The One You'd Least Suspect:
AN: TRIGGER WARNING! Eating disorders discussed in this chapter. If you've had a history of eating disorders and feel that reading something like this might trigger you please skip. If you are currently suffering from an eating disorder please seek help. (this link will take you to a lit of hotline numbers if you need help now topics/eating-disorder-hotline/) You are beautiful and you are loved. Please take care of yourself.
"One, two, three, pin!" Koree declared as she let go of Persephone's hand. Perephone begrudgingly added the firt point to Koree's side of her screen.
"Alright, let's go again," she sighed as she put the screen away and set her elbow on the table again. After a short struggle Koree pinned her again.
"Oh, yeah! I win!" Koree cheered a she fist pumped.
Persephone added another point and, again, Koree won. And she won the fourth round. And the fifth. And the sixth.
Persephone frowned as she added the sixth point to Koree's side. She hadn't won a single round yet! Usually she and Koree were pretty even. Sure, Koree would win some rounds, but so would she, and sometimes they would call it a draw. Never had Koree beaten her this badly before. Maybe she was just having a late start today? Persephone huffed as she held her hand up to go another round, even though her arm was starting to ache.
"Three, two, one, go!" Koree shouted.
WHAM!
Persephone flinched as Koree slammed her hand to the table.
"Ouch!" Persephone shouted as she crabbled her throbbing hand in her other, cringing when she saw blood on her knuckles.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean t-" Koree began.
"It's okay," Persephone grumbled as she stood up and walked into the bathroom. She turned on the sink and began washing her hand off. She hissed as the cold water stung her wounds and she squirted a bit of soap onto the scrapes.
The bathroom door of the guild hall opened and a group of people dressed in dorky outfits piled in, oohing and aahing at the sights.
"Oh, great, tourists," Persephone grumbled. Every now and then groups of civilians would come to tour the guild hall. Persepone tried to ignore them as she kept washing her scrape and pulled off a paper towel and dabbed the wounds dry.
"Oh, look one of the dragon slayers!" someone gasped. Persephone looked about. Had Koree come in? Or Farrah or Aunt Wendy? After not finding one of the three Persephone looked back at the crowd of tourists, only noticing then that they were all staring at her. Then it dawned on her.
"Oh, you got me confused with my twin sister. I'm not a dragon slayer," Persephone said plainly.
"Oh," they all mumbled in disappointment as they filed out.
"Geez, tough crowd," Persephone said as she kept dabbing at her scrapes. The bleeding still hadn't stopped. She pressed the paper towels against her knuckles and walked to the main bar of the main room.
"Hey, Aunt Lisanna?" Persephone asked as she hopped onto a stool.
"Yes?" Lisanna asked, a hand on her tiny baby bump.
"Can I get the first aid kit?" Persephone asked, showing Lisanna the scrapes.
"Oh, goodness! What did you do?" Lisanna asked, bending down with a bit of difficulty to get the first aid kit.
"Um…" Persephone felt a flush of embarrassment on her face. "I...er...ran into a door."
"You little silly!" Lisanna shook her head a she set the kit on the bar and opened it up. "Gimme your hand," she sighed and began dabbing medicine onto the scrapes.
"...can't believe we mistaken her for the Dragon Slayer one."
Persephone turned to see the group of tourist now looking at items from the gift shop near the bar.
"I know, for being sisters they really don't look alike. The dragon slayer one is fit as a fiddle with a pretty face, while the other one is kinda of flabby and frowny."
Persephone frowned, and then realized what he wa doing and relaxed her face as she looked down at her stomach. Flabby? She poked at her abdomen. It did feel a little soft if she was being honest but she wasn't fat, was she?
"There, all done," Lisanna said as she tied a bandage around Persephone's hand.
"Thank," Persephone smiled.
"They need to get that girl in some exercise classes. What kinda magic does she even used, clearly it's not one that requires a lot of fitness," the tourists continued.
