72 days after waking up
Vera sat in a white-walled room with a bowl of muck before him. The plastic spoon bent slightly as he scooped up the grueling, gray food that looked like the most bland thing in the world had been thrown through a blender.
"Holy shit, what do they feed us..."
Vera scowled at the tasteless, colorless, bland slop bowl before him. A big bowl of nothingness that made him question if they were serving it as an extra layer of torture on top of the original one.
"This has to be some kind of artificially designed punishment... nothing could naturally taste this bad..."
Vera recalled that the story had some grand feasts that delighted the guild. There were cooked meats, fruits, beer, and a personal favorite of his, Ezra's strawberry cakes...
Which, now that he thought about it. She didn't get to eat half the time because someone (Natsu) usually knocked it over...
He could relate.
He didn't get to eat strawberry cake either.
He didn't get to eat any of the delicious food that showed up in Fairy Tail.
He got slop...
Just slop.
Gray...
Tasteless...
Probably died a few hours ago...
Slop.
"This is such bullshit!"
Vera yelled for the sake of yelling, already aware that no one could hear him but not caring. He was annoyed and angry and tired from the day's experiments...
And he was hungry...
Which was why he was eating his bowl of slop...
Grumpily.
"Stupid doctor... can't even give me a little food... I already get tortured every day... At least give me a decent meal afterward..."
Vera muttered under his breath as he ate scoop after scoop. Finishing the bowl because he knew he couldn't afford to waste a single drop of it. He was living in the middle of starvation and malnutrition; he didn't have an option to be picky...
Oh, but when he got out of here...
If he got out of here...
No! When he got out of there, he would eat a great meal! One of those big steaks that Natsu burned or a giant roasted pig they sacrificed to Elfman on his quest to be a man!
"I can't wait to eat anything I want... wonder if I can get exotic things too... would monster meat be considered exotic?"
Vera was curious whether monster meat would be considered a delicacy or not...
"I mean... It's harder to kill a monster than a cow..."
That was a tick in his idea of it being a delicacy.
"Monsters also have more muscles, so more meat..."
Another tick in favor.
"Some of them might have magic too, which could make the meat more tasty..."
Tick number 3.
"Hm... plus a giant, house-sized steak sounds delicious."
Final tick. It was decided. The first thing he would do when he escaped was try monster meat. It would be delicious, and it would be fulfilling, and it would not be slop, so there...
"Yeah... I'm so going to eat a monster."
Monster meat would be a grade-A delicacy.
Vera wanted to punch his past self in the fucking face.
"So this is what they put in the slop..."
Vera's words were answered with a slight nod from Number 8 and were unsurprisingly ignored by Ultear. The three sat around the fire and ate the Vulcan, which tasted exactly like the slop they had back in the lab...
No. It may have tasted worse.
So that's how they got our food... they just fed us the monsters we killed...
Vera could see the efficiency in a morbid sense. Numbers fight monsters; Numbers kill some monsters; Numbers eat monsters that die; monsters that don't die make more monsters...
It was a vicious, slop-filled cycle.
I should've killed him slower...
Vera clicked his tongue at the thought, finishing his slop-flavored drumstick before glancing at the girl responsible for blowing up the lab...
She was eating her slop-flavored drumstick...
Without a hint of emotion on her face.
Great... even slop can't distract her from what I said...
Vera cringed at the thought, practically able to see his chances at a successful apology fade away.
Do you have any ideas, Sho?
Vera turned to his shadow, who tilted his head before giving a very unhelpful shrug. Sho left him high and dry as he melted back into his dormant state to rest from the scouting mission...
As well as not being present when Vera inevitably fucked up his apology.
You little traitor...
Vera clicked his tongue before returning to the fire, glancing at Ultear, who had just finished her meal and tossed the bone in the fire.
"I'm going to bed. Wake me up for my shift."
Ultear's bored drawl was followed by her turning from the fire and walking towards her snow bed. Vera called out to her in a moment of impulse before she retired for the night, "Wait. Ultear, I-"
"Why do you call her Ultear?"
