Chapter 8: Natsu vs. Evia

It's been a week since Evia first came to the guild and she still wasn't used to it. It was almost always rowdy and she couldn't get a single moment of peace. Kibble had run off somewhere to escape. Evia wanted to join him as well but she was scared that Erza would catch her and mistook it for running away.

"Are they always like this?" Evia asked Mirajane loudly as the guild got into another ruckus started by none other than Natsu and Gray.

"You bet," Mirajane replied. "But don't worry, you'll get used to it!"

Laxus came out of his room in a bad mood. Next to the commotion, he wasn't very happy due to the fact that Freed still hasn't found his SoundPod yet.

"I'm so sorry, Laxus," he lamented a while ago. "Please don't kill me!" He had even kneeled and sobbed right at his feet, much to Laxus' chagrin. And when he dismissed Freed, he rushed out the doors immediately, probably afraid of another pounding. He still wasn't back.

"Laxus, where's Freed?" asked Mirajane when he approached, sounding worried.

Laxus shrugged. "Hell am I supposed to know!"

Evia looked up and saw the muscular, blonde mage towering above her. She has never seen him around the guild, but he did look familiar. From the way he walked and talked, she can't tell if he stood out or not. But what was really prominent from him was his lightning shaped scar across his right eye. Mirajane had mentioned that the person who brought her here was muscular and blonde. Maybe it was him?

"Oh dear," Mirajane mumbled.

Laxus looked at the rumble going on between the guild members, stony faced. He'd like to get in the middle of it and punch each one of them in the face, but he's got more important things to do.

"Where's the rest of the Rajiinshu?" he asked.

"I think they left for a mission or something," Mirajane answered. Laxus' mood grew worse and stormed away. Mirajane feared he might break a table or two.

"Who was he?" Evia asked.

"That's Laxus," Mirajane explained. "He's the one whou brought you here the first time."

Ah, so her guess had been right!

When the noise finally died down, Evia heaved a huge sigh of relief but was surprised by the view in front of her; most of the guild members were passed out, eaither from exhaustion or being pounded too many times. There were only a few left standing, Natsu included.

"Gosh, are they alright?" Evia asked worriedly.

Mirajane nodded calmly, much to Evia's astonishment. How can anyone be so calm at this sort of situation?

Then again, Mirajane has been in the guild longer that she has.

"You guys are getting weaker and weaker by the day," Natsu commented with a cheeky grin. "I'm shocked."

"Is he always this cocky?" Evia whispered.

"Well, not exactly, but he is one of the strongest mages here," Mirajane said.

Evia stared at him. He was childish and reckless, she can tell by the way he acted. Yes, she has been observing the guild members throughout the whole week, though not all of them. Based on what she had seen, Erza was, of course, tough and a little unforgiving. Gray was cool and calm, just like his elemental power, Ice Make. Lucy and Wendy were almost always bubbly and cheerful. Happy, well, like his name, he's always happy, as opposed to Carla, who hardly ever shows any emotions. Levy is a down-to-earth bookworm, Gajeel is short-tempered but protective of Levy but Mirajane is by far the nicest one of all.

Natsu looked to the side and noticed Evia's ogling and grinned to himself. As fast as he had got up, he whizzed forward and grabbed Evia by the wrist, leading her outside. Mirajane looked up in shock. When Natsu unexpectedly drags someone out the guild like that, it can only mean one thing.

"Fight me!" Natsu bellowed.

Evia blinked. "What?"

"I said, fight me!" Natsu repeated. A crowd of Fairy Tail members was gathering around them and Evia suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Evia and Natsu were standing a good distance apart. Natsu was already in position, raising his flaming fist, while Evia just stood there, dumbstruck.

"Fight you? Why?"

"Because I want to," Natsu simply said. "Come on, how hard can it be?"

"But I don't want to fight you!" Evia protested.

"Eh? Why not?" Natsu asked.

"Because I don't fight my own comrades," she said. She had picked up the word from someone in the guild, though she can't tell who. She is a member of Fairy Tail and everyone else belonging there is definitely her comrade.

"Not even for practice?" Natsu asked.

Evia shook her head.

Natsu stared for a little while, then, to everyone's surprise, threw his head back and laughed. Evia jumped, obvioulsy startled.

"Well, too bad, now that you're here and all, you've got no choice," Natsu announced and with that he started his attack. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

As soon as the words were spoken, Natsu opened his mouth wide and breathes out a long line of fire.

"Natsu, wait! Take it easy!" Mirajane cried out.

All of a sudden, Evia was paralyzed. Her eyes widened, sweat dripped down her forehead and palms and her arms and legs weren't listening to the orders her brain was giving. She couldn't run away, she was frozen with fear. And to make matters worse, the fireball was coming closer and closer at breakneck speed.

Fire, was all she can think of. Fire...

"Evia! Do something!" Levy screamed.

