Chapter 29: Unexpected Request
The guild swimming pool reflected sparkles of dazzling sunlight. Water splashed over the edges as the male wizards inside competed in races.
"Hey! No fair, Gray! You can't make the water cold so that you'll win!" Natsu shouted across the pool.
"I'm not, you idiot! You just can't handle pool water because you're a wuss!"
"Don't let him talk to you like that, Natsu!" A purple swim-trunked boy shouted, his head barely above the water at the shallow end of the pool.
"Heck no, I'm not!" The water around Natsu started to boil.
Nearby, behind the pool bar, peering over the top of the counter, were a set of dark blue eyes and a set of cherry blossom pink eyes.
"Juvia… Don't you think this is creepy?" Syllest whispered.
"Hush, my sweet child," Juvia said. "From this distance you can watch your true love acting naturally without him being distracted by your beauty and charm." There were hearts in her eyes as she gazed at shirtless Gray's body.
"But… If I got in the water I could talk to him," Syllest pointed out.
"Oh, you hopeless child. I'm so glad that fate brought us together so that I would be able to teach you the mysterious ways of love! Trust me, sweet Syllestra, my instruction will not lead you astray."
Syllest nodded seriously and focused on watching Romeo swim. "I guess this is kind of fun," she giggled. "Usually, when I'm around Romeo, he turns all pink and he yells at me and sometimes he runs away but since he can't see me he's being normal. And I feel sneaky like spy… Did you know Grandpa Jezran was a spy? But don't tell anyone, it's a secret, okay! He was an evil spy for Pergrande and I think he killed people…" Her eyes were wide. "But now he's my grandpa and he's really great and he protects me and Mom and…" Her eyes shadowed over. "But Mom is sick now, so maybe Pops didn't protect her good enough…"
"Sh, child." Juvia tugged Syllest against her bosom. "Focus on your one true love and all other things will fade away! You won't be able to remain gloomy when you cast your eyes upon the sweet face of your beloved!"
"Okay, teacher!" Syllest nodded vigorously. She settled down to stare at Romeo with the same intensity Juvia was staring at Gray.
"Hey, Romeo," Macao called out from the edge of the pool where he was tanning next to Wakaba. "I think you have a secret admirer!"
"Huh?" The young boy looked up at where his dad was pointing. He locked eyes with the creepy girl staring at him in the shadows of the bar. His face instantly flushed pink and he jumped back so far that he fell off the pool step and under the water which was too deep for him.
"OH NO!" Syllest jumped out into the open. "Juvia we killed him!" She dove into the water and grabbed onto Romeo, tugging him toward the pool edge. "I'll save you, Romeo!"
"I-I'm not drowning, Syllest!" The boy flailed wildly. "L-Let me go!"
She paid him absolutely no heed, instead dragging him onto dry land. "Romeo!" She shook him violently by the shoulders. "Do you need CRP?!"
"I think she means CPR," Wakaba commented.
"NO! Syllest!" Romeo whined loudly and tried again to squirm away from her. "I'm not drowning!"
"Don't die, Romeo!" She hugged him tightly, burying her little head against his chest. She was suddenly sobbing. "I don't want to lose you too!"
The tone of the environment changed instantly. It was as if a dark cloud had passed in front of the sun.
Romeo returned Syllest's hug. "We're friends, Syllest." He cracked a wide smile. "We're gonna be friends forever right? You can't lose something you're going to have forever!"
Syllest stared at him, wide-eyed, blushing slightly. Then she giggled and squeezed him so tightly that his face started to turn purple.
Juvia squealed with hearts in her eyes and hands clasped together. "That was the cutest thing I've ever seen!" She wiped a teardrop away. "I've taught you so well, sweet child of mine…"
Dreamer had been in the guild infirmary a total of five days. Five days of screaming and thrashing. Of fevers and panic attacks so extreme that she had to be bound at times. Five days of waking up confused and disoriented. Of begging for death.
And for five days and nights, Midnight had sat like a silent sentinel in front of the infirmary door. He hardly moved except to walk down the hall to the bathroom as needed. He ate only when food was brought to him. And he slept on his carpet—if at all.
