Hello y'all~!

Chapter Five

I awoke from my first official night at Fairy Hills. I rolled out of my bed, and slipped into a dark blue robe that Mirajane gave me. I knew Crystal left earlier. I exited my room and came into the kitchen for some breakfast. I looked at the clock on the microwave, 11:45a.m. Hm, it's still early. I started making me a bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal.

Ezra entered the kitchen and saw me eating on the counter. "Good Morning Jade, how are you doing today?"

I stuffed my cheeks with cereal. "I'm good. You?" I swallow.

"I'm well. I was just about to go to the guild; are you coming?" she answered.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'll go later." Ezra nodded and left. I sat and soon finished my cereal. I got seconds, and ate in silence. It seemed as if all the girls were gone and at Fairy Tail. I sighed. It's so quiet…might as well enjoyed it. I went into the bathroom for a soak.

As I let the warm water relax my muscles, I couldn't help but think about being at the hot springs when Gajeel and I first met. I let my mind drift elsewhere, until I heard someone beating on Fairy Hill's front door. I groaned as got out of the water and put on my robe. I opened the door, but no one was there. But I did hear the loud roar of an explosion…coming from Fairy Tail.

I dressed as quickly as I could, and got to Fairy Tail in less than five seconds; I was really pushing it with my magic. When I got to the guild building, there wasn't any fire, but there were my guild mates lying on the floor. I heard a voice calling for Master.

"Master Dreyar, I want you to hand over Jade Blueshepherd, and I'll be on our way." It said. I will admit; the voice was recognizable.

The short man stood up and responded, "I don't know who you are or whatever guild or group you're a part of. But then again, you must not know who Fairy Tail is. I don't know why you want her, but we're not handing over our nakama." From the ceiling, the person attacked Master with a deep purple poisonous fog—luckily, I jumped in from of Master and inhaled the fog, blocking him from the attack.

I heard the person chuckle. "Jade, so we meet again."

I gave a painful laugh. "Heh, um before I pulverize you into dust for hurting my comrades, I want to know who you are."

The figure came and hopped in front of me. I sighed…my own cousin, Jacob Foster. "Good to see you again cuz, and just to let you know, I didn't hurt your friends here. I only put them to sleep. Now, I see you've met my poison again." Master passed out—probably from the effect of the sleep spell.

I groan. "You know, it's sad that the only blood family I have left is a complete ass." I cough up a little blood. "Your poison's gotten stronger since I saw you seven and a half years ago." I complimented.

Jacob laughed. "I see you're happy about that. Yes, I've grown over the years, since you were always the stronger one. You and your stupid dragon parents took care of you—while I was by myself for a year before being taken in by an orphanage."

I yawned. "Yes I know. And how you got bullied and the whole nine yards. I've heard the story. Now I'm gonna give you 'til three to leave before I send you flying. One…three." I punch him constantly until he had enough sense to back away.

He wiped his mouth. "Damn, you've gotten stronger even though you've disappeared for the last seven years." He started disappearing into the air. "We'll see each other soon." I tried to grab him, but he was completely gone. After a moment or so, everyone woke up.

Natsu got up with a groan. "Damn, what happened?"

Lucy sat up rubbing her head. "Gosh, I have a terrible headache…"

Mirajane sat up and looked around. "Is everyone alright?"

Master bolted quickly. "Jade, how are you?"

I sighed. Great everyone's fine. Hmm, I don't know what happened after that…

We all looked towards Jade who started wobbling from side to side and coughing up blood. She seemed to catch her balance for a second and had a big grin on her face. She mumbled something, but I don't know what she said. She began to fall backwards, and would have fallen hard if Natsu didn't catch her. "Wow there." She passed out.

Master was close by her side. "She's inhaled poison; someone get her to the infirmary." Natsu was on it—while Wendy, Mirajane, and Crystal joined him.

Ezra took a seat in a nearby chair and crossed her legs. She had a serious look on her face. "Master, what happened?"

