Chapter 36

Drops of sweat fell from her face and onto the dirt darkening the sand even more. She panted with eyes shut tightly as the fire burned in her ċhėst. It spread across her entire form, control not known to her. She struggled terribly to keep the form she had been working towards for so many months. She finally achieved it and now it was crumbling away. Embers sparked all around her, ignighting the air and burning everything in its path. Fire was friend to no one and certainly not her. Not until she learned at least the slightest bit of control. A weak whimper left her as she almost crumbled. Flames framed her body, burning in the shape of wings. She was quickly losing the battle of control. It only made the fire burn hotter. It hurt the hotter it got. The more her control slipped the more harm she was doing to herself.

"Focus"

The familiar voice brought a feeling of calm for a moment. It helped little for the flames still flared angrily. She opened her eyes, meeting the black shoes of the person standing over her. She looked up, meeting eyes that match the flames staring down on her. Emotions were not present. None could be seen nor felt. Silver hair was carried with the wind, bȧrėly contained in the long pony tail it was in.

She tried to do as he told her. She tried to focus. But on what? On the flames? The pain? The heat? What was she to focus on? What would help her reign in the flames. The longer this went on the harder it got until her ċhėst clenched with something she never felt before.

"What are you feeling, fledgling?"

"I don't know"

She could feel him scrutinizing her entire being for a long minute. His gaze was heavy on her back as she broke even more.

"I see" he was calm. Forever calm. A calmness she now wanted to return to her. "Ignore it. Bury it and do not dare approach it. Your focus should not be on whatever emotion seems to be rising"

Yes, she knew that. She knew she had to ignore it. She should not acknowledge whatever it was she was feeling. Not yet. It was causing her to slip up even more for it increased the intensity of the flames.

"Emotion fuels magic. The stronger the emotions the stronger the fire. This is beneficial for many who use magic, but for us phoenix it is our downfall" he began to explain something she already knew. This knowledge was burned into her since a very young age. She knew it by heart. "Your magic is too much for you to handle. It burns your very being and will forever burn unless you learn control. Until then you must stray away from human emotions or risk increasing the flames"

"I know"

"Then why are you giving in, my child?"

"It hurts"

"I know it does" He symphatized. "Are you going to let it stop you? If you don't learn control now you will forever be in pain"

She knew that, but it was hard to fight for so long. It had almost been a full day. She was struggling to hold her newly acquired form for almost a day now. With each passing minute she would crumble some more. With each passing minute the pain would increase.

"Who are you?" He questioned above her, his voice carrying an intensity.

"Archer" her name slipped from her lips weakly.

"Who are you?" He asked again, the intensity in his voice increasing.

"Archer. Archer Phoenix" that was her name. She was Archer Phoenix. It took her a long while to accept that.

