Ch. Four

I let nothing slow me down. Not the rocks and twigs digging into my bare feet, not the occasional tumble, nothing. I speed up when I enter the village and bob and weave through the panicking people towards the spider demon. I round a corner and my body freezes without my permission. This demon is a lot scarier up close.

What do you plan to do? Jack asks.

"I have no idea." I gasp. Shit! This is just a Natsu thing to do! Rushing in without a plan. I'm supposed to be the smart one! Damn it!

Don't worry Mama, I'll protect you! Titan exclaims. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and charge. The demon turns to me and roars this screeching sound that hurts my ears but I don't slow down.

"Stop hurting innocent people!" I shout. For some reason, the demon relaxed at the sound of my voice giving me enough time to get close and give it a Lucy Kick. The moment we touch, we both gasp as our bodies shine – her in black and me in white. My light rushes over the demon like a wave of rushing water until it overwhelmed the black light and changed her light to be both black and white. Then the lights fade and her black eyes fade to silver with white slit pupils.

Mom? Where am I? What's going on? She questions with confusion evident in her voice.

"Go to your siblings and wait for me. Stay hidden. I will be there when I can." I command. I watch her wings spread wide and take to the sky with Jack leading the way. "Titan you should go with her." I suggest. He shakes his head, I can't do that. Look.

I look around and discover the villagers looking at me in shock, awe, disbelief, fear, but most of all hatred. The murmurs between them grew louder and louder until they were shouting at me. I didn't start feeling fear until they started throwing things at me. This seemed to anger Titan. I felt his anger as though it was my own. I notice that all metal objects rattle and shake as though he wants to use his magic but he's also fighting to hold back. I pull Titan close to not only protect him but to also comfort him. I try to calm them down but it seems that my words would only set them off more and more until they began to turn violent.

Jack suddenly returns and he latches himself onto my back. His wings grow three times their size until they're big and strong enough to carry not only myself but Titan as well. He takes off quickly just before big objects that can do me any harm can hurt me.

I suspected they were going to react badly when they see how we react but I didn't think they would react this badly. If strangers react this badly to this then how is Fairy Tail, my nakama, going to react? Do I even want to take a chance of seeing their faces look like those in the village? I don't think I'm brave enough for that. Then again, I was never very brave.

Mother! Ember cried with the wolves whimpering beside her.

Mommy! Sunny, Shayshay, and Maymay shout.

Mom! Tessera, Lily, and Nezera howl.

Mom! The newest demon – I'm going to name her Tara since she reminds me of a spider – calls. All but her surround me, fretting and checking me over, making sure I'm not hurt or anything. Even though I wasn't Shayshay and Maymay healed me anyway as they slowly flew around me. I will say this though the aches and pains I had are gone now.

Back up everyone! Let her breathe! Jack shouts as he moves everyone back. And you! He turns to me, No more humans! If that's how they're going to react to us then no more! I don't care what you say! I'm not going to argue with you Jack. No more humans.

Mom? Tara finally approaches me with hesitation obvious in each step. I'm sorry about the trouble I have caused you. She bows her head in shame and whispers an apology just loud enough for me to hear. I step towards her, gently moving the others out of the way, and place a hand on her head in a comforting way. She looks up at me with wide eyes and the smile on my face was enough for her to know that I forgive her. It wasn't her fault. I'm totally blaming their father for this mess.

I turn to the others and announce, "We need to leave. The village may send a request for a guild to come and look for us. We need to find somewhere secluded where we can be alone for a while so I can think of what to do next."