Lisana arched an eyebrow as he turned to them.
"Hey, Aunt Lisanna is the baby moving?" Persephone asked to draw her attention away from the tourists. She didn't want to give those weirdos anymore attention.
"Yes, you wanna feel?" Lisanna asked. Persephone smiled a she leaned over and put her hand on Lisanna's belly. She felt a gentle thump against her palm which made her grin widen. After a while the naysayers left and Persephone sighed in relief, happy to be rid of their nonsense.
Was it nonsense though?
She looked down at herself again, then glanced at her twin now arm wrestling with Nashi. They were both fit and lean, defined muscles exemplified on their arms. Nashi had even begun to show the ever slightest hints of curves around her hips. Persephone and Koree were still flat as boards though, Persephone especially. Koree at least had a toned stomach, but Persephone, not as much.
"Aunt Lisanna?"
"Yes?"
"How come I'm not as fit as the others?"
Lisanna frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Persephone sighed. "Koree and I were arm wrestling and no matter what I couldn't beat her!"
Lisanna smoked comfortingly at her. "I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. You and your sister are entering a weird phase in life is all."
"Whadya mean?"
"Up until now all you kids have been growing at about the same rate, but now you're getting to the point in life when everyone grows at different rates. Some are faster, some are slower."
"I don't get it," Persephone arched and eyebrow.
"It means if you aren't as strong or big as the other girls don't worry, you'll catch up soon. And you won't always be good at everything yet sister is, or vice versa."
"Hmph," Persephone crosses her arms.
"That's not a bad thing. Just look at your Magics. Yes, Koree's involves more physical strength, but yours requires a lot of brain power and wit. You're both powerful, but in your own ways."
Persephone had stopped listening at this point, though. An idea had just occurred in her mind. Of course Koree and Nashi were stronger than her because they had to work out in their training. She didn't. That just meant to get like them she'd have to work out by herself outside of training!
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Oof!" Persephone groaned as she tumbled out of the circle drawn in the dirt outside the guild hall.
"And Roman wins...again!" Storm said from where he and the other children were watching the match take place. Persephone grumbled as she stood up and dusted herself off.
"Good match," Roman called as he requipped his bow staff away and held a hand out to Persephone to shake.
"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled as she stomped off, earning a concerned look from Roman.
"Hey, you okay?" Koree asked as she bounded to her sister's side.
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"I lost."
"You lasted pretty long though."
"So? I still lost!"
"It's not that big of a deal."
"What do you mean it's not that big of a deal?"
Koree crossed her arms as a frown graced her face. "Well, for one, it's just a game. And two, it's Roman! Only one who's ever beaten him is Farrah!"
"WWAAHH!" Nashi shouted as she flew over the twins head and collapsed on the other side of them.
"And Roman wins again," Storm said.
"See?" Koree asked, jabbing her thumb at a dizzy Nashi. "Now stop being such a sour puss!"
"My turn!" Cato called as he stepped into the circle to face Roman.
As the match began Mirajane came out with a tray of small bowls. "Snack time!"
All the children but the two boys in the circle, and Storm who was overseeing the match, ran to Mirajane.
"What!? Just fruit!?" Igneel shouted when he saw what was inside. "Where all the sugar and stuff?"
"Like you need it, space head," Meeko sniffed.
"Mind your business, snow panties!"
"Fruit's ish good for ya," Nashi said, still dizzy from her rather rough exit from the circle. "Besides, too much junk food while training will give ya a tummy ache."
And make you fat and slow, Persephone thought. Maybe that was also why she was behind everyone else. Too much junk food. So maybe if she worked out more and ate less junk food she'd get strong like Koree, and-
BOOM!
The ground shook as both Roman and Cato collapsed on their backs outside the circle.
"Who won? Who won?" The triplets asked in unison.
"N-Neither," Storm stuttered, eyes wide. "They knocked each other out at the same time."
"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted.
