The Affinities

Ariana smiled . "Night Jo jo,"

 

"I'm sure they will. Is there anywhere here you want to check otu that were allowed to go?" He asked.

 

"Hmm...come to think about it, I am quite hungry. Lets find something to eat."
Caeli grinned, while rubbing his stomach.

 

Jo waited until Arianna had fallen asleep to climb out of bed and pry open her window. Luckily it was always warm here. Grabbing her pistols, Jo huffed a silent goodbye to Arianna and leapt out the window, landing lithely on the ground below. Here we go... She took off in a red blur back towards the cave in the middle of the forest.

 

"All right sounds like a plan." Keel said as he noticed a red blur heading towards the forest. "You saw that too right?"

 

Jellal was walking around outside when he saw Jo climb out the window. 'Now where could she be going?' He thought as he decided to follow her. He was pretty fast himself so he was able to more or less keep up with her.

 

Dream Sequence (3)​

Ulrich sat before the bonfire, Kaylee snuggled comfortably against his right while Rosie was sitting beside his left-side. The other two sat on opposite ends of Rosie and Kaylee, staring into the flames with content. They were all talking, laughing, even Ulrich partook at rare intervals, making quips here and there. "So," Rosy began. "What are your dreams for the future?" She asked, gazing at the heavens as the flames weakened. Ed was the first to answer, so full of excitement that it made Ulrich wonder if he stole the fury of the bonfire.

"I want to protect the other orphans," he said enthusiastically. "I want to build a large orphanage and teach them God's plan for us all. Just like what you taught us, Rosie." Rosie smiled and laughed with glee, and Ed smiled brightly. "I will protect them with my lives, too!" Ulrich stared at the boy and frowned. Nevertheless, he forced a smile, though it was sad and empty.

Kaylee piped in, quickly. "I want to be with Ulrich and Rosie, forever and ever!" Everyone laughed, even Ulrich. "I want to be a part of their family. And I want Rosie to be at my wedding, too! Because when I become a grown-up, I want to marry Ulrich! He's so cool and caring and..." she trailed off as her cheeks reddened. Another bellow of laughter erupted from them, and Kaylee buried herself further into Ulrich's side.

"I want to be a hero! Like in the stories Rosie tells us," Richie said with pride, rising from his seat and thrusting his thumb into his puffed-out chest. "I want to put a stop to the government and I want to protect everyone from the rogue Affinities. I'll even save them from themselves. Only a true hero can save everyone!" Rosie, Ed, and Kaylee cheered, whilst Ulrich frowned and averted his eyes. "I also want to be as cool as Ulrich when I do it. A true hero must be legendary and unique. Calm and collected. A true hero feels the pain of everyone."

Ulrich felt pangs of regret, for he felt he overstayed his welcome. "I dream of a world," Rosie began. "Where everyone lives in harmony with one another. No killing. No stealing. No social hierarchies. I dream of a world of equality and happiness, where everyone can live their dreams without fear." Rosie said, smiling. "What about you, Ulrich?"

UIrich was about to answer, but a bright blue-white light obscured his vision and as it faded, a dark cloaked child appeared. From beneath the cowl were two violet eyes, and laid out before Ulrich were the bodies of those dearest to him, blood pouring to the ground. "It's time to wake up," the shrouded boy said. "It's time you remembered me... brother."

Another flash of light, and before him were his family. They were being killed before his very eyes by soldiers as he stood, paralyzed. Their grizzly deaths haunted his vision, their bloodcurdling cries tore at his sanity...

*******

The Village (Inn)​

"No!" Ulrich cried as he jolted up. "Not again!" He wept. As the high of the nightmare faded, Ulrich's shoulders sagged with a heavy burden at the realization of it all and the cloaked figure haunted his sanity. He looked around and he noticed motes of dust were surrounding his very person like a protective shell. "Why..." he murmured. "Why now?" Ulrich asked, giggles of madness escaping his lips. He laughed about the absurdity of it all. The sardonic sound was very unlike him, and as he noticed the notes of his cynical laughter, he quickly sobered.