Evia squeezed her eyes shut and ducked. Images of her past swirled around her head. Almost instantly, she felt the strong waves of water splashed above her. Her eyes sprang open but everything in front of her was fuzzy, but she saw the other guild members being thrown about in the water as well. She started panicking and kicked around the water to get to the surface while struggling to clear her head. It wasn't an easy task, but as soon as her head broke the surface, she took a huge gulp of air and the waters went down. Everyone, she noticed, were sprawled all over the ground, sputtering and coughing.

"Oh geez, were you trying to kill us?" Gray choked out.

"Me?" Evia protested again. "Blame it on him!" She pointed at Natsu, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"You could've used some other counter attack," Gray said.

"It's like I can help it!" Evia said impatiently.

"Wow, that was one of the best attacks yet!" Natsu yelled, bouncing back to his feet. His fist was flaming again. "Now I'm all fired up!"

Evia shook her head wildly. "No, I'm out!" And with that, she sprang up and ran off in the direction of town.

"Hey!" Gray yelled and went to chase after her, but a hand stopped him.

"Leave it," a voice said. Gray turned around and saw Erza staring at Evia's disappearing back.

"What are you doing?" Gray complained. "First you were all upset that she ran off and you had to keep guard and now you're letting her go?"

"She has an unconditional fear of fire," Erza said plainly.

Gray pulled a face.

"It's like she can help it, Gray. Her past was tragic, didn't you hear?" Erza said.

Gray was silent for a minute, then spoke up again. "Then why'd you let her go?"

"It's like she has anywhere to go around here," Erza said. "She comes from Hargeon, not Magnolia. She'll have to come back."

"She can run to the train station and go back."

Erza shook her head. "She doesn't have any jewels on her. Even train tickets cost something."

Gray stared at Erza with amazement.

"I trust her," Levy suddenly piped up. "I bet she'll come back. I mean, she never wanted to attack Natsu in the first place. She considered him her comrade already. I'm sure she'll return."

Evia wasn't heading to town. She was heading for the woods.

Even though she knew it wasn't the same like Hargeon Woods, the forest was the only place where she can find comfort, peace and quiet. Hopefully she won't run into the old woman again.

She came across a small oak tree and rested there. She must've fallen asleep for a few hours because when she woke up, the sun was already starting to set. She got up and stretched a little bit before proceeding to walk out of the woods. Before she can make it a few steps, she tripped.

"Oof!" she cried. Luckily the ground was soft so she didn't scab her knees. However, something near the rocks caught her attention. It looked like two flattened circles with a spike sticking out of each of them. Curiously, she picked them up and discovered that a cable was conected to both discs. It turned out to be a set of headphones, though she didn't know it.

What are these, I wonder? She wondered. Maybe Mirajane would know.

Heading back to the guild with the headphones in hand, Evia wondered how everyone would react. She had disappeared from the guild three times in a row now. She shouldn't be surprised if they decided to tighten the security.

But then again, Erza didn't come after her. Why was that? Could it be that she was just waiting for her to come back and give her a good pounding?

Evia shuddered at the thought. Her steps were getting slower and slower. Going back seemed somewhat dreadful.

"Evia! Where have you been?" Natsu exclaimed when she set foot in the guild. "Sorry for forcing on a fight before!"

In truth, everyone was pretty pleased to see her, surprisingly Erza as well. Evia had never felt so relieved.

"Hey Mirajane, can I ask you something?" she asked when the others had gone back to their own businesses.

"Sure, what's up?" Mirajane replied, smiling.

"Well, I was in the woods before and I found these." She showed Mirajane the headphones.

Mirajane let out a gasp. "Those are Laxus' headphones!"

"Where?" a thunderous voice boomed. In seconds, Laxus was standing right in front of them.

Evia started to shake as he handed Laxus the headphones. He looked at her for a while and quickly snatched them from her but as he did so, a surge of electricity flowed down his arm and electrocuted Evia.

She screamed in uttermost pain as a bright yellow aura enveloped her. Laxus quickly jerked his arm away and the screaming soon stopped. Evia lied on the floor completely motionless.

"Evia!" everyone started to gather around her and poking and proding her to make sure she's alive.

"Oh my God, is she dead?" Wendy cried as she kneeled next to Evia.

"What'd you do that for?" Erza demanded Laxus.

"I didn't do it on purpose, geez!" Laxus bellowed.

"Then why'd you do it?" Erza asked again.

"It was an accident! I don't know!" Laxus yelled.

"Guys, guys calm down. Let's just carry her to her room and rest," Mirajane said and proceeded to carry her up with help from the guys.

"You really did it this time, Laxus," Natsu muttered.

Laxus flew to a rage. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Natsu said nothing.

"You bastard, why you—" Laxus raised his fist and went ahead to punch Natsu.

"Laxus, enough!" a voice called out. It was Makarov's.

"Don't do anymore damage then you already have," Makarov continued.

"I'm telling you, old man, I didn't do it on purpose!" Laxus raged.

Makarov nodded. "Yes, but there's no need to pulverize anyone to believing you."

Laxus struggled to keep his anger in control. In the end, he just stormed out of the guild.

"Geez, Laxus never managed to control his temper, huh?" Natsu said to himself. "I wonder if Evia's gonna be alright?"