Thanks for the Memories

Silent Night

Freed sat at the edge of a cliff, green hair waving in the wind. Looking down into a sea of nothingness, he found the silence deafening, yet at the same time praised the comfort it brought him. If anyone asked the boy what he was doing he would tilt his head to the side, close his eyes and smile, a sad smile that it seemed no one (not even Master Makarov or Evergreen) could see past.

He had always been good at tricking people, that's how he had gotten into pranking with Bickslow and Ever. His right eye tingled at the thought of using magic but he knew against it, after all, the devils magic should not be used on such a holy day like today.

Yes, devils magic. It wasn't something that Freed was the proudest of, but his birth family had the tendency to sell their souls to Satan. Well, not exactly sell, it was more of a trade. The men and woman of his family would give their lives to their unholy 'god', they would serve him when called upon and in return they were 'blessed' with strong magic and a longer lifespan than the average human.

So 'Albion', at the age of just five, began to truely learn about his dark background, he learnt of the schools that were open to witches and wizards who sold their souls and of real demons who hid in the shadows just waiting to pounce at their unknowing pray. He learnt at the age of seven that his mother, who married into the Spellman family, had not sold her soul at the age of sixteen, as she wasn't a witch. He learnt that his parents untimely deaths were an accident, and that he should praise Satan that his aunts and uncles were still there to protect him from dark forces. He learnt rituals, read dozens of books in languages from everywhere his young mind could think of. He lay awake night after night, wondering what would happen if he chose to sell his soul.

Albion did already have magic, his family (and quite a few others) were more prone to dark magic (some would say they were born with it). The devil would make that magic stronger than they could imagine. So Albion did indeed have magic, weak magic compared to the rest of his family, but magic nonetheless.

When the young boy was nine, his aunts took him to the small town of Darmoth. They were summoned to take care of an offensive dark guild which their Lord obviously took no liking to. He was given a small pouch of coins and told to not wonder too far away. Having never been out of his hometown, the young boy was excited and nervous for what could possibly be in store for him. He walked through the streets, tried sweets and fruits he hadn't heard of and looked at the people around him, making up the stories of their lives in his head.

Albion heard a bang came from a few buildings down, and that's when he knew his aunts were done with their business. He sighed and walked back to the dark guild to see a large crowd circled around it. A short man (even shorter than him!) with gray hair stood in the middle of it with his two aunts. They seemed to be discussing what to do with the people inside.

The greenet pushed his way to the front and called out to his relatives. One smiled gently and called him over. Once in the middle he was introduced to the short man.
"Albion, this is Master Makarov of Fairy Tail" of course, who else would be standing in front of an evil guild but the master of Fairy Tail himself.
Makarov gestured to the crowd and another boy, blond and taller than Albion,  from what the boy could tell he was also older.
"This is my grandson, Laxus." said boy sighed in boredom, "Albion, perhaps you and Laxus could play whilst I talk to your Aunts."
He nodded and Laxus quickly walked away, forcing Albion to run after him.

"So," Albion started, "You're Laxus Dreyar. Are you a wizard too?"
"Yeah" the blond responded quickly,
Albion stared at the boy with a disappointed face, "What magic do you use?"
"Lightening"
The greenettes eyes lit up in excitement, "Woah!! Lightening magic? That's so cool!"
"Heh" Laxus gave Albion a small grin which the younger boy returned.

The two sat down and talked, at first it was about magic and storms but the boys talked about anything that came to mind. Albion shared the rest of his small deserts and lollies (candy/sweets), Laxus shared stories about the wizards in his guild. If you saw them you'd think they'd known each other for ever.

When Albion was called back, the two exchanged addresses to keep in contact with one another and headed their separate ways. Albion's aunties asked him about the boy and he gladly told them everything, happy to finally have a real friend outside of their coven.

The boys exchanged letters for a year, Laxus wrote about a new friend he'd made,
'He's kinda funny, I think you'd really like Bickslow Albion. You should come down to Fairy Tail to visit.'
To which Albion responded,
''I'd love to meet him someday, but I'm hardly ever allowed outside of town.'
Bickslow joined in on the letter writing and the three of them slowly became closer.

When Albion turned ten he told his aunts that he didn't want to sell his soul, that he was powerful enough without the extra magic. They were horrified with his confession, but at the witching hour that night the two woke him up and, under the cover of the dark, moonless sky, smuggled him to Fairy Tail were they met Master Makarov. They spoke to the man, leaving him with a letter and after a tear filled goodbye, they left Albion Spellman.

Laxus was overjoyed to see him the next day, immediately introducing him to Bickslow. The three became quite close and when Evergreen joined their group they finally felt complete. Albion Spellman, now Freed Justine to protect himself from the witches and wizards out to find him, had a new family, and although these three couldn't replace what he had lost, they could fill a hole inside his heart.

Freed sat at the edge of a cliff, green hair waving in the wind. Looking down into a sea of nothingness, he found the silence deafening, yet at the same time praised the comfort it brought him. If anyone asked the boy what he was doing he would tilt his head to the side, close his eyes and smile, a sad smile that his friends-no-family, would never be able to see past. Thinking back to his past, his right eye began to tingle much more than it did before, making the boy wonder what may of happened had he gained his 'full powers'.

The greenet felt a pair of arms behind him and closed his eyes. When he reopened them his older 'sister' Evergreen was snuggled to his left with Bickslow and Laxus fighting for the best spot on his right. A large blanket had been spread across the four and a book and touch put in his lap by Ever. Al-Freed knew exactly what to do.

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" he read aloud as the first snow of Christmas Eve slowly fell.

*******

Word Count: 1269

Merry X-Mas everyone! I hope you have an amazing holidays!

The next update should be out by next year. This isn't the normal update I post, but I'm writing backstories for all of the Thunder Legion starting with Freed or 'Albion'. If you can't tell, this chapter was roughly based on 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' or CAOS, it's an awesome Netflix series and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Stay safe my little trash cans
-AnActualJoke