Ulrich rose from the couch and approached the window, noticing a blur head into the forest. An alarm went off inside his head and he opened the window, unaware if he was alone in the room or not. It never occurred to him that he had the latent questions of how he got there or what had happened. Ulrich was only concerned about that person who had ran into the forest. Without a thought, or a care, he leaped out the window and chased after the person, making sure he kept his distance and clung to the shadows.

Though he never gave his old family an answer as to his dreams, he had an answer now... his dreams were their dreams. But now was not the time to dwell on the future...

 

"Y-yeah...I did. What was that?"
Caeli was staring into the bushes. "It couldn't have been Jo, could it?" He thought to himself.

 

"Well whatever it was, it probably can't be a good thing. Keel said before he ran towards he cave. There aren't that many thig that it could've been, but hopefully it wasn't Jo or anyone else.

 

Ariana awoke just a few minutes after Jo had left. She looked around the room to see that Jo had left-she was gone and had left Ariana with the others-the others who barely trusted her and she bearely trusted any of them. Maybe she went back to where that cave was though Ariana. She headed towards the darkness and continued walking forward. "Jo!" Ariana called into the night.

 

"And then there was one..." said Andrew to himself, having done a half hearted headcount. Of course he had felt the familiar vibration of a certain someone escaping out to somewhere again. And of course he had noticed that another certain person who should've been resting more had chased after the first. And....of course....he had noticed that two others had somehow caught notice and just knew EXACTLY where to go while flashstepping because how else would they be able to get to their destination so quickly? He hardly cared much at all anymore. Whatever! Go and get yourselves killed because satisfying your curiosity is SO worth it. 'Yeah! Let's all just follow that person! She wouldn't lead us to danger! Absolutely not!' What a bunch of BULL. thought Andrew annoyed as he facepalmed deep and hard in shame that he was even associated with such foolish kids.

 

Haley shook her head slightly, it looked like noone was going to get a good nights sleep tonight. She'd tried to sleep but she'd been worried about what lay ahead. So she'd been sat by the window and had watched as one by one, each of their new group left and headed off into the woods. She didn't know what there motivations and reasons for going were but she made no move to stop them. She just had to hope they'd stay out of danger, she'd have to learn to trust them eventually, maybe tonight was a good night to start. With a deep sigh she looked around to see Andrew, it didn't take a genius to work out his mood. She slowly walked towards him from behind and delicatly placed a hand on his arm. "Relax" She spoke quietly, "Everything's going to be fine. Somehow it'll all work out, we're stronger than we look." She glanced out of the window, "They're good kids and they've got to learn somehow, the more you hold them back, the more they'll want to get out. I suppose we have to learn a bit of trust. They'll be okay." She smiled slightly, "And so will you."

She stepped back and streched her arms out, "Well it looks like sleep is a lost cause and everybody else has gone, who am I too miss out on the fun? I guess I may as well go out and enjoy my freedom while it lasts, I might not get the chance again for quite a while. I need to get away from it all." She paused and grinned, "I need to fly" She walked back over to the window and opened it as wide as it would go. She looked back at Andrew with a smile, nodded and leapt out of the window. She landed softly on the ground bow, cushioning her fall with a blanket of air. She grinned, glancing back up at the window. She knew Andrew wasn't happy with their descision but hopefully he'd come around. They were mostly still kids after all, put into a situation where they had to grow up fast, let them be kids if only for a night. She disappeared off into the night with incredible speed. She was possible fastest out of all their group, she used her power over air to propell her along and achieve great speed and agility. She headed vaguely in the direction of the others though that wasn't particularly on purpose. All she wanted was somewhere where she could be free and use her powers without fear.

 

"Tch." Andrew clicked his teeth miffed. He still didn't trust any of them to use correct judgement from what he's seen of them thus far, but he did nothing. Turning at the sound of the window being opened, he saw Haley ready to jump out and escape into the night as well. Sighing he turned back and didn't stop her. At that point, Andrew might as well have been alone for all he cared. The only sane mind in a group of restless individuals. It didn't matter if he tried to stop them anymore. None of them would have listened anyway.