Number 8's words seemed unconscious, cutting through the air, and were immediately followed by dead silence. Number 8's eyes widened once he noticed the other two stopped and flicked their heads toward him, "Uh... sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt, it's just..."
Number 8 glanced away, a hand going towards his neck and fiddling with a loose strand of hair as he spoke, "You just call her Ultear, and she calls you 17, so... I don't know... it was just...confusing..."
Number 8 felt his ears tinge red as he realized he had probably asked a stupid question. The awkward silence gave him a moment to mentally prepare himself for whatever white lie Ultear would tell him...
I'm not going to believe it this time...
Number 8 refused to be gullible...
He refused!
Although... seven did always say to keep an open mind...
Okay, so Number 8 might have believed whatever Ultear told him…
"Ask 17."
He didn't believe when Ultear glanced at him with a quick dismissal before she walked to her snow bed and raised a wall of ice between them, effectively isolating herself from the rest of camp...
It was almost like she didn't trust them to keep watch.
What happened...
Number 8 didn't understand; he didn't think she would be that mad about him leaving without telling them...
He even brought back food to make up for it.
Did she not like the food... actually, that's not a question worth asking.
Number 8 frowned slightly, glancing at the portion of Vulcan still in his hand before tossing the cleaned bone into the fire. His thoughts about the food that tasted a thousand times worse than the wolf they had stripped clean were interrupted by an almost guilty voice beside him.
"Yeah... I messed up."
Vera's words brought Number 8 out of his head, his eyes flicking over to see Vera finish his portion and toss the remains haphazardly in the fire. A look of anxiousness crossed his face as he looked guiltily away from Number 8's searching gaze.
Oh... she's mad at him, not me.
Number 8 couldn't put into words how relieved that made him. He had been through enough spars with Ultear to know when she wasn't having a good day...
When she didn't have a good day, her opponents had an awful day...
Thankfully, he wasn't the opponent this time.
It was 17.
"Thank you..."
Number 8 bowed his head politely like Seven had taught him to. Not noticing the surprise and bafflement that crossed Vera's face before Number 8 continued with his previous thought, "Anyways disregarding..."
Your stupidity...
"That..."
Number 8 pointedly ignored the way Vera narrowed his eyes as if sensing what Number 8 was thinking. Number 8, choosing instead to press on, determined to at least get his answer from Vera since he wouldn't get it out of Ultear anytime soon.
"Why do you call her Ultear?"
Number 8 watched as Vera's eyes widened imperceptibly, a look of thoughtfulness crossing his face as he delved into his thoughts for a little bit. His head tilted until a moment later when he shrugged and said, "It's her name. It just never occurred to me to call her anything else."
Number 8 frowned, "But she calls you 17."
"Well, that's because..."
Vera's words trailed as a stunning oversight hit him in the face. He hadn't told either of them his name, even though he had no qualms against it...
They never asked him for it, so he forgot to mention it.
Huh... wait, Sho? Does that mean they knew your name and not mine this entire time?
Vera glanced behind him, watching his shadow shimmer to life and give a nod that Number 8 probably saw as casual, but Vera could tell something else...
Oh, you smug bastard...
Vera felt his eye twitch as Sho's shoulders shook slightly, a silent, mischievous giggle coming from his shadow before it melted to its dormant form. Having had enough fun messing with Vera for one night and deciding to return to rest until it was needed...
That little...
Vera huffed as he turned away from his shadow, muttering about 'Sho' and his little 'tricks' before he turned his attention back to Number 8. Who had watched the entire ordeal with a blank face before commenting in a tone that was a mixture of bewilderment and begrudgingly impressed, "I have no idea how your magic works..."
"Me either."
Vera answered immediately, giving a non-caring shrug to the look of silent judgment that Number 8 gave him. Vera gave his shadow a light tap in passing before getting back to the important stuff, "Anyways, about Ultear. She calls me 17 because I forgot to tell her my name..."
