Forgotten (Book 2 in Jessie Celestia)

Chapter 40

Thanks for all of you guys' support.  I had pretty much given up in these series, but then all of you guys gave me such great compliments and I thank you guys so much! ^_^

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~No One's P.O.V.~

'Um...from here..we go..' Sting trailed off in his head as he looked around our surroundings.  There were no paths nor impressions of one whatsoever, so it was hard to know if he was going the right way or not.

"Ano..Sting.." Lexi sweatdropped, her wings drooping.  "Do you know where we're going?"  Said person was startled at the sound of her voice.  For the entire trip, no one had been saying anything, so the abrupt stop of it made him flinch.

"Of course I do!" he wrote his lie in the air.  "I just.." He didn't write anything after that, knowing that he'd have to confess to something that he didn't want to.

"Sting-kun can't read maps.." Lector said in a tired tone, confessing for the Dragon Slayer.

"WHAT?!?" Lexi shouted, screeching to an abrupt stop.  "Why did we give him the map then?!?"

"Because Dr. Dana-san gave it to him, so I just thought.." Lector confessed, stopping as well.  Lexi facepalmed.

"Oh my Mavis Lector.." the magenta-colored Exceed groaned.

"You don't know how to read a map?" Hornet spoke up, his eyebrow raising while curiosity was hinted in his voice.  Sting turned his head towards him, quite surprised that he actually spoke up.  He furrowed his brows and looked away.

"...Yeah," he admitted after a couple seconds.

"No one taught you?" Hornet frowned.

"My parents...I never knew them and a dragon wasn't exactly the best mentor for something like maps," Sting explained.  Lector and Lexi looked at him with a stunned face, which made him realize what he had just confessed to the person who's not to be trusted.  'Why did I just tell that to someone like him?!' He cursed himself in his head.  'I didn't even think twice whether to tell him or not!'

At first, Hornet's dark blue eyes grew wide, but they then softened.  "I see," he said softly.  He held out his hand.  "Here, give it to me." Sting's eyes widened and then narrowed in suspicion.

"Why should I give it to you?" he asked him.

"Because I can read a map," the red-headed man answered calmly.

"Who's to say you're not going to lead us into a trap?" Lexi growled.

"Do you think I know this forest?" Hornet asked, cocking his eyebrows.  "Even with a map, I wouldn't know a thing about going back to...the guild." He paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, why would I want to go back after..it's quite obvious I was just used?" His voice grew quiet near the end, and anyone could hear the sincerity in his words.  Lexi, Lector, and Sting were all taken back by it, but Lexi was the first to talk.

"Fine," she forcefully agreed, but then went up to Hornet's face and growled, "But I swear, if you betray us, I'll ignore Jessie's wishes and rip you to shreds myself." Sting noticed pain flicker in Hornet's eyes as he heard her name, and he would be lying if he said that he didn't too. 

'Jessie...how was she doing? It had been a couple days since our failed rescue mission.  A couple days of her having to survive even worse torture than whatever she had before.'  Sting clenched his fists, remembering the immense pain in her eyes and the fact that she had lost her Fairy Tail mark.  He himself couldn't fathom what it would be like to lose your guild mark.  'If I lost the Sabertooth mark, I would..  Sting could feel bile rise up in his throat as he remembered what he had done to the multi-magic mage all those years ago. 'It was inexcusable, but yet...she still could love me.  How do I live up to that..?'