Ailiya

Chiba smiled helplessly; she didn't look like someone who would be at someone's mercy.

He said, "As long as you don't have any ulterior motives towards Mira or my companions, I won't cause you any trouble. As for fate and such, I don't care about those things, nor do I have the power to control them. But if you want to harm Mira in order to defy fate, I don't mind submitting to the fate you speak of."

"I don't really care. But Ailiya might not think the same way..." Weir shrugged and said, "She's going through a rebellious phase, who knows what she might do to her."

Chiba frowned, grabbed her shoulders abruptly, and said, "What did you say?!"

"Don't get so agitated, look, you're still bleeding from your chest." Swatting away Chiba's hands, Weir said calmly, "When Ailiya and I witnessed our mother's death as children, our demonic bloodlines awakened, and we were almost killed by the villagers. Fortunately, we escaped, but Ailiya was traumatized because of it. Maybe she wants Mirajane to experience that feeling too."

"Being hunted down?" Chiba sneered, "Your sister really has a twisted sense of humor."

"Exactly, that guy's a psychopath." Weir actually nodded vigorously.

Chiba glanced at her, then said to Laxus and Erza, "Let's split up and find Mira. Contact us with the communication crystal if there's any news."

"Good!"

The three left the ravaged mountain, and the girl in the white dress watched them go.

"It's so nice to have a group of companions..."

She smiled softly.

Weir told Chiba and the others everything because she wanted to use Chiba to ease the tension between herself and her sister.

Mirajane's arrival meant that her remaining days were already quite good; she had long since submitted to fate and had already begun planning her future.

Looking back on her life, after her mother's death, she was either hunted down or hiding in dark corners. She and Ailiya spent those lonely years together, but at the same time, she was afraid of those years.

Weir said Ailiya didn't understand the future, and Ailiya truly didn't understand the future. What is the future? It's hope, it's light, it's living forward with great strides, not just wallowing in hatred and killing, which would only keep you forever stuck in the past.

Staying in the past... that's something she should do...

Mira regained consciousness.

But along the way, she destroyed countless forests. If she hadn't been so far away from Weir that her demonic consciousness was suppressed, she probably would have destroyed even the surrounding towns.

She dragged her tired body to the riverbank, scooped up a handful of water, and washed her face.

The clear river water reflected her image; she looked truly ugly, more so than ever before. She was so haggard that she looked almost like an old woman on her deathbed.

"Call..."

She exhaled a breath of stale air and casually sat down on the grass, where she remained for a very long time.

It was already dark. There were only a few stars and a crescent moon hanging in the night sky.

The evening breeze was slightly cool, yet it made her involuntarily curl up. She felt very cold, colder than she had ever felt before. So cold that it involuntarily reminded her of that winter.

That winter, she still had Chiba to rely on, but now she is all alone.

She dared not go back.

No one knows exactly when she lost her mind, not even herself. When she severely injured Chiba, it felt like her own chest was being torn apart. In that instant, she suppressed her demonic consciousness and ultimately escaped.

She didn't want to hurt her companions, nor did she want to hurt... him...

She needs to find a communication crystal, and at times like this, she can only seek the guild leader's help.

She patted her tired face, stood up, turned around, and said calmly, "Come out..."

"As expected of Mirajane [Demon] from Fairy Tail..."

A girl's soft laughter rang out, and after the rustling sound subsided, a tall girl emerged from the deep forest, pushing a wheelchair with a little girl sitting in it.

The little girl smiled, but Mira narrowed her eyes and said in a deep voice, "I never expected someone who can use such powerful Genjutsu to be a disabled person..."

The little girl didn't seem to care. "My leg was broken by a group of people in the village when I was little, and I've never found a way to get it back."

Mira raised an eyebrow. The villagers broke her leg? A little girl like her, so delicate and beautiful, should be living in a large courtyard, followed by servants, pampered by her parents. She'd be loved by everyone, so how could anyone bear to break her leg?

"My name is Ailiya, Menair is my mother. My mother did something wrong when she was young, and I was punished for it. It's a pity that I didn't have this power back then, otherwise, all those people would be dead." The girl behind her began to push the wheelchair. Ailiya examined Mira as if she were looking at a work of art, clicking her tongue in admiration. "Perfect. It would be best if you Take Over your sister's position."

"Take Over your sister?" Mira sneered. "Is your sister some kind of demon?"

"Correct!" She smiled, and then her whole body began to change. Black horns grew on the top of her head, and fine, dense black scales sprouted around her face. Jet-black demon wings grew from her back, and then she flapped her wings and took flight. However, she still had normal human legs underneath, which looked quite strange.

"My sister and I... are both demons!"

Mira tensed up, entering a state of high alert.

"Don't worry, I won't fight you." Ailiya flew back into her wheelchair and returned to normal.

"What did you mean by saying... that I would be the Take Over your sister?" Mira asked.

"It means exactly what it says, right? Aren't you Take Over a mage?" Ailiya smiled brightly, but Mira saw a hint of coldness in her eyes. "My sister doesn't listen to me, so I'm going to replace her."

A chill ran down Mira's spine. Replace her sister? Was this girl psychologically twisted?

"And then what?" Mira asked coldly. "Will I become your older sister?"

"That's right!" Ailiya was actually a little happy. She closed her eyes and said softly, "My sister is really disobedient. Mother and us have been treated like that, and she can still tolerate this village. I'm completely disappointed in her, so... I have to replace her..."

"And as far as I know, you, Mirajane Strauss, were expelled from the village a few years ago because you were possessed by a demon, and later joined Fairy Tail. We are actually the same kind of people. This kind of village, this kind of people, don't you... hate them?" Ailiya appeared beside Mira at some point, floating in mid-air, close to Mira's ear, like a demon's whisper.

Mira was silent for a long while before she softly said, "I hate it, why shouldn't I hate it? I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't hurt anyone, so why should I suffer that kind of treatment?"