The Affinities

She smiled, "That would be wonderful." Turning a deathly serious gaze on Jo, they glared at each other for a moment, "Keep the money, child. That money means little to me now." Jo felt something like anguish welling up in her throat. "It has nothing to do with you! BUTT OUT!" she shouted and dashed off, past the town and Berry who'd emerged from the inn. Jo ran until her lungs ached and the forest thinned as the mouth of the cave loomed before her. She wouldn't go in...not today. It wasn't time...not yet to face her past.

Quid mali Jo? Timens qui suscitavit adversus te?
(What's wrong, Jo? Afraid to meet the one who raised you again?)

Jo's eyes widened. Those words...that language... This isn't happening...you're dead...Igneel...

 

Ulrich saw the sparks igniting between the old woman and Jo, and he was unable to fathom the reason. Jo yelled, either at him or the elderly woman, he didn't know, and ran off. He felt bad. Real bad. With a sigh, he told the woman good-bye and turned back to the group, frowning. He had a somber look to him, his lazy smile now a frown of reminiscence. "Ariana," he began hollowly, not looking at anyone in particular as he spoke. "Go look for Jo... she could use a friend..." he asked more than commanded, his amber eyes far away. Ulrich knew Haley or Andrew would say something, but he was too far gone in his own memories, dwelling on who he used to be, drowning in his own guilt for a moment. They had to survive, and if it meant taking money from people, he had no other alternative... save for doing oddjobs for those generous. "I think," he murmured. "I think I need to rest."

 

"Hey Ulrich, you alright?" Keel asked.

 

Ulrich turned to Keel and offered a lazy smile. "Yeah," he said. "I just have a really bad headache... the yelling I did and the appearance of Barkeep," he continued, remembering the name Jo called the giant-of-a-man. "Didn't seem to help any. Not to mention I was woken up by an argument this morning, remember?" Ulrich finished rhetorically. He yawned and made his way to the inn, hands in pocket. There wasn't much of a spring in his step. It seemed like he was dragging his feet, his shoulders heavy with an unknown burden.

 

Ariana was off before Ulrich even finished his sentence. There was no way she would leave Jo all alone-not a chance in hell. She ran after her, hoping and praying that she wouldn't lose slight of the fire girl.

 

Haley was amazed by what had just happened, Ulrich had excelled at how he'd handled the situation though she'd have liked a little warning before hand but she wasn't going to complain. As much as it felt bad to take advantage of these people, they'd had little choice. She would have done something similar if Ulrich hadn't used his inititive first. He'd even offered to do work so they weren't exploiting them that much. As it was she'd just let him do his thing while she took full advantage of her small size, with the look she pulled off she could of almost passed for a poor little innocent 8 year old. However she'd been suprised by the arrival of the giant but he brought very welcome news, he seemed nice enough. Also he knew Jo which was good but Jo had been suprised he was still alive and noone else seemed to know her. This only led to more questions in Haley's mind of who this mysterious girl actually was. And Jo's rections to the act had suprised her too, it seemed a bit harsh and it appeared she had a very strong moral compass - that seemed to contrast completely with how fast she was to fight. Then of course, she'd stormed off. What was going on?

Ignoring her concerns for now, she maintains the vunerable little girl look though smiled at the people's kindness and walked over to Ulrich. She spoke quietly as she walked beside him, "Nice work there, you going to be alright? I think you dererve a good rest now though not before a proper meal."

 

Jellal had been watching the whole thing unfold from the window of his room. From the arrival of the barkeep up to Ulrich's face becoming weary and sad. As he saw Ulrich and Haley head toward the in, he opened the door and tossed his room key to the closest of the two.

 

Ulrich glanced at Haley and smiled weakly again. As she passed him, a flash of pain crossed his mind and he clutched his head, a hazy vision coming to his mind. A young child, whose face was blurred and whose hair was similar to his own back then but the color of snow in contrast to his dark hair, stood in an open garden holding a pink ball. The child spoke... though barely audible. _______, are you alright? the child asked. The vision itself faded as swiftly as it came, the pain subsiding slowly. Ulrich felt moisture upon his exposed fingers and he was shuddering. It took him a moment to realize he had stopped walking. He then noted his own breathing was ragged, as if he ran through the arctic. "Who...?" Ulrich asked, his voice numb and barely above a whisper. Another flash of pain passed Ulrich's mind, visions of fire crossing his mind and eyes of lavender glowing with such intensity and rage that it took him aback. He felt afraid at that moment. Ulrich fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands now and his entire body trembling.The pain had increased tenfold since its first passing. The darkness within the corners of his memory writhed but did not give way to his forgotten past... it did not give way to who his true family was, his true past since before he was orphaned. _______, I'll avenge you... our family...

Those were the final words he heard before he collapsed upon the floor of the inn.

