The Ring Master | Jellal Fernandes [1] ON HOLD

37 | The Undeniable Trouble

"Achoo!" Cana sneezed from her seat on table. She rubbed her red nose as she looked at the cards and laughed. "That must mean I'm getting a lot of compliments today."

"Really?" Alzack questioned rhetorically as he glanced at the alcoholic in disbelief. "Cause I wouldn't be so sure."

"What do you mean by that?" Cana shouted at him, not understanding that the teams she picked were definitely not ideal.

Halay day alone in the corner of the room, her eyes watching the guild door carefully. She had to be ready for anything, at least that's what she convinced herself. A green haired women sat down in front of her, obstructing her view of the door in purpose. Bisca assumed that Halay was probably planning murder or beating herself up.

"How are you feeling?" She questioned, her eyes trailing over Halay's pale skin. Some colour had been restored but she still looked like a walking corpse.

"Honestly? I don't know." Halay admitted as she looked down at her hands, clenching them together in frustration. "I just ... I feel vulnerable."

"You're making that sound like a bad thing." Bisca stated as she placed her warm hands over the brunette's. Halay instinctively pulled away from her.

"It is in my case." Halay replied as she looked into the women's purple eyes. "I'm supposed to be the master, I have to make the hard decision but how can I lead a guild if I'm weak."

"You are not weak." Alzack reassures her as he walked over to them, half-listening to their conversation. He placed a firm hand on Halay's shoulder to comfort her. "You're probably the strongest in the guild."

"I'm not physically weak, I know that. I'm talking about mentally." Halay rephrased as she played with the rings on her fingers. "I feel like one of these days, I'm going to snap and I probably won't be able to stop myself."

"Then don't." Alzack states which made Halay look up at him in confusion.

"You're only human Halay, not a robot. What I'm thinking is, that you've finally realised that you need to depend on others just like how they depend on you." Bisca thought out loud with a knowing smile on her face. Halay took a moment to figure out exactly what Bisca was saying.

Halay gave the women a tense smile. "Depending on others isn't really my strong suit."

"You opened up to Hibiki and Reed." Bisca reminded her.

"That's different," Halay replied immediately before explaining, "they're like my brothers."

"Are Rose and Keeri not like your sisters?" Alzack questioned her. Halay stared into nothing as she thought about it. "You three seem inseparable most of the time."

"I know this is hard for you so take your time but Keeri and Rose are waiting for you to open up to them. They have been since you first joined." Bisca told Halay, being truthful in what she had observed over the years.

"Rose being patient? Since when?" Halay joked as she leant back in her wooden chair, crossing her arms and ignoring the pain that appeared.

"She can be patient when she wants to be." Alzack chuckled. You're lucky she likes you otherwise she would have bullied you out of the guild by now. Just think about it"

The couple left which made Halay think about what they had said. She wanted to tell them everything but she couldn't find the words. Whenever she did tell someone, she was either at an emotional low or in the middle of an emotional break down. Halay felt a weight on her head as she gently looked up to see a yellow cat looking down at her.

"Planning murder?" Reed asked her curiously, noticing her intense expression.

"When aren't I?" She responded with a small smile. She lifted her head which caused him to gently jump off and land on the seat in front of her.  "Why aren't you in your human form?"