"So this is your little...project?" Envy asked as she circles around Akira's body

Pride stood to the side away from her. His fingers clenching slightly, however, other than that, no other emotion being shown.

"And? What of it? You have no right in anything that concerns him." Pride stated.

This made Envy giggle, a sound that had previously made men drop on their knees and beg to hear it again.

"There you are…" She drawled out, patronisingly. "...You sound more and like Greed every time we meet. Maybe we should have another meeting to decide on who is who, hm?"

Pride's golden eyes started to spin dangerously. "If you think that-"

"Yeah, Yeah. I get it." Envy waved him off.

She turned her attention back onto Akira, turning away from the fuming Pride. A small smile slowly appeared on her face.

"Remember your place, This is my library. I will not let you do as you please."

"Of course this comes back to you, I mean it's in your title to be so conceited." She said as she sighed.

"And am I supposed to care? I am Pride and I-"

"-Take Pride in that. That line is not funny, original or amazing in any way. Stop using it."

In a flash, Pride appeared before Envy. His anger had reached a breaking point shown through the golden flames of his eyes.

Envy didn't even react as she caught the fist that had been examined her face.

Pride stared at her as the golden flames slowly started to burn bigger and brighter, slowly encompassing the space around his eyes. He looked down at his fist right before his flames exploded to encompass his whole head.

She hadn't caught him with her hand but rather the tip of nail filer.

She saw the golden flames of Pride exploding and sighed again "Right, I can't be fussed to go through this again."

A circle appeared within Envy's hand. The air slowly started to wave around the two of them. The immaculate clothing that Pride wore started to smoke. What started as a sizzle slowly became a smoke as his clothing melted off of him. As they dropped to the floor, the clothing started to melt through the now mud-like floor.

The bookcases weren't any better as they started to lose the shape that they had been handcrafted into. They folded upon themselves as books themselves fused together in their ooze like texture that they had become.

All this power…

Pride stared at the flame that Envy was letting out, his whole body now being covered in smoke as the water, around and within him, evaporated in an extreme rate.

...came from a single lick of fire that erupted from her index finger.

"Do attack me when you get to my level." She stated as a glowing circle appeared from beneath her. "It makes beating you that much easier…"

With a large column of fire erupting and engulfing her body, the only thing remaining were two glowing eyes and large red smile.

"...Dog."

Where My Demons Lie

Oh, god I feel so tired. I want to get up but this bed feels too good.

I haven't slept in a bed for ages. The bed-

Wait, bed? Matress?

Jumping out of bed, I stared at the luxurious sheets that I had just come from.

"What?" I muttered aloud. I haven't been given a bed in ages so why was I in one now.

"The sight of your body in your sanctuary almost made this worth it…"I stiffened at the familiar voice. I turned around to see Pride's smug filled smirk. But just as I saw it, he lost it and opted to become serious "...as I said, Almost."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, a feeling of dread building up inside me.

"What do you mean by' Mt god, you're an idiot." he hissed venomously.

"Hey-"

"Shut the fuck up."

Right.

Just gonna do that now.

"Not only do you almost destroy the body I made for you, but you also create a disgusting enchantment and try to pull it off."

"What the hell are you talking about? Explain."

"Do not order me, mutt." He visibly calmed. He didn't shout but when he was angry, you would know. "You believe yourself to be smart but you are a barely functioning child that relies on me to help him. You failed on what must be the most simplest parts of enchantments that any novice would know not to do."

I sated at the bookcase beside us, not wanting to look him in the eye. "I can admit it was my fault. I was too distracted by the thought of magic, however…" I turned to stare into his golden eyes. "I am not a child nor do I rely on you. Get through that thick skull of yours"

He smirked and turned away. As I blinked, I found myself standing back his library with him standing before me.

He was wearing different attire than usual. A plain white coloured t-shirt with his signature red tie. grey slacks that ended in black loafers. Silver glasses that sat upon his sharp nose. There was no hat which left his hair to flow freely.

There was a big blackboard behind him. One that a diagram of a human body. The text was written all of the board that I couldn't understand. It didn't help that they weren't in English. It had highlighted a part that was around the stomach.

"Is that the magic container that Rob was talking about?" I asked pride who nodded.

"Yes, It's quite evident that you can't even do the basics of the basics right." He brought out a cane from his sleeve. That looked way too big to fit "So I'm here to teach you."

"Teach me?" I realised him. "Why?"

