Lies and Sweet Nothings

"Lies surround me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear. Ooh~

But I know, I know~

That it's all a dream, that everything will disappear one day

And I'll be left sitting alone in front of the fireplace on my birthday"

I hummed as I strummed the last few chords of the song. The crowd clapped as they dropped some money in my guitar case.

A slight breeze blew by, my hair flowing over my mask, blowing my vision. I pushed it aside and brushed it behind my ear as the wind died down.

I got up out of my seat and bowed as I packed up my stuff. Remembering yesterday's incident, I huffed as I zipped up my case. Giving the crowd a polite smile, I walked off muttering to myself.

"A little girl, my a**. I'll show you who's the little girl."

I kicked a small rock with the tip of my shoe as I walked down the alley towards a building. Its sign big and bold on the front of the building as people happily walked in chatting.

I took a step forward before seeing a familiar group of people. I hid around the corner as they walked up the entrance of the guild.

"Jellal! How could you let her out there while she has no magic right now?" Erza yelled, clutching her *cough cough* boyfriend's *cough cough* collar.

"Do you really think she'll be happy stuck in the guild?" he retorted, making the red-head back down.

"As much as I agree with Erza, Jellal's right," Natsu sighed, running a hand through his salmon-pink hair. "She would hate it if she was forced to stay inside all 24 hours."

"It's fine. Knowing her, she'll get bored soon and return to the guild any minute now," Jellal said, pushing open the doors.

Their voices faded away as they walked in chatting and laughing. I clenched my fists. Did they really not believe in me?

I turned on my heel and ran straight for the woods. Ignoring all the calls and weird looks, I ran and ran until my legs gave out underneath a big willow tree.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I leaned against the tree. I fell down onto my feet as my sobs echoed in the empty forest. My hand went up to my face and removed the mask. I let out a shaky breath.

Why? Wasn't my effort enough? Didn't I show them that I could do things myself? That I could take care of myself and them?

'Natsu and Lucy did. They acknowledged you' the voice in my head reminded.

My mood lightened up before going back down.

'But only two people? And out of an entire guild filled with hundreds of people? Ha! As if.'

"Was all that pain for nothing?" I whispered, my hoarse from crying. "Even though I tried so hard to prove to all of them that they could rely on me. That I wasn't that shy little girl from before. Why? Why?!"

I let out a scream, not caring if anyone noticed. I panted, my tears falling on the ground. Why?

"Hey. If isn't Lilith," a voice said.

I whipped my head in their direction, wiping away my tears.

"What do you want Sting?"

"Just wondering why you're out here in the forest crying," he said, shrugging.

"Tch. It's none of your business Eucliffe," I said, putting the mask on my head.

"I think it is my business since we're friends and all," he said, leaning against a tree. The sunlight on his hair let out a soft glow, emitting a holy aura around him.

"If we're friends, does that mean we should trust each other?" I asked quietly, my fists clenching.

"Yeah, of course-"

"THEN WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE IN ME?" I shouted, grabbing him by the collar.

"Of course they do," he said, holding his hands up in surrender, a playful smile on his face.

"Of course you think that way. Because that's how you see it, don't you?" I chuckled, letting go of his jacket.

"What do you mean, Lilith?" he said. "If there's anything wrong, we can help."

"No. No, you can't. No one can."

