Again, I will apologize to you guys. (Bows my head lowly) My laptop's hard drive burned out so I need to get a new one… My files were deleted including the new chapter and story plots that I planned out for each and every one of my stories which I am so pissed off. So now I need time to require the things I remembered that I wrote before which can take some time. Now back to the story!
Chapter 23: Talking to Hiro
Hiro's POV.
Damn it.
I blew some of my pink locks from my eyes. Runes were never my top subject. I can feel them wrap around me tightly every second when I try to struggle. My strength left me and I felt like a limbless doll. Well, that sucks… I gritted my teeth hard together as those Fairies move in closer to me. It's like I'm one of those caged animals in a zoo where tourists can mock me or take a picture of my helplessness. That made me pissed. I look side to side, trying to find an escape route. But then I noticed the Master's grim hard gaze locked onto me as if he was making sure I can't leave. I've seen the old geezer's magic but I have a feeling that it has more properties than I thought. Again, I grit my teeth. I moved my stare at the incoming Fairies.
At I close distance, I can see their expressions. Of course they had some dirt and a few bruises on them but they looked at me in horror. What? Do I look that frightening? In response, I gave them a smile. My simple act made the crowd freeze almost immediately. What a weird guild. They looked at each other, talking with their eyes, which made me frown. I hate being left out of things. They seem to stare at me like I'm someone important.
That's when I noticed her. The blonde haired bitch I was "supposed" to kill. My anger flared up, I feel more energy flow into me. I try to get onto my nimble feet but immediately a large hand smacked me to the ground, making a few cracks. Shit. So I watched helplessly, my face on the floor, as the Blondie walked over to me.
She gazed at me with those brown eyes. I can see there's shock in them but most surprisingly, there was love too. No wonder Master Hades wanted to kill her. I clenched my teeth when her pale hand went to touch me. This was pure embarrassment. She lifted my face, by my chin, as if to inspect me.
"Natsu?" she whispered. Who the fricking HELL is Natsu?! She asked this question before and I already gave her a straight-forward answer. How persistent is this girl?! Instead I gave her smile.
"I'm Hiro, a disciple of Master Hades. And if you touch me again," My smile was replaced with a look of hatred. "I will kill you" Lucy Heartfilia flinched, she drops my chin and once again I landed face first onto the floor. Great, I should've been more specific.
"Are you sure…?" I can hear her voice trembling. I looked at her once again. She had a few tears streaming from her brown eyes. My gold eyes stared at her as if she was serious. I just answered her fricking question twice and she is still asking me this?!
"That's not Natsu" A new voice intercepts. "He's an imposter" I whipped my head to the speaker. It was one of the dragon slayers that I had beaten. He's not dead yet? That's not like me to not fully kill a person...Probably I was too engrossed in the joy of enveloping my hands in dragons' blood.
This guy was a Blondie just like Heartfilia. He was limping his way toward us, ignoring the complaints of some Fairies who were telling him to rest, until he was before me. I can see the man's blood drip onto the floor. This man was halfway to the hands of death. His conditions were broken bones, ruptured ribs and destroyed organs; the damage I imposed on him had almost hit his heart. Man, I was so close.
"The Natsu we know, won't ever hurt us" the man said, making more blood gush out of him. A few splatters on my face. I look at him with no sense of emotion. Another man, the one with the broken leg and dark hair, also made his way toward the group with the help of a crying Fairy in a frog costume.
"Sting, his face-"The new man starts.
"I don't care if he looks like Natsu-san!" Sting shouts, cupping his mouth. "It's not him!" I heard his voice quiver a bit. It seems like this guy "Sting" was trying to reassure himself over and over again. Now I get it. This Natsu guy was really important to them. And apparently, my features are somehow similar to this man. So every stare I get from the Fairies is because I look like one of their guild members? Once I had figured everything out, I started to chuckle.
"You guys are hopeless" I laughed. I didn't care if my laughter echoed the silent room. It was hilarious to realize that Fairy Tail is just a guild with crying babies. "Let me guess, this Natsu guy is dead"
Sting's dark blue eyes, rimmed with tears, angrily glares at me and he tightly grip his hands into fists. "Don't you dare-"
"Oh wait, are you referring to the powerless fool that Master Hades had told me about?" I shouted, so every one of them can hear me. I glance at the sorrowful faces of the guild. I smile widely at my accomplishment.
