𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐧 | 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹

Prologue - I

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The Morning Sun

A Fairy Tail Story

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"Good Hunter, you have come."

A weary Hunter opened his eyes to the sight of the Plain Doll standing before a Workshop set ablaze; a terrible sight, and one that seemed to crack at the coldness that overtook his heart.

"Dawn will soon break, this night and this dream will end," the Doll continued as though nothing were wrong.

"Gehrman awaits you, at the foot of the great tree."

His gaze briefly went off to the side, where he saw a massive tree in the floral garden that was always locked off. He then returned his eyes to the Doll, who seemed to understand whatever it was that he was feeling.

"Good Hunter, this is farewell," she said.

"Thank you, and may you find your worth in the waking world."

With that, the Doll gave him a bow. However, when she rose, the Hunter tentatively stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around her slender frame. He buried his cloth-covered face into her shoulder, and before long, felt his eyes sting with the gathering of tears he didn't know he had.

His breath was quiet and it shook, and he felt the Doll's arms wrap around him in a loving embrace. It was at that moment that his bottled up despair burst forth, as he began to truly cry for the first time in what seemed to be an age.

The Doll moved a hand to the back of his head. She kindly caressed it, and spoke once more.

"There, there... Good Hunter..." she soothed like a mother to her child, even as his tears stained her otherwise immaculate dress.

The pains he experienced, the losses he suffered, all of them were buried in the darkness of his soul. For so long, he had to focus on the mission at hand. He had to keep forging on without looking back or faltering, as that would be the end of him.

For so long, he had to repress his humanity. He used to think that when it was all over, he could bring it back out. But at that moment, when all was laid bare before the Doll at the end he once envisioned, he wasn't sure if he was even human anymore.

And that was something far more terrible than anything he had experienced thus far.

"—Farewell," the Hunter finally whispered with a shaky voice, "my tender Doll..."

He soon pulled away and gazed into the Doll's eyes. There, instead of the emptiness that was usually there, he saw a semblance of warmth and care. Then he reluctantly let go, and with one last affectionate gaze, turned away to walk down a cobblestone path.

The Hunter eventually paused at an open gate, his hand on the stone pillar that kept it in place. He was hesitant to cross through it, as he knew what it would mean when he did so. He became lost in his thoughts for a few moments, before he lightly shook his head and stepped forward.

White flowers crunched beneath his boots as he walked toward the great tree, where he could see Gehrman sitting in his wheelchair. He got close, and paused when the First Hunter spoke.

"Good Hunter, you've done well," the old man said tiredly, with a melancholic expression on his face.

"The night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun..."

"You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."

Exhaustion began to settle within the Hunter. Those words, which he once longed to hear, were finally said. And in the end, after everything he had gone through and endured, he had no reply to them.

He could only wearily nod.

Soon, he found himself on his knees, facing the moon. And at that moment, he couldn't help but finally feel a sense of accomplishment. He never really knew what would happen as he fought off the terrors of the night and cosmos, as with each new one that appeared, it seemed as though his victories became more and more worthless.

To realize that it was all worth it at the end; that his efforts truly weren't in vain... it was a feeling that, at the end of a long and terrible night, made him finally curl his lips upward beneath his mask.

"Farewell, my keen hunter..." Gehrman said wistfully as he felt the shifting of the air that came with the acceptance of death.

"Fear the blood."

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To be continued...

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A/N

Just as the night ends, so too does the sun rise.

Let us see how our Good Hunter fares, shall we?

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