Whispers of the Heart
Chapter 1: Incident at the Library
- X793 -
It was a perfect day for the citizens of Magnolia. The fresh morning air surrounding the city was just as right for the people's liking, neither too hot nor too cold. Everyone was out buzzing merrily along the streets, doing their daily activities while enjoying the nice weather rarely bestowed upon the town, except for one.
A tall, muscular guy marred by a lightning bolt-shaped scar over his right eye was seen treading the path towards his guild, Fairy Tail. The ever-present scowl on his face was more prominent and menacing than usual. His imposing, ominous presence a stark contrast to the cheery mood of the townsfolk.
From the corner of his golden-orange eyes, he saw a couple of bystanders he passed by flinch at the sight of his scary self. Heh. The man, Laxus Dreyar, huffed a breath and walked ahead, not at all bothered by the puzzled looks he was getting behind his back. They weren't used to seeing the Master's grandson walking on ground as almost all were aware he only travels through his lightning form.
The gruff lightning mage finally reached the guild and entered, a bit surprised at the strange absence of the rowdy crowd.
"Laxus!" A short, white-haired girl called out and waved at him from the bar. It was Lisanna. "You're back."
"Yeah." He sauntered to her and sat down the bar stool. "It's unusually quiet here. Where are the troublemakers?" He asked, all the while looking around for someone.
"If you're talking about Team Natsu, they went on separate jobs. But I think they'll be here shortly."
Laxus propped an elbow on the bar top, his cheek rested on his palm and quipped. "They should take their time." Or they better not show their faces while I'm still hanging around here, he thought. Today's peace and quiet was something he could get used to.
Lisanna let out a light laugh, understanding what the older mage meant.
"So what can I get you?" She asked.
Laxus raised a brow at her.
"Your sister ain't manning the bar this time?"
"Mm, Mira-nee's currently busy down the library. Why'd you ask? Disappointed it wasn't her tending to you?" The animal soul mage teased. Laxus saw through what she was implying and coolly dismissed the younger Strauss' remark.
"I was thinking of getting the usual but you probably don't know what that is, do you?"
Lisanna chuckled in response. "As a matter of fact, I do. She told me earlier you're coming back here."
"Huh?" The lightning mage shot her a confused look. "How did she know?"
He was away on a long-term S-class mission with no certain duration. He also couldn't recall contacting anyone that he was coming back.
Lisanna pointed her index finger upstairs. Laxus looked up and grumbled lowly at the lone man sitting on a wheelchair.
"Laxus!" The old man called out.
Golden-orange eyes narrowed. "Gramps."
"See me at my office." He commanded before wheeling out of the younger Dreyar's sight. Lisanna snickered at him.
"Looks like you're in trouble."
Laxus grumbled and demanded, "Where's my drink? I gotta down it before I go up there."
"Sorry. No can do." The younger mage gave him an apologetic smile. "Master's order."
More grumbling came out from the lightning mage's throat before he stood up and left the bar for his old man's office at the second floor. He opened the door and greeted the old man with a sour look on his face.
For a while, Laxus just stood there at the center, eyeing his gramps.
Makarov raised a bushy brow at his grandson. The silence was getting eerie. Laxus scowled as he caught glimpse of a pile of opened letters lying on his desk.
"If you're gonna say something, say it."
Makarov stared at him for a bit longer then closed his eyes.
"I take it the mission went well."
"…" The younger Dreyar made a face as he averted his grandfather's gaze. He knew oh-so-well what was coming next.
"You did a good job…YOU THINK I WOULD SAY THAT, HUH? YOU NUMBSKULL! HOW COULD YOU DESTROY THE CAPITAL'S MERCHANT SQUARE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY APOLOGY LETTERS I NEED TO WRITE?!" Makarov yelled directly at his grandson's left ear, his head grew gigantic compared to his small body. Laxus heaved a breath in annoyance before pushing the old man's face with his palm and argued back.
"And who would've thought a dark guild was staying in one of the bar inns in the capital? Who knows what they're plotting if they managed to break into Crocus?" Then with a sneer, he added, "The kingdom should've at least thank me for saving their asses for free."
Makarov could feel his veins about to pop.
"But you didn't have to blow up the entire block!"
"Those bastards had their lackeys coming from other buildings." The blond man shrugged his shoulders. "Had to wipe them out before I got surrounded."
"I'm not stopping you for playing the hero here, but couldn't you have at least held back?!"
"It can't be helped that my magic's flashy, old man."
"If you know that, you shouldn't have bothered in the first place!" Makarov then returned to his normal size and reproached his grandson. "Oh who am I kidding? Just when I thought there is hope in you. I never in my life imagined I would still be scolding an immature brat in a 25-year old body."
"Yeah, well it pays to have an immature old geezer who always pick a fight with the magic council." Laxus chided back.
"What was that?! Are you talking back to me?" Makarov asked even if he clearly heard what he said.
"Nothing old man. You might wanna get your ears checked too."
Both fell into silent truce after that, but it didn't stop them from glaring at each other. Makarov however felt this was going nowhere so he spoke first.
"Laxus…"
"Yeah yeah. I get it now, jeez. Just don't start yelling again. My ears are ringing." Laxus complained as he leaned his back against the wall, eyes closed.
