Chapter Five — Saphira
After the battle reached its conclusion, all of my fellow guild mates were captured aside from Lavond, who in a desperate attempt to save herself, ran off into the woods.
"C'mon," Natsu ordered, "we need to go see Makarov."
We ventured across the room and stood in front of the master. Mirajane came over to us and asked me where I wanted my guild mark. I pointed to my left forearm, and she stamped me with an outline of the Fairy Tail symbol. "This shows that you're on probation. If you prove your loyalty to the guild, it'll fill in on it's own," she explained.
"Now go find the wizard," Makarov instructed. "You know what to do, Natsu."
Natsu nodded and led me out the back. He looked nervous and he almost seemed worried.
"Is everything alright?" I asked looking up at him.
"I don't know yet," Natsu said and undid the ropes that bound our wrists together. I paused and contemplated running, but, after further contemplation, I realized that there was nothing for me out there.
Using our combined sense of smell, we started in Lavond's direction, careful not to expend all of our energy before the fight even began.
I ducked behind a tree and spotted Lavond in the distance. She was at the Maire guild base camp gathering her things before she ran off for good. She either didn't know we were here or didn't care because she continued to collect her materials.
I was so focused on Lavond that I didn't hear the rampaging footsteps hastily making their way toward us.
"Saphira!" I heard Skye's faint voice scream out.
I snuck behind the tree as Lavond turned her head to the noise. Even from this distance I could tell she was smirking. "Nice try, traitor!" she yelled in my direction. "Good luck catching up."
"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. My temper was flaring at the interruption as I turned to face the others.
Natsu grabbed my arm before I could get too far. "I'm sure they were just trying to help," he stated quietly.
"A lotta good that did," I muttered back. "Now she knows we're following her, and she's had time to get away."
Gray, Mirajane, and Skye finally caught up to us, all three panting. "You have to be careful around her, Saphira," Skye explained.
"And why would I need to be careful?" I questioned cynically.
"She can control you with her Darkness Magic," she replied.
"Skye," I murmured. "I've been training with Lavond for 11 years now. I think I understand the capabilities of her magic better than you." Skye's face went blank as she realized how unnecessary her contribution was. "Now we get to go find her all over again."
"Well at least there's more of us to try and find her," Mirajane added. "We can split up and hopefully find her sooner."
The leaves rustled and we all braced ourselves and turned toward the sound. I saw a gray snout stick out from the brush and I heard a muffled arff. The mangy wolf pup continued out from its hiding place as we all relaxed. The pup sniffed at my leg, then promptly plopped onto my right foot.
I rolled my eyes at the demented wolf. "Moon Moon," I asked as I raised the pup into my arms, "why are you here instead of with Melodia?"
He whimpered quietly at me. "We can't just leave him," I explained. "You guys did capture Melodia after their rescue attempt, right?" Mirajane nodded at me. "Good. We can use Moon Moon to our advantage if she doesn't talk."
"She named it Moon Moon?" Skye criticized.
"Maire guild members aren't exactly the best at coming up with names for animals," I clarified.
"So what's the plan?" Gray questioned. "Are we splitting up to try and find her?"
"I can take the cute pup back to the guild hall," Mirajane offered as she reached for the dog.
"That would work," Natsu agreed. "We should probably set up camp for the night. It's starting to get dark, and you guys still look exhausted," he added gesturing toward Skye and Gray.
I set Moon Moon gently on the ground and he started to wobble toward Mira. The poor pup unfortunately ended up diverting his course and smashing into a tree before he got all the way to her.
We parted ways with Mira and the pup and we ventured on through the forest, trying to scout out a good camp site. We found a clearing that was near to a river and decided to set up there. Gray and Skye went to go fetch water while Natsu and I set up a fire.
"C'mon we need to go get firewood," Natsu said scanning the woods for fallen trees.
"But I don't wanna," I pouted and laid down on the ground.
"Who said I was giving you a choice, Sapphire?" he asked smirking at me.
Something about that smirk made it almost impossible for me to breathe, and made my heart beat a mile per minute. I tried to slow it down because I knew all too well how easy it was for a dragon slayer to hear.
"My name's Saphira, not Sapphire," I said and crossed my arms.
"Ever heard of a nickname?" he responded sarcastically.
"You can't make me go with you," I challenged.
"Wanna bet?" he asked his eyes locked on me.
I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to respond. On one hand, I really didn't want to get up, and on the other I was very curious to see how he planned to go about "making me" do anything I didn't want to do.
I wasn't curious for very long however because apparently he took my silence as a "go for it" and proceeded with his plan. He picked me up and started carrying my off towards the woods.
"Natsu!" I shrieked half horrified and half laughing.
