~Val~

I was sitting beside Lucy, my legs crossed, as she braided my hair. I liked the feeling of her fingers running through my hair. It was soothing.

"I think the only way to break the curse is to find the person who cast it on him," Lucy's friend speculated, leaning down close to me. I stared at her. She had blue hair and looked sort of like a pixie. I giggled inwardly.

"I'm not sure I want to break the curse, Levy," Lucy said, pausing with her fiddling with my hair.

"Lucy," Levy scolded, "I don't think that's a choice for you to make."

"But, I—" Lucy began. I reached up and pressed my small fingers on her lips. She looked surprised. I kept them there as I spoke my mind, "Lucy, I'm just a curse. I think the real Val wouldn't be happy if I were to stay like this." It hurt to say those words, but they were the truth. I knew that. I kept my hand on her lips even as she started to tear up, "But first I have to save O. He needs my help. I won't leave a friend."

There was a moment of silence as I eased my fingers off of her lips. A tear dripped down her cheek and fell from her chin. She pressed her forehead to mine and I smiled.

"Wow. That kid has more Fairy Tail spirit than any of us here," said a voice. I turned and saw Gray sitting on a bench a ways across the room. He stood up and smiled, walking towards me. He knelt beside me and patted my head, "I'll help you out, buddy."

"Brave little guy, aren't you?" Natsu added, smiling wide.

"I'm not little," I mumbled.

"I don't agree with you," said a new voice.

"What? I'm not small!" I insisted.

"I'm not talking about your size," Erza said, her face blank. She strode towards me, her armor clanking with each step.

"A long time ago I learnt something important," she said, kneeling beside me, "You don't die for your friends…you live for them. Is it really fair for you to leave Lucy and everyone here to miss you?"

My eyes went wide. She put an armored glove on my head, "I figured that out the hard way." Tears welled up in my eyes.

"That's not really fair, Erza. Don't you think it should be his choice?" Gray asked.

"I believe it should be his choice, but he should know that if he leaves us we will miss him. I simply want him to fight for the life that belongs to him. I don't like seeing people give themselves up easily. Perhaps that has something to do with my own experiences," Erza said, her face growing dark.

I reached up and took her hand, "There's no way that I can fight it, though. The curse will break eventually. I just hope that I can save O before it happens."

"You don't know that the curse will break. I don't want it to!" Lucy whimpered, tears falling quickly now.

I turned to her and flew into her lap. I hugged her tightly, "We'll always be friends, Lucy. Don't worry."

"I don't want you to leave me," she whimpered. People were staring at us. I stood up and kissed her cheeks, tasting her salty tears. I wrapped my arms around her neck and she immediately hugged me back. "I've chosen to be brave, Lucy. I hope that you can be proud of me."

There was a brief moment of silence before she whispered, "Of course I can." I smiled.

I was sitting on the bar and drinking juice from a cup that was about as big as my head. "Careful, Val. If you spill I'll have to clean it up," Mira scolded. I'd gotten familiar with the entire guild's names over the past few days.

"I would help you," I said resolutely, turning to Mira.

She smiled, "Of course you would." I nodded and went back to my drink. I looked out over the guild and recited everyone's names in my head…not that it really mattered. The first person I caught sight of was the one who likes Lucy…Laxus, I think. He was a big guy. I figured he was pretty strong. Laxus's friends were around him. There was Bickslow, the one who always stuck out his tongue for reasons that went unknown to me. There was Evergreen, the one who always hung around the other large man, Elfman. Lastly, there was Freid. He was sullen and never left Laxus's side.

I looked over to my right and saw my closest friends. Erza was eating a piece of cake. She didn't strike me as the kind of person who would like cake, but apparently she did. I saw Gray, too, who was half-naked and relaxing in one of the booths. Natsu was munching down on some fire, looking utterly content with his life. Lucy caught my eyes and smiled. I grinned and took another sip from my giant cup.

There were various other people that I recognized. Levy and Team Shadowgear sat beside Gajeel. I originally thought he was scary, but I didn't see him that way anymore. The older me could probably flick him and send him flying. I grinned and took another sip of juice.

Damn straight I could do that, said a voice. I perked up and cocked my head, looking around. Hey, Kid, mind giving me the body?

That's when it hit me. "I don't want to do that. I have to save O first," I whispered, making sure that no one could hear me talking to myself.

I figured you'd say that. I was silent and so was he. After a few moments I whispered, "I'm scared to disappear."

He was silent for a long time. For a moment I thought that I had imagined the entire thing. That's when he spoke in my mind. I've been afraid before, too. Don't get me wrong. I don't normally brag about my weakness, but I sort of feel like I'm telling myself anyways.

"You've been afraid before?" I breathed, "But you're the strongest of the strong. You wouldn't have a reason to be afraid."

He was silent for a moment and then: just because you're strong doesn't mean that you can't be afraid. Besides…from what I've seen you're much stronger than I've ever been…

"What does that mean?"