"SINCE WHEN IS CATO AS STRONG AS ROMAN!?" Persephone screeched. Now she was really behind!
"Nice trick," Roman huffed as he stood to his feet. "But now that I know those clones of yours can't take or make a punch I'll be sure to ignore them next time."
"C-clones?" Persephone stuttered. Cato could make clones too now? She was really, REALLY behind!
"They can't make or take punches YET," Cato corrected with a smile as he held out his hand for Roman to shake.
Persephone quickly warfed down her snack and walked back into the circle. "Okay, I'm ready to go again."
"Already?" Koree asked. "Shouldn't you rest a bit first?"
"I said I'm fine, cmon, someone fight me!"
"And I'm the crazy twin?" Koree muttered, worried but slightly amused.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Dinner time!" Levy called as she set the table. Gajeel and Koree came bounding to the table immediately while Persephone was a little slower. She cautiously gazed and the food in front of her.
Chicken. That was healthy.
Peas. That was healthy.
Rice. Well, it was a vegetable, right? It grew out of the ground so it had to be healthy.
She let out a sigh of relief. She was safe. She began eating her food happily, or at least she wanted to be happy about it. Something kept bugging her, though. Was everything she eating actually good for her?
Making sure to keep the screen under the table where no one would see it, she began looking up her food.
Uh, oh.
Rice was actually a grain, not a veggie, and it turned out to not be so great for you! To make matters worse, Persephone had mixed all of her food together and had eaten half of it, most of it rice!
"I-"
She felt her face get hot. She'd never get ahead at this rate.
"I...I don't feel so good. I'm gonna go lie down," Persephone lied as she dashed off to her room. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. She wasn't feeling good. In fact she felt awful! Only one day one her diet and she'd messed up! How was she going to get strong and fit like her sister if she couldn't even not eat something bad for you like rice!
Then again, she could try again tomorrow. But what if she messed up tomorrow? And the day after that!
Persephone closed the bedroom door behind her and looked in the mirror. Had she gotten even bigger since that morning? The tourists weren't lying when they said she was the flabby sister! Ugh! Stupid rice!
Persephone's stomach began to ache. She put a hand to her mouth as she rushed to the bathroom and got sick.
"Oh, guess you aren't feeling good, huh?" Levy asked as she appeared behind Persephone in the bathroom.
"Yeah, guess not," Persephone muttered. That was not quite what she'd wanted to do. But, hey, at least she got rid of the rice.
"Come on," Levy took Persephone's hand and led her back to her room. "Let's put you to bed."
"Okay," Persephone nodded as she let her mother bring her to bed and tuck her in.
"Want me to pick out a story to read?" Levy asked as she stroked her daughter's hair.
"No, I think I just wanna sleep," Persephone lied.
"Okay. Good night," Levy kisses Persephone's forehead and walked out. Persephone waited until she heard the clatter of dishes being washed, signaling the kitchen cleaning ritual had started and no one would come check on her for a little while. She kicked off the blankets, dropped to the floor, and began doing push-ups.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Come on guys, another round!" Persephone called as she brushed her hands together.
"But we're tired!" Nashi whine from where she was lying face-planted in the grass.
"Come on!" Persephone called. "How are we going to get stronger if we don't train?" And when I say "we" I mean "me."
"We've been at this all day," Roman sighed. "I think we've earned a break."
"Aw, c'mon you wimps!"
"Nah, I'm calling it a day," Storm sighed as he headed back to the guild hall, the rest of the gang minus Persephone following.
"Fine, who needs you?" Persephone huffed. The minute they were gone she dropped to the ground and began doing push ups. Just because they stopped didn't mean she could. She still had catching up to do!
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Roman sat on his bed as he read his comic, or tried to.
His mind wasn't really on the adventures of Blue Blade Ninja. It was on Persephone. They'd been at the guild hall all day but Persephone never stopped working out and training to play once. That was not normal for her, and it troubled him.