Master Makarov explained. "We were attacked. Someone put a sleep spell on all of you, leaving me alone, so he could demand where Jade was. She showed up and blocked me from a poison attack. I passed out soon after." He sighed. "We'll work on it later. Right now, everyone make sure each other are okay. I'll go see how Wendy's doing." Master left to go to the back of the guild.

I sighed. "Everyone alright?"

"Yea, Lucy." Everyone answered.

Happy came by my side. "Lucy, what's gonna happen to Jade?"

"I don't know; I'm sure she'll be fine." I replied.

"I don't know why anyone would attack her. I mean she just got here." Levy said.

"This has to be related to the past…I wish I knew though." Lily analyzed. I looked around for Gajeel, but I didn't see him. I could have sworn he was with all of us before we passed out…yea, he was listening to Lily and Levy talk. I shook my head. It's gonna take awhile before we get to the bottom of this.

Two days later…

I woke up with a gasp…and a cough. God, my insides are on fire. I remember what had happened—with Jacob. I quickly sat up and looked around. I was back in the clinic room lying in a bed. Wendy must have tended to my wounds. I took a deep breath, but that made my lungs sting. A familiar friend was sitting in the dark corner gazing at me.

"You're always picking trouble, ya know." He said. I tried to say something, but my mouth went dry and it hurt only breathing. "Don't speak, just listen. The room reeked of your cousin, Jacob. I thought you took care of him—years ago." He sighed. "But when I was working with Raven Tail, I heard he was an under-lord. I don't know what he wants with you, though."

I turned my head to the side a little—thinking 'Gajeel, why the hell were you working with Raven Tail?'

Gajeel seemed to read my thoughts. "It was undercover work for Master. Anyway, I'm going. You've been out for two days. Wendy will visit you later. For now, she told me to tell you to drink that stuff by your bed table. We can talk with Master when you're ready. See ya, girly" he got up to leave. I threw up a peace sign. He left.

I saw the drink and gulped it down my throat. I coughed hard. God, that's awful. It did seem to make my body feel better. I got drowsy and went back to sleep.

A day later…

I woke again with a gasp. I saw Wendy and Mirajane standing over me. It seemed as there was a bright light shining. I groaned. "Oh sh-, I'm dead, aren't I?"

Mira giggled. "No Jade," she clicked off something, "this was a flashlight. Gajeel said you woke up yesterday. How are you feeling?"

I sat up and took a deep breath. "Well, there's a few: my legs feel numb, my vision's a little blurry, and it's like I can't control my hearing. I know exactly what's being said in the guild hall."

Wendy sighed. "I knew there was something was off about that poison. It has more future effects than present. I thought you were fine, but I wasn't sure. I'll go call for Porlyusica. She would now about this." The small girl left.

I groaned. "That's it; I'm killing Jacob next time I see him."

Mira nodded. "For now, just relax please. We'll at see if we can help your eyes and ears." I sighed. Well, at least this isn't happening to Master.

My vision was going black in minutes. By the time Wendy went to get the lady, I was blind in both eyes. After I rested for a while, I heard someone come in. I could smell Wendy was with her. "Here she is, ma'am. Jade, this is Porlyusica."

I nodded. "Yea, I heard you guys coming down the hall." I held my hand out to the right. "Nice to meet you."

The woman grunted. "I'm on the other side, but let's forget the formalities."

"Oh, sorry. Your voices are muffled by everyone else in the hall; it was hard to pinpoint where you were." I replied with a grin.

I heard a clicking noise. "Hmm, it looks like you have cataracts in your lenses. But this shouldn't be caused by any poison. I'll repair the lens, and cure the poison. As for the numbness in your legs, it'll be temporary, so will the hearing problem. Can you walk?" she explained.

"No…" I answered looking around the room, even though I was blind. It was so weird.

"Okay, we'll get a wheel chair. Let's begin." She said. There was another clicking noise.

This is embarrassing. I was being pushed around like a little girl. "I hate this." I grumbled.

"Oh shut it," Gajeel commanded as he pushed me down the hall.

I looked down at Crystal. "And why aren't you doing this?"

