"Man this place gives me the creeps. How can anyone work down here all day?"
The group laughed at Ayame as they walked through the mine. They eventually found the middle of the mine and saw that there were about fifteen thieves guarding the tunnels.
"I call taking those guys!" Kira yelled as she pointed to four thieves with swords and axes.
"I'll go take those guys," Ayame said as she motioned towards the three distracted men.
Sting and Emi looked at each other before splitting the rest up between them.
"I'll take the right if you take the left," Sting whispered.
Emi playfully whined as she whispered back, "Oh but I wanted the right!"
Sting rolled his eyes before casting his Holy Breath and knocking all of the remaining thieves down. He smirked at Emi as she started to complain that she didn't get to do anything. One of the thieves started to stand up, which gave Emi the time to cast her Cloudkill spell.
"Everyone hold your breath!"
"What do you--"
A big cloud of poison engulfed the thieves. They started coughing up blood which made Kira scream at Emi to stop. She canceled the spell and looked at the group in confusion.
"You were killing them, Emi!"
"No I wasn't. It's a mild poison that knocks people unconscious. It wasn't going to seriously hurt them."
Everyone looked at Emi unimpressed as they started tying up the thieves and bringing them back to town.
--------------------------------------------------------
"You guys are back really early. Did Emi go overboard again?"
Emi huffed before walking over to the bar and ordering an apple juice.
"I never--"
Everyone looked at her accusingly.
"Emi, you always go overboard. Every time you take a request, you either almost kill them all or you end up destroying something."
"Hey Gramps, this means she fits in perfectly with Fairy Tail!" Natsu urged.
"Laxus," Makarov started, "how on earth did you manage to meet a girl that fits in so easily without either of you knowing it?"
Laxus shrugged before ruffling Emi's hair, saying, "Guess it was meant to be."
"No way!" Sting exclaimed as he rushed over to Emi and picked her up. "She's coming to Sabertooth!"
"You wanna bet?!" Natsu shouted.
"Will you guys please--"
"Enough."
Everyone paled at the sight of an angry Emi. They all have never experienced this side of her first-hand, so they silenced immediately. Except for one.
"Oh come on, Em," Sting continued. "You can't seriously be--"
Emi turned to him and dared him to continue speaking. Sting sighed before holding her hand and tugging her back over to the opposite side of the group where Rogue was standing.
"I don't think I go that overboard."
"Uh, actually," Sting hesitantly spoke up, "you kind of do. I mean it's not too bad or anything. But sometimes you forget that we have to keep people alive."
"Can you blame me?" Emi countered before she walked out.
Kira and Ursa started, "Hey! Where are you--"
Emi had closed the guildhall doors and started to walk through the empty streets of Crocus. Emi liked the city at night, as there were no crowds that forced her to try to squirm between people. She made her way to the roof that gave her a great view of the royal gardens and sat down. She sighed as she sat holding her knees to her chest.
"I just wish that I--"
"Didn't have to go overboard?"
Emi jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see Sting speaking from the ground.
"How did you--"
Sting simply tapped his nose before he asked if he could join her. Emi shrugged before turning back to the gardens.
"It's not your fault that you have the instinct to protect yourself."
"I don't want to protect myself. I want to protect others. I don't care if I die in the process."
Sting quietly sat next to her, close so that they were almost touching. His hand hovered over hers for a second before retreating back to his side, remembering that he shouldn't do that in public. Emi quickly grabbed his hand back and held it tightly. He could feel her start to shake.
"Emi--"
"Sh."
Sting looked at her confused before she suddenly stood up and turned to the direction of the edge of town. She pulled her hood off and scanned the area.
"Uh, Emi? Don't you need your hood--"
Emi held out a hand to silence him once more. She had a very serious look on her face, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched.
"I need to leave town," Emi stated bluntly.
"Are you oka--"
"I'll take a job in a nearby village."
"Wait!" Sting yelled as he grabbed her wrist gently to stop her from jumping off the roof. "Let me come with you."
"No."
"I promised you I would protect you and I'm not going back on my word," Sting argued.
Emi stayed silent for a moment before nodding.
"Great. Let's go pick one out. We leave as soon as we pick one."
----------------------------------------------
"Where are you guys going so late? Can't it wait until morning to leave?"
"We have an urgent request we need to complete."
Emi handed Mich the request before dragging Sting out the door.
"Hey Ursa, look after Lector for me, would ya?" Sting screamed from the street.
Master Rue took one look at the request and slipped to the edge of town to meet the two wizards.
"Children?"
Sting and Emi jumped at the sudden presence of their master. They faced him as he started to question them.
"This is a D-class request. Why are you so hurried to leave?"
"Master, we have to--"
"For the safety of the town and our guild, I must leave urgently."
"Sting?"
"I'm going with her to make sure she comes back safely to the guild."
Master Rue sighed before seeing them off.
"Please, children, make it back safely."
---------------------------------------------------
"So where are we even going? It says we're going to--"
"We're not going where the request came from. We're going to an abandoned city near Onibus Town. We'll hide there."
"What exactly are we hiding from?"
"I sense a Sin near Crocus, which means that they found out where I am. I'm going to lure them to the abandoned city and take care of them there. Nobody will witness it and nobody has to know."
"Cool. I'm ready to kick some demon ass--"
"No."
"What do you mean no?"
"You're not fighting. I'm doing this myself."
"Emi, you can't be seri--"
"This is a Sin, Sting. It's not something that can be messed around with. I aim to go straight for the kill, and I don't want you getting in the way of any fatal spells. If he sees you, he'll aim for you because he'll know I'll try to protect others from getting hurt. I don't need that distraction."