 

Maddie sat up lazily, her brown hair in a tangled mess after laying it down for so long, watching one after another as each member of the group jumped through the window to follow Jo. She had no idea what they were going to do there, but going by Haley's departing words, it seems as though freedom wouldn't be too much of an option soon. She played this words through her mind a few times, trying to think about what it really meant to have no more freedom. After weighing out the pros and cons of her allies choices, curiosity got the better of her once again. Slowly, she got up into a standing position, quickly ruffling about with her hair until she thought it looked decent, and made her way to the window where she had seen everyone else disappear into the night, a cold wind catching her breath as it nipped her face. "So...you're staying here?" She sighed, glancing over at Andrew, who had his back turned away from the window, clearly annoyed at the others for leaving.

 

"Heh," scoffed Andrew. "Who else is going to hold up the fort?" Surely no one else. As far as he knew, he was now the only responsible one of the group at the tavern. Everyone else had gone elsewhere. And now it felt as though Maddie would be joining them in exploring the place at night. At last he hoped that's what she was going to do. Jo had enough eyes on her as is, and with each person poorly tailing her, his uneasiness grew. The girl was like ticking time bomb and the more people gathered around her, the more deadly the explosion she'll cause somehow. Be it more problems or reliance. How annoying...

 

"Holding down the fort...huh?" She sighed softly, peering once again out the window to see if she could spot anyone close by, however no one came within her sights. A part of her wanted her to join the others. To leave Andrew alone here and go out and be free for a few hours. Then there was her logical side, which told her that doing so might not be such a good idea. Jo had a reputation for getting into some major trouble, and she knew that was why Andrew was acting so indifferent towards the others. She looked back towards the boy, her brown eyes wide but dim, "I don't like the idea of this much more myself, but if you believe so strongly that something will happen because of Jo, then..." She paused and clenched her fists softly, "...then I'm going out there too." She took a deep breath, the cold air biting at her once more. "If not for curiosity's sake or for the freedom, then to help those who need it."

 

Andrew sighed again. He didn't turn towards Maddie but said in a slow and controlled voice, "If you feel that way." But I still think that they can all just go rot and die. He didn't truly believe that. But Andrew was tired and tired of being annoyed and tired of being angry but if he wasn't angry, who would be? He had to be the one that remembered the "old" Jo before whatever caused a drastic change to make her become less trigger happy. That was a massive improvement, but she still seemed unstable to him. And thus she was a danger to those around her. If they wanted to go and keep tabs on her, then they should go and suffer the consequences.

 

Jo cautiously stepped into the cave and crunched her way through the darkness with a small flame, "You're here... I'm so happy you came to see me." Jo stopped, fear making her flame flicker. "I'm not here to see you...I...I came to put you to rest. Master Igneel...you seem to be restless even though you died for my sake..." A strong gust of wind made Jo take a step back and her flame went out. Igneel never used wind... "Who are you?" A roar made her flinch and cover her ears as the sound reverberated around the cave, "You're so stupid...little Jo. I never expected you to come back. You're no more a dragon than the day you were born!" Anger made Jo's fire burst alive and lit the cave, revealing a pile of rubble along with a burnt clean skull of a dragon being lifted up from the ground by a small tornado.

 

Ulrich was the first to make it into the cave after Jo. He clung to the shadows, slowly building up his magic as he drew closer. As Ulrich got close, he could hear Jo speak to some sort of specter. For a moment, Ulrich was at a loss, but he guessed Igneel was the only thing close to family she ever had. However, the entity in question was no more than an imposter. Ulrich frowned, his left-hand building up with raw power. Jo released a powerful burst of fire that lit the entire cave, forcing Ulrich to cover his eyes from the bright light. As it faded, Ulrich began to regain his vision in the semi-darkness, able to see the scorched skull levitating from a small whirlwind.

Wind magic... he analyzed. Somehow, that triggered a memory, forcing pressure to build upon his head again. However, the memory was foggy and he cast it aside, his worry for Jo outweighing his own safety. Ulrich kept silent and watched, his magic building in and around his left hand. Dust began to rise, and from the immense pressure of magic around his left hand, the dust began to form small crystals that sparkled in the light of Jo's flames.

 

Jo turned as the skull turned and stared at Ulrich. Her anger mounted once more and a wall of flame rose up in front of the entrance to the cave as well as around Ulrich, "Stay out of my fight! This is MY battle, no one else will interfere!" "Brave, aren't you? Or is it foolishness that drives you to do such silly things as lock out your only ally from a fight you cannot win."