The Return (Private)

She walked along the forest floor barefoot. She cared not if her feet were hurting or if she would get sick. The child had been through way too much in the past month to worry about anything else, except for her return home. It would have to happen sooner or later. Azalea was returning to her original home. She was returning to where she had first been taken when she met her big brother. Worry began to fill her heart as she thought about it. From what she understood, there was no way to tell if her thoughts were true or not. Was Elyx going to want her back? Why didn't he come for her? Did he even remember her?

Azalea would be walking, when she ran straight into a tree. She would rub her head and blink. As she rubbed her head, she would see the outlining of something behind the tree. There it was.. Elyx's house. This was where she was told it would be. Azalea would stand behind the tree shaking just a tad, as she peered around it. Was he even home? Was he still around? Tears wanted to escape the young water mage's eyes but she would try so hard to hold them back. She would slowly begin to walk towards the door. Her hand slowly reached for the handle. She would open the door, hesitantly, and walk in. The house seemed so still. It was so silent. Nobody was here. Azalea would begin to panick. Her worst nightmares were sinking in. The small girl would begin to shake, until she fell onto her knees and began to cry. Where was Elyx?

Ignite was not there for today, some business to go down at the Guild Hall, hopefully to get a rifle like she would like. Elyx finally returned from the land of dreams... And now... He had abilities beyond comprehension. While one sleeps, he could enter their dreams and interact with them. When he is asleep, he was awake, meaning that he was literally aware of the real world surroundings while asleep. So basically, the Sky Slayer could be walking, running, talking, even fighting, and be sleeping at the same time. The next ability was not so important, but it give him something to do to escape from the scene if he were to stress a bit too much. He could bring himself to Dreamland to see the king and the Dream Beasts that he had seen. Oh how he had missed the music note tailed cat.

He had been gone for quite a while, 100 Year jobs being... Well... Long for quite a reason. He was not sure if he had reminded Aza of the time it might take him to return. The Dreamland job kept him away for quite a while. Hearing crying on the other side of the door, he would open the door with a curious little "o" forming from his lips. What happened? He would ask before closing the door behind him.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wondered what had come about Elyx. His home still seemed to hold belongings. His homes seemed to have been recently occupied. Was that her mind playing tricks? Could she even trust her own thoughts anymore? Would her brother still love her? Did he move? Was he even around? Was she abandoned? The crying continued, until the sound of the door behind her opening happened. At this point, the girl would quickly stand and turn only to fall on her rear. She would back a few feet away from Elyx before staring at him through tear filled eyes.

Was it him? Was it really Elyx? As the man before her asked her what happened, Azalea would confirm it. It really was him. This was all real and she was in his home. What did he mean by his question? Did he not know what was wrong with her? Did he even know she was missing? Of course not. Nobody did but he would have known by now about her disappearance right? More tears would begin to stream her cheeks, as she mustered the courage to speak. "You don't know? You didn't even notice?... How?... Why? Why didn't you know?" Her words were spoken out of anger, pain, and fear. Her small body would shake a bit not knowing what to do with the mixed emotions. She couldn't remember what was real or not. In her mind, Elyx had never left. He had been here the day she left. He had been here the day she was attacked. He never came looking. Was it true? What was she to believe?

Did he not remind her about the 100 Year jobs that he was taking? Ever since he became an S ranked mage, he would tell the household that he might be gone for 20, 30, maybe even 40 days. Go to Kaku if they needed anything, though he trusted Ignite that she would be able to protect her and provide for Aza. In fact, Elyx ended up finding himself in 3 of them, earning the new position of H rank. Quite the honor, though that had not been the point. I left to go on a 100 Year job, though I thought you were informed. If you needed anything, you could have gone to Kaku. But... Why were you gone? He'd slowly begin to approach the young girl, slowly so that he did not startle her. Once he had gone up to her, he'd bend his knees down before attempting to place his right thumb against her cheek, which would catch one of her tears and wipe it off. Just a slight bit of comfort for now.