"Roman! Mommy's on the Lacrima!" Eva called as she poked her head into his room and skipped down the hall. Roman set his comic aside and walked to the living room.
Jellal was talking through the lacrima.
"Yes, Yes, they're all here," he said.
"Hey, can I talk to her first?" Roman asked. "It's kinda important."
Jellal's brow furrowed as he said: "I'm going to let Roman talk to you first."
"Hello?" Roman asked as he took the lacrima.
"Hello, Roman," Ezra's voice called from the other line. "How's my little warrior doing?"
"Oh, I'm doing fine. How's the job?"
"Well, I haven't started it yet. We've stopped at a hotel for tonight and will be getting there tomorrow."
"Oh. Okay. Uncle Natsu and Uncle Gray alright?"
"Misbehaving as usual."
Roman giggled slightly then got serious. "Um, Mommy. There's, uh, something I wanna ask you…"
"Of course. What is it?"
"Erm…" Roman scratched at the back of his head.
"Roman, is something wrong?"
Roman sighed. "Remember when you told me too much training was a bad thing?"
"Is Minette pushing Eva and Von to train when they don't want to again?"
"No, it's Persephone."
"Persephone?"
"She wanted to train all day, and then when the rest of stopped she kept doing push ups, and sit ups, and jogging."
"Hm. Did she say anything else?"
"Said that if we wanted to get stronger and not get weak we had to work hard and eat healthy."
"Eat healthy?" Erza asked.
"Yes."
"So what did she eat?"
"Huh?"
"What did she eat?" Erza asked again, more serious.
"Uh...I dunno. I wasn't paying attention."
"We'll keep a close eye on her for me tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright. Is something wrong with her?" Roman asked, worried.
"Impossible to say now, just keep an eye on her."
"Okay."
"Don't worry, Roman, she'll be okay."
"Right."
"I'm going to talk to one of the others now."
"Okay."
"I love you."
"Love you too, Mommy."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Ugh!" Nashi slammed the door behind her as she trudged to the living room, Layla in tow, Gajeel with them.
"Did you two not want to stay the whole night?" Lucy asked as she came downstairs in a bathrobe. The girl's were supposed to be having a slumber party at the Redfoxes. Why were they back now?
"Sephy's sick," Gajeel explained.
"Again?" Lucy arches an eyebrow. Persephone has been getting sick every night for the past four nights in a row. But she always seemed fine in the morning.
"And she was being real jerk!" Nashi grumbled as she stormed up to her room.
"Maybe it's because her tummy was hurting," Layla suggested.
"People with tummy aches don't do sit ups and make their friends do it to!" Nashi countered.
"She didn't make us-"
"She sat on our cards until we helped her!"
Lucy's brow furrowed as she turned to Gajeel who was heading toward the door.
"Well, I'm headed back home."
"Gajeel," Lucy began. "Aren't you worried about this?"
"Well, Yeah, What parent wouldn't be after their child came down sick four nights in a row?"
"And the constant workouts, and talks of getting stronger, and insisting upon healthy snacks only from Mira at the guild hall. None of this is striking you as odd?"
Gajeel stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "Yeah. A bit."
Lucy sighed as she tightened her robe around herself. "Please keep an eye on her. If this is...well, it can get out of control quick."
"Right," Gajeel nodded and the left.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Persephone," Cato called as he walked outside, a cup of banana pudding in his hand.
The girl in question was doing jumping jacks on the guildhall yard. Cato sighed as he walked towards her.
"Persephone," he called again.
"What?" She asked not stopping her workout.
"Your snack," Cato held it out to her.
"Don't want it."
"It's banana pudding."
"And? I said I don't want it."
"It's your favorite," Cato reminded her. "That's why I asked Mama to make it."
"Not hungry."
Cato set the cup of pudding down on the ground and crossed his arms. "What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing."
