Chapter 3: Can You Hear Me?

Erik was good with locks. It was one of the reasons he was still alive. The other reason was Cubelios. If she hadn't bitten that man… But it was best not to think about that. They said that the Council had destroyed the foundations of the Tower, and if Cubelios's bite hadn't killed the man who had implanted the lacrima in Erik's chest, then it had certainly slowed him down. Maybe he'd be content with the other children, and not come looking for them.

Cubelios hissed gently against his cheek and nudged him with her tiny tongue. He patted her head with one finger and returned his attention to the lock. Erik inserted his two thin strips of metal into the keyhole and then listened very carefully. It was amazing how easy it was to pick locks if you just listened.

The building was big and old – at least a hundred years – and backed onto the harbor. Or maybe it was a lake – Erik couldn't tell. Either way it was on the edge of town, and it had obviously been years since anyone had changed the locks. They hadn't even installed any magical booby-traps. That was just lazy. Erik always avoided buildings with that extra, humming lair of magical protection. There was no one in this building that Erik could hear. …And his hearing was very good. A little too good.

It had always been sharp, but ever since he and the other children had escaped from the Tower it just kept getting better. Sometimes… Sometimes he caught stray voices that weren't voices at all but thoughts. He didn't just pretend to understand the meaning of Cubelios's hisses any more – he actually could. It was both amazing and terrifying. And it was probably that man's fault.

The lock finally popped open, and Erik sat back on his heels. He absently rubbed the scar on his chest with the heel of his hand. It was long, ragged and ugly, and the only evidence of what had been done to him aside from his now pointed ears.

The lucky children had been worked to death on the Tower. The unlucky ones had been… altered. Even after they had escaped the Tower the man had still found them. Only Erik had gotten away.

Cubelios tightened gently around his neck and fluttered her tiny wings. Right, he needed to focus. They needed food. Well, Erik needed food. Cubelios was still small enough to be able to live on the crickets she caught, but she had begun to grow rapidly. She'd gained a whole inch in a week. Crickets wouldn't sustain her forever, and Erik couldn't live on crickets. Besides, winter was coming. He really needed to find a coat of some sort. His battered shirt didn't even have sleeves anymore, and the knees of his pants were long gone. Shoes would be nice, but that was more wishful thinking than anything. He hadn't had shoes since before the Tower.

The inside of the building was dark, warm, and welcoming. He slipped through the door and shut it softly behind him. His bare feet didn't make a sound against the wooden floor. Enticing smells wafted through the air. He'd struck gold. This place, whatever it was, had a kitchen. If he had still believed in any gods, he would have fallen to his knees and sobbed in gratitude. Instead, he followed his nose and slunk through the pitch black halls.

Never, in all his life, had Erik seen such a massive room for preparing food. It was mind boggling. He stood for a moment in awe. It was like in one of those fairy tales. Shelves lined every wall along with a massive cool cupboard and an equally massive pantry. This time Erik really did feel tears begin to run down his face. It was so overwhelming he didn't even know where to start. Well, maybe there was some leftover meat in the cool cupboard. Meat lasted longer in your stomach than bread. Just the idea sounded wonderful.

He could practically walk inside the cool cupboard, it was so big. Most of the things in there were still raw, but he found a piece of cooked roast beef the size of both his fists together wrapped in brown paper and some milk. Erik pulled them out, and sat on the floor gnawing on the meat. It was quite possibly the best thing he had ever tasted. Occasionally he ripped off small pieces and fed them to Cubelios. She needed to keep up her strength, too. He stopped after devouring about a third of the roast beef. Best to save it for later. Who knew when he might get this lucky again? He took another sip of the milk, because he knew that that wouldn't keep. As far as his taste buds were concerned, it was like drinking cream.

Roast beef carefully rewrapped and milk bottle in hand, Erik turned his attention to the pantry. He had to take a look before he slipped back out the way he had come. Something in there smelled absolutely divine. The pantry actually was large enough that he could walk into it. There was enough room that three people could easily sleep on the floor. Tall shelves stretched all the way to the shadowy ceiling.

Erik sniffed. The wonderful smell was coming from up high. He didn't want to send Cubelios up by herself – who knew what might be lurking up there? They would go up together. That's what friends did after all.

Climbing the shelves was easy, and Erik was still small and light. They didn't even wobble under his additional weight. The delicious smell was coming from a tin on the very top shelf shoved almost all the way to the back. There was some sort of weird black symbol printed on the front of it, but Erik ignored that. Even if he'd been able to see it better, it wouldn't have made a difference. He couldn't read.

