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BOLD AND ITALIC stand for flash back

Chapter 26

Departure

When I became aware again, I was lying on a mat staring at a ceiling. I looked at my side my entire body feeling heavy and slightly hot. I sat up rubbing my head. I noticed that my shirt had been taken off and I had some scars on my side meaning that someone had taken care of me. I looked around and the first thing I saw was a very familiar face. Jade was sitting on her perch as keeping watch over me like a guardian. I also saw that I was in a room with a tatami flooring and shoji doors meaning that I must have been carried to the temple. The moment Jade saw me awake, she flew towards me and nuzzled against my cheek with her head.

"Hey there Jade," I murmured stroking her head. "It's nice to see you too."

I was relieved that I was alive and in the temple, but I was also confused as too how I got here in the first place. The only thing that I remember was fighting that demon. Then after that, I saved Mira and then...

"Wait a second... Mira!"

My heart leaped upon remembering Mira. The demon made an attempt to try and kill her, but I managed to save her. Then I tried fighting it off, but it caught me off guard by wounding me. After that, I blacked out and regained consciousness to find that somehow Mira and the demon became one and went berserk almost destroying the church. I can't remember anything after that. That made me worry about Mira. Was she OK? Was I able to stop her from her rampage? If I did, how was I able to stop her? The only thing I remember was when she was about to fire that beam at me.

Just then, the shoji door opened and in stepped Finn along with Tu Chi. When Finn saw that I was awake, a smile of relief crossed his face and he immediately embraced me in a hug while Tu Chi stepped in smiling looking relieved as well.

"Willy! Thank goodness you're finally awake!" he said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Finn. Really," I replied. "What... what happened? How did I get here?"

"We carried you to the temple," said Tu Chi. "You along with Mira were unconscious on the ground. After that, while you were unconscious, you developed a high fever. You were unconscious from a couple of days."

"Wait... where's Mira?!" I asked feeling worried. "Is she OK? Is she hurt?! Is she alive?!"

Finn and Tu Chi looked at each other and both of them had complicated expressions on the faces as if they were holding back some bad news. I began to get a gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach.

"No...please... don't tell me that... she's..."

"She's fine Willy," Tu Chi immediately cut in. "She's alive and well if that's what you're thinking."

I let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that and the feeling in my gut lessened. "Thank goodness."

"However... there's a bit of a problem," said Finn. "A problem regarding Mira. She's... developed some kind of condition."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Is she sick or something?"

Tu Chi and Finn looked at each other and then Tu Chi walked over and then sat in front of me.

"Willy. Do you remember anything that has happened? Anything at all?" she asked.

I thought back remembering up to the point where I blacked out from the light. I shook my head.

"Then let me tell you what's going on," said Tu Chi. "But I should warn you, you might not like what has happened to the Strauss siblings. Are you sure you want me to tell you everything?"

"Yes Tu Chi," I said. "Please tell me. What happened?"

Tu Chi was silent, then she slowly opened her eyes with a grave look on her face. "Very well. I will explain everything that has happened which might I add a lot."

NO POV

Outside of the village at the Strauss sibling's house, a major situation was happening. Dozens of villagers were standing outside of the Strauss family's home shouting angrily, some of which carried sickles and pitchforks and other weapons. Inside the house, Lisanna stayed huddled up next to Mira who was now wearing a black cloak while Elfman stood looking at the floor unsure of what to do. They were trying their best to ignore the angry mob, but the villagers cruel shouting could be heard no matter how hard they ignored.

"Get out of here demon!"

"Creatures like you don't belong here!"

"You and your family are better off dead!"

"Get out now!"

"We don't want you here!"

Suddenly a rock came flying into the window breaking through the glass and smacking Mira right on the side of her head making her yelp in pain a little.

"Oh no! Mira are you OK?" asked Lisanna.

Mira answered with a nod. "I'm sorry," she said sadly. "It's all my fault."

"No it's not!" said Elfman indignantly. "None of this was your fault!"

"Yes, it is. I brought this on myself the moment I decided to go that church to look for Willy. If only I had stayed away from that church... none of this would be happening."

She uncovered her cloak revealing her arm which was now just like the demon's. It was brown running up to her arm and had purple jewel-like things on it.

"Then I wouldn't have this awful curse..."

Lisanna and Elfman looked at their sister with worry as she stared at her arm with regret and guilt.

"Get out of here demon!"

"You're asking for trouble now!"

"Leave now or we'll make you leave!"

"Filthy demon!"

"She's possessed by the demon, it's only a matter of time before she kills us all!"

