Title: Kill the Messenger
Summary: Elfman is the messenger.
It was Elfman who told everybody Lisanna is dead, not Mirajane. How could he let her, with the way her hands trembled minutely and the way everyone stared, wondering where their sister was? She had done so much already; the least he could do was shoulder some of the burden.
In a voice still hoarse from pain and rage (he vividly remembered what Mirajane did to stop him) and grief (forever associated with how her jaw clenched when she had terrible news), he haltingly recounted what happened, ending with a broken confession of, "I killed Lisanna."
The guild as a whole, rippled in shock. Mirajane inhaled sharply, but remained quiet, even though her face flickered into something akin to disagreement. He spoke the truth, after all.
Everyone was murmuring in quiet shock when Natsu virtually exploded, spitting out anguished half-phrases and rushing at him, teeth bared and fists raised. Elfman expected it, but it still hurt when the fire mage struck his face. His eyebrows singed and blood flowed as the stitches across his eye burst open painfully. It didn't faze him (it was nothing compared to what Lisanna went through, betrayed and dying), so he stood and endured the pain.
But there was a familiar surge of overwhelming power and the blows abruptly ceased. Elfman blinked through his blood and his heart constricted. Natsu was pinned against the closest wall, held aloft by Mirajane in her most powerful form. Her claw was wrapped tightly around his neck and she growled wordlessly at the younger mage, whose famed fire breath and frantic fists had little effect.
No one moved, although many shouted. They were all afraid to make the situation worse. Elfman's knees trembled and he felt sick to his stomach. He had been so proud of his sister's Satan Soul form; he'd always felt safe because with it, they had been unstoppable. But seeing the Demon now made his heart beat threadily in fear. He recalled feral blue eyes, glaring at him with little recognition and how weak he had been, waiting for the killing blow that never came. (Afterwards, when Mirajane told him the truth, he wished, for a terrible moment, she had dealt him that final strike.)
In the midst of everyone's paralysis, Erza visibly shook herself out of her shock. She approached Mirajane with calm determination, her composure betrayed only by the white-knuckled grip on her sheathed sword. But when Mirajane, still gripping Natsu by the throat, turned to her, the redhead recoiled in surprise. She quickly recovered, reaching out to touch his sister's face and said, almost gently, "Mira, that scar, it's... Does it hurt?"
His sister flinched away and quickly dropping Natsu, backhanded Erza with a snarl, sending her crashing into the bar. Kana cursed under her breath as she whipped out her cards. Natsu was gasping for breath in an awkward heap on the floor. All around him, everyone was finally snapping out of their frozen states, drawing weapons and readying spells. Erza, bleeding from a cut cheek, rose out of the wreckage, grimly drawing her sword and requipping her Purgatory Armor. It was one of everybody's worst nightmares, to have to take down one of their own, but no one hesitated. They couldn't, not when it was the Demon who had gone wild.
He couldn't let that happen. His sister had gone through enough already. If their friends attacked her, it'd be too much. Yelling for them to stop, he stumbled into a dash, halting in front of Mirajane, hands on his knees. He shakily raised his head to meet the Demon's burning gaze. (He foggily remembered Lisanna doing the same, facing the Beast King with a fearless smile. He tries hard for that same courage.)
His breath hitched as he saw what had taken Erza by surprise. It had been invisible in Mirajane's human form, but the Demon had a twisted, black scar cuttting across one eye, closely mimicking his own. He laughed bitterly in the back of his mind; he had foolishly hoped at least his sister would've escaped unscathed.
Words failed him as he stared at the Demon, hoping to see his sister and willing himself not to run away. Tense moments passed as everyone waited with bated breath, but he finally found her when awareness flickered back into her blue eyes. He exhaled in relief and lurking resentment. (Of course Mirajane would pull herself from the brink. She'd never lose control completely.) She breathes with him, wings stirring gently and sharp nails clicking in absent rhythm.
But before she could return to human form, Mirajane caught sight of Natsu's bruised neck and Markarov's sad, stern visage. She saw Kana's lethal cards trembling between her fingers and Erza's carefully blank and bleeding face, her sword still drawn. When she finally turned to him, they both flinched and making a strangled, anguished sound, she darted out of the guild. Erza swore quietly and ran after her, sheathing her sword and shouting for everybody else to stay put.
The guild erupted into chaos immediately after she exited, but he heard nothing. His sister's eyes had been filled with such self-hatred and shattered confidence, with a dreadful anger that had never been directed at him before. He hadn't recognized her at all. It had been like looking at a complete stranger who just happened to look like someone he once knew. His knees buckled and Kana caught him as he fell, staggering a little under his weight, but he didn't notice. He just realized he had lost not only Lisanna, but Mirajane as well, and he wept helplessly for his family, tears and blood dripped down his chin.
