Chapter 14

With her arms now in plaster, Mine remained in a corner of the room, looking down. It had already been more than a day since the girl had returned to the base with Gajeel's help. After checking Sheele's condition to find out that she was still alive, Najenda transported her body to another base so that she could be treated. However, there had been no news since yesterday, so Mine remained there, consumed with grief and guilt.

"Mine." Suddenly called her Akame, coming towards her with a bowl of soup. "You must eat."

"Not hungry." Said Mine simply.

"Mine, you don't have to worry." Bulat assured. "Sheele's going to be all right! She's one of us! And anyway, you don't have to feel guilty about what happened."

"I am useless." Mine then retorted. "I... If only I could have been stronger! If only I had been more responsive! If my body had been stronger, I... I... I..."

"Mine, you did what you could." Lubbock assured her.

"And what does I do but run away?" Raged Mine. "Sheele got hurt and I couldn't do anything to help her! Without Gajeel and Lily, her body would never have made it here and I didn't even have the idea to take her teigu! I... I was useless."

"Mine, you..." Tatsumi began.

"Is everyone here?" Najenda wanted to know, as she entered the room.

"Boss!" Called her immediately Mine. "So, how's Sheele doing?"

"I've just heard from her." Najenda told her. "She's still alive and her condition has stabilized."

Smiling at this moment, Mine showing nothing but joy in her eyes. Yet her hope was short-lived.

"However, she suffered a concussion and is still in a coma."

"Huh? But...? But...? But...? She's going to wake up, right?"

"Mine... the doctors told me... it's not likely to happen." Najenda told her.

Falling to her knees, Mine finally came out with tears streaming out of her eyes.

"It's impossible! Impossible! It... it must..."

Clenching her fists, she roared.

"This is all her fault! The fault of that damn woman! She's the one who beat her to death! I... I could never forgive her."

Then hitting the ground with her fist, she ruined her arm more with each blow. Then, suddenly, she spat.

"And it's Wendy's fault too! If she had let Sheele kill that girl, none of this would have happened! She can no longer be considered one of us! She's just a dirty traitor."

"Huh?" Natsu wondered. "Hey, wait, she's the one who..."

He didn't even have time to finish his sentence when a slap was heard. Hitting her, Najenda looked at Mine angrily while she said.

"I forbid you to let your anger talk nonsense! Wendy let you run away! Wendy is the one who made sure Sheele's body is still with us! She's just a child, Mine! A child who's not even from our world! And yet she's doing everything she can to help us! Maybe you think differently, but she did what she thought was right! She made sure no one dies on either side."

"Maybe, but..."

"Stop whining!" Suddenly Gajeel roars.

Remaining alone at the other end of the room, while biting into an iron bar, he spat out a piece of rust before saying.

"Are you saying it's other people's fault that Sheele is in this condition? Don't make me laugh! Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, learn from your mistakes and weaknesses! And practice making yourself stronger! Sheele knew there was a chance she could get killed, just like all of you! And yet, she didn't hesitate to fight to the bitter end! Do the same! You say you're the best sniper of this team? Well, prove it by exceeding your limits."

Clenching her teeth, on hearing him, Mine wanted to say something back. Yet when she opened her mouth, it was only to utter cries of sadness as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

"Natsu!" Called him Happy, seeing him sitting in front of the base of the Night Raid, while looking off into the distance, towards the capital.

"Hmm? What is it, Happy?"

"I just want to know... what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're always the first one who wants to avenge your friends and run headlong into the enemy! So why don't you do it?"

Sighing at this moment, Natsu said.

"For two reasons! The first, because it might jeopardize the whole plan of the others! During a battle, if ever I shout, in anger, the slightest information that could harm Night Raid, I might become the one responsible for the loss of our band! And I refuse to let that happen! It's not like in Fairy Tail where we could let off steam at will and just pay for the damage before going back to our normal life! No, here, I understood that the slightest mistake can lead to death."

"And the second reason?"

"I don't know how to act."

"What do you mean?"

" Seryu... I don't know how I should consider her! It's because of her that Sheele is in this situation! And yet, she's also the one who helped me find Wendy in time! Without her, you'd be dead."

Then he stuck his fingers in the ground and scratched it, grumbling.

"This damn minister is getting worse... it's all his fault! I... I want to run to the capital and destroy the palace! But... But I have to hold back."

