Chapter Four – Skye
A week had passed since we had captured Saphira. From what I understand of her letter, she thinks that the dragon that raised her, Feu, was stolen from her by our guild. Some time ago, all of dragons vanished, leaving Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Saphira, and multiple other dragon slayers with no one to care for them. Apparently, Lavond, the leader of a smaller, less widely known guild, took her in at a young age. She convinced her that we captured Feu so that she would believe us to be evil and has turned her into a Fairy Tail assassin. None of us had the ability to blame her since she had no way of knowing that wasn't the truth.
Natsu has spent the past week dragging her around with him trying to convince her that we aren't the enemy. At first, she looked miserable, not that we can blame her. She had just found out her whole life was essentially one giant lie.
Although, halfway through the week, she softened up a little and broke her silent streak. She only talks to the other dragon slayers, but that's step in the right direction.
She's ironically seemed to have taken a liking to Natsu. Any time he touches her or even looks at her, she lights up like a Christmas tree physically and metaphorically.
Natsu has even seemed to be better since she showed up. His and Gray's bickering has reduced significantly and now that spark he gets in his eyes usually only when he's fighting is ever present. It's amusing to see them react to each other.
I haven't personally spoken to her much yet because she's constantly with Natsu, but when I get the chance, I intend upon learning more about her. I want to know why we look so alike and how we have the same birthmark and almost the same necklaces. It perplexes me, and I must figure it out soon, but I don't know when Natsu is gonna slow down long enough for me to get the chance. He has to stop eventually, right? Seeing as how she was literally chained to him, I couldn't exactly separate them.
There's a lot about this situation that I just don't get. First off, why doesn't she have a guild label anywhere on her? Also, why have none of her guild mates come after her yet? It's been a whole week now.
What will happen now, since her and Natsu have some sort of flirtationship, if her guild does come for her? Will she go back to her guild, now that she found Natsu and obviously can't kill him? Especially now that she knows her guild has been lying to her?
I had so many unanswered questions swarming through my mind. It was like having an agitated swarm of bees buzzing aggressively in my head. These thoughts have been vexing me and I wanted them to stop.
"We've got company!" I heard Gray's panicked voice yell throughout the guild hall.
Even though Natsu visibly wanted to fight, the chain around his wrist binding him to Saphira reminded him that he had to protect the captive. He backed into one of the side halls to keep both of them hidden. Erza led everyone outside into battle in her most elegant suit of armor. Many members of the guild surged towards the three wizards and the black exceed.
I ran forward towards the only male of the small group. Erza had challenged the woman that was evidently the leader, and I saw Wendy start towards the remaining wizard.
I refocused on the task at hand; I had to take down the Maire guild member now threatening Fairy Tail.
From what I could tell by looking at him, he had medium length brown hair, and steel gray eyes. He locked his eyes on the ground and mentally prepared himself. An orb of swirling energy began to form in his hands and I knew that was my cue to get out of the way. I ran at him, using a rock as a mount to push myself off the ground, flipping over him and landing behind him.
I replicated his move and created an orb made of water. The water swirled around in my hand spherically, building intensity progressively the longer I held it. Once I decided it had enough magic power behind it to do a significant amount of damage I extended my arm out to attack. Suddenly something grasped my wrist tightly, rendering me unable to expel my weapon.
I could feel a tingling sensation emanating from where he touched my arm. My vision was crystal clear, but my head started to feel fuzzy. I looked up into his eyes and found myself unable to move. Was he an ice wizard, too? Did he freeze my body? I couldn't even look down to see.
"Skye!" Gray yelled, ruining the moment. He sent a pillar of ice at my attacker, sending the Maire guild member flying. I turned my head and saw him hit the wall and crumple to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Gray questioned. "Skye? Skye!" He started to shake my shoulders.
I finally turned to face the ice make wizard. I could feel my entire body starting to shake. I could barely stand. I didn't know what that guy did to me, but one thing was for sure; that could never happen again.
We took him back to one of our makeshift jail cells in the back of the guild hall and tied him up using the same kind of ropes that we'd used on Saphira. We detained his bird and kept him in an ice cage, courtesy of Gray, out in the hall. Happy kept suspiciously eying the bird as if he wanted to attack it.
"Happy?" Mirajane asked. "Can you do me a favor and not eat the bird?"
"Why don't you come with me to the cell with the exceed in it?" Pantherlily asked. "I'll question her and you can guard the door."
"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed. "Let me go get a proper weapon!"
