Title: Things Fall Apart
Summary: One year ago, Ishgar triumphed in battle against the Alvarez Empire. Now, life in Fiore has finally begun to return to normal. However, the guilds are still mourning the fallen, and not all is well within the ranks. Meanwhile, someone believed to be dead struggles to escape a dire situation and frantically reaches out for help.
Main Characters: Jellal Fernandes, OC, Angel/Sorano Agria, and Team Natsu
Pairings: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Genre: Angst/Friendship
Warnings: Torture, non-con, character death, OCs, child abuse, etc. (basically anything my twisted mind comes up with)
AN: So, here is the darkfic I spoke of on Tumblr. It is a DARKFIC, and thus not suitable for everyone. If you aren't comfortable reading it, please don't.
Chapter One: Everything Covered in Fog
"Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute." –Josh Billings
Lucy Heartfilia opened her eyes, realized that she had fallen asleep (and subsequently drooled) on her writing, and groaned in annoyance. She stood up, stretched, and promptly tripped over a shoe. It was a pump, and definitely not hers. She sighed, walked over to the couch, and dropped it on the woman lying there. Brandish μ opened one eye lazily and frowned.
"Did you throw a shoe at me?" Lucy's green-haired friend asked. Lucy shrugged.
"Don't leave your shoes in the middle of the floor," she replied. Brandish sat up and looked at the shoe.
"Oh. Whoops." She mumbled. The former Spriggan yawned. "What time is it?"
"Four," Lucy told her. Brandish began to complain, but Lucy hadn't finished. "In the afternoon." Lucy sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "You should have woken me up," she scolded. "Sleeping at the desk is bad for my back." Brandish shrugged.
"I was going to," she said calmly. "Her Royal Highness said not to. Apparently, you were up all night." Lucy blinked in surprise.
"Sorano said that?" she asked. "Aw, she really does care."
"You don't seem surprised," Brandish observed.
"No, I knew she cared," Lucy said absently. She walked over to her desk and began organizing her work. "She's just not usually so obvious about it." After the war, Lucy's house had become a residence for two others – Brandish μ, former member of the Spriggan 12, and Sorano Agria of the independent guild Crime Sorcière. Brandish, who had effectively betrayed her country, had nowhere else to go, and was thus staying with Lucy until her house arrest was up. Sorano, on the other hand, had hurt her leg in the battle against Alvarez, and Lucy had offered her a place to stay until she healed. After some grumbling, the former Dark Mage had agreed.
"She's at Porlyusica's, by the way," Brandish told her. Lucy smiled.
"At least I don't have to force her to go anymore," she laughed slightly. Sorano was less than pleased by her mandatory bi-weekly trips to the grumpy, forest-dwelling doctor, and Lucy usually had to push her to go. Luckily, the threat of having to go every day instead seemed to be enough encouragement. "Still, has she been there this whole time? Her appointment's at one, and it's not usually more than an hour." Brandish stretched, groaning as she shook of the stiffness from the previous night.
"She probably stopped by your guild," the green-haired woman said. The door slammed open, and Lucy sighed again.
"Don't slam the door, Sorano," she called. The silver-haired woman limped into the room, scowling.
"Sorry," she mumbled, not sounding particularly sorry. She flopped down in the chair across from the couch, dropped her crutches on the floor, and sulked.
"It can't have been that bad," Lucy said, trying to avoid rolling her eyes.
"Oh no, the appointment was fine," Sorano grumbled. "I just spent the last two hours at your guild, trying to talk to someone."
"You shouldn't be pestering Mirajane," Lucy told her. Sorano threw her arms into the air.
"I wouldn't have to 'pester' Mirajane if she would just answer my questions!" she snapped. "I had to wait until Titania and Gray got back from their job! At least Erza treats me like I'm there!" Lucy bit her lip.
"Sorano, Mira doesn't always know where CS is," she said softly. "I'm sure Erik and the others just don't want you to worry."
"Not telling me where they are is the problem!" Sorano growled, folding her arms. She stared at the floor. "My leg isn't going to be useless forever; they could at least keep me updated." Her shoulders fell. "I hate being useless."
"You're not useless," Lucy protested.
"She is, actually," Brandish stated. Lucy glared at her. "It's not your fault," she added. "You saved Lucy. Your leg will be better soon, and then you can join the search or something." Sorano snorted.
"There is no search," she spat bitterly. Brandish and Lucy glanced at one another.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked cautiously. Sorano rolled her eyes.
"I'm not stupid," she said. "I know the others aren't looking for him. I know that the rest of you think he's dead." She shot the other two women an angry look. "And I know you've been lying to me." Lucy looked down.
"Sorano," she began quietly. "I'm sorry. But you really need to move on." Lucy knelt in front of Sorano and clasped the other woman's hands in her own. "I know you miss him – we all do. But this isn't healthy. You need to accept that he's… gone."
"He's not," Sorano hissed, pulling her hands away. She snatched her crutches and stood up. "He's out there somewhere. I know it. And I know that the only reason my leg isn't healed yet is because you lot don't want me looking for him."
