Everything was on fire. No matter where he turned, no matter where he looked, bright tongues of flame lashed and licked, eating away at the frames of shattered houses and broken fences. Corpses lay strewn about across blackened grass, wide eyes gazing off into the horizon, empty and hollow. Unfocused. 

 

Despite the gruesome display, Ivan stood there, indifferent. The sheer horror, undermined by a distinct lack of sound. There were no screams, no pops, no crackling. He couldn't even hear himself breathe. Even now, Ivan could see soldiers in the distance, harvesting lives as if they were wheat, their swords cleaving through flesh and bone as if it wasn't even there.  All of it, completely silent.

 

Ivan suddenly felt a strong hand grip him on the shoulder. Metal fingers dug in painfully before a firm tug toppled him to the floor. Looking up, a black and silver helmet, vaguely stylized in the form of a skull, stared back at him menacingly. Their clear blue eyes looked at him through the gaps in their visor with vain disinterest. The soldier pulls a length of thin rope from a small satchel at their side before crouching down next to him, reaching out to tie up his arms. 

 

A woman holding a large pan creeps up behind the soldier, hefting the heavy makeshift weapon high overhead before furiously slamming it down on the soldier’s helmet. Ivan couldn't help but wince as the soldier was sent sprawling over Ivan's small form. The woman immediately drops the metal pan, rushing over to Ivan. Placing her hands under his armpits, she tugs away in vain, the weight of the armored soldier too much to make any kind of headway. She quickly notices the problem and roughly rolls the soldier away before bringing Ivan to his feet. Soft hands caress his cheeks lovingly, her gaze caring and sweet. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke words he could not hear.

 

All of a sudden, the woman is brutally kicked aside by another soldier, one they had not seen. Her thin body crashed to the floor several feet away. Anger floods through Ivan as he rushes the soldier, punching and clawing at them. With a contemptuous flick, Ivan is sent careening to a third soldier, who grabs Ivan by the shirt and drags him away.

 

The woman pushes herself to her knees, holding her side and gasping in pain. The soldier walks up to her and slams the back of his hand into her face. A spray of crimson blood spews out. At this, Ivan feels his chest constrict in fear and worry. He screams out to her, reaching out his arm as she in turn reaches out to him, even as she is pinned to the floor by the soldier.

She opens her mouth and screams.

 

"IVAN!"

 

Ivan wakes up with a start, his body jerking awake with a spasmic, adrenaline fueled rush. Cords of rope wrap his legs and torso, a familiar tightness on his slick skin. Ivan takes a few deep breaths, quickly calming his heightened state of mind. “Another nightmare, huh? Strange. No matter how many times it happens, I can never seem to remember it. How frustrating.”

 

A muffled boom quakes through his cell, dislodging small flecks of stone from the ceiling. Ivan focuses his hearing outward, listening intently. A few seconds pass before he makes out the faint sound of clashing metal and distant screams, muted by the thick stone walls around him. “Combat. Is it a rival guild? Or is it the magic council? I suppose it hardly matters. Both are surely better options than these monsters.”

 

Ivan closes his eyes, waiting patiently and listening to see if the scuffle makes it to his cage. After all, if they do manage to make it this far, Ivan would have an opportunity he can’t afford to pass up.

 

Several minutes pass by before Ivan hears the clack of metal boots on rock, ringing through the tunnel outside his room with confidence. As the clacking nears the entrance to his cell, Ivan fills his lungs with air, enough that the ropes binding him stretch audibly under the strain. “HEL-” Ivan yells, suddenly cut off by a bout of coughing. “Help!”

 

Ivan lies there in shame, berating himself. He had underestimated how difficult it would be to speak through a parched throat. As fate would have it, however, his efforts were heard as the footsteps abruptly stopped outside his cell.

 

“Hey, you. Did you hear that?”

 

“Heh, I didn’t hear a thing, miss. Perhaps the stale air is making you hear things? Hehe.”

 

There was a short pause before he heard a metallic thwack, followed by a shriek of pain.

 

“No, I definitely heard something. What’s behind this wall? Answer me or I’ll hit you again.”

 

This time, there wasn’t even a pause. Just another solid thwack. Ivan started to break out into a cold sweat as he began reconsidering his bid for freedom.

 

“Gah, bloody ratsnackers, I can’t tell you! If they find out, they’ll kill me! You’ll have to trust me, miss. You don’t want what’s in there, hehe.”

 

The woman outside gave a short grunt. What happened afterwards left Ivan dumbfounded. As he lay there listening, the stone door suddenly erupted with a resounding boom, a steel fist sprouting from the solid stone as chunks of rock clatters all over Ivan's cell.

