Night had fallen and Rosa had not return. He knew that something was up. She would never leave the two of them unless there was a problem. He wanted to wait longer but there was no time to spare. They had a small window to get out and he would curse himself if he couldn't at least get his daughter out of this hell hole.
He moved quickly to his daughter's room. She was awake. She must have been too excited about seeing someplace different. All she knew was the iron thumb of Cetus. As much as he didn't like Fiore, she would at least be able to make her own decisions.
She gave him a smile. She only had a small bag over her shoulder. It looked like she had packed some things. "What's that?" He asked. He didn't want her bringing too much along. It could slow them down.
"It's just some food and some photos of you and mommy. You know…just in case." She said sadly.
He gave her a sad smile. She had taken his words seriously, which made him proud, but at the same time he knew that no child should have to think about living without their parents. She was very grown up for her age though. She had to be. It was a side effect of the life they lead. "We need to get going."
He could already see the panic in his daughter's eyes. "What about mom? She's not back yet."
He didn't want to give her the news. It was already hard enough thinking about a life without his wife. She had been the only one by his side over the last 16 years. "We have no time. I fear that she won't return. If we don't leave soon, we could be next."
She looked like she was about to cry, but she kept her chin up and held back her tears. She knew the gravity of the situation. Cetus was not a gracious King, he asked for death at every turn. It was the way he raised that abomination. The prince was no different. Both of them were monsters. "I'm scared, daddy. What if they get you too? Where will I go?"
Now that was something he didn't know. Fairy Tail might be safe, but how would they react to seeing his child? He didn't even know if his parents were alive. If anything Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus should hate him. He had once attacked them both. He had killed one of Blue Pegasus's own. His child would not be welcome. But that didn't mean that he couldn't leave her without a plan. "Find a guild. You should be able to get assistance from one." He wasn't really sure of that, but it was something.
She gave him a nod and the left her room. Soon they were on the empty streets. The street lamps were dim. No one had been by to relight the candles in them. He had to say that Cetus really liked old things. He removed the electricity only days after he took over. He didn't want anyone to have contact with the outside world. He succeeded in that. There were no communications. They had been cut off and thrown back in time.
As they made it through the city, he looked around him. Danger laid behind every corner. Every shadow could be the enemy. Sure the only danger to him was Cetus himself and he would be preoccupied with Flare's illness. He had never been so happy that someone was under the weather. It gave them at least one advantage.
The city gave way to countryside, but he was far from relaxing. Not until Lily was over the border would he be calm again. He jumped more than once, but it only proved to be an animal. Mostly rats and stray pets crossed their path. He felt sorry for the pets. They were most likely abandoned as a result of his actions. Not once did he ever stand up to Cetus. No matter how much time had passed, he still saw his brother, even if he doubted that Bickslow was still in there. His brother was just a walking corpse. He was surprised that it wasn't rotting to pieces. Maybe Cetus had that kind of power over it. He still didn't understand the demon's magic. It was a lot like Bickslow was, but it was different. Its power was truly inhuman. If he thought that his brother's walking corpse was freaky, that was nothing. Cetus had shown him that. Armies of reanimated corpses were in their future. He had no idea how anyone could stand against that. And that was only the beginning. He didn't even want to think about what he had done to Rosa. She had to be dead. She was just another empty husk for him. Given the time he probably would have done it to him and Lily. Just the thought made his blood boil.
"Daddy?" Lily asked from behind him.
He looked back at her and signaled for her to be quiet. This was no time for questions. "Not now."
"But you don't know where we're going." She stated.
He had forgotten that she knew the way. She was the one that discovered the hole after all. He moved back and let her pass. She gave him a smile and the continued in the darkness.
Lisanna stared blankly at a window. Her mind was in shambles. Not only had she lost her husband, but Remy and Ivan had run of with her daughter. Xenia needed to be protected. This world was dangerous. That magic was dangerous, nothing good could come from it. It had cost her everything. If Remy and Ivan had never come for Bickslow, he would have never been infected by Cetus. They could have just lived out their lives as Fairy Tail mages. Xenia would have had a normal childhood, instead of being tossed around like a rag doll.
"Who is Xenia?" She froze ad she heard the voice. It sounded familiar, but that couldn't be right. Bickslow was dead. He had to be dead. There was no way that he wouldn't try and talk to her sooner.
"Who is this?" She thought.
It stayed silent. She has to be going crazy like everyone said she was. She was about to sigh, when it spoke again. "Bickslow, at least I think it is."
