Hello! Now, if you're wondering, this story does indeed go with "For Lack of Better Words" and "Venomous" but they are all stand alone pieces, so you can read this one without having read the others and vice-a-versa. They're the same character with completely seperate scenes and story lines.

Disclaimer- I do not, by any chance, own Fairy Tail. This is free to read and enjoy. :)

Onwards.

Knight

A knight in shining armor

A maiden with her throat slit open

It is the knight's failed mission.

I may not have had much faith in myself when I left Fairy Tail, but I knew why I was leaving. I was leaving to grow stronger, to find someone who could teach me how to use my ability. I had paid up to a year's worth of my rent for my apartment. I only felt obligated to make an appearance at the tournament, which was in a week or so. Laxus had asked me to. I doubted he would know it was me though.

I paid my train fare and received a ticket. I had heard that in a town about eighty miles away, there was an old mage that was willing to teach others free of charge. Though I doubted it was free of charge, I felt it was probably worth looking into. I boarded the train, looking back at the station from the doorway. It was a pointless endeavor though, there was no one sending me off. I tore my eyes away from the station and mentally bid Fairy Tail farewell. I was off to find my own adventure. I would remember them all lovingly, but the happy memories were too overshadowed by my own weakness and pain. I was too unhappy all the time.

I moved further into the car, sitting down all by myself. I tucked my legs up underneath me and stared out the window. I didn't really notice when someone sat across from me. It was a tall man with copper hair and copper eyes. He had a radio sitting beside him. He didn't seem to have any interest in me, so I didn't display any in him. It was better that way, not getting involved with others. Even his presence made me feel a bit nervous. I usually preferred being alone as to being around a stranger. The old radio mumbled soft words that didn't sound like a newscast.

"She's going to be upset when she finds you gone... Didn't you promise to stay with her? Even if you think she'll be safer without you, she is a wanted girl," it started out. The man grunted softly, sounding a bit annoyed. Luckily for me, my stop came within the next minute, and I was quick to leave the man with his odd radio. I paused for a moment in the station, staring at the seemingly desolate town. It was so empty. I was merely glad that I purchased a round-trip ticket. It seemed like the tickets were much more rare to buy there.

I pulled my tan cloak around me, so my body was basically hidden from sight. I wore my hood up, in case there were any charm masters around. I had my fill of run-ins with those guys. I trudged onward and into town. It didn't take much asking around before I knew where to go. The mage lived on the outskirts of the town in the forest. It didn't appear that he(or she?) had a very good relationship with the townspeople. I walked down the dirt path into the forest, my hands fidgeting nervously. I didn't particularly want this to be a difficult trial.

I found the house without a hitch. There was a small garden and the house seemed to be well cared for. A small stuffed cat sat in the front window. It was very cute looking. A few bushes were even in flower. I was a bit surprised by the appearance of the wood house. The townspeople made it out to be some sketchy place, but it really wasn't. I knocked on the front door.

"Hello?" I called to it in a soft voice. I wasn't very loud to begin with, so I doubted the owner of the house even heard me. The door swung open, startling me. A tall man with a short beard towered over me. He had the face of a strict man. I stared up at him, my hood falling back.

"Are you here to learn magic?" he boomed. I did my best to square my shoulders and hold steadfast.

"Y-yes, I am," I replied. The man crossed his arms over his chest. He stared deep into my eyes, his eyebrows drawn sharply down.

"Are you prepared for anything, no matter how difficult?" he asked me. It felt like he was doing his best to intimidate me. Although it was working, I wanted to be able to face Laxus the next time we met. I was too weak to stand by his side.

"Yes," I answered, finding my resolve again. The mage relaxed and smiled at me.

"Not many can retain their composure that long before me. You must really want to learn to be a powerful mage," he said to me. I nodded slightly, a smile arching it's way onto my face.

"I want to be proud to call myself a mage from Fairy Tail," I told the man. He raised an eyebrow.

"Alright then, young mage. We shall begin with simple introductions. I am Gallesaius, a master of illusions," he began, "I have met many dragons, all of which seem to have their own human wards. It seemed they knew their time here was coming to an end." I stared at Gallesaius, wondering why he even told me that.

"I have no name. I am not called anything. I'm a shadow that is there, but never noticed," I told Gallesaius. He looked incredibly surprised. Most people had names. This was a normal, almost natural thing in life. To have a name was to mark yourself as something that was actually there. I had never said I had one, and Makarov never asked any further about it. I never understood why, but assumably he already had the information.

"Then you must receive a name," Gallesaius replied. I stared at him in a minor bout of confusion.