You've faced disappearing in the face. I know you're scared…but I could never do that.

I smiled, "Yeah?"

…yeah…

"Thanks…" We were silent for a moment. I felt a strange friendship between us. I never knew you could be friends with yourself.

Hey, Kid…I don't say this much…but I'll watch over you, ok?

"I don't care much about myself…not really."

But I do…

"That's the same as caring about yourself."

No, it's not. It's different.

"Well…either way, it doesn't matter. Could I ask you something?"

You want me to watch over her, don't you?

"Even after I'm gone…yes."

…It's a promise…

"Time to go, Val!" Lucy called from outside. I grabbed the small bag that I then slung over my shoulder. I wrapped my tail around myself tightly and launched myself out of the window, laughing. It was a sunny, warm day and the sky was cloudless.

"Don't do that! You'll scare me to death! Do you want that?" Lucy shouted to me. I floated beside her.

"No," I said, twisting around in the air, "It'd be really sad if you died."

"You're so cute," Lucy said, scrunching her nose and kissing my cheek. Jeez, you're almost as good as me, the other me said in my head. I frowned at the idea.

"Lucy, we're here!" Natsu called, running up to us. He rapped his arms around Lucy and hugged her tightly. I frowned.

"The Waas forest is pretty far away. We should get going soon," said Erza, dragging her giant wagon of luggage behind her.

"It was Waas that you said, right?" Gray asked, looking at me expectantly. I hesitated. Yeah, it's Waas. That's where you'll find the dark guild Thief Soul. They're probably the ones that cursed me. That's where you'll find your friend…our friend.

"Yeah, it's Waas," I said with a smile. I flew up and perched on Erza's luggage.

"Then let's get going," Lucy said happily.

"Natsu, we are so catching a train," Erza commented.

"NO!" Natsu yelled, "Why would you do this to me!?"

"Stop whining, crybaby," Gray mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"That was harsh, Gray," Lucy pointed out.

"I'm cool like that," Gray said, grinning at his pun.

"That was horrifying," Erza said, pulling her luggage—and me—behind her as she walked alongside her friends.

"You know you liked it," Gray said, grinning.

"No, I wasn't aware of that fact," Erza said, not able to take a joke. I laughed a little.

"Don't laugh, Val. This is serious. Erza's sense of humor has shrunk to a new low! Considering how miniscule it was before, this is terrible!" Gray said, mock horror on his face. That earned him an elbow to the gut. I laughed again. I was reminded how nice it was to be able to be with these people. I was glad that I met them and that I got to spend time with them.

Are you alright?

"I'm alright. I'm sad to have to say goodbye to my friends, but I'm happy that I got the chance to meet them."

You're really a pure soul, aren't you?

"I wouldn't know."

Well, I know what a pure soul doesn't look like. You being the opposite of me would make you pure, wouldn't it?

"Does that mean you consider yourself un-pure?"

That's cute, kid.

"I'm not cute!" I said, louder than I meant to. I could have sworn that I heard the older me laughing in my head.

"No one called you cute," Natsu said, his arms folded behind his head. I hadn't told them about the counterpart that resided in my thoughts. Well, they obviously knew that I was connected to him, but I hadn't told them that I could hear his voice. When they asked me how I knew where we had to go, I'd just told them that I'd regained memories of some sort. They'd believed me. I felt a little bad about lying to them, but didn't want to worry Lucy. "Oh, sorry. I thought I heard someone say 'cute'." They just laughed and kept walking.

That's a pure soul if I ever saw one. Makes me worry for you, kid.

"You know what worry feels like?"

I do now…I guess.

"Will you worry about Lucy after…after everything?"

I already do, kid.

"That's good…"

It's strange. Seeing you like this… He was quiet.

"What?"

I was just thinking. Maybe I can…

"What are you talking about? You can what?" I asked, leaning forward a bit and tucking my knees close to my chest. I hugged myself.

Nothing. Don't worry about it.

"Val, come on down here! I'm getting lonely!" Lucy called.

"Hey, we're your friends too, you know," Natsu complained.

"Yeah, but you're not nearly as adorable as Val is," Lucy shot back. I grinned and shot down to her, "I'm not adorable."

"Sure you aren't," Lucy said, tousling my hair. I smiled and took her hand. She squeezed my palm and sighed. I squeezed her hand back.

That's when I heard him say something I didn't expect.

Maybe I can save you…

A/N: Yes, Player Val/Val Numero Uno! Save Adorable Val/Val Numero Dos! Hmm...will he save Val? What will he do? Is Player Val really such a bad person or will the soft side we've seen in this chapter be the real Val? Look forward to the answers in the next chapter! OH! And don't forget to leave a review if you liked it! I welcome your advice/suggestions/luvvvvly and beauteous comments! (Actually, as previously mentioned...I'm in love with them)

Thanks for reading and look forward to the next chapter soon! :)