𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙨𝙩

We all followed Takeshi up the stairs, which creaked beneath our feet with each step.

"Apologies, we only have two guest bedrooms." he said.
"It's fine. [Y/N], you're okay with Kuschel, aren't you?" Sting gestured to me.

"Yeah, I'll be alright." I nodded.

"Mr. Eucliffe and Mr. Cheney, there is the room you'll be staying in." Takeshi pointed to a black door. "I'll escort Miss [L/N] to her bedroom. Please do not return downstairs from here onwards."

"Alright. See you, [Y/N]." Rogue said.
"Yup. Night, Rogue." I replied.
"Yeah, you two just be in love and ignore me." Sting mumbled.
"Shut up, Sting!" I exclaimed.

The blond cackled and then walked off towards the black door with his hands behind his head. Rogue looked back at me and then followed suit.

Takeshi offered an arm to me.
"If you'll follow me, Miss [L/N]." he said. I took his arm and then walked with him around a corner and down the hallway. We approached another black door, which he opened.

"Your room, Miss [L/N]." he said.
"Just call me [Y/N]." I replied, running a hand through my [H/C] hair.

"[Y/N L/N]... alright." he smiled kindly. "as I said previously, please do not return downstairs."
"Will do!" I nodded. "sleep well - if anything happens in the night then don't hesitate to wake us up."

"Thank you again, [Y/N]." he said, stepping back. "goodnight."
With that, he closed the door behind him. I turned to the room and my jaw fell slack. There was a four-poster canopy bed with the purest white sheets, a large window to the left of the room - fortunately, it wasn't boarded up - and a velvety-looking couch. There ware various paintings strewn across the walls, all of which looked antique.

'What if a real storm brews up here? What if I get scared and nobody's here to help me?' I thought, rubbing my temples.

I sat down on the bed, removing my shoes and then placing Kuschel down, tucking her in under the duvet. She had fallen asleep in my arms at some point during the journey from the bar to the mayor's house.

I sighed contentedly and turned to the window. The rain beat down against it harshly, and I could hear it everywhere thanks to my enhanced Dragon Slayer hearing - the walls, the ceiling, even the streets outside.

The sky was dark, both from the storming sky and the falling dusk. Thunder rolled in, snarling and roaring. I put my head in my hands, perched on the side of the bed. I was caught by surprise by the crash and flash of lightning. I flinched and was subsequently propelled from the four-poster bed and onto my feet.

"Holy—" I started, but cut off when another bolt of lightning caused me to crouch down and then crawl my way under the bed. It was dusty and smelled musty and old, but I didn't care because it gave me some sort of cover from the sound.

Thunder boomed on the distance and I clutched the side of my head in a desperate attempt to block out the noise from my ears, tugging on my [H/L] [H/C] hair.

There was a thud on the other side of the bedroom door and I let out a choked whine. It came again and then the door opened.

"[Y/N]?" I heard Frosch's voice say. "is [Y/N] okay?"

"Frosch..." I murmured.
"Fro thought you were scared." he said. "Fro came to see if you were alright."

"I-I'm alright, Frosch. Don't worry about me." I opted to whisper rather than risking a giveaway voice crack. "you should head back to Rogue."

"Oh. okay." the green Exceed said. "Fro hopes [Y/N] feels better."
From beneath the bed, I watched his little feet plod away and out of the room.

There was another growl of thunder and then another clash of lightning.

"Oh Mavis, make it stop. Please make it stop." I pleaded silent, rolling onto my side and curling into a foetal position. Brackish tears ran down my face from my eyes, which were scrunched shut. I continued to mumbled to myself whilst clutching my ears, blenching each time the lightning descended down upon my ears.

"[Y/N]? Are you alright?" I heard Rogue say. "where are you?"
I assumed he heard my snivelling as he got down on his knees and peered under the bed.

"What are you doing under there?" he asked. I tried to form a comprehendible sentence yet couldn't. I slowly pulled myself out from beneath the bed and sat up.

"Wha- you're crying!" Rogue said.
"I'm sorry." I answered, rubbing my eyes. "I can't help it, it's—"
"I know, I know." he said. "Frosch told me everything. Why didn't you say anything? Frosch and I would have gladly offered to stay with you."

"I didn't wanna seem like a coward." I replied quietly. "I wanna be brave like you and Sting, and the rest of Sabertooth."
"[Y/N], you are brave. You're brave to me." he said. "and the rest of our guild, too. We're all afraid of something."

"Even you?" I looked up to meet his eyes.
"Even me." he nodded.
"Well... what are you afraid of?" during this conversation, I managed to focus on Rogue's talking to me instead of the storm that was raging on outside.

He hesitated before shaking his head.
"My shadow." he said. "well, it calls itself Shadow. To make a long tale short, Shadow wants to take over my body so it can be in full control. It's evil... not even I know how it works."

My eyes widened. 'Is that why... Rogue from the future was...'

"I won't let that happen." I said abruptly, throwing my arms around Rogue. "you won't become like that guy from the future, I promise."

'I'm sorry for lying to you like this. I can't promise anything. In six months, I die.'

"There's no need to worry. I won't let it happen either." the other Dragon Slayer replied, gently putting his arms around me. "I still wonder, just what happened that made him allow Shadow to take over him?"

At the mention of that subject, I began to cry again. I sobbed harder than ever into Rogue's shoulder, my own shuddering and heaving.

"I didn't mean to upset you - oh, [Y/N], please stop crying." Rogue said, yet he held me tighter anyway.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry..." I wept.
"Wha- why are you apologising? What did that future bastard do to you?" he replied. I didn't answer.

"[Y/N], what did he do to you?!" Rogue repeated.
"He kissed me!" I finally said. "he kissed me but it meant absolutely nothing! And I told him that is wasn't right, and it wasn't what I would have wanted, but then he—"

"Slow down, slow down. He kissed you?" Rogue repeated, to which I nodded. "what happened after that?"
"He- he told me that I was gonna change the world, and that he was angry that I left him alone and that he wanted to see me again." I explained, leaving out the part where I die.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" the shadow mage asked.
"Because I thought it'd make things awkward!" I said.
"Of course it wouldn't. Some guy from the future kisses you and tells you he misses you, so what? It isn't me, and it never will be. I won't let it happen, and you've already said you won't either. That's enough, right?"

I paused for a moment and then nodded.
"Yeah..." I nodded. "thanks for... um, listening to me have a breakdown."

"It's alright. I am here for you, remember?" he replied, letting go of me and standing up.
"I know." I said. "um... sleep well, have nice dreams."

"You too, [Y/N]. Sweet dreams... or something." he nodded, before walking to the doorway. There was another flash in the window and a crash outside and I yelped, jumping into his arms.

"Please don't leave." I said quickly.
"I figured that when you jumped on me." Rogue replied, picking me up. I wrapped my limbs around him and he placed me down on the soft sheets of the four-poster, then proceeding to sit beside me.

I curled into a tight ball against him, squeezing my [E/C] eyes shut.
"Just try and sleep, okay? You're in here and the storm's outside." he said gingerly, absentmindedly running a hand through my hair. I took slow breaths in order to calm myself, and eventually I found myself giving into my weariness.