Brown eyes stared widely at the one before her. "A-A 100 year.. job?" Her voice came out a whisper. Was he serious? Was he really that strong? Why couldn't she remember? Her mind scrounged through the multiple memories she had not knowing which ones to pull out and which ones to toss. She remembered waving goodbye to him but she was the one leaving not him. 'Wait... wasn't that... a different day?' Azalea would continue to stare at Elyx as she tried to remember when that day was. A day she went searching the town? A day she went to play in the woods? A day she went to the guildhall? Yes. It was a day she went to the guildhall but she didn't go there the day she was kidnapped. Was this a misplaced memory her doctors spoke of?

The child hadn't noticed Elyx approach her, until he touched her cheek and caught a tear that was in the midst of rolling. The small girl would jump slightly but she wouldn't move. She had no chance running or making a fuss if he was as strong as he said. So instead, she would tell him what had happened to her. "I-I was gone.. I was gone for a whole month.. because I was taken. A man attacked me and took me away. He blocked everyone's memories or something. I don't know what's true. I don't remember some of it but h-he locked me away and... twisted my head.. I think. Well, that's what the doctors said..." Azalea would begin to shake more as she thought about what tragedy had befallen her and her voice would begin to grow softer with each word spoken. "I thought.. you were here.. I thought everyone would come for me.. especially you.. I didn't know you were gone.. and I didn't know they didn't remember. They forgot about me. When they came.. I.. did mean things to them. I didn't mean it. I didn't know. I don't think I wanted him to take me but he was strong. I was too weak. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I didn't want to disappoint you. I remember that. I didn't mean to do bad things. I just want to know... Do you.. still love me?" Soon, tears streamed her face like waterfalls and her body shook like an earthquake. She was so terrified of what Elyx would do now that she talked about what she was told had happened. Even if she didn't remember the whole thing, she trusted Iza and that's what she had said.

Listening to the story, he drank up all of the information with ease, none of it going over his head. Though she was able to string up a hefty number of sentences, he understood her clearly. His knees would bend down to meet the little girls eyes with his own light brown ones. First things first, they were going to have to get the name of the man who kidnapped her, they were going to receive a nice little visit from him, Ignite, Venir, Iza, all of the Celestial Spirits of the Celestial Spirit world, and Adrelissa to get a party just to capture the man, but not without a good beating. Elyx could have done it by himself, surely, but he wanted to get a good amount of damage inflicted onto the man. To take out all of Azalea's emotions through the fists that belonged to the body of the slayer.

Looks like the man forgot about the Guild Ace of Leaves, and such a mistake to be done onto you. As of right now, all I can do is apologize... But I will not allow this to go unpunished. Just tell me what the bad man looks like and I'll be sure to bring him onto his knees within minutes. The Sky Slayer promised, a smile on his face. The Darkness of his Lacrima would normally try to toy with his emotions and try to make him grow corrupt. But now, at H rank, his body was much stronger than it, the darkness had submitted to him. Now he can control it with ease... And with his newfound form, he could take out all of the hell that Aza had to endure on the man who kidnapped her.

And so once that part had finished, Aza would begin to love her voice through the streams of tears flowing down her face. Disappoint him? How could he expect her to do miracles for him at her level, if anything, it was his fault for being away for so long. The final words however, they echoed through his mind like it were an empty hallway. Of course I do! You did nothing wrong, if anything, I was the one at fault for not being there. Some older brother I am... Elyx would tell her before attempting to open his arms and give her a soft embrace. He really had to hold back his physical strength, it was enough to crush buildings with simply a punch, and he did not want to squeeze the air out of Aza. And so he tried to be delicate, but firm so her tears would land onto his shoulder.