"What?" he asked, his smirk still plastered to his face. "I told you I could make you."
"Put me down!" I said, not sounding nearly as demanding as I had intended to.
"Hmm, I don't think so," he said and adjusted his grip.
"Why can't you just let me walk?" I asked still laughing.
"Because I know if I put you down, you'll run away," he said.
"No, I wouldn't!" I exclaimed.
"Really?" he said, very evidently not believing me.
"I wouldn't!" I exclaimed.
He was right; I did plan on running back to camp. But only because I wanted to see what he would do.
"Fine," he said and put me down on the ground.
I ran off almost instantly weaving around trees, and looking for a place to hide from him.
"If we're playing hide and seek, you're gonna lose," he said as he looked around the woods for me.
"Yeah, right," I muttered and poked my head around the tree I had hidden behind.
"Yeah, I am right," I heard his voice say coming from behind me.
Within milliseconds of hearing his voice, I felt his hands on my shoulders, pinning me against the tree.
I turned around to see Natsu's face only but a few inches away from mine. I felt my heart start racing and once again I couldn't breathe.
"I can actually feel your heart racing, Sapphire," he said with a smirk. "Do I make your nervous?"
"No," I responded far too quickly.
He got closer and whispered in my ear, "How about now?"
"N-no," I stuttered, my face turning red and my hair burning brightly.
I wanted so badly to just lean forward and kiss him; it took everything in me not to. Only but a moment later I realized my restraint was pointless. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. I could feel heat radiating throughout my body, and every thought that was previously buzzing in my head had vanished without a trace. At first I was just shocked and didn't quite know how to respond but the closer he got to me the harder it was to resist him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and supported my body weight against the tree allowing the kiss to go on. To be honest, everything after that is a bit hard to remember, but I remember hearing Gray's voice echoing through the woods. He pulled away and locked his eyes on mine. He seemed almost as surprised by what just happened as I was.
"Weren't we supposed to be getting firewood?" I asked him laughing a little.
"Yeah, uh, we should probably do that," he said rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Yeah," I said and we looked for dead branches and other burnable items.
Our results weren't quite as fruitful as we had anticipated but we came back with enough to start and keep a fire going for the night. When we returned we found Skye and Gray trying to thaw some fish that were trapped in little blocks of ice.
"Where have you two been?" Gray asked his attention now focused on us rather than his fishsicles.
"Getting wood," I stated unable to make eye contact with him in fear that he'd figure out what just happened.
"It took you an hour to find that much wood?" Skye questioned in disbelief.
"Yup," I said and tossed the wood on the ground in between Skye and Gray.
I walked over to the stream and watched the water flow by as I mentally recapped today's events. I couldn't get him kissing me out of my head, and I was pretty sure I didn't want to. I didn't know what to make of it. I knew I wasn't supposed to let my emotions cloud my head but even after he stopped touching me I could still feel my skin tingling where it had once came in contact with his.
I couldn't get him out of my head in general, but I had to dismiss these feelings. I convinced myself that it was a one time thing and that regardless of my feelings, I had to focus and keep training.
"Did something happen?" I heard Gray ask Natsu.
"You could say that," he responded.
"What did you do!" Skye scolded.
"Nothin bad," he stated.
"Then why is she exiling herself?" Skye accused.
"How should I know?" he rebutted and started constructing the skeleton for our fire.
I could hear her start to venture toward me. I picked up a couple of smooth river rocks and tried to skip them across the stream. The crimson gem embedded in my choker necklace started to glow and build up heat.
"Can't you tell when someone wants to be alone?" I challenged as I threw my next stone.
"Can't you tell when people want to help you?" she retorted as she came up beside me.
"Why bother?" I asked her. "Don't pretend like you care about me. Barely anyone has even given me a second glance since I've been here."
"I want to know more about you," she explained. "I want to help you fit in, but you can't do that if you continually ignore people. You have to let these people get to know you if you want them to accept you. Open up and let them ask you questions without getting defensive."
"Then go ahead," I said as I sat down on the side of the stream. "Ask me anything."
"Tell me about how you grew up," she asked as she sat next to me. "Tell me about Feu."
"My parents abandoned me when I was little. Feu was the only one who bothered to care for me. She raised me as her own and taught me my dragon slayer magic. And then she just went away. I thought I knew who took her, but I was evidently very wrong."
"Who told you your parents just abandoned you?"
"Lavond. Why?"
"What if that was a lie too?" she whispered nervously.
"Well, it's the only story I have, so I'm sticking with it."
"Have you considered-" she started.
