Hi guys! I just want to take this time to thank everyone who has read The Other One so far and thank you to a guest reviewer Vroum2003 for taking a lot of interest in it to. Another flashback at the beginning. I wouldn't recommend skipping the flashbacks either because as the story goes along they will make more sense as more things are revealed and you can kinda piece together clues along the way. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 4. Little Girl Lost
Lia moved carefully over the rocks and bushes. She tried to get closer to the patch of pink flowers. Her mother had vases full of them in the house. Lately they had been harder to find. She wanted to pick some to make her Mama smile again. She had been sad ever since she last spoke to her Papa. The two never got along anymore. Everyone said Lia's parents never got along but she never believed them. Her Papa always brought her Mama her favorite chocolates. Though they were not married anymore, they remained on speaking terms for the children's sake.
Lia plucked the flowers out the ground and put them in her satchel.
"What do we have here?"
Lia looked up to see herself surrounded by bandits. She fell back in surprise, accidentally crushing her mother's flowers.
"Um…" she whispered.
"Is the poor girl all alone in the big bad forest? Why boys, we should help, shouldn't we?" The leader smiled, showing off a row of yellowed and decayed teeth.
"No, I'm fine. I just…" she trailed off noticing one the men handling a large spiked club.
"Take her," the leader said.
One of the men from behind picked up by her hair. She thrashed around, clutching onto her scalp.
"Hey watch it Princess. Wouldn't want your pretty hair to get ripped out," the man holding her leered at her.
She let out a piercing scream. The bandit leader backhanded her across her face.
"Shut-up you little pest!"
She wailed louder. He went to strike her again but a hand her caught his wrist.
He whimpered. The man holding his wrist tightened his hold, crushing the bones underneath.
"What do you think you're doing to this little girl?" the man asked.
"I-I," the leader blubbered.
"Let her go," the man commanded.
"Forget it," the man holding Lia said. "Boss are you gonna let this guy bully us like-" He stopped seeing the man's expression and paled.
Immediately he dropped Lia. She laid face down on the dirt. Flashes of light and painful screams indicated a fight. She didn't dare look up until all was silent.
The man picked her up and brushed away her hair.
"You know you're supposed to stay by my side at all times," he said.
Lia contained her tears.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to get the flowers for Mama," she held up the ruined bouquet. The man softly patted her head.
"Alright brats listen up. I'm splitting people into four teams. Each team will search the woods surrounding Magnolia in a different direction for any sign of Cain's Genesis. From what that fool Leppard told us yesterday, they should be within 20 miles of here. If you find nothing in the woods, go towards the other towns nearby and search there," Makarov explained.
The members of Fairy Tail were ready for another battle. No one caused trouble in their town and got away with it.
"Not everyone will be going. We need some to stay here to guard Magnolia and the guild in case anyone of the dark guild tries to attack. The teams are as followed, Team North is Natsu, Lucy and Romeo. Team South is Gajeel, Juvia and Lisanna. Team East is Cana, Elfman and Laki. And finally, Team West is Gray, Lia and Wendy. Gather what you need and leave as soon as possible," Makarov concluded.
Juvia burst out in tears. "Oh, no! This is terrible. I'm not with my darling Gray."
Levy patted her shoulder. "If it makes you feel better I'm kinda mad I wasn't put on yours and Gajeel's team."
"We should see if Master will change the teams," Juvia said.
Levy shook her head. "I don't think he will. Sorry, Juvia."
Team West walked quietly through the woods. Lia didn't particularly like being in there since she had a small fear of forests or woods. She kept close to Gray or Wendy, not wanting to get lost.
They had been walking a few hours and had not found anything. They set up camp when the sun started to set.
"I wonder how the others are doing?" Wendy said.
"Probably not any better than us. I'm telling ya, I bet Cain's Genesis split after hearing about us beating up Leppard. We're wasting our time out here." Gray chucked more wood into the campfire.
"Maybe you're right, but we should be cautious with everything that's been going on lately," Wendy replied.
Lia finished cooking the fish they had caught earlier and served it.
"Why is it so black?" Wendy questioned.
Carla, the white exceed agreed. "Yes it barely seems edible. Can you even cook child?"
Lia scowled at the Carla. "No one else volunteered. Plus I told you I was bad at cooking."
"Didn't think you were this bad," Wendy mumbled.
Gray munched on his fried fish. "Say, Lia?"
"Yes, Gray?"
"You must have run into a lot of demons back then. I mean before you were put into the book."
"Uh huh?" Lia looked at him expectantly.
"Did you ever run into Deliora?"
Lia raised her eyebrows. "Deliora? That's one of the stronger demons."
"So you did?" Gray asked.
"Yes, I did. If I remember correctly, Mavis and I tried to stop it from destroying a town. Unfortunately another one of Zeref's demons got in the way before we could kill him."
