Ancient Words Unspoken

3 ▫ A Temporary Home

A/n: Enjoy this small bit of fluff before I make everyone suffer whooo

The group spent another few hours at the guild before the sky began turning gradually darker, leading to Freed suggesting to Y/n that they left soon. The rest of the Thunder legion waved them goodbye and Y/n followed after Freed somewhat awkwardly.

the H/c mage wracked her brain for something to say, coming back blank and holding back a sigh of frustration as the awkward silence continued.

"What's wrong?" Freed asked as if sensing her frustration. Y/n huffed slightly and turned away from the rune mage with a small pout

"Nothing. This is just awkward, I should've just found somewhere myself," The H/c girl mumbled and Freed shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

"It's fine, and besides, this way I'll be able to help with your magic even when you're not at the guild,"

Y/n looked unconvinced but remained silent as they walked the rest of the way to Freed's house.

Upon reaching the building, Freed unlocked the door and invited the H/c girl inside and removed his sword and coat, hanging them up on two of the hooks behind the door.

Y/n stood awkwardly next to him, unsure of what to do before Freed spoke again.

"Take your shoes off and I'll show you where the shower is,"

Y/n complied, removing her boots as Freed did the same before leading the way through the house to what Y/n presumed was the bathroom. Freed went to leave the room, speaking over his shoulder saying a quick

"I'll go and get you a towel and something to change into, I can put your clothes in the wash after, they're covered in mud,"

With that he was gone and Y/n stood staring in awe at the room she stood in. It had been a very long time since she had been in an actual house. Almost 7 years now,  her mind helpfully supplied and she smiled longingly. If only things had been different. None of this would have happened, she wouldn't have learnt to survive on her own, she wouldn't have lived sleeping in the woods for years, she wouldn't have had to learn magic to defend herself. She let out a bitter chuckle at the thought, Oh how different things would be.

Freed chose that moment to reappear, noticing the glassy look in the H/c girls eyes and asking quietly

"Is everything alright?"

He noticed her fists clenched at her sides which released in surprise upon hearing his voice, her whole body startling as her head snapped up, her gaze meeting his concerned one.

"Y...yeah I'm, fine..." She gave a forced smile in an attempt to get Freed to drop the subject which seemed to work as the rune mage handed her a neatly folded towel with some folded clothes on top.
"I'm hoping that they'll fit you, I'm not too sure though," Freed spoke and briefly explained how to turn the shower on and off and how to change the temperature before leaving the room, the door clicking closed behind him.
Y/n felt out of place as she began undressing, placing her daggers next to the sink and putting her clothes in a pile.
She placed the towel over the rail next to the shower and stepped in, turning the dials like Freed had shown her until it was an okay temperature.
The water ran down the drain a slightly brown colour as the mud and grime washed off her skin down the drain. She began washing herself, leaving her hair until last as she dreaded fighting through the knotted strands.
When she got round to washing her hair, she fought with the H/c strands, trying to separate them and failing terribly. Her fingers caught on a rather large knot and her eyes watered, trying her best to detangle the hair before admitting defeat.
She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower onto the fluffy bath mat before grabbing the soft towel and wrapping it around herself.
H/c hair dripped water down her spine, making her shiver as she dried herself off, pulling on the clothes which Freed had left.
As it turned out, the clothes were quite a bit bigger than the H/c girl and she found herself having to roll up the legs of the pants and tighten the drawstring almost as much as it would go.
She briefly dried her hair with the towel before grabbing her clothes and leaving the bathroom.
She wasn't sure where Freed would be and so she walked aimlessly around the house until she spotted the green haired rune mage.
She approached him quietly and he seemed oblivious to her presence until she coughed quietly, catching his attention.
"Ah, you're done," He turned to face her and took the clothes and towel off her "I'll wash them in a second,"
He glanced briefly over Y/n, noticing the mess of knotted H/c hair on her head.
"Did you not try and brush it?" He asked, gesturing towards the H/c girls hair.
"I tried to get some of the knots out in the shower but it didn't work..." She spoke quietly and Freed shook his head with a sigh.
"You can't leave it like that, it will only get worse. I'll help you to sort it out after we eat,"

It was then that Y/n realised the smell of food floating around in the room, filling her senses. The H/c girl nodded and followed Freed towards the table where he placed down two bowls of food, steam rising up from them.
They ate in relative silence, the awkwardness from earlier returning somewhat.
Y/n avoided eye contact with the rune mage, feeling extremely out of place.
It was uncomfortable being in someone else's house, nevermind being in the house of someone who you barely know and Y/n could feel her chest tightening slightly the more she thought about it.
How did she know Freed could be trusted? There was no way to know, she just had to trust his word...which was something she never do in a normal situation.
Only this wasn't a normal situation. And part of her had known that as soon as she saw the new group who arrived that morning. It was a strange feeling of dread swirling with anxiousness that filled her entire body, keeping her on edge even with only Freed around her.
"...Y/n..?" Freed's concerned voice filtered through her thoughts and her head snapped up to meet his gaze, seeing him stood in front of her stacking the dishes to take them over to the sink.
"Hm? Sorry I was just thinking..." The H/c girl explained which Freed accepted, not pushing it any further in fear that Y/n would leave.
They needed her to help them but he was starting to think that maybe she needed their help as well. She didn't trust people, that much was clear but hopefully they could change that, hopefully they could show her that there is nothing wrong with having friends beside you. Or at least he hoped they could.