"That's only half true," Brandish said calmly. "We don't want you wasting your life searching for a corpse, sure, but your leg was also severely injured. According to Wendy, you almost lost it." Sorano just sneered at them, and stalked towards to door.
"I'm going for a walk," she muttered. She slammed the door behind her. Lucy stood up and stared at the ceiling.
"Why can't she just accept it?" she wondered aloud.
"She doesn't want to," Brandish said, lying back down. "She wants him to be alive, so she's forcing herself to believe that he is. I think she knows he's gone, deep down." Lucy chewed on her lip.
"Brandish," she began quietly. "Do you think–?"
"No, Lucy," the other woman interrupted. "I'm sorry." Lucy sat down in Sorano's now vacant chair. She looked exhausted.
"Please come home, Natsu," she murmured. "I could really use your help."
*Insert mildly amusing transition sequence here*
The company of ghosts was not one that Natsu Dragneel was particularly fond of, but at the very least he didn't have to worry about hurting them.
"Good afternoon, Natsu!" Mavis said cheerily, floating in front of him. Natsu opened his eyes and gave her a small grin.
"Hey, First," he greeted. He nodded to the darker spirit behind her. "Hey, bro."
"Natsu," Zeref replied. The ghost of his older brother sighed. "It's been over a year. Go home." Natsu rolled his eyes and stood up.
"I can't go home yet," he said quietly. He clenched his fist. "I'm not strong enough yet." Mavis folded her arms.
"Every day you spend away from the guild because of that is a slap in the face to the strength of your nakama," she scolded. "They're going to beat you senseless, and I for one won't blame them." Natsu frowned.
"I nearly killed Lucy," he protested. "I could've hurt the others too. I need to–"
"Natsu Dragneel, so help me god, I will kick you off this island!" Mavis yelled, puffing out her cheeks in the angriest sulking face Natsu had ever seen.
"Natsu, Mavis and I were talking," Zeref said. "We agreed that you can't stay here forever. This island isn't suitable for a human to live on."
"I'm not exactly human, though," Natsu grumbled.
"You are," Mavis said gently. "Where it counts. You have a good heart, and no one thinks you'd ever willingly hurt your friends. I understand your desire to be alone after all of this, but Fairy Tail is where you belong and you know it. As the First Guild Master of Fairy Tail, I order you to go home."
"What if I don't want to?" Natsu asked. Zeref sighed.
"Then I'm telling Mom," he said. Natsu stared at him for a moment, and then all three burst into laughter. A warm sensation filled Natsu's heart. He'd been on Tenrou Island for long enough. It was time to go home. Natsu stood up.
"You're right," he said finally. "I guess it's time to go." Zeref sighed in relief.
"Finally," he mumbled. Natsu threw a rock at his brother. Since said brother was a ghost, the rock flew straight through him.
"Start packing," Mavis advised. "You're taking a boat, by the way." Natsu groaned, flopping over at the thought of transportation.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," he moaned.
*Insert mildly amusing transition sequence here*
Trying to figure out exactly what was going on was too exhausting. A foot crashed into his ribs again, and he coughed drily, blood dribbling down his chin. A hand roughly tilted his chin up, and glazed-over blue eyes stared blankly at the face of his captor. A low chuckle echoed through the room, followed by words he couldn't quite make out (and didn't particularly want to), and an all too familiar knife traced the area around his left eye, just barely grazing the surface. Swallowing the lump in his throat took almost all of his energy, but he still managed to give a weak kick. The laughter returned, almost gleeful, and the knife buried itself in his upper right thigh.
His voice was too hoarse to scream any more, but he made a sound that would've been a scream if his throat hadn't been so dry. His face was wet from blood, tears, and probably a few other things. He no longer remembered where he was or how long he'd been there. He didn't remember who he was or who was hurting him or even why. If he focused hard enough, on a good day, he could vaguely make out the faces of people who had once meant the world to him. Now, the only thing that mattered was finding a way to end the pain. The world fell into a merciful black.
*Insert mildly amusing transition sequence here*
Millianna, Risley, and Beth watched Kagura very closely as the S-Class Mage made herself a cup of coffee. The coffee itself was by no means unusually, but Kagura seemed in a surprisingly good mood. Beth sighed, resting her chin on her hand.
"What's gotten into her?" the farm girl wondered. "I mean, I'm glad she's happier, but…" Risley nodded.
"I hear you," the chubby girl said. "She's been acting so chipper lately. Do you think she got a boyfriend or somethin'?" Millianna scowled.
"I doubt it," she muttered. The other two grinned and gave her knowing looks, causing the cat girl's cheeks to turn pink. "I mean, even if she did, I don't think she'd stop being herself. Araña didn't."
"Leave me out of it!" Araña called from the opposite end of the guildhall where she was most likely talking to Fairy Tail's Droy on a communications lacrima. After the war, Minerva had done everyone a favor and helped the obese man lose weight. Araña had offered to help him with his diet, and the two had been going strong ever since.
