TRIGGER WARNING: I am letting you know now, the first part of this chapter is rather dark, contains death and imprisonment of children, please don't kill me! It's part of the plot! Please remember to read AND review, its the bread and butter for us writers!
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Chapter 2
She was sitting in the dark, leaning back against the cold damp stone of the cell she had been thrown into, the sound of steady deep breaths around her. Her arms were wrapped around the small shivering body of a child, tucked securely into her lap, and absently running calming hands over their back. She had lost track of time by now, her long dark hair was a tangled mess, parts of it matted with dried blood, dirt, and sweat. Her clothes reflected her time there, heavy with the same things that caked her hair, as well as parts of it being torn.
When she had come to this village, it had been to help those who were sick, especially the children. She had heard about the village in passing, had just finally finished her schooling, and officially carried the title of a pediatrician. She had been wandering, looking for a place to settle down as she had headed in the direction of home, when she had heard the whispers of a village that was dying out due to some odd sickness, so naturally, being a doctor, she had changed course to come help.
She hadn't expected to come across a few warring tribes, two that had banned together to take out the strongly thriving one. Her disgust and anger had been short lived, as she had seen fighting adults, getting ready to turn around and leave, when it had morphed into horror at the sight of a child being cut down outside of the group of bushes that she had taken cover in at the first sounds of fighting she had come across. The gasp that had torn itself from her had been heard, and the next thing she had known, she was being pulled from the bushes by her hair, her cry of anger and pain ignored, even as she clawed at the arm that relentlessly pulled her out. Bile had risen strongly to the back of her mouth as she had been dragged past the now dead child, and through the rapidly spreading pool of blood.
Minutes had passed, and for every time that she had managed to start to fight back, pulling her body up to try and kick at her attacker, the mans other hand swung around to back hand her, leaving her ears ringing, and when she started to gather her magic, a heavy duty magic canceling cuff was slapped on her. By the time he had shoved his way through all of the fighting, pulling her behind him where she was fallen on, trampled, kicked, and injured repeatedly in a variety of ways, she was clinging to consciousness, hoping to find some way to make it out of this situation alive. She found herself thrown to the middle of a gathered group of fighters leering down at her. Lifting her lip in a silent snarl, she worked to keep her breathing calm, keep her senses open to all of those around her.
A moment had passed before what she could only assume was a rather cocky fighter reached out to her, only to get shoved aside as an older man stepped forward to kneel down, holding a glowing hand out over her that had her crying out in pain. The magic felt intrusive, wasn't gentle in whatever it was searching for, and because her magic was blocked, she couldn't fight against it. She snarled, kicking out at the man, bearing her teeth in a feral manner at those around her, before cursing at them all in the many languages she had learned over the years to help her in her work. Moments passed, rough dirtied hands still hovering over her before the man shifted back, a malicious grin creasing his face as he dropped his hands, and when his dark, cruel, cold eyes caught hers, she had to fight the urge to shudder. When his words washed over her, she felt a wave of cold fear rush through her.
"Sorry boys, we're not going to be able to touch this one. Instead, she'll be a handy tool for us. She's a healer, which means she can keep herself from being a breeding bitch for us. But if we leave her be, keep her here, she can keep us healthy so we can continue with our plans, easing further into Bosco."
"Fuck you asshole, I wouldn't even give two shits if the lot of you raped each other then tore your own throats out!" She snarled, arching hard to swing her leg up and around, aiming for the side of the mans head. The feel of his large filthy hand catching her ankle had her seething, even as she narrowed her burning aquamarine eyes at him.
"That may be, but a little birdie," He paused as a wave of chuckles swept through the crowd before continuing. "Told me that you have a sweet, soft spot for children. And I would absolutely HATE for anything to happen to the village children we have locked away." The fake sweet tone of his voice told her clearly that he would love nothing more than to kill every one of the children locked away somewhere in the village they were in. Hearing these words, she froze, lips pressing into a thin line even as she wished more than anything that the fire she knew was flashing in her eyes would burn away everyone around her.