As the villagers screams continued, Mira put her head between her legs and put her hands to her head her eyes shutting tight trying to shut out all of the things the villagers were calling her, but she could still hear them. Then Lisanna walked up to the window wearing an angry snarl on her face.

"No! Lisanna don't!" said Elfman knowing what she was going to do.

But then Lisanna opened the window and the villagers stopped yelling. Lisanna glared at all of them before her eyes filled up with tears.

"My sister is the one who got rid of the demon at the church!" she yelled. "She was the only one brave enough to risk her life to protect the village and her friend! How could you all treat her like this!? The only reason why she got like this was that she was trying to save Willy! It's not her fault! None of it!"

Mira and Elfman looked at Lisanna moved by her for standing up for Mira. Mira especially. Lisanna then sank to her knees buried her hands in her face and began to cry. Mira got up and went over to Lisanna comforting her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's OK Lisanna. Don't cry," she said.

Then Elfman began to cry too.

"Oh Elfman not you too. There's no reasons to cry," said Mira gently.

Then they heard one of the villages yell.

"Enough of this! I say we barge into the house and then kill that demon!"

The villagers yelled in agreement which made Mira's eyes widen in horror. If they barged in here, they would definitely kill her and her siblings. She braced herself hugging Lisanna and prepared to fight.

WILLY'S POV

I flew above in air heading straight for the Strauss siblings house, as fast as my wings and my Aqua Jet would let me as I thought back to what Tu Chi had just told me.

"Let me begin from the beginning," said Tu Chi. "Back when we found you, you were in bad condition and you weren't the one. Something was wrong with Mira as well."

"What was it?" I asked.

"For some reason, her arm had a sudden change in appearance," said Tu Chi. "Her arm looked just like the demon that was unsealed."

"What?"

"It's true," said Finn. "We both saw it with our own two eyes. We didn't know what to make of it. To make things worse, some of the villagers saw what had happened and because of that, they're calling her a demon and... and..."

Finn trailed off not finishing his sentence which made me look at him.

"And what? Tell me."

"I'm afraid that it's something horrible Willy," said Tu Chi. "For the past couple days while you were unconscious. The villagers have become blind by fear and anger and are attacking the Strauss siblings trying to drive them out of town."

"What?!"

I immediately sprang to my feet hearing what Tu Chi said.

"It's true," said Finn. "They turned them away from buying supplies and other things. Even the kids are treating them horribly for what had happened. Sieri and I tried to help by giving them what they need and by reasoning with the people, but they either turned us away or won't listen. I wouldn't be surprised if they were over at the Strauss' place right now."

My face paled and I felt my heart freeze from shock. I then bolted out of the door and ran out of the room, but before I could leave Finn grabbed my shoulder stopping me.

"Willy stop! Where are you going?!" he demanded.

"What do you think?! I'm heading for the Strauss' place!"

"Wait a minute! You can't go over there! Especially in your condition!" said Finn firmly.

"But I have to!" I said. "What if Mira and the others are in trouble?! I have to go over there and make sure that they're OK! I promised that I'd look out for them!"

I squirmed got out of Finn's grasp and ran out of the temple and took flight into the air.

"I have to hurry!" I thought to myself. "Who knows how long Mira and the others have been suffering. Please! Please be OK guys! I'm coming!"

Soon I could see the Strauss' sibling's house in sight, but that wasn't the only thing I saw. I could see a large crowd of villagers standing outside of the house shouting angrily. They were also holding weapons in the forms of pitchforks, sickles, and even garden hoes.

"My god!" I murmured. "What in the heck are they doing?!"

Then I saw something that made my heart stop and my eyes widen in shock. One of the villagers had come carrying a torch in his hand.

"Let's see if that demon will come out with this!" he said. "If we can't make them come out, we'll smoke them out!"

Upon seeing that torch in his hand, I had a flashback to my early childhood says back when I lost my home. I remembered the hot flames that burned the houses destroying everything in sight. I felt so helpless back then. Helpless and weak for being unable to protect my home and my family. From the way things were going, it looked like that traumatic experience was going to happen again right in front of me.

"No... no... no! Not again! I'm not gonna let it happen again! I'm not gonna stand around and do nothing!"

I swooped down and dive-bombed straight at the villagers. The villager with the torch raised it and got ready to set the Strauss' family's house on fire. I swooped by and knocked the torch of his hand making it fall to the ground.

"What the...!"

I then landed in front of the house standing between it and the villagers. I then used Water Star and used it to put out the fire before it started to spread. The villagers stood there in a mixture of anger and surprise on their faces.

"Hey! It's that Willy kid!"

"He put out the torch!"