The old man in wheelchair moved back to his desk. "This incident doesn't go unpunished. You'll have to give a share of your reward money to the merchant square's renovation."
"I expected that." Laxus didn't really mind if he give the majority of his reward money. The Jewels he received after completing his mission was enough to cover the damage bill and the remaining would still last him for a few months.
"Hmm…"
Makarov stroked his moustache as he gazed at the young man. Shelling out money turned out to be a lenient punishment judging from the younger mage's tone earlier. He needed to think of another way to irritate…errm…discipline the brat, but unfortunately for him he was out of ideas.
"Are we done here? 'Cause I'm leaving if that's all." Laxus moved towards the door and opened it, just to see Lisanna standing there, a cup of tea on her other hand.
"You eavesdropping, kid?"
Lisanna frowned at him as she entered the office. "I didn't really have to. I swear you two shouting could be heard all over the place with everyone gone." She put down the cup on the desk. "Here's your tea, Master. I figured you might need it to soothe your nerves."
Just then, an idea popped inside his Makarov's head. Seeing the Strauss girl made him remember what might irk his grandson.
Clearing his throat, he said, "Laxus, don't leave just yet."
The gruff man stopped moving and looked over his shoulder.
"What now? I don't have the time to play tea party with you two." His face was visibly annoyed by now. Good, Makarov thought.
"As punishment, you'll also have to help Mirajane reorganize the books in the library."
"What?" He turned his body around and scowled. "Why me? Why not her?" His scowl directed at Lisanna, whose eyes were twinkling at the Master's suggestion.
"Oh I think it's a great idea, Master! I bet she needed some help down there. And I'm sure Laxus would do a perfect job." The animal soul mage chimed in eagerly, grinning knowingly at the lightning mage.
Laxus could feel his frown getting deeper by the second. "Shouldn't you help your own sister?"
"I'm busy." Lisanna huffed.
"Busy my ass. There's no one to serve down there."
"Oh suck it up, Laxus." Makarov said. Lisanna stuck her tongue at him. "Why don't you just man up and face the consequences of your actions."
"Yeah, Laxus. Man up and help Mira-nee." The youngest Strauss put an emphasis on the first two words, irking the man. She then nudged him by the elbow, earning her a menacing glare from the lightning mage. Lisanna knew it was half-hearted though but decided to safely distance herself away just in case. If the man in front of them was the old Laxus, she was certain she'd be fried right now.
Makarov was amused at what the youngest mage in the room was hinting to his grandson. He's a lot easier to pick on nowadays, he thought to himself. Or rather, it was only ever easy whenever it involved the guild's poster girl.
"You don't have a choice here, my boy." The old man insisted.
"Do I have to do this right now?" Laxus grumpily asked. While it was fairly okay with him to spend some time with the demon Mirajane without anyone getting on their case, namely her sister (and now his grandfather), he wasn't in the best of moods to be forced to do something else other than what he planned out for today. He had more important things to do, like sleep off his exhaustion. Or go look for Wendy. He needed the little sky dragon slayer for something.
"Right now, it is. For the whole day."
"But I—"
"And before you come up with any excuse and run off to god knows where, I'll bar you from taking other missions if you don't follow my order."
That sealed the win for Makarov as Laxus grumbled in exasperation.
"Tch. Fine. But I'm only agreeing so you two can stop pestering me." He exited the room leaving the two behind, his black fur-trimmed coat fluttering slightly.
"Wow you got him there, Master." Lisanna commented. Makarov didn't seem to hear the girl next to him, deep in thought.
"Is there something wrong, Master?" She asked, suddenly concerned. The old man shook his head.
"Ah, nothing's wrong, my dear." Makarov looked up at her and gave a small smile. "I was just thinking how boring the Masters' meeting will be later." And how tempting it is to ditch it, he snickered to himself.
Lisanna nervously laughed at him. Afterwards, she turned towards the door and excused herself before stepping out of the office.
That left Makarov back in his own thoughts.
"Hmm…"
Does that idiot think I didn't notice?
With a deep sigh, he just said to no one, "Honestly…when will that brat grow up? I want to retire already."
The sound of a creaking door being opened made Mirajane turn her head to the newcomer.
"Welcome back, Laxus." She happily greeted the gruff man, whose side was leaning on the doorway. Laxus didn't return the gesture and instead stepped into the room.
"Got yourself in trouble again?" Mira asked.
"Don't make it sound like I'm Natsu or Erza." Laxus replied.
"So what happened?"
The lightning mage shrugged. "Just a bar fight."
Mirajane chuckled to herself knowing it wasn't only as simple as he made it out to be. She was the one in charge of receiving all the incoming letters to the guild after all. It was only yesterday when an official letter from the kingdom addressed to the Master and Laxus reached the guild. Makarov read its contents loud enough for Mira to hear. Both were surprised at the first paragraphs since thwarting a dark guild sneakily roaming around Crocus wasn't originally the lightning mage's S-class mission. The letter then stated that although the kingdom was indeed grateful for the young man's intervention, a compensation for the damaging the merchant square was in order.
Merchant Square was a quarter of the size of Magnolia. As the name suggests, that place was where trading goods and hiring services took place in the capital. The block was also dubbed 'the nightlife' of Crocus as it was crowded with bars and beer gardens.
