Sharp wailing echoed through the open fields of Fiore and in the middle of the screams stood a small blonde child, blood covering her fingers. She desperately tried to wipe the blood off on her shirt as her tear filled gaze stared in horror at a bright orange dragon that lay dead in front of her. No matter what she tried, the blood wouldn't fade away. The creature in front of her was dead and their blood was on her hands.
"Mommy? Please wake up, mommy." She cried out, beginning to push against the dragon's wing. "I don't want to be without you. Why did you make me do it?!" The child was so small, yet the screams reflected fear of someone far older. Each shove was out of sheer desperation to try and bring back the creature that the child called her mother.
In the years before, the child followed her mother and clung to her every word. There was nothing that her mother could have done to ever take her smile away. However, when the day came that the dragon became ill, those happy days faded away into nothing. It almost felt as if the happy days hadn't existed in the first place. Where was nothing the child could have done to ease her mother's pain.
The question came that morning. That question felt demanding, almost threatening. The dragon asked her daughter a simple question, her tone calm at first. It quickly changed when the little girl protested, screaming that she couldn't do such a terrible thing. That the dragon would get better with time.
Asking a child to kill their own mother was the words that flowed through the creature's lips. As if the question wasn't dramatic enough, the child profusely refused. She begged the dragon to wait just a little longer to see if they could find another way. However, there was no other option. It was either let the suffering continue or end it altogether.
"Piper?"
The male voice couldn't bring the young girl from her cries as a blond boy that looked much like her approached. His own face was stained red as if he had been crying as well, but his expression didn't show it. He watched as the girl fell to her knees, forehead resting against her mother. Her body seemed to have finally given way to the sadness as she began to quiet down.
"Piper, come on, we have to go." The boy called out to her as he approached, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We can't stay here."
The young girl, Piper, hesitantly glanced over at the boy. Their identical blue gazes connected and she struggled to keep herself from sobbing once more. "We need to help mommy. She.. She's hurt, we need to help her." Her voice was soft as she looked back at her mom. "Please help me, Sting."
If she could have known at that moment that Sting had just done the same thing just hours before, then she wouldn't have asked him something so impossible. He didn't respond to her, simply watching as her tears continued to fall. He wasn't sure what he could do to possibly help her. His own emotions were still swirling. Instead, he simply sat down beside her and rested his head against her arm. There was nothing he could do to ease her pain, but he could sit there and wait for her to calm down.
Piper took a few deep breaths, trying to work through her thoughts. Her efforts were in vain as the only one thought other than her dead parent was something she wasn't sure she could have either. While her brother sat beside her and her mother dead, the only other person that could manage to make her smile was miles away.
"I want.. I want Natsu."