Happy ran off and soon returned wielding his weapon; the mighty plastic spork. Pantherlily glared in Happy's direction. I nearly failed to contain my laughter at the sight.
"That's your weapon?" Lily criticized.
"I tried to take a steak knife," Happy explained, "but Lucy wouldn't let me. I was not about to challenge her."
"Okay you two," Gray said, trying not to laugh, "let us know if you need any help or anything."
They walked off, Lily still shaking his head at the sight of guard Happy.
"Who's going to interrogate this clown?" Gray asked, pointing towards the room with the new Maire guild captive.
"I'll go," I tried to say. However, no sound managed to escape. Thankfully, Mirajane came in to save the day.
"Why don't you two go in?" she asked. "I'll go check in with everyone else and then I'll come back to help you out."
"Okay, that should work," Gray agreed. Rather than challenge the power of my questionable vocal cords, I just nodded my approval of the plan. Dear God; the guy wasn't even in the room and he still managed to have me under some sort of spell.
She walked away, leaving just Gray and me to discuss our verbal battle plan.
"What should we ask him?" I miraculously managed to say.
"We already know that he's from the same problematic guild that Saphira originates from," Gray started. "They were probably here either as a rescue attempt for Saphira or to try to execute the malicious plan that brought her here in the first place. Either way, this guy is our enemy."
"We can ask him more questions about his guild's intentions," I added. "We can even ask questions that Saphira already answered just to test how honest he's willing to be. We still have to wait for the magic ropes to determine what magic he's used on them."
"We'd also have to keep in mind that he could be altered like Saphira," Gray reminded. "I can only imagine what extra abilities he was given."
We stayed in the hallway as we heard the annoyed sounds of failed escape attempts from the cell. It was evident that we'd have ample information on his powers. A not so gentle breeze escaped the room.
"Wind magic," Gray muttered, "like Wendy."
"If Saphira, a genetically altered fire dragon slayer, was sent to kill Natsu," I speculated, "then what if this guy was supposed to be sent after Wendy?"
"Why are they only targeting dragon slayers?" Gray asked. "And who was supposed to be sent for Gajeel?"
"Well, think about it," I explained. "The dragon slayers are among the strongest members of our guild. If anyone wanted to attack us, the dragon slayers would be a huge risk to the success of their plan. Maybe this was supposed to be a preventative measure; take out the threat before they could become a threat."
"And Gajeel?" Gray questioned.
"He and Levy just left for a job," I continued. "Depending on the timing of the dark guild's attack, he may not be a threat since he's not here."
"That makes sense," Gray chuckled. "After being around Natsu so much, I forgot that not everyone is a hotheaded idiot."
"Thanks," I replied, "I think."
"We should probably go check on the ropes," Gray suggested. "Do you want to hold him down, or analyze the ropes?"
"I'll just analyze," I said quickly.
"You're not afraid of him, are you?" Gray teased.
"Of course not!" I defended. I could feel my cheeks start to blush. "I just think it would be best that I be the one to analyze the ropes since I was one of the people that created them."
I looked past Gray's shoulder down the hall as I saw the blue cat reach his head out the door. "She loves him!" he yelled down toward us. At this point, I would be surprised if my face wasn't the color of Saphira's hair.
"Oh shut it, you spork wielding fluff ball!" I yelled at the exceed. "Let's just go analyze the ropes."
We entered the room to see our captive heavily breathing and looking exhausted. Either he had expended almost all his energy in his escape attempts, or he's a really good actor. After seeing Saphira's conniving ruse before, I honestly can't be sure.
"Help me get the ropes off of him, Gray," I instructed.
"Bossy, bossy," Gray joked.
"Just shut up and do it," I responded.
"Feisty. Maybe Saphira is rubbing off on you," Gray retorted.
"How can she rub off on me when the only person she talks to is Natsu?" I questioned.
"Why is it that she only talks to him?" Gray asked.
"How should I know?" I answered. "This isn't the time or place for this conversation anyway. Focus!"
"Yes, ma'am," Gray mocked.
I took the ropes that we had already untied and stood in front of the door while Gray unknotted the last of them. As the last rope went slack, I noticed the subtle change of the captive's footing. I backed out of the door slowly, bracing for his next attempt at escape. I transferred all the rope to my left hand.
Everything seemed to have moved in slow motion. He pushed Gray out of the way and started toward me. I conjured a wall of water to block the doorway, hoping that Gray would catch on and freeze the barrier. Through my hydro barricade, I found myself staring deep into his steely eyes yet again, and he froze in his tracks.