"Cause I don't want to. Gajeel and I flipped a coin." She explained. I crossed my arms and pouted as we entered Master Makarov's office.

He was sitting behind a desk with Ezra standing by him. "Good to see you up Jade. How are you?" he said with a good-nature smile.

I let out a deep breath. "I'm feeling better, thank you. Next time you see Ms. Porlyusica, please send her my thanks."

"I will, and I never got to say thank you for blocking the attack. You probably saved my life." Master replied.

Well that's new. "It's nothing. I'm not letting anyone hurt my friends—especially a low life like my cousin." I muttered the last part.

"Speaking of which, we called you three in to get some more information on your cousin. We can start with you Jade." Ezra explained.

I sighed. "Well I might as well give you some family background. I learned that my family was being targeted for the high amount of magic each person had. My mom was running away and I guess left me by cave—where Minitacia found me. The same thing happened with Jacob, my cousin, but he had to live off the land before going into an orphanage. I'm not sure if there's anyone from my family except him."

"Do you know why your family was being targeted?" Ezra asked.

I shook my head. "No, but I have a strong feeling that whatever it was Jacob is messing with it. The people who were targeting never succeeded their mission; otherwise, the magic world would be different than it is now. Anyway, Jacob and I have had our conflicts in the past—we met maybe four months after I met Gajeel, here. We've never really gotten along. Typically when we met we would fight for no apparent reason. He only said he needed to know how strong I've gotten. Gajeel says he's an under-lord now." I conclude.

Kurogane picked up from where I left off. "Yea on a few missions with Jade here, we ran into the guy. When I was with Raven Tail, I saw him a few times talking to Ivan. Flare explained that he was an under-lord doing some work with Raven Tail. They were doing some big business, but I never figured it out."

"He controls an illegal magic tool industry in Fiore's biggest cities. They convince people to buy their products and they'll be able to break the Taboo rules of their magic. I highly doubt they work though." Crystal interjected.

I was surprised. She had only met him once in our last conflict before I joined Fairy Tail. "How do you know this?"

"I was upset that we all got put down by a sleeping spell; I figured this was Jacob's work. I went to do some talking and that's what I learned." She explained.

Gajeel grunted. "Smart cat."

Master listened attentively the whole time. "This is interesting. The Magic Council would normally have a good handle on these types of black market businesses. I also want to know where you were—Gajeel—when everyone got hit with the spell."

Kurogane growled. "I smelled the bastard coming, so I stepped away where I wouldn't be affected. I heard the whole conversation. I guess I should have warned everyone, instead of being selfish."

"It's in the past. You three may go." He replied.

Gajeel pushed me out and started pouting again. "Db- it, I hate being like this! I swear I'm gonna be walking by the end of tomorrow." I growled as I we entered the guild hall.

"Hey look who's here!" Lucy chimed. Everyone looked at me with smiles.

Cana stood up—raising a mug. "Let's all raise a glass and get to drinking for Jade's good health and for all of us to get a kick for the idiot that decided to mess with us!" she exclaimed. Fairy Tail cheered and toasted along with Cana.

I giggled. I could use a drink. I looked up at Gajeel. "You can go, Kurogane, I can push my own chair."

He grunted. "What makes you think- Wait what?! Why didn't you tell me this?"

I shrugged. "I was enjoying the ride. Anyway, go on now. I might see a little bluenette waving you over. Or are my eyes acting up again?" Gajeel mumbled something about stupid girl and left.

I pushed my chair to the bar. "Hey Jade, how have you been doing? And what can I get you?" Mirajane asked.

"Orange Juice with pulp. Well my legs are numb to the point where I can't walk; I just had an operation done on my eyes; and I have no clue why my cousin attacked us. So I'm doing fine, actually. I'm just happy to be out of the med room." I answered cheerfully.

Mira poured me a tall glass and gave it to me. "You're not so upset, like many others."

"Well, we've budded heads a lot in the past. I just gotta look on the bright side: I'll get to beat him real good the next time I see him." I chuckled. I started drinking out of my glass. Mira nodded and went to serve the other guild members. I began gulping my orange juice. Mm, I haven't had orange juice in a while.

