Fairy Tail: The Adventures Of Rin Fernandes

XXXI. A Lesson In History

XXXI. A Lesson In History

RIN'S POV

I could feel the immense heat that came from the blazing fire, sweat immediately coating my forehead as I scanned the burning library quickly. Books were tumbling off the oakwood shelves, the edges shrivelling up before dispersing into ashes. I couldn't see or make out any human figures, which I'd took right then as a good sign.

"Roar of the Water Dragon!" I shouted, confident that my water would extinguish the flames, regardless of naturally occurring flames or magic flames. The bright orange light vanished, leaving the horrid stench of burnt wood as I adjusted my eyes to the night. The others hadn't arrived yet, but I hope they come soon. Despite calming down the crazy inferno that took over the building of wood, our enemies were now cloaked by the darkness. I wrinkled my nose at the burnt stench, but nonetheless focused on locating Lydia.

"Lydia? Lydia!" I called out, but to no avail. The site where the library and home of the Henriettas were dead silent, not even the crickets, which I assumed were all burnt to a crisp, could be heard. The strong foundations of the different floors of the library were more or less still around, and the rubble not large enough to incapacitate a human, or so I hoped.

It wasn't her scent that led me to her, but rather the quiet sobs of a woman by what seemed to me like a full-grown human body, burnt beyond recognition. Lydia knelt by the burnt corpse in nothing but her nightclothes, using the long, loose sleeve to wipe her tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here in time. I came here as soon as I could and the others-"

"It's my fault." Lydia sniffs, pulling a emerald signet ring from the corpse. "I should've noticed something was wrong with Claudius, I shouldn't have fought with him over helping Eyalle. Now he's gone and I don't even know what happened to him today!"

Lydia was hysterical, and I knew very well it wouldn't help to say anything right now. I simply bent down and gave her a hug, putting my feelings of understanding and empathy into my actions. She had been so absorbed she had barely noticed how I had moved here away from Claudius Henrietta, or what was left of him, and set her down somewhere else. It may have been part of her house, or just the library, but the fire had destroyed it so badly no one could tell what this very spot used to be.

"Stay here, alright? I'm going to find your children." I said, standing up as I assessed the surroundings and tried to use my sense of smell to track down Lydia's children. "If anything happens, I guess you'll use your magic like you did just now."

I was about to leave as Lydia nodded meekly in response, before her eyes strayed past me and towards the group of people coming towards us. I gave them a small smile as Eyalle knelt next to Lydia and I, trying to get a grasp of the situation. After all, we were given a loud awakening in the dead of the night to quell the massive fire and its repercussions.

"I heard there was a fire." Eyalle got straight to the point, checking Lydia for any injuries. "Is everything settled? Where's Claudius and the kids?"

Lydia choked a sob before lifting up the ring, with slightly charred bits stuck to it. I shuddered at the thought of what those charred bits could possibly be, yet deep down I knew it belonged to Claudius. "I couldn't save him, but find my children, please."

"Eyalle, set up a rune around Lydia, it'll be our home base. Wendy, stay and help treat Lydia's wounds, if there's any. For the rest of us, we'll find the Henrietta children. Don't say anything until you bring them here. Let Lydia do the talking." Paul orders, giving a curt nod to Eyalle, who smiled in return.

"Let's go!" Gray said, as we headed off in different directions. It was time to put my Dragon Slayer's nose and ears to good use as I headed towards the lower floors. And it wasn't just my own skills I could use. As I glanced at my ring that was reflecting a little moonlight, I smiled to myself as I remembered what the Celestial Spirit King had gifted me.