Sorry for another wait, guys. This one wasn't on purpose I promise.
Enjoy!
Both lines of the call were silent, neither saying a word. Drake was way to tired and confused to get a decent sentence out. He knew that he'd called looking for Ultear, but for her to get back to him so quickly, and in the middle of the night, was not something he expected.
"It's good to hear your voice," Ultear said. "Feels like it's been forever since I saw you." Drake didn't reply to this, still trying to come up with something to say. "Drake? Are you there?"
"...Yeah," Drake said, finally finding his voice. "I'm here. I'm just tired. It's the middle of the night you know, Ul." She laughed at this, which made Drake smile slightly.
"Yeah, I know." She replied. "Sorry, I've been up for a while. I couldn't resist. Did I wake you up?" Drake yawned to prove a point. That and he was just tired.
"Yeah, you did." He replied. "Be grateful I'm the only one that woke up."
"Oh?" Ultear asked. "Is there someone there?" Drake looked over his shoulder back at his couch, where Steph and Elise were still out cold.
"Something like that," Drake replied. "My house has been turned into a hangout." Ultear laughed at this.
"Poor thing," she said. "How are you? It's been so long since I've seen you." Drake made a face and leaned against the wall, thinking over his answer.
"I'm okay," he said. "It's been a rough year, but...It's getting better." Ultear hummed at this.
"I'm glad," she said. "I was worried you would still be stuck in your rut." Drake managed a smile at this. If only Ultear knew that he was barely out of said rut. "How are the others? Are they good?" Drake frowned at this. Ultear had left a while ago, so she didn't know that everyone was off doing their own thing. Steph was here and Elise had come home, but as for Simon? Damien? Drake didn't know where they were, much less how they were doing.
"They're good," he said. "Steph is doing well. Always trying to brighten the world. Elise is okay too, I think."
"Elise?" Ultear asked. "She's home?"
"Define home," Drake said. "She's crashed on my couch currently. But yes, she's here."
"That's...Great," Ultear said, laughing a little. "Do you think you could wake her up? I'd like to talk to her too."
"You really want me to poke a sleeping bear?" Drake demanded, earning another laugh from Ultear. "I'd rather she stay asleep."
"I get that," Ultear said. "Some things never change." Silence came over the pair, neither saying a word. Drake waited, listening to the crackling of the phone line. "...I miss you guys, Drake."
"I miss you too." Drake said, pocketing his free hand. "Come home."
"I...I can't," she replied. "The people here need me, and I owe them. I can't leave yet."
"What're you even doing anyway?" He asked. "I never asked about that."
"Town attacked by bandits." She replied, yet her response sounded hollow. "With the Insurgency in Seven there's a lot of bandits attacking towns near the border." Drake had nearly forgotten about that. The government in Seven, a neighbouring country, was currently being usurped by rebels. So the idea of people taking whatever they wanted to survive wasn't a surprise to him. And with no stable government to issue punishment, the problem must have been pretty bad.
"Makes sense," he replied. "Be safe, yeah? Don't want anything to happen to you."
"I will, I promise."
"Drake?" Drake jumped out of his skin and looked up to find Steph standing near him, looking tired and dishevelled. "What're you doing?" Drake sighed.
"Sorry Steph," he replied. "Did I wake you up?"
"Steph? She's there?"
"What're you doing?" Steph asked, Drake trying to figure out who he should reply to. "It's the middle of the night, for God sake."
"I'm on the phone," Drake replied, knowing immediately it was a dumb response. Steph rolled her eyes at this.
"I can see that, but with who?" She asked. Drake chuckled a little.
"Ul," he replied. He watched Steph;s eyes widen in surprise at this, and she darted towards him.
"Seriously?!" She hissed lowly, keeping herself quiet. "Give me the phone!"
Drake realised quickly this was more of a demand than anything as the phone was ripped from his hands.
"Your welcome," Drake said as Steph took the phone from his hands quickly. She stuck her tongue at him as she raised the device to her ear as quickly as she could.
"Ul?" She asked. A female voice laughed on the other end of the line.
"Hi Steph," Ultear said, making Steph smile. "How're you?"
"I'm great!" Steph replied, beyond excited to talk to her. "How about you? It's been ages since we talked to you!"
"I know, I'm sorry." She replied, growing somber. "I'm just so busy nowadays that I don't know when I'll get the chance to come home. I hope it's soon, I'm getting seriously homesick."
"I hope so too," Steph said. "I miss you."
"I may have too visit sometime soon. How are Simon? Damien?" Steph quickly lost her smile and looked over at Drake, seeing his ears twitch. He frowned as well and shrugged, signalling he didn't know what to say either. Steph sighed.
"I...Wish I could tell you," Steph replied. "I don't know." Ultear made a confused sound.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"We don't know where they are," Steph replied, looking down at her feet."Simon's with Crime Sociere, and Damien went on a private retreat. We haven't seen them in months."