"Now, here's the deal girlie. We won't kill or rape you, or the children, if you heal our major injuries, broken bones, stab or sword wounds, the like. We won't count small scratches, save your energy for possible or real life threatening wounds, infections. Keep us in top fighting shape. But if you don't, for every bit outside of uninfected wounds that you don't heal, we'll kill a child, right in front of you, in any way we desire, even raping them. You let any of us die from a wound, or battle, anything short of a beheading, and we'll kill a child. If you try to escape, or fight us, that's another child dead. You try to call for help? Another one dead." Dropping her leg, he was quick to reach out and grip her jaw in a hand, turning her head one way, then another, smirking.
"Oh yes, we know who you are. You've been making a mighty fine name for yourself Xally Pradesh, daughter of Ambassador Arman Pradesh, sister to the great mind bender and White Sea Guild Master Kaleb Pradesh. Well, us from Pergrande have our own mind reader, and while those cuffs are on, you won't be able to keep him out, so we'll know if you reach for your brother. You do that and all of the children will die, right along side you."
"What happened to the tribes that were here? And who the fuck are you?" Xally managed to make herself heard through gritted teeth, and the grip on her cheeks.
"We're from Pergrande, we've been planning this for ages pet. These two tribes, so close to each other, and so close to the border, so peaceful, were beyond easy to over power in the middle of the night, their screams like music, their blood like wine, and we took the children and locked them away. Just as we will with you. Now be a good little healer, and get ready to help us take over Bosco." With a sharp smack to her face, the man rose to his feet and strode away, the crowd parting before her, even as she was pulled in the opposite direction, and shortly thrown into a cloth covered metal cart with other children. It wasn't until the door was swinging shut behind her that she realized she had seen three other carts like the one she was in. Blinking her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the covered cart, she felt her eyes burn with tears at the sight of many small, tear streaked, scared faces staring back at her.
Doing a quick headcount, she felt her mouth go dry, even as her eyes widened before she sat down hard, back against the door that had been dead bolted. Fifty children, they had managed to fit fifty children in this cart, and if they had managed to fit the same amount of children in the other carts she had seen, that was easily two hundred children. And she had to keep them safe.
Now, as she sat in the dark of one of the large holding cells that she and the many other children had been thrown into, she fought to keep her mind blank, not wanting to chance a plea for help to escape to her brother Kaleb. That had nearly happened once, and the result had been the death of the youngest child, barely two years old. The man who had loomed over her at the beginning had looked her straight on, and with a malicious smile, had gripped the childs head and twisted it quickly, the babys body falling limp to the floor as soon as he had let go. The screams from the surrounding children now haunted her dreams, and she had choked on the fire of her pain, her anger, even as it swelled strongly in her chest, but she had choked it back. She wanted to lash out him, but she could do nothing outside of her power swelling up against the cuffs that trapped her.
Since then, they had been steadily working their way deeper into Bosco, her home land, and every time, they had over taken each tribe they had come across in the middle of the nights. Every morning she had been pulled through the villages to heal the men killing the tribes, watching as they gathered more children, feet now caked in layers of dirt, mud, and blood. They had eventually reached this village where an old castle had been made into the home for the villagers, and she had thought that those villagers would've had a chance. Instead, the Pergrande men were just as vicious as before, and swept through like a plague. Once they had cleared the castle out, they had moved her and the many children, now close to three hundred, to the dungeons in the belly of the building, and she passed the time trying to absently sooth whatever children she ended up with, even as she fought the now endless pain rolling through her very soul.
She had lost track of time, and only wanted to see her family again, be safe, and make the nightmares go away. Along the way, more children had been lost, for various reasons, mostly when a Pergrande man had died under her hands as she tried to heal him. She had tried to argue that there was only so much she could do, depending on the severity of the wound, and where the levels of her magic were. But they hadn't listened. And for every man that had died during her attempts to heal them, another child had died. And then for every child that had died, more had been captured from the other villages that were razed to the ground.
Hearing a small whimper from the child in her lap, she was quick to tighten her arms, pulling the small child closer. If only there was someone who could hear her, or the children. This nightmare needed to end before Pergrande made it to the larger cities, to her home. Letting her head fall back against the brick once more, she didn't feel the tears leaking down her cheeks, for she had gone numb, and prayed.
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The fire was crackling, embers sparking and popping, the light of the flames dancing over the gathered mages. They were all quiet, watchful of the mage who sat on the other side of the fire by himself. A few weeks prior, they had been instructed to start following the pull of the soul that was causing such pain for Erik, and of course, stubbornly, he had at first tried to say he would go alone. Thankfully Bix's brother, Kaleb, guildmaster of White Sea, had overridden him, and assigned Bix and Lucy to go with him, hoping to be able to help.
