Chapter 4:
Laxus stumbled off the midnight train into Edera, feeling like his guts were trying to escape his body. Since Tenroe Island, he started to feel more and more queasy on moving vehicles. He'd usually throw up as soon as he got off. But the past couple trips on trains and boats was positively unbearable. This train was no exception.
Mavis, he hated vehicles.
The torture device known as a train blew its whistle and rumbled out of the station, leaving a very nauseas Laxus alone on the platform.
This is Natsu's shtick, not mine, Laxus thought to himself as he gripped his knees and emptied whatever remained of booze and dinner into a nearby trashcan. It was like his innards were put into a blender. But luckily solid ground and lack of anything in his stomach allowed his nausea to pass. The Dragon Slayer wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and groaned.
He straightened and gazed out over the dark train platform. Clouds covered the sky and cast an eerie, dark shadow over the usually bright and bustling small town. The light of the moon shown through some of the clouds and hung directly overhead. Laxus glanced above. "Well, no time like the present."
The Fairy Tail wizard made his way to the decadent royal house. The city guards on the streets gave Laxus suspicious looks as he passed them, but they didn't stop him. Euphorbia Castle was a small castle, relatively speaking. It's white pillars and navy-blue tiling and gold embellishments certainly made it seem like something out of a fairy tale, but its actual building size was only twice the size of Fairy Tail's old guild hall. Laxus came to the wall lining its gardens and inhaled, trying to catch any type of scent from Ximus or that girl.
The damp smell of perspective rain, sweaty guards, and flowers reached his nostrils. Laxus let out a frustrated breath and looked up at the tall wall.
He could use the clouds to his advantage, but he would have to be conservative with his powers. About half of his magic energy had been restored at this point, and exhaustion still tugged at his bones. The Dragon Slayer would have loved to crawl into bed and do this later in the morning, but Laxus felt like this needed attention now.
Storm clouds began to swirl overhead, and Laxus called the lightning down. His body morphed with the bolt and he touched down just outside a door of Euphorbia Castle. A guard started to exclaim something, but Laxus slammed his fist into the man's gut and brought his other down on top of his head. The guard collapsed and Laxus opened the tall door quietly.
The blonde mage sniffed the air again as he padded into the superfluously decorated castle. Honestly, how many fine rugs, statues, and paintings did a royal family need? Every inch of the hallway was covered in art and oh-so breakable statues. The hall was dark, and this entrance was unpopulated.
There were no guards posted for a couple hallways, as far as Laxus could smell. Interesting.
He slowly walked through the dark hallway, the hair on his arms prickling as he observed his shadowy reflection in a mirror.
"Ugh, these places give me the creeps," Laxus muttered to himself. Give him a battalion of guards to fight or a rowdy bar any day. Incredibly rich and royal families- ugh- you could feel the incest and fratricide that haunted the regal house. He opened his mouth and he caught a whiff of Ximus's scent. Faint, but there.
Laxus followed his nose to a different hallway, where two guards were standing by the entrance. It was quick, silent work taking them down, and the Fairy Tail wizard proceeded into the hallway. This part of the castle seemed older. The ceiling was lower and arched downward. The white paint on the stone walls were starting to chip off and revealed dark rock beneath it. There were only a few paintings and statues, but there were no windows. Torches were sparsely placed down this long looming hallway. If I were to make an entrance to a sex dungeon, Laxus thought to himself, this is what it would be.
The scent of the royal advisor grew stronger and stronger the farther Laxus went down this hallway. It stopped at a small statue of a naked cherub holding a gourd overflowing with fruit. The scent went directly to the wall. Laxus's eyebrow twitched and he curled his lip.
Old castle, disappearing scent, conspicuous statue: it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
"Secret entrance, really?"
He glared at the marble statue and looked to see what made this concealed door open. The dragon slayer considered pulverizing the statue, but that would attract unwanted attention. Ugh.
