Here's The Second Chapter For Today.
"You live on Fairy Hills don't you," Erza asks as I put my books away in my locker as students walk toward the entrance of the school since classes are already over for the day. I nod curiously eyeing her, "Mind if I walk with you, it gives us both the chance to get to know each other more, I mean unless someone was going to come and pick you up,"
I smile while pulling on my bag onto my arm, "Sure, beats walking alone," I answer and we walk on toward home. As we leave the tall building I turn over to the red haired beauty and say, "I didn't know that you lived in Fairy Hills," and she turns to look at me surprised before nodding, "How long have you been living there?"
She thinks for a bit before answering, "I've been living there since Headmaster Makarov opened the dorms, along with a few other students here in Magnolia," she looks up at the sky with a distant look in her large brown eyes, "My childhood had been a bit messed up when I was younger. I had been kidnapped when I was young along with many other children and treated like a slave for about three years. I was saved by a man who called himself Grandpa Rob and was taken under his care. He brought me here to Magnolia and introduced me to Makarov who took me in soon after Rob passed away that very year. I've been here ever since,"
"That's terrible," I say a bit speechless, "Does that mean you were a part of the group of kids that were kidnapped and taken to an island named the Tower of Heaven," I ask and she nods. I look down feeling my heart ache as a memory flashes against my mind, "My cousin Jellal had been among the group of children that had been taken," I murmur, "He was saved from the island unharmed other than a few broken memories and that horrible tattoo that now marks his face forever reminding him of that horrible past."
"I know, I met Jellal within the Tower of Heaven. He's one of the few people that made that place anywhere near bearable to live in the years that we did," she says seeming to hold her left eyes, "I barely escaped the island without losing my right eye, thankfully Rob was quick to get me to a hospital and my eye was saved,"
From there we walk the rest of the way toward home in silence and all the while I begin to wonder if everyone else within Fairy Hills has had a past just as horrible as Erza's. I know that most of my family members have had terrible pasts as well and every time I hear their heart retching stories it takes all of my will to keep myself from crying. Even now that I found another victim from the Tower of Heaven I can do anything but keep my emotions under control.
A few years ago, around the northern cities in Fiore, a dark cult went around kidnapping children and burning down homes as they went. Incidentally Jellal had been taken among the various groups of children and was missing for well over four years before all the children were found on an island just off of the famous Akane beach, "Well after Jellal had been rescued it took him to readjust to living a normal life again. I remember clearly the night he was rescued; his family had brought him over to my home in Crocus. When I saw him that time I had been hiding behind my mother too nervous to go near the new house guests seeming as I had never really met some of my mother's family members," I say grabbing my hands behind my back remembering everything clearly as Erza turns to look at me, "At the time Jellal had been wearing an emotionless mask and would not smile for any given reason. He would stare off into space with a distant look in his eyes and there were times where I would hear him murmuring in his sleep. He wouldn't talk to anyone and he even ignored his little sister when she wanted to play with him. There was even a time when Jellal had gotten mad and tried to cut off the tattoo from his face with a knife he took from the kitchen," Erza looks forward intently listening to me, "He had run around the house waving the knife and trying to keep us all away from him yelling at the top of his lungs on how he hated the tattoo so much. His mother warned him that if he tried to remove the tattoo that way he would lose his eye as well. He froze just as he was about to touch the tip of the knife to his face and started crying,"
"He started crying," Erza asks surprised and I nod.
"He kept on yelling that it wasn't fair for him to keep his eye while she had lost her own. We asked him who but he only started screaming even more continuing to wave the knife around. It wasn't until Wendy had gotten hurt while trying to stop him that he snapped out of his reverie and from then on he's done everything to get over the island and the horrors he went through. There are times where he still stares off into deep thought, but he smiles more often than most,"
"Has he ever mentioned who he was talking about," she asks and I shake my head, "Well this is where we part our ways," Erza says and when I look up I notice that we're standing right in front of the dorm house, "I'll see you at school tomorrow," she waves and heads toward the entrance to the building. It isn't until then that I notice a gauze wrap wrapped around her ankle and how she limps a bit every time she puts pressure on that foot.
Thinking I suddenly remember something and call out to her, "He used to say something about scarlet hair," she stops dead on her tracks and turns to look at me, "It was you, wasn't it?" She smiles sadly before she disappears behind the closed door and I stand there knowing very well that she's the girl Jellal had mentioned.
I head on over toward home when I hear a door open behind me and I find Natsu walking out of the building and heads toward the street. He catches me looking at him and he waves at me with a smile before a shiny black car stops in front of him and his smile disappears. He quickly enters the car and they drive off just as quickly leaving me a bit dumbfounded and curious
What is up with that boy?
"Hey Princess, did you get out of school already," I turn and find Loke walking toward me with a wide grin on his face. I nod just as he gets to me, "Say, why don't I take you out for ice-cream. It's the perfect weather for some don't you think and that way we can catch up more with each other," he says already leading me toward the main road that leads into town without giving me a chance to answer.
Fairy Hills is up near a hill surrounded by an expanse of forest that provides plenty of shade while walking. It's within a mile away from the school excluded away from town which takes a little longer to get to walking or riding a bike.
I allow Loke to lead me down the road toward a shiny silver car parked just outside the gates of the property. He opens the passenger side of the can and I climb in feeling the leather seats burn my arms and legs a bit. I clip on my seat belt just as Loke climbs into the driver's seat quickly turning on the car and the air conditioner. He drives down the road toward town and I watch the scenery outside travel past us as trees become buildings and dirt roads become cemented streets.
"So, how are you liking Magnolia so far," Loke asks parking in front of South Gate Park.
He climbs out and goes around the car opening the door for me, "It's ok, though I didn't get that much of a good first impression," I say as I take his hand allowing him to help me out of the car.
He laughs tucking my arm in his as he leads me toward the ice-cream stand, "I bet you didn't, so what about school?" we reach the ice-cream stand and he orders two cones, one vanilla and the other strawberry, and hands me the strawberry cone before leading us toward a bench.
"It was alright for the first day. Made a couple of acquaintances as well with a few classmates," I mutter eating my ice-cream as I watch some kids play ball a few feet away joyously laughing and chasing one another. I smile remembering when I would play ball with Loke as kids. I always lost and would trip and fall hurting myself every single time.
"What, no friends?" Loke jokes rubbing the top of my head making me blush and I shake my head while continuing to eat my ice-cream which is quickly melting with the heat running down my hand and I watch the pink liquid trail down my arm leaving a sticky trail. I continue eating the ice-cream as Loke wraps his arm around my shoulder and I lean into him feeling the comfort of being with him soothing.
Feeling a pair of eyes on me I look up over the hill from where I'm sitting at and find Natsu leaning on the hood of the car he had driven off earlier on. He seems to be glaring our way, his usual amber eyes burning black from where I can see him and for a moment he even seems to be dangerous. Kind of like one of those hoodlums you find at night ready to beat you down for your money.
"No," I simply answer finishing my cone and wiping my hands with the napkin that came with the ice-cream and then look back to find Natsu still glaring at us, "At least not yet,"
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