Bound to You: Natsu Dragneel Love Story (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Chapter Ten: The Demon Curse

"You-you're a girl? Since when? I mean, for how long? I mean, why didn't you tell me?!" Natsu panicked, holding his head in his hands. Question after question, Natsu shouted at her, leaving her no room to explain. Natsu quieted once he saw that she'd turned around in discomfort. "I-I'm sorry, I just..."

"It's alright, Dragneel. Let me tell you a story," she insisted. They climbed out of the stream and back to the tree they initially settled under. Avoiding Natsu's staring eyes, Hotaru kept her bright red orbs on the grass below her. She pulled her knees up to her chest as she sat unwittingly between Natsu's legs. Not once did she look up as she told Natsu about her identity and her secret identity. How hiding her true self altogether helped her escape the men who were chasing her every once in a while. She explained how Hotaru was just a cover up, but her real name could not be disclosed to him. How sometimes, she couldn't decipher her real identity from the front she put up.

She was a very furtive person and that's what drew Natsu in. Not knowing everything about her ate at him. He'd had so many questions for her, but he knew well enough that her willingness to answer them were little to none. "Those guys that're after me want something from me that I cannot give to them," she said, striking an entirely new interest inside of Natsu. "I was born with it, it's not something that can be extracted from me unlike the normal magic people like you possess."

It had been an old myth.

A power given to the humans, not as a gift from the gods, but a curse. A power given to one man as a punishment for his greed. He'd wanted nothing more but power and strength and that's exactly what he got. This power struck fear in everyone who knew about it. The man who was given this power took advantage of it, using it to instill fear in people everywhere. But, eventually, he grew weary of everyone being afraid of him. He was lonely and wanted someone by his side.

She was a member of an official guild, ordered to bring down the barer of the demonic power. The brave warrior completed the task of locating the man, but destroying him, she just couldn't bring herself to do. She saw the loneliness in his eyes. She aborted the mission and brought him to her guild. From there, she was told that the man had to atone for his wrongs through extermination, but she wouldn't allow him to be put to death.

The young warrior's reputation had diminished. People began to think that she was a traitor, a menace to society, along with the cursed man. But that was just a rumor. She actually helped the curse man. She taught him that life wasn't all about power or strength. Eventually, the two of them fell in love and conceived a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, that daughter inherited the power from her father and could never live a normal life. Although she kept her powers a secret, everyone knew what had happened and she was shunned, hated for possessing such an immense power. She grew up to be a warm-hearted woman, but she learned to despise magic - believing it brought nothing but pain and heartbreak.

But just like her father, she ended up meeting someone who could look past the demon within her and love her for her sweet heart. Together, the bore two children. One boy and one girl. The boy, who was born first, didn't obtain the power of his mother. But the little baby girl, while inside of her mother's womb, sucked every ounce of magical power from her mother, ultimately killing her in childbirth. Her father never let her forget what she'd done to her mother and put her and her brother through the worst of things. The little girl hated her father for blaming her, but overall, she hated the magic she was cursed with. She was a demon trapped in the body of a child. Unable to live in the real world with all of the other people because everyone feared her. Unable to live in peace in her own home because her own father hated her. All she had was her older brother, who saw past her magic.

One night, her brother took her away from the house. They'd ran far away from their father, unable to endure any more of his abuse. And they lived happily together. There was no one around for them to be disturbed and they had no problem sneaking through towns and villages. They didn't know where they were going, but they were together and that's all that mattered to them.

But one unfortunate day, they came across their father. He'd been looking for them for such a long time. He was angry, bitter. Bloodthirsty. Some people said the death of his wife drove him insane, others thought he was after the demonic power inside the little girl. Either way, he wanted the little girl dead. In attempts to protect his little sister, the young boy was knocked out. Fear stricken and angry for hurting her brother, the power of the demon was unlocked and her father was the first to feel it's wrath. He died at the scene.

Two days later, the little boy went missing and she was all alone.

"I'm guessing you were that little girl?" Natsu asked at the end. Hotaru nodded, her eyes not meeting with his. Natsu put a hand to her cheek, making her look up at him as he grinned. "You don't have to be alone anymore, Hotaru! You can join Fairy Tail." Hotaru shook her head at his gesture, raising question within Natsu.

"I could never join Fairy Tail. All the bad I've done. All the sin I've committed in my years of working for my master, I couldn't do that. It wouldn't be right. Besides, I can't abandon Black Apollyon," Hotaru said, taking her face from Natsu's hand. He questioned her guild, having said he'd never heard about it before. "I'm the only member of that guild. It's just me and my master. We're a dark guild." Natsu's eyes widened. "We're really low profile. Anyone who's had an encounter with our guild has never lived to tell about it. I'm an assassin, Natsu. I've murdered countless people. A lot of people think that I'm nothing but a myth, but their all wrong. I don't enjoy my job, but what choice do I have?" Her eyes didn't water, but her voice trembled. She wanted to cry, but she felt as if she had no tears left.

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her comfortingly. Hotaru's body stopped shaking and her eyes widened. "You don't owe anything to someone who makes you do their dirty work, Hotaru. When we get outta here, I'm taking you back to Fairy Tail with me. You don't have to be bad. There's a way for you to be good again."