Until Laxus unintentionally managed to destroy most of it.
Makarov felt like his remaining hair was about to fall off his head as he read the amount to be paid. Mira sweat dropped.
It was a bit strange to her though. Laxus wasn't the type of guy who charges into reckless, explosive fights unless he was either too drunk to care or he got provoked badly. The latter being the most plausible as the man can almost hold his liquor at Cana's level.
She sort of pitied those poor souls.
"What are you doing up there?" Laxus asked, sauntering towards the white-haired woman. She was standing on a ladder, her fingers lightly tapping the books' spines.
Mira broke from her own musings and replied. "Shelf-reading. After this, there are also the new books Master wanted to put into catalog." She gestured to the huge boxes scattered on the floor before returning to her work.
"Heh…" He walked past the mess around him, looking nonchalant at the amount of work needed to be done. But deep inside, he was cursing his gramps.
Jeez. What a pain in the ass.
Laxus now stood beside the ladder supporting Mira when he heard her chuckling.
"Maybe you should be the one up here and do the checking, hm?" Mira suggested, glancing at the man below her who was just idling and not doing anything to help her out.
Laxus looked up at the woman and was about to speak when his words quickly died in his throat. His eyes accidentally caught a glimpse of 'dark purple' underneath Mira's dress. A smirk crept up to his lips.
"Nah. I'll pass to that. I don't think the ladder can support my weight. Besides, I'm kinda enjoying the view from down here."
His words suddenly threw Mirajane off guard, mouth slightly open in shock. She felt her cheeks flushed pink from embarrassment as she realized what view he was getting from his vantage point.
"Laxus!" She glowered at the blond. Laxus didn't move though, only smirking wider much to Mira's chagrin. She threw a book at him with great force it only took a second for it to be caught casually by the man below her. And she was several feet higher to boot. Mira clucked her tongue, secretly hoping her throw would hit him straight in the face but then she thought it would take lightning speed to hit the lightning mage himself.
"Come on, I was just teasin' you." Laxus chuckled in amusement. Riling up the demon hidden under her cheery, 'nice-girl' persona was always entertaining for him. "For a well-known gravure chick, you sure get embarrassed easily." Then without a warning he threw the book back at her with equal force. Mira managed to catch it in time before it hit her, almost losing her balance on the ladder as she did so.
The demon mage scowled at Laxus. For years, it remained a mystery to her how easily he could manage to get under her skin compared to others.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself before speaking, "Aren't you supposed to help me here? Well don't just stand there."
"Alright, alright." Deciding to stop poking fun at the demon for now, Laxus moved from his spot to the table across from the bookshelf Mira was working on. He sat down the lone chair and asked, "So what do you want me to do? I ain't a library person if you're asking."
"You can start by arranging those pile of books on the floor according to their catalog number. You know how, do you?" Mira asked, not bothering to look over to the guy as she continued to inspect the books in front of her.
"More or less."
"I'll leave it to you then."
Half an hour has passed since Laxus started working on some titles. He swore he could feel a headache coming. The numbers and letters were confusing the hell out of him and he now regret a lot of things, like sitting in front of this table and giving Mira the idea for him to be in charge of this. Or he could have just said no to gramps and took off. He would have been resting peacefully in his bed right now.
If only he knew ahead that Wendy wasn't here, he wouldn't have come to the guild and deal with the old man's whim. His dragon senses weren't working on his favor recently.
Suddenly his thoughts fled to his team's whereabouts. It was already three months since he last saw them. Laxus remembered they were a bit miffed at him when he said he was going to an S-class mission on his own and that mission would take him an uncertain amount of time to finish. Usually they didn't mind, in fact it was encouraged now and then to go off alone or team up with others so they could all expand their skillset and gain some new experiences.
But the S-class mission Laxus came back from was a truly bothersome one. The Raijinshuu knew about it, but even if it they badly wanted to go with him, they instead trusted their idol's word. Besides, they knew they'll get killed either by the hands of those monsters or by the violent stormy climate that plagued the place. It just perfectly suited Laxus' element and the mission was considered an emergency so he accepted it and left the town.
Then he was back, and he wouldn't admit it out loud but he was expecting a little that those three were around the time he arrived.
They weren't.
Laxus grumbled to himself. They probably took off to some lengthy-ass mission to distract themselves from his absence. Just when he needed the company…especially that he's stuck in this dusty library doing boring stuff.
He imagined if the three were here, the job would have been over by now. Bickslow would've said something inappropriate, funny or both by now, (mostly the first and last one), his dolls circling around the room being more useful than the actual mage himself. Evergreen might've either be of decent help or bitch about the situation. It would depend on her last interaction with Elfman. And Freed will take over for him. Then Laxus would've…
He sighed. He'd rather wrestle with an army of Vulcans and Wyverns. Take on dozens of dark guilds. Heck, he'd even cook for his old man Yajima's restaurant.
Out of the sudden, he felt somewhat light-headed. He rested his cheek on his palm, his elbow supporting the weight of his head. His vision turned hazy then clear, back and forth as he focused on reading the book's title in his other hand.
Tch. Not again.
He was like that for a couple of minutes until a soft voice spoke.
"You're spacing out."
