The Magic-less Swordsman

03~A Child Who Escaped Death

It was all dark. Nothing but neverending darkness for Natsu's vision. The girl gasped when her eyes regained their focus, or at least that was what the child felt. It was too dark to tell.

"Papa?" The girl called out, shivering and letting a distressed squeak when she heard her voice overlapped by a faint baritone whisper. It could have been her imagination being overreactive but she knows very well that the voice was real. "Who's... who's there?" The girl manages to force the tiniest and quietest squeak and she is now certain about the overlapping whisper as it was louder than her voice this time.

"Child, you're an interesting one," Natsu screamed in terror when she heard a deep, rumbling voice from the endless abyss that she is currently in. "Death should've consumed you, and yet you're alive and well. Your soul resisted the grip of death and fought it with valor before finally breaking out of its grasp. Would you be so kind as explain how that happened, child? Hmm?" The voice became easier to understand and soon was like just behind her.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." Natsu whimpered, letting her body turn around only to find nothing there. It was just the same neverending darkness. "Where are you?!" The kid panicked, her breathing pattern becoming ragged and challenged, taking a few steps back before finally falling back due to the speed she was backing away. "Where am I?!" The girl cried out.

"Child, be at ease." The voice said, rumbling as it shook the air. Natsu could feel it shake as a cold steady breeze caressed her shaking body which mysteriously calmed her down. "You're inside my domain, child. If I wanted you dead, then I won't be here talking to you. As I said, I find you interesting so that means you won't be dying just yet."

Natsu stayed silent, and so did the deep voice of the darkness. The kid can only bite her bottom lip as it started quivering. She finally lost what was left of her legs' strength, dropping to the floor with a thud and a silent, short gasp. The kid was crying but she did not let it go louder than quiet, short bursts of sobs. Soon enough, she raised her head after wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks using the hem of her surprisingly now clean t-shirt. She swore that it was bloody before all of this happened.

"Why am I here? What do you want? I don't want to be in here. It's dark and papa is not here." Natsu tried her best but failed to hold her cries in, wiping the tears away using her arms as she spoke to the voice. "Papa is worried about me right now. He'll never rest until he finds me and it'll cause him more trouble than what I already did." The kid sobbed as she told these to the abyss around her.

"For a child, you sure are more mature. You're certainly interesting and I might not regret being interested in you." The voice spoke slowly and it was probably the most hushed tone the voice can muster, although it thundered just as loud as its earlier words. "Only a few can gain the interest of such beings like me. Except for a certain someone, she tends to find a lot of things very, very interesting, being a child and all." The voice rambled before sighing upon realizing it was indeed rambling. "I apologize about that, but I believe I'm wasting both of our precious time. I shall answer your questions now. You're in my domain as I said earlier and I'm in complete control over this place. You're here so I can get a good look at you but I think your physical appearance can use some work. You're still young and weak but your soul is strong. As for why you're here, well, it's quite obvious."

"I... I don't see why I need to be here but you can tell me." Natsu said after finally calming down.

"Yes, it's the whole reason why I brought you here if I'm being honest." The voice chuckled deeply, amused at the kid's answer. "Natsu Yuzuki, I, one of the strongest beings in the infinite universe we currently live in, have found you worthy of my attention. I can grant you countless things with just the snap of my fingers. All you have to do is to keep me interested in you, nothing more and nothing less." The voice spoke as the air vibrated wildly as the intensity of the sound started rising. "I shall help you when you most need it but I'll only do that if you are still worthy of my attention! Disappoint me and go stale, then I shall leave you for good. So you better not anger me!"