"Why? Simply because you need help with your magic." He asked with a smile.

Man, if that isn't the fakest shit I've ever seen.

"Pride. For a short time, I've known you, you wouldn't do something out of the kindness of your heart." I believed that to be completely true. He only gave me that magic because of what he believed to be me earning a reward.

"Why would you say that? I'm simply bored and want to help, can't a demon do that without being questioned?" Pride asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Right, and what do you get out of this? There has got to something that you get of this." I scoffed "You literally called Pride, are you abandoning your pride to teach me or something?"

The sound of his cane snapping shocked me as he stared with those golden eyes. I straightened up at the sound and tried to say something.

Anything.

I screamed and cried.

But nothing came out.

I couldn't even breathe.

"What did you say?"

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

The slow rhythmic tapping of his shoes was the only thing I heard as he walked closer to me. Each step increasing the cold shiver that made itself prevalent again.

"I'm only going to ask this one more time…"

The shadows started to expand as the room's lights dimmed. Each one twisting and turning in a way that shouldn't be possible. Each one of them slowly coiled around him, covering his body in a black tar-like substance.

This was the first time that I've seen Pride like this, I mean he had gotten close before but he held back. This time though…

"What. Did. You. Say."

...was the first time I've seen him angry.

Hearing my silence, His shadows grew in size. The tar that had encompassed his body grew a mouth where it usually was, however, this one was much different.

It was sparkingly white.

That's not the problem.

Pride's teeth usually were the same.

No, it was different as this one wasn't the only...creation, for a lack of a better word, on his body.

Multiple mouths were dotted around like some grotesque eldrich being. As many of said beings, it was hard to look at his body.

A soft ringing in my ears and the thick taste of my blood making itself know on my taste buds.

"L̥i̙͍̳̜̲s̴t̸͇̖̦̻͉e̼͚͚͕̰͢n̥͈͇̫͔̞̻ ̺͖͈̝̘h͙͙͕̮̰e̳̯͝r̺͇̮͎͍̮e̟̥͈̖͟,̠̭̤̺͎ ̱̫̦m͙̳̣u͈̠͈̣̪t̴̫̹̠͍t̙͟,̞͈̪͙̀ ̗̞̹̭̤̜͇͜I̲͝'͓̻̮m ̱g̡͙̞̟o̮͓̭̤i͡n̴͎̞͈͍g ̴̜͉t̷͓̠o̻͎͕͖͙̞ ͔̬̮̥̝͔͖te̘̥a̛̖͇̤͍̟͖ͅch̨ ͇͇̹̱͚͙́ͅy̮o͉̜̝̻̺͟ų̝͍̙̦̬̱ ̰͖ͅa̶͔̜̗̦͍͇ ̙̗͇̬̥͖͚ne̫̤̹̜̞̯͜w̷̻̤͙͈̠.͉͉̞͉̻̻.̻̺̭̜͓.̩̦̬ ̳͍͖̣̘̤t̜̮͡r̝̣̗͔̫̰̼i͉͖̤c͚͓ḳ̯ ̵͉̹͇̪ṣ̯͖̺̜̙͉o̺͔̲ ̲̮t̤̯̀ͅo̞͇͚͕̻̠ ̣̫͞ͅs̞̰à̮̼̫͍̳͈y̫̮̹͇͓̲͉̕." He looked- no that thing shrugged, at least I think it did. It was kind of hard to understand, I could barely even…