"Why you-"The blonde tries again but once again I interrupt him. I can feel the large hand push me harder onto the floor slowly as if it was a warning to keep me quiet. But I didn't care if I die from this. I just want to make this pitiful guild feel loathsome at my cruelty.
"I heard that he committed suicide to save you all"
"Shut up-"
"But in my perspective, I think he was selfish really" I continued, with a big smile on my face.
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Sting hollows. His fists were shaking at his sides. Again, I don't care.
"He dies and you guys have to mourn for him" I can feel their Master's large hand trembling on my back. I knew I was succeeding "But I think you guys are selfish too"
Sting had more tears fall from his eyes. The other man with the dark hair held him by the arms; his head was lowered but I can tell he had tears falling from his face too. "S-stop, please" The blonde man pleaded again.
"You guys allowed Natsu to die. Instead of rescuing him, you guys abandoned him! A selfish guy belongs in a selfish guild" I can already hear the sounds of crying, fill the air. I watched as a dark pig-tailed girl dropped to her knees and started to sob. Sting pulled his arm back as if to hit me. But I have to get one last sentence out.
"A guild that can't even save their own guild member is trash" I murmured. I can sense my words flowed into each Fairy and it permanently etched into their hearts. I knew if Fairy Tail saw a person with the exact looks of their deceased friend and the person would say these words, it would haunt them for all eternity. The perfect torture. That's when I knew that my work here was done.
That was also when Sting swung his balled fist at me but I anticipated it. So all I had to do is wait until it came intact to my face. But all I felt was his fist landing softly on my forehead. I stared at him with shock. He had his eyes close shut with multiple tears stream from his eyelids. I can see him gritting his teeth together.
"I-I know we couldn't save Natsu-san! You don't know how much I regret not following him into the battlefield! I can never forgive myself for that!" the blonde man cried. "B-But Natsu-san would never want me to feel sorry for him! That's why I'm going to value this life that he protected me with!" Sting shouts while sobbing. Almost immediately, I can sense the blonde's words make the whole gloomy attitude in the room shift. It felt bright and warm. My words were like the things in the past! This Sting guy had erased everything I had said and replaced them with encouragement to live. I'm hating this guild more and more each fricking second.
I smiled. I don't want them to make fun of me any further. Once the old geezer retracts his magic, I'll figure a way to get out of this hellhole. Somehow someone sees through my plan. A red hair woman who recovered from my pressure point attack walked over and crouched down. I can hear the clanks of her heavy armor collide together. She must be wearing like 500 pounds of metal! I stared at her in question, waiting for her to say something. She looks grim and a little hopeful. Maybe she's hoping that I'm actually this dead friend of theirs. Why does everyone think I'm this Natsu guy?! I've been with Master Hades for 20 years!
I expected for the red haired chick to say something but instead, she stood up and looked over to her Master who is still keeping me under his hold. As I thought, this new bitch had seen through my plan.
"Master, we need to keep him under Freed's runes and locked him in a spare room. We have to question him about Hades and his intentions" She said. "He may be the true objective of Hades' plan" At first I was pissed because once again, I'm like a caged animal but then I realized that the woman's voice was hollow.
"That's what I was thinking" the old man said. His hand receded back to normal size, releasing the heavy weight on my back. I clenched my teeth at the restraints of my arms and legs as new runes placed upon me.
"Erza, do you think it's a little harsh to lock him in a room tied up like that?" Lucy Heartfilia stares at me with sad eyes. I can feel my heart twist together at her sickening kindness.
"We have no choice Lucy. Even if he looks like Natsu, he's still an enemy… Don't think this isn't hard for us as well" This Erza woman looks away from me as if my own face was painful to look at. Are you fucking kidding me?! I started to laugh, shakily. I may be going insane here.
"I don't need your fucking pity" I said to them, especially to the blonde princess. "Are you guys fucking idiots or something?! You seriously still think I'm your "Precious" Natsu?!" I continued to laugh as if everything was just a joke. I can feel their uneasy stares which confirm my suspicions. I glanced at the old geezer who motioned to the long green haired rune guy. The next thing I knew, my screams were muffled by a new scripture.
"Please, anyone… Please take him to a spare room…" The old man took a shaky breath as he stared at me. I watched angrily as a large tan man with white hair slung me over his shoulder and made his way into the halls. My last glimpse of the destroyed room was watching Lucy Heartfilia drop to the ground and the sounds of her sobbing.
