A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Was stuck having to go through a bunch of midterms and assignment. Blargh! Here is the next chapter. It's a bit shorter than the others because I ended up cutting the chapter in half. I think it ends at a decent spot and will continue from where it left off next chapter. When that update will be? I'm not certain. I'm following a schedule of updating my current multi-chapter fics alternatively, so I have to write 2 chapters (1 for each of the other fics) before I get back to this one. But it won't take longer than 2 weeks. Who knows, if my writing mood really kicks in, I might have the it out before next week!
In any event! Enjoy!
"Let me go!" She yelled, trying to get free from Ezel's grasp.
"No can do, missy," the Etherious demon let out as he dragged the injured woman to the dungeons. "You failed again, and Kyouka's not here to lovingly punish you. Just following Sayla's orders. Though you might as well be dead soon given that nasty gash you have in your side."
"So you're a dog, following that psychopath's orders?!"
"If you're trying to piss me off, it's not working," he growled, clasping her hands to the ceiling, her legs tied apart from each other, toes barely touching the ground. "Now, be quiet." He ripped her hood off revealing her face, her red eyes glaring at him.
"I always find it interesting how humans age," the familiar unnerving voice let out as she entered the cell.
"Sayla," Ezel acknowledged as he walked out.
"You know, soon you'll be so filled with wrinkles that Kyouka-sama probably won't even look at you anymore," she sneered.
"Heh, so let me get this straight. You're jealous because you think she looks at me more than you?" The white haired prisoner let out a small laugh, only to be whipped painfully as a reward.
"Gah! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Punishing you. You failed twice in a row, and she's not here to do whatever it is she does. So, I'll be taking care of you for the next little bit," another whipping landed sharply on her chest causing her to scream. "Oh my. I just noticed that pretty nasty bleeding you have to deal with. I wonder if you'll die before Kyouka-sama gets here...Want to test it out?"
"You are psychotic," she let out between rough breaths.
"You are taking the only person I care about away from me. Psychotic doesn't begin to explain how I feel. Who the hell do you think you are anyways? Just a human. A simple human who should've died when Zeref cursed her. But instead? You survived. And Kyouka-sama felt the need to have you join Tartarus. Kid, you aren't a demon. You're a stupid human who was stupidly lucky to survive. What the hell does she see in you?! She hasn't paid any attention to me in such a long time! She hasn't taken care of me in years! Why?! Why is it always you?! What the hell does a human have that I don't?!" With every sentence, her whipping intensified. It tore through the prisoner's clothes and skin, exposing her toned but bleeding body.
"Ah, so you're upset because she's not sleeping with you?" The prisoner wrongfully snickered through the pain. She couldn't help it. The only thing this demon cared about clearly was getting laid by Kyouka. "Aren't you lucky? At least you know who you are. You know your past. You know your name! What do I know? I don't know anything! All I know is how to be a slave to demons. So get off your fucking high horse and pay attention to what you actually do have," she spat with anger trailing at the end.
"You don't get it do you? You don't understand anything about Kyouka-sama. I'd rather be a memory-less slave to her than what I have now. You don't deserve what you have with her," she slapped her hard, causing the prisoner's face to flinch to the left.
"Don't you dare assume, even for a second that I want what I have. I'd rather be dead than live a life as a slave," she responded with equal strength, tasting blood in her mouth.
"Well aren't you lucky then? You're about to die," just as Sayla prepared to give her one last whip however, her wrist was stopped by a sharp claw presented in its path. Turning around she dropped the whip.
"K-Kyouka-sama!"
"That's enough, Sayla. I've never seen you lose your cool like this," Kyouka walked towards the white haired human, unshackling her hands and feet, causing the woman to fall into her arms.
"My apologies..." the demon known as the Clear Moon Sky looked away in shame. Something had overwhelmed her and she'd wanted the girl dead, but she knew that this wasn't the way she normally acted.
"Does it hurt?" Kyouka whispered, one hand placed on the back of the injured woman's head, the other on the small of her back, preventing her from falling. The only response she got was a grunt, as the woman had begun having difficulties breathing. A few instances later, Kyouka asked, "Better now?"
