov was listening to her, in complete silence, closing his eyes from time to time.
"Then, I don't know really what happened." whispered Dalila. "I was angry - very angry. I felt magic, I think, rising in me... And going out of me, somehow."
Makarov nodded, but said nothing.
"The wind rose in the kitchen, I don't how... There were no windows open, and... And we heard voices."
"Voices?" Makarov head rose, and looked questioningly at the wind dragon slayer.
"Voices." Dalila swallowed, trying to put into words the events. "Screams." she corrected herself. "Of many people."
"What they were saying?"
The wind dragon slayer shivered. "They were... screaming, just screaming... And asking for... for mercy, some of them..." she hugged her body with her arms. She was feeling suddenly very cold.
The small Master kept silent, but jumped from his desk and went onto a small shelf, were a pot and some cups were resting. He poured some water from a small jug, and lit a small fire under the pot.
Somehow, hearing the Master putting the cups on a tray, and smelling the delicate scent of the green tea he had just poured form another small box resting on the shelf, made Dalila feel a little better. She spoke again, still struggling with words, but with a little more force. "Voices of men and women, elders and children... Crying in pain... And begging not to be killed, to be spared... Or to be killed, and... And put an end to... Something."
From his angle, Makarov nodded. The pot hissed, and he put it on the tray. "And then?" he asked gently, walking towards the desk again, with the tray with the steaming pot and the two cups in his hands.
"Then..." Dalila's voice cracked. She didn't want to say it. It was too horrible, and the sudden realisation of what that implied was too hard for her to bear.
Makarov didn't push her. He slowly poured the tea bags and the hot water into the cups, and waited. Master of Fairy Tail was old enough not to be in a hurry. Dalila was looking at the floor like a knot in the wood had hypnotised her, and was with a low, rasp voice, that she slowly said. "A voice, a kid's voice, we heard... It subsided all the others... And... And Master, it was... It was his voice."
Makarov lifted his head, and took a deep, slow breath. That's it. That's the reason. He had seen Cobra sneaking into the kitchen, but had thought nothing of it until he had seen Dalila coming flying from the door. And by the time he had reached the two, Gajeel and Lily had luckily took hold of the situation, and Cobra was already gone.
And maybe it is better for him to take a little time for himself, for the moment.
Yes, definitively it was the best choice. What Dalila had done... I had no idea it was possible.
Had he knew it better, he would have tried to prevent it. Tried to teach personally the wind dragon slayer how to control her magic. Her nose had already proved to be one of its own. Why shouldn't she be had other peculiarity with respect to the other slayers? Wasn't Wendy a sufficient example, after all?
The Master handed to the wind slayer in front of him a cup of tea. "I understand." he said, "Drink this. You will feel better."
Dalila seemed to really need something to make her feel better. She looked like something terribly heavy was weighting on her shoulders. Grief, Makarov thought. And partially he blamed it on himself. You have proved to be strong, my child. But I should have been more attentive towards you.
He shook his head to himself. I should have seen your sorrow behind your cheerful attitude. You were smiling, but I forgot the price you were paying for that smile. Dalila had never hide her grief, but surely she had worked to keep her spirit up. Despite your strength, we all forgot you must be treated with kindness.
Dalila blew on her cup. The vapour danced on the water, drawing imaginary shapes and curves. The tea was smelling nicely of flowers and leaves, grown under the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze of a southern country. The good smell alone was making her feel better and warmer.
She knew Makarov was waiting for her to continue.
"I think that... That hearing that was what angered him the most. He was furious. We... We started to fight."
Makarov nodded once more. "I see." he murmured.
"I was hit by a blow - I am ok, by the way - and... Well, then we ended up in the guild hall."
Dalila sipped the tea. It was burning her tongue.
I don't want to put Cobra in danger. It was my fault as well. Suddenly the fear of having put Cobra in a dangerous situation made her feel even worse.
She looked tentatively the small mage in front of her, but she couldn't make nothing from is furrowed brows and hard stare. He looks more worried than angry.
And it was true. Despite his grave look, Makarov was not angered because of their fight. He was sad, because two young people had been so determined to destroy and hurt one another, under his roof. But the pains of these two children of his were deep, and he was not to condemn them for having lost their temper. He was a Master, and his duty was to heal, not to punish.
"I see." he said again, taking a gulp from his cup.
After that, the two of them were silent for a minute. Dalila thinking - fearing - a punishment of some kind, and also fearing she had deluded her Master. He has done so much for me... On the other hand, she wished she could have controlled herself. I am not a child anymore, I can't allow my control to slip away that easily...