I felt both fearful and calm at the same time. His eyes refused to leave mine, even as Gray tackled him to the ground. Now wearing ice cuffs, the prisoner was returned to his seat. I allowed Gray to pass through the water wall so that he rejoined me in the hallway. He turned stared at the blockade as he sluggishly leaned against the wall.
"What the hell was that?" Gray asked as he tried to catch his breath. "He didn't even try to get through your barrier. And why did you use magic instead of closing the door?"
"I have no clue," I answered. "I didn't expect him to stop. And he could've just opened the door. Magic gave me some control over who comes and goes."
We both stared into the room in disbelief. I had half expected him to run, but why would he stop partway through his getaway? I turned my focus to ropes in my hand.
"Any results yet?" Gray questioned.
"Nothing yet," I responded.
I looked down the hall and saw Mirajane venturing towards us. I continued to analyze the ropes at she and Gray talked.
"How is everyone?" Gray asked.
"Everyone's okay," Mirajane assured. "The woman Erza was fighting managed to get away. Natsu and Saphira were sent to retrieve her. We have two wizards and an exceed in our custody for questioning."
"Makarov trusted Saphira to go out to find her old guild's leader?" Gray inquired.
"He says it's supposed to be a test," Mirajane explained. "If she doesn't betray Natsu and doesn't run away, then she'll be allowed to join Fairy Tail. After all, Makarov is big on second chances, especially when people don't realize the full extent of what they're doing," she finished with a glare in Gray's direction. "And besides, I doubt she'd betray Natsu after everything he'd shown her this past week."
Gray nervously chuckled. "Hey Skye. How's it going over there?" he asked to divert Mirajane's attention to me.
"Just about done," I responded. "So far, the readings mostly consist of air magic, as you'd expect given his little windstorm tantrum earlier. There are a few weird things though." I furrowed my brow in frustration at the almost indecipherable results.
"Weird how?" Mirajane questioned.
"Things you wouldn't expect a wind wizard to be able to do," I explained. "If he's anything like Saphira, he's probably been genetically altered as well. These confusing readings could be a result of his extra abilities."
"What sort of capabilities does he have?" Gray inquired.
"According to the ropes, he possesses some sort of manipulation magic," I started. "It seems like he tried to control the ropes."
"What does manipulation have to do with wind magic?" Mirajane asked.
"I have no idea," I answered. "But we'd better be careful if he tries to use his manipulation on any of us."
"What if that's what he did to you earlier? When he grabbed your wrist?" Gray asked concerned.
"That explains why I couldn't move. He grabbed my hand and my whole body froze," I remembered. "Ready to go in?"
Gray nodded to me and I momentarily took down the water wall. Gray walked into the room, leaving Mirajane and myself alone in the hallway.
"Have you been able to talk to the new girl at all?" Mirajane asked to put an end to our silence.
"No," I responded, "I haven't talked to her."
"Seems like you two would have a lot to discuss," she continued, "considering your necklaces. Not to mention your birthmarks. And the fact that you look the same."
"Natsu's too busy being a tour guide for anyone to have a genuine conversation with the girl," I muttered.
"True enough," she concurred. "What do you think of the two of them?"
"It's obvious that there's something there," I responded.
"I wonder how long it will take for those two to notice that," she added.
I looked up and saw Gray staring at us through the water, trying to signal for me to let him out. He was obviously angry, and I'm surprised that he didn't have smoke coming out of his ears.
"If someone else wants to deal with that stubborn prick, be my guest," he grumbled.
Mirajane used her magic to turn into her Satan Soul form, smirking at the cell. "Let me handle him. He tried to threaten our guild. He needs to talk," she said as she entered the room. I could see our prisoner's eyes nearly bulge out of his head in fear. I raised my hand and reinstalled the water into its place in the doorframe so that we wouldn't have to hear his cries for mercy.
"I know he's the bad guy and all," Gray explained, "but isn't sending Satan Soul on him kinda overkill?"
"You made the offer for one of us to go in," I responded. "She just beat me to it."
Though we couldn't hear anything through the water, we both stared in awe at the torment taking place in front of us. He seemed to be keeping quiet, which just made Mirajane's torture even worse.
I couldn't take it. This guy deserves an interrogation, not cruel and unusual punishment via demon. I retracted the water wall yet again and entered the room.
"Mirajane," I said firmly, "I think that's enough."
