Warrod had laughed, gave them his thick, caffeine-induced drink that only Hiro could stomach-
"It's delicious, okay?" And she had turned to Sir Warrod and bowed in thanks, "Thank you Mr.Tree-Man-Sir-Warrod-Sir." And the wizard had laughed, ruffling her hair.
She had turned to them, then, staring at their untouched drinks and making grabby hands. The cups were quickly turned over.
-and they were on their way home.
Hiro had walked into the guildhall, tumbled onto a bench, and promptly fell asleep. The sleep she had gotten on the mission had been restless, though dreamless, and she was honestly exhausted despite all the caffeine now in her system.
And when she woke up, she heard people around her, talking amongst themselves, about a very peculiar topic.
"... at this!"
Hiro opened her eyes, looking around at the people that now surrounded her table,
"...when did all of you get here?"
She was ignored.
"E.N.D! This book doesn't go into detail, but apparently its a demon on a completely different level than Lullaby, Deliora, and the like!"
"So its like, the strongest demon in the Books of Zeref?"
"That's scary!"
"What is a demon of the Book of Zeref anyway?"
"How should I know-"
Hiro interrupted everyone with a yawn and a stretch, bones cracking as she spoke.
"The Demons from the Books of Zeref are Zeref's own creations."
They turn to her, but she keeps her eyes shut an keeps talking.
"They are completely different from regular demons, less humane. Less merciful. Kind of expected really," she waves a hand, "They were written by someone with the Curse of Contradiction after all." Waving her hand at Levy's book, her eyes opened slightly, "E.N.D is thought to be an old relative of Zeref, someone who died young around 400 years ago. They say that he spent the rest of his life trying to bring them back, and that's why he created so many demons. They were all experiments trying to bring...whoever E.N.D was to him, back."
Levy blinked, "Eh? Hiro, how do you know all this!"
Hiro yawned again.
"All Wizard Saints are required to know this stuff in case we ever have to deal with them." She blinks, looking blandly at the cover of the book Levy held, "Plus, that book was written by T.D, they mention it in some of their other books, and I think one book written by a close pal of theirs, after T.D died, said something about how E.N.D wasn't the strongest."
Looking at the cover, Levy paled slightly, while someone else asked Hiro,
"Who'd they say was the strongest?"
Hiro hummed, "Last book I read about it was written by someone called... Anastasia Dreyar, pretty sure she's an ancestor of Abbi or something, saying that the strongest demon made by Zeref was called The Captain of the Dragon War." She wave both hands, "Say that the Captain is the strongest cause while every other demon was made out of some physical form, the Captain was made purely from the soul of someone Zeref cared about. His older sister or something."
She let her head thunk back down on the table, only to groan when the guild doors burst open, Jet and Dory screaming.
Screaming something about casualties.
"The entire council!?" Lucy gasped, staring down at the paper in her hands, "Dead!? 119 casualties!"
With her lips pressed into a line, Hiro took the paper from Lucy, all thoughts of sleep completely gone from her mind. She turned to Abbi.
"Is anyone with Mr.Yajima?"
The old man nodded.
"The Thunder Tribe and Erik went off on a mission that way."
Hiro nodded again, just as the guild doors fell open once more.
Turning, Hiro paled, dropping the paper and sprinting.
"BABBA! MAMMA!"
Hiro stood between the two infirmary beds, the bodies of her Mamma and Babba lying still under the blankets.
Bane particles.
They had purposefully breathed in bane particles.
A city in the clouds. A dragon, her father, fighting to defend his children. Screaming, coughing, covering their mouths as more and more bodies drop.
She's pulled away, screaming and clawing at the arms that carry her, tears burning on her face as she watches her family die-
"Hiro."
Wendy's voice is soft, careful, Zane, Maya, and Ren standing behind her with concern shining in their gazes.
Hiro turns slowly to face them, face blank and tired, staring off into the distance.
Wendy frowns, and pulls the smaller girl close, tucking Hiro's head into her neck as their friends gather around.
Hiro didn't sleep that night.
She gathers her essentials, has one of her neighbors - Mr.Kaya is a Saint - watch Bud and Spook, the old dog howling mournfully as she leaves.
She finds her most armored clothes.
A thick, black shirt with Kevlar between the cloth, simple armored gauntlets around her forearms. Thick black pants, armoured up to the knees, a belt with pouches upon pouches holding simple items, including several knives. Thick-soled boots, brown like every other pair, and thick brown gloves. A deep purple cloak, hanging down to her mid-back, with a white fur trim around the top and bottom. Shining metal shoulder pads jut off her shoulders in sharp points. A gas-mask, in case of more bane particles, hangs from a holster on her hip. A set of silver rings rest on each of her fingers, becoming small but sharp blades on each of her knuckles.
She gathers every book she owns on the topic of Zeref's Demons and Face, every single one, and slinking into the guildhall early in the morning to sit by her Mamma and Babba's sides.
She whispers into the early morning sunlight, voice grave, far to grave for a child like Hiro; yet somehow fits everything she's ever been through,
"We're at war, now." She murmurs, eyes hard and cold, "People will die, I'm sure." She leans back in her chair, "But you two better not." Her voice cracks, just slightly, "I wouldn't be able to handle losing another family."
And she was found there, passed out, in a chair between the two beds, dark bags beneath her eyes.