He sat there now, arms crossed, red eyes glazed and unseeing. Until a voice called out to him.
"Yo." Gajeel approached, lugging an acoustic guitar with him. He sat casually next to Midnight. "So it's true. Someone told me you'd been sulking outside the infirmary door for a few days like a lost puppy. Shoulda figured Danielle is in there."
Midnight didn't correct him on the butchering of Dreamer's name. "What do you want?" His eyes were cold and suspicious.
"You wanted to learn to play guitar right?" Gajeel strummed a few chords.
Midnight scoffed and closed his eyes. "I'm not in the mood."
"That's why I brought the guitar, idiot." Gajeel snapped. "Music is medicine for the soul, man."
There was no response from the dark wizard, so Gajeel shrugged and played the guitar next to him, instructing him as if he were actually paying attention. Eventually, since the dragon slayer wasn't going away, Midnight opened his eyes and began to watch. After an even longer stretch of time, he slowly held his hand out for the guitar and Gajeel tossed it to him with a fang-toothed grin.
"You're gettin' the hang of it," Gajeel praised. "Pretty soon we can start working on some material for our first real concert as 'Gajeel and the Jazzettes!'"
"I told you I abhor that name," Midnight shoved the guitar back into Gajeel's arms and the bigger man laughed out loud.
"You got something better?"
Midnight didn't answer, just leaned back against the wall and stared into space yet again, albeit just a bit more relaxed than before Gajeel came along.
The iron dragon slayer sat up and rested the guitar on the ground next to him. He looked at Midnight, his gaze serious. "Hey, how about you go take a break? I can guard the goods for you for a while."
Midnight's gaze was murderous. "Not on your life."
"Look," Gajeel stared back stubbornly. "You've been sitting out here for days. I don't wanna be an asshole, but you're not exactly smelling like roses and cotton candy right now." He tapped his slayer nose—reminding Midnight of Cobra's heightened senses.
Midnight said nothing. He didn't budge.
"Suit yourself," Gajeel shrugged and stood up. "You sure you want to look like that when what's-her-face wakes up though? You might scare her unconscious again."
Midnight scowled. Gajeel looked at him with a smirk. "Seriously, man. Go take a shower and wipe that shit off your face. It's embarrassing. If you're gonna make yourself up like a woman, then you might wanna try waterproof mascara or something because you look like a train wreck."
Midnight's cheeks might actually have taken some color at the comment. His scowl deepened.
"This is the last time I'm offerin,'" Gajeel continued. "I can sit and watch the door for a while if you want to clean yourself up. If not, I've got better things to do than to sit around watchin' you wallow in teenage angst."
Midnight finally stood up. He didn't look at Gajeel as he headed down the hall. He stopped walking to say: "Just so we're clear, I don't owe you anything for this."
"Of course you don't," Gajeel chuckled and sat down where Midnight had been. "It's just what friends do."
A shiver went down Midnight's back. Friends. "Hmph." He left Gajeel sitting there playing guitar.
He followed Gajeel's advice and headed for the boy's dormitory to clean up. He shot hard glares at a few people who were staring at him as he walked, and kept to the shadows to avoid as much attention as possible. It was the first time in days that he'd stepped into sunlight, which was nearly enough to make him hiss when it retracted his pupils painfully. He trudged to the dorm and up to the second floor to the room he shared with Piper.
He was pleased to find that his side of the room was exactly as he left it. Along with the blue tape on the floor that marked the boundary between Piper's side and his. He dug some clothes out of a drawer and went into the bathroom to shower.
His reflection in the mirror caught his attention. Gajeel was right—he looked awful. Mascara streaks down his cheeks from crying, smudges of eyeshadow and lipstick, dark shadows under his eyes from even more restless sleep than normal. Matted, wild hair—unattractive wrinkles in his clothes. He narrowed his eyes at the man in the mirror and looked away before stripping out of the old clothes and stepping behind the curtain.
