DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in Fairy Tail, all rights to those characters belong to Hiro Mashima. The only parts of this story I own are my character, Rose Jay, and the plot. I do not make any profit from this fanfiction; it is solely intended for your reading pleasure.
It's been about a week since our friend Marcus, Rogue Zodiac Virgo, went back to his own guild, Lamia Scale. When we'd returned from our job that day, the doctor we had taken him to had told us there was a relatively slim chance that he would survive. In the end, he pulled through without too much trouble. Nonetheless, what matters is that he's alive, which will no doubt please his friend Adam, Rogue Zodiac Taurus. It seems to me that no matter where Diana and I go, no matter what we do, and no matter how extreme our adventures, I always find spare time to worry about how all the other RogueZ are holding up.
"Hello, Earth to Rose," snaps Cana Alberona, the guild's only woman able to hold the tons of liquor she downs in one afternoon alone. She's waving a mug of booze in my face to get my attention. "You sure you're feeling okay? You look like you're worried about something," she perceives, sitting down next to me as I grunt in a half-assed reply and continue to stare off in no particular direction.
"Or maybe someone," snickers the hushed obnoxious voice of Natsu's blue-furred and white-winged feline companion, Happy.
With the lightning-quick reflexes I'd learned - with Diana's "assistance", of sorts - I snap my right forearm up, my hand clenched in a tight fist. I find oddly calming satisfaction when it connects with that annoyingly whiskered mug, sending him flying across the guild. Pun intended. He hits the job board with a faint and dull thud.
"Watch it, Rose!" Natsu shouts over at me. "Happy's-."
"Your friend and not my punching bag, I know," I groan, standing from my seat and turning to face him. "And the sooner he quits getting on my nerves, maybe, JUST MAYBE, I'll consider upgrading his status to Paper Airplane."
Before I sit down again, I notice that he's got a flyer for someone's yacht party. He rolls up the parchment before I can read the host's name and stuffs it in a pocket on the inside of his vest. Next thing I know, he's racing to the main entrance.
"C'mon, Happy. I think I finally got a solid lead this time!" he shouts, excitement filling his voice as he leaves the guild, his flying companion in tow.
With that the guild falls into a hush that has me wondering just what he's searching for so desperately.
"He really is dead set on finding him, isn't he?" Makau sighs, taking another swig of his drink, sitting back in the booth of his table.
"What do you mean? Like he's searching for someone?" Diana asks, her expression full of confusion.
"More so something," Erza replies, leaning against the bar counter beside my sister. "He's looking for the Fire dragon, Igneel. He was the one who raised Natsu as a young boy and taught him the art of Fire Dragon Slayer magic. Then suddenly, without any explanation or even so much as a word of why or where he was going, Igneel left, and was never seen again."
"That's so sad," Diana whispers, lowering her head until her hair covers her eyes. "Having someone who's taken on the role of a parental figure in your life just leave without a trace-."
"Quit your whining, Diana," I snap warningly, but even I give way to her sullen mood. "He's pretty lucky when you think about it. Some kids grow up without any parents at all."
Yeah. If you got the hint, Diana and I grew up without any form of parenthood. Well, at least up to when Diana turned twelve. That's as far back as either of us can recall our lives. It's sad and unfortunate, but it's the truth. Still, through the good and the bad, we made it here, and we have no intention of ever going back to those days.
"Although it is sad," Gray interrupts, sitting down next to me, unaware that his stripping habit has kicked in again. "Some of us believe it's his way of keeping his mind from realizing the inevitable truth."
The mood in the guild is bleak, especially since Natsu left earlier this morning, which means nobody's game enough for a casual brawl. I fly up into the rafters, where a now peacefully sleeping Diana had retreated immediately after Erza, Gray, and Cana began recounting their renditions of what they knew about Natsu's past. My decision not to follow her had been deliberate, and when I tip-toe silently past her, I confirm that it had been a wise one. Her knuckles are a little swollen, though thankfully not bleeding, and the post where her head is resting is dented. Not cracked, splintered, or even broken, just… Dented. I sit down, leaning against the post opposite her on the same beam and manage to drift into a sound sleep myself within minutes. When I wake, I can hear Natsu's destruction quite clearly and look out one of the skylights, spotting him almost immediately, with Happy and pleasant a surprise in tow. I leap from one beam to the other, my heart fluttering with excitement as I gently wake my younger sister.