I can't believe I forgot for so long...
Vera sighed at the thought, pausing as he caught Number 8 nodding, the kid's mouth opening hesitantly before closing. Number 8, looking away and lying on the ground to sleep before he heard something that made him stop, "My name's Vera, by the way..."
Number 8 glanced back, surprise turning to dread as 17... or Vera now asked him a question he didn't want to answer.
"What's yours?"
A question he couldn't answer.
My name...
For the longest time, he didn't know he had a name; the only reason he knew was because of 7. She had given him his name, and it was something he cherished...
He loved it more than anything...
It was the only thing he had left of her...
He didn't know how to use it now that she was gone...
He didn't know if he was ready for someone else to call him by his name.
"I don't have one..."
So he lied and said he didn't have one. Ignoring the surprise and grief that drifted into Vera's face as he lay down by the fire, drifting off to sleep and hoping that someday he could use his name again...
"It's always been Number 8."
That one day, his name would be more than just a painful reminder.
The fire cracked quietly, the sound of even breathing filling the near-silent cave as Vera sat by the wall. His eyes were downcast and tired as he looked over the prone figure, tracing the blue hair covering the boy's face before turning away.
I'm surprised...
Vera stewed in thought, glancing at the boy and narrowing on the right side of his face...
I didn't think he'd hide his name...
The fire highlighted the red tattoo hidden behind blue locks of hair that were shaggy and unkempt. An unmistakable sign of his identity and the talent that let him become the youngest wizard saint in history.
Jellal Fernandez.
The boy he had saved from the lab was Jellal Fernandez...
The boy who at one point was an older brother to the children in the Tower of Heaven. A child that took on the burdens of other children and was punished for it...
Over and over and over again...
A habit he must have picked up from the lab if Vera connected the dots right.
Seriously... what a shitty draw... going from the lab to the tower.
Vera didn't think he would survive it; it was just too cruel a transition. He would snap if he lived his entire life in one hell to trade it for another...
Although if he had to choose one...
He definitely would have chosen the tower.
At least there, he would have had friends.
Well... Sho's my friend... when he's not messing with me.
Vera huffed at the thought, glancing back at his shadow, which was still silent. He gave it an annoyed look before shaking his head, turning back to the fire as he thought in circles. His eyes trailed back to Number 8's slumbering form with a new thought bugging him for a while...
I didn't know he used thread magic...
Unlike what Ultear had suggested, he didn't freeze back in the lab because he recognized Number 8's magic; it was because he didn't. The magic that stitched their clothes together with thin, wire-like threads that trailed from Number 8's fingertips was unexpected...
I thought Jellal would use Heavenly Body Magic...
That was the main magic Jellal had used in the story, so a part of Vera expected him to use it immediately. That's why it threw him for a loop when the mage that nearly toppled the magic council with his golden magic used thread magic instead.
Well, it's not like his thread magic is weak, so that isn't too much of a problem...
Vera had seen the Vulcan's body dissected in a perfect cut through the mid-section; anything capable of that wasn't weak by any means. Vera was confident that the only reason Jellal hadn't shown it in the story was that Heavenly Body Magic was even more powerful.
He's like Ultear... upgraded to a powerful magic, and never looked back...
Vera could see the logic in that, even though he had never had that problem in particular. Vera only had Sho, and unless he found magic he had yet to try back in the lab, he was stuck with only Sho for the foreseeable future.
It was different for Jellal, though...
He had the potential to learn multiple types of magic, and Heavenly Body Magic would, without doubt, be his best weapon in such a vast arsenal.
That means I'll have to help him learn Heavenly Body Magic...
Vera needed help figuring out where to start with that. Jellal had supposedly learned Heavenly Body Magic at the tower, and now he wouldn't end up there. That meant if Vera wanted Jellal to know it, he would have to take him to the tower…
Preferably after Erza had overthrown it since Jellal wouldn't be there to stop her this time.
That's assuming I can even find where it is...