But the small man in front of her, had in mind nor a punishment - that idea had not even entered his mind! - not Dalila's temper. In fact, he was trying to find the right words to put a certain idea that had been in his mind for a while. If she agrees... that might work...
"Dalila, my dear child," he said suddenly, with a soft tone, that made the wind slayer snap her head up in surprise. "Gajeel can help you with your magic, but he is still quite young. He can be a teacher for the basics, but you must go under the guidance of someone else. He is well aware of that, don't you worry." chuckled Makarov, seeing Dalila frowning. "I understand that you don't want to let your mentor down, but for what concerns dragon slayer magic, either you have a dragon teaching you, either you have an expert mage guiding you through it." Makarov smiled. "I talk by experience, trust me. I had enough dragon slayers under my care, to know what I say."
Dalila smiled weakly. It was a cold comfort, although...
"There is something I have been thinking for a while, Dalila. I have planned to talk to you about it for a while now." Makarov sat on the desk, and his expression shifted from grave to serene. "You have met all the Fairy Tail mages by now... Well, the majority of them. Gildarts, I guess you have heard about him," Dalila nodded, "is aways away, but you will meet him sooner or later. But there is someone else, who you haven't yet." Makarov smiled. "Or, better say, that you have met a long, long time ago."
Dalila raised an eyebrow. She had met Mavis, back when she was still in Linveland. Mavis and... Wait a minute...
"Warrod is still alive, Dalila." Makarov said softly. "He is a Wizard Saint now, but he is still one of us, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes."
Dalila blinked once. Then blinked twice. Then her mouth fell open, and it took her a few seconds to process what Makarov had just said. "Warrod... Is alive?" she breathed. She had never thought about asking Lucy if Warrod was still alive. She had assumed he was gone, like anybody else, and she didn't want to add another name from the list of the dead.
But now, a total new perspective was opening in front of her.
Makarov nodded, and his smile grew. "Warrod is alive, and I must say he is doing far better than many other mages of half his age. He lives away from here, close to the mountains."
"Warrod... alive?" Dalila asked again.
Makarov chuckled. "You can go and check yourself, if you like. He would be happy to see you."
When the wind dragon slayer opened her eyes even more - and Makarov was relieved to see finally small sparks of life glistening in them - he added. "I have told him about you as soon as you woke up. I was planning on telling you soon. He has been updated on your progresses with magic, but..." Makarov puffed out his chest, "He told me he would be much obliged to be your master for a while, if you wish."
"Warrod... My master?"
Many thoughts were running into Dalila's mind at the same time. First of all, her heart was full of joy in hearing that her old time friend was alive. She also considered that maybe he might be old - Sure he is! - but if he wanted to be her master, and teaching her magic... Oh my god, Warrod! Was he aware that she had very little magic? Was he ready to host her? She didn't want to disappoint him either... And wasn't it a way for Master Makarov to send her away?
"Don't you worry, Dalila, I am not sending you away." chuckled Makarov, as if he had read her mind. "However, it is painful for me, to see my children fight. Brawls are at the order of the day, but this... This has been different." Makarov features had clouded again. "I wish this had never happened. But it did, and I will do my best to prevent it from happening again."
Dalila held her breath. He is not sending Cobra away just for me, right? she thought with fear. That would have not been right. He had nothing in this world but Fairy Tail, just as her. Well, he had an alternative, and it was Era's prison, and the perspective made Dalila disgusted.
"Master-" "Let me finish." Makarov held out a hand to her. "Let me finish, please." he asked again. "I am not going to punish none of you. Both of you had provoked each other in a way I don't approve, but I can't ignore both of you have found each other's weak spot. I am not surprise you were at each other's throat." said Makarov, finishing his cup of tea and putting it aside. His eyes were serious again, and looked right at the wind dragon slayer. "I am not telling you to go away from Fairy Tail. Feel free to come back whenever you want. This is your home, as I said once, and its doors will always be open for you. But I ask you to think over what happened, and work on yourself, so that it will not happen again."
"Punishment is useless when our heart is grieved with sorrow and pain." said again Makarov. "But understanding that pain, and accepting it, is even a harder way to find our balance again. A narrow and steep path, but the only one that will give us and happiness."
Dalila raised her head. The Master had spoken wisely, and his words were true and honest. He was understanding how she felt like, and pointing her the right way to be herself again. "Thank you, Master." was all that Dalila could say, bowing her head respectfully. I am lucky I have such a Master to guide me.
