Fairy Tail Origins Episode 1: The Eternal Journey

"Just like a doctor to know a thing or two about peak physical condition," Eden said, trying to ignore the look he had just given her.

I know he's joking, but that look was way too authentic. I've seen it before, and I know what it really means., and I'm not comfortable with that..

Eden quietly began to eat her breakfast, understanding how the tone had shifted quickly. Despite the consequences of that shift she still found herself thankful for it. She took another sip of her tea before noticing a peculiar thing about their breakfast trays.

"Orion, there are no knives for the butter. Could you run downstairs and get some, please?"

While Orion was gone to get the knives Eden quickly swapped their tea, making sure that even the sharpest eye couldn't tell that there was any difference. As a test she took a dipped a finger into what used to be Orion's cup, and it shone with a barely perceptible light as she checked the purity of the water in it.

He must have put medicine in mine. I might not have noticed if it wasn't for the amount of honey in the tea. The taste isn't different, and neither is the appearance, but I could see that the ratio of water to additives was abnormal. He'll have to do better than that next time if he really wants to fool me.

With that done she went back to eating breakfast and sipping the tea that wasn't drugged.

Hmm. He does actually make good tea.

"I can take care of myself," she said to answer his question even though he was already asleep, and she then moved his head off of her and slowly got out of bed herself. "But more importantly, why did you put such a high dosage of sleeping medicine in my glass of tea? For it to knock you out this quickly, I can't even begin to guess how much you put in it..."

She walked to the corner of the room slowly for several reasons, including that she was feeling drowsy herself and as such was quite unsteady. But Eden pushed through the drowsiness, picked up the clothes she was wearing originally, and then walked into the bathroom to change. It took some time to pull it off since she had to be careful not to open up the gash on her stomach, but with persistence and creativity she figured it out. Afterwards she splashed some cold water on her face to try to fight sleep, but ended up having to sit down for a few minutes anyway in which she eventually did fall into a light sleep.

After waking up only a few minutes later Eden had managed to work what little amount of sleeping medication that was in her system out of it, and she felt fairly good. As she walked out of the bathroom she found that Orion was still sound asleep, giving her time to actually go do something without him nagging at her.

Well, let's go see if anyone downstairs knows anything about you, Mr. Absolutely Not-a-priest.

The Innkeeper very clearly hesitated, unsure of what to say. After a few moments of semi awkward silence, he motioned for her to lean closer, and said, "Now don't get me wrong lass, I'm not usually the kind of man to gossip, but... Do'ya know the story about the Priest of the East?"

He nods, though for whatever reason, he still seems hesitant. "Aye, I can do that, better than most, I'd say. As the tale goes, a wandering priest has been visiting small towns and villages for the past few years, towns that are impoverished and full of the sick, towns that the Empire has no intention of helping. The first stories started appearing in the far east, near the coast, and that's why people started calling him the Priest of the East. But he's no ordinary priest. According to the story, he's a demon in human form- a benevolent demon mind you- who uses his powers to help those no one else will. He simply arrives in town one night, and books a room at the local Inn. He asks the Innkeep if he'd like the services of a travelling Minstrel, and when the Innkeep says yes- they always do- he plays his flute and sings for the other patrons. Supposedly, his singing alone is so beautiful that he soon draws the entire village in to listen, leaving all of them mesmerized. The Innkeep offers to let the priest stay for free afterwards- Again, they always do- but he declines, and insists on paying. The next morning, he leaves before dawn, while the rest of the town is still asleep. They say he vanishes into a strange, surreal mist, and when he leaves, all the town's sick are miraculously and instantly cured. Now, I know this may sound like hogwash to you, but you're a Wizard yourself, aren't you? You deal with the strange and magical on a daily basis. You see... It's true. All of it. My younger cousin, he lives out in a small town some miles west of here, and he said his town was visited by a strange man who claimed he was a wandering priest and minstrel, and everything happened exactly like in the story. Now, I know my cousin, and he don't lie. He told me what the priest looked like, and- get this- he said the priest had pale skin, was about as tall as the fellow upstairs, had matching white hair and cold, icy blue eyes like miniature lakes. He even mentioned a long white cloak, with only one sleeve, and that the priest carried a beautiful staff made of white oak and a seemingly ordinary katana. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't believe in coincidences."

Orion woke quite some time later, to a massive headache, a horrible taste in his mouth, and a really bad kink in his back and neck. He slowly straightened up in his chair, his poor muscles aching, and it took him several seconds to realize he was alone in the room. After that, it was fairly easy for him to figure out why she did it. He notices the bouquet of flowers on the bed, as well as a card, and smiles.

An apology? That's... Nice. Unexpected, but nice. Maybe she isn't such a heartless little monster after all.

He picks up the flowers and smells them, sighing pleasantly. They really were beautiful, and they smelled wonderful. That girl certainly knew her flowers. Orion picks up the card and reads it, expecting some sort of apology, or at least a note telling him where she would be, and as he reads it, his good mood deflates instantly, his spirits sink like a led balloon and his smile vanishes. He gives a weary sigh and stands up, placing the card down on the desk.


I don't know why I'm so offended, at least she has a good sense of humor... I should probably be laughing. Still, she could at least try to be nice to the man who saved her life, nursed her back to health, and more. I know I said I didn't require any payment, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate a little common courtesy. Well... The flowers didn't do anything wrong, at least. I should probably find them a vase.

He starts to leave to do just that, when suddenly, he stumbles and nearly pukes. He rushes into the bathroom, where he spends the next few minutes with his head over the toilet bowl. Once he had gotten rid of every last drop of food he had eaten over the last day or so, and he had finished cursing his patient's name a thousand times over, he flushed the toilet and quickly cleaned himself up, retrieved his staff and sword, and made his way downstairs. He was a bit shaky on his feet at first, but he managed to steady himself.

He asked the Innkeeper if he had seen where his unruly patient went, and when he replied no, he asked if there was a body of water nearby. Just as he expected, the only body of water nearby was the pond in the forest, the same pond where he had found her before. Orion walked out of the Inn, and to his annoyance, literally into the Sunset.

It's this late already? How lovely.

He made his way back into the forest, quickly making the short trip to the pond, where he found Eden sitting at the edge, staring into the clear water.

"You are officially the worst patient I have ever had the pleasure of treating," he says dryly, plopping down beside her with a pained groan. "And I take back what I said about not needing payment. You're buying me dinner tonight."

He merely sighs. Again, I probably should have expected her to ignore me. Oh well. It was worth a try.

"Why on earth would I go so far out of my way to save a total stranger, heal her, and nurse her back to health, if I was just going to poison her? What sense would that make?" He shakes his head. "If you had just told me you needed some fresh air, I gladly would have obliged."

He sighs again, and falls back onto the grass, staring up at the waves of orange and gold between the treetops. "So, did you find out anything interesting about me?"

Well, that made him feel a bit better at least. He closed his eyes, and remained silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Tell me Eden, why are you so drawn to the water?"