Once he was on the ground again, Erik huddled against the large cloth flour sacks in the far back corner to examine his prize. Prying off the lid revealed that it was full of some sort of white powder. It smelled even better now that it was open. He dipped a finger in and licked it. His eyes went wide. It tasted like eating sunlight sparkling off the ocean with just enough of a sour edge to give it a satisfying zig. It was like eating heaven.

Eating the powder was difficult and messy. After a moment's thought, he carefully dumped two handfuls into the remainder of his milk, swished it around until it dissolved, and drank it that way instead. It was fabulous. That tin of magical whatever-it-was was definitely coming with him.

Erik finished off the last of his milk and powder and felt his eyelids begin to droop. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually been full. Cubelios was making contented reptile sighs from around his neck. He knew he shouldn't linger, but the flour sacks were so comfy, and the close darkness made him feel safer than he ever had sleeping under the stars. It was still hours away from dawn. Closing his eyes for just a few minutes wouldn't hurt anything….

"I'm telling you, Master, somebody picked the lock on the back door. It was open when I got here!"

Erik's eyes popped open. A stream of sunlight was leaking in through the open crack of the pantry door. If he listened, he could now hear dozens of heartbeats. He started to shake.

He'd fallen asleep! How had he fallen asleep?! How had he not woken up when the first person unlocked the front doors?! He curled further back against the flour sacks. How could he have been so stupid? He was trapped. Boxed in. They'd find him and beat him for stealing, or worse yet, give him back to that man. Erik clutched his tin against his chest and tipped his head down so that he was hugging Cubelios with his chin. A single tear leaked from the corner of his left eye, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep his breathing as shallow and soft as possible. Maybe… Maybe no one would need anything from the pantry today. Maybe no one would notice him huddled up in the corner.

There were footsteps. They were getting closer.

"Did either of you leave the pantry open?"

Oh, no.

Erik's world exploded into light.

"OH MY GOD! IS THAT THE RAT POISON?!"

Erik wanted to clap his hands over his ears, but he didn't want to let go of his tin of powder in case somebody tried to take it away from him. He tried to curl into a ball and disappear. It didn't work.

"Please," he whispered. "Please, don't hurt me. I was hungry."

"There now, child. No one is going to hurt you. We have plenty of food to share." The voice was kind and old and reminded Erik of a wrinkly tree or perhaps a walnut. But most importantly, it sounded honest. Erik had gotten very good at being able to hear honesty.

He hesitantly cracked an eye open. A tiny old man was standing in front of him, smiling. Two other people were standing outside the pantry door, peering in uncertainly.

"Really?" Erik asked slowly.

"Of course, I could never stand by and watch a young person such as yourself go hungry."

Erik uncurled slightly. The old man was still telling the truth.

"You're- You're not going to beat me?"

"No. But if you'd like to come out of there, I could offer you a nice, hot breakfast instead." The old man extended a hand, his words still ringing with honesty and kindness.

"O-okay." Erik stood, gingerly unfolding himself. He'd barely moved as he slept and his muscles were stiff. Nobody had told him to put the tin back, so Erik held onto it. Around his neck Cubelios hissed and unfurled her wings at his unexpected movement. The old man blinked in surprise. He obviously hadn't noticed her.

"And who is this?"

Erik hesitated again, but every fiber of his being was screaming that he could trust this man.

"This is Cubelios. She's a dragon."

"A dragon? Really?"

"Yeah, because she has wings, and snakes don't have wings, and I'm a dragon slayer, so she must be a dragon."

"You're a dragon slayer?" the man asked. Erik bit his lip. He hadn't meant to say that. "You know, my grandson is a dragon slayer as well, but I've never met a dragon before. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cubelios. My name is Makarov Dreyar, and I am the master of this guild."

Cubelios eyed Makarov wearily, then hissed and flickered out her tongue in approval.

"She says she likes you," Erik told him. Cubelios was an excellent judge of character. He felt his shoulders start to relax ever so slightly.

"Well, she obviously has excellent taste," Makarov smiled. "Do you have a name, young man?"

"…Erik." He decided that he liked the way that Makarov smiled. He followed him out of the pantry. The kitchen was even more impressive in the daylight. A man and a woman were standing outside the pantry door. They were eyeing Erik's tin and didn't look very pleased about it. It must be special – that was why it had been hidden and hard to reach. Erik hugged it a little tighter.

"Master, shouldn't we-" the woman began, reaching for Erik's tin. He tensed.