She turned with such intensity in her eyes that I couldn't tell whether Mirajane heard me or if the Satan Soul tuned everything out and merely regarded me as an annoyance. I refused to back down and subject this poor boy to the various forms of torture that his future would entail. Something in her eyes softened and I realized that Mirajane was in control. She changed back into her normal form.
"Your turn, Skye," she said kindly as she walked back into the hall, shutting the door behind her.
"Consider yourself lucky," I said to the captive. "I stopped her before she brought out the other Satan Souls."
"Thanks," he grumbled, "but I still don't have to talk to you. You have no leverage."
"That may be true," I concurred. "But remember; we have many ferocious exceeds that would love to play with your little bird friend out there."
He furrowed his brow as he considered my remark. "You mean the blue fluff ball with the spork?" he chuckled.
"Just remember what he said about going after a steak knife first," I retorted. He was noticeably chattier with me than with Mira or Gray. I figured it was a good sign and that I should start asking questions.
"What's your name?" I asked him. "Mine's Skye," I added. I figured that if I opened up to him, he may do the same for me.
"Kade," he muttered quietly. "My turn to ask a question."
I tried to hide my confusion. "I don't think that's how this whole thing works," I responded.
"Says who?" he retorted.
"Anyone who's ever conducted an interrogation?" I answered.
"Well," he began, "we either do it this way, or you can leave in frustration like your little boyfriend out there did."
"He's not my boyfriend!" I answered instantly. Realizing that I answered that too quickly, I decided to shut my mouth and allow him to continue.
"Does he know that?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Fine we'll do it your way," I said, purposefully avoiding the question.
"I thought you'd see it my way," he said.
"Why is your guild targeting Fairy Tail?" I asked.
"You're a dark guild. You must be eliminated," he stated. "Why do you look so much like Saphira?"
"Who told you that? And I don't actually know," I responded.
"It's way beyond weird, and Lavond," he said. "Why is Saphira hanging around Natsu so much?"
"I'm also not sure of that," I said. "Why don't you guys have guild marks?"
"Why do you guys?" he retorted.
"It's a symbol of pride for our guild," I stated figuring that was common knowledge. "Who are you targeting?" I asked.
"Wendy Marvell," he responded. "Why did you guys take Saphira's dragon?"
"We didn't," I said remembering he still believed the lies.
"Where is Lavond?" he asked suddenly looking more intense.
"Hey now!" I exclaimed. "You can't ask two questions in a row!"
"So you are paying attention," he muttered. "If you answer, then I'll answer twice to make up for it."
"Fine. Natsu and Saphira are searching for her," I answered, "She escaped. Any idea where we would find her?"
"Maire guild base camp," he responded. "But I imagine that she wouldn't stay long. Just collecting supplies and then running away."
"What is Lavond's magic?" I asked.
"She uses Darkness Magic," he retorted. "Be careful not to underestimate her; her magic is stronger than any other wizard out there. She can even manipulate a person's inner darkness and make them fight for her."
"She can manipulate anyone?" I inquired, hoping that he wasn't counting my questions.
"For the most part," he responded. "It's easier to control those who are already struggling with their internal sense of dark and light, though."
Saphira… I thought panicked.
I started to blank out again as memories flooded over me.
My father opened the door and I saw numerous Council Members standing on our front porch.
"Come in," my father said coolly. "Shall we talk in the office?" He offered as he led them toward the back room.
"Girls, stay here," the nanny instructed as she rose to join the adults.
"Can you hear them, Rhi?" I asked innocently. She'd always had better senses than me.
"'She's too powerful,' one of the Council Member is explaining," Rhi said in a trance. "'We must remove her before she becomes a danger to society,' he finished. Dad is trying to argue with them. I think they're coming out here!"
The Council Members exited the room. As they passed through the dining room, I saw one of them turn to us.
"Enjoy your last few days of freedom, Rhiannon," he said to my sister. "We'll be back."
I came to my senses again and ran out the door, passing Gray and Mirajane who both looked utterly confused. I could hear them start after me.
"We have to get to Saphira before they find Lavond," I explained as I ran through the guild hall. "Natsu's in trouble if Lavond gets near Saphira."
I ran out the back door and into the forest with Gray and Mirajane still on my tail. Remembering the reaction my gem had earlier to Saphira, I tried to use the faint heat emanating from the stone as a compass towards her. Though I didn't quite understand why my necklace was doing this, I trusted it and its magic as my guide. I had to save her and Natsu.