The Rune Mage and the Celestial Dragon Slayer

Chapter 12

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains depictions of abuse and suicide, please read with caution or skip this chapter.
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"As a kid, my parents tried to marry me off when I was around five or six years old. They would ask me if I wanted to and when I refused they would give it a few weeks before bringing it up again. As I got older, they became more violent towards me. My father really hurt me for refusing to marry. At one point they tried to force me to marry my own brother. My brother, Mike, refused because he wanted to be there to help me grow up. A few days later my parents casted him out of the house, out of their lives, and told him he was worthless. I always visited him at Mariposa's...then came that awful day..."

"What happened?"

"We found him...he had hung himself the night before. And my parents...they didn't even care. From there I met Drocomi and in the beginning, he treated me like...like I was worth something. Then he locked me up in a dungeon and left me in ruins. I remember...his counterpart Eza would always come in and leave me battered as well. Then they would throw me back into my house in Starsdale. They left me bruised and battered. My parents didn't care at all. Then at eleven, my mother left me at Mariposa's, but Drocomi never stopped hurting me. But Mariposa healed me each time. It was later in my life when I was cursed with the Shadow Demon. I was sixteen then."

"So you were eleven when you arrived here, correct?"

"You were at Tenrou the first time. The next seven years after that, I was still being tormented. Then the news came that you all had disappeared. This town was dead quiet when the news struck, Drocomi left me alone when the news reached him. Nobody talked for at least a couple years. Other guilds were doing what they were doing, you know. Then you guys came back, heh, when that happened, Mariposa had a party and invited all her friends. Now here I am. Trying to keep my mind stable because of all the things I've been through. Obviously I'm happy that Drocomi is gone, and I'm glad you asked me out. I'm so happy I joined Fairy Tail."

"I can see how big of an impact we've made on you."

"That's the thing. I may seem like that, but the past still comes back to haunt me, stab me, hurt me. I can't forget, and that's why I'm scared of being around people, why I prefer to be alone."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at a soft, caring smile on his face, "You're not alone anymore though. You have us."

I smiled, "Yeah."

We stopped in front of a place that looked to be a giant stump of a tree but a little taller and carved out. Many boxes and barrels stood in front and a flag was stuck into the wall. Freed hesitated and knocked on the door, quickly backing up and grabbing my hand in his. The door opened and an elderly woman with pink hair walked out with a scowl.

"What do you want?" she grumbled.

"Porlyusica, our newest member has a curse put upon her for a while, could you please remove the curse part and make this curse a part of her magic?"

I got distracted by the flag and reached out to touch it.

"Depends on what the curse is. HEY DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

I flinched and bowed to her, "My apologies. The curse is known as the Shadow Demon curse. It's a dark takeover that has been with me for six years now."

She stood there, looking at us like we were filth. I fidgeted under her stare and glanced around. She then huffed, causing me to look at her, her face was still in a scowl but her eyes spoke sympathy.

"You wait out here, she's coming with me."

"A-actually, I need him around..."

"Why?" she asked, as if I offended her.