Author's Note: Funny thing, I'm actually coming down with something as I'm writing this chapter. I mean, it's not a fever, but rather a cold, but nevertheless coincidental... oh, right. The story.


I'm sure that my body temperature is always higher than most, however, I don't usually feel any warmer. But when I do, that's usually a sign that I'm coming down with something. One of the most uncomfortable feelings in the world has to be a fever. Except when I get it, my body heat shuts down, I'm constantly cold and clammy, and I become so weak that I can barely stand. I hadn't been sick since I was a kid, but I was soon reacquainted with the feeling.

And now it was worse than ever.

Sneezing endlessly made me cranky enough, but then came the feeling of slowness and soreness, with every movement I made, and let's not even mention the vomiting. God no.

It couldn't have been something I ate, I pondered. Well, not that I really ate much of anything. Or maybe that might be it; malnutrition? That means I need to eat something- oof... My stomach suddenly churned, eliminating any feeling of hunger. It seemed I wouldn't be eating anything anytime soon. I didn't leave my house all day, either.

The only thing I needed was sleep and water. I was too sore and nauseous to travel back home, so I resorted to remaining in bed all day to get some sleep. Of course, I felt like I was being robbed of time that could be used to slay some monsters, as it had become a bit of an obsession now, but there was nothing I could do. I silently cursed my Book of Magic for not having any Self-healing Magic as I trudged slowly to the bathroom to throw up again, then crawled back to my bedroom to sleep.

xxxx

Opening my eyes, I awoke on the summit of a familiar, bleak mountain once again, but no fire was to be seen this time. Instead, the usual shadowy figure of Elementia stared me down, with a terrible glaring grin penetrating my soul.

"Rise, o 'chosen one'," he mocked, revealing scabbard with a sword. However, unsheathing the sword, it could be seen that the sword had no blade at all, only a handle and crossguard with some kind of orb in the center of the hilt. the cross guard curved upward to create two pyramid-shaped sikes on each end, with a similar design in the pommel of the broken sword. Or, so it was thought to be broken. Elementia pointed the bladeless sword at me, causing the orb in the center to glow red, expelling a burst of flames from within the hilt and thus forming the blade from fire energy. The blade extended towards my face, barely cutting my cheek.

"I believe I commanded you to rise! Now, rise!" Shoving the blade into the space between my ribs and puncturing my lungs, he rose the sword upward, forcing me to my feet. Needless to say, the sharp pain of the sword slicing through my skin and muscle, clear through my right lung and out the opposite side burned, and not from the temperature of the glowing hot blade, created from solid flames. Combined with the moment Elementia drew his sword as if my chest were a pedestal, the frigid high altitude wind blew around razor bladed flakes, burning my wound further still. Though the piercing sting was painful, I dared not collapse in fear of another stab wound.

"Good... now, draw your sword. And let fall the facade of ignorance, for you know perfectly what I mean." As if he could read my mind, Elementia slashed away at my sudden confusion, forgetful on my part that I wielded a flaming sword just as he did; one that could be created by my will, thus I proceeded to form Flare Sword in my hand. Elementia held out his sword towards me, and I crossed blades with him, swinging towards him first, but he blocked the incoming swing and countered with a downward swing, knocking the sword out of my hand, causing it to dissipate. And before I was able to regenerate my sword, he charged right in and went straight for my neck...

Right at that moment, I woke up, with sweat pouring down my forehead and heart pounding quicker than a motor. I tried sitting up but felt even weaker than I had before, unable to do anything but lie there on my bed, sick and exhausted. For about an hour I lay, lost in my own thoughts and thinking about the dream that had just occurred. No doubt it was another way for Elementia to discover my weaknesses (which I had realized previously), but for me, it made me realize what needed improvement. From that bout, I realized that I had no experience in swordsmanship. Well, to be honest, I didn't have much experience in anything. Not even fighting. I mean, sure, I fought monsters and other mages, but more often than not, I'd escape with many scars and other injuries. The three claw marks on my chest from the very first quest I had taken on had long since healed but left ugly scars. On my arm where still remained skin, the back of my forearm also held another long-since-healed scar from some battle long ago, among others; those which I had forgotten, along with the cause of the scars.