Azalea would continue to stare at Elyx, as she continue to shake. Her mind ready for whatever he may say whether it be good or bad. Her heart ready for whatever bricks may be ready to smash it or whatever relief may wash over it. Brown eyes stared into brown eyes and a flood of horror would wash over the girl. It seemed the closer he got to her without saying any words the more scared she became. She just wanted him to say something. She wanted him to do something. More than anything, she wanted to know if he would still care for her. From what she could remember and had been told, Elyx meant everything in the world to her and she didn't want that to be stripped away.

Elyx would begin to speak and Azalea would begin to feel a twinge of happiness. However, the twinge didn't take away from the dormant, terrifying fear within her. He wanted to know who the man was. He wanted to punish the man for what he had done to her. He wanted to capture the man. It seemed that overall Elyx wanted revenge. Although Azalea wanted revenge herself, she had been told one thing that she would repeat almost robotically, "Under no circumstances am I to think of him. This could lead to serious instability, which could harm me and/or those around me." The small girl would blink after saying those words and then once more. If one were to ask, Azalea would not remember speaking such words but she would remember Elyx's question as if she hadn't answered yet. The small girl's voice would automatically turn to a whisper, "I don't want to talk about him. You could ask Iza though... she saw him."

Azalea would lower her eyes through what seemed like never-ending tears. She didn't understand what was wrong with her. Not being able to remember things frustrated her. Not being able to talk about certain things made her feel weak and broken. Not being able to protect herself made her feel worthless. What purpose did she have in this world? She couldn't remember. Every day, the brunette felt herself giving up but something would reach her ears that would make her look at Elyx with a surprised feeling in her eyes. He still loved her? She didn't do anything wrong? Then, Elyx would embrace the child causing her to tense and become stiff. She would slowly breathe in and out as she tried to think of what she was to do in this situation. However, a few pictures would seem to flash in her mind like a movie. Most of them were Elyx, her, and all the happy things they did together. Then, there were times where she was scared and Elyx was there for her. Next, were times when she was lonely without her big brother being home. Last, was the very first day Azalea had come to this place and Elyx had saved her. With every passing memory, Azalea would slowly relax and the waterfalls would flow harder. Soon, the small girl would hug her big brother as much as she could, as she cried on his shoulder.

"I-I'm.. so sorry.. I doubted you. I.. missed.. you so much. Thank You.. thank you," through sobs and sniffles, Azalea would finally say what she hoped she would get to.

Sounds like something to add onto his agenda, a reason to ask Iza about the man was clearly being shown right in front of him, and all he had to do was get to her. But not while Aza was in the current state that she was in. Her words would stumble the way the nervous girls voice would normally force her to do, so it was expected. If he had not known it already, the best thing for one to do was to let her finish her sentences. Hm, seems like the man has not been taken out based on what I am here. Ignite, The Celestials, the Zodiac Key Virgo, Aiyana, and Adrelissa can make a party to venture and find him. But for now, if he is not bothering them for now, I'm going to have to drop it. He thought to himself, jotting down his plans at the back of his head so that he would not forget it. Naturally, there was only half of a chance that being able to remember was a success. Oh well, it was not important now while his younger sister was safe. All she would do was cry into his shoulder. Not a word would emit from his mouth, a conversation that would go in circles was not going to help either of them. So instead, he would just continue to let her cry until she felt better, since tears was the best way to recover from being sad, better than words and other actions, just a few drops of water from the body.

The young brunette would sit for a while crying until she couldn't any more. Once things began do die down into sniffles, the child would continue to sit with her arms wrapped around her older brother. Her eyes seemed to have wandered off and her mind seemed to have gone blank. However, she wouldn't let him go just yet. She didn't want to let him go because of the horrible fear that still plagued her. She didn't want to be alone. After a moment of staring, the young child's mind would begin to slowly come back to her before she would blink. If anyone were to look into this brunette's eyes, they'd be able to see just how tired and worn she really was. With Elyx in her presence, Azalea would try to be as joyful and strong as she could be. "I think I'm ok now," the soft voice of the child would break through the silence. Azalea only hoped that, when the hug was released, Elyx wouldn't have to leave her.