He stood in the hot water for a long time. It scalded his skin but couldn't seem to penetrate the coldness he felt inside. It dripped from strands of black and white hair, slid soothingly over the curves of his muscles, yet did nothing to soothe the frustration that writhed in the pit of his stomach. The constant thrum of the water hitting the walls of the shower was like a lullaby, but Midnight did not want to sleep.
His mind wandered dark paths. Memories. Hurt. Confusion.
He thought about the hot water and about all the years he spent deprived of simple luxuries like this. For years, he and his friends showered in rain runoff from the top of the tower. And now, those very same friends were locked up by the Magic Council, probably still suffering in the cold. Suffering while he stood in the steam-filled bathroom.
Friends.
Gajeel said they were friends. Not long ago, Dreamer had called him a friend as well.
He slammed his fist against the shower wall and sobbed.
"I don't understand." Lip trembling. Salty tears mixing with droplets of water cascading down his bare form.
Friendship. Freedom. Family. These obscure concepts were becoming even more shrouded in his mind. Is friendship found among survivors of trauma, clinging to one another to survive—or is it found in those who would serve, selflessly, laugh and play guitar together? Was freedom found in chaos, or in being unbound, or was it something that happened internally? Was family the father that rescued and enslaved the orphan, or was it the sister who took on the role of mother for a lost child?
"You're so weak!" He lifted his head and stared at the ceiling as the tears fell. Father would have been so ashamed. Tears are a sign of weakness, my boy. But Midnight's "father" was nowhere to be found. He'd researched and knew that Zero was not caught by The Magic Council in the wreckage of Nirvana. He was loose somewhere, and yet he had done nothing to search out Midnight. Because Midnight meant nothing to him now—now that he had failed.
He clutched his head in his hands, only feeling more confused.
Midnight. Macbeth. He didn't even know who he had been, who he was, or who he was becoming. All that made sense to him were the faces that flashed through his mind—faces of people he wanted to protect. He didn't know why or what that meant—if it came from pure intent or some darker motives. He just knew that they mattered to him.
The other members of the Oracion Seis. Gajeel. Even Jezran and Piper… Syllestra. Dreamer. Somehow, the answer to all of his confusion could be found in these people. His questions. Friendship, Family, Freedom. The answer was there, somewhere. He just had to find it…
For a long time, Midnight stood there. Still and thoughtful. Eventually, he washed up using the soap, shampoo and conditioner Dreamer had recently bought for him. It was almost humorous, how the multiple products and rags Midnight used filled an entire wall of the shower, while Piper had a bottle of body wash on one corner.
He washed his face and finally stepped onto the bathroom rug. Towel-dried his hair. Wiped steamy condensation from the mirror to look at himself again. No makeup. Wet dual-colored curls. Red eyes seeking—gazing into their own essence for meaning, for answers. His fingers trailed up to the red Oracion Seis mark on his right arm.
"Six prayers." He traced it and sighed. He couldn't very well call himself a member of the Oracion Seis anymore. Not when his prayer had been answered.
He tugged on a shirt and pulled the sleeve harshly down over the mark. He got dressed and clasped his precious pendant around his neck. The dream catcher Syllest had made. Then began the long process of fixing his disheveled appearance.
He dried his hair but opted not to straighten it this time, or bother with beads or braids. Then the makeup… He took Gajeel's advice and used waterproofed products this time, in the event that his eyes continued to leak the way they seemed to be doing lately.
He finished with his lipstick and leaned back to look at his reflection again. He was reminded of when Syllest had asked him a question in the Thorn Charade. If you kiss Mom, are you going to take your lipstick off first? He smirked at the mirror and wondered absentmindedly what Dreamer would prefer.
Thinking of her quickly righted his thoughts, however. He needed to return to his post.
With this in mind, he left the bathroom and was met immediately with the unpleasant sight of Piper sitting on his bed across the room.
"Finally," the blue-haired wizard sneered. "You take longer showers than any woman I've ever known."
"Go to hell." Midnight snapped back without emotion.
"I share a room wit' you's," Piper said. "So's I'm already there."