Laxus looked over his shoulder. Mira was standing behind him. Concern filled her eyes.
"You've been staring at that book for the whole ten minutes."
Laxus raised a brow. He was? He didn't notice.
It took a short while before he replied back, "I wasn't."
Mira sighed, knowing he lied to her just now and commented, "I was here for the past ten minutes." She inched closer to the man's face and continued. "You seem out of it."
He felt his jaw tense. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Mira gave him a perplexed look before saying, "You should've just told me the truth, Laxus." Before the lightning mage could explain himself, she cut him off, hand tapping to the stacked books he finished organizing. "You got it all wrong." She shook her head in disapproval to emphasize her point.
Wha—?
"You don't really know how this works, do you?"
Laxus blinked at her. He thought that she noticed but luckily for him she didn't. He didn't want to deal with anyone in his current condition. Then his brows furrowed as Mira shooed him away from his seat. Leaning his side against the bookshelf for support, he observed the woman redo his work. There wasn't anything good to gaze at in the library after all.
"Isn't this supposed to be that bookworm's job? Where is she anyway?"
"Levy's on a job with Gajeel and her team."
"Ho~?" Laxus let out a small smirk, his voice laced with amusement. "The metal head's getting cockblocked again? Sucks to be him."
Mira couldn't help resisting the smile forming on her lips. She sort of agreed with the blond man but just not liking the crude term he used.
"I'm sure Levy just want those three to get closer."
Laxus snorted, not believing a word she said. "Yeah right." He was about to cross his arms when he halted midway and swiftly dropped them down.
The demon mage glanced at him. She thought she saw him looking uncomfortable for a second but shrugged it off. She focused her attention back to the books. A couple of minutes were spent in a comfortable silence.
"And it's done." Mira smiled as she finished reorganizing Laxus' share of work. She then turned to him and asked, "Can you carry the boxes and stack them all on the corner?"
Laxus silently complied. He removed his infamous coat and hung it on the chair. He then proceeded to lift two to three boxes up on his shoulder at a time. Mira watched him for a while and thought the man was unusually focused on his work, the look on his face a tad…intense, for the lack of a better term.
"What's with him today?" She muttered.
Again, she shrugged her thoughts off and climbed her way back up the ladder again, this time working on the next shelf.
That shelf was three-fourths empty. Only the top was occupied with old, crumply, dusty books. Mira worked her fingers on the spines, checking if a title was misplaced.
Indeed there was one seated on the fourth row. All guild books must have labels imprinted on it, but this one in particular didn't have any number nor title embossed on its spine.
How strange.
Mira pulled it out and coughed at how dusty it was. She assumed it was probably an old book that survived a fire. The dark brown, almost maroon cover was slightly charred black and she figured the dust were actually fine ashes. Her free hand reached for the damp rug lying on the empty row and swiped it on the book.
Still no title or author.
Curiosity got the best of her even though she knew there is a chance that this book might trigger some ancient spell. Carefully, she opened the book at random page near the end.
It was blank.
She scanned it some more and saw a few pages with small black squares, each the size of a single character. It looked as if those squares were hiding written letters underneath it. Her fingers slowly traced the black markings. Mira even tried to gently scratch one with her nail but it didn't seem to work that way.
Flipping to the other pages, her eyes finally caught up words she recognized. Although she couldn't exactly read and comprehend eastern script.
Fiore was a western country thus it was rare to meet people who can read and speak eastern script. Mira thought hard if she knew someone who can. This book was very much intriguing her.
Gray came from Iceberg, but I don't think the language there differ much from the western one. Bisca and Alzack told me they were immigrants before joining Fairy Tail. But they just went out for a mission. Maybe I can ask them when they got back…
Mira's eyes lit up as she remembered someone.
"Oh how could I almost forgot?" She asked out loud.
"Forgot what?"
Mira squeaked in surprise. She frowned the second she looked down at Laxus. He was at that spot again. Sensing the demon mage was about to throw a book again at him, Laxus swiftly took five steps back to appease her growing annoyance. Mira narrowed her eyes at him before going back to her neutral expression.
He asked her again. "So what did you forgot?"
"Oh, I just suddenly remembered Levy knowing eastern script."
"Eastern script?" That got Laxus curious. "What for?"
"Nothing much." Mira dismissed him. She wouldn't want Laxus to find out about the strange book. She knew he'd tell her not to mess around with it.
"If you're done, there's still a few boxes left on the back room."
Laxus groaned inwardly. He head off to the said room. Mira quickly peeked to see if he was completely gone before flipping the book open once more.
Aside from the black marks and eastern scribbles, she observed there were two different handwritings. One was refined and elegant while the other was a bit sloppy and inconsistent. It was as if the book was co-authored and the other writer had really, really, poor handwriting. Or probably a child had managed to vandalize some of the pages.
And speaking of pages, some only had a few words. And a lot of spaces in between paragraphs.
It was the strangest book Mira had ever encountered in the guild library.
After skimming some more, she saw several sketches of lacrima and magic seals.
So it's a magic book after all…
Since the front cover were void of any details, Mira turned to the first page to check the book's title. As expected, she couldn't read it. But what was written at the bottom made her eyes widened.
Huh?
The demon mage slowly inched away her face from the cryptic book, confusion painted her features.