Vera just remembered it being on an island...
There were a lot of islands on Earthland.
I'm sure Ezra will help me out with it if I ask... in the meantime...
Vera glanced again at the sleeping child, who was still too tired to trust others. Not Jellal, but Number 8, who was still recovering from his time at the lab. Who was still taking his first, small steps in truly trusting Vera and Ultear...
A trust that Vera had to make sure was repaid in full.
"Come on, Ultear... I know you're not asleep."
Vera looked over to the iced wall, annoyance flickering in his eyes as it stayed dead silent. Vera huffed as he stood and walked over, knocking on the wall, "Hey, Ultear, seriously. Open up, I need to..."
Vera stumbled a bit in his thoughts, mentally waking Sho up as he looked to his shadow for urgent advice.
Hey Sho... should I announce my apology beforehand?
Vera felt like that defeated the purpose, and going off the downright disappointed look Sho was giving him, so did he.
What? I've never apologized before...
Vera thought defensively, crossing his arms and looking away from his judgmental shadow.
Give me a break, Sho... I've talked to four people, including you...
Vera's thoughts resulted in Sho tilting his head in question, Vera scowling as he thought with a bitterness that even his mind couldn't hide.
Doctor Dead-body was one of them... and I'm not apologizing for that anytime soon.
Vera was slightly appeased when Sho nodded, giving him what could be interpreted as an 'I wouldn't either.' The shadow then held a palm up in a message that Vera took as 'give me a second' before slipping towards the ice wall.
What are you doing...
Vera's eyes widened as Sho took a clawed finger out of the ground and poked a hole into the bottom of the wall. The shadow's razor-sharp finger created a small, mouse-sized hole that Sho slipped into.
Well, that's one way to go about it...
Vera gave a slightly impressed hum before putting his hands in his coat pockets and waiting for Sho to return. Hoping that Sho would tell him if Ultear was ignoring him or if she was asleep, which would mean Vera would have to try his luck tomorrow.
Okay... I have a fifty-fifty chance of her being awake... that means a fifty-fifty chance of apologizing tonight...
Vera tapped his foot as he looked towards the wall, his mind whirling nervously since he'd never apologized before...
Especially to someone who could bury him in ice and snow if he got it wrong.
How do I apologize? Am I supposed to give her a gift or something? Would she want some more of the Vulcan meat? No, that's stupid; she'll freeze me if I do that... You know what, I'm overthinking this... I'll say-
'Tug' 'Tug'
Vera paused as he felt Sho tug on the connection, his eyes quirking in confusion before they widened. Vera watched in growing shock as Sho pierced an arm through the other side of the wall, melting into the shadows before returning to Vera's side. The hole Sho had opened, giving Vera a full view of Ultear's snow bed...
Ultear's empty snow bed.
What?
Vera bolted towards the hole, motioning for Sho to break it in more so Vera could step through. The shadow nodded before breaking in the hole piece-by-piece until there was an entryway that Vera could step through and see the private quarters Ultear had made herself...
As well as a vent-sized tunnel hidden behind the snow bed, the gust of cold wind signaling to him that it led to the outside world...
Ultear had made a tunnel outside...
In the middle of a blizzard.
Fuck...
Vera groaned, a mixture of annoyance and dread flooding him as he stared at the ice tunnel that Ultear must have crawled through. Annoyance because Ultear had disappeared without telling them right after Number 8 did the same thing...
Dread because he would have to follow her outside and bring her back.
She better accept my apology after this...
Vera clicked his tongue, fighting off the chilling cold as he moved past the snow bed and crawled into the ice tunnel.
I'm literally getting frostbite for it.
The fact that he was getting farther from the fire wasn't helping.
Ultear had made her way towards a clearing thirty minutes from the small hole she had crawled out of. She had wrapped around the mountainside and walked to a place where she could be alone with her thoughts.
This will do...
