-Nina's POV-

Gradually, my eyes opened and my blurry vision began to stabilise. Cr*p! My body felt heavy and sluggish like I had just awoken from a long surgery. My limbs refused to listen to me and even when they did, my movements felt laggy and slow. I wriggled in the bed, letting my back relax against the soft mattress. Damn, how long was I unconscious? I rolled my neck back, my mind already clamouring for the ache relief to come.

'Malia, are you there?' I asked through our mind link but there was no answer. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

I still needed to get used to the feeling of having a body; I started slowly, beginning with opening and closing my hand, then I moved to moving my toes. I remember after arriving at the forest, Zeref was hot on our tail so I had to quickly think up a cover up plan.

I decided to kill an A rank beast and scatter my mana signatures on it; I made sure to char the beast with flame mana to show that it was Malia who killed the beast and that it was all just a kidnapping. Then I lost consciousness due to the shift's side effects and now I was here.

'Malia can you hear me?' My voice echoed in my head, as no answer was received.

'Come on Malia. Give me something! You can't be dead.' Tears rolled down my eyes as I became desperate for an answer.

'Shut up with your whining, you're hurting my head.' A croaky voice returned and instantly I felt a blanket of joy cover me. The voice was broken and weak but she was alive. She was alive! I punched the air in joy. I was in my room somehow, confusion fogging my mind as I squinted around the room.

'I can sense Zeref approaching, let's switch.' I offered.

'No, I can't, at least not yet. My mind is in shambles, resisting the urge to shift put a huge mental toll on me and I'm still recovering. You're gonna have to cover for me for a couple weeks until I get my strength back.' she sighed, her voice still weak.

'But how? I'm not you. They'll know something is wrong.' I argued, panicking and sitting up. I did have her memories but we were different. Malia didn't answer. She must have gone back to sleep cr*p!

The bustling of footsteps was getting closer. This was my first proper interaction with a person since my death, of course Malia and Sara didn't count.

Creeeak!

The door opened…

**

-Zeref's POV-

I turned the knob of the door and entered the room. To my surprise this time I really wasn't dreaming. I froze at the doorway taking in her glistening eyes and the bags hanging under her sunken eyes. She looked directly into my eyes and everything in me reconnected, all the snapped wires lit up in sparks and finally… I felt emotions.

She was awake!

"Malia?" I whispered in disbelief, hesitantly stepping into the room. She blinked a few times, looking like a lost deer in headlights. I was overjoyed and rushed over and wrapped my arms around her in a huge hug.

"Get off me you oversized teenager. I can't breathe." Her voice came out muffled but I still didn't let go.

She gave up struggling and relaxed around my arms finally. She melted into me, making my insides feel fuzzy. I breathed in her fragrant scent and took a couple seconds before letting go. I sat beside her on the bed and not once did I take my eyes off her.

"So how are you feeling? You were out for a good week." I said, checking her faded complexion and frail figure.

"Uhm, good I guess. My body still feels sluggish, so I doubt I'll come to school today. I'll stay home for now." She answered, avoiding my gaze. She shuffled, finally looking back at me.

"What's with the staring weirdo?" she fiddled with her sleeve, peering at me through her eyelashes.

I chuckled, leaning into her. I'm not taking her for granted anymore. She let out a shaky breath, her eyes widening and her irises expanding. I smirked at her reaction, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Are you hungry?" I said, retreating back to my spot next to her. She shook her head, her cheeks vividly red and shock still all over her face.

"Not really hungry…" she whispered, using short words as her voice was probably still soar.

"That's fine, take as much time as you need to rest. Make sure you take it easy, everyone's been worried about you." I said in a calm tone.

"Zeref!! Where are you?!" A loud shout could be heard coming from the hallway and the trampling of footsteps kept getting closer; Malia's hand shot to her mouth as she yelped in surprise.

I guess her ears were still sensitive. I furrowed my eyebrows, rubbing her arm. Nina used to react the same way to noise.

Dianmu rushed through the door. "There you are!" She smiled sinisterly, before charging at me and jumping on top of me. What the hell was she thinking?!

"We didn't finish what we started." She bit her lip seductively.

I turned away from her, looking at Malia. I looked at Malia's poker face, not revealing any hints of her thoughts to me. She just stared at the girl, gripping the blanket a little tighter. The bloodthirst was rising in the air. Sh*t!

"Malia, it's not what it looks like." I pushed Dianmu aside. Dianmu finally acknowledged Malia's frail looking frame and tilted her head in curiosity.

"Get out. I'm tired." Malia sighed, dropping her head into her pillow.

"Zeref who is sh-" Dianmu smiled only to be interrupted by Malia.

"I don't like repeating myself." she deadpanned, covering her body with the blanket and turning the other way.

I tried to pull myself up but Dianmu scoffed, pinning my wrists down onto the bed and staying on top of me. WE ARE ONLY 13!