What did it mean by that? How did it not know who it was? That didn't make any lick of sense. "Look if this is your idea of a joke…"
"But that's what Cetus said." She froze. How would some stranger know about Cetus?
"What else did Cetus say?" She pondered. If this really was her husband, then why didn't he know who he was? What did that monster do to him?
"He said I was betrayed by my father." The voice said.
She wanted to laugh. Even if she was mad at Remy, she could see through the game that Cetus was playing. "No. Your father didn't betray you. Cetus was the one that did that."
The voice sighed. "I figured. That's why I had to be in that ooze." She was about to ask about the ooze when he asked something she never thought she'd hear that voice say. "Who are you?"
Chills went down her spine. Her husband didn't know who she was. She wanted to cry, but held back her tears. She needed answers and fling to pieces wouldn't give them to her. "Lisanna, my name is Lisanna."
"That's a pretty name." The voice said. "Who is Xenia?"
"She's ou…my daughter." She wanted to give in to this hope, but how did she know that it was real? This could have been a delusion for all she knew.
"Oh. I wonder why that name sounds familiar." The voice continued.
She did know whether to be happy or not. If this was Bickslow and he remembered their daughter, it made her happy, but the fact that he had no memory of her was heartbreaking. "Is that all you think is familiar?"
"Well, your voice is. Maybe that's why I kept hearing it." He said, making her heart skip a beat. She hadn't felt this happy in ages.
"Where did you hear it?" She had to know. She had to make sure that this was real.
"When I was locked in the ooze, I could hear you voice in the back of my head. It was soothing." He said.
She broke into tears. This was really happening. "Where are you now?"
"In this weird room, that's full of mirrors. I kind of want to see what's in them, but I think that's why I was in the ooze in the first place. I got caught snooping." He stated.
From what she remembered, Bickslow had told her about that place. It had to be him. He was still alive in there.
"Are you crying?" He said and she fell to her knees. She couldn't believe it. He was still alive.
"Try and remember everything first. Then try and get out okay." She said.
There was a slight laugh to his voice that made her smile. "Whatever you say, Lisanna."
And with that he was gone. She wasn't sure if that was a real thing that had happened or just a dream, but now she was fired up. If there was a chance to save her husband, she would walk towards it. It didn't matter what she did. She just wanted her family back.
Xenia sighed. Night had fallen and no one had come back. Strangely enough, the boy that was staring at her, was still sitting under a tree below. It even looked like he was trying to read a book in the dark. Just who was he?
If she just teleported down there for a second, it couldn't hurt. He looked like he wanted to talk to her and she was bored.
She let her eyes light up and in seconds she was down on the ground. He was only a couple of feet away from her.
He looked up from his book and she got a really good look at him. He had bright red hair and the same red eyes. To her surprise, they glowed in the darkness. Was that how he was reading?
He looked amused as he stared up at her. "So the princess had finally come down from her tower."
She looked at him in confusion. "Princess?"
He smirked. "You're always up there. I've seen you in that window every day for the last month."
She felt herself blush. "So you've been spying on me?"
That smirk stayed glued to his face. "It's not that hard. You keep your window open."
She wanted to go over and slap him. "You know that you're not much of a gentleman."
He put down his book and made to stand. "I don't know about that. Some might say that I'm a prince." He chuckled to himself. She made to back up, but he came closer. "Don't you want to see more than that tower? It looks rather boring." He offered his hand to her and she felt a little wary.
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She said looking at him, his eyes were still glowing.
"Then why did you come down?" She wanted to smack him again. Somehow he could read her.
"I just wanted some fresh air." She said, crossing her arms.
He gave her another cocky look. "Really? I think you have a thirst for knowledge that you can't find in a dusty place like that."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"You always look down at the square. You want some action. It's all over you face." He stated. She was rendered speechless as he offered her his hand again. "Let me show you what you have been missing."
She looked him over again. He seemed harmless. "What is your name?"
He gave her a funny look. "You're just now asking me this question. I thought that was what you were supposed to ask someone that when you meet them?"
She finally laughed at his words. "Then I guess I'm not much of a lady then, am I?"
He smirked at her again. "So then I guess introductions are in order."
She nodded. "Xenia. My name is Xenia."
He offered his hand to her for a third time and she reached out and took it. "Name's Ziph."
To Be Continued…
Author's Note
I'm hoping to get the next chapter out later this weekend.