I knew not the time of day, but after what seemed like hours laying sickly in bed, a knock came from the front door, startling me awake. After failing to get up the first time, the knocking came again shortly in bursts of three. This made me try a bit harder to stand, and after continuing a third time, I forced myself up on my feet, and slowly shuffled towards the door, which issued another three knocks. Halfway to the door, I responded loud enough in a surprisingly raspy voice, "I'm comin', I'm comin'..." followed by the most terrible cough I had ever released. Once at the door, I weakly reached for the lock, failing twice before my hand actually landed on it and struggled to turn it, as the trip to the door deprived me of most of my energy.

"Mmf... door's open..." I mumbled, just barely loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. When the door swung open, I saw Mirajane standing in the doorway, holding a few bags.

"Oh my goodness... Vincent, you're a mess! Are you alright?" she exclaimed.

"Never been better..." I muttered, not taking into account how she knew I was sick, let alone the location of my house.

"You certainly don't look better... or sound it," Mira sighed.

"Come on in," I managed to say, as she stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind her. I awkwardly shuffled over to a chair at the table and sat down, completely drained. But I still managed to make out words.

"So how... how'd you know where to find me...?"

"We came by your house one day, don't you remember?"

"... oh yeah," I replied, although it didn't ring a bell.

"Yeah, on our first date, remember? You told me this was your house."

Now I was starting to remember. "I did, didn't I... well, how'd you know that I was sick?"

"Well, you haven't been to the guild recently. And I mean in the past three days. That wasn't like you, so I knew something had to be wrong. Maybe you were depressed, or went home just like Lucy, or something. I just wanted you to be alright."

"Well... thanks for caring about me, at least."

"I could understand if you were training, in which you could've missed a day, but even then you'd still visit the guild often enough."

"You know me pretty well, don't you..."

Though I couldn't come into contact with her, Mira still managed to take care of me. It turns out the bags she had brought were things to make dinner for us, but she ended up making me a soup instead. The rest of the night she stayed with me, and talked to me, just to keep me company.

"So that's why... that's why you're doing all this? Not because you want to surpass Erza or Master, but because of your father? Wait, I thought you said he died," said Mirajane.

"He did, that's correct," I replied.

"Then, if he died shortly after you were born, how would you know what he was like? If you had no time to bond with him?"

"Well... my mom used to tell me stories of a legendary dragon, the days before she lied to me, saying that they were all stories. She told me a tale of long ago when all of the land was protected by the Legion. And my father, being the head of the Legion at the time, was the strongest leader yet, far stronger to any other leader in the past. It was because he worked the hardest to achieve a special form because he kept his eyes on the future.

"But then the Legion began to fall after the appearance of an evil organization. This was around the time that he met my mother. Now, I know he was old, but because he was a Charizard, his lifespan was much longer than that of a human, so in Charizard years, he would've been in his late forties when he met my mother. Though, he had been around much longer than that, even back to the late 18XX's."

"18XX's...?" Mira was confused.

"Oh, do you guys use a different calendar over here?"

"Yes, the years usually go in X000's. The double digits count how many decades have passed, so X010 would be one decade. But I assume it works differently in yours?"

"Well, it counts by every hundred years. Starting out would be X. After a hundred years, it would be 1XX, and then the next hundred would be 2XX, and so on. And so far, we are in the 20XX's. I was born right around the turn of 20XX. And based on my genetics, I might live until 23XX, but I don't know. It's quite a long time when you think about it. I could be hundreds of years old in human years."