It was a clearing of flat snow and rocks nestled against the mountainside, resting at an elevation that made her breath shallow. A vindication of snow, flanked on one side by the mountain that towered over everything, disappearing into the grey clouds traveling with the debilitating blizzard. The other side was taken by a small forest that crawled down the mountainside, green pine hidden behind layers of ice and frost.
"Ice Make"
The wind was harsh and unforgiving...
"Rosen Karone"
Sleet and snow were whipping through the air, a storm so thick that if one blinked, they could lose their way in the endless ocean of white...
"Ice Make"
Ultear embraced the harsh winter, the cold, and the chilling wind...
"Rose Karone"
She stood against it, pushing her magical power as icy vines and roses shot from her feet. A thorny garden of ice rising from the snow, swimming through the storm and circling her like sharks in the water.
"Ice Make"
She broke down her creations, letting the shards of ice fall to the ground to make it again and again and again...
"Rosen Karone"
She practiced every motion, thorn, and petal over and over again...
"Ice Make"
Yet every time she made her thorny vines...
"Rosen Karone"
Every time she crafted her crystal roses...
"Ice Make"
She knew...
"Rosen Karone"
Ur could do it better.
It needs to be better...
Ultear released a shaky breath, fighting off exhaustion as frustration built in her throat. A growl escaped her lips as her thorny vines twitched in response to her anger. Shaking and coiling, the tension released in lashes against the snow, soft craters in the expanse of snowy white buried under fresh snow a few seconds later.
Dammit...
Ultear grit her teeth, trying to reign in her emotions before letting her power flare in the frozen space where no one could see her. Letting the anger that coursed through her rage in the open, snow and sleet from the storm swirling around her before it exploded in a burst of frozen fury. Sounding like thunder amongst the howls of the blizzard and sending shards of ice into nearby trees...
After which, Ultear put her shaky hands on her knees, her breath ragged as she scowled at the ground in agonizing frustration.
"Dammit -huff- All that -huff- and it still wasn't enough..."
Ultear murmured to herself, the time she spent after returning to the lab flashing through her mind...
"All that time..."
She had gone back to the lab for such a long time...
"I'm still weaker than her..."
It still wasn't enough.
I need time magic...
Ultear couldn't see another way out; she needed the time magic that 17 was offering her. She needed a spell that she could use to surpass her mother...
Ultear couldn't surpass her mother by relying solely on ice-make magic.
Her magic was different...
Ultear could remember it clearly, like a movie lodged into her brain.
Her magic was special...
She remembered in vivid detail how Ur crafted her icy vines and flowers. Each one was so minutely detailed that any piece of them could have been replaced with a natural plant, and the difference would be untraceable. Each petal and each thorn is so finely crafted that any artist would consider them a masterpiece.
Her magic felt alive...
Ur's roses felt real, their growth so natural and beautiful that even the world seemed to forget that they weren't alive...
Ur was the embodiment of Ice-make magic.
Ultear didn't know how to reach her level...
Not yet, at least.
One more time...
Ultear took a deep breath, pushing her tired muscles to stand as she placed her closed fist in her palm. Wringing her magic, she felt the wind whip at her hair, and the snow numbly bite her skin.
"Ice Make"
Ultear let out a shaky breath, ignoring the haziness at the edge of her vision as she poured out her magic, aiming for a tree as she carved the image of icy vines into the snow. Her eyes narrowed through the growing sleet, her hand barely visible in front of her face as the wind howled through the air, almost in warning.
"Rosen-"
Ultear's words stopped as she heard a deathly rumble, her eyes wide as she looked back towards the mountain that faded under the grey storm clouds. Her eyes couldn't see what was happening atop the mountainside, but her body could feel what was coming...
The feeling of her element barreling down the mountainside
Run...
A shiver engulfed all of her senses as she turned and desperately sprinted towards the tree line. Her shaky muscles betrayed her as she stumbled away from the ice that had betrayed her, the frozen beauty she had always been drawn towards now baring its deadly fangs at her, threatening to crush her under a snow mountain...