"Leave the child alone, Evra. It obviously hasn't hurt him."

The woman retracted her hand but still didn't look particularly happy.

Everything seemed to be huge in this place – not just the kitchen. Makarov led Erik into a big room filled with tables and benches and people. They seemed to be awfully rowdy for so early in the morning.

"What is this place?" Erik finally asked, eyes wide.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Magnolia's most prominent wizard guild!"

"You mean Magnolia's only wizard guild!" someone called, and there was a general round of laughter.

"Feh! Ignore those hoodlums!"

Erik soon found himself sitting at one of the many tables waiting for the promised hot breakfast. No one had taken away his tin or tried to touch Cubelios. It was… nice. He flinched as the big guildhall doors banged open. Loud noises always lead to bad things.

"She ruined my cake! That midriff-baring hussy! I'm going to stomp her face flat!"

"Come on, Erza. You know that it was an accident… this time."

"Grrrr…."

"Nice try, but I don't think that helped, Jellal."

Three children had entered the guild. They all looked about Erik's age – perhaps a touch older. There was a tall boy with brown hair and a long, thick scar along his right jaw, a shorter boy with royal blue hair and clan tattoo spanning either side of his right eye, and a girl with bright, scarlet hair who was wearing plate armor. Erik didn't recognize their faces, but those voices… he knew those voices. They paused when they noticed Erik staring at them.

"Oh, hello. Are you knew?" The blue haired boy had a nice smile. He sounded very genuine. He extended a hand towards Erik. "I'm Jellal Fernandes."

Erik stared at the hand for a moment, trying to remember what he was supposed to do with it. Eventually, he gave it a hesitant shake, keeping an eye on Jellal's reactions to make sure he was doing it right. Jellal's wrists each had a bracelet of faded scar tissue just like his.

"I'm Erik. I remember your voices." He looked at the red-headed girl. "You were the one who told us all to stand up and fight."

Her eyes went wide like saucers and then flicked down to his wrists almost involuntarily.

"You were there?" she breathed. He nodded and then squeaked in fright as he was abruptly crushed against her breastplate in a hug. Cubelios let out an alarmed hiss. "I thought we had met everybody from the Tower. I don't know how we missed you, but I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Um, Erza?" Jellal began hesitantly. "I think you're crushing him."

Erza instantly let go.

"Oh, I am so sorry! Sometimes I get carried away."

"It's, uh, it's alright." A clank caught Erik's attention. He gaped at the massive heap of steaming eggs that had been set down in front of him. He scooped some up with his fingers. Delicious. He offered some to Cubelios, but she was still full from the roast beef. There was only one way this could get better. Erik crack open his tin and shook some of the white powder on top of his eggs and then continued devouring his breakfast. Perfect.

He didn't notice the guildhall go silent.

"Uh… why did you do that?" asked the taller, dark haired boy. He had sat down at Erik's table along with Erza and Jellal.

Erik paused. He had put his tin on the table so he could use both hands to eat and now he pulled it a little closer to him again.

"It tastes good."

"But… it's rat poison."

"Oh." Erik blinked at his tin of magic. Now that he was really looking, he supposed that one picture did look like a skull and crossbones. He rubbed the scar on his chest thoughtfully and then shrugged. "I guess that makes sense then." He added some more to his eggs.

"You can eat poison?" asked Jellal, eyes wide.

"Uh huh."

"We're keeping him," Erza suddenly announced.

"What?! Erza, no, we've talked about this. You can't just decide to keep people!"

"Well, he's clearly a wizard, and nobody else is taking care of him. And- and he was on the Tower. Him joining Fairy Tail is the obvious solution."

"Yes, but there's things you're supposed to do first. Like talk to Master Makarov. Or ask Erik if he even wants to join."

Erza pointed a finger at Erik.

"Join Fairy Tail," she ordered.

The dark haired boy pinched the bridge of his nose,

"That's still not asking…."

"Could we?" Erik interrupted. Cubelios lifted her head hopefully. "Could we stay?" Because he'd never been in a place before with so many people who sounded… happy. He didn't want to leave.

"Of course you can." Master Makarov was back and still smiling. "We'd be happy for you both to join our family."

Family.

Erik felt… light and happy. Maybe, just this once, everything was really going to be okay.

A/N: I realize that Erik/Cobra in canon doesn't actually get pointy ears until that filler arc, but this is an AU and I took some artistic liberties. Brain lost access to the Bureau of Magical Development much sooner in this universe than in canon, so he had to continue his experiments elsewhere.

Thanks for reading!