Phoenix Fire || Fairy Tail [1]

𝐱𝐥𝐢𝐯. 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥

She couldn't let that happen. If it did, Rose would have to go back to being useless. She couldn't let that happen. If it did, she'd spent the rest of eternity with no purpose. She was meant to live forever... so if she became useless, what would separate her from the dirt beneath her feet?

Rose's gaze locked onto a figure in the distance, catching sight of something attention-worthy.

It was a family of three – a mother, father and a young girl. The phoenix slayer observed them from a distance, knowing that they were not yet aware of her presence. She didn't really want to kill them herself; even after decades of service to the guild, she still held onto a few basic principles.

One of them was that she would never, under any circumstance, kill a child. The mere thought made her cringe.

It seemed as if the father's leg was badly injured – a trail of crimson blood dripped from the injury, mixing with the mud to create a sludgy paste. Rose grimaced a the sight; no doubt it would become infected soon, without treatment. The father seemed to be trying to convince his wife and daughter to go on without him, but they continued to try and support them.

Their daughter was young, Rose noted. Barely eight years old. A foreign emotion stirred within her, plucking at her heartstrings. She scowled. Remorse, was it? Guilt? Why now? She'd witnessed sights like this more times than she could count, so often that all the villages she had razed seemed to blur together into one smouldering husk. Enough that, perhaps, she would be able to rival the monstrosity that murdered her family in terms of brutality.

Why would this family be any different?

Rose pushed the unwanted emotions down, refusing to let them spill over and display themselves on her face. She was stronger than that. Her cold gaze observed two members of her guild, armed to the teeth, approach the family.

The mother screamed frantically as one of the men seized her by the arm, throwing her to the ground. Her husband tried to stagger to his feet in order to protect his wife, but staggered and fell with a strangled yell when one of the mages twisted his already mangled leg with their boot. The little girl cried, struggling in the harsh grip of a third mage who had appeared.

The mother's eyes fell upon the shadowed silhouette of Rose, her crimson eyes set alight by the flames consuming their village. She was their only hope.

"Please! I'll do anything, so, please... save us..."

Rose narrowed her eyes as if considering the woman's words. Why was she asking for help? Death was inevitable, wasn't it? Everyone passed away eventually... so why did she feel so guilty?

The phoenix slayer turned her back on the desperate family and walked away.

It appeared as if the mages intended to murder the entire family together, starting with the father. One of them hefted his sword over his head and swung downwards, prepared to separate the father's head from his shoulders.

The blade cut through the air cleanly, biting into the flesh of the man's neck – or at least, that's what would have happened.

The shrill scream of metal colliding with metal shocked the mages, who snarled furiously at the person who had stopped the blow. Their fury withered when they realised who it was.

Rose twirled her dagger between her fingers, the cold steel glinting in the light of the dying village. The mage with the sword shrunk away from her cold gaze, retreating a few steps as if expecting her to attack at any given moment.

"Leave."

It was a single word, clipped and monotonous, but the mages seemed to understand that there was a threat hidden behind the term. She wasn't offering – and the three men were absolutely certain that she would make then suffer something far worse than torture if they failed to obey. They slunk away to continue raiding the village, leaving her alone with the family.

The father eyed Rose distrustfully, catching onto the fact that she certainly wasn't a trustworthy person. The fact that the mages had left without a fight confirmed that. She must have held some influence over them. Nevertheless, he was grateful that she had decided to spare his family the pain and suffering which the dark guild members would have inflicted without her interference.

Rose stared at them for a moment, and it didn't seem as if she was going to say anything for a while.

"You should go."

◊

"Well... that was terrifying." Lucy murmured, her eyes still fixed on the lacrima which twinkled slightly. No one would have guessed that the innocent-looking object held such dark memories.

Natsu nodded, an unusually serious frown turning his lips downward.

"Yeah. We knew that she used to be in a dark guild, but this?"

"This is... certainly not what I had expected," Erza paused. "We all have pasts which have scarred us mentally, emotionally and even physically... but to have that happen for so long?"

There was a silence as they attempted to mentally process what they had seen.

"It makes sense, strangely," Lucy started. "Do you remember how stand-offish she was when we first met? She acted really suspicious of us... like she thought we were her enemies."

"Well to be fair, Natsu did punch her in the face – she actually cracked a rib during the fall." Cylene pointed out."

"It was different," Gray spoke. "She looked like she was ready to attack us at any moment. Even after she joined the guild, she'd make strange expressions every now and then."

"Well..." Sting trailed off. "This had to have been happening for a long time, right? It'll take a long time for her to grow out of her old habits."

"Like that saying," Happy began, "Old habits die hard, right?"

"In Rose's case, I think they're more like ancient habits..." Gray trailed off, throwing his head back with a frustrated sigh. "Why do we all have such complicated backgrounds? I'm beginning to think it's like a secret requirement for joining the guild, or something..." 

Published: 20/09/2017

Edited: 13/04/2018