Chapter 3
Jogenen
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic and my Ideas
.:+:.
Once the rain settled down, and the sky cleared, the three of them left the cave. When Gajeel asked Lily why he hadn't mentioned that he was afraid lightning, the black Exceed simply crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. Gajeel took the lead again as they continued on to Jogenen, they had ended up spending the night in the cave, until the rain had finally stopped that morning. The three fell into silence once more, but this time it wasn't a strained silence, more of a comfortable silence.
Frea lightly jumped over a large rock that had fallen in the way of their path as they entered trees. She immediately breathed in deeply and stayed alert for any sounds in the forest that might indicate danger. But as they walked on for the next hour, the forest was calm and peaceful. Frea glanced sideways at Gajeel and narrowed her eyes slightly.
She breathed in deeply once more, but this time she focused on the Iron Dragon's scent. She had always recognized it as being the scent of metal, but now that she paid attention, it had the tinges of stone, and was sort of damp... Frea narrowed her eyes in thought. Gajeel's scent... Metal, stone mixed in with... damp earth, sorta... and the sweet tinge that all Dragon Slayer's scents had.
Frea glanced up as the Silhouette of a town came into view across a stretch of meadow, and a dark forest rose up behind it. Gajeel slightly picked up his pace and she walked faster to stay at his shoulder. They made their way across the grass quickly, and they both faltered in their walking at the sight of the town. All of the buildings were ruined, some of them were completely destroyed.
Frea glanced to the left to see rows upon rows of freshly dug graves at the edge of the town and she stiffened. Their arrival did not go unnoticed as a fairly elderly man and woman walked up to them quickly. They looked slightly wounded and their clothes were tattered and dirty. Very few people could be seen walking through the town, everyone looked hurt, scared... sad.
"Are you the Fairy Tail Mages?" The old man asked and they both nodded. The woman sighed in relief as she looked at them helplessly,
"Oh thank god!" She gasped. "Please, you must kill all of these horrible creatures! We've lost so many people..." The elderly woman trailed off and started crying as the man placed an arm around her shoulder. Frea self-consciously took a small step back and she sweatdropped a little, the immense amount of pain and sad emotions coming from the town was washing over her in huge waves.
She hated the feeling of that Energy, almost to the point where she wanted nothing more that to turn away from the village. Her small step back hadn't gone unnoticed by Gajeel, but he looked away from the Energy Dragon to look at the elderly people in front of him.
"What's been happening?" Gajeel growled.
"Dozens upon Dozens of Monsters have been showing up at night and attacking our Village." The Old Man started. "Every night, someone or several people are killed... some of them are even eaten..."
All three Fairy Tail Mage's stiffened. "Our numbers have drastically fallen, and our town is pretty much destroyed. Please, all we ask is that you take care of theses Beasts for good." The man told them, as his tone turned to a pleading one.
"Do not worry, we will take care of these Monsters." Lily spoke up and the elderly man smiled at the Exceed.
"Thank you."
.:+:.
As soon as they were done patrolling through the town, and gathered all the information they could. Frea turned and quickly started walking out of the town, toward the meadow. She didn't even check to see if Gajeel and Lily had seen her leave, she felt sick, she needed to get out of there.
She wasn't just sensitive to emotions, she was extremely sensitive to them, and the sheer amount of negative feelings in the town were affecting her every second she was inside. The pain, fear, grief... all of it was hitting her in waves. The scents surrounding the town weren't any better, she honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the ground had been bathed in blood for years.
Not to mention the absolutely horrid smell of creatures with foul breath, death, the salty tang of tears everyone in Jogenen were shedding, and even the more disgusting smell of infection carried on some of the wounded villagers. Frea placed an arm under her nose in an attempt to block out the smells as she picked up her pace.
She could have left the town and gone into the forest on one end of it, she would have been able to leave the town faster that way. But the villagers had reported that the herd of Creatures had been coming across the meadow. If she headed that way, she could stay out of the village and wait for nightfall there.
She broke into a run as the edge of town came into sight and she headed away until she was far enough away that the waves of negative emotion were bearable. Frea sank to the ground and sat in the grass, a bead of sweat on her forehead and gasping in the cleaner air away from the village. She placed a hand on her chest as she steadied her breathing and closed her eyes. The scents in the meadow were much better, though she could still smell the village, and the grass had the scent of the Monsters all over it.
At least it was better than being in the village.