"Emi..."
"Hurry up and get on the train."
Sting and Emi boarded the train and headed towards Onibus Town. Once the train started moving, Sting became sick and fell to the floor. Emi kept looking out the window with her eyes narrowed. Emi suddenly turned to Sting and pulled him up from the floor before elbowing him in the gut, knocking him unconscious.
"Sorry, Sting. I can't be distracted right now."
-------------------------------------------------------
"For an abandoned city it looks well taken care of."
"This used to be the place where Cain and I would train. It was near Onibus, so we would be able to gather supplies rather easily."
They walked in silence for a minute before Emi stopped walking and spoke up.
"I need you to stay clear of the fight. I would like for you to hide in one of the buildings at the edge of the city and stay there until I say you can come out."
Sting went to argue, but he saw that she looked down in sadness.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Emi said as she pulled her hood off. "I just hate doing this when there's people to protect."
Emi's ears perked up as she heard a small rumble from the center of town. She turned to Sting and told him to hurry to his hiding spot.
"Wait, so you just hid the entire time? You didn't even help?" Natsu shouted.
Sting turned away from the fire dragon slayer.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the demon's child."
Emi turned to face the green-haired Sin.
"Long time no see, Gluttony," Emi sarcastically remarked.
"I've finally found you after all this time. Tell me, how many of my little spies have you killed? They never seem to make it back. It's a shame."
"Don't worry. You'll see them soon enough."
"Oh? I see you still have that spunk."
They stared at each other for a minute, the whole town becoming completely silent. Gluttony then lunged at Emi with hands glowing black. Emi was able to barely dodge the attack, but Gluttony didn't stop the momentum, so he continued and ended up destroying the building behind her. A loud crash was heard as the building fell. Emi cast her Asteroid spell, causing fiery boulders to rush towards Gluttony. The Sin perfectly dodged the attack and cast a destruction spell.
"Chaos!"
The ground started to break, causing more buildings to fall. Emi got caught in one of the cracks that formed. She glared at the Sin before casting Divinity Surge, causing a stream of light to engulf Gluttony. The Sin began to scream as the holy energy of the spell ate away at his demonic soul. He broke the spell after a few seconds and started to breathe heavily. He looked at her with a murderous glint in his eyes before smirking and casting his Disintegrate spell.
"Let's see how you handle this one, daughter of Cain."
A huge ray had shot out of the sky and surrounded the city. It then narrowed to focus solely on Emi, focusing all the power of the spell at her. A black and purple blast exploded in her direction. She looked at it with wide eyes before trying to jump out of the way.
"Just know that if this spell even scratches you, you will die!" Gluttony happily yelled.
"Is that so?"
Right as the explosion was about to touch ground, Emi held her hands in front of her.
"Dispel."
With that, the explosion and ray completely disappeared. Emi looked up to see that Gluttony was watching her in disbelief. He glared at her.
"Where did you learn that spell?! You shouldn't have been able to even use it!"
"Cain taught me that spell just before I set out to kill Delorca. It sure comes in handy, don't you agree?"
"I'll just finish you once and for all. Execute!"
Emi didn't have time to cast her Dispel again, so she had no choice but to dodge perfectly in order to prevent herself from dying. She flipped over the magic circle that had formed beneath her and landed on top of a building. Gluttony lunged at her again before pushing her into the magic circle. Emi struggled under his grip and was finally able to fold her knees under him and kick his face, sending him flying into another building. She quickly jumped out of the way of the magic circle just in time to dodge the massive explosion that came from it.
"Ad Deum!"
A blinding light came from Emi's hands and engulfed the city. While Gluttony was unable to see, Emi rushed at him with her Virtue Hymn.
"Perdere lucem ac tenebras."
A small ball of concentrated light formed in Emi's hands before she punched Gluttony in the stomach. The Sin screamed in agony as the Virtue Hymn started to purge the unholy energy from him. All went quiet soon after. Sting had heard the long silence and came out of his spot.
"Hey you did it--"
"Get back!" Emi yelled harshly.
"What do you--"
"Chaos...Spawn!"
Emi looked on in horror as a giant blast of destruction magic went speeding towards the dragon slayer. Emi cast her Dispel once more, making the spell cancel right before it hit Sting. She rushed over to Gluttony and lunged at him.
"Sword Summon: Chrysaor!"
A long gold sword appeared in Emi's right hand. In one swift motion, Emi had sliced through the neck of Gluttony. His body fell over as Emi caught her breath. She took the sword and pierced his heart before holding up his decapitated head.
"Immolate."
Gluttony's head burst into flames and continued to burn once Emi threw it on the ground. She looked at the body with cold eyes before whipping her head around to face the pale-faced Sting.
"What do you think you were doing?!"
"I thought it was over when I couldn't hear anything."
"You almost got killed! I told you to stay put until it was done. You put yourself in danger and then you didn't even react!"
"Emi--"
"If that spell even barely touched you, you would be dead. This is why I wanted to come alone, but you insisted on coming."
"Emi, I--"
"I'm not finished yet!"
Sting quickly shut his mouth as he listened to Emi scream at him some more.
"You're super scary when you're mad, Emi," Wendy spoke.
"No kidding," Sting, Lector and Laxus replied.
"And another thing--"
Sting grabbed Emi and pulled her into a hug. Emi stiffened before she started to sniffle and gripped his shirt. They stayed like that for a minute before Sting held her at a distance and smiled at her.
"Why don't I take you to the gardens as an apology."
Emi sniffled one more time before wiping her eyes and smacking him on the head.
"Don't ever do that again or I'll kill you myself."