"Nuh-Uh," Cato shook his head. "You don't eat. All you care about is training and exercising. You don't even play with us anymore."
"That's not true," Persephone insisted as she began doing lunges.
"You can't even stop exercising long enough to talk to me!" Cato shouted before stepping forward and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Stop it! What's wrong with you? This isn't like you!"
"I'm just trying to catch up, now leave me alone," Persephone insisted as she brushed Cato off and began stretching again.
"Catch up on what? And stop that!"
He grabbed her wrist.
"Hey, let go," Persephone tugged to try to get away but Cato's grip was tight and his eyes were wide.
"When did you me arm get so skinny?"
"It's not, and let go," Persephone snatched her hand away and began walking off.
"When is the last time you ate something?" Cato asked.
"Last night."
"Koree said you were sick last night."
"I was."
"So you eat nothing all day, and then the one meal you do eat you throw up!?" Cato exclaimed.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not!"
"Yes I am."
Cato grabbed Persephone by the shoulders and shook her. "Look at yourself! You look sick!"
"Yeah, because I'm a human lump, but I'm trying to fix it!"
"Human lu- You look like a skeleton!"
"I do not!"
"Maybe not but you're gonna!"
"Will not," Persephone brushed him off again and tried to walk off.
"Persephone you're scaring me," Cato said.
"Why? I ain't hurting you."
"You're hurting yourself!"
"I said I was fine!"
"No you're not," Cato grabbed her wrist again, but she whirled around.
"Stop it, I'm fine!" She screamed.
SMACK!
Persephone gasped. Clasping a hand to her mouth as she realized what she had done.
Cato blinked to rod himself if the stars he was seeing just as he felt something warm in his upper lip. He put a hand to it and touched blood.
"Cato, I'm...I'm sor-" Persephone took off running into the woods surrounding the guild hall.
"Persephone, wait!" Cato shouted.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Persephone!"
"Persephone!"
"Persephone!"
It was dark. Monsters were starting to come out of their dens, and still no sign of Persephone.
"Sephy!" Gajeel called as he tore through a patch of underbrush. "Sephy! Persephone!"
"Huh…"
It was barely even a whisper. Had Gajeel not been a dragon slayer he may not have heard it. He turned towards the noise, following it to find-
"Persephone!"
She was lying under a bush, knees drawn to her chest, trembling, covered in sweat.
"Daddy," she called weakly. "Help…"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Persephone!" Levy shouted as she a Koree burst through the doors to the healing ward. Persephone lay on her back, eyes closed, an IV in one arm and a tube in her nose. Porlyusica was hovering over her, mixing some concoction in a bowl.
"Wha-what's that?" Levy asked, pointing to the tube in her nose.
"Feeding tube," Porlyusica said. "She's horribly malnourished."
"This is our fault," Gajeel said as he held his face in his hands. "We should have confronted her about this. We knew something was off!"
"But...but she was better," Levy said. "She'd stopped getting sick!"
"No," Koree answered in a soft voice. "She just waited until you guys were in bed to do it."
"And you didn't say something!?" Gajeel snapped.
"I was scared," Koree cringed. "She said she'd run away and never talk to me again if I told."
"Koree, she could have died!"
"I didn't think it was this bad!"
"Didn't think-"
"Gajeel, it's not her fault," Levy said softly as she set a hand on Koree's head. "Like you said. It's ours."
"No it's not," a firm voice came from behind them.
"Erza?" Gajeel asked as the woman in question walked towards them.
"Eating disorders are something no one is ever ready for," Erza said softly. "And they aren't always easy to spot."
"But…" Gajeel turned back to his thin, sickly daughter. "Look at her! She's-"
"Got a long road ahead of her," Erza nodded. "But now that we all know we'll help her."
"Help her how?" Gajeel asked.
"We'll all take it one step at a time. That's how I made it."
"Wait, you…"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Persephone slowly opened her eyes. Where was she? She was staring at a blank ceiling. She looked about. She was in the healing ward of the guild hall.
