Fairy Tail: The Adventures Of Rin Fernandes

I. Days Of The R System

I. Days Of The R System

RIN'S POV

Any child who had been born at this period of time was unlucky. I happened to be one of them, a young child no one wanted. A young child who was exposed to the cruelty of the world and the selfishness of humans.

It was a horrid time, as a reign of terror spread throughout Fiore. As the Magic Council failed to control the R System, mages and normal humans all feared for their children's lives, and their own. The worshippers of the infamous R System captured many innocent lives and took them for slavery. They were called Child Stealers as they would often take the children and kill the adults. Rumours too spread that the crazy cult believers of the R System had chose to take the children as the adults were not as submissive to slavery as the younger children. Towns that were not destroyed had missing children, who were captured in the outskirts at night, and sometimes even in broad daylight. Many towns and villages were burnt to the ground, and it was sheer luck that ours had not been targeted, or so I had initially thought.

I was born when the terror just started, and if that wasn't bad enough, there was a birthmark underneath my heart. Jellal had told me that it was considered bad luck to have such a skin deformity so near the heart. Three years into my life and I was exposed to the cruelty of those Child Stealers, and the heartlessness of my own kin.

"They're coming! They're coming!" a lady had yelled, disrupting the daily market routine I had with my mother and brother. The marketplace was instantly abandoned, the children ushered away and locked inside their homes for safekeeping. Even at a young age I could tell I was not as important to the family as my brother, as my mother quickly shooed him into the house, nearly shutting the door in my face. An hour later, an announcement was made by the mayor, telling all the families to send their children to safekeeping. My parents didn't want to give Jellal up, so they had sent me instead, claiming that I was the only child. I was bad luck to them, and I could see the look of triumph in their eyes when I left. The safe house was nothing but a ruse, and I was lucky to have escaped. My parents didn't need to wield a knife for me to know that they didn't care if I died, they had basically shipped me to my death. My father was the mayor's right hand man. He had known everything but still he chose to have me taken away.

If not for that look in my brother's eyes when I left, I would have just surrendered and succumbed to the fate that laid beyond our lands, or wherever the Child Stealers carried out their operations.

That faithful night, I stood quietly amongst the hundreds of panicked and crying children. I refused to cry, not when I knew my brother would come for me. He was the only one in my family who didn't want me to go, the only one who had treated me like I was part of his family. He was coming for me, and I just hoped it was sooner rather than later. A loud bang sounded in the night, silencing all the children that cooped up in the same warehouse I was at. I didn't need to know much to realise the man at the entrance was not one of the townspeople. He wore an ugly mask and a dark cloak, his malicious smile brightened by the moonlight. It sent chills down my spine, but that door was the key to Jellal. I had to bid my time, but where on earth was my big brother?

"We're going to take you to a special place!" the man smiles evilly, leading us to a ship. I looked around the docks we were led to, but there was no way I could escape like this. I couldn't hide my smile when I saw a small tuft of royal blue hair. Jellal. He had come for me, but there were too many guards for a five year old. When I saw his hand point towards the calm sea, I took a deep breath when I saw him dive in. I had no knowledge of swimming, yet I knew that I had to put all my faith into my brother.

When it was my turn to climb up the ship, I flung myself into the water, closing my eyes tightly. 'I hope you're right, Jellal.' I said in my mind, directing the message to my brother even thought he could not hear it.