But thinking back on it, it was probably cut in half due to my dominant human genes. Though most dragons today have been living since ancient times, as in 400 B.C. (Before Chaos) I would go into the history behind it, but it's all uninteresting evolutionary stuff.

xxxx

Luckily, I didn't have another Elementia nightmare when I went to sleep that night. I woke up in a puddle of drool, however, and remembered that I had spent the previous night with Mira, but had fallen asleep while listening to her. A blanket slid onto the floor as I sat up, probably put on my back by Mirajane. How thoughtful.

This morning I was able to stand up, so I had clearly gotten better, but not fully. I was at least able to walk properly, and not topple over like a fool when doing so.

"Hnnnnnn...!" I was able to stretch out my limbs, and let out a satisfied yawn. "Feelin' better! Not great, but definitely better... much better! I feel like going to the guild today!" And that was what I did.

I began walking, not running, to the guild that rose up over the town, slowly but surely, day by day as it was continuously reconstructed. Straight down the way from it was the church that I turned at regularly to walk straight down to the guild. As I walked past, however, I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye, something from in the doorway of the church. But as I turned to look, nothing was there. At first, I thought of it to be my peripherals messing with me, but as I turned around again, it reappeared. I couldn't make out what it was, but it appeared to be a dark figure, surrounded by red. But every time I tried to look at it, it disappeared. It was freaky, and I didn't like it one bit, and this caused me to walk along at a rather quick pace, further away from the church.

The construction of the guild was almost complete, it seemed. At least the outer shell had been built, and the interior was still in the process. A lot of people were still hard at work, which sort of bothered me. What bothered me was that I wasn't able to pitch in, standing idly by as construction was underway, as if I were just a stick in the mud, a nuisance in the way.

"Hey, Vin!" Elfman exclaimed. "Deciding to show up, even if you're sick! That's definitely a man!"

"Ah, me? I'm not that manly..."

"Hmph! Humility is at least manly as well! If you're not humble, then what does that make you?"

Though the question was clearly rhetorical, I found it rather humorous to respond, "Er, not... a man...?"

Elfman just laughed and said, "Take it easy, big man."

Naturally, I found my way over to the bar where Mira was. On the way there, some other guild members noticed me and acknowledged my presence. "Hey, Vincent. Feel better," said one member. "Hey, heard you were sick. Get better," said another. "Get better, Vincent, you can do it!" enthused a younger member. It was small but encouraging nonetheless. I hadn't thought that anyone knew I was there, let alone cared for my well being.

I considered myself... lucky...? for the position I was in. Or, maybe not lucky... the words that Laxus uttered the other day still stuck with me. Thousands of overpowered characters with near-perfect attributes? Well for one thing, I certainly didn't have good looks, but I wasn't entirely ugly. That which is debatable. And I certainly wasn't overpowered/invulnerable, nor did I have "near-perfect" attributes. Maybe my goal of avenging my father was a bit overused, but at the time it was all I had to go off of. It wasn't my fault I was put under these conditions, born with these powers. As I sat down, I felt something shift as I began to rethink all of my actions, and everything that led me here. Was everything according to some unknown plan, or entirely coincidental? And if being the latter, what were the odds?

For the very first time, I could see it. Alternate universes with tons of different heroes just like me. Had a similar backstory, just like me. Similar or same powers, similar attire, similar attributes and personality, similar odds, same motives, same timeline, same plot, and same events up to this point. It upset me quite a lot, knowing that I really was just another copy. But then I saw a dreadful, most terrible sight. I didn't exactly know for sure if what I was seeing was real, but from the present going forward, the only thing I could see... was hell. All was chaos and death. I knew not if it was my doing or not, but it was majorly unsettling and caused me to entirely rethink my decisions. Not instantaneously, as I had been thinking about this for a while, but this was the turning point. From this, a new, nagging question entered my mind and continued to bug me every time I did anything, from that point on. The question-

"Vincent! Vincent, wake up! Hello, earth to Vincent!" I felt a tap on my shoulder and snapped upwards.

"Gah...! I'm up! I'm up! I'm awake! What happened!" I exclaimed.