"OI! SILVER!" Gajeel's voice yelled at her and she glanced over her shoulder to see him running toward her with Lily flying behind him. She watched silently as he skidded to a halt beside her and glared. "Why the hell did you run off? I've been yelling at you and you just ignored me!" He growled, hands placed on his hips as he glared down at her.
"Are you alright?" Lily asked more gently than his partner did and she sighed.
"I'm alright..." She mumbled.
"Then why the hell did you run off?" Gajeel asked again and Frea rubbed the back of her neck.
"You can smell all of the blood and foul stuff in the Village cant you?" She asked him and he stiffened a little.
"Yeah," He grumbled.
"So can I, and all of the negative emotions inside the village keep washing over me... its so strong in there." Frea explained. "I'm sensitive to stuff like that, and that much in one place... its just to much, I started to feel sick and I had to get out of there."
Gajeel's POV
He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at her, eyes narrowed. He had seen her initial reaction to the Village earlier, and he had to admit, the village really did smell foul. He had chased after the Energy Dragon when she ran, and he had yelled at her at least five times, but she simply seemed as if she had not heard him.
He could handle all the horrible smells in there, but he had to admit, Silver really did look a little sick. Her Element is Energy right? And she says she sensitive to emotions along with Energy... he could only guess how much negative energy was floating around in that village.
It had to be a lot, or else she wouldn't have run out of there like she did. He suddenly felt a little bad for making her stay inside the village while he looked around. Gajeel sighed,
"Fine, you can get away for ignoring me, this time." He grumbled. "Might as well stay here to wait for night-time."
Frea's POV
Frea nodded in agreement and she let out a silent sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to go back inside the Village a second time. Gajeel sat down in the grass beside her as Lily lighted down in front of them.
"How many Monsters do you think there'll be?" Frea asked and Gajeel shrugged.
"Hell if I know." He muttered. Frea glanced away and closed her eyes for a moment. "So Silver,"
"Hmm?" Frea murmured as she glanced his way again.
"Where did you live before Fairy Tail?" He asked and she blinked in surprise.
"Why?" She asked and he placed his chin in his hand as he rested his elbow on his knee.
"I've been trying to figure out your scent... I just cant think of what it is." He replied and she smiled a little.
"I lived on a Mountain with a lot of trees and a lake, when I was with Chaitanya." She replied and he nodded. "What about you?" She asked and he stayed silent, she let out a sigh and looked away. "I guess you don't-"
"Cliff-land." Gajeel grumbled. "I lived in a bunch of rocky land with cliffs and a gorge at the bottom where a river flowed, when I was still with Metalicana." Gajeel answered and she glanced his way, but he wasn't looking at her. She smiled a little more and looked away,
Now I know I'm getting somewhere with him.
"Why are you so nice to me?" Gajeel asked and Frea stiffened a little. "Most of the people in the Guild hate me." Gajeel grumbled and Frea sighed.
"You know they're that way because of what happened between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord right?" She asked and he grunted in response. "Well, I wasn't around when that happened, so I really don't have a grudge against you." She told him. "Sure at first, maybe a little, but I know your a Good man, Gajeel, you were just hanging with the wrong people at the time. It's because I know that, I don't have any hard feelings toward you. In time, the rest of the Guild will see that too." She told him truthfully. Lily simply sat and listened closely, he had noticed the way some of the people in the Guild reacted toward Gajeel, and he had been told what had happened before Gajeel joined Fairy Tail.
"I don't think so..." Gajeel mumbled and Frea smiled at him.
"They don't really hate you, your just gonna have to prove to them that they can trust you." Frea told him and chuckled a little at his surprised face.
"You sound as if you talk from experience..." He told her and she nodded.
"You have to remember, I was a Demon not to long ago. I accidently slipped once and some people in the guild got hurt because of me, after that I had to work hard to prove they could trust me." Frea explained and he turned a questioning gaze on her. "I'll have to tell you later, it's almost dark."
The Sun was starting to set behind them, and she watched as the moon started to rise in the sky before them. They all got to their feet and went on the defense, both Dragon Slayers could hear running from the woods across the meadow. All at once, dozens of massive creatures burst from the trees and bounded toward them. They were all shapes and sizes, and Frea stiffened at the different Energy she could feel, and the various levels of power coming from the creatures.
"Ready Guys?" Frea asked and Gajeel smirked, arm turning into a sword as Lily changed into his battle form.
"Whoever cuts down the most, wins." Gajeel challenged and Frea smiled, letting her Magic flow freely.
"You're on!"