A Lost Boy

Chapter 3

Jellal Fernandes had never been a man with a temper before but that incident had made him the most embarrassed he had ever been in his entire life which resulted in him seething with a great rage. In the evening when he came home he was extremely furious with his children and especially with Panther Lily.

"I have been humiliated for the last time!" He said dragging the large black cat outside. "I must become a man that children fear and adults respect!"

"Jellal not so loud." Erza said.

"Jellal the neighbors will hear." Mirajane said.

"Let them hear! Let the whole world know!" He shouted angrily. "I am the master of this house hold! Not this pet!"

"But Father you can't chain Lily up." Romeo protested. "He's a member of our family."

"This is not a member of our family! This is a cat! An animal!" He said chaining Lily up much to the children's horror. "And animals belong outside!"

"Now Jellal." Erza said trying to calm him.

"Don't now Jellal me! Now Jellal will have his say!"

"Please dear remember your blood pressure. You know it's not healthy for you to get this upset and you shouldn't be taking your frustration out on poor Panther Lily."

"Poor Panther Lily?! Because of poor Panther Lily I'm the laughing stock of all Magnolia England! If it weren't for this party we were going to tonight, my reputation would ruined!"

"I think you're being a little melodramatic."

"Erza I have been far too tolerant of our children's antics lately and because of that they neglect their studies and refuse to respect me!"

"Father that's not true." Juvia protested.

"And you young lady, I'm very disappointed in you." He said turning his attention to her. "You are the oldest. You are supposed to be setting an example for your brothers. An example on how to behave and do well in school."

"But I do behave and I do just fine in school."

"That's not what your teacher wrote in her note to me. I always knew you were getting too old for those childish games and stories but I let you continue with your make believe fun because I thought you were mature enough to put it aside for more important things. It appears I was wrong."

"Father please I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"You're right it won't happen again. Tomorrow you will leave the nursery and begin lessons with Mirajane." He declared.

"Father you can't do that!"

"Yes we're supposed to be together!" Romeo said. "Always!"

"You can't just split us up!" Natsu argued.

"I can and I will! Brothers and sisters don't stay together when they grow up and become adults. They separate and live their own lives."

"Does it have to be that way?" Juvia asked.

"That's how it's always been and will always be. You three are no different. You and Natsu will start to buckle down and focus on your education. There will be no more play, no more games, and no more stories. It's time for you to grow up!"

With that said he went back into the house, leaving the children feeling very hurt and more scared than ever for the future. You see the three Fernandes siblings had been together longer than when they were with their parents. They comforted each other when they lost their biological parents, they protected one another whenever something threatened them, and when Mr. and Mrs. Fernandes decided to adopt Juvia she only agreed to go with them if they would adopt Natsu and Romeo too. That's how they ended up taking in all three of them.