God of War: The Descendant

34th Chapter: I gáta pou eípe tin istoría tis

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or any of its characters. Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. The following story is for entertainment purposes only.

34th Chapter: I gáta pou eípe tin istoría tis

This was her first time down this stretch of Fiore.

Adia looked around idly, studying her surroundings, using her training to deduce the many more available reserves to be inspected. In terms of population density, Margaret Town appeared to have just the same number as those in Magnolia. Even though convinced that the river would be a hindrance to incoming travellers, all the hustle and bustle of the townspeople proved it did not agree with the self-made theory.

"The client's house is out in this direction, I think." Instead of the dragonslayer leading, Lucy starred the tour guide this time. Seeing the pinkhead was still staggering in his shoes, the brunette came to the realization that he had motion sickness. That's a recent addition to the list of his weaknesses.

Deliberately slowing her pace so she could walk farther behind and not be disturbed, Adia tried to pick up any leftover magic with her limited span of sensing. The only contact she had with the ground was her feet as she walked, since the redhead wouldn't allow her to do anything else.

Erza's eyes never left her own, trying to anticipate her next actions. It irked her. More than irked her. It pissed her off. Sure, she had proved to be the winner of that one match they had before; she dominated with speed and strength, but being strong didn't guarantee her the position of group leader.

There was the scamper of tiny feet on her shoulder, inching closer and closer towards her neck. By the sound of its stressed series of caws and its head inclined in the redhead's direction, it became obvious it was afraid of the warning glare. She mentally snorted. In what way does that girl look scary?

"Does it have a name?"

The arms folded grimly and the lips compressed into a tight, angry line should've given the stripper a clear signal that she didn't want anything to do with them. But evidently, with that same persistent identity, he tried to match her strides.

The tone of his voice tried to emphasize confidence, but she could detect a fearful tone underlying the greeting. Gray let his side-glance fall on her, and by virtue of her long experience, she knew this was a defensive action to hide something.

Resuming her demeanor, she let the silence talk for her. Or at this specific instant, the purple bird squawked for her. It hopped up and down on the spot, its attention diverted to the fellow brunette beside her. With the smallest of glances, she eyed the animal perched on her shoulder. How it managed to escape the close confines of the apartment was beyond her; but she guessed it must have broken at least one thing to get out.

After a few twists and turns, they finally came to a stop in front of a huge white wrought iron gate. The structure inside looked like a mini mansion conveniently located in the hood, the sheer size of the space amazing the group. At long last, the mission could finally be deployed. It was a simple catching job, and based on the usual course of business, perhaps the most common prediction was that the group would decide to disperse altogether.

A perfect chance to scout the area.

After talking with the standby guard, they were finally allowed to enter. As they immersed themselves deeply into the line of foliage surrounding the house, a lot more sentries appeared than before. This bothered Adia not one bit, but her finer instinct did take note that whoever the owner may be was either exceptionally cowardly or paranoid.

With the huge door just a crack open, a sliver of light filtered out, the brunette following behind the ice mage. Everything about the room screamed fancy; a chandelier with gleaming diamonds hung on the ceiling, the huge white leather sofas, the gold-trimmed coffee table― a sore sight for Adia's eyes.

Occupying one of the two sofas facing each other in the center of the room was a middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair. She motioned for the group to take a seat opposite her, and accordingly they complied. Coincidentally it was a four-seat sofa, so Adia lounged against the near wall with her arms crossed and her gaze shuttered. Gray offered his seat to her, but alas, he was only met with insolence.

"Good afternoon ma'am, you offered half a million jewels to catch your um... cat?" Lucy held up the poster.

The woman remained silent for a good few seconds, her eyes holding a faraway look. "Yes, I did. Thank you for accepting the request, people thought it was a scam."

There was a clamor of Erza's armor when she crossed her arms and shifted her weight. "I understand why some people would think that. Well, we're here now, so we can come down and get your cat and take him home." she paused as if searching for the right words, finally settling on, "But if you don't mind me asking—why have you set the reward so high?"

"Yeah, I get that it must be a very expensive cat, but it's just too much." Natsu chorused, Happy following up with a small, "Aye!"

No longer able to control her sobs, the woman's face became intensely red and she broke down and cried uncontrollably. The tears fell hard and relentlessly, smearing her makeup as she tried desperately to wipe them away. Hanging back from the group, Adia blotted out the unnecessary noise, placed a hand on the wall. Her father couldn't have wasted his time here, she was positive of it. But it wouldn't hurt to check.

"Waahhh! Well, you see, the cat belonged to my son, a-and..." The brunette blinked then clicked her tongue at the incessant bawling. If she'd learned one thing about crying, it was that tears didn't help, it didn't change anything. Crying only made things worse; it made people feel weak, and warriors could never be a carrier of such a characteristic.

"He died during one of his missions." As anticipated, there were no traces of her father's magic or presence in the vicinity. There she resumed standing, straight and never moving, her arms folded upon her breast, and her eyes closed under the two veils. She couldn't fathom why this woman was so openly telling her story to strangers like themselves. If she could give any input, she would tell the client to keep her secrets to herself. Opening one's self up to someone only makes a person vulnerable, something she'd also learned from bonds she had long before severed.

"You need to calm down, you're hyperventilating," Gray drawled out of the side of his mouth.

"It's just... I still can't believe he was killed by some unknown force when he had trained under the Eighth Wizard Saint's supervision!"

At that very moment, Adia's train of thought abruptly stopped moving forward, its journey into condescending cordiality halted. Her eyes snapped open and the breath hitched in her throat. Her features, which were usually set in an expression of stoic perseverance, transitioned to a mixture of fear, guilt, and pain all rolled into one. She felt the bird pecking at her cheek, as if trying to draw her attention, but her black orbs found themselves making lasting eye contact with the grieving woman on the white leather sofa. Her teal eyes shone brighter with tears, and unconsciously, the brunette stepped back.

"M-Monster!" Adia picked the trembling underling up by the throat, lifting her free hand, lifting the sword by the hilt, pointing the blade straight at the man's head. Through bloodshot-red eyes, she saw the man's own teal orbs looking straight into her own, so scared, so pleading, so many emotions.