"Why?" I immediately responded, sure, names seemed important, but when you don't even have one, you come to realize that names are actually very superficial. All they did was give a few words to your existence. Maybe I felt like my lack of one made me feel like I was safer. It meant no one could call out to me, abandon me or use my name to otherwise hurt me. It would probably be harder for me if Laxus could call out to me in some way, using a few distinct sounds that belonged solely to me, a name.

"Because a name gives a person confidence, a sense of being. Also, the name that you will be receiving will be your true name, the one that can only be found in your inner magic. A true name is very powerful. It can give a person control over you. So you have to protect it," Gallesaius told me. He smiled at me and took in a deep breath, "Just as my true name is Gaia." I stared at him for a long time.

"So the first lesson is actually for us to form a bond of trust?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows a bit. Gaia nodded.

"It is indeed. I cannot teach magic to you if you don't trust me," He told me. I took in a deep breath.

"So how do we figure out what my 'true' name is?" I inquired. Gallesaius made a book appear in his hands.

"This is an illusion, but it is still the book," he informed me as the book opened and the pages flipped, freezing at a spot that seemed to be at the middle. He showed the page to me. I slowly read the instructions.

Concentrate on yourself.

Release your magic, but a peaceful form.

Ask it who you are.

It seemed rather straightforward. I frowned slightly.

"It seems too easy," I said. Gallesaius snorted in amusement.

"It does appear that way, doesn't it?" he replied, "But magic is hard to turn into a peaceful form. Usually we use it for defence and attacking, so this is actually complex. It may, however, be fairly easy for you, since you are a novice." I glared at Gallesaius.

"That's not very nice," I hissed through my teeth. He chuckled.

"So first, let's try to figure out what type of magic you have," Gallesaius said to me.

"Okay."

.

"It's been awhile since we've seen her, hasn't it?" Freed commented slowly. Bixlow looked at Laxus, waiting for him to reply.

"What's her name anyway?" Evergreen asked. Laxus stood quickly.

"She doesn't have one," he replied and walked away from the three. He didn't appear to want to talk about her. Evergreen turned to Freed, looking a bit confused. Bixlow started to laugh, which distracted the two. Why was he laughing?

.

"Seems like you're the type to manipulate your surroundings," Gallesaius concluded, seeming very interested by this. I stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him. Gallesaius turned toward me, smiling a bit.

"It means we have very similar magic styles, except my adjustments to reality are merely fake, yours will be real," he told me. My eyes widened.

"Of course, you can't exactly manipulate living people as far as I know, but you can become powerful enough to make the grass the sky and the sky the ground," Gallesaius continued, "It'd also be good if you became more physically fit as well." I nodded, listening to every word that left Gallesaius's mouth. He knew better than I did. No wonder Makarov couldn't teach me how to control my abilities.

And thus began my long days of training. Every morning, I began with running. Gallesaius then had me learn martial arts through fighting illusions. Then we practiced controlling the environment.

"Try pulling the ground up, like you're trying to block off a boulder," Gallesaius instructed me. I moved forward and went through the motions, but only a small strip of grass lifted up.

"Well, that's a start. Try again." We did this over and over every single day. It was tiring, but every night I came closer and closer to finding out what my true name was. When I concentrated, I could almost hear this voice. It was whispering the same thing over and over again to me.

Chaos.

I blinked, jolting up quickly. I held my forehead tightly. Gallesaius stared at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you find it out?" he inquired curiously. I took several deep breaths before finally looking at him.

"So if it's a bunch of voices, then what they're repeating is it?" I asked him. Gallesaius pondered this for a moment.

"I would assume so," he replied.

"Then my true name is Chaos," I told him. Gallesaius straightened.

"How bizarre, but then our similarities in magic also makes since now," he said, smiling a bit, "I have taught you everything I can." I stared at him.

"What?" Gallesaius shook his head.

"Your training is up to you from now on. Follow your heart in this pursuit, or else you'll become corrupted," he warned me before disappearing into his house. I stared up at the setting sun. I could still make the last train if I hurried. I ran down to the station, barely landing a seat on the train. A girl with short, boy-ish hair sat across from me. She even wore boy's clothes. There were fresh tear stains on her cheeks, and for some reason, this made me think of the man and the radio from the last time I was on a train.

Again, I decided it didn't concern me.

The next day, I was in Fiore for the Magic Tournament. I made my way into the giant Coliseum on time. The first event was regarding a giant maze. Of course, I was hoping Fairy Tail would pull through. Laxus said he was participating, so I was a little bit excited. I knew that no one would see me due to my cloak. Well, they would see me, but they wouldn't know that it was me.

