Chapter Six

Set Your Heart Free

Sting's POV

The blonde haired dragon slayer stretched lazily as he awoke the next morning, noticing the slight dip in the bed, he turned his head over and reality came crashing down, he didn't know to feel elated or disgruntled. Would she still remember him today?

Slowly as to not wake the sleeping girl he climbed down from bed and slowly got ready for the day before taking a seat beside her. He stared at her features for longer than he probably should have, he couldn't help it though. She may have the face of a child still, but when she slept and he couldn't see those piercing green eyes, she looked exactly like Lucy.

Everything about her screamed Lucy. And he wondered why that made him so upset.

Without thinking he reached down to trace the scar that ran along her face, it travelled from one side of her face, across her nose and halfway across her other cheek, he was truly infuriated when he saw how deep it ran and how far it ran along her face, after she had gotten a bath and cleaned he hadn't paid attention to all the scars that littered her tiny body. She was way to thin as well, as if she hadn't had a decent meal in days. Weren't her spirits supposed to be taking care of her, and truthfully what had happened to her parents in this life time?

Why was she all alone?

His gaze travelled down to the scar across her throat, it had to have been intentional, the way it was placed, so even, it didn't run jagged at all, as if they had cut off her head and then sewed it back on, it ran all the way around, he noted.

'My parents this time weren't good people, I was behaving badly' the blonde man jumped at the sound of her voice, it was deep with sleep and emotion, he watched as she reached her hand up to her neck and rubbed at the scar, but he wasn't really paying attention anymore, he had become livid.

'Your parents did this to you?!' he snarled, how dare someone hurt such a small girl in this way, what other things had she suffered at the hand of the Night family? Judging by the way the scar had faded she'd had it for a while at least since she was six years old.

'Don't worry they won't hurt anyone ever again...' The coldness of her voice startled him, he was still angry, more than angry he was furious, if he hadn't known the people to be dead already he would have hunted them down and killed them himself.

It was how she said the sentence that caught him off guard.

And he knew what she had done because of it.

He couldn't say he was shocked at the sudden realization, after all anyone who would do that to a girl the mere age of six was beyond earning forgiveness. But still, to know that Lucy had done it.

Once more, he had to remember that this little girl truly wasn't his Lucy. She was someone else entirely.

Maybe all the things she had seen, all the people she had lost was finally catching up with her sanity.

'They weren't good people Sting. They weren't...They...' She was cut off as she found herself in the arms of the blonde haired man, and suddenly she couldn't hold it in anymore, all the pain she had been feeling, the fear, the life she had lived up until now hadn't been the greatest and at the mere age of 9 she was...she was...well she couldn't bring herself to even think it. She had to do it, Papa had told her to do it, had taught her this magic specifically for that reason, so she could end her suffering and the suffering of everyone else back at that place.

'Shh. I know, I know.' Sting tried to calm the crying girl. He wondered what Lucy had done to anger the gods in such a way, had all of her lives been this way? Had she suffered through things such as this all alone? He didn't want to think that she had.

Sting felt heavy with grief for the girl he was currently holding in his arms, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her head was pushed into the crook of his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. She was sobbing uncontrollably and he didn't know what to do besides whisper in her ear that it would all be okay, she would be alright and he would never let anything bad happen to her ever again.

'I promise I won't let you get hurt anymore...Not anymore' Sting whispered in her ear as her crying finally died down to a mere sniffling, her breathing was heavy and snot was dripping from her nose, but Sting didn't care, he wanted, no, he needed her to know that she would be okay, for the rest of her existence, she wouldn't be hurt again.

He set the small girl down on the ground after her sniffling stopped, he kneeled down beside her and the two stared at each other, both promising something the other wasn't aware of when suddenly a knock on the door sounded throughout the room, the man kneeling before her sighed before standing and brushing invisible flecks of dust from his clothes.

'I need to get that, it's probably Scarlet asking about you.' he said in a whisper as he walked away from the blonde, who was currently wiped her nose on the hem of her shirt, Sting didn't mind though, if that's what she wanted to do, who was he to stop her.

'Prince, I know your in there and I need to speak with you immediately' the voice of the young knight in training called in a panic. Sting's eyes widened and he hurried his pace to the door. There was something about her voice that he didn't like.

Swinging the door open the scarlet haired mage walked in without so much as a look at him or waiting for his approval like she would usually do.

Something was definitely odd. Shaking his head he threw the door closed as he made his way to where Scarlet was standing in front of Lucy.

'Is it you, truly is it you?' The requip mage asked softly. Sting whipped his head up in surprise to find the fourteen year old looking between the two of them with wide eyes. No one answered so she clarified;

'I remember you both, I remember everything. How can I remember you and the life we shared hundreds of years ago?'