"Diana, you're not going to believe this," I whisper fanatically, trying to contain myself. "Natsu's back!"
"So? Since when did you start caring about that flame-brain?" she groans, getting up slowly and walking along the rafters in the direction of the bar, but I remain standing where she had left me at her napping location, feeling slightly hurt.
"Then I take it you don't care he's in the company of a Celestial Wizard?" I growl at her, turning to go look through the skylight again. "Or that she has three Zodiac Keys-."
I stop myself there, having sensed the change before she flew at me, lunging for my throat with Ice-Make Beam Claws. I feel like the world's biggest idiot of a sister right now. I know I should have done better to remind myself this could set her off. The two of us were attacked two years ago by a pair of Celestial Wizards claiming to be members of Celestial Blood. There had come a point where, if it weren't for Diana going on an animalistic rage quit, my head would be on their guild master's staff for eternity. The blind terror and rage in her eyes says it all; there's no hope of talking my way out of this one, yet for some outrageously insane reason-.
"Diana, snap out of it!"
I try it anyway.
Arming myself with Fire-Make Wolf Claws, I duck, dodge, twirl and leap from one beam to another. Anything to avoid that ripping aura of ice-cold fury. Diana lunges at me for the umpteenth time, and I once again evade, but this time, my footing is a bit off, which throws my balance enough for me to meet my end in this very short battle. My sister, who had clung to a post to my left with that same animalistic as two years ago, now surges forward, slamming into my right side. It's more than enough to throw my footing entirely, and time seems to falter as gravity takes over. My first mistake had been waking her in the first place. The next had been putting Celestial Wizard and Zodiac Keys in the same sentence. Looking into Diana's eyes now, I'm distracted by a certain hint of some new color in her irises, forgetting that the gap between myself and the hardwood floor is rapidly shrinking. It's almost as though she's about awaken something within herself. At the last second, Leo takes up the role of the "hero", hops in and separates us, which apparently calms my sister enough to return her to a state of normalcy.
"Careful there," he purrs, setting her down on her feet and smiling charmingly at her. "You could've really hurt yourself there."
"Y-Yeah," Diana stutters, her wide blue eyes staring blankly at the floor while she holds herself, most likely wondering what the hell just happened. "Thanks, Loke…"
"Uh-huh," I growl, standing up and grabbing hold of a small table nearby. "Thanks for your concern, the both of you-." I lift it up, bringing it over my head-. "I really-." And launch it straight at them. "APPRECIATE IT!"
Loke puts an arm around Diana's shoulders and they both duck in just the precise moment to send the small table soaring through the air. The guild doors then slam open, and the table makes a direct bull's eye into Natsu's face, of whom immediately assumes Gray threw it at him. I'm lost in the glorious roar of the guild as an all out battle ensues. Everyone who's been waiting for this kind of excitement joins in, but right when the fun is truly about to get started, the Master gets pissed off about all the ruckus and wreckage, and stops us all, crushing my happiness in the process. While the old man is blabbering on, I remember that I'd promised to meet up with Jarrett in town sometime this week. Well, now seems like as good a time as any. I whisper to Diana that I'm heading out to Phantom Lord, and she smiles at me knowingly.
"I don't want to have to be holding your hand in the hospital nine months from now, 'kay Rose?" my sister teases, nudging my side with her elbow.
"Relax, Diana. We're taking it slow for now," I reassure her, giving her hair a playful ruffle. "Although, I can't exactly say the same will be happening with you and the hungry Lion over there," I add with a slight nod in Loke's direction, who's daydreamy smile vanishes as he blushes and swiftly looks away.
Before she can protest, I quickly leave, slipping through the guild's open doors completely unnoticed. Once outside, I take a deep breath and stretch up into the sky, relaxing my muscles that had been ready for a fight only to be disappointed.
"I was starting to think you'd never show."
"Grant, come on," I plead, stumbling blindly as he guides me to the location of what he claims will be a fun job just for the two of us. "Can you at least tell me how far we are from Fairy Tail?"
"No can do, Rose," he replies, laughing a little as he whispers in my ear. "Besides, we're almost there."
Keeping to his word, within a minute or two, we stop and he removes the pitch-black blindfold he'd tied over my eyes. It takes all I have not to break down right then and there. We stand at the outskirts of the one town I'd hoped to never have to visit again. It's the remains of the town of which Diana had unwillingly and unknowingly destroyed three quarters. Millions of innocent lives were lost that day… 3 days after her 12th birthday… The day she had her first power overload.