"Yes, you are. And you will overcome this for the flames can never conquer you"

~~~~~~~

The sudden appearance of the memory had Archer intently focused on the ever changing flames that danced on her fingertips. She wasn't sure why she suddenly remembered that. Maybe it was the current situation. Maybe it was caused by what Mira had brought to her attention. She was taught to stay away from human emotions at a very young age. It was something her parents heavily advised her against. For emotions fuel magic. And magic was something she had an abundance of. And everyone knows that too much of something is never good. And sure enough it was not very good for her. She had to learn control very quickly before the flames fully consumed. Her parents protected her until they deemed her old enough to fight for herself.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud crash. Looking up she was met with a familair scene. Natsu and Gray were fighting again, each holding a table above their heads while throwing insults at eachother. They were dangerously close to the bar, she noted. Erza noticed as well apparently for she gathered her cake and vacated the area in record time. Soon Archer was moving over to make space for the redhead.

"Are you going to take the mask off?" She asked before eating her strawberry. The conversation of just a few minutes ago was still fresh in her mind, but she opted to ignore for the time being. It didn't matter how she felt about Archer for she knew it would be complicated for the other in the end.

Before answering the question Archer glanced at Mira who narrowed her eyes at her, daring her to say no or evade the question and situation entirely.

"I'll take it off"

"It won't be like that one time will it?" Mira asked suspiciously. The last time she pulled her mask down she had another one underneath. Who does that? How can she even breath with two masks on?

"No, I promise" Archer chuckled as she gripped the edge of the mask. She was highly aware of all the eyes on her. Everyone was curious as to what she looked like and in all honesty she could not blame them. "No tricks this time"

"Alright. Then do it"

Archer hummed, clearly amused as she slowly tugged her mask off. With every inch that went down more and more of her face was revealed, testament to her not pulling their legs again. Mira grinned brightly once the mask was fully tugged down revealing a smiling Archer who leaned back in her seat.

"Here I am" she said simple, smile widening.

There was silence in the entire guild for a solid ten seconds. They couldn't help themselves, seeing her face for the first time. They didn't know what to expect but they were surprised and impressed.

"You're adorable" Cana was the first to speak. She was expecting a lot, but not this. She didn't expect to find cute dimples. "Seriously, why are you adorable?"

"I don't know?" Archer tilted her head slightly, her brows furrowed and lips pulled into a frown.

It was different seeing her expressions fully. Truly different.

"You really are adorable" Mira beamed. "Adorable Archer"

"I'll thank you for the compliment" Archer said after a moment of thought. "I have been called adorable many times before"

It didn't take a lot of thinking for Erza to know she was referring to Demeter, Aphrodite and any other woman that coddled her like they do. Unlike everyone else she wasn't stunned for she had seen her face many times before.

"Geez you'd think you'd have some massive scar or something for you to be hiding your face all the time" Mira mumbled after the thought crossed her mind. She thought for sure something about herself must've been bothering the girl for her to constantly hide her face. Turns out there was nothing to hide. At least nothing she could find as she eyed her. Archer continued to smile, revealing the sharp teeth Mira somehow failed to notice. "The hell? Do you have fangs?"

"More or less" a shoulder was raised in a half shrug as Archer adjusted her position when Silver climbed fully out of her jacket in favor of sitting on Erza's ŀȧp.

"Why the hell do you have fangs? It makes no sense" Mira wondered.

"My siblings have them as well" Archer pointed put.

"They're not as sharp as yours and it, so I won't consider them fangs. Next to that it makes sense they have it, being that they take after dragons. You on the other hand are supposed to take after phoenix. They are birds. Why do you have fangs?"

"They're highly efficient"

"That's not the point!"

"Well the fangs are for biting" Archer stated the obvious to which Mira ġrȯȧnėd in exasperation.

"She's playing her game again" Lisanna spoke as she carefully eyed her sister. The eldest Straus wasn't a fan of her game.

Silver remained silent in the arms of the equally silent Erza. Every now and then the redhead would offer the sleepy exceed a piece of her cake, enjoying the face she wpuld make as she ate it. The situation was interesting to said exceed. Not interesting enough for her to pay enough attention, but interesting none the less. Bringing up the subject of Archer's sharp teeth had her remebering something she read in a book just recently.

"To mark" she mumbled, her voice small and unexpected. Erza glanced down at her in question, surprised by the fact that she actually spoke. It was something she hardly did for watching was more her area.

"To mark?" Levy repeated the word in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Archer glanced at her little exceed with a raised brow. What book had she recently read and should she let her explain what she meant? Silver learns through observation and reading. Sometimes questions would be asked, but mostly she would try to understand on her own. Which wasn't terrible, she was very smart. On the other hand she could still be considered a child and that means she sometimes misunderstood what she had read.

"To mark" Silver repeated rather slowly as if she was trying to understand what she had said herself. "It is how certain species make sure others know who they belong to or who belongs to them"

Archer sniffed at the words. What book had Silver recently read? She needed to question the young exceed and take a good long look through the books she had present in her house.

"Really?" Mira asked a smirk slowly forming as she looked Archer right in the eye. "Is this true Archer?"

"Yes it is, for certain species" Archer said carefully, not breaking eye contact. "I do not see what this has to do with me"

"Don't lie" Cana was suddenly at their table, curiosity getting the best of her. "That's what the teeth are for,huh?"

Archer said nothing for a long while, brows furrowed as she tongued the very teeth they were conversing about.

"I'll take that as a yes" Mira grinned. "I guess it's safe to say you're a biter"

"Remember that, Erza" Cana added what Mira clearly wanted to hear and the two shared a high five.

"You know me so well" Mira beamed.

"And I'm proud of it"

"I'm not even going to say anything" Erza mumbled as she continued to eat her ice cream. She would not let those two tease her again. This conversation meant nothing. Nothing at all.

Archer crossed her arms as she eyed the two who had been rooting for her and Erza's supposed relationship with a raised brow.

"You really are invested in this aren't you?"

"Yes, yes I am"

"You won't give up on it, will you?"

"Nope" Mira smiled brightly. "Not at all"

Erza sighed at the words. She knew Mira well enough to know that the words were the complete truth. Whenever she set her mind on something she'll see it through to the end.

"You just want us to admit our "feelings" for each other right? " Archer asked.

"Of course. Honesty is the best policy"

"It is isn't it?" Archer nodded. "So why don't you go ahead and tell Cana exactly how you feel about her"

Mira opened her mouth to respond, but no words left her mouth. She glared at the content Archer as she tried to stop the blood rushing to her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Thought so"