"Still, she seems so happy," Risley mused. "It's like all her dreams came true or something." The mage in question snatched a job off of the request board.
"I'll be back in a couple days!" she called. The other girls watched her walk off. It almost seemed as if there was a spring in her step.
"This is just weird," Millianna stated.
*Insert mildly amusing transition sequence here*
Lucy walked into the Fairy Tail guildhall still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with Brandish following behind her.
"Yo, Lucy!" Gray called, lifting a hand to greet her. The Ice Devil Slayer was sitting next to the guild's resident Rain Woman, Juvia Lockser, and the two appeared to be in the middle of a chat about something. Lucy grinned and went to sit across from them, Brandish hesitantly sliding in next to her.
"Good morning, Brandish-san," Juvia greeted cheerfully. The blue-haired mage had been one of the first members of the guild to accept the former Spriggan as a friend, and the two seemed to get along rather well.
"Hello, Juvia," Brandish replied. "Gray." Gray nodded at her, and then turned back to Lucy, looking concerned.
"Sorano was extra pissy today," he told her. Lucy sighed.
"Apparently, she found out about… that." She explained. Gray grimaced.
"Yikes. Bet that was a fun conversation." He gave her a half-hearted smile.
"You shoulda been there." Lucy smiled back. "She listens to you more than me, honestly." Gray shrugged.
"Can't explain that one," he admitted.
"Juvia thinks Sorano-san is lonely," Juvia said simply. Lucy nodded.
"I agree," she murmured. "But there's nothing I can really do about that."
"I can," Brandish stated. "When her guild comes back, I'll make them talk to her."
"Good luck with that," Erza said, walking over. "I just finished speaking with Richard. Crime Sorcière won't be back for a while." Gray groaned.
"What is it with all these Dark Guilds lately?" he wondered. "You'd think beating Zeref would be a bit more of a deterrent to breaking the law." Brandish shook her head.
"It's power play," she said simply. "They know that Ishgar lost a lot of strong mages, so they think there will be fewer people ready to fight them. Thus, they're busy competing for power. It's like a dick contest, only the winners get to be on top of the Dark Guild doggy pile."
"Tartaros is still the number one Dark Guild, though," Juvia pointed out. "We may have beaten them, so they're laying low for now, but they never disbanded. Juvia thinks they're gathering strength."
"That's what Sorano said," Lucy noted. "I guess the power play is more about who gets to fill up the spots Grimoire Heart and the Oración Seis left in the Balam Alliance than just being on top." Brandish shrugged.
"Not many Dark Guilds in Alvarez," she said. "Nobody was dumb enough to oppose the Emperor. Once word got out that he was dead, more started popping up. Now that Invel's pretty much taken over, though, he's been driving them out. Most of them are probably either in Ishgar already or heading that way."
"Crime Sorcière also has to handle Bosco," Erza reminded them. "They haven't even come close to getting things back to normal. It's absolute chaos there."
"Yeah, Lyon mentioned that," said Gray. "Apparently, he and some of the Quatro Cerberus guys were helping out over there for a few months. They ran into Mid– I mean, Macbeth." Juvia nodded.
"Merudy told Juvia that Crime Sorcière is the closest thing to an actual police force over there," the Water Mage added. "Things got easier after Merudy's friend ffrom Grimoire Heart decided to help out, but–"
"But he hasn't actually joined the guild," Erza finished. "Says he's not quite ready yet." She sat down next to Juvia. "It's fair, really."
"I can't imagine what it must feel like for people in Bosco," Gray mused. "I mean, imagine having wanted criminals as your only source of protection?" the other four shot him annoyed glares. "I'm just sayin'," he said defensively. "Sure, they're not really criminals any more, but they haven't gotten an official pardon yet. Plus, Richard and Merudy are still the only ones I'd call sane."
"I don't think anyone in Fairy Tail has the right to judge people's sanity," Brandish said, examining her nails. "You're all completely off your rockers."
"You're not a whole lot better," Lucy nudged her friend, and Brandish hid a smile.
"I suppose not," she allowed. At that very moment, the main door to the guild swung open, and a thin, bloody figure stumbled into the building. Lucy jumped up.
"Flare!"
AN: And that's the first chapter! Ooh, this one is so much fun to write! What is Sorano struggling to accept? What did Natsu do? What happened during the final battle? Who's getting tortured? Who's doing the torturing? What's Kagura so happy about? What happened to Flare? What's CS up to? All those questions and more will be answered at some point! Maybe! If you're lucky! Ha. Anyhow, before anyone asks about pairings, I haven't decided what the final ships will be, nor do I intend to spend a lot of time focusing on it. The ships will write themselves, I'm sure, but I have other things to worry about. I can only promise lots of ship tease (and pairings that are officially canon, like AlBis, Rerry, Hibenny, etc.). But I'm super excited about this fic, so I hope you all enjoy it! Kitty out.