"Rose, are you alright?" Grant asks frantically as I fall to my knees, tears silently flowing down my cheeks. "Rose, answer me, please!"
"I never thought I'd ever see this place again," I sob, choking out the words as though even saying it will make me break down completely. "I shouldn't be here. They know who Diana and I are… We were the cause of this disaster."
"Then why would the town's mayor come to me personally and ask specifically for you? This isn't a coincidence or a fluke; they need you for something."
I take a minute of two to calm down, then we proceed into the town. The further we press into the rubble, the more uneasy I feel inside and out, and I press into Grant's shoulder, holding his arm tightly like a frightened child. My greatest fear is that there are some people whose family members died when their town was very nearly annihilated that hold a grudge against myself and Diana. I'm grateful that nobody lashes out, which means we reach the newly rebuilt town hall without a hitch. Once we step inside the beautiful oak door - the only obvious, let alone visible entrance and exit point - the mayor is waiting for us with a welcoming grin.
"Rose Jay, it's been too long since you and I last talked," the mayor sighs warmly, giving me a friendly hug and choosing a firm shake of the hand with Grant. "I still can't thank you enough for your help three years ago. None of us would be alive if it weren't for you and your sister, Diana. I owe the life of my niece, Raven, to your sheer bravery."
On cue, a small girl, of whom I'm informed is no older than 9, appears from behind the secretary's desk, walking timidly up to her father and half hiding behind his form. Her midnight-black hair stretches down to her waist in a simple braid, and her golden hazel eyes suddenly fill with recognition and nostalgia. She races over to me, her arms open wide in a hug. She's wearing a calming, deep purple skirt with a thin gold trim at the bottom, and her blouse is a soft shade of red-orange. The item that catches not only my eye, but also my breath, is the electric blue scarf wrapped around her neck. It reminds me of a specific person whose scarf is his most recognizable feature. Joshua Star. The mythical 13th Rogue Zodiac, so he calls himself. I'm shoved back into reality as a pair of short arms try to wrap themselves around me. I find myself looking into the face of a child who's looking at me like I'm her favourite celebrity.
"I remember you," Raven chirps, her innocent eyes glittering with gratitude and admiration. "You rescued me from my friend's burning apartment. The flames were all at your mercy, and they kept that horrible beast from attacking you!"
My chest has tightened with so much emotion that my breathing has become alarmingly shallow and uneven. I always vow to myself to become less susceptible to such emotional bombings, yet I can't seem to figure out why I just crumble like this. Grant holds me against him, and I cling to his jacket, feeling my body start to quiver.
"But, Falkner," I sob, trying desperately to stop my voice from trembling. "Three quarters of your town was destroyed because of my sister."
"I realize that," Falkner says calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder and motioning with his head for me to follow him outside. "But your sister was the one who saved us from that terrible creature, and you helped us all by getting my people out of harm's way. It's because of this that we requested your assistance in rebuilding our town."
I know exactly what he means, and I find that all the emotion I had felt before has suddenly dissipated, and in its place is this feeling of having a much more firm patch of ground beneath my feet. I straighten up and scan over the scaffolding that has been erected throughout the destroyed parts of the town. Now I see not a stubborn population that has chosen to live in seclusion, dangerously close to an enemy of the past, but a people that thrives upon the very essence of determination. They refuse to flee the one place they call home, if only to remind themselves that hope will be ever watchful over them forevermore. Turning to face Grant, I smile happily, giving him a nod, which he returns in kind. He walks with Falkner to one of the groups of workers that needs help getting their generator working again, leaving me to follow after Raven. She takes me to where her house had once stood, and we're greeted by her immediate family and their friends. I'm given the blueprints for the structure they'd like to build, and directed to a massive pile of scrap metal that was salvaged from the rubble. So far as I know, the only job I have for the moment is being their blacksmith.
"Alright, I want to make myself clear," I declare, taking the welding helmet handed to me by Raven's father. "Absolutely nobody is to come within seven feet of me when I'm working the metal. When I call for someone to take a finished piece, I will accompany them to where it is to be placed and weld it into position. The previous rules will also apply in this case. Is everyone clear on this?"
I get confirmation from everyone around me, and I put on the welding helmet, walking with confidence towards the towering pile of scrap metal.
"Then let's turn up the heat!"