The villager that had the torch looked at me in an angry snarl.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" he yelled.

"I should be asking you that!" I yelled back. "Just what do you think you're doing setting fire to this house?! Don't you know that my friends live here?!"

"Friends!? Do you mean to say that you're friends with that demon?!" the man demanded.

"Yes, she is! And she's not a demon! She's a girl named Mirajane Strauss!" I said. "And if anyone messes with my friends, they're messing with me!"

"That boy's in league with that demon! He said it himself!"

"That makes him our enemy too!"

"Get em! That boy's being controlled by the demon's influence!"

Some of the villagers with came up and pointed their pitchforks at me, but I stood my ground not moving and not intimidated.

"I'm only gonna tell you all this one time," I said. "Leave my friends and this house alone or else I'm going to have to force you to leave and I don't wanna do that unless I absolutely have to!"

"You can't threaten us!" said the former torch man. "That demon's must have used magic to control this boy!"

"Yeah! He's a servant of the demon and now she's using him against us!"

"Let's get him and make an example of him for the demon!"

"Yeah! To show him that we won't be intimated by its tactics!"

The villagers with the pitchforks got ready to attack me with their pitchforks raised, but I summoned my water sword and gave a quick slash towards them. At first, there was silence, but then the villager's pitchforks fell apart turning into sliced little pieces of wood and metal. The villagers looked at the piles in shock and then back to me holding my sword. I gave the villagers a threatening glare.

"I gave you one chance to walk away," I said. "If you won't leave, then I'm just gonna have to make you leave!"

I flared up my magic power and I began to glow with magic power. Normally my magic power glow was colored blue, but unaware to me at the time, instead of that color, I started glowing blue with slight tinges of black. I chuffed out my cheeks and released my breath attack.

"WATER DRAGON ROAR!"

I unleashed my breath attack and shot it towards the villagers. You know how my aura changed color? I didn't realize it yet, but the color of my breath attack was also different. It was blue, but at the same time, it was black as well. My breath attack washed all over the villagers like a wave sweeping them away. The villagers were blasted quite a distance away scattering everywhere on the ground and soaking wet. This puzzled me. I meant to hold back on my breath attack, but for some reason, it was more forceful than I thought. Not to mention for some reason I felt a little weak. Thinking that I was still feeling my fever, I quickly shook that thought out of my mind and I yelled out to the villagers.

"Now get out of here! I don't wanna have to do that again! If I find out you all are picking on my friends again, I'll do a lot more than just blast you with water!"

The villagers got up and looked at me. Some looked frightened and some looked angry, but they all ran away back into the village like a bunch of scared rabbits. As soon as I saw that they were out of sight I let out a sigh of relief having to have saved the Strauss' home, but I still felt puzzled for what had just happened.

"I meant to hold back, but... why was my roar that strong?" I thought to myself. "Was it because I grew stronger without me realizing it?"

"Willy! Is...that you?"

Hearing the voice, I snapped out of my thoughts and turned around to find that Elfman and Lisanna were out of the house staring at me as if I was a ghost. As soon as I saw them I smiled with relief.

"Yes. It's me," I said. "Sorry, it took me so long to get here Lisanna. Elfman."

Then Lisanna started crying again as did Elfman, but their tears were ones with joy mixed with sadness. They ran out of the house and embraced me in a hug. I embraced them happy to see them again.

"We were so worried about you!" wept Lisanna.

"We thought that you would never wake up!" cried Elfman.

"It's OK," I said. "I'm fine. Really. There was no reason to worry. I just got knocked out. That's all. Are you guys OK? Well...other than what has happened and all."

"We're OK, but... I wish we could say the same for Mira," said Elfman.

"Those awful villagers have been at it with us for the past view days and they keep calling Mira a demon all because of what happened to her arm!" said Lisanna. "It's not her fault!"

"I know Lisanna. I know," I said to Lisanna petting her head. "It's OK. So is Mira inside?"

"Yeah," said Elfman. "But...I don't if she wants to see you or not. She still blames herself for what happened to you."

I looked at Elfman and Lisanna and then at the house. Then I straightened up.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to her," I said as I walked towards the house.

I had just walked into the house when all of a sudden, I began to feel a little feverish. Like my body had gotten hotter. It wasn't overwhelming or anything, but I just felt a little feverish. However, I decided to ignore it and went inside to look for Mira.

"Mira? Mira where are you?" I called out.

I looked by the window in the living room and I didn't see her. I looked in the kitchen and I still didn't see her. Then I looked in the corner of the room near the doorway and I saw her. She was wearing a black cloak covering her entire body her face turned to the floor.

