LOST IN THOUGHTS ALL ALONE ♣ job

Magnolia, the city that used to be the home of the guild of fairies. After the guild had taken the fall for her upon them discovering that she was a wanted criminal, they refused to hand her over to the Rune Knights, despite the warrant for her arrest. It was a beautiful act of kindness, but one that the small child could hardly perceive. She almost wanted to be grateful, but could not figure out what she was supposed to feel in the situation.

Ren used his influence to tell her that it was a foolish choice, and the guild meant nothing. They were a tool to use; a device to get the supplies, food, shelter and jobs they needed in order to survive. The people in the guild meant nothing. ‘Family’ was a word fabricated by humans to bind one’s freedom. Other words, such as ‘love’, and ‘friendship’’, were quite similar. She was not to be caught in the emotional traps of the mortals.

Fairy Tail was moving towards becoming legal again. At the very least, they did not associate themselves with the ‘dark’ alignment for guilds. Independent, was what they chose to call themselves. Lucie failed to really give much thought to the alignments, but accepted the supplies given to her by the guild in parting. Ren had used her body and voice to make quite a scene, when the Guild Master, Sorano, tried to speak with her, and offer her ‘help’. Lucie had not wanted it, and felt a bitterness upon experiencing the scene. Was this embarrassment? She did not know the word, but could at least feel the emotion.

That led to yet another thing. When Ren revealed that the guild was only meant to be used, and had called all of her guildmates fools, it struck something else deep within the young girl. She left with a sour parting, but her resentment for the malevolent spirit was only fueled. What was this emotion? Guilt.

Not that she could understand. After all, the girl could not even read or write. What did she understand about the meaning of any words? Besides, she could not speak words aloud. Only once in a great while did she have the courage to trigger her telepathy. She could understand simple speech and meaning to a fair degree, but did not know how.

“Another existential crisis?” Ren asked with a snicker, piercing through Lucie’s thoughts and wonderings. “They’re becoming more and more frequent. Why is that? Can’t you trust me?”

His voice was mocking, as usual, and Lucie doubted he was sincere. He had been with her for her entire ‘life’. She had little idea as to how she even came into existence, so of course she questioned it. “No. Shut up,” she replied softly in her thoughts, at least fully understanding the meaning of all three words she had said. She wanted him to be quiet, and ‘shut up’ was the phrase that most people used to tell others to silence themselves. Typically, if one did not listen, the only other option was to silence them herself, right? At least, this was the only way she had ever known.

“Growing rebellious too, I see,” Ren commented with a chuckle, allowing Lucie to try to mentally force barriers between him and her mind. As she did so, it required all of her focus, and even when done, still was weak. Breaking the walls would not be a challenge, if he wished to do so. But why continue taunting her now? Magnolia was a busy city, and he was curious as to who the two of them could run into. The child was a wanted criminal, after all. Her face was known throughout Fiore, and who would miss it?

Lucie continued in silence, attempting to weave through the crowd while blocking out the voice and presence of Ren. It was frustrating, and as the small girl walked, she almost did not hear the voice of a seemingly concerned older lady.

‘Little girl’ was a term that she had slowly forced herself to get used to. It was true from a physical standpoint, even though she had personally come to find the term to be rather demeaning. Nevertheless, here was yet another person to bother her. If Ren really wanted to come out and play, it would not bode well. She had to do everything in her power to keep his influence away from her mind.

The question the woman asked was interesting, as people rarely assumed anything other than her being lost. Most inquired about where her parents were, which never received a good answer. It always brought about complications, whether she answered truthfully with her abilities, or chose not to answer at all. The latter was the easiest, seeing as physical speech was for the most part impossible for the child.

What would this person’s reaction be? Such an interesting question, as Lucie forced herself to stop and gaze up at the person’s differently colored eyes; much like her own whenever Ren had taken control. Luckily, the woman had asked a straightforward, question, which could be answered with a yes or no. That made for easy nonverbal communication as Lucie shook her head, attempting to let the person know that she had not been in a fight with her nonexistent parents, and did not need assistance in finding them.

As soon as the questions had been ‘answered’, Lucie turned around and continued on, with her expression as deadpan as usual. “So many ‘nice’ people here, hm? It’s too bad you had to force the city’s precious protector guild to a place far away,” Ren commented, as Lucie lowered her guard enough for him to speak again.

“I told you to shut up,” the small child replied in her mind to the malevolent spirit.
“Oh, you wish. But you see, my dear child-- I’m growing bored with just walking around. Have you anything against us livening the atmosphere here just a bit?” Ren continued in a singsongy voice. At the suggestion, Lucie clenched her fist as she felt her breathing quicken. The last thing she wanted was to hurt anyone here, or cause another scene. It would put her, and others, in danger, and was not worth the effort. Nobody was currently in their way.