"Just stop," I interrupted. "I've considered everything. With everything I've found out about Lavond, I know very well that my current belief could be wrong. I understand that someone could've kidnapped me and given me to Feu. I understand that it could've not been my parents' fault. But it doesn't matter, Skye. The fact is I grew up without a family, and that's not something you go around bragging about."
She sat in silence as she took in what I had said. I felt her hand land on my arm in an attempt at comforting me. The instant that her skin touched mine, my vision of the stream went black and was replaced with a blurry memory.
"Rhi, you were told never to do that again!" I heard a man's voice scream as I watched the tree in front of me catch fire.
"I didn't mean to," I responded choking back tears.
"Why do you never listen to me? Why can't you be normal like your sister?" he scolded.
"Because I'm not her!" I yelled back.
"Don't talk back to me like that! I am your father and you will respect me!" he continued to scream at me.
I could feel the heat swelling up inside of me. I tried to choke back the tears but it was getting hard to control the rage that was burning inside of me.
"Stop!" I interrupted his ranting.
He continued to yell and compare me to her which just made it even harder to control my rage.
"I SAID STOP!" I screamed and outstretched my arms. Fire shot out of my hands abruptly, like a bullet from the barrel of a gun.
"RHI! NO!" I heard a voice similar to that of mine call out to me as someone wrapped their arms around me from behind.
It was too late. At that point, the fire had already found its way to a bush next to the house I was standing in front of. The house caught fire and all I could do was stand there and watch the flames slowly devouring one wall at a time.
Then the scene morphed and I was laying on a couch in a house unknown to me. Next to me was the girl I presumed to be the sister my father was comparing me to. While it infuriated me to be compared to her, I loved her more than anyone.
"It wasn't your fault, Rhi," she stated. "You didn't mean to hurt anyone."
She was dressed from head to toe in black and I could tell by how swollen her eyes were that she had been crying.
"I'm a monster," I responded.
"No you're not. You loved mom just as much as the rest of us. You didn't mean to hurt her," she said and wiped away the tear that had escaped and was rolling down my cheek.
"Where is she?" I heard an unfamiliar voice question from the other room.
"In there. She has the red necklace," I heard my father's voice return.
A strange man came in and looked between my sister and I. He scooped me up off the couch and threw me over his shoulder.
"Bri! Help!" I cried out as he took me away.
She charged after him and latched onto his leg.
"Give me back my sister!" she screamed and punched his leg.
Given that at that time we were only about five or six, it didn't do a whole lot to deter him.
"BRIANNA! NO!" my father scolded and tore her off of the man's leg.
He set her back on her feet and gripped her arm so tightly I could see the skin where he had hold of her was turning red. She cried out in pain but continued to come after me.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" I raged and I felt my body literally combust. My father loosened his grip on her arm slightly and stared at me in horror.
"BRING BACK MY SISTER!" Bri wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"SHE KILLED YOUR MOTHER! SHE'S A MONSTER!" he yelled at her. "She's the reason we had to bury your mother today. She brought this on herself."
Slowly, as the man walked on, it became harder and harder to hear or see either of them.
"PUT ME DOWN!" I screeched.
The last thing I remember was the man smashing my head off of a wall and everything going black.
I awoke from the memories gasping for air. I looked over and saw tears leaking out of Skye's eyes. It was obvious that she had just experienced the same visions. "You're Rhi…?" she whispered as she retracted her hand from my shoulder.
"I-I don't know," I quietly responded.
"I do," she stated as she stood up. Her anger was apparent and I could see the water in front of me reacting to her rage. The stream's gentle current turned violent as Skye balled her fists. She turned to me with an accusing look in her eye. She pointed her finger at me after every accusation. "You're Rhiannon. You're the reason I grew up with an abusive dad and a dead mother. You're the reason that I had to change my name and teach myself magic. You may have grown up without a family, but at least you had someone who loved you!"
I was at a loss for words. I struggled to stand as she stepped into the water creating a barrier around herself. I could hear the boys running toward me, but I didn't have the strength to face them. Natsu came up behind me and tried shaking my arm. I could hear his muffled screams as he tried to break my trance, but my brain was too busy processing everything to really notice. I saw Gray trying to coax Skye out of her water orb.
I could tell it had started raining, but the only drops of water I felt were the warm tears that had escaped my eyes and were trailing down my cheeks.
Overwhelmed and full of regret, I ran off deeper into the woods. I couldn't face her knowing that I killed our mother. I told myself I could never go back there and that it didn't matter that I was leaving Natsu, because he was better off without me anyways. All of them were better off without me, especially Skye. I already ruined enough of her life. I kept running until I deemed myself far enough away to not hurt anyone else. I climbed up a tree and curled up on one of its thicker branches. Tears continued rolling down my face as I processed what i had done.
