I have the next chapters written and ready to publish so just let me know what you think! Enjoy!
"Erza, she will be fine. Wendy healed her injuries and Porlyusica took the magic bound off her. Not all of her magic was taken. She only needs to rest," I heard a feminine voice say, growing louder and louder in sound.
Someone sighed in frustration and exhaustion. "Lucy, I know but I can't help and be worried for her! He almost broke her wrist and took all her magic! And you heard what Wendy said! That wrist has never healed properly before! Porlysica had to re-break it just so she could heal it properly! Plus, she's still asleep even though she has magic..."
"Why can't I keep sleeping?" I mumbled, opening my eyes to see the same ceiling I saw only a couple weeks ago. I was back in the Guild's infirmary.
"What?" I thought, confused trying to remember how I came back here.
"Poppy!" exclaimed the two girl voices I had heard.
I slowly turned my head to the left to where the voices had come from. As my vision became clear, I saw Erza-nee and Lucy. Lucy smiled at me, waving her hand while Erza smiled and sighed in relief, closing her eyes for a brief moment.
"Konnichiwa," I responded, smiling slightly.
Erza came by and hugged me. "How are you feeling?"
I sat up on my bed, moving lethargically as my body felt sluggish. "Tired...but fine," I said, as Erza helped me up.
Erza and Lucy sat on the bed to me left. "How long have I been asleep?"
Lucy looked at me sadly," Four days."
"That's not that long," I thought, remembering that I had passed out for much longer periods of time.
"What happened to me?" I asked curiously, trying hard to remember.
Erza frowned. "You used your magic. A man – Otto – attempted to kidnap you and restarted the seal on your left wrist. Your magic was stripped out of you, leaving the bare minimum for you to stay alive."
"You don't remember?" asked Lucy, sounding worried.
I shook my head slightly, scrunching my face as I tried to remember. "I...I remember bits and pieces…"
"What do you remember Poppy?"
I looked at Erza-nee. "I remember you… fighting? I remember…Otto! He… he hurt me… I used my magic! And then…" I stayed quiet, remembering the pain.
Erza nodded, "You had a seal on your left wrist that Otto activated. It..it…It drained almost all your magic, leaving you barely enough to survive." She said, her voice a bit raw as she lost some of her composure. She bowed her head down, fists shaking.
Carefully, I stood up from the bed and went to her.
"Poppy! You should stay in bed!" she said as I hugged her as tight as I could, which was quite weak due to my lack of energy.
"I'm fine," I mumbled, though I felt incredibly dizzy.
Erza picked me up and sat me back on the bed. "You still need to rest."
"Poppy, you've gained back a lot of magic in the last few days but only because Porlyusica took the seal off you. You still have a while to recover," replied Lucy, standing up and walking to stand next to Erza.
I stayed silent.
"No worries, Red. You'll be fine," Erza added, sitting on the side of my bed.
"Lucy?" I asked, "Can you tell the Guild I'm awake? I want to tell you where I lived before I came here- why I know Dragon Slayer magic and why Otto kidnapped me."
Lucy nodded, surprised, "I'll be right back."
"I knew you were a Dragon Slayer!" shouted Natsu, opening the infirmary doors and revealing the guild behind him.
"Of course, they're here," mumbled Lucy, stepping back and sitting on the bed again.
"How are you feeling?" asked Wendy, walking up to me bed.
"Good! Tired, but a lot better! Arigato for all your help," I replied, smiling.
"No problem! I'm glad I could help!" she said smiling and bowing down a bit.
"Poppy, can you tell us more about your past?" asked the Master, standing near the foot of my bed.
Erza wrapped her arm around me and I leaned against her chest. "You don't have to if you are not comfortable with it," she whispered.
I looked up and smiled shyly at her. "You deserve to know Erza-nee." I looked to Lucy, Wendy, and the rest of the guild, "And you guys should know too."
I looked down to my hands and saw the bandages around my left wrist.
"I'll start at the beginning, what happened after Erza left and I woke up...
When I woke up…"
"Erza-nee…" I whispered, slowly opening my eyes.
"Erza-nee, my head hurts," seeing black spots in my vision.
When my vision cleared, I saw that I was in a box, a tools box, and alone.
"Erza-nee?" Are we playing hide-and-seek? I wanna eat the strawberries." I called out, standing up and holding the side of the box.
As I peered over the edge, I saw the destruction of my village. The buildings laid in ruins. Smoke rose from the distance.
"Erza-nee?! Nee-san?!" I cried out, tears flowing down my check. "Wahhhhhhh!" I sat back in the box, wailing since I was alone.
"It looks like you finally woke up."