H͈̩̠̠̣è̖̼ ̴̹̟l̶̤̭̞̞o̮̺̣̪̱̣ơ̼ͅm̶̯̫̝͈ͅe̞d̬̻̖̰͜ ͏ov̝̮e̯̜̪r̢̬͎̮̙͙̳̦ ҉͚̞̩͓ṃ̶̦̠e҉͓̤̳̳̣ ͙̦w̸̙i͏̙͙͔͚t͓̘̩͖̻h̖̟͟ ͕h͕̹̪ḭ̱̳͎͓̰͠s ̨̝̬̳̱͙l̩̻̜̬̫̲a̮͟r͇͎g̮̩̦͕͍̪̰er͡ ̩h̞̻̯̟̺̖e̠͖̗̜̪̺i̗̤͕̼̰̮g̹̫͝h̤̲t͢ ̝͕"̨͇͇̝Ṭ̨̪͚̼̬h̦͉e̢̜̤r̮͈e͖ ͉̩̠̟̱a͖̹ṛ̛̣͓̦̞̳e̶̜͍ ͠ͅt̴̬̼̲̼͇̰ͅi̮m͚͚̻͠e̺s̝̯͔̻̘̦ ̘͈͇̰ẁ̩͚̞̪h̰̲e͕̺̟̞r̵e̖̗ ̙̣͚͝y̡o͇̭̝̩͓ͅu̧͍̞̞̼̼͕͔ ̧̘͕̯̬͚̟̖n̯͎͝ḙ̡̺̻̥͍e͏̮̻͖͉̤̬d͚̺̠̜ ̤̬͎̳̯͇t̥̤ò̫ ̪̬̮͈̩͚f͈͠l͖͓͍̪̣̱͇̀a̼͈̱̤̰̜̼ṵ͍̩̺̫̕ṉ̩̹͚͘t̪̳͔̹̖ ͎̤̥̥y͏̫̺̻o͓͕̹͞u͎̗̻̦̱̬͘ͅr ͞i̲͔̤̞̹̩͈n̥͎̼̪̤̱̩t̥͓̤̤̼e̗͕ͅl̯̻͉̖̣l͍͚͉͇͢eͅc̴̗̩͇̭̦t,̭̪̲̗͈̯̝́ ̸̲͎͔a̤͎͓̖̪̦̩s̵̳̩͔ ̪y̫͜o̡̝̰u͡ ͜c̳̝̫̯͖͇͕͞a̫̼̕n͓͇̘̭̥ ̧̦̣̩̮͖͔t̰̘̪̻̺̝͝è̟͖̙͎̜l̨̞l̨̮̜̥͈,̡̫͖͙͇ͅ ̣̤̻͘t҉͍̯͖̜̠h̡͉̤̮͖̥̹̲is ̨̭͇i͚̺s͜n̡͇͙'̶t̶̼ ̢̟̫͍̜̜̩͔o͙̯̙͙̪̜̭ń̥̫e͏̺͔̥̯̣͕ o̠̺͇̗̰f̳̝͠ ͕̗͔̰̱͜ͅț͈͍͓̭h̜̫̳o̦̞̦̺̯̲̫ś̼ḙ͍͕ ̖̘͖ͅt̡i̧͓̻m͙̤̻̠̭̫͡ȩ̞s̸. ̩͝D͙͖̼̮̭o ̀y͓̭̺̙͚͢o̶͈̜̮u̩̙̝͚ ͈̞͎͇̞̺͟un̝͚̯̬̬̻̠͡ḏ̣͕̘̥̝e͙̭̘rs̸̞t҉̦͈a͔̻̱̥̜͞n̵̫d̮͕̘̠̪̗͟ͅ?͔̭̙̠"

̬̙͈

̪̲͟H͏̞͖̝e̜̖͙̦ ̲à͎̺̪̫͈s̖̻̻̰͝k̳̭̰̱͈̙̤ḛ̡̦̝̝̱͈ḍ̪͉̣̬ ̶̠͈̻͎͉̯m͉͓̱̬ẹ̼̞͔̪͇͙.҉͓̩ ̱͓̰̀ͅ

̞̘͖̣̺̟͟

̻͍͓̲̘̻I͈͈̤̞̘ ̨̻k̡ep҉͉̭͔͖͎t͠ ̙͎̭q̠͉̮͢u͚̦̳̫̖͖ͅi̡e͇̹͕̬̩̟͡ͅt̷͖͓̥͚̙̣͉, ̰̤͈̞̥͖̮i̷͉̺̠͈̝n̩̻̘͕ͅt̲͕̫̺͎͚̻e̱̟̝̮̥̣r͍̜̮͉̝̝̳ṇ̺͕͙̪͞ͅa̴͓͔͍̮̳̲l͚l͇y̳̟ ̝f̳̤u̸̜̱̤̹̦m̰̥̻i̯͔̬̹̤̙n̞͔̞͕g͈̥͜ͅ ̛̙̠a̪s̷̲̦̣̭ ̠̙͇͉̠̣h̠̘̦̳̻̹e̗̜̣̳ ̱̳̻̹̘ͅc̼̦̹͍͖͇ͅon̼̻͔̹̗̣t̩i̴̟͚̦n̸͍̝͙̮̮̠̬u̡͈̱͈̱̪̜̖è̮d̙̣̻̬͜ ̞͚͡t̜͙̗̼͓o̭̜̫̺ ̢̪͍̪ͅs̙̱͉̝͢t͙͎͜a̮̫̤r̘͖̘̖e͉͔̯͕̘̙͖ ̤͙ͅm̫͉̩̪̙͞e ḏ̺͇̝̖o̥̙̩̦̙̪w̴̪n҉̻̜͙̻ͅ.͍

