feral | sting eucliffe

XIV | ANS

Episode 14: A New Start!

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"SO, WHAT'RE YOU PLANNING TO DO NOW?" Erza blinked at the Kyuuseishu. Gray leaned his elbow on the table, looking towards them as he chimed in his own opinion. "That's right. You all are still convicted criminals." The group of four shared a look, a shiver running down their spine at the thought of being arrested.

After Galena had made her final decision to stay in Stella, she had made everyone promise to visit again, but for now, they needed to head back home. Or wherever they planned to call 'home'. "We're not exactly sure," Chase seemed nervous for once, averting his eyes to his left. As the leader, he was supposed to come up with some sort of sensible plan, right?

Natsu's determined fist banged on the table and although his action was filled with courage and determination of some sort, he fell victim to nausea as he let his head hang out the window once more. Erza smiled at this, finding it amusing. "What he's trying to say is; you should join Fairy Tail." Y/n—who'd been sleeping soundly up until now—awoke with a jolt.

Nikos straightened up, bumping into Y/n's right side. "Are you serious? But we're wanted, convicted, sentenced to jail!" Chase even seemed alarmed, but he managed to keep his composure since Y/n's head was on his right shoulder. "Yeah, that! Are you sure we're even the type that Fairy Tail would accept?"

Gray shrugged, "We let anyone join, in all honesty. Those two over there," He paused, pointing to Gajeel and Juvia who were sitting a bit farther away from them due to a lack of seating. "They used to be part of a dark guild, Phantom Lord. However, we still took them in." Titania nodded along, "Fairy Tail welcomes everyone with open arms."

Y/n yawned, rubbing her eyes. "That's not the point." Team Natsu's eyes flitted towards her at her remark as she sleepily stretched her arms, cracking her neck. "Won't our past catch up to us at some point? We can't exactly run away forever. Besides, it's not like our charges can be cleared up so easily."

Lucy smiled at that, tilting her head. "You never know until you try. Nonetheless, you all still helped us back at Alistair and if that's not enough proof, I don't know what is!" She chimed happily as Happy chirped. "Aye sir!" Wendy scratched her cheek, nodding along. "All we can really do is just hope for the best."

Levy looked up from her book, secretly having been paying attention to the conversation this entire time. She looked back, sitting diagonally left from their seating area. "Sorry, I couldn't help, but overhear," Since the train had stabilized and wasn't going through a tunnel, Levy was able to stand up and walk over to them. "Maybe you could stay at Fairy Tail for a while?"

"Sure, you are criminals, but we have plenty of eyewitnesses of you doing good. I'm sure we can tip the scale in some sort of way. After your charges are cleared, you can be free to join any guild! We can't exactly force you to join Fairy Tail, after all." Levy must've missed the warning that went through the train, announcing them entering a tunnel.

Gajeel grunted, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back. "Pay attention, Shrimp." She yelped as she was pulled away, but not out of fear. Carla flicked her tail, hopping up onto the table as she looked at the Kyuuseishu. "It may take a while, but you do have a good chance of winning. Especially since team Natsu is involved and the magic council owes us a lot."

The team members shared a sheepish look, knowing they've destroyed more than they've saved thanks to Natsu's recklessness. Akane looked up from her phone, staring at them. "We'll think about it. I think I'm more concerned about the lacrima that Y/n swallowed in the midst of the battle." She elaborated.

They looked at Y/n, bewildered. "You swallowed a lacrima? Did you even know what was in it?" Chase scratched his chin in a thoughtful manner as Nikos began to scold Y/n, "Now that I think about it, she did swallow a lacrima, but you gave it to her, Akane. Know what was in that lacrima?" He questioned the girl with her black hair tied into short pigtails.

"Of course I do," She smiled, tilting her head. "That thing gave off the same energy as Dragon Cry."

"W-Wait," Y/n started, pointing at her abdomen. "So, you're telling me that my body absorbed a piece of Dragon Cry?" She blinked wildly, looking towards Akane who shrugged nonchalantly at the question. Tilting her head, Akane tapped her phone in a thoughtful manner. "I never thought of it that way, but it's not exactly Dragon Cry; just a part of it, I think? It was a reduced form of it."

Nikos cracked a smile, letting out a sigh. "No wonder," Everyone turned to look at him this time. Had he already known?! He turned to Y/n, a sheepish grin on his lips as he ruffled his black hair with his right hand. "Y'know how our senses are heightened? Well, I felt a difference in your magic power. Whether it was a raise or slight waver, I'm not sure, but now I get it."

Gray blinked for a moment, looking at all of them. "Now that you mentioned it, I realize something," He pointed at each of them individually. "All of you have some sort of lost magic. How come?" They all shared a look. Indeed, he was correct. For Akane, she had encasement magic, along with her basic lightning and teleportation.

Nikos's was simple; serpentine magic. The act of controlling, communicating, and summoning anything to do with snakes or serpents. Although fire magic wasn't forbidden, Chase was a master when it came to his chain magic, or rather, 'prisoner magic' as it's better known. Y/n's magic was both summoning and shape shifting, better known as convene and beast magic.

Nikos answered, "That's. . . a story for another time. I hope it's alright if we don't share it. It's just a bit of a sensitive topic." Gray just nodded, taking their answer. He honestly didn't care if they answered or not, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't genuinely curious. Y/n let out another sigh, knowing they were growing closer to Magnolia.

Here goes to a new life, I guess. . .