…
Laxus'?
...
"Hey Laxus!" The white-haired woman called him out, her eyes never leaving the book she was holding.
"Yeah?" The man shouted back. He stepped out of the small room carrying a large box on his right shoulder.
Mira turned around. "Is this—"
Oh crap!
She lost her balance as she turned around. Her hands quickly reached out to the bookshelf's wooden ledge in reflex. Her fingers successfully gripped a small part of it but it wasn't enough to hold on to. It also didn't help that the bookshelf wasn't as sturdy as she thought. The nails and screws at the base couldn't support the woman's weight. A loud snapping sound of wood breaking resonated in the silent room. The whole bookshelf tilted down on itself and plummeted to the hard cold ground with Mirajane at the middle. Then she shut her eyes hard and remembered how to scream.
…
…
"You dumbass."
Mira gently cracked her eyes open. Ocean blue orbs stared at golden-orange ones.
"You okay?" Laxus asked. His voice was a little strained and huskier than usual. He gazed down at the woman lying below him on the floor, looking alarmed and concerned when he didn't get a reply.
Mira only stared at the blond man on top of her, a little disoriented.
She turned her head to the side only to realize that a hand, his hand, was protectively cupping the back of her head from hitting the floor. She glanced at his right forearm flat on the ground, his biceps flexed as it was trying to push the weight above him from squashing the two of them.
Words got caught in her throat.
Looking past behind Laxus' towering figure was the gigantic, broken bookshelf resting on top of the man's back, trapping the both of them down to the ground.
"Oi Mira."
Her eyes quickly darted to the blond.
"Laxus! W-Why are you…Are you okay?" Mira sputtered out. She can't help but trace the beads of sweat tricking from his forehead down along his jawline. The bookshelf must really be that heavy if Laxus couldn't lift it off them by himself. He was a looking a bit out of breath too.
"I'm fine. Just…stuck. Are you hurt?"
"No. But—"
"Good."
Laxus tried to push out the shelf weighing down on him when he felt a jolt of pain on his back. "Damnit." He hissed. His scarred eye squinted hard. God that hurts.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Mira panicked. Without much thought, her hand touched his cheek.
"It's nothing." Laxus breathed heavily. He was sure Mira wasn't convinced from the look she was giving him. Before she could ask more questions, he asked, "Can you crawl your way out?"
"I can push the shelf—"
"Shit." His knees gave in as well as his other arm. Mira gasped when she felt Laxus' body suddenly pressing down on hers. She could feel his thumping chest against hers, as well as his ragged breaths fanning her earlobe. Blood rushed up to her face in an instant, realizing if Laxus failed to dodge her face from his abrupt fall, their lips could have possibly crashed onto each other by now.
Her heart raced out of control at the thought.
Calm down, Mira! This isn't the right time to think about that!
The demon mage blinked hard in an effort to distract herself. She turned her head to face Laxus. He was still pushing hard against the shelf's weight, wincing in pain every time he did so.
I knew it! There's something wrong with him after all!
Mira lifted her free arm grabbing a ledge and pushed it away from Laxus. She grunted. The bookshelf was indeed extremely heavy. She only managed to lift it up a little. A rough exhale came out from the blond man as he felt the load on his back got lessened. Finally he rested his forehead on the floor, catching his breath for a couple of seconds before he turned to Mira.
"Use your magic now!" Mira commanded. Her arm was already shaking from the strain. She couldn't use the other since it was still trapped under the man's weight.
"You want me to blow this thing up?"
"You can turn us into lightning, right?"
Laxus scowled. She was dead right about that. However…"Why don't you use yours?"
"I can't. If I transform here I might stab you with my claw." Mira argued, gesturing to her other trapped arm. "Hurry!" She looked really struggling to hold off the weight from him. Laxus bit his lip.
"Tch. No other choice then."
Laxus forced to lift himself up on all fours and nudged Mira's arm joint hard with his elbow. Mira yelped in surprise, her grip on the ledge instantly loosened and the full weight fell back again on Laxus'. He dove down to her to gain momentum, stopping by mere inches away from her, then pushed himself against the damn bookshelf with all he'd got, ignoring the sharp excruciating pain coursing on his back and arms. He grunted as the shelf finally tilted backwards, leaning against the wall.
Laxus breathed out. "Didn't expect that…dumb bookshelf to be that damn heavy." He slumped down sitting on the floor, eyes shut close. It took all of his strength to move that huge piece of wood and he's certain the demon mage is on his case now.
"You alright, Mira?"
Mira took a deep breath, sat up and scooted closer to the man.
"Laxus…" The woman started. Her tone reminded him of a mother who caught his child doing something bad. She sighed. "Let me see it." She looked really worried about him by now.
"See what?" The lightning mage kept his best stoic face plastered on. He hated it whenever he was caught hiding something so as usual he tried to deny the obvious.
"You need to try better that. You know what I mean. You hurt your back, didn't you?"
"It's not—"
"Take off your clothes."
Laxus quirked a brow. If this was any other situation, he would have probably laughed out loud by now.
"Take it off." She demanded, his voice stern and firm. Purple tiles circled around her arms and soon claws and armored scales took form.