 

Haley grinned and nodded thanks to Jellal as he passed her a key. Though quickly turnd back to Ulrich as she heard him start to pant. "Ulrich, are you okay?" Stupid question, he was clearly in pain, "Ulrich!" She shouted as he collapsed, she tried unsuccessfully to catch him. "Help! Someone help me. He's passed out, we need to get him to a bed, now" She looked desperatly at Jellal and out of the door at the others as she crouched by Ulrich. "And we need Caeli here, perhaps he can help." She looked at Ulrich, her eyes full of worry. She wondered what was wrong with him, he'd been fine one second, the next like this. She didn't really want to involve a doctor just in case but as this had been slightly public she might have no choice. She wished she knew more about Ulrich, did he have a medical condition? Or was it to do with what he was? She didn't know, she could only hope he'd be okay.

 

Dream Sequence (1)​

It was a bright, sunny day on the farm. Richie, Kaylee, and Ed were playing outside the hut, throwing around and kicking a worn rubber ball. Richie was the eldest of the three children, only nine years old. His hair was black and it poked in every possible and impossible direction. He even wore a headband around his forehead. Richie was pale of skin, had bright hazel eyes, and constantly smiled (though he was missing a canine). He was considered the bravest of the three kids. He wore a normal, dirty white T-shirt, torn blue jeans, and worn-out shoes. Kaylee was the youngest, only seven years old, and had bright brown hair that complemented her innocent blue eyes. She wore a white skirt with a dirty blue top, with straw sandals. She seem timid and shy, but nevertheless she was having fun. Her skin was fair and soft, her face heart-shaped. She would've grown up to be a beautiful woman. Ed, the second oldest, was only eight years of age and had fiery red hair that covered most of his face and a quarter of his shoulder. His eyes were a sharp green, and he wore a black shirt with dark blue shorts and worn out shoes. He was easy to anger, but was more bark than bite.

They kicked the ball around, laughing and taunting one another. Ulrich watched them as he tried to remained unnoticed by the children. He was only fifteen and didn't talk much. He accurately labelled them by their elements: Richie was a wind-user, Kaylee was a water-user, and Ed was a fire-user. Despite his own morose mood, he couldn't help but smile at their jeering and merrymaking. It was Ulrich's fifteenth birthday, or so he believed, and thus the children were celebrating.

One of the children accidentally kicked the ball too far, making it fly and bounce towards Ulrich, who tried his best to curl himself into the hay. It did him no good when Kaylee chased after it, shouting at Ulrich to return the ball with a wide smile on her face. Ulrich's somber eyes drifted to the ball, and from just glancing at it, a small cyclone of dust halted and lifted the ball into the air. He gently released the ball to bounce towards Kaylee. She grabbed the ball and made her way to Ulrich. "Come play with us, grouch," Kaylee demanded, smiling. "It's your birthday, you should be having fun. Come play with us, please!"

Ulrich stared dumbly at her, frowning. She was like a little sister to him, and ever since he arrived, she was always tagging along with Ulrich. Rosie had introduced them, and when he first met her, she was scared, hiding behind her "older sister". However, she constantly followed Ulrich when he did his chores, keeping him company and eventually began to talk to him. At night, when the small bonfire was alit, she could lean against Ulrich and fall asleep. Rosie would feign jealously and tease Ulrich, and Ulrich would remain somber.

"I can't," Ulrich told her gently. "I might hurt you and Richie and Ed. I'm bigger, older, and stronger..." Kaylee pouted, obviously disappointed and crestfallen. "But," he sighed. "I guess I'll try and be gentle." Kaylee glowed happily and held the rubber ball before Ulrich. Ulrich hesitated before grabbing the ball, doing incredible tricks such as holding it with the curve of his boots and then gently kicking it towards his knee. His legs snapped swiftly, juggling the ball to and fro, from knee to knee. He stopped the juggling, letting the ball drop and he kicked it, making it glide across the grass. There was a reverse spin to it that forced it to stop an inch from hitting Richie. All the while, the kids stared astonished at Ulrich, and then cheered.

"Big bro!" Richie shouted, running towards Ulrich. Ed wasn't too far behind as he followed Richie. "You gotta show me how to do that! That was amazing!" They all said in unison. Ulrich looked at them dumbfoundedly, and then he smiled, laughing softly as he rubbed the back of his head.

 

Caeli ran up right beside Ulrich and crouched down to his level. "I think I have just the right amount of energy." Creating the healing ball of wind with his fists, Caeli wrapped it around Ulrich's head and held it there for a few seconds, before taking it off. Panting, Caeli said "There... he should wake up... soon. I really need to rest now..." Caeli eyes started closing, but he then quickly snapped them back open. He was having troubles with his breathing.

 

Jellal's eyes widened as Ulrich dropped to the floor. It was rather sudden and unexpected. He hurried over to him just before Caeli arrived. He knew the power of his healing magic from first Hand experience. But the innkeeper and several villagers had witnesses the spectacle. Their secret would be out, Far sooner than he had expected. He just hoped they hadn't noticed what Caeli had done.