After quickly cleaning up the dishes they had used with Y/n's help after she stubbornly insisted that she help him, he led Y/n to the living room, telling her to sit down whilst he went to retrieve a hairbrush to try and tackle the mess that was Y/n's hair.

When he returned, Y/n was still sat uncomfortably, perched on the edge of the sofa. He rolled his eyes and approached the H/c girl and standing in front of her.
"This would probably be easier if you sit in front of me," He suggested and the H/c girl nodded in agreement. Freed sat down and Y/n moved to sit on the floor in front of him however, she was stopped by Freed's hand on her wrist.
"What are you..?" Y/n began asking before she was pulled to sit in front of Freed on the sofa, sat in between his legs, making her face burn slightly in embarrassment.
Freed got to work immediately, starting by trying to brush out the very ends of the H/c hair, apologising whenever the brush hit a knot and pulled Y/n's hair.
Y/n brushed it off every time however it didn't stop him from mumbling a quiet 'sorry' anytime he thought he had hurt her.
When he reached one of the larger knots, he used his fingers to start with, trying to separate the damp strands as much as possible before even attempting to brush it.
It was a long and fairly frustrating process and Freed felt like he wasn’t really getting anywhere to start with however after almost half an hour, he began making progress.
Y/n was still sat stiffly in front of Freed, unable to relax as he brushed the knots out of her hair. Her face had been flushed red throughout the entire experience and it didn't seem to want to go away any time soon.
"I'm almost done now," Freed spoke, brushing out the last of the larger knots, quickly running the brush through Y/n's hair once more before he was satisfied.
He placed the brush down next to them and his hand absentmindedly ran through Y/n's hair
"Freed?" The H/c girl asked in confusion upon feeling the long slim fingers running through her hair.
"Sorry," The rune mage mumbled and leaned away "Come on, it's getting late, we should go to bed,"

Y/n nodded and moved to stand up, feeling strangely cold when Freed's warmth disappeared from her back.
Her hand reached up to feel her hair, her fingers slipping through the strands, surprising her as she felt no knots.
Freed stood up as well and removed the cushions from the sofa, placing them to the side and moving the coffee table out of the way. The sofa folded out into a bed and Freed spoke again
"You can stay in my bed,"
Y/n's eyes widened as Freed said this and she immediately protested.
"No this is your house, you're just stuck with me because of some dark guild,"
There was a pout on Y/n's face but Freed didn't notice, too busy setting up the fold out bed.
"Y/n, it's fine," Freed sighed and Y/n's pout only grew wider. She sat down on the floor with her arms crossed, a small glare settled on her face directed at Freed.
"I'm not moving," The H/c girl spoke stubbornly and Freed finally glanced in her direction.
"I'm not arguing with you about this," Freed spoke and Y/n huffed and retorted coldly
"Don't argue with me then and sleep in your own bed,"

Freed sighed once more, directing a small glare over his shoulder at Y/n.
"You're impossible," the rune mage huffed and Y/n gave a small smirk as he added "Okay, sure. I'm not going to argue with you about this,"

Y/n grinned triumphantly and Freed left the room to grab some spare bedding.
He returned and finished setting up the bed before turning to Y/n again and saying
"If you need anything, come and wake me up okay?"
Y/n nodded non-committedly with a small hum and Freed sighed once more, walking around the room to draw the curtains closed. A quick glance outside told him that there would be a storm later tonight which he voiced to the H/c girl who hummed again. With that, Freed left the room, saying a quiet
"Goodnight Y/n," as he left.
When he was out of earshot, she whispered a quiet
"Goodnight Freed..."

The H/c girl curled up in bed, her thinking about all that had happened that day as she heard thunder starting to rumble in the distance. Just as Freed said...
She felt herself slip into sleep quickly, exhausted beyond belief from the day she'd had.


Thunder boomed throughout the town and lightning crackled in the sky, lighting up the otherwise dark village. A lone man stood on the outskirts of the town, a large cape covering his face as his hand pressed up against the wall created by glowing purple text. Somewhere in the distance a loud pained cry was heard. A smirk grew on his face as the lightning overhead flashed. He had faith. This time they said that she would come and save them, they promised and he believed she would, always so weak wanting to care for others. They would be reunited though, soon....oh how he couldn't wait...

A loud clap of thunder awoke Y/n from her sleep as she stared at the closed curtains which had been lit up by a bolt of lightning. Something wasn't right, she could feel it as she stood up and headed over to the window, moving the curtains aside ever so slightly. She immediately stumbled backwards upon looking out the window, a sudden wave of dizziness hitting her. She fell back in surprise, hoping that she wouldn't make too much noise and wake up Freed.
She held her breath for a moment and listened for movement from the rest of the house and upon hearing silence, she crept back up to the window, peering outside and noticing nothing suspicious. However, as she looked closer, she spotted a man stood across the street, his face obscured by a large cloak that moved wildly in the wind. As if sensing her gaze, he lifted his head up, two red eyes staring right back at her before he smirked and walked away. She fell away from the window again, the dizziness returning as she sat on the floor catching her breath.
What was that?

Unfortunately, she wasn't sure herself what the answer to that was and the longer she sat there, the longer it bugged her, and so, she steeled herself and glanced out the window again, her breath catching in her throat and her eyes widening in surprise at what she saw...