"Are you sure you can do it?"

"I don't know, Happy." Natsu confessed to him. "At some point or another, my anger will eventually take over and I'll let my rage control me! Let's just hope I don't do anything stupid at that moment."

Walking into a bookstore, Wendy couldn't help but think.

"How can I go back to the base? Everyone must think I betrayed them! Sheele's teigu was stolen by the soldiers, Mine's face is known to everyone ... and Sheele may already be dead."

This, Wendy couldn't help but repeat over and over again in her head. And this, despite the fact that the attack had already taken place a few days ago.

Grabbing a book at random, she flipped through it and closed it.

"What must Natsu, Gajeel, Mine and all the other members of Night Raid be thinking? I have no idea."

Finally, Wendy picked up a book and walked to the counter before handing it to the salesperson.

"I'll take that."

"It is understood, Miss." Assured the green-haired salesman, while keeping an unemotional look on his face.

Paying for the book, while keeping her gaze lowered, Wendy pretended to leave, when Lubbock suddenly exclaimed.

"Hey, Miss ! Did you hear about the accident that involved two women? I heard that one was known to be stubborn and the other is a real dizzy one. "

Stopping then, Wendy let him continue.

"The stubborn one is fine, but she's consumed with grief. She's crying because the dizzy one is, at this very moment, in a coma, and we don't know if she's ever going to wake up."

With her eyes wide open, Wendy almost dropped her book and fell to her knees because of it. Yet, before she could do so, Lubbock added.

"Yet, their mother said this: '' No matter who caused the accident, our whole family forgives her and hopes it doesn't stop her from doing what she thinks she is doing right.'' "

Remaining a few moments without moving, Wendy ends up turning towards him, while trying to show a confident face.

"I'll keep coming."

Then, she left. Lubbock smiled as he saw her leave, and as the guilt seemed to gnaw at her, he said.

"It's too much pressure to put on a child's shoulders."

Then heading to the shelf where Wendy was previously, he became to be putting the books in order. Then, discreetly, he opened the book that Wendy had taken first, when she arrived here. Immediately, he grabbed two letters that the child that the child had put inside and returned to the counter after hiding them under his clothes.

However, after he had a chance to look at them, he noticed that the letters were addressed to "Boss" for the first one and "Mine" for the second one.

"Her report and ... her excuses for Mine. " Lubbock thought, sighing. "That little girl ... she has a too pure heart for this job."

Running through the streets, Wendy ran towards the old town church, where the children were playing. Seeing Wendy, they cried out.

"Nee-chan! Are you all right?"

"Yes." She said, tenderly caressing the heads of the first two children who had come up to her.

Seeing Natachy, hugging Koro as if he were a teddy bear, Wendy asked.

"Where's Seryu?"

"Praying!" The children said.

As Wendy went to find her, she saw her friend sitting in front of a grave with her hands together.

"You really love coming here. "

"This place soothes me." Seryu assured her. "Every time I visit him, I feel like my father gives me his strength."

Rising up then, she cried out.

"Let's go fight evil again, Wendy."

Running immediately, Seryu began to whistle, which made Koro gesticulate in Natachy's arms, before making her let go. Heading towards the city center, the trio stopped nevertheless, when a voice shouted.

"Seryu!"

Walking in front of the children, Father Mory watched the two girls leave and said.

"Don't come back with your legs missing, okay?"

Scratching her cheek with her new bionic arms, Seryu started stuttering.

"Well, it's not like I want my arms cut off and..."

"Seryu, for me you're like my child." Mory assured her. "And I don't like that my children are in the same state as you! So, please, take care of yourself! And the same goes for you, Wendy! Come back in one piece, please."

"Yes, father Mory." Assured the two girls.

"Goodbye, Onee-san and Nee-chan!" Exclaimed several children.

"Come back and play with us." Shouted the others.

"Yes, I promise." Assured the two girls, before resuming their race through the town.

And, just as they entered the city, Seryu said.

"Hey, Wendy ! A nobleman is going to fund a program to give food to people in poor neighborhoods."

"Huh?"

"Yes! He was a person who owed Ogre-sama a debt! And as soon as I told him about the poor people starving to death, he told me he would do everything he could to give them something to eat."

Hearing this, Wendy said.