"Well, well, now I want you to finish you tea, and then let's go and see how is Pantherlily!" said cheerfully Makarov. "I don't like to play the stuffily wise man for long!"
Dalila laughed. She was feeling better. And as she sipped her tea - it was good indeed, and was making her feel much better - she realised that the sounds from the guild hall had ceased. I wonder why is that...
Once again Makarov looked like he had read her mind. "The party seems to have come to an end while we where here!" he chuckled, jumping from his desk and heading to the door.
Asking herself if the old Master hadn't somehow a mind-reader power of sort, Dalila finished her tea in one last gulp and followed him on the stairs that lead on the guild hall.
"What did I told you?" Makarov cried exasperated once they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hopeless! Hopeless brats, that's what they are!"
"Uhm..." Dalila eyeballed the guild hall. What an absolute mess!
It was even worse than when she walked in there from the infirmary for the first time! At least then Lucy was not half naked snuggling with Happy! She looked up and saw Natsu snoring on one of the beams on the ceiling.
"Well, you know, every time I wonder how do they get to this point." Makarov shook his head, looking at Mirajane and Cana, giggling, half asleep and half drunk under a nearby table. Juvia had submerged Gray with her chest, but the Ice mage was passed out and for once he had no menas to escape. Even Kinana was sleeping peacefully on a chair, with Nab resting for some reason at her feet like a huge cat. This is giving to 'party' a whole new meaning... thought Dalila, stepping over Macao sprawled onto the floor. Wait, is that Max with a broom in...
"Good evening Master! Dalila, I see you look better!"
Dalila mentally hugged Lily, that had distracted her from a very disturbing scene just in time. "Lily! How do you feel?"
"I am perfectly fine!" the Exceed lifted his arm, showing a perfectly smooth and silk fur. "I told you. A bare scratch."
Dalila bowed. "Again, I am sorry. I shouldn't have. And thank for... Well, for helping me before."
The Exceed waved his hands. "I hope you will sort this out, Dalila-san. We are family. And family help each other."
"I can't really think about how many times these brats had come to Porlyusica with all sort of broken bones!" Makarov shook his head with a smile. "It happens. But now Dalila-san, you should go and pack! I guess there is a train early tomorrow morning that you might catch!"
"Oh? You are leaving, Dalila-san?" asked Lily with eyes wide open. Why is she leaving?
Makarov chuckled. "We agreed Dalila will go and meet an old friend of hers... And of ours, as well." he winked to the wind slayer. "Someone who might help her with her magic, too."
Lily frowned for a moment, but then it clicked. "Aren't you saying Warrod Sequen?" he cried.
Dalila nodded with a huge grin. "In fact, I am!"
"No way!" Pantherlily couldn't believe hie ears. "For all the black cats, can I come too? Is he going to train you, isn't he?"
"He is, hopefully!" Chuckled the girl. "Training and... and patching me up as best as he can."
Makarov smiled broadly. "'Patching up', yeah, I like that. He will be of great help, I am sure, my child!"
"Warrod Sequen!" cried again Lily. "Thank Mavis Gajeel is under that table over there - he got hit by Cana's cards and has not moved yet - otherwise he would have followed you there! I am tempted myself!" Warrod Sequen!
Dalila chuckled again. "Another time! By the way, I know I am leaving quite abruptly, but I wanted to say goodbye to, well..." she looked around. Her eyes travelled on her guild mates, sprawled onto tables and chairs. "Ehm..." Apart the Exceed, no one seemed to be awake.
"I will extend your goodbye to them." chuckled Pantherlily. "Have a safe trip, Dalila. Everyone will be envious when I will told them where are you headed."
The wind dragon slayer smiled. Lily was ok, and she felt her heart a little lighter. "Thank you, Lily. Sorry for your forearm, again."
Lily hushed her. "I will reserve the right to fight you properly once you have been trained, wind dragon slayer!"
Makarov looked at the two of them, and his eyes filled with joy. I want to see them like this. Always. Fights and quarrels were nothing, when there was a solid bound below, keeping two friends close even after the worst of fights.
"Now, Dalila child, I want you to go to Fairy Hills and really pack you bag!" Makarov clapped his hands. "Tell Mrs Ruchio that we had a party at the guild today, and this is why all her tenants are not back for the night!"
"I will Master!" Dalila beamed and bowed. "Thank you." Then, she turned, and sprinted out of the guild.