Tch. Laxus knew there's no room for excuses any longer. He puffed, grumbling lowly before unclasping the buttons on his black shirt. The white long-sleeved shirt underneath soon followed. He tossed his pieces of clothing beside and she noticed a big red blotch on the white one. Mira frowned as she saw a couple of bandages on the man's body. She moved to face his back and cut the reddened bandage with her claws. The sight that greeted her made her gasp in shock.
"Laxus! This is—it looks bad!"
There was a deep long cut across his back. Blood seeped out of the wound and some of the stitches have been undone. It also looked like the cut was stretched and needed re-stitching, all thanks to the ledge hitting that specific spot on his back earlier.
"Like I said, it's nothing to fuss about."
Mira clenched her fist resting on Laxus' back. "I-I'm sorry. I was a total airhead and I shouldn't have—"
Laxus looked over his shoulder and reassured her. "Hey, it's not your fault."
"Still…" Mira looked down, her eyes sad. Laxus scratched the back of his neck and sighed. "Don't blame yourself. You're not the stupid one who got injured."
"I should get some supplies." She hastily marched out of the room, probably to the infirmary.
It's like her to worry about small stuff like this. Laxus smirked, closing his eyes. If she hadn't changed back then, she'd probably jump at this chance to kill me.
Mira came back with a medic box and motioned the dragon slayer to move to the farthest table beside the tall window. It was pretty dim in the library and since Mira decided she'd have to re-stitch his wound herself, she needed all the light she could get.
The two sat down on the empty chairs, Laxus' back facing Mira, who was cleaning the blood off his skin. Laxus instantly felt the sting caused by the antiseptic.
"How did you get this?"
Laxus exhaled deeply, feeling exhausted as he recalled what happened to him for the last three-months. "It was a simple monster subjugation mission. My job was to stop them from reproducing and rampaging the town below the mountain where they're staying. Gramps put me in charge 'cause those freaks can also control and weaponize lightning. Not a single day without thunderstorms on that place."
"Must be a nice place to move in." Mira quipped.
"My ears almost bled." Laxus deadpanned.
The woman chuckled a bit before prodding him to continue.
"Apparently those shitheads also feed off from lightning attacks, so I had to knock 'em down with my bare hands. It was like that for two whole months and it worked for me. Or at least that's what I thought. I found out there was a 'mother' hiding in one of the caves reviving those bastards in secret."
Mira listened intently to Laxus' story while she worked around cleaning his wound.
"I got lured into it and they started attacking me with lightning from every direction."
The woman gasped, the suspense eating her. "What happened next?"
Laxus grimaced. He could still feel his stomach churn from the memory. "I managed to absorb everything and throw it all back to them. They were all killed off in that single shot." A short pause before he followed, "…But in return, I lost control of my lightning."
"You lost control?" Mira asked, surprised to hear that from Laxus of all people. Everyone in the guild knew and admire his mastery of his own element. Then it hit her. "You mean until now you can't use your magic?"
"Mostly." He grumbled. "A pain in the ass. Flaring up." He muttered lowly to himself. However the demon mage's ear picked it up.
"Flaring up?"
Laxus sighed. He didn't want to explain that part. "Magic overload."
Mira hummed in thought. "But that doesn't explain the injury."
"After the cave incident, I went outside to see another herd of those monsters waiting for me to come out. They probably felt the spike in magic energy and got attracted to it. It was getting pretty late that night and they all thought I'd be good enough for dinner. Turns out they were spot on. I got bit on the back."
"How could you let that happen?" Mira was astounded. If he hadn't told her that, she would have never seen it as a bite wound. It looked more like his back got slashed rather than bitten. She shuddered at the pain he dealt with.
The lightning mage didn't really want to answer her, but he knew she won't stop asking. "I blacked out in the middle of the fight due to magic exhaustion."
Laxus felt Mira's hand stopped moving.
There was a pregnant pause before the blond man yelled, "Ow! What the hell was that for?" He turned his body to glare at the demon mage who was also equally frowning at him.
"That's for being reckless." Scolded Mira. "Don't turn around yet." She gripped his shoulders and twisted him back into place.
Laxus grunted, the pain on his back throbbing at the sudden movements. "Yeah, well I gotta do what I gotta do. Besides, you know you can't just go home from an S-class mission without any some sort of a keepsake."
Mira sighed. "I'm aware of that but can't you just be a little more careful on yourself?"
"Jeez, you sound like the old man," whined Laxus.
Mira finished cleaning the wound. Afterwards, she put on the surgical glove and surveyed the part of the wound needed to be re-stitched.
"This is gonna hurt." She warned.
"I'm not a friggin' baby, I can handle a little pain—ow!"
The demon mage lightly chuckled. She purposely pressed a small swollen area around the wound with her finger. "What was that again?"
"Okay now you're just messing with me." Laxus looked over his shoulder, his eye twitching in annoyance.
Mira huffed. "That's for not telling me earlier that you're injured."
"What do you care?" He mumbled. It was the truly the first thing in his mind but he didn't exactly planned for Mira to hear it.
"Of course I care about you Laxus." Her voice was soft, calming and reassuring to his ears. "What makes you think I was otherwise?"
The man lowered his gaze. He knew what to say to that, and truth be told it was making him uncomfortable. "Do I have to answer that?"