"Mira... there you are..." I said walking towards her.

"Stay away!" Mira suddenly snapped.

I stopped startled hearing her yell.

"Just stay away from me... I'm a monster... A freak! No... I"m a demon... just as the villagers said..."

"That's not true," I said. "You're not a monster, or a freak, or a demon."

"How the hell do you know?!" yelled Mira snapping her head up at me revealing her tear stained face her eyes filled with anger and despair. "What? You think I'm normal even if my arm is like this?!"

She then revealed her arm that was mutated which made my eyes widen a little. Her arm looked exactly like the demon I fought. I could see why the villagers acted the way they did.

"It disgusts you doesn't?" Mira spat. "The moment people saw this... thing... they called me a monster. A demon. They turned me away and treated me like crap. They even threatened to kill me and my siblings. So... don't deny it... I'm a freak and you know it. Don't lie to me."

There was a long silence. Then I walked towards her and embraced her in a hug making her eyes wide widen.

"I'll say it again. You're not a monster nor are you a freak or a demon," I said quietly but strongly. "You're Mirajane Strauss. A thirteen-year-old girl who has a brother named Elfman and a sister named Lisanna. You're also my friend and no matter what those people say about you, there's nothing they can say that can tell me different."

Mira was frozen. Then she returned my embrace and buried her face in my chest.

"Willy... Thank you... thank you..."

I smiled and hugged her tighter. "It's alright. What are friends for?"

Mira pulled away and wiped her tears. "I was so scared. I was scared that you would never wake up again, but I guess I was worried for nothing."

I smiled. "You had every right to worry. I'm only sorry that I didn't wake up sooner."

"It's not your fault Willy," said Lisanna. "You were hurt pretty bad."

"Yeah. I guess Tu Chi wasn't kidding when she told me what was going on," I said looking around the house.

"Yeah. The villagers keep showing up here trying to drive us away," said Elfman. "And I think it might be working."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

The siblings were silent. Then Mira spoke quietly.

"I think it's obvious Willy," said Mira. "With everything that's happened, I think the only option we have is... well...we're just gonna have to find a new place to live."

My eyes widened a little. "What? Leave?!"

"I'm sorry Willy, but there's no other option left."

"But... but... you can't just leave! Surely there's a way for you all to stay without worrying about those villagers!"

"I wish there was, but I agree with Mira," said Elfman. "With the way things are, there's no way we can survive let alone live here any longer. We have no choice."

"But... how are you three gonna be able to survive on your own?" I asked worriedly.

"We don't know," said Mira. "But... we got no choice. We're just gonna have to find a new place to live."

"In that case, I'm coming with you," I said almost defiantly. "There's no way I'm gonna leave you guys alone out there."

"Willy. You don't have to," said Mira. "We don't want you to get dragged down with us. Especially since you live here too."

"Actually... I may have no choice," I said. "Because of that stunt I pulled trying to protect you guys, I think the villagers might hate me too. They thought that I was being controlled by Mira or something."

"Seriously?!" said Elfman and Lisanna who were clearly surprised.

"Yeah. And so... I think it would be best if I go with you. I don't want Finn and Sieri getting involved with all of this. Besides, I have been meaning to leave Osia to go find some information about Aquadia. Eventually."

"But...are you sure that Finn and your master are gonna be OK with that?" asked Elfman. "I mean you two may not be related, but he's like a dad to you."

"It'll be fine," I said. "Besides they've already done so much for me. I don't want to give them any more trouble. Let's just hope that they understand."

I soon discovered that indeed they did. Finn and Sieri at first were a bit reluctant to let me go, but they understood. Tu Chi, however, understood completely. She believed that I was more than capable of handling myself. After all, I am a pretty strong wizard. And soon after, me and the Strauss siblings then packed a couple necessities we needed. We said goodbye to our three friends and we soon left the village. As we were about to leave, I couldn't help but look back at the village. I could see Finn, Tu Chi, and Sieri standing there waving goodbye. Sieri was shedding a couple tears, but she had a smile on her face trying to be happy. Finn had a neutral expression, but he gave me a smile and waved as well. Tu Chi was smiling all the way. She waved her staff giving me her goodbyes as well. As I looked at them, I couldn't help feel like wanting to stay, but I quickly put that thought of out my head. I smiled back and waved them one final goodbye and then me along with the Strauss siblings left Osia.

Now we're finally getting to the next part of the story. FYI just so we're clear, this story is gonna be completely different than any other fanfiction with OC dragon slayers. Look forward to it!

Anyhoo if you have any questions or liked what you read, don't be afraid to ask me or give me a review!

Until then... Dragoman out!