"Persephone?"
Persephone turned her head to find her mother walking towards her.
"Mommy?" She asked in a voice a little more than a whisper.
Levy smiled, fighting back tears. "How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm cold."
"I'll get you a blanket," Levy nodded, biting her lip as she quickly slipped out to wipe her tears away.
"Persephone!"
Persephone didn't even have time to turn before Koree all bit tackled her, crying into her shoulder. "You're okay! You're okay!"
"K...Koree?"
Persephone felt a tight squeeze on her hand. She turned to find Gajeel holding it, sniffling as he did so.
"Daddy? Are you-"
She'd done this. She'd made her whole family cry. She'd worried her whole guild. She'd hurt Cato. All she'd wanted was to be good enough. To be strong enough. And look what she did.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Gajeel said, releasing her hand and wrapping his arms around her neck. "We're just glad you're okay."
"But…" Persephone stuttered. "But I'm not."
She should have stopped. She knew this wasn't healthy. She knew what she was doing was bad for her. It she did it anyways. She kept telling herself one more purge, one more lap, one more push-up. But it was never just one more. It kept going, and going, and going, and suddenly she couldn't stop.
Now what?
The door opened and Levy walked in with a blanket, and a message:
"Persephone, you have guests."
A line of women filed in: Lucy, Erza, Minerva, Sherry, and Jenny.
Persephone hung her head. A group of strong women, I doubt coming to scold her for-
"We're not going to ask you why you did it, Persephone," Lucy began, making the young girl flinch. "We're just going to tell you why we did it."
Why they did it!?
Persephone snapped her head up and gasped.
"Growing up I didn't have any other friends my age," Lucy continued. "Being lonely and being in the eye of your social circle as the heir to a fortune can do a lot to a girl's self esteem. I felt a ton of pressure to always be good enough. To be pretty enough. And as I got older and curvier I began to feel fat. So I starved myself, trying to be thin and pretty enough so people around me would like me."
"My story is similar," Jenny said. "I always wanted to be a model, but to do that you have to be thin. I'm not sure when it happened exactly but at some point I just stopped eating."
"I just hated myself," Minerva said. "My father constantly told me I wasn't good enough. That I was weak and pathetic. Soon he messed me up so bad that I didn't even feel that I deserved food. So I had none for days at a time. But then he would berate me when I had to be force fed just to stay alive. It was a horrific cycle that I thought would never end."
Erza set a hand on Minerva's shoulder as she began. "After the tower of heaven, after I'd lost everything I'd ever love, I felt I'd lost control. I couldn't stop what happened then. I couldn't stop anything happening going forward, or so I thought. My life was completely out of control. But the one thing I could control was what I ate. So I did. I controlled it to the point I wouldn't let myself have any. Just so I could say no to something and it actually not happen. Everything else I'd said no too until then happened anyways."
"Similar was my experience," Sherry nodded. "After Deliora killed my family I felt like I'd lost control of my life and the one thing I could control was my eating."
Lucy nodded before looking back at Persephone. "We've all been where you are now, Persephone. But we made it. And you will too. And we'll help you."
"But...I don't understand," Persephone said. "You're all so strong and beautiful. Why would you want to-"
"And so are you," Erza said as she sat down on Persephone's bed and took her hands in hers. "You're the greatest archive wizard to ever live, remember?"
Persephone hung her head but Erza continued. "These sort of things have a habit of attacking those you'd least expect. It's not something to be ashamed of though. You are ill, but you'll soon heal just as we did."
Persephone sniffled and all the women came forward to give her a hug. Gajeel, Levy, and Koree also hugged her as she cried her eyes out, barely able to make out the mountain of get well card on the table next to her, including a handpicked bouquet from a certain memory make wizard who was watching on from the doorway, sighing in relief. Persephone wouldn't learn until years later that he'd slept the whole night right outside the door. Watching over her as best he could.