The woman in her arms lifted her head and let out a quiet approval. Her sensitivity had been lowered, and she couldn't feel any pain for the moment. "Good," she let out as she let the injured woman stand by herself for an instant. Kyouka removed one of her own sleeves, ripped it just enough to be able to wrap it around the injury. "I'll take care of it more once we're in my chambers," she whispered carrying the injured woman bridal style, much to Sayla's dismay.
"Sayla, I'll take care of you once I make sure she's alright," Kyouka announced as she walked away without turning around.
The younger demon's eyes shined with excitement as she ran at the speed of light, like a child, to her room.
Placing the injured woman down quietly on the bed, she telepathically called Lamy. A minute or so later, the rabbit eared demon slammed the door open with a relatively big syringe in her hand.
"You have got to be joking..." the patient let out as her eyes widened. That was one huge needle!
"Don't worry. With your sensitivity lowered this much, you won't feel it," Kyouka tried comforting her as Lamy removed the cloth tied to her waist and inserted the needle next to the gash on her body. As the blue-like liquid went into her body, the gash began to close up. With something as big as that, it was natural to expect some type of pain. The patient squinted however was not particularly uncomfortable. She mentally thanked the demon's curse for that. Once Lamy was finished applying the strange medication, she sighed. "You know, you're human. I can't use this method too much. You want to become a demon? Let me know. Until then, stop being so stupid." She left, leaving her alone with Kyouka, mumbling on the way out how a waste of resources taking care of the human was.
Moving her hand to the woman's chest, the demon returned her sensitivity back to normal. "Feeling better?" She received a nod. "Alright. Rest up. We'll talk once I come back. I need to go see Say-" Her hand was grabbed as she was about to get off the bed.
"Kyouka..."
This awarded her a raised eyebrow.
"...sama." Kyouka smiled, pleased. No matter how close she may or may have not been to someone, she expected the utmost amount of respect. Whether they be human or demon, it mattered not. Then again, she was never all that interested in humans to begin with. And yet, this girl had piqued her interested. Something she wasn't sure she quite understood herself.
"Yes?"
"What's my name?"
Kyouka's eyes furrowed.
"Why can't I remember who I am? Why don't I have any memories?"
The demon tried to keep her distress hidden. Something had happened. There was no other reason the girl would even be aware of missing memories. Had Sayla done something? No. Even if she had, it didn't matter at the moment. She needed to find a way to control a potentially dangerous situation.
"There is a reason I took everything from you, child. They aren't memories you wish to have."
"Isn't that something for me to be the judge of?"
"Tell me. What do you remember of when I punish you?"
"Nothing...I can only remember feelings of pain...and pleasure."
"That's correct. I return your memories to you during punishment."
"Why?"
"Because they are the perfect punishment. They are not something you wish to remember. I don't want you living with such painful memories if there is an alternative. Taking them away from you is the alternative. Do you understand? I simply want to protect you," she cupped the white haired girl's cheek.
"Will you at least tell me my name?"
"We'll give you a new name in a little bit, alright? Let me go take care of Sayla, in the mean time, you rest up. When I get back, we'll think of a name together."
She was awarded a small nod. As reward for her compliance, she placed a small kiss on the patient's forehead. "I'll be back."
Just as Kyouka's presence disappeared from the room, another one took its place. "I'm never going to be left alone am I?" She looked up at the intruder.
"Erza Knightwalker." Sayla simply said.
"What?"
"Erza Knightwalker. That is your name. And these?" She pointed to the small blue beads in a vial. "One of these is enough to give you your memory back."
Quickly crawling out of the bed, she ran towards Sayla. "Give it to me!"
"On one condition."
"Anything, as long as I can remember who I am. Who Erza Knightwalker is."
Sayla leaned into the girl and quietly whispered, "Never come back here again."
The woman who was supposedly known as Erza Knightwalker nodded in approval as Sayla placed a single bead in her palm.
"Have fun living in hell," the demon cackled as she vanished. She'd finally have Kyouka all to herself again.