 

Eclipsed by a halo of white light stood Ivan’s savior; a tall, beautiful woman with long scarlet hair. Clad in feathers of steel, she almost looked like a fairy, graceful and deadly in equal measure. Ivan waved at her to the best of his ability, bound as he was, greeting her the only way he knew how.

 

“Hi.”

 

The woman waves away the small cloud of dust, squinting through the haze before spotting him. When she does, she smiles at him gently, her glaring eyes softening. Seeing this makes Ivan’s chest tighten uncomfortably. 

 

That smile. It feels so familiar. Why?

 

Ivan frowns to himself. “Who are you?”

 

The woman cuts Ivan free, smiling up at him while doing so. “Hello, my name is Erza. I’m a mage from Fairy Tail. An old man with bright green hair told me about this place when I was on my way back from a job. Good thing too, to think a dark guild was acting under Maple’s Ridge this whole time and nobody even knew. Absolutely appalling.”

 

Having freed Ivan from his restraints, Erza guides him to a standing position. Ivan’s legs buckle, unused to the strain but Erza keeps a firm hold, preventing him from falling. 

 

Ivan nods to her in thanks. “I’m Ivan.”

 

Erza hesitantly lets go of Ivan, carefully watching him in case he falls again. 

 

It takes Ivan a minute to reacquaint himself with walking. When he does, he starts dusting himself off. “Hey Erza, you mentioned a green haired man. Did you get his name?”

 

“I’m afraid not. He passed away right after telling me where to find this dark guild. Cryptic Coffin, he called it. He was fatally wounded and, quite frankly, should have died long before he got to me. Why? Did you know him?”

 

Ivan looks away. “He taught me how to live, taught me everything I know. He was a good man.”

 

At this Erza looks at the floor, a distant look in her eyes.

 

“By the way, the other person you were with isn’t here anymore.” Ivan says, pointing at the hole Erza made.

 

Erza immediately looks up at him before turning her head to where Ivan was pointing. Sure enough, the man she had captured had long since slipped away while she was distracted. Sprinting out into the tunnel, she checks both sides, seeing no trace of where he had gone. “Damnit!” She slams her fist into the wall with a loud bang, shattering the stone and causing it to fracture.

 

A low rumble thrums through the stone above them accompanied by a cascade of splintered stone. The pair look up at the ceiling before looking back at each other.

Erza sighs regretfully. “Sorry. I let my anger get the best of me. It won’t happen again.” After a moment, she claps her hands. “Now! Is there anything you can tell me about this place? I seem to have misplaced my guide.”

 

Ivan crosses his arms thoughtfully. “Hm. There are some other captives. I don’t know where they are kept though. They don’t keep them in the same place as me.”

 

Erza nods in understanding. “I see. In that case, we’ll just have to check every room we come across then.”

 

The pair march onwards, passing through a series of winding tunnels and down a flight of stairs before entering a room filled with surgical tools. Each one gleamed menacingly under the soft white light. In the center lay a raised stone bed, caked with dried blood and viscera. 

 

Erza clenches her hands, her metal gauntlets creaking ominously. “What did these monsters do to you..?”

 

Ivan however had long since slipped into an adjacent room, guided by a feeling of familiarity. He distinctly remembered the researchers pulling kids from this room when he himself was strapped to the stone bed. Soon, the faint sound of crying enters his ears, verifying his thoughts as he comes across a series of small cells, each filled with a single occupant. A small child, covered in scars of varying length and size and horribly thin from malnourishment. “Erza! I found them!”

 

A clatter of metal is heard behind him as she rushes over. Looking at the poor state of the children, Erza grits her teeth in rage. With a huff, she schools her face into a kind expression. “I’m here to set you free. Everything will be okay now, I promise.”

 

Holding out her arm, Erza summons a sword in a flash of light. “Step back.” With a wave, she shears through the iron locks with ease.

 

Ivan trails behind her, greeting each freed captive in the usual fashion. A wave and a quick hello. As Ivan was doing so, however, a large hand snaked around his neck from behind, cutting his breath short. Preoccupied as he was with the greeting ritual, he had not noticed the man who led Erza to his cell slipping behind him. 

 

The man procures a knife from somewhere within his dark flowing robes. He waves the knife at Erza menacingly before placing it against Ivan’s neck, the razor sharp edge drawing blood at the lightest touch. 

 

“Heh, now missy, you’re going to do as I ask if you don’t want this kid here to get hurt. You’re going to put away your swords and drink this vial here. After which, you’re going to lock yourself in one of them cages. For my own ease of mind, hehe.”

 

The man pulls a small vial filled with a blackish blue liquid from his robes, tossing it to Erza as she changes out of her feathered armor. Dressed in a simple cuirass and skirt, she banishes her swords, pops the stopper open and downs the strange liquid without hesitation.

 

Ivan gapes at her in shock “Erza! I'm sorry, this is all my fault.” Conflicted, he grabs the man’s hand and forces himself onto the black blade, the razor edge easily biting through his throat.