"My dad was right; I am a monster," I whispered to myself as I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tightly. For the first time in what seems like forever, I felt cold. It felt like there was ice water flowing through my veins as opposed to blood. I felt empty and alone. Being alone wasn't abnormal for me. In fact, I was alone most of the time, but this is the first time I've ever really felt lonely. I'd always felt like someone was always waiting for me. Be it Feu, Luna, Lavond or even Kade, I was never fully alone. Until that moment.
"Whatcha doin' up there Sapphire?" I heard Natsu's voice call from below where I was perched in the tree.
"Natsu?" I asked and looked down to the ground.
To my surprise there he stood staring up at me through spiky pink hair.
"What are you doing here?" I asked taken aback a bit by his presence.
"I had to make sure you were okay," he said and started to climb up the tree.
"Why do you care?" I asked in disbelief.
"You're one of us now," he responded with a smile.
"Did you not figure out why Skye freaked out on me? I'm the reason my mother is dead. I don't deserve to be consoled," I responded, feeling the tears swell up in my eyes once again.
"No, I heard her telling Gray. That's not your fault though. If it's anyone's fault, it's your dad's," he rebutted.
"He didn't light the house on fire," I muttered more to myself than to him.
"You were, like, five. You had no idea how to control your power. Do you really think your mom would want you to blame yourself?" he said finally reaching my branch.
"Skye hates me," I said staring at the ground below wishing that it wasn't true.
"She don't hate you, Sapphire. She was just overwhelmed and upset. She'll come along," he said and draped his arm around my shoulder.
"I'm not going back," I responded forcing out the words robotically.
"Why is that?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.
"You're all better off without me," I responded as a tear rolled off my cheek onto Natsu's hand.
"Hey, now. None of that," he said and wiped away the tear. "If you really want to do what's best for Fairy Tail, then come back with me."
"No matter what I do, I always find a way to screw everything up. I can't do that to Fairy Tail," I said and covered my face with my hands.
Natsu wrapped both of his arms around me and pulled me close to him. Resting his head against mine, he looked down at me.
"Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without you, Sapphire," he said as he pushed the curtain of blonde hair covering my right eye behind my ear.
I wanted to believe him more than anything. I wanted to just grab his hand and go back to the guild hall, but I knew that wherever I went, darkness and destruction followed. I refused to do anymore damage. Anyone I cared for got hurt, or worse, and I couldn't do that to Natsu. I would never be able to forgive myself.
"I'm not good for the guild, or you. There's darkness inside of me and I can't control it," I said and started to get up to run off again.
Natsu grabbed my hand and pulled my back down. Before I even had time to process what had happened, he kissed me. My eyes drifted shut and it was almost impossible to remember what I had intended to do. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was using mind control because I couldn't move a damn muscle and the only thing that I wanted in that moment was for it to never end.
"Awe, how touching," I heard a female's voice mock.
He pulled away and we both looked around for the voice.
"Down here, Saphira," she sang.
I ejected my wings and claws and flew down to the ground searching for the woman.
"You know, I've never seen you use your wings before," the voice commented. "You don't seem to use them much."
From behind one of the trees Lavond emerged. She wore a dark purple dress that was paired with black high heels and her dragon claw necklace. Her long black hair was down, laying in loose waves cascading down her back.
"What do you want?" Natsu demanded as he hopped down from his branch.
"I've come back to reclaim what belongs to me," she stated very matter of factly.
"And that is?" Natsu questioned.
"Her," she stated and pointed at me.
"I belong to no one!" I growled.
"Oh but you do! You owe me your life, or has the dragon slayer made you forget that?" she returned.
"You only saved me so that you could use me for your own petty desires," I spat.
"Is that really what they've told you, Saphira?" she asked soothingly. "Have you forgotten who raised you after your parents abandoned you? After they took away Feu?"
"LIES!" I screamed venomously.
"Sapphire, don't listen to her," Natsu instructed.
"He doesn't even know your name, Saphira," Lavond started. "Why should you trust him?"
"Why should I trust you?!" I asked back. "If everything surrounding my family was a lie, how many other lies have you forced me to believe?"
"I thought we could settle this the easy way," Lavond explained. "But it's quite obvious that these imbeciles have filled your brain with falsehoods and propaganda. Maybe this will help you remember whose side you're really on."
She lifted her hand in my direction as a swirling vortex of darkness shot my way. I could feel the magic writhing against my skin as it tried to take hold. Every good thought of Fairy Tail exited my mind in a flash. All I was left with were the murderous thoughts I'd had weeks ago. I turned to face Natsu before the darkness completely swallowed me and my will.
"Run," I choked out as my vision blanked and Lavond's power took full control.