"...Oh," Ultear said after an extended silence. "That's interesting. I hope they're well."
"Yeah, me too." Silence came over the line, and Ultear sighed.
"I should probably go to bed," she said. "I still work every day. Need to get some sleep." Steph nodded.
"Yeah, that's true." She said, playing with her shirt. "Get some rest, maybe we'll talk later?"
"...Yeah, sure." Ultear said. "Can I say goodbye to Drake?"
"Sure," Steph replied, handing the phone back to Drake, who took it.
"Hey...Yeah, get some sleep, goodnight..." With this, Drake hung up the phone, keeping his back turned to Steph, who stared at her feet.
"...I miss our friends Drake," she said, breaking the silence. Drake didn't reply to her, so she stepped closer to him. "I miss how things used to be."
"So do I," he replied, acting stoic. Steph looked at the back of his head, hoping he'd turn to her. He didn't.
"...Why did this have to happen?" She asked, looking back down at her feet as tears threatened to fall. "Why do we have to suffer like this?"
"I don't know," Drake replied, still not facing her. Steph gritted her teeth as she recalled the night her life changed. When Nashi died.
Steph usually kept her feelings on the matter locked away deep inside. Damien had taught her crying was wasteful, a pointless act. With Drake in chaotic limbo and everyone else distancing themselves and moving on, she'd had to be strong. For her own good, and for Drake's.
She wasn't allowed to cry.
But talking with Ultear, and coming to the realisation that Nashi's death had torn them all apart, these shoved away feelings resurfaced. Now she was angry, she was sad. Angry that her family had been torn from her, and sad that she didn't know what to do about it.
She wanted to cry.
She was torn from her thoughts as Drake wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a hug. Steph took a moment to comfort herself in his warmth, trying to calm down.
"Don't cry," he said. "It's pointless."
"I know," she replied, burying her face in his chest. "I'm not crying."
"Sure you aren't." Silence came over the two, Drake rubbing Steph's back slowly. After a few more seconds of silence, Steph strengthened her resolve and pushed herself away from him slightly.
"You okay?" He asked, eyes laced with concern.
"Yes, you big dummy," she replied, laughing as she sniffled. "I'm fine." Drake made a face and looked at his feet.
"...I don't know why this had to happen," he said. "But it did. Nothing we can do about it now, except be strong."
"Yeah, I know." She said, pushing away from him fully. "I just wish we could do something to fix it. Anything." Drake didn't reply right away, but when he did, he too sounded lost.
"Me too."
Drake was broken from his slumber at the sound of something in the kitchen exploding. Springing from bed, he tore from his room and ripped into the main area of his apartment, and beheld a strange sight.
It came as no surprise to him Elise could not cook. She'd never been able too as long as he could remember. How she'd managed to cause an explosion while making breakfast, he didn't know. And the stunned look on her face as she turned to him told him she didn't know either. He sighed.
"Please don't do that," he hissed. "Gave me a heart attack." Elise frowned and stared down at her pan.
"Doesn't make any sense," she hissed. "Like, what the fuck..."
"What were you making?"
"Doesn't matter now," she said grumpily, dumping the remnants in the garbage. Guess we eat at the guild."
"What the hell was that?" Drake turned to find Steph standing there in a towel, hair still dripping wet.
"Elise trying to feed herself," he replied, making Elise grumble under her breath. "Why're you in a towel.
"Would you rather I was naked during a potential fight?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip. Drake shrugged.
"Might be easier than holding the towel," he answered. Elise snickered from behind him.
"He just wants to see you naked, Steph." She said. Drake shrugged and walked to the kitchen, opening the fridge.
"Bet she looks better naked than you," he said. Drake prepped himself as the TV remote hit the wall near him. "You're paying for that."
"So will you if you bring that up again," Elise snarled. "You walked in on me!"
"Lock your door," Drake answered. Elise rolled her eyes and slumped down on the couch. "I have no interest in seeing Steph naked, thank you very much." Elise snorted.
"Yeah right," she said. "You two have totally banged since I left, haven't you?"
"No, we haven't." Drake said, pondering why Elise would ask such a dumb question.
"Even if we had, we wouldn't tell you." Steph replied, turning to walk back to the bathroom. "Pervert."
"Me?!" Elise shouted. "Okay, cool. Yep. Making a logical assumption makes me the bad guy."
"Logical how?" Drake demanded as the shower started up again. Elise shrugged.
"If I was an outsider looking in, I'd bet on it." she said. "I bet people thought the same of you with Nashi and Ultear." The mention of those two brought Drake back to the night before, and his talk with Ul and Steph. Seeing Steph in such a state, even for as brief as it was, brought him to a cold realisation. He knew others suffered, but seeing Steph crack made him realise he'd really only focused on himself for the past year. Steph had felt just as lost and hurt as he did, yet he did nothing to help her. Perhaps it was time to change that. She wanted things to change, to turn back time and go back to the way things were. But how could he do that? What could he possibly do.