Shaking off the ominous last few words she'd just received, she looked at the strange blue bead in her palm. This was no time to hesitate. She wanted, needed, her memories. She couldn't understand why she hadn't even thought of them in so long. It was that woman. The red haired woman with the same spear. She'd forced her to question everything. She wondered, would she know who that woman was once her memories returned? What were the odds that her memories would in fact return with this pill? Would she survive? Well, she didn't really have much to lose did she?
Letting out a sigh, she braced herself as she swallowed the bead. That's what she was supposed to be doing right? At least she hoped she was correct. She didn't have much time to think of her potentially fatal mistake, as soon enough, she knew what she'd done was right. Memories swirled into her from her childhood all the way to adulthood. Roughly twenty-six years of memories flooded into her, filling every missing detail in her mind.
However, she didn't pay attention to any of the things that happened in the past. Her eyes wide, hand covering her mouth in shock, all she could think of were her most recent actions.
"I almost killed her."
"Erza, Erza please wait. Calm down and talk! What's going on?!" Lucy pleaded with Scarlet who was fuming. The question though was why? She had barged into the blonde's apartment and witnessed a rather intimate scene between her and her partner who may or may not have been her Edolas counterpart. But Erza had seen them being intimate with each other before, so what was the issue now?
Scarlet pointed to Knightwalker who was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting her clothes on. "You ate it, didn't you?!"
"Haaaa?" The knight raised an eyebrow while putting her stockings on, uncertain as to what the mage was saying.
"My strawberry shortcake! You ate it! I demand that you pay me back!"
Something in both Erza's demeanor changed, however it went unnoticed to Lucy. "Alright. I'll buy you a new one."
Scarlet nodded as she left the room, followed by Knightwalker who grabbed her spear, kissed Lucy and made her way out of the apartment.
The blonde sat there in confusion. What the hell had just happened? Why wasn't Scarlet shocked at seeing Knightwalker looking so different? When had Knightwalker even had the chance to eat Scarlet's cake? Why did Scarlet act as though everything was normal? As though she'd just talked to Knightwalker a few hours ago? Something wasn't right here, but Lucy didn't know if following them was a good idea or not. Maybe they put on that little show in a way to tell her that they had private things to discuss. It wasn't an impossibility, but Scarlet was horrible at plays, so Lucy had no idea what to make of any of it. She decided she'd question both of them equally once they returned from whatever it was they were doing. She hadn't even had Erza to herself for a few good hours and the red head was already being taken from her. Until they returned though, she was thankful that Erza left her red scarf behind. Holding it to her chest, she returned to bed and decided to rest a bit. Things were a bit different, but she was back with Erza. And to her? That was all that mattered.
"Well? Now is a good time as any to tell me what the hell that awful acting was about," the scarred knight stretched as they stopped walking. All Scarlet had done once she left the apartment was walk. They had finally ended up in front of Knightwalker's little hut. Much to Scarlet's surprise, it was still relatively intact. With a bit of cleaning, it would have returned to what it once used to be.
Instead of any type of response, Knightwalker was awarded with a glare. A very murderous glare.
"Looking at me like that doesn't really tell me what you want," she replied unsure of what exactly Scarlet had wanted with her. The moment her counterpart had let out the complaint about strawberry cake, she knew something was up. For some reason, Scarlet hadn't been surprised at seeing her, even though her body had gone through a lot of changes during the years. It was as though she had already seen her, or was already aware of it all.
In a mere instance, she was snapped back to reality as two swords were summoned and she was pinned to the tree behind her. Scarlet towered over her, one of her swords threatening the knight's throat.
"Who the hell are you?" She seethed venomously, a clear intent to kill present. No one got away with impersonating a member of Fairy Tail. As such, anyone pretending to be her counterpart would pay dearly.
The woman pinned to the tree let out a small smile as rain slowly began to shower them.
"Erza Knightwalker."
A/N: That's the end of that. R&R is greatly appreciated, and for the umpteenth time, thanks for returning to the series! Even though I'm positive you guys are going to hate me for the amount of confusion I'm probably causing. No worries though. Your questions will all be answered, but in due time!