Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Lost Then Found
Saxe’s eyes flickered open and he took in his surroundings. He could feel his body rushing with adrenaline as he tried to reach up and rub his tired eyes. His heart was beating at twice it’s regular rate, probably because Saxe was afraid of where he was and his body probably already had familiarized itself with the location. The boy was able to feel small tears forming at the edge of his eyes as they began to slowly fall down his face. He tried to wipe them away as quickly as he could to avoid embarrassment, but Saxe found that it was actually impossible for him to reach up and rub his eyes because his arms were chained and were tied behind his back. He could also feel his feet bound together, meaning that he wasn’t going to be able to walk. When he reached for his magic, he found that there was nothing to grasp at, meaning that the collar likely nullified his magic while it was on. His eyes cleared slightly and he found that he was sitting in an enclosed wooden wagon. He couldn’t see outside of it at all but he guessed it was being pulled by horses as he could hear the hooves hitting the ground. His mouth was tied up as well and a ball gag was in his mouth, meaning that he couldn’t speak at all.
It wasn’t exactly a spacious setting but it was big enough to fit Saxe, an eight year old boy. Saxe actually looked much younger than eight, with his long purple hair and his large gold eyes. He wasn’t very tall either and he had been told by people that he looked more like a six year old then an eight year old. Of course it wasn’t by any as he tended to not be with others very much. Saxe was an orphan, his parents abandoning him when he was little. He didn’t even have any memory of them and the only things they left with him when he was little was a name; Saxe. He must have been about three when he was left on the streets and taken in by an orphanage. That didn’t happen to last very long though because he ended up being beaten by the woman who ran the place, and in return he had ran away when he was five. From there he was found by another woman, this one a Requip mage. She had taught him everything he knew to date, and after two years with her training and being taught, he left to set out on his own. It wasn’t necessarily a healthy lifestyle, especially now that he was always forced to do dangerous things for money for things like food and water, but those weren’t the hard things to find. If he had to say, he’d probably tell you that clothes were hardest to come by as they were much more expensive than food and water and it wasn’t like they were just being given out for free. But that wasn’t his issue, at the moment. Right then he only had one mission, and that was to escape the accursed wagon.
Saxe looked around the wagon to the best of his ability and didn’t really see anything lying around that could help him escape, especially with his hands and feet bound and his magic suppressed by the collar. And then, well then he looked down at himself. The wagon was wood and it didn’t look to be too sturdy, so he could probably create a hole in the bottom of it if he pushed hard enough, but he was slightly afraid of what the two who had kidnapped him might do. He could tell they were both riding the horses that were pulling the wagon as he didn’t hear any additional footsteps. It didn’t seem like the men were talking either as it was very quiet when he pressed hisi ear to the wall of the wagon.He actually wished that at least his mouth was ungagged so he could make up some silly excuse about going to the washroom, or something equally stupid. Such a plan would most likely never work, yet Saxe still found himself wishing he could try. Was it possible that the people who had captured him were slave drivers or something? That would make sense as to why he was chained and collared and it also told him that trying to escape by telling some stupid ploy that would likely never work was just plain ridiculous.
He leaned back against the wall of the back of the wagon best as he could, trying to maybe find a weak spot or just find a place that he could rest until they reached wherever they were taking him. Saxe had to assume that these people were in fact veterans and they knew how to prevent prisoners, especially bound, gagged, and collared ones, from escaping. He closed his eyes momentarily and tried to fall back into either a state of unconsciousness or sleep, but the wagon suddenly jerked to a stop. He could hear the horses stopped and he heard the people who kidnapped him jump to the ground. He could tell that it was, in fact, two people and no more as he only heard two sets of feet hit the ground. Could it be that they were already at their destination even though it hadn’t felt like a very long journey. That was to be expected though. He was unsure of how long he had been riding in the wagon unconscious for and it was entirely possible that they were already there. Saxe then began to hear noises which almost sounded like rapid fired spells outside of the wagon. Could the people who had captured him be fighting with someone or something? Was it some sort of monster- a Vulcan maybe?
He heard a few more spells cast before he heard two large things hit the ground. Could it be that his captors had been taken out? It was possible that something could have defeated them, whether it be a monster or a wizard from a guild. Or he sure hoped it was the latter because that was just what he needed right then; somebody to save him. Wait- but what would happen if they didn’t check the back of the wagon? Thought Saxe frantically. He quickly realized the solution and he started to thrash around as much as his bounded body would let him. He tried to make as much noise as possible and soon he began to hear a few pairs of footsteps walking around outside the wagon. He stayed silent as one of them approached the wagon. He watched closely as they fumbled with the lock on the only exit to the inclosed wagon backing. He heard a bit of yelling outside, an argument perhaps, before one of the people yelled a response or a retort of some sort and Saxe was surprised to see that they had kicked the opening’s door down.