Lucy moved by my chair. "You seem to be in a good mood."

I nodded. "Well, it's good to be back with my friends."

"Yea, it's like when the Phantom Lord incident was over and we all happy together." Lucy replied.

Hmm, so that's probably how Kurogane got mixed up with them. Good that he had some sense knocked into him. I signaled for Mira to refill my glass. "It's sad to think I'll be leaving soon." I groaned.

Lucy looked at me confused. "What do you mean? You just got here."

I shook my head. "I don't want anyone getting hurt, so I figured I leave and take care of Jacob myself."

Mira—who was filling up my glass—shook her head. "We won't have it. This is Fairy Tail and we help each other with our issues no matter the danger. You're not going anywhere, Jade."

I looked at her surprised. She was typically calm, but she became so serious. I sighed. "I'll talk to Master. Anyway, there was something I needed to do." I rolled my chair to the entrance.

Crystal got up from her table with the Exceeds and walked by my side. "Where are you going?"

"Out. I need to do something." I answered.

"Do you need my help?" she asked.

"Nah, you can stay." I replied. I saw her stop walking and watch me roll myself out of the guild hall.

Crystal walked back to her table with the Exceeds. "What was that about?" Lily asked.

She groaned. "She's going out. She wouldn't normally do that, but with what just happened she wouldn't be acting her normal self. Jade doesn't like meeting with her cousin."

"Well it must be a hard thing that dragon-slayers might go through—especially Jade's case. You're raised by a dragon(s); they disappear; then you run into someone claiming to be your on flesh and blood; but ends up fighting you every chances they get. It must be hard." Lily agreed.

"I wonder if any of them can relate." Carla said.

"Natsu doesn't really mention what happened before he came to Fairy Tail." Happy replied.

Crystal sighed. "I'll check on her later." She got up and went to the bar. Ezra approached her.

"Crystal, I would like to know what happened when you and Jade saw Jacob seven years ago." The scarlet mage requested.

Crystal asked Mira for a shot of Brandy. She waited til it was placed in front of her and quickly down her throat before she answered. She let out a deep, tired sigh. "Jacob Foster is a strange dark man. He uses a weird magic, of poison and magic manipulation. He's older than Jade, but pays much attention to her. The last time we saw him he went on ranting about Jade's magic level. I don't know why he's selling fraud items—maybe as a cover up. Anyway, they fought again and Jade brought him near death. She was never into killing folks; it wasn't her. She just left her enemies pretty beat up. We left him outside a clinic before we roamed and got our mission from the Royals."

Ezra knew it was as hard of a topic to talk about for Crystal as for Jade. The dragon slayer hid her emotions well in the meeting, but Ezra understood. The past is a tricky thing for many Fairy Tail members. "I hope she's alright." Ezra comforted.

"Me too, she was even ready to leave the guild to protect everyone. Crystal, you need to go check on her." Mira replied.

Crystal nodded and stood up. "I'll see you all later."

She went to Fairy Hills first. It was likely she was there. She tried opening their room, but the door was locked. Crystal knocked. "Jade, Jade are you in there?"

There was a sniffling sound. "Go away Crystal. I need to be alone." It was Jade's voice.

"Jade, what's wrong? I know this is about Jacob, but forget about him. Open the door, we-," Crystal tried explaining.

"I said I need to be alone! Go away, ya bloody cat!" Jade screamed from the other side of the door.

Crystal was shocked, but then she sighed. There are the female emotions. "Okay Jade, I'll come back later." They was a painful cry from the room. Crystal walked away from the door. Poor Jade, Jacob woke up something deep, dark, and hidden.

Jade couldn't calm herself down. The past few days were painful, yes physically but mainly mentally. Every time she was asleep, Jade had visions of her past family. They were running from someone or something. She saw her people slaughtered after having their magic stripped from them. It was bloody, gory and a nightmare. She wanted to do something, but she was only a baby whose mother kept on running. The dreams rolled the whole time she woke up, and the last one before Porlyusica came ended with Jade being placed by a cave.