Mira shook her head and smiled sadly even if the man couldn't see it. "No, you don't."
An uncomfortable silence engulfed the two. The only sounds in the room were the fluttering of curtains against the wind and the clanking of metal whenever Mira puts down the scissors on the tray. She wasn't done in re-stitching Laxus' wound, and he expected it was going to be painful enough to make him groan. Surprisingly he managed to hold it back down his throat. But his injury was the least of his concern at the moment. Their last conversation a few minutes ago felt like it did a number on him more than the monster who cut his back open.
Feeling a tad responsible for the sudden awkwardness, Laxus opened his mouth to say something…but he didn't know what to say exactly. Just then, his eyes caught a glint of metal hidden behind the pile of books stacked on the table in front of him. He reached for that object. It was a picture of them when they were still snot-nosed brats (except him). And well, Macao and Wakaba too for obvious reasons.
"Hn? This is from way back."
Mira noticed what he was holding and smiled softly, "Mm. When Happy was born. Lucy accidentally found that picture when she helped me out here before."
Laxus stared at the picture, holding it closer to his face. The guild brats were all watching their little fire dragon slayer ride a blue mini dragon he could only assume was Happy. He didn't know why the cat was drawn like that, and not like he's interested. What caught Laxus' attention was the familiar blond brooding on the side. He was leaning on a pillar, arms folded as he watched the scene looking uninterested. "I was also here?" He quirked an eyebrow at himself being there.
Mira looked up from his back and peeked. "You certainly were." She teased, "My my, having memory gaps now?"
Laxus frowned in disagreement. "Cut it out. I ain't an old man."
The woman only giggled at him. "Still… this takes me back."
"Yeah, you little runts keep messing up the guild with your childish antics." The blond man complained then smirked, "And guess who the frontrunner was?
"Who?"
"The demon, obviously."
Mira blinked. "I think you've mistaken me for Gray and Natsu. Although…you might be right. I had it bad back then." She let out a light laugh. "It was tons of fun though."
Laxus gave her a look. "I don't think you can say that to the person in charge of breaking all of your fights when things got out of control." Mira chuckled in return. Laxus sighed inwardly. The awkwardness earlier was long forgotten and instead the room was now drowned in Mira's soft laughter. Laxus couldn't help the smile tugging on the corner of his lips. They talked and reminisced about the past, how it was for them back then, all good and nothing was too touchy or uncomfortable.
Mira hummed. "It's good that we spent our childhood in the guild."
"Why's that so?"
"Hmm…Because there's always something fun to do with others."
Laxus glanced over the happy faces in the picture. "Good for you then."
"You, on the other hand, didn't want to play with us. You were always moping on the edge of the hall."
The gruff man snorted. "Right. Like I'd hang out with a bunch of eight-year olds." He held onto the belief for the longest time that no self-respecting 'adult', if 17 years-old was already considered one, hangs out with kids on his free time.
"Erza and I were thirteen that time. And you were like a 50-year old stingy, unsociable man back then."
A low grunt escaped his throat at that remark. "Mira, need I remind you I was already S-class when I was seventeen, the same year when you got here?"
"And so?"
"I didn't have the time to play with you losers." Laxus commented in his usual standoffish tone.
The white-haired barmaid sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Sometimes, I wonder if you ever had a fun childhood."
Laxus visibly flinched. Mira at that moment realized the gravity of her words. She bit her cheek, quickly regretting what she just said to him when she already knew the answer. It wasn't her intention to know but whenever the Master gets too drunk, at very rare times he would talk about how bad Ivan went downhill in the past and how Laxus suffered the most because of his son's foolishness. Mira couldn't comprehend it fully at that time. She was still new in her position as a barmaid and the Master's unofficial assistant when she first heard it and the old man didn't really gave her too much details. It also didn't help that everyone knew Laxus as that arrogant, cocky, self-centered, power-hungry bastard who looks down on everyone he considers weak.
Before Lisanna's so-called 'death', she was one of those people who shamelessly think of him that way. Mira of the past didn't bother to know what his real deal was, or rather she just knew from the rumors circling behind his back but never pondered too hard on it. And so at one time she was pissed off at him, she brought it up in front of everyone.
Not exactly the Mira of the present was proud of. She remembered clearly how he looked like when she said that. It was the first time she'd seen him look so different. A mixture of anger, frustration, confusion and regret crossed his face that day.
Now she'd done it again.
"Laxus, I—" Mira was about to apologize when the blond man broke it off.
"It's alright. I can't remember most of it anyway."
Mira didn't utter a word after that. She just smiled sadly at him and finished stitching his wound. She put on herb cream on it so it wouldn't get infected before she wrapped it up with fresh bandages. "It's done." She softly spoke. Laxus murmured a thanks before turning around to face her. He noticed that the woman was looking down at the floor, as if it was more interesting to gaze at than him.
Was it because of what she said a while ago?
He frowned at that and sighed before he roughly ruffled Mira's white hair, earning a half-hearted glare from the woman.
"What was that for?" She pouted, her hands swatting his large one away from her head. Her pristine, cutesy hairdo was ruined now.
Laxus shrugged his shoulders, not giving a glance at her. "Just feel like doing it."
Mira stared at him. Is this his idea of cheering me up?
