Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
A/N: Little surprise at the attention this story got, but I did promise to update it the same time I update Romeo Rising, so here it goes. Just a note, Beth will not be having a country accent like she does in Romeo Rising, mostly due to the fact that I'm trying to make somewhat of a serious story here and I would have way too much fun if she was talking like a country hick, but I will have a reason for that later on in the story.
Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want. And check out my other stories like Fiery Hurricane of Love and Master of the Wild.
Beth's Story
Thirty years. For thirty years Gordon Rider has been a law enforcement officer in the town of Magnolia and in all that time, he thought he has seen and heard it all. He's seen the town get invaded by the Alzarez Empire, attack by a walking castle, and when you have a guild like Fairy Tail operating within your city limits, you're bound to see a whole new level of crazy that the average person wasn't use to seeing.
But Gordon wasn't your average person, he was 6'4 with a better than average build for someone his age. He had blue eyes that have seen quite a bit over the years, and formerly blonde hair was started to fade away as the years caught up with him. He stop counting the how often he had to get his sheriff's uniform tailored and clean after all the strange arrests he had to make, and quite frankly, sometimes he wondered how he lived long enough to become the head sheriff in this town.
But the statement he just heard from the group of ladies in front of him did something that none of previously mention events have ever done before…..left him completely and utterly speechless.
"I'm sorry Miss…?", he began to say as he motion his hand to the woman in front of him, who looked to be around her mid fifties, same age as him. With her straight blue hair that went down just past her neck, and her piercing golden eyes that complemented the green shawl that she wore over a dark red dress, Gordon had to admit that she was easy on the eyes and Gordon didn't feel all that bad saying that since his wife of twenty five years divorce him four years ago.
"Reituer, Julia Reituer", the lady responded.
"Yes, Miss Reituer", Gordon continued, "Now to make sure I heard you correctly, you're hear to report a…?"
"A rape", Miss Reituer finished, "I'm here with the members of my guild to press rape charges against Romeo Conbolt of Fairy Tail. We have reason to believe the he committed a sexually assault and we have proof that could be use as evidence to back it up."
"Okay ma'am, then please answer this question for me, are you the rape victim?", Gordon asks in his most professional manner, eyes staring straight into the person he was talking to, back straight, and adopting a expression that didn't betray any emotion.
"No, one of my fellow guild members is, Beth Vanderwood.", she answered.
"Is she nearby?"
"She's waiting in the lounge along with other members of my guild."
"And how old is Miss Vanderwood?"
"She's seventeen."
"Are her parents or legal guardians with her?"
"Her mother and father live in Caelum", Miss Reituer answered, "Is there a reason for all these questions?"
"Yes, there is ma'am, because for this to work I need her to come in here, give an testimony, and then press charges herself", Gordon explain only to be caught off-guard when the woman started glaring at him.
"Is my word not good enough to have this boy arrested?", she almost growled.
"It's not about your word ma'am", Gordon try to calm her down, "You're not the supposed victim, and the supposed victim is still alive and well, so I need her to come press charges and give me the details. Now her parents or legal guardian could press charges in her places, but they are not here at the moment. Sorry ma'am, but that is the law."
Miss Reituer continues to glare at the sheriff for a few more moments before getting up and walking out the door, "I'll be right back with her", she says right before slamming the door to his office.
"Well, this is going to be a fun day", he told himself at he looked up at the clock, "It's not even ten yet, and this day is already off to a fine start", as he looks down at the desk drawer he had specifically label "Fairy Tail" and opened it. Inside was the arrests records of every Fairy Tail mage that had ever been charged or arrested within the country of Fiore. It was nothing major like murder or anything, just mostly distributing the peace, property damage, and drunken recklessness.
You know, the light stuff.
"Let's see here", Gordon told himself as he looked through the names, "Cana Alberona, Bickslow, Gildarts Clive,", the sheriff shivered a little at the mention of that name, "Macao Conbolt, Alzack Connell. Just like I thought, the kid doesn't even have a record. Probably the cleanest kid at the guild. How do you go from being spot clean to being accuse of rape all of a sudden?"
Gordon had no time to ponder this before Miss Reituer comes back into the office, being followed by for Gordon presume was Beth Vanderwood. She looked to be around in her late-teens, average age for most magic guilds nowadays. The girl had a distance look in her eyes, different than most rape victims that Gordon had seen in his long career as she sat down timidly in front of him while Miss Reituer took the sit right next to her.
"Yep, definitely going to be a long day", as Gordon resisted the urges to pinch the bridges on his nose before looking at Miss Reituer, "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step outside."
"Why?", she asks in a harsh tone that cause Gordon to internally shiver.
"Because I need to interview Miss Vanderwood here and I need her answers to not be influence by your presence", Gordon explained.
"I feel that it wouldn't be the wisest move to leave Beth alone in your presence", Miss Reituer stated.
For once, Gordon couldn't argue with her. Most female rape victims have reportedly said that they felt uncomfortable being in the presence of a male, even if the male was a law enforcement officer or even medical staff.
