CONTROL - Ver. 2

Ⅰ

Shadows creaked under the floorboards of the dark hall. Bodies were scattered among the floor, aches and groans escaping the lips of defeated victims. The click of heels echoed through the silent building, dust gathering at the feet of the woman whose eyes glowed brightly under the dim light. A man, balding and beaten, scurried away from the doors of the guild, trying to escape the woman but to no avail as her magic wrapped around his body and dragged him close.

"W-What do you want?" He screamed. He had already felt the woman's wrath and he simply wished to escape, no matter the cost. "Please, let me go!"

It was pitiful to see such a strong man crumble under the grip of a powerful woman, one who doesn't flaunt their strength around. A man who proclaimed greatness in his dirty work. A man who needed a life lesson and a prison sentence.

"What do I want?" The woman sauntered toward him with such grace. Her brunette locks bounced in their coils behind her. She practically floated toward him, her footsteps as light as a feather with the grace of an angel. "Nothing," she soothed. "I'm just here to do my job."

"Who sent you―?!" His voice was ripped from his throat as he body lifted from the ground and shot toward the woman, his neck finding an uncomfortable hold in her hand.

"I work for the Council, if you must know." She squeezed his throat, finding mild pleasure in the sensation of his muscles tensing under her palm. "I'm here to disband your guild."

"D-Disband? But we've done nothing wrong," he mused. The woman cocked a brow, finding his lie amusing.

"Sure, Orochi Suto, Master of the assassin's guild Death's Head Caucus. Murdering people for money definitely isn't wrong."

"Who are you?" The woman's violet eyes glowed brighter than before, her lips drawing thin and her chin raising to look down on him.

"The name is Rin." Within seconds, the woman had him knocked unconscious and began dragging his limp body outside of the destroyed guild. The main doors swung open with force as she threw him out into the open where Council security waited for her to finish her work. "He's all yours." The guards gazed at her as she strode past them, leaving the Guild Master's body behind for them to collect. She was flawless; not a single scratch or bruise littering her creamy skin from the battle that just ensued.

"What about the others?" She reached out her arm and activated Requip, pulling out her official white cloak and swinging it around her shoulders. She adjusted the material and pinned it shut with her esteemed broach.

"I think they got the message."

竜

Rin walked home casually, the distance being a good stretch for her legs. She had refused to take the train to avoid instigating her motion sickness. She was an interesting specimen; gifted with the magical ability mages could only dream of with the most apathetic of personalities. She had hearing and a sense of smell so great she could track people down from miles away, yet she couldn't take a simple train, or any vehicle for that matter. Yet she was so greatly sad.

She was almost twenty years old and she hadn't felt the sensation of joy in seven years. Seven years since the family she once knew vanished―killed in the battle against the great dragon Acnologia. So she drowned herself in work, barely taking the time to even consider herself a Fairy Tail mage. Yet, she couldn't find it in herself to leave them. She watched their decline over the years, finding herself out-ranking the strongest of their remaining mages and falling to the criticism of the rest of the magical world. But she loved them. She could never leave.

In fact, that's where she was returning to now.

She peered at the guild's barn as she made her approach. It made her sick to her stomach every day, thinking back to the greatness they once held in the palms of their hands and the incredulous hall she grew up in. Now, they were in shambles.

Although she held a scowl, she regained her composure and entered the guild, the large doors swinging open with ease and alerting everyone inside of her presence. She looked around and found everyone looking at her―wait. There were too many eyes looking back at her.

Her violet eyes found people she hadn't seen in ages. People that were proclaimed dead by the Council. People that she grew up with.

She must have been hallucinating. The brunette took a step back, shutting the guild door and taking a deep breath. Had someone in Death's Head Caucus poisoned her? But why were the effects just hitting her now?

The doors opened, bringing her attention out of her mind and to the taupe cat the flew into her chest.

"Rin! What are you doing out here? Everyone's inside!" She stared down at her cat, Leese, trying to make sense of her words.

"Everyone?" Her breath was erratic and nothing around her made any sense. It was as if she had entered her own personal heaven without knowing. "Am I dead?"

Leese simply laughed and began tugging the woman inside where old familiar faces awaited her. No, it wasn't a dream. These people were real; they were alive. They were home. Finally.

Rin's jaw dropped as they all offered her welcoming smiles. For the first time in a long time, she felt her chest swell with emotions. Her long-dry eyes watered for the first time in ages and her throat tightened, words unable to spill out.

A familiar redhead approached her, reaching her arms out for a hug.

"Welcome home, Rin." The brunette practically collapsed in the woman's arms, the tears finally escaping her eyelids.

"That's my line," she cried. She gripped the woman's body close, craving every point of contact from someone she considered her big sister. "Welcome home, Erza!"