CHAINED FLOWERS ( z. dragneel )

07 | "the brokenhearted"

"Capture her," Johann orders. "Use force if necessary."

Esen evades the first volley of magical arrows from one of the soldiers. She really doesn't want to fight them, she's been trekking this world for ages now by becoming apathetic to all its causes. She is just a mere observer in its tale, she has her own matters to settle. Another blast of a substance that resembles acid strikes and this time she blocks it with a puddle of water. The rain has brought forth weapons she can use to her defense.

This time, a beam of acid makes its way to her. "Fine," she mutters under her breath before gathering the murky puddles together and shielding herself with it.

"Vine!" Johann yelps and vines begin growing underneath her and crawls toward her feet. "Fire!" Fire is chucked toward her with a speed she cannot reach and she raises her arms to try and defend her face when darkness envelops everything.

It's like a newfound spring, bursting from one spot of land and spreading everywhere. This time, the center is Zeref and his eyes are no longer the warm obsidian night sky, it's a vicious red cast upon his hardened face.

Bodies begin to fall one by one. The mages begin to run toward him, but Esen is quick to protect him with lances of water and waves choking the living daylights out of them.

Two of the mages intend to protect themselves with a contraption made of metal, like a strong impregnable wall, but Esen concentrates the swirling mass of water into a line and slices. The metal tears apart and so do the bodies seeking protection in it. Blood waters the ground. Esen does not blink.

A fallen body thrashes. Johann, she figures, but not for long. Balls of darkness target the still moving body and Johann screams, a dark lightning harming every inch of his skin. Tick tock tick tock. And death. Esen blinks and turns to Zeref whose eyes have now reverted to their normal state.

"You came back...?"

He nods.

"That's a terrible idea," Esen points out.

"I know."

And despite the blood and the corpses littering the earth where they stood, Esen smiles at him.

- - -

Esen sleeps and in her dreams, she dreams of a woman again. A beautiful woman with eyes of the warmest shades of colors and dark skin glimmering of starborn constellations, a woman who has eyes the colors of the forest and the lips in the shade of blood, a woman who smiles at her like the sun is on her teeth and it's blinding. The woman feels real as it caresses her cheeks and she speaks and it's the melody of the universe. The woman tells her how we endure. How love is a wonderful and powerful thing that can build and create.

The woman is wrong, Esen thinks as she pulls herself into a seating position, gasping as the aching in her chest worsens. She gazes at Zeref's sleeping form and the ethereal blanket that covers it in a shade of blue. His eyelashes and lips and his breathing and how loving him will be the best and worse thing ever.

Love hurts.

She rises to clear her head, walks aimlessly and just like always, the water draws her closer. The lake is a small body of water, but it's calming. She stands in its shores and lets the gentle midnight breeze caress her hair and cheeks.

They both yearn for one another, but refuse to hurt so they drift away and wear masks.

Oh, how alike they are.

Eyes open and she feels the heat. She hears the boiling of the water in front of her and she steps back, but but the sound and the sight pull her closer.