Now, a few weeks later, they were near the border of Fiore, camping in a clearing of the forest that met the border, still following the pull, and following Eriks direction.
"Has it eased up any Erik?" Lucy finally asked quietly, brown eyes full of concern as she stared over the flames at the man who had claimed her as kin.
"No. If anything, the closer we get, the stronger and louder it is. If Kaleb hadn't given me this lacrima, I'd like be suffering a great deal more of the headaches from before." Erik stated, eyes focused on the flames, a stick in his hand as he jabbed at the burning wood, causing the flames to flare higher. It still bothered him that he had had his choice taken away when he had been instructed to follow this tortured soul. He had tried to fight it, saying that he would be fine with lacrima he had been given, and that he would move faster alone. The look however, that he had been given by Kaleb after that had stopped any further arguments, and without a word he had left the guild, Bix and Lucy scrambling to catch up.
He had been lucky that it had been them going with because Cris and Kaleb had had to go back to Bosco, but Bix kept them up to date on his over all state of being, while Lucy's spirit, Virgo, kept them in comfort, bringing them food and shelter so that they could focus on him. It wasn't until they were gone for a week that he begun to appreciate that they were there. They had come across some bandits, and with how distracted he was with the soul screaming out to him, he hadn't heard them sneaking up on them. It wasn't until Virgo had appeared in a burst of gold, landing rather solidly on the one that had been about to grab Erik who had been walking behind Bix and Lucy, that they even realized what had happened.
The fight after that had been short lived, Erik happily taking out his anger on the ambushing mages. It wasn't until later, when they had dropped the bandits off at a nearby village that they had been informed that this group had been causing problems for a while, and they were able to collect a reward for stopping them. He hadn't cared though, and handed the reward off to Bix and Lucy, merely wanting to continue on their trip. He figured the sooner he found and helped this soul the better off he would be. As it was, right now his own soul he knew was in shambles, and his heart quite simply ached, and wished there was some way to help get this thing, whatever it was, handled quicker.
As he stared into the fire though, barely paying any attention to those on the other side, he heard the soul seem to fade just a touch more, and the sound of something smooth sliding across the ground caught his attention, drawing his eyes off to the left, brow furrowing in confusion as he sent his magic out, trying to pinpoint what he was hearing. He could tell it was something large, and the way it sounded on the ground made him think of scales. He took a moment to mentally wish that it wasn't an animal getting ready to attack them, as he just did not have the patience for it today. Then he found it in the shadows of the bushes at the edge of the clearing.
Eyes the size of his fists, gleaming a bright green and filled with what he could see was clear intelligence peered out from under a bush, the shadows hiding the rest of it. The eyes were filled with humor, intelligence, and no fear. Tilting his head in curiosity, Erik was quick to rise to his feet, drawing the attention of his guildmates as he strode to the bush and crouched down, holding out a welcoming hand, waiting patiently. He figured the worse that would happen was that he would be eaten right before Lucy and Bix killed whatever this thing was.
"Excuse me! I'll have you know I don't eat humans, they don't taste right, plus the clothes get in the way."
He yelped.
He wasn't so proud that he couldn't admit that he full on yelped as he jerked back, falling on his ass in shock at hearing a rather deep mature voice answer what he knew had been mental. He absently noted that he heard Lucy and Bix jump to their feet, preparing themselves to attack if needed, but waiting for his direction. Blinking in shock, Erik scrambled backwards a few feet, watching as the eyes he saw blinked from their hiding spot. The tip of a rather large gold and dark blue, almost black, scaled nose eased out from it's hiding spot, and the shadows slid away from the rather...massive...head that peeked out at him, a long forked tongue darting out to taste the air.
"Uh...nice snake? Nice...big...snake?" Lucy whispered, gulping, hand tightening around the hilt of her whip on her hip, and reaching for her keys with her other. She could feel Bix next to her, tense and waiting with his babies floating around them, ready and willing to attack if need be. When one bright green eye shifted to look at her, she swore she could see blunt disdain before it rolled and focused back on Erik.
"Nathair. My name is Nathair. I've been following you lot for a while now, getting a feel for what or who you are. Obviously you're decent otherwise I never would've shown myself to you."