'RUMBLE'
It sounded like the sky was falling; the quaking of the snow beneath her made it feel like she was trying to run through the mud. The tingle down her spine now felt like a stabbing pain, as if her magic was desperately trying to save her. The ocean of snow hounded her like a rabid dog, chasing her as she pushed through the exhaustion and made it a few feet from the tree line...
'RUMBLE'
It was just a few feet...
'RUMBLE"
She wouldn't make it those last few feet.
I'm not going to make it...
It was a sobering thought to know that she would die here. That after everything she had done, everything she had been through...
She would die...
Without anyone ever knowing.
She would die...
All alone.
Why...
It was a useless thought, a desperate plea as she felt the weight of her element barrel into her like a freight train. Her vision flipped as she was rolled and molded into the wave of snow that would inevitably carry her down the mountainside...
Why did she abandon me...
Ultear's mind was strangely calm during the first few seconds of her end, her magic instinctively flaring as she pushed the snow away from her, just for it to be replaced by more. Ultear getting pushed in spurts as she stumbled to her back, the world seeming to slow as she looked towards the grey sky she had seen so many times from that little window.
Why did she replace me...
Ultear felt her magic wring itself dry, parting the snow around her like a stone in the river, giving her a few seconds of clarity.
Why did she leave me there...
Ultear felt her magic wane, dragging her to the depths of exhaustion as she closed her eyes.
Why didn't she-
"ULTEAR!"
Ultear's eyes shot open at the shout of desperation that rang through the raging storm she was in, a cold hand clawing to her wrist and pulling her to a stop. Her eyes flicked towards Vera, his teeth clenched with pale hands around her wrist; the other grabbed her arm to pull her back towards the sturdy tree he was hiding behind while the avalanche roared past...
How...
Ultear's eyes widened as Vera pulled her out of the raging snow, her eyes locking onto the shadowed torso that was popping out of the tree trunk. Sho's razor-sharp fingers latched onto Vera's coat to anchor him so they wouldn't be swept away.
Sho?
Ultear could only take in Sho's appearance for a second before she was yanked against Vera's chest. His thin arms wrapped around her to keep her grounded while the snow roared past them, the excess clawing up their legs as the only thing she could hear was the avalanche of thunder...
As well as a few choice words from Vera.
"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT RUNS INTO A BLIZZARD!?"
Ultear instinctively frowned, glancing back at Vera since she couldn't hit him now...
Even if she did have the strength to, he was the only thing keeping her from getting buried on the mountainside.
Her sense of survival could trump her pride for a few seconds...
Only a few, though.
"SHUT UP 17!"
Ultear yelled, uncaring for the downright offended look that crossed Vera's face a second later. Vera opened his mouth to retort before the tree shifted, and his mouth was jarred shut, a muffled scream telling Ultear that he probably bit his tongue...
Good...
Ultear turned away from Vera, hearing his muffled curses a few inches behind her as she watched the snow pass them. Content with letting Vera keep her anchored to the land of the living while she tried to recover as much as possible for when the avalanche inevitably ended.
He talks too much anyway.
Ultear let a tired smirk fall as the snow surfed past them for a few seconds more, and even with the tree shifting and cracking, it held. The avalanche ended with the two buried up to their shoulders in snow, and the tree they had been hiding behind nearly pulled out of its roots.
"It's over..."
Ultear heard Vera's exhausted words from behind her, his warm breath hitting the back of her neck as she fought back a shiver. A deep breath escaped her as the adrenaline wore off, and her body finally could relax. Ultear's exhaustion was reflected in her words as she muttered, "Great... you can let go of me now."
She glanced back at Vera, who gave her a deadpan stare as he shuffled his arms underneath the snow—a few seconds passed before they eventually popped out of the snow, bringing a puff of white dust with them.
"A thanks would be appreciated..."
Vera muttered as Sho lifted him from the nape of his jacket, lifting him out of the snow like a lion cub and plopping him in a tired, shivering heap on the freshly raised ground. All the while, Ultear shakily clawed her way out of the snow, "Well, you're not getting one."