͙̼

̩͚͈͇T̜̰̜̝̬a͓̙͉̥̟͟k̴i̻̘n͈̜͉͚̫̭g͎͉̭ ̻͓̜͙̱͈̦͘a̬̭̮̞͜ ̡͇̮̥̯̘̫̱d͇e̦͈̰̜̺̩͎͟e̞̟p̻̗͓̩ b̲̺̹͙̣͘re̗̜̝̜̜a̷̱t̀h̢͎̭̫͖,̛̙ͅ ̵̠̤̜̳I̛̦̬̟ ̭̭̘͇̖s̡t͍͇͎͟a͉̗͉̝̰̥r̞̤̲̪̜̬e̴̱͔͍̯͍͓ ̘̪̗͈ri̴̫g̹͇̰̰̬̥̟h̨̻̺̭t ̴̲̤̩̠b̨̳aç̣͙k ͈̥̖ͅͅị͇̟n͕̖̳̣͖t̙o̙̞̟̠͈ ͖̘̜̫̰h̫̠̻̀ị̖͔s͖̝̲͜ ̝̹̬̼ģ̝̩̣̬̝̰low̤̫̠̦iṋg̘̲ ̯̻̫̠̖͚͡e͙̤̭̳͚͉y̬e̷͍s͕̖ "Crystal."

He did a 180 in his emotions as he became much more lively, livelier than usual.

Whatever happened to he did to me was…was...was I saying something?

My hands went up to my nose.

There was blood.

Why was there blood?

Did I black out for a second?

All I remember was saying something to Pride.

"Are you just going to daydream all day or are we going to do some magic?" The annoyance was clearly heard in Pride's voice as he broke me out of thoughts "Great now, let's talk about how you go about using magic."

Where my Demons Lie

"How does someone fuck up this badly?" Pride asked me (Mostly as a rhetorical question) as he hit head on the nearby bookcase repeatedly.

"It's not my fault. You gave me magic and I wanted to use it."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose "Right, let's get to the first thing." He started. I somehow, I'm starting to learn not to question it, found myself sitting before him.

"And that is~?" I asked in a sing0song voice, stopping as he glared at me. "Sorry."

"You honestly did everything right…" I sent a smug smile "...In theory." I promptly lost that smile "You did not process your magic properly." He told me.

"Huh, what is there to process?"

"What you are doing is providing raw ethernano into the Nexi, which is the plural of Nexus. That will not work as enchantments that use Ethernano do not have a limit on what they take in."

I put my hand up in there as he finished. He sent a glare at me but I kept my hand up.

After a second, he motioned me to talk.

"That makes complete and utter bullshit to me."

"My Lord, what have I gotten myself into?" He muttered to himself "Right, any Enchantments that are created using Ethernano are unable to regulate any magic before, during or after they are activated." Seeing my confused face, he continued "That means that if you don't create a filter for your enchantment then it will pull every bit of Ethernano it can out of your body before it can process it into mana."

I put my hand up in the air again as he finished.

"Right so that's a bad thing, right?" I asked, uncertainly.

"Holy fuck-" He rubbed his temples as he muttered under his breath "Of course it is, If your body doesn't know how to process mana at a young age then it will be much more difficult to use magic when you are older."

"So I need to take into account my own magic?" He nodded "So what else?"

He took out the book that he gave me from the pile that was on the desk. He flipped through the pages until he had gotten to the page on Nexi.

"The book clearly states that the circles must be made perfectly. No deviations or you will have unforeseen consequences."

So what? My drawings weren't that bad.

Right?

As if knowing what I said, Pride continued "If you think that this piece of trash will be good enough to be a Nexus, you're surely mistaken."

"I think you are holding it wrong. I mean from this angle it looks like-."

He facepalmed, cutting me off "I don't know whether to commend you for being this stupid or kill you for being this stupid."