"Don't lie to us." Erik snapped, sitting up slightly, eye narrowing on the massive snake head in front of him. Nathair blinked, tilting his head slightly as he blinked.
"Ok, so definitely not as stupid as I was worried you'd be." Nathair drawled, tongue flicking out in silent laughter. "So let me restate that. Obviously you're all decent, otherwise I never would've shown myself to you. Instead I would've killed you at least, slayer, to get that lacrima out of you and back to where it belongs if you'd been some of those disgusting dark mages I've come across in my travels."
"I can hear you, your soul, so I knew you were lying even as you did it." Erik snapped, baring his teeth at the snake.
"For the record, I'm not just a snake, and I'm on your side, so pull your panties out of the wedgie up your ass." Nathair huffed, rolling his eyes and easing further into the clearing, following the edge of it until he met the end of his tail, resting his chin on it, and it was then that the fairy tail mages realized just how big Nathair was. The clearing when they had come upon it had easily been sixty feet in circumference, and this snake, with its gold and dark blue scales was easily longer than that, since his head was overlapping his tail
"Damn toxic breath...I think he might have you beat on snark!" Bix snickered, easing forward to crouch down and clap a hand on Eriks shoulder. Erik could hear that it was an additional safety precaution, ready to get Erik out of the way if...Nathair decided to attack.
"Oh please, like I don't hear that. I'm not your typical snake, I can hear that you think I'm going to attack you, but I'm not, I've got a bigger reason for finding you, and before you ask, no, I can't tell you yet, and no, you're not going to be able to hear it either Erik." Nathair said with another flicker of his tongue.
"How the hell do you know my name?!" Erik demanded, surging to his feet to stalk closer to the snake, not even flinching when Nathair lifted his head to meet Eriks gaze straight on.
"I told you, poison dick, I'm not your typical snake, I'm not deaf, plus I've been following ya for a while, it's not my fault you didn't hear before now."
When Erik merely growled, baring dripping poisonous fangs and lifting dripping claws, getting ready to attack, hearing Lucy and Bix shift to help, Nathair merely raised up further, towering over the three of them, fangs glistening in the firelight as he hissed and extended the rather...large...leathery wings...that overshadowed them. Erik was just about to launch himself at the damn snake when Bix slammed into him from the side, catching him off guard and toppling him to the ground. The cursing that exploded from Erik had Nathair blinking and easing back down, watching them closely in some amusement.
"What the ever loving fuck you fucking soul fucker!?" Erik demanded, twisting to throw a punch into the side of his head. When Lucy's whip lashed out to catch his wrist and yank his hand away though, Erik snarled further, sending a glare towards the firm staring he was getting from Lucy.
"Erik stop! He's telling the truth!" Bix cursed, quickly rolling away to avoid poisoned teeth and claws.
"What the fuck do you mean?!" Erik demanded, reaching to grasp the whip in his now free hand and hissing when he was burned. Suddenly he was very glad for his long sleeved jacket protecting his trapped wrist.
"The soul that's been driving you insane! Is it as loud as it has been?" Bix asked, shifting to sit upright and glare at the still snarling poison slayer. At the mention of that soul though, Erik froze, turning a shocked gaze on him before focusing on the soul, and ultimately the pain that had been plaguing him for weeks. A moment passed before Erik shifted, looking at the once more calm Nathair, trying to hear anything at all, but beyond the repeated mantra of being there to help, he wasn't getting anything.
"No...the soul isn't as loud...what the hell is going on twinkle toes?" Erik asked bluntly, keeping his eyes on the rather large snake in front of him. Who rolled his vibrant green eyes once more.
"Again, I'm not your typical snake, I'd think you'd get that by now."
"Then what the hell fucking kind of snake are you?!"
"He's a Harvarti Serpent, usually found in certain parts of Bosco, they're not native to Fiore. But...he's bigger...smarter and stronger magically...How the hell did you end up here?" Bix asked, staring in shock at the wings that were still shifting and stirring up bits of dust. As soon as he has seen those wings flare out, he had known what Nathair was, but he didn't understand how one had gotten so far from Bosco, his homeland.
"You're right, I am a Harvati Serpent, but...more. And I was sent here to look for the poison lacrima that holds a part of my adopted fathers soul and was torn from him many years ago."