"You looked as if you were delving into a deep depression, or contemplating the meaning or something! You scared me..." I stared at Mira like an idiot, wondering if she was part of the "plan" as well. What was the "plan", though? My head began to spin as I thought harder and harder about it.

"Oh... did I...?" I mumbled, absentmindedly. "Sorry, I'm probably just thinking too hard about... ah, never mind."

"Wait, tell me! If it's something that's clouding your thoughts, maybe I could help you...?"

"I doubt it's something you can help with because you belong here. And the fact of the matter is, I don't. I don't really belong anywhere except home... but you wouldn't know what that's like, because you grew up here. You belong here, along with everyone else. Even though Lucy is as new as I am, I can't help but feel like she's the one that belongs..." I stared off into space while I spoke, ever contemplating the life I led.

"Oh... I don't... really know..."

"That's alright. You all keep me company, that at the very least. But there will come a day when I'll leave all of this behind and seek anew, to seek my place, wherever that may be."

"Hey, now. It's best not to think about what's to become, and focus on what is happening right now. Y'know, to savor these moments or something...?"

I felt a twinge of sadness and happiness, making me feel just a bit better. "You're so kind. So... personable. I just wish I could know..."

"Know what?"

"To know... well, to know when I'll ever-"

"YO! Vin!" came Natsu's yell. He slapped a hand down on my shoulder. I felt like crying but wasn't about to. Not in front of everyone. And knowing Natsu, he'd probably never forgive himself.

"What's... going on...?" I squeezed out.

"We were gonna invite you to... hey, what's wrong? You look as depressed as Gray."

"Huh?! Who're you callin' depressed, Mr. ADHD?"

"Who're you callin' ADHD, walking freezer?"

"What's that make you then, walking tiki torch? Your flames couldn't burn a dry leaf if you tried!"

"You couldn't freeze a glass of water that already has ice in it, below zero!"

"Yeah, but I think some of those brain cells are still frozen from when I fought you last, dunce!"

"Hey, now. It's too early for this. I'm still sick and I'm really not feeling up to both your antics. If you were gonna tell me something, tell, otherwise take that crap elsewhere."

"I was gonna ask you before Gray interrupted me-"

"Well, you called me depressed, and I'm just standing here, minding my own business."

"No, you're standing there, being a big headed douchebag!"

"Who's a douchebag?"

Erza stepped forward, hitting the tops of their heads. "Both of you are. What we want to ask you, that these two are clearly failing to get across, is that we have some free time, so we were thinking about taking a break to go to a hot spring. Gray had the idea to invite you along, and we thought that it would be a good idea if you came along." A hot spring, huh? I thought. I remember passing by one in Lavaridge in Hoenn but didn't have the time to visit. I began to regret always being too busy training to even think about taking a break. But now was an opportunity, so considering my circumstances, I replied, "Yeah, sure. I got nothing going on."

"Oh yeah, that's right. We all wanted to wish you good health because we heard you were sick. I do hope you get better soon."

Natsu and Gray rose up with lumps on their heads. "Get well. We kinda need you on our team," said Gray rather passively.

"Get better Vin!" exclaimed Natsu with a big, strong smile. "The team just isn't complete without you!"

Now, the words of Laxus and all the toxic thoughts that followed still remained in my head, but with all the encouragement, I was prevented from going down a much darker path than I originally planned. For once, even if it was just for a moment, I felt like I fit in, somehow.

"Thank you... thank you guys so much... I really mean that." I felt like crying, but I didn't wanna cry in front of everyone. I had to be strong. I had to be strong for myself, for my father, my mother. So I didn't cry. "When... er, when are we going?"

"I figured we could go later tonight. Lucy will meet us there," said Erza.

"Speaking of, where is she? I thought she went with you guys."

"She went home to relax. It's been pretty hectic for her, and she's been having a bit of trouble keeping up."

"Her too? I sincerely hope she doesn't get sick like me. Well anyway, I guess I'll see you guys later? Er... where the hell do we meet?"