"I miss our friends, Drake..."
...Maybe it's time we find them.
Ultear was not surprised that she'd gotten no sleep until it was already morning, causing her to sleep late into the day.. After speaking with Steph and Drake, and learning that Damien and Simon too had wandered off, her heart had taken quite a stab. She felt horrible knowing that they'd all run out on the two of them, leaving them alone for Lord knew how long. How could she do that? What kind of friend was she?
A horrible one, surely. She'd only focused on herself when she left, to escape the pain of Nashi's death. She was helping people, sure, but she knew for a fact that she didn't only come out here for that.
Ultear looked up and noticed where she was. There was a portion of town that still operated, but it was closer to the mayors office and tightly knit to protect everyone from a potential attack. The outskirts were mostly deserted, as people huddled together to survive.
And then there was the ruins of the part that had been destroyed even before Nashi died. Ultear stared at the ruins, heart growing even heavier as she realised where she was. Despite this, she altered her track and walked through the ruins, too wrapped up in her own thoughts to care about her meeting with the mayor. She walked through the silent ruins, taking a few twist and turns she'd recognise anywhere and arrived at her destination.
A burnt husk of what used to be a home. Looking down, Ultear kicked at a sign near the door. It dislodged from it's pile of debris and revealed a few words to her.
The Greens
As Ultear stared at the home of the family who'd taken her in as their own, and the little girl she murdered, Ultear had to fight the tears away. She never spoke of her time here, and for good reason. It wasn't something she wanted the others to worry about. With so much else consistently on their minds, they didn't need to worry about Ultear's painful failures.
Ultear's leg throbbed in response to her thoughts, and she rubbed it knowingly. The wound that Zindo had inflicted on her, one that would never truly heal. A constant reminder of what she'd done. That Keiko and her parents were dead because she hadn't been strong enough, not enough on her own.
...So what part of me figured I was strong enough on my own this time?
...I'm weak on my own.
She knew it was true. She was weak by herself. Even with Second Origin and all the work she'd done on her own the past few months, she was weak.
But when she been with the others, they weren't weak. They'd overcome the odds so many times. They'd survived countless scenarios together. And yet, here she was, alone. Why? Why was she alone? Why was she not with the others? Pain? Some sort of pride?
No, she didn't want to look weak in front of them. Or even to herself. So she ran. And yet, standing their in front of a burnt home, Ultear had never felt weaker.
But she couldn't afford to look weak. The people who lived here, they were counting on her, they needed her. If she was weak, what did they need her for? She needed to be strong, and she needed to finish what she'd started.
She'd started this fight over a year ago, it was about time she end it.
And then, she could go home. And she could stop feeling so weak.
"Jeez Elise, slow down!" Drake only picked as his breakfast, but from the sounds of Steph's words Elise was not. Elise laughed.
"Sorry, I'm starving." She said, eating even quicker than before. Drake was hungry as well, but he was too wrapped up in his thoughts. He'd come to the conclusion that they should find the others, but he didn't know where he was supposed to start. Simon as with his dad, and they could have been anywhere on the continent. Damien could have been anywhere as well, no one knew.
But someone knew where Ultear was. He knew that much.
Looking up, Drake scanned the guild hall for a moment or two before his eyes fell on them. He knew asking them wasn't a big deal, but he still felt a knot in his stomach. Maybe it was because asking out of nowhere would have been weird.
But he knew that if Nashi was here, she wouldn't want them all to be separated. Then again, that brought up the empty coffin and visions he had, which were still not making his existence any easier. God, he was so confused it was starting to make him angry.
"You okay Drake?" Drake looked up as Steph asked him this, looking concerned. He nodded.
"Tired," he answered. Steph nodded and didn't pursue the question. She knew they'd been up last night. Looking back towards the pair, Drake decided he had nothing to lose. He stood and excused himself from the table, leaving the girls to their own devices. He walked across the guild and made his way towards them, preparing himself.
Gray and Juvia both looked up as he approached.
"Morning Drake," Gray said. "How are you?" Drake nodded.
"I'm good," Drake said.
"How can we help you?" Juvia asked. "Anything you need?"
"If it isn't too much trouble, yeah." They both nodded and waited, and Drake made a face. Did he want to pursue his friends? Was it inconsiderate?
He then remembered Steph's tone from the night before. How hurt she'd sounded.
"You guys know where Ultear is?"
Interesting set of circumstances today, eh lads? I'm going to try and get a chapter of Homecoming of a Devil up soon, so make sure you're following that. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!
Chapter 287: Roadtrip