Chapter 23 - Cry

Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul

A sudden noise jostled Axel awake, quickly followed by a flash of sunlight hitting him squere in the eyes. He sat upright, straining to hear whatever it was that had awoken him again, but nothing followed. One look out the window told him that it was still fairly early in the morning, so he laid back down again. After the day he'd had yesterday, he was in no hurry to go anywhere fast. He tossed and turned for a while, but sleep still eluded him.

He rolled over one last time to look out the window and finally decided that he'd better just get on with his day. He was supposed to talk to Sasha about getting renovations done on the house, so he quickly changed into his street clothes and was about to head for the door when he noticed Zeke's hammock was empty. He did a double take to be sure, remembering the little grudge he'd harbored the night before, and barged through the door. "Oh no. Don't tell me..."

He rushed out of his room expecting to find Zeke in the midst of drawing on Amber's face while she was asleep, or some other childish prank, but to his surprise he was just sitting on the backrest of the couch looking down at her. Armeria was sitting next to him, and they both looked up when Axel entered.

"Zeke, what the hell?" Axel whispered through gritted teeth, not bothering to wait for an explanation. "Are you trying to piss her off?"

"I haven't done anything..." He mumbled, sounding a little insulted. "I was going to get her back for making us walk home in the rain yesterday, but..."

"Stop..." Amber mumbled, shuffling under her blanket. "Leave me alone..."

"Sorry." Axel stepped back instantly, but something about the way she had spoken made him stop. He inched closer after a moment, hoping she wouldn't get mad at him, but Amber didn't say anything. "Wait, are you even awake?"

"Don’t..." She muttered again. "It's not my..."

Axel leaned over her, wondering if she was truly asleep or not, to find she had broken out in a cold sweat. She had a pained look on her face but was definitely still asleep, and apparently having a nightmare. "Amber?" Axel began gently rocking her shoulder and her eyes opened slightly. "Amber, wake up."

She glanced up at him, but suddenly her eyes shot wide and she screamed. "Ahhhh!" Axel took a step back in surprise, too late to avoid a kick Amber delivered into his side. He let out a dull grunt, but collapsed to the ground like a pile of bricks after just a moment. Amber sat upright instantly, gasping in surprise. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but she slowly turned to Axel laying on the floor and her face went pale. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry." She jumped off the sofa and landed on her knees by his side, fearing the implications of what she had just done "Are you ok?"

"Ugh..." Axel rolled over, clutching his side and trying to get some air back into his lungs. "The hell?"

"Sorry, you just startled me." She stopped herself, deciding that making excuses could wait until later. She crept closer, looking for anything she might be able to do to help. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts..." Axel moaned, rolling up into a sitting position. "You kick like a horse."

"You where sleep talking again." Armeria explained, now standing just next to her pillow. Zeke was there too, though he had rolled off the top of the couch in laughter instead of hopping down like she had. "He was trying to wake you up."

"Oh..." Amber spun back to Axel, a slight tinge of regret on her face. "I'm really sorry. Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." Axel nodded slowly, pushing off the coffee table as he got to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine." He cracked his neck, and Amber sunk back and crawled up onto the couch. He was too annoyed with her to stick around, even if it was an accident, and decided to just move on. "Anyway, I'm going to see Sasha's dad about fixing this place. See if I can get you your room back."

Though this seemed to only make Amber feel worse about what had just happened, she waved goodbye as Axel stormed out. "Wait for me Axel." Zeke leapt off the couch after him, swooping through the house just in time to make it out the door and leaving Amber and Armeria alone.

Amber arrived at Blazing Soul about an hour later, having nothing else to do that day now that Axel had gone off on his own. She still felt bad about that morning, and despite her best efforts she couldn't seem to put it out of her mind. Spying Kat, Jaina, and Geno sitting together at a table, she moved to join them in the hopes of getting her mind off things.

By the time she was about half way through the building, Jaina looked up from their conversation. "Hey, new girl." Amber waved, but sat down with them without another word. "Why so glum?" She asked quickly, picking up on Amber's mood.

"I'm just tired..." She moaned, knowing Jaina would start teasing her if she told her what had happened between her and Axel.