Wow, I didn't expect for me to get captured. Knowing my past successes in missions, I didn't call for back up from Zancrow and Meldy…Worst. Mistake. Ever. Sooner or later, they will realize that I'm not coming back and then they will begin an attack. I estimate 3 or 5 days when they will realize that I'm being held captive. Somehow, that thought, seemed preposterous. Me, Hiro, is being held against my will. Well, that's a first. The bulky man didn't speak to me at all, including the green long haired man. They didn't even give me a glance as I struggle against my runes. Great, just great.
There was a simple door that led to a simple room that contained one window and steel floors and walls. Even the door was made with the metal. There wasn't even a bed or a bathroom! Why did they even have a room like this?! As I suspected, the guy named Freed, only released my mouth restraints. Okay…now this sucks.
"We'll station people to come keep watch and bring food to you" Freed said. "Feel free to come though and tell us what you know" My response to him was an annoyed scoff. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to affect the two men in any way. Freed went and muttered a few incantations and whipped a pen like object that resembled a feather. Unknown inscriptions filled the walls, ceiling and floor. Again, I was trapped.
"We'll see you a while" the green haired man murmured as he wiped the sweat off his brow. He gave one more look of hope toward me before they closed the door, sealing the last scent of freedom. As they left, I heard the big man with white hair whispered one word:
"Sorry"
I stared at the door, taking in that word with inspection. Sorry?! Bringing a hostage to an enclosed room but then apologizing. What kind of bull crap is that?! Are they serious?! I can feel the pit of anger flare up once again and I clenched my fists tightly together.
And that's when I started swearing at the top of my lungs.
Normal POV.
It had been the next day.
No one spoke a word of the man named Hiro. They did a rotation as planned but once someone went into the captive's room, they didn't even spoke a word when they came out. Yesterday, they can hear the screams of anger coming from Hiro, even during the night. It was only when Dawn approached, that's when the screams were stopped.
Sting, Rouge and a great amount of people were sent to the infirmary for some healing. Almost everyone had a bruise, a cut or even a broken bone. Wendy had some trouble trying to keep up and heal everybody. Carla kept telling her that she needed some rest because the small girl looked as she will drop and faint any moment. But despite her tiredness, Wendy assured her little friend that she wants to help as much as she can.
Gray was quiet all day. He was one of the three people, who interrogated the man, the day before. He remembered all of the words that Hiro had screamed. Gray didn't want to be in the same room as the "Imposter". While Erza and Master tried to get a few simple sentences out of him because all he yelled was "Fuck you!", Gray examined the prisoner. Hiro looked exactly like the man who he would battle and badmouthed each day. Hair, voice, structure. Everything about him was the same! Well except for Hiro's gold eyes. The man he knew before, had a olive green hue. Erza almost cried a bit, which was surprising. She was sick and tired of hearing nothing but swears and insults, that she almost slashed Hiro with her sword. The dark haired man had to hold her back, while he did, he noticed small tears in the corners of her eyes and that's she was trembling in his hold. She doesn't want to do this as well. Master grunted, a signal, so he released his hold of the woman and she slowly calmed herself down. But Gray glanced at their captive screamer, he saw a confused expression on the man's face. Its like this man hadn't even experience this kind of care before. What a sad life this man had. It felt like a million years until the interrogation was over. Gray couldn't wait until he was out of the room. He too like Erza, can't be in the same room as that man. The things Hiro can say can twist someone's mind and forever scar them. He can use words as well as strength to kill.
Lucy on the other hand, couldn't believe in anything anymore. She wondered how it was possible for someone who looked identical to her best friend. She felt as the whole world was against her. All she knew is that her heart was so fragile, it can break any second now. Lucy tried to push unruly matters aside so she talked to Levy about her book. Everyone tried to go onto their regular basis and to not mention the name of a certain someone. But that was impossible.
On that day when Hiro's yells were silenced. A miracle had happened. It was just a normal morning. With long tables layered with enormous amounts of food. It was almost like a buffet except for the large quantity of fallen rocks that was in everyone's path. But that didn't disturb anyone's moods.
"Wendy, how are you feeling?" Levy asked.
"I'm fine but I'm just a little tired" Wendy answered. She did look tired. She had thin black lines underneath her eyes and she was sort of nodding off. Carla, who sat beside her, wiped Wendy's lip with a napkin like a overprotective mother.
"I told you that you needed rest" Carla huffed lightly. The pig tailed girl giggled lightly. "I told you I was fine" She reassured the white haired girl.
Lucy watched them and she couldn't help but laugh as well. She gave a small glance to Levy who was doing the same. Together they watched those two interact like an family.
