Dragon's Love with Dangerous Letters

Chapter 19

It was hard explaining everything to Sting due to the guilty feeling jabbing at her heart as Artemis explained. The expressions the washed over Sting's face at certain points during her explanation made the brunette worry on how he had been taking her explanation overall but it seemed like he was still more relieved to see her alive more than anything else. The only thing he repeated from her whole mini story was the part on how she used magic to protect Natsu. That seemed to have sparked some excitement in him since he was dragging her to the back of the castle currently and explaining things about magic that seemed like a whole bunch of jibberish falling from his lips to Artemis.

"S-Slow down Sting, I don't understand a thing you're saying." She sighed hoping he would hear her over his own voice that was still resounding through the garden.

Sting sighed and stopped moving upon reaching the middle of the garden before letting go of her wrist and turning to explain it better to her. "I guess it's hard to understand if you're just starting out with magic. Ok let me start over, not everyone uses magic which is pretty much common knowledge but those that do use magic like you and I hold it within their bodies, it's like a free flowing network within one's self that runs on will power or emotions if you'd like to think of it as that, after awhile you can also learn to use just off of instinct when needed. Magic isn't really that easy to be explained since it's just something that's free and can technically run off on its own. Our body is more like the base of operations I guess. You can control it but it takes time and practice which is what I'm about to help you with! After we're done you'll be able to put up barriers that could protect a good sized group of people."

"Uhh, I'm not sure I understand yet." The female admitted playing with the curled strand of hair framing the right side of her face.

"Well it'll be easier for you to understand once you get the hang of things. Right now I want you to think of how you felt when you went to go protect Natsu-San and see if you can put up that barrier again." The dragon slayer instructed while holding up a single finger.

Artemis felt her cheeks flush at how Sting worded it. Sure any person would understand what he really meant but in her situation and place it was a tad bit awkward. She ignored the thought though and took a few steps away from the blonde. She didn't really know how she was supposed to place herself so she just tried the positions she had been in at the time she first made the blue protective shell. One arm overlapped the other so that her arms looked like an 'x' as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pulled her eyebrows together as she concentrated and continued to breathe deeply as she thought back to that moment when she panicked and ran to help Natsu. After a few moments she stuck her hands out in front of her and opened her eyes slowly but the blue shield wasn't there. She sighed frustrated and dropped her arms to her sides.

"You know if you get mad like that so quickly then you'll never improve. Try thinking positive will you?" Sting told her and folded his arms along his chest, "anyway try telling me how you felt when you first put up the barrier so I can see if I can help you. Maybe going through something similar again will help to trigger it."

"You mean you're gonna put me in danger?" Artemis asked giving him a look that didn't read such a pleasant emotion.

"Did those words ever come out of my mouth? Didn't think so now, just tell me how you felt."

". . . Fine, well I definitely felt panicked and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to reach Natsu in time to help him. . . I guess you could also say that I was determined in a way, determined to save him I guess." The brunette explained all while shrugging her shoulders.

She watched Sting think it over for a few moments before he began to walk a crossed the center of the garden, his new spot being in front of one of the garden statues. The statue looked like a miniature dragon and it held an uncovered blade in its stone mouth. The blonde yanked that sword from its mouth and threw it straight up in the air. Artemis raised a brow confused by his actions until she saw the blade spiraling down straight to his head. Her emerald eyes widened as she began to panic and breath heavily. 'Is he insane?! '. The brunette bolted forward and skidded to a halt right in front of him, her hands being thrown up above her head and her eyes being closed tightly. She listened closely as the sword hit something above her and bounced onto the ground with a sound that almost resembled someone dropping glass plates behind her. She let her eyes crack open and she looked above her to see that familiar blue shell fading away above her. After watching it fade away she let her arms drop to her sides like she'd been holding weights over her head for a half an hour and leaned forward, Sting's hands taking a place on her shoulders so that he could steady her.

"Are you insane!?" Artemis snapped glaring at the blonde who simply shrugged at her.

"It worked didn't it?" He grinned.

Artemis rolled her eyes and gently pushed herself away from him. She still didn't see the point in why he had to endanger himself just to get her to use her shield. It's not like it helped her to control her magic or anything like that now did it? She didn't think so at least so since it had no point that just made her even angrier at the Sabertooth prince. She watched Sting sigh and scratch his head knowing that she wasn't too happy with him but her glare wasn't doing much to him but it wasn't like she expected anything else. He's a prince after all and a dragon slayer, Artemis was sure that he had seen things ten times worse than her glare.

"Ok be mad at me all you like but you're at least going to keep training while you do it." Sting demanded and folded his arms along his chest.

"Yeah, yeah."

Artemis was dead tired by the time her training was over and she was ready to scarf down at least three plates of food because she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, on the upside for her though she was at least happy that she learned to put up her shield without having to be in a panic about even if her time was limited with it. She had been seated between Sting and Wendy and a crossed from Cobra again as she ate the food that had been prepared for them. This was something that Artemis had been enjoying ever since the royal families had kept her hiding in their homes, the food she was able to eat. The brunette came from a poor family so she wasn't used to all this pampering and all of the fancy foods and clothes she was given. It wasn't like she trying to sound greedy by this thought but she couldn't help but to enjoy it, she didn't know when her last meal would be anymore anyway.

After dinner she walked herself to her room and took a bath before changing into a light nightgown. She opened the door to her balcony and walked over to the railing before propping her elbows on it and placing the palms of her hands against her cheeks. The stars were clear here in Cait Shelter and she loved it. Artemis always had a thing for looking up at the stars but she was never able to get a good enough view all the time back in Magnolia. Her green orbs scanned the sky until she spotted her favorite constellation, Draco which was the dragon constellation. Once she learned about the dragon slayers in her younger years she seemed to become obsessed with them and she would always run around the house pretending she was a dragon herself. Of course her parents would always get a crack out of it whenever she would say that she was going to be a dragon slayer herself and her parents knew that that was something that was never going to happen but that never stopped her little mind's large and wild imagination. Later on in life though, Artemis guessed that she stopped thinking such things when her imagination drifted away from her because she had to focus on more important things like taking care of her father. Her eyes became half-lidded as the thought of her father drifted by. She couldn't help but worry and hope that he was alright and that PhantomLord hadn't reached him in Magnolia somehow since she knew he wouldn't be able to protect himself they way he used to before the accident ten years ago with her mother.

Crash!

Artemis spun around and ran back into her room closing the door behind her. Her eyes scanned over her untouched room, nothing broken or shattered a crossed the floor. She hesitantly walked over to her door and cracked it open. There in front of her door was a vase shattered into tiny shards a crossed the navy blue carpet and the flowers it held squashed into the carpet's material. The brunette slipped out from behind her door and shut it behind her quietly.

"Hello?" She called nervously.

"So this is who Jose wanted me to get? Aren't you a beauty?"

The female felt her heart skip a few beats at the mention of PhantomLord's king. She shifted her head to the side to spot a man in dark robes standing behind her. A shadow covered his eyes and all she could see as the strands of black hair peeking out from the top of his hood and the sadistic smile he had plastered to his lips. That wasn't what concerned the brunette though, what worried her was the blade that was clutched into his hand and shimmered against the moonlight through the window.