"Wait...oh you've got to be kidding me!" Lucy breathed, dropping her whip, and it's magic, in shock. When Nathair looked at her and merely smiled, shaking his head, Lucy turned and pounced on Erik with a squeal causing him to yelp even as he instinctively caught her. "Erik this is amazing!"
"Ok ok, what the hell am I missing here?" Erik demanded, mind racing as he tried to take in everything that was happening.
"Erik...Nathair is your brother!" Lucy was quick to turn and face Nathair once more, still in Erik's lap. "You were drawn here right? By the lacrima? And you said it was made from the soul of your adopted father?"
"That is correct. I was asked, or volun-told, to come looking for it and bring it back. If it was in a dark mages possession, I was to kill the dark mage and bring the lacrima back by itself, or if it was in a decent mage, I was to leave it be in the mage, help the mage if possible, but try and bring the mage back. My father wants to meet him, apologize for not being there before if need be, but he had to go into hiding after he barely managed to escape from when that single lacrima was taken from him." Nathair paused to run an eye over Erik before flicking his tongue out once more. "Though if I'd known it'd be in such a snarky asshole, I might've tried to get out of this."
"Hey!" Erik snapped, growling slightly, but subsiding when Lucy ran soothing through his hair.
"The point being, Erik, I looked and your soul isn't going as nuts as it has been, it's calmed some, and your dragon soul is reflected in Nathairs, it's reaching out for each other. This could be your version of Happy or Lily, only much cooler, and much more deadly. Plus, he matches your snarky attitude damn near perfectly." Bix explained, eyes glowing slightly as he looked between Erik and Nathair. Thankfully, Bix didn't notice the quick, appraising glance given to him by Nathair, as he had been looking at Erik at the time.
"If this is true, why didn't he try to find me sooner?" Erik asked, keeping his arms wrapped around Lucy to keep himself calm.
"He had to go into hiding because of Acnologia, but I'm more easily looked over since there are more Harvarti Serpents around then dragons now. And before you ask, his name is Venenum. He's rather snarky actually, like you, and a complete flirt." Nathair said absently, like the last comment was an after thought.
"Alright, say this is all true, and you're here to take me back to meet him, what do we do from here? There's a soul I'm tracking down to help, and while I question their own sanity over it, there are a few friends of mine who believe that the soul reaching out is my mate, and I need to get to them. So while I'd be more than happy to go meet the dragon who I became a slayer through, I need to finish this job first."
"Oh! That's not a problem, my father is very patient, so we can take care of your job first, I might even be able to help with traveling since, you know wings and all." Nathair said, lifting his wings in what could only be called a shrug.
"We should get some sleep then, we'll leave at dawn." Lucy stated, rising to her feet, and grabbing Bix's arm, she was quick to pull him to his feet then to their tent, shoving him inside when he tried to argue about going to bed so soon. Silence fell and Nathair lowered his head, tucking his wings in against his body and closing his eyes, even as Erik settled near the fire once more, keeping a weary eye on the giant snake nearby. Then he realized something.
"You're a snake! How the hell are you able to blink or close your eyes?!" Erik demanded, leaning forward, watching closely as, indeed, an eye the color of vibrant new leaves, popped open and shifted to look at him, amusement clear.
"I told you before, maybe you'll learn to listen before the end of this journey. I'm not your typical harvarti serpent. I was raised from hatching, by dragons, I've absorbed their magic, and it's changed me ever so slightly, allowing me to do things that none of the others of my kind can do, like actually verbally talking. And as your friend mentioned before, I'm a good deal larger than others of my kind as well. If it wasn't for my parents, I'd only be able to communicate mentally, and like you said, wouldn't be able to blink or close my eyes." Nathair answered, flicking his tongue out again in a silent laugh.
"Wait, parents? You only mentioned your father, Venenum, what about your mother?"
"That, dear brother of mine, is a story for another time. I'd suggest getting some sleep, I'll hear if someone approaches, and let you know." With that, Nathair shifted a wing and tucked his head under it, giving his words a sense of finality.
"Nathair?" Crickets.
"Nathair?!" A breeze through the leaves.
"Dammit Nathair I know you can't be asleep already!" Steady deep breathing. "Fucking damn asshole snake!"
It was going to be a long night.