"Ma'am, I can see your concern. But seeing how these are major charges being brought forth, I, as the head sheriff have to do the interview", Gordon explained and held a hand up before Miss Reituer could speak, "Now I will call in one of our female deputies to come and sit next to Miss Vanderwood so she doesn't feel too uncomfortable being in my presence. Will that be enough to satisfy you?"
The woman looks between Gordon and Beth for a moment before nodding her head, "I suppose it will do."
"Thank you", Gordon says as he pushes the private intercom button, " Bridget, could you please come to my office? I require your assistance."
A second later, a response comes back, "Yes, Sheriff Gordon. I'll be right there in a moment."
Now to everyone else on the precinct, they knew that wasn't the typical conversation the two of them had on the intercom. While their past conversations weren't unprofessional, they weren't exactly professional either like the one they just had. But Deputy Bridget had been at the station going on ten years now, and this wasn't the first sexual assault case to ever happen in Magnolia. What Gordon just did was use a coded sentence basically telling Bridget her presence was necessary to make a alleged rape victim more comfortable to answer questions and Bridget being the most senior female deputy they had, she was perfect for the job.
A while later, a slim built redhead in her early-thirties with grass green eyes walks into the room at stands next to Gordon's desk.
"How is everyone doing today? Deputy Bridget Alisaurs, at your service", Bridget says as she snaps a salute.
"Miss Reituer, if you would kindly see your way out and wait in the lodge with the rest of your guild", Gordon says and watch the woman get up and leave. But not before giving Beth a hug of support and glancing over at Bridget who only smiled back. As the door closes, the deputy makes her way over to the now empty chair and takes a seat in it. She then proceed to scoot the chair closer to Beth, leaving only a small gap in between them.
"Okay Miss Vanderwood", Gordon began as he pulled out a pen and pad, "I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need to answer to the best of your ability, okay?"
Beth nods her head slowly.
"Okay, first question. Are you familiar with Romeo Conbolt?"
Beth nods her head.
"Okay, how so?"
"Our guilds are part of an guild alliance. Have been for the last couple of years", Beth states.
"Okay, that's a good start, but I'm looking for a personal level of familiarity between the two of you, if one exist."
"Other than a job we did together a couple weeks back, I really hadn't talk him that much", Beth said.
"This job, was it just the two of you on it?", Gordon asks to which Beth nodded, "Did you see one another anytime after that?"
"No", Beth answers.
"Okay then, we'll focus on the job. Now was the job slated specifically for you two?"
"No, both our guild masters decided that we should take the job as a joint one in a effort to build up the partnership our two guilds had. I was chosen to go on behalf of Mermaid Heel and Romeo and Wendy were chosen to go on behalf of Fairy Tail", Beth explained.
"Wendy? You don't by chance mean Wendy Marvell, do you?", Gordon ask, familiar with the Sky Dragon Slayer for all the community service she does around Magnolia. If it wasn't for the fact that she usually gets dragged in with the more rambunctious members of her guilds and their antics, she would have a clean record as well.
"Yes, she's Romeo partner, she didn't show up for the job and when I ask why, Romeo told me that a incident had happen at the guild hall and she had to stay behind to treat people", Beth said.
"I'm going to have to bring her in for questioning as well to see if the stories match up", Gordon thought as he took down notes, "Moving on, describing to me how the job took place."
Beth stay quiet for a moment as she tries to recall the details of the job, "We both met up at Dagrina train station, the town where the client live at, and from there we headed to the client's house together."
"Can I get the name of the client, please?"
"Um, it was Count Gofstone and his brother Viscount Gofstone", Beth answered.
"Huh? House Gofstone? They're not major nobility nowadays but they're not exactly minor either", Gordon thought to himself, "Hopefully I can send a deputy over there to get them to answer a few questions."
"Anyway, they told us where to find the necklace, which was the purpose for the job, and we set out to get it", Beth continued on.
"What was the interaction between the two of you up till this point? Did he display even the tiniest hint of aggressiveness or suspicious behavior toward you?", Gordon asked.
"Well, he was extremely embarrass when I asks him if he and Wendy were dating, which he quickly denied. Other than that his manner toward me was pretty nice", Beth told the sheriff.
Gordon frowned, "So far, nothing is really stack against Romeo. According to her testimony, he has shown no signs of aggressiveness or suspicious behavior. Could this have been a misunderstand to some degree? No, stop Gordon, you're starting to take this personally because you're a friend of the boy and his father. I'm required by law to see this through to the end and put my own personal feelings to the side. Plus there is the matter of Miss Reituer saying that they have evidence to prove Romeo did it.", he told himself, "Miss Beth, could you tell me what happen after you two left for the cave?"
"It was quite a walk from the Gofstone Mansion to the cave where the necklace was last sighted, about a good two to three hours. Along the way, there wasn't much idle chat between the two of us. A conversation here and there to help the time go by, but nothing really deep-reaching as you would say", Beth explained, "Once we reached the cave, we spend a good two more hours exploring the full depth of it, with Romeo using his fire magic to light a path for us as we search around."
"How close would you say you were from Romeo at this time in terms of distance between you?", Gordon inquired.