Midnight started for the door.
"What's the point of all that makeup and shit, anyways?" Piper continued to chide.
"Maybe I'm gay," he said.
"Trust me, it'd be a load off my back if you's was," the dice wizard said bitterly, "but I knows that ain't true."
Midnight ignored the comment and reached for the doorknob.
"Wait a sec, will ya?" Piper stood and called after him. "I need to talk to you's about something."
"Not interested." He turned the door handle.
"Dammit, Midnight, you know I wouldn't waste my breath on you's if I didn't have to!" His voice was desperate. "I need your help."
Midnight paused. He looked at Piper, then threw his head back... and laughed out loud, at the top of his lungs. "Y-You must be dreaming! Me? Help you?"
"Quit bein' an asshole for one minute, would ya?!" Piper shouted back. "It ain't for me, it's for Dreamy! And if I could ask anyone else, you's bet your ass I would."
His laugh died down at the mention of Dreamer. His hand fell away from the door and he folded his arms over his chest, facing Piper.
"Yeah, figured you'd sober up when I mentioned her," Piper's voice dripped bitterness and animosity. "Bastard." He sighed heavily. "Look, not sure if you's knew this, but Pops Jezran is a damn good tracker and he's been followin' up on this King of Diamonds stuff. Fact is… he found a lead and I'm gonna go checks it out. You in?"
Midnight's eyes narrowed.
"I'm askin' you's because there's a good chance we runs into Res himself, alright? And if that happens… Shit, I can't believe I'm sayin' this… Well I don't stand a chance against the bastard on my own, alright? So, you's in?"
Midnight stared at him for a long moment. "This man… Res." His voice was low and careful. "He's the one hunting for Syllest?"
"Yeah," Piper nodded slowly. "That's the one."
Midnight nodded slowly. "I'm in."
A/N: howlingwolvesonfire, what a good question! I've never thought of what would happen to Dreamer if she only absorbed positive emotions and forced negative ones on people. I imagine that would make for a really happy, insane villain. xD I guess I never thought about it because she's too sweet and self-sacrificing to do something like that. That's such an interesting thought, though!
Simana, as for my OC's... Man, where do I start? I guess I can talk about Dreamer this time. She actually came to me while myself and xSteleAliniax (who is my best friend in real life, as well as another author on this site) were talking about what magical powers each of us would have in the Fairy Tail universe. I told her that my powers would have to have something to do with controlling emotion. After a little while with that idea ruminating in my head, I thought... Wait, that's actually a really cool idea! And I started to develop a character who could use some type of emotion magic. Things just started to fall into place after that. I had the idea to write a Midnight fic, and I thought my developing character was the perfect candidate for helping Midnight reform, so I began to develop her deeper with that in mind. That's when I added the power to take away nightmares.
I played with her name a LOT. The continual butchering of Dreamer's name as a gag in the fic is actually an inside joke of my own, lol, because I had such a hard time picking a name for her. I thought the name "Dreamer" was just too cliche and obvious as a pairing with Midnight. But the longer I thought about it, the more it stuck. Dreamer and Midnight... Middream. I had to keep it. And her last name "Cumula" comes from the word Cumulus, which is a cloud, the symbol of dreaming. Plus, her name just works for ships. xD Which leads into my creation of Piper, actually, because (trivia), if you make a ship name from their names, you get "Pipe Dream". As in, their being together is "nothing but a pipe dream." Or another personal favorite of mine, and a side gag that you'll learn about later, Dreamogan *mischievous smirk.*
Anyway, so that's basically how I came up with Dreamer's character and magic.
Also, of course you'll get to see more of Piper and Jezran's magic, as well as their backstories! In fact, good job mentioning Piper because we're breaking into a special little arc with Midnight and Piper, as you can see. Jezran's abilities and backstory will come into play a little bit later. Along with the introduction of two more OC's (one of which I think will take your breath away).
That's all I'll let you in on for now. ;) Next week, I'll talk about how I developed Piper's character.
Thank you all for your continued support and feedback, as always!