Chapter One
“Remove your guild mark, run, don’t look back!”
“What about you? What about the others?”
“The others aren’t the ones who are going to be killed if he finds you!”
“Maybe not, but you’ll be killed for helping me!”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m stronger than him. I promise, I’ll be okay.”
Erik knew what his best friend said was a lie. He knew Brain would find them and his friend, Bane, would be killed. Yet, he ran. He ran anyway until his lungs burned, Cubellios wrapped around his body. If they flew, Brain would have been able to see them and would have shot them out of the sky with his magic.
Erik weakly opened his eyes, feeling Cubellios’s tongue on his cheek. He could hear the rain pouring outside, but couldn’t feel any on his skin. He felt the warmth of a fire near his skin, and heard the wood crackling. His clothes were damp and clung to his skin, but he was grateful to be shielded from the elements.
“Careful, don’t sit up too fast.” An older man with a mane of maroon colored hair, similar to his own, said as he watched Erik. He couldn’t hear his soul or his thoughts, like there was something blocking his magic. It put him incredibly on edge. There was another soul, as he looked around his eyes fell on a girl with champagne colored hair and sapphire blue eyes. Her soul sounded like heaven, beautiful and light.
“Where am I…?” Erik asked softly, petting Cubellios’s head.
“I’m not entirely sure where we are.” The maroon haired man said, looking out at the pouring rain from where he stood in front of the fire. “A cave, in a forest of a country called Fiore. Do you remember who you are, or are you as lost as our friend here?”
The champagne haired girl frowned, looking away from Erik silently, ashamed to have caused the man who helped her so much trouble. She was bruised, but the bruises weren’t from the man. She didn’t even know what or who they were from.
“Yeah…” Erik said softly.
“Must be nice…” The girl said quietly, a voice like a songbird.
“Come. Eat.” The man told the two, offering them bowls of some sort of stew. Erik sniffed it, no sign of any poison. Not that it would have affected him. The three strangers ate in silence before the maroon haired man chuckled to himself.
“I never introduced myself. My name is Locrus.” He said with a warm smile.
“I’m…” Erik froze. He couldn’t call himself Cobra. He couldn’t risk Brain finding him and his friend’s sacrifice for his freedom to be in vain. “Erik. My name’s Erik.”
“I’m Clover.” The little girl said softly, she couldn’t have been any older than twelve or thirteen. “That’s all I remember.”
“My son’s name was Erik.” Locrus said with a sad smile.
“What happened to him?” Clover asked quietly, taking another bite of her stew.
“I lost him and his mother a long time ago…” Locrus answered quietly, Erik didn’t need his soul hearing to know that Locrus’s wife and son were a sore subject.
“How did you find me?” Erik asked softly.
“I didn’t. Clover did.” Locrus answered. “She said she felt like something was calling for her. She was hoping that she was close to her family or home, so she followed it. We found you with your snake friend curled around you, unconscious. I think you may have had a nasty fall.”
Erik nodded. “What about her?”
“I found Miss Clover wandering alone aimlessly, badly beaten up. I asked her if she was alright and she asked if I knew her. Poor dear doesn’t have a single memory in her skull.” He said with a soft sigh. “She doesn’t even have any idea how she ended up so badly beaten, or how she got away from who or whatever did it to her.”
Erik frowned as he looked at Clover. She had a thousand yard stare on her face, not touching her food anymore.
“If she didn’t remember how she even ended up there, how does she remember her name?”
“She’s not sure. I’m not sure. She just does.”
After they finished eating, Clover and Locrus decided to curl up and sleep to the sound of the rain pouring down.
Erik didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he opened his eyes Clover was still asleep and Locrus was nowhere to be seen. Erik did see a note resting near him, and decided to read it.
Erik,
Take Clover to the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia. She’s got a guild mark on her hip that belongs to them.. I’m willing to bet they’ll hold the secrets of her past.
They may even be able to help you with whatever you’re running from, my boy.
Merry Met.
Locrus
The damn old bastard had left him alone with the defenseless girl. He could have been a pedophile for all Locrus knew! Nevermind that he was only seventeen. But still! He sighed as he looked over at Clover who was fast asleep. Sighing, he rubbed his face.
Looks like he was heading to Magnolia.