 

“Oh gods kid, what the fuck!”

 

Blood fills Ivan’s mouth as he falls to the floor, choking and wheezing as he struggles to breathe. 

 

A scream of rage echoes through the room as Erza launches herself at the man, driving her fist into his face. The force behind it sent him flying into a stone wall in the adjacent room. Erza slides next to Ivan’s prone form, tears in her eyes as she tries to staunch the bleeding. 

 

“Why did you do that!? WHY? There must have been another way! Come on, there must be something I can do. Ivan! Please don’t die on me Ivan… please, don’t leave me…not again…”

 

Ivan coughs, splattering blood all over Erza’s face. She doesn’t seem to notice as she sits there, sobbing gently with her hands in her lap. He reaches up to her face, trying to wipe the blood off but only succeeds in smearing it instead. This elicits another wave of sobbing as Erza holds his hand in hers. He coughs again, turning to the side to avoid splattering her a second time.

“Wh-cough, What are you talking about? I'm fine. See?” Ivan takes her hand in his and guides it to his throat. 

 

Erza pauses in wonder, running her fingers over Ivan’s unmarred skin. Breaking out into a laugh, she wipes away her tears before abruptly slapping him hard. “You idiot! I was worried! I thought you killed yourself!”

 

Not hearing a reply, Erza looks at Ivan, who’s eyes had rolled back into his head, his tongue hanging out as he dreamt of furious fairies. With a shrug she hoists him onto her shoulder and begins the arduous task of collecting the children and guiding them out of this hell hole.

 

He must’ve been tired, huh?

 

---

 

Ivan woke up for the second time that day, bleary and confused. “Where am I?”

 

Looking around, he quickly notices the change in scenery. Surrounded by trees, Ivan sat in a field of grass, sunlight beaming down on him from above, smothering the trees and grass in it's warm embrace. He traces the source, looking directly at the sun for a few moments before turning away, blinded. Blinking away his tears, he waits for his vision to return before looking for Erza. Her bright red hair made this an easy task. She was a few meters away, speaking with a man dressed in shining armor. He saw her gesticulating violently at him before turning away with a huff. In doing so, she spots Ivan looking at her, causing a bright smile to light up her face. “Ivan, you’re awake! Are you feeling better?”

 

Ivan nods absentmindedly. “Yes, I feel better.”

 

“That’s good. Now, I have something else I would like to ask you. Something that has been bothering me since I brought you up here. I saw you cut yourself down there, I’m sure of it. But then it disappeared. How?”

 

Ivan turns to Erza. “Oh that’s easy, I can’t die.”

 

Erza just gives Ivan a look of utter confusion.

 

“That’s why I was there. The researchers were trying to discover a way to kill me for good.” Ivan raises one of his hands, closing his fingers one by one. “They’ve tried all sorts of methods. Burning me, dunking me in acid, cutting out my heart, they even injected something called Magic Barrier Particles in me. That one was really effective. It actually stopped my healing for a few days before my body got rid of it.”

 

Erza stared at Ivan for several long moments in horror as Ivan just sat there patiently, habitually even, Erza realized. “H-How long have you been there for? I don't understand, I can’t… Is this why you hurt yourself?! Because you knew you would be okay?”

 

“I've been there for more than ten years. I think. I wasn't counting and they weren't telling me. Also, yes.”

 

Tearing up, Erza wraps her arms around Ivan in a tight hug. “You’ve been through so much Ivan. If you need anything from me, just ask okay?”

 

Ivan quirks up noticeably. “In that case, can you take me with you to Fairy Tail?”

 

Hearing Ivan’s muffled voice, Erza lets go of him in a hurry. “Oh! Yes, I can, but what about your family? Won’t they be worried?”

 

“We don’t need to worry about that. I’m pretty sure they’re dead.”

 

“I… see. Of course, I can bring you with me Ivan. Though let me warn you. If you’re planning on joining the guild, only Master Makarov can decide that.”

 

Ivan nods in acceptance. He expected as much. As strong as Erza was, Ivan didn’t believe a guild would allow their members to have that much freedom.

 

“Right!” Erza said as she slammed a gauntleted fist into her palm. “Just give me a moment, I need to grab something I left behind.” 

 

Erza runs off into the distance, leaving a befuddled Ivan standing awkwardly, surrounded by armed knights and sobbing families. She eventually comes back hauling around a massive pile of luggage, roughly lashed together by several thick ropes. A massive black horn covered in gold wire and crystals in various colors sat atop it all. A small crowd milled about, trailing behind her as they marveled at the sight.

 

Erza grins at Ivan. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

 

Ivan got up with a rush, falling in line next to her as they walked off towards the sunset. Their destination? To home.

 

To Fairy Tail.