The third day was the day that I was practically out of my seat in nervousness. There was something strange about Team Raven Tail, and Laxus was to fight their leader Alexei. Alexei seemed to suddenly jump forward and was pounding on Laxus like he was a rag doll. My hood was immediately dropped as I ran to the edge to stare down at the fight.

"Laxus!" I cried, unable to control the mixture of emotions that were stirring in my stomach. I couldn't stand to watch him be beaten like that, but there was also nothing I could do. I was beginning to feel hopeless when the figures disappeared, and five figures surrounded Laxus. A huge sigh of relief escaped me. He was alright.

"He's okay..." I let out a sigh of relief. As they were announcing it as Laxus's win, his eyes stared straight at me. I quickly backed away and disappeared into the crowds. I wasn't ready to face him yet, but I knew Fairy Tail was going to win, so it would be alright if I left then. Outside the coliseum, I was stopped by two guys.

"Well aren't you cute," one said with a lecherous smile. I paled, what if they're mages?

"Would you like to play with us for awhile?" the other asked. I frowned. I had to defend myself. If I didn't, then all my hard work to become stronger would have gone to waste.

"No," I answered, holding my head high, "Now get away from me."

.

Laxus looked around, thinking that she would still be in the crowd of onlookers, but she seemed to be no where. He couldn't find her again.

"Laxus!" Freed cried, basically attacking him, "You did great!" Bixlow nodded, smiling with his tongue out like he often did. Laxus shrugged him off and started heading for the exit of the coliseum.

"Laxus?" Evergreen began, sounding confused. Bixlow's grin widened.

"I think he saw someone he didn't expect to," Bixlow said, leaving the whole topic as vague as he could. Thus, the other two were as clueless as before. They couldn't seem to connect the dots.

.

"Get away from her," Laxus commanded the two guys. I had barely gotten the chance to prove myself. How had he caught up so quickly? The two were quick to scurry off, since Laxus had taken on several powerful mages just moments ago.

"Laxus?" I said as if I didn't know it was him. I just didn't know how else to react. He glared at me.

"Why'd you run off?" Laxus asked me. I drew my eyebrows together, not having a single word of reply for him.

"Because I can't stay," I answered, and although that was not entirely true, I used it as my excuse anyway. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're always running away. Why don't you stop?" Laxus implored me, which of course, this was the closest he was ever going to get to doing that.

"Maybe I don't feel like I belong," I shrugged, "Maybe because no one can call out to me and tell me to stop." Laxus snorted.

"Then get a name, so I can," he replied. I looked up at him in shock.

"What?" I cried, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"I won't repeat myself," he replied sternly. I stared at him, at a complete loss for words. I wasn't used to someone paying attention to me. Makarov said once that Laxus did, but I never believed him.

"Why would you do that?" I asked slowly in a quiet voice. Laxus sighed.

"Do I have to spell everything out for you? You're as much of a dimwit as you were seven years ago," he complained. I frowned, growing a bit frustrated with him.

"Well at least I didn't play dead for seven years!" I replied, feeling hurt by his words. There were even tears in my eyes. I was fighting to hold those damned things back.

"It wasn't like I had much choice in the matter," Laxus growled, holding me by my forearms. I struggled against his hold.

"Let go of me," I said quietly. Laxus's grip only tightened, and it kind of hurt.

"No. You'll hear me out, whether you like it or not," he replied, and I froze. Hear him out? I thought we were fighting! I stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Just shut up for a minute, alright?" Laxus sighed in frustration. I nodded slightly and he released me, but kept me within arms' reach, just in case I tried to make a break for it.

"I don't want you to run off anymore. Since you said that there's nothing really stopping you because you have no name, then I want to name you so you'll stay. I won't let you run and hide anymore," he told me slowly. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"To me and Makarov, you're family, okay?" Laxus finished. I felt my heart break.

"F-family, huh?" I whispered, staring at my feet as tears welled up in my eyes. Laxus was silent for a moment.

"Yeah," he answered.

"My name is Benni then," I muttered, thinking the name was rather abstract and not very cute anyway. Perfect in many ways at that point. Laxus hugged me tightly.

"Then don't cry, Benni," he told me, which only made me feel worse. He thought of me as a sister, and that was why he could hold me so easily. So I just cried into his shirt because although he was my knight, I was merely his "sister".

Now, none of these have ended happily, I guess. But, I do quite enjoy writing them. So she has a name now! Benni/Chaos.

Anyways, I do hope you enjoyed this, and a review will be welcomed gladly.

~Minatu-chan