Vera shot Ultear an irritated glare, his annoyance fading slowly as he saw Ultear stumble to her feet. His eyes narrowed on her dazed expression and shaking arms...
He knew it wasn't because of the cold.
"What were you even doing out here?"
Vera asked, his eyes narrowing as Ultear flinched before gritting her teeth and staggering towards the trail back of the cave. Vera connected the dots as he noticed the lack of Ultear's usual overflowing magical presence...
Almost as if it had been run dry.
"You were training, weren't you?"
Vera frowned as Ultear ignored him, marching away from the forest and towards the base like nothing happened. Vera was unable to keep his grievances to himself as he followed tiredly, his body freezing as he shakily walked behind her, muttering under his breath, "Unbelievable..."
Vera's mutters weren't silent and weren't intended to be. Vera knew instantly that he had been heard as Ultear stopped, taking a second to compose herself before she turned around with narrowed eyes and bitterness, "What's it matter to you, 17?"
Vera's eyes twitched in anger, his tone bordering on incredulous, "What's it matter? How about the fact that you almost died, Ultear? What would you have done if I didn't look for you? Hope you didn't suffocate till morning so eight and I could look through an avalanche for you!" Vera's voice got a little heated near the end, his bruised and near frost-bitten body translating its exhaustion to anger.
An anger that Ultear matched in stride, "I never asked you to come after me! That's why I left before my shift started! To! Be! Alone!"
Ultear emphasized every word, glaring daggers at Vera as the two stood a few feet apart. Vera yelled heatedly in response, "Well, I did it anyway!"
"WHY!?"
"TO APOLOGIZE!"
Vera shouted heatedly, his breath coming in shivering pants as he saw Uktear's eyes widen in surprise, the fight draining out of her and replaced with a suspicious confusion.
"What?"
There's no way I heard that right...
Ultear tilted her head, watching through the raging snowstorm as Vera groaned, his shoulders sagging in defeat before he met her eyes. The storm winds howling, yet Ultear could catch every word that fell through his mouth, "I'm sorry... for back in the tunnels..."
Vera's words were genuine, and they ended up silencing Ultear. The sheer surprise of the apology and its sincerity stunned her before she composed herself. Her expression was numb as she responded in the only way she knew how to, "Your apology's useless 17."
Vera flinched, his eyes narrowed a second later as he opened his mouth to speak before Ultear intercepted him, "You weren't wrong."
Vera stopped dead in response, his eyes wide as he watched Ultear give an uncaring shrug, the storm lightening around them as she spoke with brutal honesty, "You weren't wrong. I shouldn't care about whatever's going on between you and 8. I have more important things to worry about..."
Ultear clenched her fists as her magic slowly returned to her, gently guiding the storm away from them as she engraved every word into her soul, "I need to be stronger..."
I can't beat her otherwise...
"I need to be able to kill her..."
Otherwise, I went back for nothing...
"I can't just stop."
Only when I get what I want.
"Not for you..."
Only when I get what I'm owed.
"Not for 8..."
Only when I hurt her just as much as she's hurt me.
"Not for anyone."
Only when I make her regret abandoning me.
"That's why your apology is useless 17..."
Only after that... after that, I can stop.
"Nothing will change."
Ultear's words carried a finality to them, making her magic thrive in response; the trickle of magic power she had before now wielded a density that caused the storm to part in response. The two left in tense silence as the blizzard raged around them, the harsh winds and sleet avoiding them as if they were scared to go near...
As if nature itself was scared of Ultear.
"Nothing you say will change anything."
Ultear turned to leave; her footsteps muted in the snow as she walked back to the tunnel that would take them to the cave. Soft footsteps behind her signaled that Vera had chosen to follow in a contemplative silence. One that ended when she heard a near-silent whisper behind her, "What if it could..."
Ultear nearly missed a step, her eyes wide for a second before she glanced back. Narrowing her eyes as she took in Vera's guarded expression, which would hide everything if it wasn't for how he pinched the ends of his sleeves between his fingers...