I froze in shock and before I could snap out of it, Dianmu was ripped off of me by her neck and slammed down right next to me. Her shoulder hit mine, nearly breaking my shoulder blade at the force. Malia pulled her up by the collar and dragged her up to meet her tired eyes.

"ARE YOU DEAF?!" she yelled, causing me to flinch.

Sheesh… I'd never seen her so short-tempered nor use that tone. Dianmu whimpered, trying to back away. Dianmu was a strong woman and I never imagined her to have such a fearful look on her face.

The walls shook at Malia's voice and even I couldn't hide my shock. The ceiling rumbled and bits of dust fell down towards the floor.

"I SAID LEAVE!!!" her eyes flickered gold, making Dianmu scream as she fell onto the floor and scramble away. She didn't even look back at me, nearly slipping on her way out. Damn, she just got told by a 13 year old.

"Your eyes…" I whispered, staring at her flickering eyes. As soon as I said that, Malia's face filled with confusion and her eyes turned back into the normal hazelnut colour.

What the f…

She stared at me with an innocent look of confusion on her face. "Never mind…" I smiled, not wanting to worry her. Was she suffering side effects?!

"Get some rest, I'll bring up some soup for you." She nodded as I stood up, leaving and closing the door behind me.

What the hell just happened? I peered down the hall to see Dianmu curling up in a ball.

"Dianmu what the hell is wrong with you?!" I walked up to her and started scolding.

"H-Her… eyes… they glowed golden." Dianmu looked shocked and sat on the floor cooped up in a ball.

"What do the glowing eyes mean?" I asked folding my arms.

"Forget about that," her tone changed from dejected to jolly in seconds, "I asked if you wanted to play a game and you said yes and now that I was going to play with you, I'm getting scolded."

"What kind of stupid game was that?! Do you even remotely know what you have just done?" I ruffled my hair in annoyance.

"Don't look at me like that. Your friend Jace told me humans love this game, should we play now that we are alone?" She started to approach me and smiled.

"Get away from me, you've ruined everything. I'm gonna kill Jace when I find him." I rolled my eyes, walking into my room.

"Wait! Zeref, don't kill him. I like that brat!" She rushed behind me.

**

I wasn't able to find Malia, it was like she disappeared from the house. Dianmu also finally left to go to her nest, so it was just Jace, Naz and I at school.

I made sure to scare him well and give him a couple punches to the arm.

"Oww! My arms are still sore!" Jace rubbed his arm wincing in pain.

"Stop being such a weakling. Grow up. You've been whining for the past 3 periods." Naz gave him another punch from the side.

I ignored him and carried on listening to the mana history professor.

"...There are two types of contracts magic beasts can form with Mages: A bonding contract and a Familiar and Master Contract. According to history only a handful of powerful S rankers have been able to form bonds with magic beasts.

"Familiar and Master Contracts are much more common and most mages form these contracts. Bond contracts are much more strict and it's extremely rare for beasts and mages to form these contracts.

"Normally the beast's mana pool is interconnected with the Mage and they become one entity in Bonding Contracts. The mage develops features of the beast like for example, let's say one of you here bonds with a flying beast. You may develop wings or get the ability to fly, see where I'm going with this.

"The stronger the beast you're bonding with, the more abilities you as the mage will benefit from, so make sure if any of you ever make a bonding contract you're double sure as once you've bonded with a magical beast your mana pools will become interconnected and you won't be able to assimilate with any other beasts.

"Familiar contracts on the other hand are much more simple. The mana pools are separate and both of the signers are separate entities. Both the magical beast and the mage will decide on a couple rules that they must follow and things they both will offer each other. It's more of a partnership deal." The professor explained.

I see, so the contract I formed with Dianmu was a Familiar and master deal. How much power could bonds provide? Would it be worth bonding with a magical beast?

"Sir." I raised my hand.

"Yes, Zeref."

"Is it possible to have multiple Master and Familiar Contracts?" I asked, politely.

"Excellent question Zeref. 500 Merits Points will be awarded." I could feel students glare at me when they heard I was getting 500 Merits.

"The answer to that is it's very unlikely and it's normally extremely rare to find individuals who can pull this off. This person will have to be very strong and dominant. Let's take a S rank Beast Element mage for example. They're very attuned to magical beasts so they'll have a better chance at forming multiple contracts.

"However, you must remember that a mage can only bond with one magical beast. Master and familiar Contracts on the other hand don't have limits to the number you can have.

"Okay, now open your textbooks to page 315. I want you to take notes on the history of contract forming and the relationship between magic beasts and mages. You all have until the end of the lesson. Anyone who hasn't done the work will stay behind and clean all the desks and chairs." Professor Winemyre, the history teacher, announced.

I sighed before picking up my pen…