"I say I was always arm-length away from him, never further, never closer."
"And did you two find the necklace?", Gordon asks.
"Actually, we did after two hours, it was pretty deep in the cave", Beth said before her face took on a expression of confusion.
"Is there something wrong, Miss Vanderwood?"
"It starts getting fuzzy around this part", Beth says slowly as if she was unsure of yourself.
"Fuzzy how?", Gordon asks as Bridget for the first time since she got there was able to do her job and comfort Beth as she started to rub her back.
"Going ahead and tell us, dear", she assured the girl.
"We both spotted the necklace at the same time and we both made a grab for it at the same time, then it started to glow green after that", Beth said, "And the next thing I remember I was returning the necklace to the Gofstone brothers alongside Romeo."
"That's it?", Gordon wondered.
"That's it", Beth repeated, "A couple of weeks later, I started having morning sickness, my breasts became swollen and tender and started hurting, and I started feeling fatigue all the time. When Miss Reituer examine me, she found out that I was pregnant. But they couldn't be right, I never even went out on a date with a man", Beth said as she started to tear up and Gordon knew that her calm demeanor was about to finally break, " When she said that I was a couple weeks along, Kagura and the others did the math and realize that Romeo was the last man that I was around alone for a significant amount of time and….and…. I can't be having a child at my age, I'm only seventeen. I'm not even married. My parents are going to flip when they find out! They might disown me!", Beth cries as her voice starts getting higher in pitch and more frantic.
"Okay, I think that's enough questions for now, Miss Vanderwood", Gordon said as he stood up and looked at Bridget, "Could you take her back to the rest of her guild please?"
"Yes sir,", Bridget response as she helps the poor girl up and leads her out the door. As soon as the door closes, Gordon pinches the bridge of his nose.
"This day is not going well at all", he told himself, "Guess I got no choice but to bring Romeo in for questioning. The fact that he's only sixteen means I have to have his father here as well. Hope he's somber enough to get his ass down here", Gordon said as he picked up his communication lacrima, "To all patroling units, this is Big Boss. I need Romeo Conbolt and Macao Conbolt brought into the station ASAP. The boy has been accuse of sexual assault and needs to be brought in for questioning. Need Macao here as well, I know he was at the tavern last night, but someone get his drunk ass down here."
There was a moment silence before, "Copy that, Big Boss...but, I'm going to ask the question that's on everyone's mind; are we talking about the same Romeo here? Purple-hair kid, rainbow fire magic, Fairy Tail mage?"
Gordon internally sigh, he knew this question was coming, "The one and the same. I know it's hard to believe, but I need you to put your personal feelings aside and bring him in."
"Copy that, Big Boss."
"I got a feeling that I'm going to need a vacation soon", the chief of police said right before a huge commotion was heard outside of his office, "Now what?"
Upon exiting his office, he was greeted by the sight of seeing two of the most powerful guilds in Fiore, if not the all of Ishgar, looking like that they were ready to have a all-out brawn. And right in the mist of the mess was none other than Romeo Conbolt, who looked scared out of his mind, as a couple of the ladies from Fairy Tail were trying to shield him from the Mermaid Heel guild members, who looked ready to murder him. Thankfully for Gordon, Beth was usher off to the side by Miss Reituer, a distraught expression still plastered on the girl's face as though the full weight of the situation she was in had finally dawn on her.
"He defiled our Beth!", Arana Webb roared while pointed a accursed finger at the boy in question, who shrunk back into the protective arms of Kinana while Lisanna Strauss defended him.
"You have no proof to back that up!"
"We have all the proof in the world! She's carrying his child right now!" Risley Law called out.
"There's no guarantee that it is his!", Cana countered, "Romeo would never do such a thing! How dare you accuse him?"
The two groups argue back and forth, each looking like they were willing to throw down right here and now in the middle of precinct.
Gordon looks back at the clock in his office and groans, "It's still not even ten yet and I really need a drink right... And possibly a early retirement."
A/N: Next Chapter will have Romeo being question while Gordon tries to figure out what's going on along with Master Makarov trying to keep a war from breaking out between Fairy Tail and Mermaid Heel.
Please Review, Fav, or Follow if you want. And check out my other stories like Fiery Hurricane of Love and Master of the Wild.
Fiorian Law requires the supposed sexually assault victim to give a testimony and press charges if she or he is physical able to or if the victim is under 18, then her parents or legal guardians can press charges on their behalf, but a testimony is still need.
It also requires that the Head of the local law enforcement take down the testimony. If the Head of the local law enforcement is male and the victim is a female and they feel uncomfortable talking to him, he is require to have a female liaison in the room while the testimony is being given, but law requires him to still take the testimony. This also works vice-versa if the victim is male and the Head of the local law enforcement is female, etc. Everyone involved in the case is required to be question, no matter their social status, gender, race, or age. Even after charges have been press, no arrest can be may until after the alleged attacker(s) has been questioned as well.
The Laws of Fiore state that all accuse are innocent until proven guilty in a Fioran court of law and will be treated as such despite public opinion.