"How are their conditions?" Lucy asks. Wendy nodded, knowing that the blonde meant about Sting and Rouge, and she straightened her back slightly.
"Rouge-san has a broken leg and other broken bones that I fixed up with no problem. But Sting-kun…Well, he…" the small girl trailed off. Levy patted her hand lightly. "He has damaged organs and he lost a lot of blood. He lost consciousness after the whole thing so he's gone into a comatose state… I healed as much as I can but I can't seal of the hole in his stomach. But I did managed to get him awake but the gap still worries me...so I asked Polyushka-san to come help as soon as possible" Wendy finished but she sounded a little saddened. She probably doesn't want to lose any of her friends anymore.
"You did the best you can. Rouge and Sting wouldn't have lived if you didn't have the will to help them" Lucy assured the girl. The pig tailed girl lowered her head and nodded, while biting her bottom lip to stop herself from crying.
"Raise your head Wendy" Gray said, above her while holding a plate full of eggs and bacon strips. He patted her head lightly before taking a seat beside the girl. "Fire bastard probably won't like it if you keep crying all the time"
Wendy sniffled and wiped the small tears from her eyes. "You're probably right Gray-san. Thank you" She smiled to show she was alright. Again, the dark haired man ruffled her hair and smirked. Once he dug his fork into his eggs, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He lifted his head slightly to see the blonde princess watching him.
"What is it?" He asked with a mouth full of food. The blue haired and dark haired girls looked away, eyebrows scrunching together. Gray frowned at their behavior. The blonde hesitated for a bit so the ice mage kept chewing.
"I heard you went to see Hiro-san yesterday" Lucy whispered. Gray froze and not because he was an ice mage but from hesitation. Slowly, he nodded, not making the girl move at all.
"…Did he say anything…?"
Gray once again, stopped moving. The blonde's words almost sounded like she asked: "Does he remember us?". The ice mage knew that Lucy still had high hopes for this guy to be their dead friend Natsu. The dark haired man swallowed his food uneasily and frowned.
"All he did was curse at us" Gray muttered. "Just it"
Lucy shook her head and then smiled. "Okay, I just want to see if he told us about Hades yet. No big deal then" the blonde said cheerfully. Gray narrowed his eyes at her cautiously. He knows that smile is fake but he also knows that the princess must be breaking inside. So he smiled back at her despite this simple act is breaking him as well.
"So, back to reality!" Levy says suddenly, trying to change the subject. "Lu-chan, you haven't told me about your book's plot yet. If you need some ideas, I can help you think of stuff" The blue haired girl tugged the blonde's arm, playfully.
"Alright Levy-chan" Lucy says, smiling at her friend. Gray picked at his food with his utensil, carefully to not to meet the blonde's eyes.
"You guys can help too" The blue haired girl encouraged Gray and Wendy. The little girl nodded and nudged the dark haired man. Gray flinched but he nodded warily as well.
"Say, where's Erza? She never late for breakfast" Carla asked. Gray lowered his head, staring at the plate of half uneaten eggs and bacon. "She's over there" He answered. He didn't dare to look at their faces because he knew that he brought their spirits down. But once he rose his head he immediately saw the red haired woman and her companion.
"Speaking of the devil-" He stopped. Gray was cut short by the expression that the demon woman was wearing. He immediately knew that she had some news. Maybe some bad news.
Erza walked up to her table. The red-haired girl wore a grim look on her face. The blue haired man, Jellal, with crutches was beside the armor woman just as usual. He too, wore a serious exterior.
"Erza what is it?" Lucy asked, a little confused at Erza's silence. The red-head grunted and placed both of her hands onto the layered cloth. Gray knew she meant business. He stabbed a mix of bacon and scrambled eggs and stuffed them in his mouth.
"Its Hiro…" She finally gets out. Immediately, the chatters of the Fairies died down. Some people glanced back nervously at the group as they slowly placed their food in their mouths. The blonde widened her eyes in question.
"What do you mean, about Hiro?" 'the blonde princess asks. Erza looks at her companion who nodded warily to the red-head. Erza sighs and turns to Lucy.
"He wants… to talk to you"
And then Gray spewed out his food.
End of chapter 23
Thank you again for not killing me XD. Mind the grammar and spelling errors. I'm sorry again so please don't hate me.
Coming up next Chapter 24: ?
(SECRET NEXT CHAPTER TITLE! Revealed later :))