Jaina huffed, apparently a little disappointed that she wouldn't be getting a story, but Geno spoke up next. "So, how've you spent your first paycheck?"

"I bought a change of clothes." She shrugged, slowly realising that she wasn't up for talking much today. It donned on her though that she hadn't seen Geno since the day they had gotten back from Treetop, and decided to steer the conversation in that direction. "What about you? Where have you been?"

"Workin'." He said with pride. "Those weapons of mine are great for felling trees, and you'd be amazed how much people would pay to 'ave someone else cut firewood for'em."

Amber nodded, having long since given up trying to decipher Geno's obsession with physical labor. "Hey Carra, is Jon here?" Kat called. Amber spun around quickly, having not noticed anyone else when she entered, to find her sitting in a corner table playing a handheld videogame with Chico laying by her feet. She perked up and nodded, and Kat glanced back at the others. "You guys want something to eat?"

Though she considered it, Amber shook her head and sat upright. "No thanks, I'm not hungry."

"Thought I told you to eat better?" Jaina huffed, making more of a statement than actually asking a question. "Something for each of us, honey. Would you kindly?" Carra nodded again; and when she headed into the kitchen Chico hopped up onto her seat.

A slight silence followed, save for the tune coming from the game Carra had left behind. "So, Amber?" Kat started after a moment. "You've been here for about a week. How do you like the place?"

"It's alright." She said with a slight smile. "It's better than being on my own."

"Not exactly sure how to take that..." Jaina chuckled.

"How about us?" Kat added, childishly twirling a lock of her long hair between her fingers. "You must've made a couple friends, right?" "Y-yeah..." Amber stuttered. It began to feel like she was being interrogated; like she was a five year old coming back from her first day of school. "I like Shelly, we've hung out a lot."

"That doesn't count. Everybody likes Shelly." Jaina said with small grin. "How about... Terra?"

"She’s..." Amber stopped, not sure exactly how to word it. She wasn't mean, by any regard, but Amber found her personality to be a little strong. "She's a little weird..." Jaina and Kat both giggled, making her blush slightly, but she moved on before they could say anything. "I've talked with Sasha and her friends too. They're all nice."

"Yeah, you'd never think one of them was related to Clair, huh?" Kat laughed. "Speaking of, I heard you caught an earful from her too. How'd that go?"

Amber was at a loss with this one. "She's, um..."

"Hard to deal with?" Geno interrupted.

"A pain in the ass?" Jaina barked.

"Bitchy?" Kat suggested.

"Yeah, that..." Amber nodded slightly; at least they had said it and not her.

"Well, at least you're honest." Kat mumbled, pushing up to sit cross-legged in her chair. "How about some of the S-Class guys." She said quickly, nudging Jaina with her elbow. "What do you think of me?"

Jaina shot her a stern glair. "Come on, that's way too easy. You're a goofball who strings along every guy she meets." Kat crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, actually looking a little embarrassed. Jaina grinned slightly, and she rubbed her forehead above her eyepatch. "Here's one that might stump ya, how about Peltin?"

"He... He's kind of different from the rest of you." Amber mumbled slowly. She didn't want to say anything bad about anyone, but he was always seemed to have a snide comment for her and it had begun to get on her nerves. "He seems sort of like a thug, to be honest."

A sudden loud crash made them all jump, turning to find Carra had retuned and slammed a large trey of food down at the table. She was glaring at Amber, catching her completely by surprise. "He’s not a thug."

Amber was stunned. Carra barely said anything when they talked before, but was being so confrontational now that it made her head spin. "Sorry, but I-."

"He's not a thug!" She interrupted, stomping her foot on the floor. "Dammit, he's not!"

"Hey!" A sudden voice came from overhead, prompting them all to glance up at the second story balcony to see Peltin leering down at them. The thought that he must have heard them made Amber's blood run cold, but he seemed to ignore them for the most part. "Carra, what have I said about talking like that?"

She starred up at him, her expression softening slightly, and she levelled an accusing finger at Amber. "But she said-."

"I don't care what she said, I care about what you say." He interrupted.

Beginning to look like the wind had been taken out of her sails, Carra lowered her arm. "You say it all the time..."

"Yeah well when you're almost half a century old you can say it all you like too." He folded his arms on the railing, a small grin splitting across his face. "Till then, what's the golden rule?"

