RIPPLES [A Fairy Tail Fanfiction]

Chapter Twenty Three - Happy Holidays

Chapter Twenty Three - Happy Holidays

I know why Bickslow is such a pervert.

I don't know a lot about abused kids, but I do know that sometimes, when they switch to a non-abusive caretaker, they tend to push their guardian so they know where their limits are; how far they can push before they're punished, so to speak.

I'm sure that Bickslow was punished for any small thing, no matter how strange or weird, because he (very) slowly started showing more and more of his oddness to everyone else.

It started with his guildmark.

"Your tongue?" Makarov asked. "Are you sure?"

Bickslow nodded. "Yeah, definitely!" He stuck out his tongue.

Makarov sighed. "Oh well, it's your choice." And then he pressed the stamp to Bickslow's tongue.

Bickslow then spent the next several hours drinking water, trying to wash out the taste of magical ink on his tongue. It finally stopped bothering him…after a few days.

Then he started using Papa to spy on the older generation. As you could probably guess, I (and therefore the younger generation) was completely fine with this, as was Papa (because he could be young again – he was a 'flying ninja').

The older generation, if you could not tell, was not fine with it.

Some of the younger ones of the older generation (such as the 'old timers' who were still around in the future, like Macao and Wakaba, and even Gildarts) found it funny…until we started using Papa to play pranks on them.

Makarov was fine with all of this. He felt that it made the guild livelier.

Eventually, Bickslow stopped pushing. He came to the realization that it really was different here, that he really was safe, and that it really was okay to be himself.

After that, he fit in pretty seamlessly.

He got along well with Freed, and they bonded over research, oddly enough. Freed helped Bickslow look up more about Seith Magic (which made Freed happy all on its lonesome), and Freed would also put runes on Papa to make him more durable and to channel magic easier. They also bonded over being the only two boys in Fairy Valleys. Every other boy in the guild had already had an apartment before the place was built, so they felt no need to move.

There was a bit of an emergency when we learned that Papa needed a lacrima for his puppet. He explained to us that he wouldn't be able to communicate as freely, and while he would still have independent thought and be able to watch Bickslow's life (which is why he chose this), he wouldn't really get to continue living, per se.

After hearing this, I figured that this must have been what happened in the other timeline - why Bickslow's souls would repeat what he said. It had seemed a lot different compared to how lively Papa was now

Bickslow panicked, and most of the rest of us did, as well. Makarov told us the type of thing we were looking for, and I thought I had a few similar items in my treasure hoard. I brought it all in and dumped it, and while we didn't find the right type of lacrima, we found a decent substitute that would last for a few years, so we had time to look for the right type of lacrima.