When the sunlight lit up the room, Tina opened her heavy eyelids to see a foreign ceiling.
Tina looked dumbfounded as confusion started spreading across her face.
She sat up to discover herself on a bed inside a room she's never seen before.
Tina looked around to try and ascertain her present location.
"This is..."
She furrowed her brows, she tried her best to remember what happened before she lost consciousness.
That's right, she got stopped by a monstrously strong individual during her attempts on Seitenshi's life.
She found out from her handler that she was up against someone who can stop sniper bullets with his aiming skills. She was up against the guild master of Fairy Tail, Noah Dreyar.
Fairy Tail, and Noah Dreyar are names that were familiar with Tina.
Noah is the one who made Fairy Tail a sanctuary for all cursed children.
He achieved almost worldwide fame for his act of sheltering and nurturing the cursed children.
For cursed children who heard about Fairy Tail, they all paid attention to any news coming from this organization. In addition, they are also immensely grateful and respectful of the patron who established this institution.
Noah is someone Tina admired very much.
After receiving her mobilization orders, Tina looked forward to seeing Noah, she wanted to see what Fairy Tail is like.
Alas, she received orders to take Noah's life because he was a hindrance to her mission.
Frankly, Tina couldn't accept it.
However, an order is an order.
She was brought up as a tool of murder. Going against the reason she was made would be tantamount to losing her raison d'etre.
Tina compromised in the end.
In the end, she was defeated again.
To add insult to her injury, the guild master she looked up to turned out to be the warm Onii-san who took care of her without caring about her background.
Her fight with Noah vividly replayed in her mind.
It ended with Noah pointing a gun at her head.
Her recollections stopped there because that's where she blacked out.
After Noah pulled the trigger, she woke up in this room.
"Is this heaven?"
Tina mumbled when a creeping sense of fatigue gripped her.
Ignoring her identity as a mechanized soldier, Tina is an owl-type initiator.
Due to the genes of the owl inside her, she exhibited the astute senses of an owl at night. She can enter a state of heightened visual and auditory awareness when night comes.
Due to that, she's practically a beast night. Whereas in the day, she's very slugging and she gets bogged down by this crippling desire to sleep.
Click.
The door opened and Tina turned towards the source of the sound almost immediately.
The girl who entered was about the same age as Tina.
She's also a girl Tina recognized.
Tina gasped.
"Kayo?"
"Oh, you're awake?"
Kayo looked at Tina with her poker face. She proceeded to ask her.
"Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Hurting anywhere?"
"N-no..."
Tina answered on reflex. She trained her owl-eyes on Kayo.
"Where am I?"
"Here?"
Kayo asked.
"You're currently at Fairy Tail."
"The Fairy Tail?"
Tina looked like she couldn't believe her ears.
"Why am I here?"
Kayo reminded her.
"Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?"
Tina recalled the result of the duel on that fateful night and she looked lost.
"I-I was defeat by Onii-san. I asked him to kill him and then Onii-san acquiesced to my request before he pulled the trigger..."
"You're right."
Kayo interrupted Tina.
"The guild master ended your life once."
"He killed me?"
Tina couldn't wrap her head around Kayo's word.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, Tina Sprout is already dead."
Kayo answered in a nonchalant tone.
"You're now the guild master's captive."
"Ca-captive?"
Tina was showing a vacant look when Kayo grabbed her hands.
"Come with me."
Kayo pulled Tina along without any further words.
Noah sat in the living room. He's now free, an abnormal event considering his busy schedule. He was using the remote on the TV to find shows that strikes his interest.
Soon, two sets of footsteps came from the hallway and Noah stopped. He looked at the hallway to see Kayo escorting Tina here.
Kayo let go of Tina's hand and she backed away to the side like a well-trained maid.
"Onii-san..."
Tina couldn't look Noah in the eyes as she lowered her head. She wanted to say something but her words got stuck inside her throat.
If Tina couldn't figure what happened by now, her experience and reputation as someone who held the rank of no.98 would be wasted on her.
Noah spared her, what else can explain her survival.
She went at him with the intention of killing him.
Noah returned her malice by sparing her and taking her back to his home, Fairy Tail.
There is an emotional storm inside Tina's heart, that's why she couldn't locate the correct words to voice her thoughts.
"If you don't know what to say then don't say anything."
Noah read her mind and he reached out to rub her on the head.
"Now, do you want to live at Fairy Tail?"
"You mean I can stay here?"
Tina looked very riled up.
Any cursed child who heard about Fairy Tail would do anything to get to Fairy Tail.
Fairy Tail is one of the few institutions that genuinely took care of curesd children.
But, can someone like her stay in a place like this?"
"My body is the product of my nation's hard work and technology."
Tina said with a disappointed look on her face.
"My master will never permit my stay in this place."
Noah shut her up with another line.
"Let me worry about that!"
Noah caressed her hair.
"You girls are children, just think about how to live happily!"
The warmth from the giant hands above her seeped into her heart. She stood there like a statue for a short while.