Carra slumped her shoulders and looked down at the floor, apparently not fond of being scolded in public like this. "Ladylike..."

"That's right, ladylike." Peltin repeated, standing up and making his way down the spiral staircase. He put his hand on the guilds door, then turned to face them all again. "Right, now I've got things to do. Think you can behave yourself?" Carra nodded sheepishly, still looking down at the floor, and Peltin changed his focus to Amber and the others. "And you four; talkin' about someone behind their back normally works better if said person is somewhere else. Get me?"

"'Kay. Next time we'll be more careful." Jaina said with a grin. Amber expected him to make some sort of retort but he simply spun around and headed out the door, the ends of his coat and his long pony tail trailing after him.

"Whoops." Kat murmured after a moment.

"He'll be fine. Dude's got a tough skin." Jaina ensured, scarfing down the last of what had been a full plate of food just a moment ago and jumping out of her chair. "Anyways, I got stuff to do too. See y'all later."

"You're just going to bail on us?" Geno asked in disbelief.

"I promised Isa I'd do something with her today, so don't even try and keep me around." She spat, speaking just quick enough to not let them get a word in. On the way by she lightly ruffled Carra’s hair, making her duck away at the woman's touch. "Take a breath, ok?"

Carra huffed and took another step back, but Jaina didn't push the matter further and made her exit. Geno took a plate off the trey Carra had delivered, apparently unbothered by the tension in the air, and Kat picked up the one Jaina had finished. "She could have at least cleared her stuff..." She mumbled.

Just as she moved to get up, Carra snatched the empty plate out from her hand. "I can do it."

Kat watched Carra stomp away, looking a little concerned about the way things had ended. "I don't mind, you know."

"I said I can do it." She said again; in a voice that, while still a mumble, was still louder than average for her. She briskly made her way to the kitchen, turning one last time to look at Amber before leaving. "He's not a thug."

Amber just stared back at the kitchen door, absolutely stunned as to what had just happened. A light touch on her hand brought her attention back to the table, more specifically on Kat. "So I suppose you'll want to know what that was about, don't you?"

She nodded slowly, looking back at the kitchen door. "Yeah... Kind of."

Taking a long deep breath, Kat leaned back in her chair and said. "Well for starters, Peltin's kind of her guardian."

She waited a moment to let that to sink in, but Amber's jaw dropped when it did. "What?"

Kat grinned, apparently a little amused by her reaction, but before she could explain the sound of shattering glass grabbed everyone's attention to the guild's far corner. Carra was kneeling down over a small pile of broken glass and scattered food, clutching at her hand. Chico stood just before her with his ears perked up, cocking his head to the side in curiosity. "Carra?" Kat asked, half getting up from her chair. "You ok?"

She was slow to respond at first, but slow turned her teary eyes to them and held out her hand. "It hurts..." She said slowly, a thin trail of blood running from a glass sliver stuck in her palm. "Kat, it hurts!"

Seeing this, Kat leapt into action; grabbing Amber by the arm and pulling her after her. "Geno, go get Peltin." She ordered over her shoulder, skidding to a stop next to Carra and Chico. "Amber, give me a hand."

"What?" She asked, still in shock over having been pulled to her feet so abruptly. She glanced back just in time to see Geno leave, then again as Kat pulled Carra up into a chair. "With what?"

The kitchen door swung open and Jon stepped out, drawn by the commotion. "Is something wrong?"

"Carra tripped. I need those tweezer things." Kat said quickly, pulling the girl's arm out over the table. Jon disappeared instantly, and Kat took a seat across from Carra and leaned in over her palm. "Amber, hold her."

She stood in a daze, not exactly sure what she was being asked to do, but a pair of quick barks from Chico was enough to snap her back to her senses. "Ok..." Amber slowly placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, feeling her shudder under her touch.

Kat nodded slightly, then leaned in to inspect the shard in Carra's hand. She crept closer to try and take it out on her own, but Carra's arm twitched with one of her sobs and Kat accidently brushed the shard over. Carra went regent instantly, jumping to her feet and shouting. "Ow, ow, ow! Stop it!"