"We're meeting in Hosenka Town, west of Magnolia. Be there at 8:30."

"Right!" With that, they left.

"Hosenka, huh? Ah... sounds like fun," sighed Mira.

"Yeah. Never been to a hot spring, but sounds like a lot of fun." I realized the note of longing in Mira's voice and added, "Hey, you could come with us! Well, if you're free later tonight."

"Well, I'm usually done around 9:00, but maybe I can leave a bit earlier to join you. I'd love to go."

"Well, I'll come around 8:00, if I'm able to. I may as well sleep the whole day, though. The more I sleep, the quicker this fever will go away."

"It has gone down quite a bit, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, and even if it doesn't go down anymore, I'll be alright. I gotta be strong. And on that note, I'm gonna go home."

"Well, get better. I'll see you later tonight."

xxxx

"... weakling... you weakling...! You'll never be able to come close to even a fraction of my power...! Die, 'Descendant'!"

"Ah!" Once again, I was startled awake from yet another nightmare, dripping sweat profusely, heart pounding a thousand miles a minute. I cared not for the Elementia nightmare I had just had and instead checked the time to get my mind off of it. 7:43. I didn't feel any better than I had earlier that day but didn't feel worse, at the very least.

I had some time before I was to get Mira, so to prevent myself from getting sick any further, I thought it to be a good idea to look for a better jacket than the one I already had. Because my body heat was still conked out, I needed something to keep me warm for the time being, something heavier than my zip-up hoodie. Just like the previous time, finding nothing of my style, I had to leave for the guild with only my hoodie.

The guild was pitch black except for a little lantern lighting up the bar. Mira was nowhere to be seen, but as I stepped closer, I felt two hands on my shoulders and heard Mira shout, "Bah!", scaring the shit out of me. I nearly smacked her, but only because I didn't realize it was her st first. Now I know, you're probably thinking, if she was the only one in the guild, how could it be anyone else? Well, it could've been! You never know what to expect anymore.

"Jeez! You scared the shit outta me! I think I'm gonna piss my pants after that!" I shouted.

"Hehe... did I scare you?"

"Yeah, you did...!"

"Aw... I'm sorry, you poor thing... sorry if I scared you out of your skin."

"It's fine. It's whatever," I said, slightly annoyed. Suddenly, I felt her hands on my arm, making me jump again.

"Oh... I really did scare you, didn't I? Poor baby..."

"Hey, I'm not a baby!"

"You're mine, at least." After seeing her cute face in the lamplight as she said that, it was impossible to act annoyed. I sighed and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"Shall we go then?"

"Yes, let's."

xxxx

It got pretty dark as we walked along, but by lighting a Flame Ball in my hand, not only did it light our path (and surroundings within a 15 foot radius) but it kept us warm as we made our way to Hosenka Town. I protected Mira with my life, keeping her close to me and defeating anything that tried to attack us. And trust me, there were most definitely creatures that tried to attack us. Not a whole lot, but easy enough to take down with a few attacks.

The lights of Hosenka were distant, drawing nearer as we hurried along. It was almost 8:30, and I dreaded what Erza would do if I was late. Hopefully nothing too harsh, since Mira was also with me.

Luckily, we made it in time, but then it dawned upon me that I didn't know where Erza said to meet. Though the town was small, we began rushing around what seemed a whole city, calling out for Natsu and the others.

"Where are we running to?" panted Mira, tired from running.

"We're trying to find out where-" I began, but then we rounded a corner and found Erza and the others standing there, waiting for us. Turns out that they were waiting in from of the inn the whole time. Erza had a rather serious look, sending a chill down my spine.

"You're two minutes late. Another minute and we would've left you running around like a fool."

"I'm sorry, Erza, but it's just that, you never told me where we'd be meeting."

"Is that so? Then forgive me for my mistake. Oh...?" She glanced over at Mira. "You've decided to bring her along as well?"

"Ah. Well, y'see, er, about that, uh..." I stopped because Erza raised her hand, for what seemed like an incoming smack, but it only turned out to be her thumb, accepting my choice.