 

Ooc: Whoops, I didn't think of that. :sweatdrop:
Hopefully the villagers didn't notice.

 

Jo closed her eyes and took a moment to calm her racing heart. "You're not real...you're a figment of my imagination." She sat on in the grass and mulled over her actions. Ulrich had been reasonable, offering compensation for the money, but...when the woman had spoke of the cave, she couldn't help but snap. The new villagers didn't know anything about it, so it wasn't there problem. Asking another foreigner to deal with something that they had no right in bothered Jo.

Barkeep lifted a bushy eyebrow. His large mass blocked the view of Ulrich from the passing people. He, on the other hand, saw plenty. Picking Ulrich up and setting him over his shoulder, Barkeep snorted, "You kids get into any more trouble and I'll have to be setting folks straight. Now ya'll owe me for helpin' you out, kay?" he carried Ulrich into the inn and waved for the others to follow. Any more magic users in this town and I might have another fiasco on my hands. he thought with a slight tinge of humor before repeating it aloud. "If there are any more magic users coming to town, you'd best tell me now. I can't have another fiasco on my hands. Those that survived are obvious here, and they probably could spot another fire mage from a mile away."

 

After searching for a while Ariana finally found Jo- sitting in the grass and out of breath. "Jo?" The younger girl said calmly. "Are you alright?"

 

Jo looked up at Ariana and sighed, "I'm alright. We...should go back to the others. It's not yet time..." She stood and glanced back at the cave.

 

Ariana offered her hand the older girl "C'mon" she said, with a slight smile.

Ariana offered her hand to the older girl "C'mon" she said, with a slight smile.

 

Grabbing Ariana's hand, Jo grinned and pulled her away from the cave with renewed vigor.

 

Andrew walked into town along with all the others with an apathetic look on his face. Stay calm, act natural and nothing bad will happen. He wondered why they didn't come in waves as agreed, but didn't worry about it too much. Their party wasn't all that large anyway sort of. Of course he had noticed the strange looks, like everyone else had, but it looked to be a majority of them were directed at Jo. Has she really not changed her appearance since then? he thought raising an eyebrow while studying Jo's appearance. It was then Haley brought up the issue of money. Andrew froze, his eyes wide as he had completely forgotten about that part. Luckily, Ulrich could think fast as he started shouting at him about being lost and having no map. "Um excuse me? We do too have a m-" he retorted before being interrupted by Ariana also shouting at him. Andrew's eyes narrowed as he wondered what was going on before he finally saw what Ulrich was trying to do. Relaxing again, Andrew gave a sad shrug. "Well what can I say? We didn't even have enough change for a map. And now we don't have a place to stay. Oh how sad," he said playing along with Ulrich. It was then that a huge massive man of a bartender came out of the local inn next to them like a god out of a machine. Somehow he knew Jo and offered them to stay at the inn. "How kind of you," remarked Andrew both grateful and a little suspicious. Jo had said there shouldn't have been anyone that would recognize her in her hometown. While he puzzled over this, he didn't pay much attention to whatever was going on with Ulrich, some lady and Jo and once again, Jo went off by herself. For Christ's sake can't you just stay put? thought Andrew annoyed again. He also did not notice that Jellal somehow had enough cash on him to get a room. Maybe he took some off some of the soldiers from earlier...well maybe not. His fire's probably hot enough to burn it unintentionally. Jo's too. Freaking cooking my earth... scowled Andrew. however, he got over it before being enraged again and noticed just in time to see Ulrich collapsing for whatever reason. But he noticed too late Caeli coming over to help. "N-!" Andrew shouted with his hand outreached to try and stop him. Unfortunately, he was too late and Caeli had already taken care of Ulrich. Andrew facepalmed with annoyance. Greeeaaaat. The bet was lost. To some stupid kid andyouknowwhat? I bet Ulrich would've been just fine anyway without the help of healing magic. While he fell into a deep state of despair preparing for the onslaught of the people, to his great surprise, the bartender quickly covered for them. "Wha-...who are you really?" he asked as he followed him in with Ulrich on his shoulder. Through all this Andrew also lost track of Ariana, but that didn't matter much now.

 

Berry stopped for a moment, "I wasn't in town when the village originally burnt down. Jo didn't have much family before, so I ended up taking care of her most days. When she started rambling on about learning fire magic, I figured it was good she'd finally found a way to channel her anger and not hurt someone. When the village burned...and I came back, Jo was gone, there were dragon bones being hauled into a cave and old family had started to gather wood and rebuild. I couldn't imagine Jo burning down the village..." he sighed, "But, I've kept her secret ever since. But I couldn't stop any of the rumors. In the library, there's a book called the History of El and the Silver Fire."