"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
[Year X786]
~ With Ultear Milkovich ~
"REDY!"
Ultear jolted awake with a terrified scream, her voice raw with desperation as redy's na tore from her throat. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped animal, sweat cooling rapidly on her skin in the night air. For several seconds, she remained frozen, trembling hands clutching at nothing as her mind struggled to separate reality from the horrifying images still flashing behind her eyes.
The night caved in around her, dark and silent save for the distant calls of unknown creatures and the soft rustle of leaves. Ultear's breath ca in ragged gasps as her consciousness fully returned, bringing with it a montary confusion. Her body felt heavy, as though she had been running for days without rest. She blinked hard, trying to orient herself in the darkness, finding only the silhouettes of trees against a star-filled sky ahead of her.
"redy," she whispered again, the na falling from her lips like a prayer. The nightmare had been so vivid—too vivid. Both herself and redy had been fighting against an unknown man with powers that she had never seen before. A man, who's cunning and creative acun, complinted his inhumane speed and coordination. They had given everything, used every trick and technique at their disposal, and still…
Ultear closed her eyes, forcing her breathing to slow. The battle couldn't have been real. She had faced powerful opponents before—dark guild masters, Fairy Tail, even council mbers—but never soone who made her feel so utterly outmatched. Never soone who could brush aside her Ti Arc as if it were a child's parlour trick.
"It's just a nightmare," she muttered, her voice strengthening with each repetition. "It's just a nightmare. It's just a nightmare."
The sound of her own voice in the quiet night helped steady her nerves. But the comfort was short-lived.
"So that's the na of your young companion?"
The question ca from nearby, a male voice speaking with casual interest. The sound sent a cold shill down Ultear's spine, freezing her in place more effectively than any binding spell.
'That voice'. She knew that voice.
Ultear spun toward the sound, her body protesting the sudden movent. Her eyes searched the darkness until they found him—the man from her "nightmare," sitting calmly several yards away.
The sa man who had dodged every attack they had thrown at him, who had matched their combined strength with what appeared to be minimal effort. The man who, when he was finally finished with their battle, had unleashed power that defied comprehension.
The realization hit Ultear like a physical blow: this was no nightmare, but cold reality. The fight had happened. She and redy had been defeated by this stranger whose power were beyond her. And now, inexplicably, she was alive under the sa night sky, watching him as he watched her.
Ultear carefully assessed her physical condition, surprised to find no pain lingering in her body. No cuts, no bruises, no broken bones—just a profound emptiness where her magical energy should be. The sensation was familiar but unsettling; she had experienced magical exhaustion before, but never so complete. It felt as though she had drained every last drop of her power during the battle, leaving nothing but a hollow vessel behind.
The absence of injuries confused her as well. She clearly rembered the devastating force of his counterattacks, the cuts she endured through his ingenuitive use of those weapons she believed to be known as "Kunai" and "Shuriken". By all rights, she should have been covered in wounds, if not dead entirely.
'He went easy on ,' she realized, the thought bringing a complex mixture of relief and wounded pride. The man had toyed with them throughout most of the fight, matching their intensity but never exceeding it—until the final monts when he apparently decided to end things. That brief display of his true power had been terrifying. The mory of it made her skin crawl even now.
In the gentle light of the campfire, she could see him more clearly. He sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the flas, seemingly relaxed as he turned several skewered fish over the heat. Steam rose from the cooking fish, carrying a sll that reminded Ultear how long it had been since she last ate. The ordinariness of the scene—a man cooking dinner under the stars—stood in stark contrast to the extraordinary power she knew he possessed.
Her thoughts snapped suddenly to redy, and cold fear gripped her heart. Where was the pink-haired girl who had been fighting at her side? What had happened to her after Ultear lost consciousness? Ultear's eyes darted around the small clearing, searching for any sign of her companion, but found none.
'redy,' she thought, panic rising anew. Had he hurt her? Killed her? Or worse, handed her over to the authorities? Each possibility seed more awful than the last. redy was more than just an ally—she was the closest thing to family Ultear had left, the one person she had sworn to protect at all costs.
Her gaze fixed on the man again, harder this ti. He t her stare without flinching. There was no malice in his expression, but no warmth either—just quiet observation.
The standoff stretched between them, filled with unspoken questions. Ultear knew she was in no condition to fight, but the need to know redy's fate overrode any concern for her own safety. With deliberate effort, she pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the way her legs trembled under her weight. She took one step toward the fire, then another, each movent requiring conscious focus.
The man watched her approach but made no move to stop her. He did not seem concerned that she might attack—perhaps because they both knew how futile that would be in her current state. She stopped when the heat of the flas ward her face, standing as tall as her exhausted body would allow.
"Where is she?" Ultear asked, her voice low and dangerous despite her weakness. The question hung in the air between them, weighted with all the protective fury she could muster. She wouldn not beg, would not show fear, but the silent promise of retribution was clear in her tone. If he had hard redy, she would find a way to make him pay, regardless of the power difference between them.
The man's expression remained unreadable as he regarded her across the flas. He opened his mouth as if to answer, but no words ca. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, as though listening for sothing beyond the crackle of the fire and the distant night sounds of the forest.
Ultear tensed, her hands curling into fists at her sides. The silence was deafening for her. Her patience, already worn thin by fear and confusion, began to crumble. She was about to demand an answer again when the man's attention shifted to sothing behind her, his eyes focusing on a point over her shoulder.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward in what might have been the ghost of a smile—the first real expression she had seen on his face.
Before the man could answer, the sound of rushing footsteps and rustling undergrowth broke through the tense silence. Ultear turned toward the noise, her body instinctively shifting into a defensive stance despite her weakened state. Then a familiar voice cut through the night, bright with relief and excitent.
"ULTEAR! YOU'RE AWAKE!"
The shout sent a wave of relief washing over Ultear so powerful that her knees nearly buckled. redy burst into the clearing, pink hair flying behind her as she ran toward Ultear with the boundless energy that had always defined her. Her green eyes shone with tears even as her face split into a wide, relieved smile.
"You're okay," Ultear breathed, the tension draining from her body as redy crashed into her, throwing arms around her waist in a fierce embrace. Despite her exhaustion, Ultear returned the hug with equal fervor, one hand coming up to stroke redy's hair as she had done countless tis before when the girl was younger.
"I was so worried," redy said, her voice muffled against Ultear's shoulder. "You wouldn't wake up no matter what I tried. I thought—I thought maybe—" She broke off, unable to voice her fears.
"I'm here," Ultear assured her, though she could not help shooting a glance at the man still sitting calmly by the fire. He hadn't moved during their reunion, his attention seemingly fixed on turning the fish over the flas, but Ultear didn't doubt for a second that he was aware of every word and movent.
~ End of Chapter 13 ~
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