And then she laughed. Laxus raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
It took a while before Mira could respond properly. "You…" She jabbed a finger on his chest while her other arm was wrapped around her stomach, tears threatening to spill from the corner of her crinkled eyes. "You're…really awkward." She said in between laughs.
Laxus gawked at her. "Ha?" He shot her a confused look. What did he do just now that made her think he was awkward?
Mira continued to laugh at him though. "Master and the Raijinshuu were right." Her fingers were wiping her happy tears away before her hand flew over her mouth stifling a laugh again.
Laxus crossed his arms in irritation despite the soreness he felt in his muscles. "What did those idiots say this time?"
Mira took a while to catch her breath before meeting his gaze. "You figure it out on your own." She smiled at him. Laxus huffed, averting his eyes from her blue large ones. He decided to let it slide since he wasn't really that interested.
Okay maybe he was.
"Spill it." He quickly grabbed Mira's hair tie which was already loosely dangling from her bangs. "Before I roast this thing." He threatened her. It was childish of him to do that but whatever. He was kind of having fun at the moment, wanting to see Mira pout at him again and...No, it was probably the blood loss messing with his head.
She laughed at him again though. Her hand dug into her dress pocket and she took out another hair tie. "I have a spare." She giggled. "You can have that if you want."
"…"
Laxus lowly grumbled in defeat as he took her hand and gave her hair tie back to her. He watched her fix her snowy white hair back in place and said, "Why would you even tie it up when you already look good with all of your hair down?"
Mira stopped what she was doing and gaped at Laxus.
Did he just gave me a compliment out of the blue?
"You think so?" She asked. For some unknown reason, she suddenly felt giddy.
Laxus bent down a little and eyed her closer. Mira stood there frozen, entranced at the man. She never thought how captivating his golden-orange eyes were.
"Yeah." His face was getting closer and closer. Her eyes widened slowly as he kept his strong gaze at her. She silently cursed at herself how difficult it was not to get affected by him.
"Laxus?" Mira softly called him out. She put a hand over her chest. "Is there…something wrong?" She gingerly asked. The man seemed lost in a daze.
"You…" The blond stared deep at her blue orbs. "You look like…" He cut himself off before he could continue. A hand pressed lightly on his right eye as he looked down.
Why did I…What was I going to say just now?
"Damn my head's messed up." He groaned as he pulled himself away.
Mira was dumbfounded for a while.
He's really acting strange today.
Her brows folded in concern at him. "Do you want to take a short rest?"
The lightning mage glanced at her before he darted his eyes to the books and some wooden splinters scattered across the floor. "It's alright." He puffed a breath at the massive clutter. The library looked like it was ten times messier than when he walked in earlier. He picked up his white long-sleeved shirt from the floor, put it on and started collecting a few books on his arms despite the painful protest from his back. Mira followed suit.
After clearing some space, Laxus spoke. "Remind me again why you fell down earlier."
Oh... Mira thought. That's right!
"I was reading this book. I was about to ask you something when I forgot I was still on the ladder. I fell when I turned around." She nervously laughed at herself.
"What an idiot", muttered Laxus. Heaving a sigh, he continued, "So what are you gonna ask?"
Mira bit her lip before responding, "It has something to do with that book."
"What about it?"
"It has your initials."
"Huh?" Laxus was puzzled. "My initials?"
Mira nodded, hands busy searching and digging for the book in question. "It has a maroon-colored cover and was slightly burnt on the—here it is!" She found it raised the book over her head. Laxus went over to her side and peered at it.
Somehow it looked familiar to him.
Why do I feel like I've seen it before?
"Let me see." Mira handed him the book. Once his fingers came into contact with the cover, he felt a strange sensation coursing through him. He carefully opened the book and his eyes widened at the name written on the first page.
"How—", he whispered.
But before he could finish, a bright white light flashed from the book, blinding the two mages.
That was the last time Mira saw Laxus before she passed out on the floor.
Author's note: Holy hell that was too long for the first chapter. I didn't expect it to be over 8k words to be honest. Also, I hope the library part wasn't too confusing and overly done. I know I'm quite inexperienced with narration and describing stuff so please if you noticed something sounding off or just plain weird, kindly drop down a review. Pointing out grammar mistakes and wrong word usage are also greatly appreciated. English isn't my first language. It's my second language and I only use it when I write for school. I wrote this so I could have practice writing again for myself (yay) and for Miraxus shippers out there like me (double yay!).
What to expect in this fic? Uhh…fluff, cute moments (you'll find out soon) and flashbacks. Tons of it. And some (family) drama. Btw, this is more of a Laxus-centric piece with hints of Miraxus. There will be chapters where romance isn't blatant or there's none at all. But they're both the main characters. So yeah. That's about it.
Other important things to note: This fic is set a year after Acnologia's defeat and the end of Alvarez war. Team Natsu never went to a 100-year quest. They'll appear in this fic soon. Lucy didn't won her award in September of X973 but in an earlier month. And Laxus' outfit was from his post-time skip/ Raigo Issen last chapter getup in case you're wondering where I based his clothing. God he looked damn fine in that.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Mashima Hiro-sensei.
…
I'm looking forward to sharing this with you guys! I hope you enjoyed reading this. Watch out for the next chap!
-AwkwardToffee