Day 2

Xxx

Macao wondered, sometimes, how on earth his life had taken so many strange turns. After all, he wasn't a particularly strong wizard. He wasn't weak, but he knew he wasn't anything special.

So why the hell was he part of an assault on the darkest guild of them all – Tartaros?

There were a number of guild members with him – the people who lived and breathed for the guild, but that lacked the sheer power or skill that the more prominent members possessed. All of them wanted to help, but had limited options in the face of Tartaros' overwhelming might. However, even though he wasn't really cut out for this sort of thing, Macao was pretty sure about one thing regarding attacking enemy strongholds – you weren't supposed to bring your injured with you.

And yet, here he was, watching over the downed Thunder Legion – and Yajima – as the others fought.

Oh, he knew, of course, that Cana hadn't had a choice. That leaving them behind was so far from an option it wasn't even funny. Later, they were going to have to throw that girl a parade or something – her quick thinking and instant problem-solving had saved all of their lives. If Cana hadn't acted the way she did in those few seconds she had to spare before the whole place went up in flames, the entire Guild would be dead.

Still, some of the circumstances weren't ideal.

Macao was old enough to remember Laxus as a kid – at the time, he had been a young man, and had thought the boy was sweet and enthusiastic. But he also remembered the time before Ivan got his son the dragon lacrima. He hadn't been the healthiest kid around: he had been skinny, always a shade too pale and in and out of infirmaries.

This reminded him of those times, a little.

He had felt sorry for the boy back then, and he worried about him now. He couldn't help it; he was older – he had even gained a sudden seven years on the dragonslayer. And he had a son – worrying about kids wasn't something he could not do anymore. Even when they were as tough as they come, and probably old enough to not count anymore.

He was distracted from his musings when Romeo called over. "Dad! I think I heard something!"

He was on his feet in a flash, and by his son's side in a mere moment. He put a hand on Romeo's shoulder (so he could shove him back if need be – he didn't mind Natsu being his kid's role model, but he would have preferred someone with a little more self-preservation) and watched the rubble around them carefully.

The others in the group picked up on his tense, nervous energy, and immediately doubled their own attentiveness. Everyone expected an attack to be imminent, and tensions ran high. But after a few minutes, nothing happened, and Macao felt his shoulders relax.

"Must have just been some rubble shifting." He murmured, patting his son's shoulder reassuringly.

Then he turned around, breathing a sigh of relief.

Then he shrieked.

Naturally everyone else did the same.

"What? Where?" Wakaba yelled, looking around frantically, as Romeo produced fires in both hands and dropped back into a battle stance.

But the problem wasn't coming from outside their group.

"Hang on, weren't there supposed to be five of them?" He asked, his voice going embarrassingly high-pitched as he pointed wildly at the unconscious mages. And, sure enough, one lightning dragonslayer was notable for his lack of presence. There was an empty space where the Guildmaster's grandson should have been.

Laxus was gone.

"Where the hell did Laxus go?" Wakaba bellowed, his gaze darting around wildly. Porlyusica hurried back over, eyes roving over the four remaining patients, before swearing, darkly and viciously, in a way that made both men stare in faint astonishment and Romeo listen in wonder.

Then the woman whirled on them, and they all recoiled a step.

"I can't emphasise this enough," she hissed, cold fury roiling in her eyes. "That man is sick. I'm not saying this for fun or to annoy you – his life could be endangered more than it already is if we don't get him back here!"

Wakaba and Macao exchanged worried looks. "Was he grabbed? How did we miss it?" Macao asked, looking around for signs of enemy action.

"Some kind of demon maybe? But why just take Laxus?"

"I swear, if they hurt him…" Wakaba growled, his cigar quivering with righteous fury. Until it almost fell from his lips when Porlyusica started swearing up a storm again, her voice so cold it could have turned a volcano into a glacier.

"I suppose this demon that took Laxus also took his jacket."

Everyone paused. But it was true – the coat that Laxus wore all the time was missing from where it had ended up, a little ways away from the group.

Macao wasn't even totally sure how it had come to be here – it wasn't like Laxus had been wearing it when Cana turned him into a card. His best guess was that Cana was so used to seeing him with it, that when she cast her spell it automatically picked it up as well. But now it was gone.

Wakaba slowly looked at the spot where the missing Laxus had been, to the spot where the missing coat had been.

"A demon wouldn't worry if Laxus was cold." Romeo commented, and Porlyusica gave him such an unimpressed look that Macao was offended on behalf of his son.

"You think?"

"So… our working theories," Wakaba interrupted, "are that a demon grabbed Laxus and his coat, in case… what, it affected his image? Or, a demon grabbed him and instead of alerting us or fighting back, Laxus snagged his coat on the way past." That one was unimaginable. If Laxus was in immediate danger, he wouldn't prioritise his appearance or worry about getting a chill, he would fight back. It was just how he was. "Or…"

They all exchanged horrified looks.

"He got up and left."

"That moron!" Porlyusica screeched. "What the hell is wrong with you idiots – I should just have let all of you die the first time, saved us all some time and energy – why are you all so reckless and stupid? Why do you never learn?"

The boys shrunk back, feeling chastised even though they didn't think her words really applied to them. Then again though, they were also Fairy Tail through and through. Making questionable life choices was a big part of that.

"Well? FIND HIM!" Porlyusica shouted, rushing off to the side.

"YES MA'AM!" They chorused, moving off to look for him. He was poisoned, after all. How far could he go?

It turned out, he could go all the way. When Levy and Gajeel appeared, both with burdens on their backs, everyone was relieved. Then Gajeel filled them in on what Laxus had been up to – marching off to fight, challenging the same demon that had put him in this state to a one v one battle, powered by vengeful anger, sheer force of will and nothing else, risking it all to get the last ingredient for the antidote, before winning, and finally collapsing.

"Not sure how Makarov puts up with it – he would give me a heart attack if he was my grandson." Macao admitted quietly, as Porlyusica worked on the antidote. He turned and stabbed a finger at his own son. "Don't you ever think about doing something like that, you hear? You'll make my hair turn grey!"

"But dad," Romeo objected, his starstruck gaze fixed on the dragonslayer, "He's amazing."

Macao opened his mouth, before relenting with a heavy sigh. "You're not wrong. He's something else," he said quietly.

Laxus looked worse than ever now – the tremors that were wracking his frame had disappeared, but only because his body just didn't have the energy to spare, and his breathing had gone from bad to worse. But there was something, maybe in the lines of his face, that looked slightly different. Not more at ease, but – satisfied.

Macao felt a rueful laugh bubbling in his chest. Laxus sure as hell wasn't that bright-eyed kid that Macao remembered, whose face had lit up in awe the first time he held lightning in his hands – he had become something far, far more dangerous.

xxx

A/N: There's chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed! Special thanks to everyone who has read this! xx