"What if I told you something that would change it..."
An anxiousness that slowly faded, his fingers relaxing as he met Ultear's gaze with a contemplative one of his own.
"What then?"
Vera asked, his eyes analytical as Ultear's surprised expression fell slowly, morphing into one that guarded her rampaging thoughts. Hints of emotions flashed through her eyes: despair, hope, pain, disbelief, all whirling in a mess of hidden desires. The storm in Ultear's mind slowly faded, replaced with a cold belief that wouldn't melt even in the hottest of fires, "I wouldn't believe you."
Vera nodded, unsurprised, before glancing behind him towards the ground, where Sho was quietly waiting. His shadow was tense yet supportive, as if to say, 'I'll help you with whatever you choose to do.' It was enough to convince him to keep going with his crazy idea...
He could change more than just Number 8's future.
"How could I make you believe me?"
Vera asked, turning back to Ultear, who watched with cold eyes, the snowstorm around them roaring as if it embodied Ultear's conflict. The rampaging thoughts and memories resulted in her clenching her fists.
"You can't..."
Ultear's cold expression dropped as she gave a tired sigh, her fists relaxing as she looked towards the storm, "But in town... the town we're going to stop at... there's a lady that fed me back when I first escaped..."
Vera's eyes quirked in interest, a little disappointed when Ultear turned around without explaining more about this mystery woman. Ultear's exhaustion laced in every step and every word, yet the message was clear...
"She has magic that can tell if someone's lying."
If what Vera had to say was true, then they would find out there.
I can work with that...
"All right then..."
Vera nodded in understanding, walking beside Ultear as the two made their way to the tunnel, wading past the avalanche remnants and the broken forest until they returned to the cave. Number 8 was still asleep after the commotion, resting by the fire as if an avalanche hadn't happened less than an hour ago.
"Pretty deep sleeper, huh..."
Vera muttered, shaking his head as he immediately sat by the fire. He warmed up his chilled bones before glancing at Ultear, who was fixing up the tunnel they had crawled through and filling it up with ice. She closed the tunnel entirely before giving a wayward glance towards the ice walls she had built for herself, lowering them with a wave. She ended the self-isolation before she turned to her snow bed, curling up in it and facing the cavern walls. Her eyes closed before she heard Vera speak by the fire, "My name's Vera, by the way..."
Ultear quirked her eyes, still with her back facing Vera but asking in a slightly playful manner, "Little late for introductions, don't you think?"
She felt her lips twitch as an annoyed huff came from the fire's general direction, "Yeah, well, late is better than never..."
Ultear hummed in response, "Does eight know?"
"Yeah, told him while you were fighting the mountain," Vera said offhandedly, which prompted Ultear to give an annoyed huff before she spoke in a threatening manner that mainly was a joke...
Mostly.
"Wanna see if you do better than the mountain, Vera?"
Vera laughed sarcastically, responding, "And end up like the trees back there? No thanks. You can fight Sho later if you need more-"
The sound of a shadowed hand hitting the top of Vera's head almost got a laugh out of Ultear; her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep.
"Ow! Sho! Ok! Sorry! It was a joke! It was a joke!"
Vera's desperate pleas with his shadow gave her a sense of normalcy...
The sound of the crackling fire behind her a sense of warmth...
Knowing that Vera and Number 8 would watch her back while she slept was a comfort she could only describe as a sense of...
Safety.
It was a feeling she chose to memorize because she knew it would be fleeting. Even if Vera believed he could somehow sway her from her course, she knew the truth...
She wouldn't feel safe again for a long time...
She would have to pay that price to get the strength she desired...
She accepted that, and even with her grim future painted out for her, she could sleep soundly. There was only one new development that floated through her mind. A caveat she now considered about the goal that had guided her since the day she saw her mother abandon her...
Vera...
She wondered...
It's a nice name.
She wondered why the price seemed so much heavier than it used to be.