Though Kat was able to keep a tight grip on her wrist, Amber was taken by surprise. She tried to force her back into the chair again, becoming amazed by how strong the small girl had suddenly become. "C'mon, sit down." She pleaded, almost having to lean on her to get her back in the chair.

Kat gave her an appreciative smile, but they had a new problem now. Carra had buried her face in her free arm and balled the hand with the shard in it into a tight fist, keeping them from doing anything about it. "Carra, honey. You need to open your hand." She encouraged, trying to uncurl her fingers. Carra's hand shot closed the second she let go, and she shook her head in her arm. "I can't take the shard out with your fist clenched, now come on." Kat sighed.

Carra shook her head again, and Kat looked up at Amber for any ideas. Amber was at a loss too. Hell, she barely understood what was going on herself. It was just a sliver, was it really that big a deal? She spied Jon emerge from the kitchen again, a small medical kid in his hand, and the creak from the door gave her an idea. "Carra, Peltin's here."

Carra sat up instantly, relaxing for an instant as she searched the front of the guild for him. Her hand unclenched for but a moment, but it was all the time Kat needed to remove the shard of glass from her palm. She gasped, looking back at Kat just in time for her to say. "There, all better."

With a deep sigh, Carra sunk down on the table again, watching a small dot of blood form in her hand. Amber let go of her shoulders too, figuring they were done with whatever had just happened, when she noticed something on her back near the base of her neck. It was noticeable only because it was colored slightly pinker than the rest of Carra's pail skin, but Amber knew what it was. It was a scar, a scar left from what looked like something very sharp. She stared at it for a moment, but her concentration was broken when Jon covered it with his hand. "Come now, let's get you patched up." He said, leading Carra away to her corner table again. He glanced at Amber for a moment, pleading with her not to ask what must have been on her mind, and she nodded slightly. Knowing she hadn't been seeing things was good enough for her right now.

"Good thinking." Kat muttered, nudging Amber with her elbow and dropping the shard into a small cup. "Don't think I'd have thought of that one."

Amber watched Jon apply a bandage to Carra's hand, then looked down at the shard. It was bigger than she imagined it to be. And sure, it probably would have hurt like hell, but it hardly explained Carra's reaction. "What just happened?"

"She's got Agliophobia..." Said Kat, as if she expected her to know what that meant.

"Aglo-what?" Amber asked.

"It's a severe aversion to pain, or so Jaina says." Kat sighed, picking up the cup and rattling around the shard inside. "She's had it for as long as I can remember. Any time she cuts herself, or bonks her head, or anything like that she'll just freeze up. She doesn't even like people touching her." Hearing that put a knot in Amber's stomach, remembering how hard it had been to get her to sit down again, and how hard she'd pushed her to get her there. "Please don't think she's weird."

Amber nodded, understanding more than Kat could ever know about having an aversion to anything. "I won't."

A large, goofy grin spread Kat's face, and she poked her in the stomach. "I like you, you know?" Amber smiled sheepishly, fighting to hold back a giggle from the slight tickle she'd gotten. Kat sat upright, then glanced towards the door. "Anyways, Geno's taking his sweet time isn't he?" She said, crossing her arms in feigned annoyance. "You mind going to see where he is?"

Taking one last look back at Carra, who seemed to be doing better now, Amber nodded again. "Sure." She spun on her heel and made for the door, finding herself reflecting on what had just happened. Just as she reached for the handle, the door swung opened to reveal Peltin in mid step. They both stopped short to avoid running into each other, but Amber couldn't seem to formulate a thought. "Uhh..."

He stared at her for a moment, then glanced past to the guilds far corner. "Thanks..." He mumbled, stepping past her to comfort Carra.

Amber felt someone nudge her side, and to her surprise found Kat standing right next to her, watching as Carra threw her arms around Peltin's shoulders. "See? He's not such a bad guy." She chuckled, giving Amber a wink. "Even if he's still sort of a dickhead."

Amber couldn't hold back a chuckle, but something else donned on her as well. When she first arrived, the guild just looked like a place for people to hang out and get work. Now though, it seemed... More. She couldn't quite place her finger on what it was that it reminded her of, but she was glad to be a part of it none the less. After all, if someone like Peltin could be a part of their little family, why couldn't she?

Next Chapter – Rainy Day