Pantherlily and Master Makarov followed her out of the door, light of her feet, as if nothing had happened.
"You think Warrod will help her, Master?" asked Lily cautiously.
"I hope so, Lily. I hope so. Warrod is wise, and you know very well that her magic has already proved to be a little different from the one of the other slayers."
"She is more like Wendy than Gajeel, that's for sure." Lily said. "Gajeel has been talking about it for a while now. He knows he can't teach her a lot. It would be like if Natsu tried to teach Wendy how to use her healing magic..." the Exceed made a gesture with his small arm, as if he was saying 'it would be better if she learned alone'.
Makarov nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I think you are right."
"Gajeel will he happy to know that she is going under such a mage. Happy and jealous." Lily chuckled.
Makarov snorted. "I guess. But I must ask you to keep this information to yourself, Lily. I don't want the news to spread. I have no idea how long these old hags will be able to keep their mouths shut about it." he said, eyeing the mages lying around them.
"Sure Master!" Lily bowed, and went on trying to wake up Gajeel.
"Wait Lily." The cat turned at the sound of Makarov's voice. The Master looked grave again. His face, serious, was unreadable to the Exceed, who straightened his back. "Of course, this whole business of Cobra and Dalila stays in between us. This is a kind of news I don't want to spread."
Lily nodded. "Yes Master."
Makarov was not done. "Tomorrow afternoon, I want you and Gajeel into my office." he finally said. "I have an important, secret mission I want to discuss with you."
After leaving the guild, Cobra had stormed home. He didn't remembered how, but when he was himself again, he found himself in his bed, ready to sleep.
He took a deep breath. Then another one. "Fuck." he whispered to the empty room. What the hell just happened? He didn't remembered he changed. He thought to get up and check if he had closed to front door, but he had not even the force to do that.
"Fuck!" he said. Again the room gave him no answer, and Cobra was left with his thoughts.
Stupid Snow White! I should have cut her arms off. He should have struck that blow he had ready for her.
But he had been stopped before he could teach that excuse of a slayer a lesson. "Stupid Metalhead!" he hissed angrily. I should have killed him as well. And to prove his point, he took handful of bedsheets in his fist, burning them. The bitter smell of acid and burned texture invaded the room, and Cobra suddenly snapped out of his trance.
"Fuck!" he cried. He lifted his hand, admiring the nails that had dug into the bed, and the scales from where a thin layer of purple liquid was slowly coming out. A drop fell down on his stomach, melting the duvet.
Cobra closed his fist and gritted his teeth. Better take advantage of those small moments where he could be still able to use magic. I am not going to use it for longer. No, Makarov was going to call the Rune Knights and send him back to Era, where he ought to stay.
That was the only possible outcome of that evening.
He turned in the bed. More scales appeared on his arms and shoulders.
I don't want to go back there.
He closed his eye and tried to sleep, but the thought that maybe that was the last time he was going to spend in his own bed was not making him sleep. "Fuck... you... Snow White..."
And the memory of those screams she heard, things that he wished he could forget, came rushing back to his memory.
Cobra twisted and turned, unable to sleep, and to stop crying. He cursed again and again in between sobs, tightening his fists until his nails dug small cuts in his palms, forcing him to stop.
"Stupid Snow White" he cried. "I hate you! I hate you!"
But from where did all this hate come from, in the first place? "For remembering me... For hearing, sniffing... and..." and before that? How did it even start? When, exactly?
"Fuck you..."
Thoughts, memories of any sort crowded his mind. A mixture of fear, of his own screams and prays, of cruel laughs and of kind voices calling Dalila, was pounding in his head, nauseating him.
He twisted again in his bed, took the sheets out, put it back again. Tried to silence his mind, but to no avail. Blamed his lack of sleep on the souls around him, but the only soul that was screaming into his ears was his own. And Cobra had no intention of hearing it.
"Shut up... shut the fuck up!" he whimpered.
Outside his window, a form glinted, peeking inside the room. Big green eyes looked sadly at the poison slayer as he fought to sleep.
Mavis whispered a word in the night, and then blew a kiss.
A a soft pale thread entered the window, and a minute later, the poison slayer was sleeping, and the ghost was gone.
Oh. My. God.
They almost killed each other. Or, Dalila was going to get killed, hadn't it be for Gajeel. But Cobra hasn't had an easy time with the wind dragon slayer, now has he?
Follow what happens next, because... Well, because time heals everything. Even the cracks between these two.
Let me know if you like this so far dear readers!