"That's not a problem. Well then, shall we head on in?"

Walking into the bathhouse, we were met with a relaxing, warm aura. The bath itself was split into two rooms, the men's side on the left and the women's on the right. Erza, Lucy, and Mira disappeared into the right side, and Natsu, Gray, and I (and Happy) went into our respective side. Gray was naturally, well, al naturale, and so was Happy. Natsu and I remained the only ones who had anything to take off, and proceeding to do so amidst the steam, I stepped down into the bath, immediately relaxed by the soothing water.

"Ahhhhhh... if there's anything to rid me of my fever, this is it..." I sighed, neck deep in the hot water.

"Jeez Vin! You made the water so hot that I can barely dip my toe in! Look, it's basically a boiling pot now!" shouted Gray. He was right, for the water around me within a moderate radius had begun to boil.

"Look, man. The water on that side is fine, so why not go over there?" I suggested.

"Ahhhhhh... the water was lukewarm until now...!" sighed Natsu. "Jeez Gray, you're the only one not enjoying it, ya block of ice!"

"Yeah? Come over here and I'll make you eat those words!"

"I will, as a matter of fact! You're asking for a Fire Dragon Fist to the face, buddy!"

"Buddy, I'll freeze your dick off before you can do anything!"

"I'll burn yours off faster than you can say "Ice-Make!"

"Hey. I'll boil both of yours off if you two don't shut it. Think about coming at me with something smart and I'll turn the heat up so much that you'll be cooked into a soup. And it won't taste good," I growled, upsetting even Happy who, like Natsu, only thought about food.

"Tch. Okay, Mr. Boiler," said Gray, backing away slowly.

"Says King Cold over there, on the other side of the room."

"That's because I'm done in the bath!"

"You were only in it for five seconds."

Afterwards, we paid for the bath and a room large enough for all of us to share. Then Gray, Natsu and Erza started a pillow fight, in which Lucy was an easy target, getting knocked out right away. I did my best to distance myself from them, in which I met Mira on the other side of the room.

"Hey, it's getting pretty hectic in here. Wanna go with-" I was cut off midsentence, hit with a heavy pillow in the back of the head. I stopped, then bent down to pick it up. Turning around, Natsu looked everywhere else, trying his best to apoear innocent. With a mighty slug, I threw the pillow directly at his face, knocking him down.

"Jeez! You almost hit Mira, you fiery dolt! Watch it!" I yelled. "C'mon, Mira. Let's go for a drink, which was what I was gonna ask."

"Sure," she replied as we walked out.

I made sure that Mira didn't drink too much, as I had to watch my intake as well. Even after a few shots of sakè, Mira appeared to be turning red, and based on the fact that I was feeling a little woozy as well, I was thinking that she may feel the same. Okay, maybe we had a little more than a few shots, but not too much. I think...

"I'm feeling a little... warm, aren't you?" I said.

"Uh oh, we did it, didn't we? Are we getting drunk?" said Mira worriedly.

"Well, let's go tell the others we wanna go home while we still have a sense of reality." I waved my hands in front of my face. "It just kinda seems like a long ways away. Let's head back, okay?"

I vaguely remember telling the others that Mira and I were returning home, despite them telling me the next day. But for some reason I remember more of what happened next, maybe because it stuck in my mind more strongly. With the alcohol setting in, my drunk self began making not so good decisions, but even so, it would've been the best option than walking home at night.

"Mira... we can't walk home, we might fall asleep..."

"I guess... but how're we gonna get there...?" she yawned.

"I have a way. I can shift space, like bloop!" To this, Mira began cracking up. "Here, hold on to me, silly." With her in my arm, I held on tightly, ready to Dimension Shift. But the alcohol still had its side effects...

As I tried to teleport back to my house, it didn't work the first few times I tried it, but then the circle below our feet began to glow and spark, then dropped us through rather aggressively.

And where we ended up wasn't my house.