I opened my eyes, rubbing the tears away with the back of my hands.
"Erza-nee? Erza-nee, where awe you?" I called with my squeaky voice, standing once more.
A head popped out, with short, straight, black hair, and yellow-green eyes, in front of me.
"You're not Erza-nee!" I shrieked, falling back to the bottom and smacking my head against the wall.
"Wahhhhhh!" I cried harder, holding my head tightly as I laid on the bottom.
"Oh no. Looks like you hit your head again, "the girl responded calmly, climbing into the box and sitting beside me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me as I wept in pain, fear, confusion, and sorrow.
"You know…My older brother – Simon – has disappeared too," she said quietly.
I stopped crying to listen to her.
"Simon was taking me to the shop, to have some ice cream, when the village was attacked. We were separated and I couldn't find him, so I began to cry. Then someone grabbed my hand and pulled me along; she had fiery red hair."
"That's my Erza-nee!" I exclaimed, hoping this stranger knew where Erza was.
She nodded slightly, looking down at me.
"Do ya know where she is?" I asked, desperately wanting my sister.
She shook her head, "Your sister put me in this box with you. You were asleep. She told me to watch over you and then she ran, getting captured by the same people who took my brother."
"So she's gone?" I asked, my eyes becoming teary once more.
She hugged me, tears in her eyes. "They're both gone. My Simon and your Erza."
I cried in her arms and felt her tears hit the top of my head."
We sat together, crying at our losses as I sat on her lap. As we both calmed down, she spoke once more.
"I'll take care of you – like your sister did to me. We'll go looking for them. We'll find them and be together.
I wiped my face and nodded, "Okay."
She moved a bit, taking me off of her and standing up.
"I'm Kagura. I'm nine years old," she said, smiling and holding her hand out.
"My name's Poppy and I'm four," I said, taking her hand and then giving her a hug.
She giggled. "I can't be Erza for you and you're not Simon but we can still be family. We have each other and we will find them.
I nodded, "Hei!"
We climbed out of the box and walked away, away from the life we both knew, holding hands together as we dealt with our losses.
"Don't stop there! What happened next? How come Kagura isn't with you now?" asked Natsu impatiently. Lucy smacked him in the head as Erza glared at him.
"Idiot!" grumbled Gray.
"Let me catch my breath," I replied, drinking a glass of water that Wendy held out.
"Okay, we had no idea where to start or where to go. We walked away from the village though, knowing we could not stay as it was not home without our siblings. So we walked, following a trail to another village, with nothing to call our own but each other. We walked for days and luckily we were found before we were hurt…"
"Kaguwa, I can't walk anymore," I moaned, panting with each step, stumbling as my legs struggled to hold me up.
Kagura, who was walking in front of me, turned to face me.
"We can take a break soon, let's just make it up that hill okay?" she said, walking ahead and heading up.
"Okay," I mumbled quietly, not wanting to disappoint her. I continued on, sweating and panting, focusing on reaching the top to rest. My feet weighed me down and dragged me up while my head spun in circles.
"Poppy! We're here! Look, there's a village down below!" called Kagura excitedly, pointing down.
"Erza-nee?" I sighed, before falling on the ground in exhaustion, breathing quickly.
"Poppy? Poppy!" I heard Kagura yell, rushing towards me.
I felt arms around me and opened my eyes in confusion.
"Nee-san?" I whispered, trying to focus on the blurry image before me.
"Poppy? Poppy! It's Kagura! Remember me? You're going to be okay, okay? I'll carry you to the village and we'll get help okay?" I heard her say frantically as I felt my body be lifted. My arms wrapped around her neck and she lifted my legs to carry me, almost like a baby. I felt her run and my body jump up and down as my chin rested on her shoulder.
"Kagura? I'm….so….tired….Sleepy…" I mumbled, closing my eyes to rest.
"Help! Please help! She needs helps! She's ill!" yelled Kagura desperately.
"Kagura…" I whispered once more before falling asleep.
"When will she wake up? Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"
"She will be okay. You brought her right on time. Her head injury, a concussion, weakened her immune system. Add that to the long journey you took with little food and her young age and you will find that she is more susceptible to illness. She had a high fever and was dehydrated. We healed her head injury and her fever has gone down. She will be fine. Let her rest."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. You also need to rest. You were dehydrated when you came and, though you show no signs of anything else, you still need to let your body rest. Why don't you go to sleep? I'm sure when you wake up, Poppy will wake up."
"Okay."
I heard footsteps walk out of the room and felt someone lay beside me.
"Please be okay Poppy. I don't want to lose anyone else."
I fell asleep once more, confused.