"That's great! Thank God you're here, Seryu! And I am happy that you've changed."

Looking down, Seryu said.

"For me a criminal is always a criminal! And I must hunt him down in the name of justice."

Then, looking away from Wendy, she mumbled.

"But, for a simple theft of food, it's true that I may have been a little hard on these people."

Smiling, noting that, despite her words, Seryu had shown the beginning of a change in her personality, Wendy affirmed.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Hey, don't think I think your justice is better than mine! No matter what happens, I'll slaughter Night Raid the minute I see them again! And the same goes for anybody who commits rape, murder or anything like that."

Stopping suddenly, Seryu had Wendy bumped against her back.

"Hey, why did you stop?"

"Esdeath-sama!" Seryu cried out.

"Hmm?" Wendy wondered, looking ahead.

A huge parade. It was what Wendy saw moving through the city streets. Thousands of soldiers were marching towards the city's barracks, with flawless organization, inciting respect. Nevertheless, standing out from the crowd, Wendy saw a beautiful woman in front of the soldiers.

"Her aura..." Thought Wendy. "She is as beautiful as Erza and radiates an energy comparable to hers."

"Who's that?"

"Huh?" Seryu wondered. "Don't you know the great general Esdeath? She's the most powerful person in this empire and surely in this world! I heard that she went to fight the northern tribes and swept them away in no time! She's the Ice Mistress."

"The Ice Mistress?"

"Yes!" Seryu said, staring at Esdeath in admiration. "I'd give anything to be able to work under her orders, even if only for a day."

"Not me, anyway! " Wanted to confess Wendy, staring at her gaze. "Their auras are perhaps comparable, that of Erza remains warm while that of this woman... it is the opposite! I can only read evil in her."

"Today you two are going to work with me." Bulat assured, standing in front of Natsu and Tatsumi. "We're going to work on controlling your impulses! You'll need it badly."

"In that case, you don't have to do it with Natsu." Assured Happy. "It would just be a waste of time! He's incapable of being calm for more than five seconds."

"What did you say?" His friend got angry.

"Do you see? He's incapable of managing his emotions."

"Bullat ! " Suddenly called him Tatsumi. "I want to become strong! Can you help me?"

"And why do you want to become strong?"

"The attack on Mine and Sheele made me think. " Tatsumi assured him. "I know I wasn't as strong as them! So, I have to progress, again and again! I want to become someone who can protect myself against the enemy alone."

Then Bulat hit him in the back and said.

"You look a bit like a real man! Ok, from now on I will become your big brother! I will teach you all my knowledge!"

"Yes, aniki!" Tatsumi rejoiced.

"It's a little strange." Natsu remarked.

"It reminds me of a pervert." Added Happy.

"Shut up, you two!"

Carrying a heavy bag on his back, Tatsumi wiped the sweat from his forehead with a sleeve before looking up at the top of the mountain he was climbing.

"It's high! I've never been so far up the mountain."

"From now on you must be on your guard." Said Bulat. "Here it's as dangerous as being in the capital, when everyone knows who you are."

"Huh?" Tatsumi wondered.

Feeling a strange presence, Natsu suddenly turned to him, before kicking him in the stomach. Ejected backwards, Tatsumi suddenly saw what looked like a big branch crashing where he was a second ago.

"What...?" He wondered, as he fell to the ground.

Facing a tree, Natsu saw it move while a huge eye opened in the center of its trunk.

"What's this thing?"

"We've seen scary things before, but this... this must be one of our top ten." Happy remarked.

Suddenly being cut in half, the creature collapsed to the ground, while Bulat had just swung his spear at the tree.

"Tawny trees!" He said. "If you allow yourself to be distracted, they'll devour you for a second."

Seeing other trees and rocks moving, Happy said.

"It's an ambush."

"This place is full of dangerous creatures suitable for camouflage." Bulat assured. "Here, to survive is to kill, or be killed! If you're determined to survive, come forward with me and let's fight these monsters."

"You don't need to tell me twice." Tatsumi assured, drawing his sword.

"I just needed to decompress." Natsu confessed, already setting his fists on fire.

"So, let's attack! And don't forget that I'll carry anyone on my back if he's injured." Bulat added, blushing.

Shivering, Natsu immediately grabbed Tatsumi to push him once again towards Bulat.

"Here's your offering."

"Stop doing that."