"I'd prefer the latter." He fingers tensed, grabbing his n̳̥̱͇̯e̯w̗̬̼̠̟l̰͇̣͟y̶̰͕ ̠͙͖͙͓̙̖f̧̳̖i͏͇̪̘̺̞x͎̮̼̠̭͈͜e̞̖̹̣ͅd͍̜ cane harshly (̜̱͞D̠̻̬̰̳i͙̫̳̟̬d̡̖̜̞̗͔͙ ̵̬̬h̲̙̦͉̠͙͙is ̢̖̭͉ca͕̝͉͠n̬͕̙̳̟̯̜͟è̝̘͇̫͓ ͇̕b̝̬͖̜̣r͕̟e̹͈̲a̴̭͙k̸͉͖ ̳̲̠àt ̜̲͠ͅo̮͕n̜̭e̸̯͍͙̲̖ͅ ͓̱ͅp͚̳͚̙͞ò̯͚͎̖̳͙̱i͠n̲̼̱͇t̥̟͘?̟͔̮)̕. "Actually the former, now that I think about it."

"You are correct in your assumption in that the circle looks wrong when held like this." He stated with a sigh "However, this is meant to be a circle so it shouldn't matter how you turn it"

"Because it should look the same." It took me a second to catch up with what I said. "Son of a beeech."

"Exactly." Pride said with a smirk.

"I'm guessing I need to practice in creating circles don't I?"

"Why do you have all that paper than?"

He snorted "Well done. Now with all the time, we have left. I want you to-"

Suddenly I found myself on the floor with no explanation. I large stinging sensation spearing on the left side of my abdomen.

"What the fuck was that?" I found myself unable to stand up. Every single movement I made was unrecognizable by my body.

I felt as if someone had cut the strings off of my body and I had just fallen into-

-Wait, a moment.

I can move, albeit slightly. It was like I was restrained. I could move but something was holding me down and pulling me back into place.

"It seems like you're being forcefully woken up." He said as he stared down at my writhing body with a smirk. "And it doesn't look like it seems quite comfortable."

I sent him my own glare but he just laughed it off.

With a wave and a smile, that was the last thing I saw of him.

Where My Demons LIE

(3rd Person POV - Akira's Cell)

"They're coming." Jellal cried out as he heard the sound of cells being opened accompanied by the small pitter-patter of footsteps.

"I cannot do anymore. I've tried but he may not wake up for a while." Rob said as he stood up from Akira's body. He closed and healed the wounds on Akira but they weren't completely gone. There would some scars on his body should they heal properly.

"B-But we can't leave him like this. He helped us, We have to help him." Simon yelled at the older man, stomping over him.

"We can't help him any more than we have," Rob stated, breaking Simon's heart.

"F-Fine...See if I care." Simon cried out as he walked away, waiting for the cell to open.

"I'm sorry, Akira." Stated Rob as he turned away from his still body "They won't kill you. You're too valuable to them. You'll understand, you're smarter than you let on."

The small red-headed girl stood at her corner, her eye locked onto Akira's still body. Not moving ever since he was thrown into the cell, splattering his blood across the wall and floor.

Even as the door to the cell opened up she stayed true.

Even as the large dirty man appeared at the door.

Even as the man shouted at Akira to wake up.

Even as the man started to hit-

"GET OFF OF HIM." She jumped up with all her might and tackled the man off of Akira's body. With all the strength she could muster, she pummelled the man as much as she could.

At least that what she thought what happened.

What she didn't know was that a 10-year-old girls punches aren't as effective on a grown man.

Both Jellal and Rob had started to run to her to hold her back, however…

*Smack*

The sound of hand connecting to cheek stopped them.

Before them, Red had fallen to the floor as she cradled her cheek. She tried to hold back her tears but with the destruction of her village, her imprisonment and the forced labour, she let it go.

She let it all go.

"Man...This is why I hate working with kids." The large and dirty haired man stated as he stood up. "Always thinking that they can do whatever they want but cry when I punish them." He took a long look at Red as she cried…

...a large smile appearing on his face. "Though, for someone like you..." Rob became wide-eyed at the sound of the man's unzipping."...I do have ways of shutting you up."

The man pointed his erect dick toward Red's face.

Erza started to scoot back as the man got closer and closer. He deliberately walked slowly, his dick twitching at the sight of her running away scared.

She kept her eyes on it...no, it was like she couldn't tear herself away from it. She felt if she turned away, she...she didn't even want to think about it.

"For fuck's sake, Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" Akira asked as he wobbled on his weak legs.