"It's better to fight with your friends though," he said, dropping the act.

~~~****~~~

" 'Not when they are the ones I'm fighting' is what she said," Sting said with a sigh, running his hand through his blonde hair. "Seriously, what did you guys do to her?"

Jellal froze and his face paled. Natsu's eyes narrowed.

"You know, don't you, Jellal?"

"Remember our conversation outside the Guild doors earlier?" he sighed, holding his head in his hands. "I think she misunderstood it."

"What?" Lucy said, walking over with drinks in her hands.

"Are you telling me that she thinks we don't trust her?" Erza said, crossing her arms.

"We gotta go find her then!" Natsu said, jumping out of his seat. He dashed for the door, only to fall on his face a few feet from his chair.

"Not so fast, Natsu. I don't think it's because she thinks we don't trust her," Gray said, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Then what, Ice Princess?"

"Why, you-"

"NATSU! GRAY! FOCUS!!"

"Ahem. What I was going to say was, you know how Jellal told us about that drink she drank yesterday?" Gray said, opening his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I took a closer look at the bottle yesterday. It says antidote on it."

"Antidote? Then-" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth.

"What was the antidote for?" Gray said, finishing her sentence.

The room fell silent as they started thinking. Gray tapped his foot impatiently, ticked off at how they couldn't find such a simple answer.

"YOU IDIOTS. IT WAS AN ANTIDOTE FOR WHATEVER SHE TOOK TO GET STRONGER," he yelled, scaring them.

"That explains why she kept taking solo S-Class missions lately," Erza mused, ignoring everyone's open jaws.

'He just called you an idiot, though?!' everyone thought, their faces pale.

"She obviously wanted to be stronger. Why?" Gray said.

"She didn't want 'that' to happen again," Lucy muttered, sending the room into silence once more.

"Exactly, Lucy. Therefore, it's not because she thinks we don't trust her. It's because she thinks that even though she's stronger now, we'll still keep caring for her like she's a glass bottle."

"Something fragile and easy to break," Erza added.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Sting said, chugging the remainder of his drink. "Rogue should be on his way to the forest and Kai already left."

"Already?!"

Everyone scrambled out the door, leaving some members confused. Upstairs, a blonde dragon slayer with a short blue-haired girl frowned. Silently, they jumped out the window and headed for the mentioned location.

~~~****~~~

My head was buried in my arms as my sobs died down to hiccups. I looked up to feel a drop of rain hit my face. I let out a laugh as I got back up onto my feet.

"Even the Heavens pity me. Where did it all go wrong?"

My vision stared slowly fading away as I stepped forward, one foot in front of the other.

"I just wanted to be strong. Am I destined to be weak forever?"

"LILITH!"

The world turned on its side as I fell on the ground face-first. I couldn't see anything but I could feel myself being lifted up into someone's arms as they ran.

'Guess a girl like me does need saving after all... That's I'm good for... A damsel in distress.'

My thoughts slowly drifted away as the feeling in my hands disappeared.

~~~****~~~

"WENDY!" the boy ran towards the little girl, carrying the unconscious mint-hair girl in his arms.

"Put her down gently, Kai," she said, getting ready to heal the girl.

"Who would try to feed her poison?" the lightning dragon slayer hissed. "I bet it came with that bottle from earlier."

"It's not the bottle," Kai interrupted, making the dragon slayer look at him skeptically. "Trust me. The scent of the poison isn't on the bottle but it is familiar."

"Ngh..."

Hearing the young dragon slayer wince in pain, they turned around to see the young woman's arms gradually get purple.

"Wendy! What's going on?" Kai said, rushing to her side.

"The poison's not the one we thought," she said, gritting her teeth. "It's a long-term poison."

"Meaning-"

"She's had it for a long time now," Laxus said, clutching his fists. "And I didn't see it despite being by her side for years."

Images of the woman from his childhood flashed through his head as guilt overcame him. A shoulder patted his shoulder and Laxus looked over to see the other boy shake his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

"It's not your fault," he croaked, his voice cracking. "We should've all seen it coming."

Gasping, Wendy leaned against a tree, drained of most of her magic. The two dragon slayers ran to her side, helping her drink water.

"I-it's done but..." she said, coughing.

"Take your time, Wendy," Laxus said, rubbing her back.

"I expelled the poison but..." she hesitated again. How was she going to tell her two brother-figures that something happened to their favorite person?

"But what?"

"She..." Wendy sighed and took a deep breath. "Theremaybesideeffectsthatwerealreadyimplantedandicouldn'tdoanythingaboutitsoshemayhaveamnesia?"

"...."

"What?" Laxus said blinking, the gears in his brain slowly working to piece the sentence together, or rather, apart.

"She's going to have amnesia?!" a person shouted, jumping out from behind the tree.

"Shemightalsonotwakeup?" Wendy squeaked, scared by the sudden shouting.

Kai immediately threw a ball of magic towards the shadow, who jumped out of the way barely, his blonde hair neatly trimmed.

"OH MY GOSH. COULD YOU NOT?" Kai yelled.

"Sorry..." Sting said sheepishly. The smile faded from his face as he got serious. "How do you plan on telling the others?"

"You don't."

The group turned around to see both guilds behind them, hidden in the trees. The rain slowed down to a stop as every stepped out drenched, a shadow covering their faces.

"We'll just have to take care of her until she remembers," Gramps said, sighing. He jumped down from the branch and looked off towards the setting sun.

"This is a sad day for both FairyTail and Sabertooth..."