Gray nodded.
"Why Gray? Did something happen with Deliora?"
Gray's face steeled. "Deliora killed my entire village. And my parents."
Lia stilled. Wendy and Carla watched as Gray sat close to the fire, his face illuminated by flames.
"I have Juvia now. And everyone else I've met since then. Juvia keeps my mind off those types of things for the most part but…
"I lost everything because of that monster. And then, when I thought I was finally going to start over with Ur, my mentor, she was taken away be Deliora too. Years ago, there were only a few of Zeref's creations left but now they're all over the place again. The fact that the world has to deal with all of this crap again gets me pissed off. So let me ask you this, did you ever run into that devil's spawn Zeref?"
Lia closed her eyes tightly and let out a sigh.
"Yes. I did. Pretty much everyone in the guild back then had some sort of run in with him. But, Gray uh… you shouldn't… if you ever run into him again don't-"
Gray cut her off. "Have you ever lost someone Lia? Have you ever been so afraid and wanted to help but you were too weak to do anything?"
Lia looked up at the stars. She played with her necklace. It was a small black, heart shaped stone. Underneath it on a longer chain was a small key pendent.
Wendy interrupted. "That's a pretty necklace. Where did you get it?"
Lia smiled at the stars. She could tell what Wendy was doing and silently thanked her for it.
"My brother gave it to me. Before he… before I lost him."
"Oh… we should go to sleep now," Wendy said.
They crawled into their sleeping bags. Gray blew out the fire.
With her eyes closed, Lia said, "My entire family was massacred. Most of them were all dead before I got back to our village."
Gray shifted to look in her direction. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Good night."
Lia was wide-awake an hour after everyone else had fallen asleep. The sounds kept her up. She would close her eyes and feel rough arms wrapped around her. She jumped when she felt a tiny hand against her shoulder.
"Ah!"
"Shh… it's only me," Wendy was in a seated position. She watched as Lia's face relaxed.
"Can't sleep?" Lia nodded.
Wendy moved closer to the older girl and cuddled up to her. Lia felt reassured that nothing would happen to her if she had others with her.
Wendy was ripped from her grasp.
Gray, Lia and Carla shot up from their sleeping positions. Two dark wizards were holding Wendy.
"Looks like we've found some fairies men. And look, such a pretty one to take back to the guild," A tall man with an Afro jumped out from behind a wall of wizards.
"Cain's Genesis. I bet," Gray said. Lia nodded in agreement.
"Now listen here, you let that girl go, this instant," Carla demanded. She flew up to the Afro man and poked his nose. He swatted her away. Carla landed next to the campfire.
"That's it. Ice make: sword!" Gray shouted. Lia punched her way through the crowd of dark wizards trying to get to Wendy. The Afro man had her over his shoulder and was running deeper into the woods. Gray launched an ice make cannon at them creating a path for Lia to follow. "You get Wendy! I'll handle these guys."
Lia chased the two, speeding through the trees. Laughter filled the night sky. The man sent purple flames her way but she dodged them, ducking behind some trees. Coming up to a clearing, the man set Wendy on the floor. He crouched down, the ground started opening up underneath them. The man put his arms around Wendy dragging her along with him as he sank deeper into the earth. "Wendy, try using a Dragon's Roar. Point it at the ground. It might bring you out," Lia suggested.
Wendy did as she was instructed but it failed. She flailed her arms trying to grip onto anything. Lia flopped down to her belly near the hole and grabbed onto Wendy's arm. She tried to pull her out but she was in too far.
"Don't let me go Lia!" Wendy cried.
Lia gripped harder. "I'm not. Gray! Gray!" She screamed.
Lia tried yanking her out again but she slid further and further into the ground. Wendy wailed. "I'm scared, Lia."
"Don't be Wendy. You'll be fine. Gray! We need your help!" She yelled his name until he came crashing through the trees.
"Help me pull her up! She's almost gone." Gray grabbed onto Wendy's other hand. Together they tugged as hard as they could. Wendy slipped further in. Her screams died out as the dirt swallowed her face. Her hands were the only things visible.
"Wendy!" The duo shouted.
Her hands slipped out.
"Wendy!" Lia screamed.
"Wendy!" Lia slammed her fist onto the spot where Wendy and that man had disappeared. She frustratingly yanked at her hair.
"How did he do that?" Gray questioned.
Lia cursed. "He must have been an Earth mage. He's probably using it to travel with Wendy back to his guild."
"Damn it! Shit. What do we do now? We can't track them."
Lia sighed and got off the ground. "I guess we go back to the guild. Makarov will want to know about this."
"They just started a war," Gray stated.
Welp. Poor Wendy. We'll see what happens to her in the next chapter. Until next time :)