“Oops. Too bad,” Ren said as he forced his influence forward, taking control of the child’s body as her left crimson eye began to glow a pale blue. Unsheathing their shiny dagger, Crepundia, Ren spoke aloud, using the body’s much neglected, delicate voice. “Let’s have some fun, Lucie. There isn’t anything else to do~”



[Total: 1107//7,000]

His speech was met with a response from the strange, pink and brown haired lady standing before them. While the two of them had never been to a birthday party before, Ren was at least aware of how they operated. Such a silly human concept. Why celebrate when somebody was born? It was a joke, really.
At least in his case, he could celebrate each and every time he had been born, ever since the beginning. While Alice had managed to seal away a good portion of his memories, he at least had a fair idea of how many times he had been forced to reincarnate.

Before Ren could make any movements to deliver harm to the lady and the others around them, the woman moved closer and reached into the small girl’s body. It was not something the spirit had anticipated, as as the pain from the connection being severed began to spark, he carefully attempted to redirect it towards the soul of the young girl. Just what sort of magic was this?

As his soul was torn out of Lucie’s body, his spirit manifested around it, taking the form of a teen boy, with blonde hair. He had a green right eye, and heterochromic, ice blue left eye. The clothing choice of his form was a red shirt, black hoodie, and cargo pants, casual and comfortable as he attempted to physically phase his spirit. Upon finding his bearings after being thrown down, he frowned at the pink and brown haired lady, narrowing his eyes at her as she spoke. Fun? Like hell.

His heterochromic gaze turned to Lucie’s body for a spare second. The girl had her control back, though clutched onto her chest, as if something from inside was causing her pain. Ren knew that her spirit was young and immature, with hardly enough strength to remain stable inside of a body, enough to keep it strong. Slowly, the spirit would begin to slip away without him tying it down with their bond, and the child’s body would take on the symptoms of one who was dying, as it shut down.

It did not matter too much. The body was a stolen vessel, one he had claimed for himself and Lucie after ripping out the original spirit, and releasing it to be forever lost, wandering the worlds and heavens. If the body died, he would simply have to snag Lucie’s soul again and find another vessel, just like he had done before. He required the girl to be a weapon, to use against her, that one to have caused him so much strife. If only she had just allowed him to live in his first life… none of this would have happened.

Flashbacks and reminiscing came to an alarming halt as he was brought back to see a new reality. Time frozen, and the woman holding a wooden bat with the picture of a baby seal nailed to it. He gritted his teeth as he recovered, sitting up. Before he could speak, she had continued on, telling him that the world he now saw around him was her own reality. He could not stand up, as threads began to approach, binding him down. Ren attempted to phase back into his spirit form to escape what appeared to be physical, but to no avail. The ice cream lady vulgarly announced that he was in the wrong neighborhood, and swung down hard with the bat.

~~~

Pain ensued, and the agony from the blow of the bat was one that Ren attempted to channel towards Lucie. In the meantime, Lucie was having trouble of her own the instant the hand had entered her body. The pain felt by Ren had been directed towards her, and she screamed as her soul took the brunt of it. The sudden realization quickly hit afterwards; no longer was Ren’s presence prominent within her. At that moment, she no longer felt him, or could hear his voice.

Upon falling to the ground, scared red eyes reopened to see the blonde boy on the ground, lying as if he had been thrown. Lucie herself clutched her chest, suffering from some unknown pain. Would she really be able to last in that body, without Ren?

The pink-haired lady donned a large bat with an unseen picture nailed to it. She was speaking, but in her daze, Lucie could hardly hear it. Blinking once, then twice, the child recognized the boy as Ren, the malevolent spirit who dwelled in her for so long. So, that was what he looked like when his presence was not shrouded in darkness? The fear on his face was evident as the woman yelled out a nasty phrase with a wide grin on her face.

Ren would attempt to channel the physical pain towards the little girl, refusing to allow the beating to affect him. If he could not avoid it, he would take it head-on. However, with the connection between the two severed by the strange lady, he was forced to bear the full impact from the bat. A painful experience, but one Lucie was able to watch without averting her gaze. Perhaps some time ago, she would have looked away, though after being so easily desensitized to the aspect of killing and hurting others.

The child’s spirit was continuing to slip away from her youthful body. As it did so, however, Lucie felt something unexpected-- a deep rooted hunger. Starvation, even. But for what? With her connection to the vessel fading, the small girl’s mind grew hazy, and even thoughts were difficult to maintain. Darkness would soon ensue, even in this reality of stillness.

Despite the mental selective mutism of the body, Lucie at least understood enough of basic language and communication to try something new. Utilizing her long neglected voice, the child murmured in a soft tone, her eyes pleading, focused on the woman who was beating up the malevolent spirit.

"Help."