“Who the heck are you?” asked the person who had saved him. He looked up at them and studied their features for a few seconds. It was a girl that looked to be about sixteen. She had light blue hair and shining green eyes. She was wearing a cloak as well as a bag on her back. She looked down at him for a bit before realizing that his mouth was gagged. Her mouth formed an ‘O’ shape before she shrugged off her bag, opened it, and pulled out a knife. She cut the gag off before looking at Saxe.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” she asked, a smile on her lips.
Saxe looked at her for a bit before opening his mouth. “I’m Saxe Todarin. I can do magic too…” he whispered the last part, looking down at his bare feet, which were pretty cold.
“I’m Eliana Yukuzou, and that’s my twin sister outside.” She leaned in close to Saxe, bending down to his height. “Why are you in here all bound up, Saxe? Did those two men we defeated kidnap you or something?”
Saxe nodded, “I woke up in here bound up and a nullifying collar on my neck so I’d guess that they did kidnap me. I don’t really know though as they took me prisoner while I was sleeping.”
Eliana smiled at Saxe before approaching him and crouching down to undo his bonds. She was easily able to get off the chains that bound his feet and arms but was unable to get off the magic nullifying collar. She frowned before pulling away from Saxe to look at him once more.
“I can’t seem to get that collar off,” Eliana hopped out through the wagon opening and turning back around to help him out. Saxe gently stood and took her hand, stepping out of the wagon and hopping onto the ground outside. He looked around and had to cover his eyes to look at the setting because the sun was bright against his eyes. Once Saxe’s eyes adjusted he found himself standing in a large, green, grassy field. There was a shoddy road running directly through it, likely the ruote his kidnappers had been travelling on. At closer notice he saw two men slumped against the side of the wagon. One was covered in ice up to his neck, and by the angle his head was at, it would seem like he was dead. The other man had cuts and bruises all over his body, and there was blood flowing steadily from an open cut on his right leg. He seemed to be deep in a state of unconsciousness, his eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth agape in fear.
“Who’s this?” asked a voice from behind him.
Saxe whipped around to look at who had spoken. It seemed to be a girl of maybe sixteen or seventeen, just like Eliana. She had long blue-green hair with light blue eyes. She had a bow that seemed to be made of green ice slung across her back as well as a deep blue cloak that wrapped around her body like a poncho. She was wearing knee high boots and a satchel hung at her side. He mentally compared this girl to Eliana and found that they looked almost the exact same with close to no differences between them, with the exception of hair length and eye-colour, of course.
Eliana stepped forward and grinned at the girl, “This is Saxe. She was in the back of that wagon chained and gagged. They also nullified his magic with a collar. Are you able to freeze it off, Elpis-san or do we have to bring her back to the guild to get it removed by one of the guild members?”
Saxe frowned before what they had said sunk in. His eyes widened, “W-wait,” he stuttered, “I’m not a girl.”
Eliana’s mouth formed an “O” before she let out a hearty laugh, ruffling Saxe hair, “Well you sure look like one, with your hair and eyes!”
Eliana was still laughing when Elpis approached him and turned him around before he could even react. She put her hands onto the collar he had on and it began to freeze up, every spot she touched frosting over. It actually began to hurt Saxe’s neck and it was making him really, really cold. She muttered something and the frost disappeared with a sound like cracking ice. She turned his back around and studied the collar, as did Saxe, taking in the fact that it was still there, completely unscathed. He stared at it for a second before looking up at Eliana and Elpis, who were both talking to each other, probably about the collar and why it didn’t come off.
He frantically started thinking about the collar. ‘What if I can never use my magic again?’ thought Saxe, frightened by the thought of not being able to use his magic. He felt tears forming at the edge of his eyes and before he knew it, salty tears were flowing down his cheeks and he was softly sobbing. Eliana and Elpis both turned towards him and Eliana pulled him into an embrace, resting Saxe’s head against her side as she gently stroked his hair.
“W-what if I can never use my magic again?” said Saxe, hugging Eliana tightly as he cried into her side, burying his head in her cloak.
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” said Eliana soothingly, still stroking his hair gently, “we’ll take you back to our guild hall. I’m sure we’ll be able to find one of our guildmates to take that collar off you. Then you can show us all the magic you can do!”
Saxe sniffled once more before dislodging himself from Eliana and wiping away his tears. He noticed the Elpis was just watching him carefully, and he found that he had no idea what she was thinking about. He was usually fairly good at reading expressions, but from what he could see, she had none. Still, Saxe felt he owed her thanks for at least trying to take the collar off of him.
He approached her and he felt Eliana’s eyes watching him walk closer to Elpis. He gave a slight bow, “Thank you, Elpis-san for trying to get the collar off of me. I appreciate your effort.” He looked up and found her smiling down at him approvingly. “Also,” continued Saxe, “what guild are you two part of?”
The two of them looked at each other, a silent conversation taking place between the two of them. Elpis then turned towards him and spoke to him plainly, articulating her words.
“We’re from Fairy Tail.”