As the vision ended, there was a dark, yet comforting voice saying. "You can reverse this. You can go and live in peace with them." The voice was Jacob's; he was bringing back the nightmares. Yes the physical pain hurt, but the mental was always worse. He was up to something, but the pain from the past clouded her mind. She could only focus on one thing.

Jade wanted answers; she needed to know 'how.' But for now, the visions haunted her and all she could do was cry and morn and let all her pain go out in screams of pain ringing through Fairy Hills.

After a while, she had that empty, lost feeling that came after a painful cry. She looked down at the carpet under her legs. She had gotten out of the wheel chair when she entered the room, and she only had enough strength in her legs to support herself on her knees. She didn't know what to do next. Then her necklace started glowing. It was a blue gem with a yellow spark in the center. It was bright but never glowed. She heard her voice being called. "Jade, Jade are you there sweetie?"

Jade eyes went wide. She hadn't heard those in what, 14 years? It was Minitacia.

Master knew something was up with the dragon slayer, and called in some of Fairy Tail's members: Natsu, Ezra, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Juvia, Lily, Gajeel, Levy, and Crystal. The loyal Exceed explained how the Jade was doing.

She was obviously shocked and shaken. "The more I think about it; the more I get scared. Jade is crying and it's full of sorrow and hurt. This has Jacob written all over."

Gajeel grunted. "Wait, I've known Jade for a long time, and I know for a fact she does not cry. Even when we got beaten badly, she didn't."

Juvia nodded. "Yes she held those types of emotions in a lot."

Gajeel thought for a moment. "Oh shit, we need to get to the kid—now!" He stood up and ran out the office. Everyone got up followed him.

Ezra quickly caught up with him outside. "Gajeel, what's up?" she asked running alongside him.

"I remember now. I've seen the kid cry only one. It was after we met up with Jacob after we completed a mission. She got him good like any other time, but then she got dizzy so we put up camp. She wandered off, and started speaking some gibberish. She then began crying. Her necklace was glowing. She was caught in some trance or something. When it was over, she had passed out. I asked her about it, but she said she didn't remember. I never brought it up." He explained.

Natsu joined the two. "There was something funny smelling on Jade when she left the guild earlier today. It might have been traces of the poison."

Ezra groaned. "This isn't adding up. Look we're almost at Fairy Hills." The three ran faster and entered the building.

Jade was ecstatic. She could hear her foster mother's voice.

"Yes mother, I'm here. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm hearing your voice. After all these years, ah, there's so much I want to tell you." She stammered out with excitement.

There was a giggle. "I'm sure you are. But I need to tell you something. You-," Minitacia tried getting out.

"Hey where's pops, I want-," Jade asked.

"Jade listen to me! You have to go with your cousin, Jacob." Her mother exclaimed.

Jade was shocked. This isn't right. Minitacia would never raise her voice. And what does she know about Jacob? There was a banging at the door. "Hey kid, don't listen to that voice. It isn't your dragon. Your hallucinating." That was Gajeel.

She was confused. She was finally hearing her mother's voice—after all this time. But it was different from when they were together. She slowly crawled her way to the door. "Jade, stop. Wait!" the voice crack and became deeper. "Jade don't open the door." It was Jacob.

Jade screamed. "You bastard! What do you want?! Let me be, go to hell."

There was a chuckle. "I should have figured out that necklace of yours protect your magic level. I never guessed; it had your dragons' direct magic in it. It's such a pain to control and mimic the female's voice. Oh well, see you soon." There was some static noise.

"No don't go, you jackass!" it was no use. Jade made it to the door, and opened it. Master and her friends were in front of her door. They looked at her.

Crystal seemed she was happy Jade didn't seem hurt. "Good to see ya well. You gave us a scare." Everyone nodded.

Jade yawned. "I need a nap." And with that she fell back wards and went to sleep.

"People cry, not because they're weak. It's because they've strong for too long."

-Mirajane Strauss

That quote inspired most of this chapter. Here is when our real plot line goes into play. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Happy New Year! Please review.

-See ya soon!