Laxus dropped into a squat and sniffed again, trying to see if his nose could pinpoint any specific spot Ximus would have touched repeatedly. Unfortunately, his nose was not at the level of Natsu's. The longer the Fairy Tail wizard stared at the naked, fat, laughing baby, the angrier he got. Its elated expression was mocking him.
Enough is enough. Laxus stood up and grabbed the baby under its arms and yanked upward, grunting slightly as he ripped the statue out of the floor. A loud crunching sound of rock breaking filled the hallway, and Laxus tossed the heavy statue on the ground. There was a gaping hole where the cherub once laughed. Now it was face down on the other side of the hallway. Ha.
Gears and springs began to whirr under the floor. Laxus tensed and looked down nervously as the large stone slats underfoot began to move.
His stomach jumped as the hole widened and the floor moved back under the wall. It revealed a staircase leading underneath the wall into a deep, dark unknown. Scents of moss, damp stone, and Ximus flooded outwards. The grinding stones rumbled to a halt and the hallway was quiet once more.
Definitely a sex dungeon.
Laxus sighed and knew he had to go down into that deep, dark hole. He proceeded to walk down the staircase, his footsteps echoing down the narrow staircase. The wizard rarely felt claustrophobic, but when the stone slats closed over his head and engulfed him in darkness, Laxus felt his pulse quicken and the walls felt like they were narrowing. He raised his fist and lightning began to dance around his fingers, illuminating the dark passageway in flickering light. Indecipherable voices began to reach his ears, and Laxus strained to understand the sound.
He reached the end of the staircase and paused when he saw a bright light at the end of the narrow hallway.
Laxus's eyes narrowed as a new, pungent smell hit him: blood.
Ragged breath and Ximus's voice were now apparent as well.
"…Imagine what an entire pint will do to a wizard!" Laxus tensed, the muscles in his back rippling under his black shirt, and he proceeded to walk towards the voices. His footsteps became lighter as the sounds in the bright room became louder.
"Even if I only have you, you are a female. Breeding you would be easy enough- just think of all the power your children would have!"
Disgust filled Laxus at Ximus's words. What a fucking creep. The girl made no response, which meant she was either unconscious or incapacitated. No way Klepto knew how to keep her mouth shut. Swallowing the bile in his throat, Laxus peered around the corner to see a old stone dungeon converted into some sort of laboratory. Brilliant torches burned at every corner of the moldy room, and a cell with a rod iron door was in the corner. Shackles hung down from the side of the wall, and books, beakers, and medical tools were piled onto various rolling tables around the quite a sex dungeon, but close.
The girl was strapped down in a chair, looking up at Ximus with fearful eyes. She sat up painfully straight in the chair, head forward and red runes covered her entire body and face. Her eyes were the only thing that seemed to be able to move as the slender robed man circled her, like a vulture looking for food. A tube was attached to her arm and a dark red liquid flowed into a hanging bag; Ximus was draining her of blood.
The advisor paused behind her and leaned down to stroke her cheek. He whispered into her ear, but Laxus's ears picked up the sound.
"Can you imagine an army of Praesidio at my command?"
Questions began to flood through Laxus's head. Why did Ximus want her blood? What did it have to do with the lacrima? How did any of this happen?
The girl's blue eyes hardened, and she stared straight ahead. That is, until her eyes met Laxus's. Despite her features being locked by whatever spell Ximus had cast, her big eyes got even bigger as they widened in surprise.
The Fairy Tail wizard cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, but you mind telling me what you think you're doing?"
Ximus's hands clamped down on the girls shoulders in surprise and he jumped, looking at the source of the voice. He reminded Laxus of a wet ferret, his dark stringy hair plastered against his head and gaunt facial structure exaggerated as he sucked his cheeks in with apprehension. Of course, anyone with two brain cells would be looking at the Fairy Tail with apprehension given the circumstances.
Electricity began to cackle and pop around Laxus as he strode into the lab. Lighting boomed, loud enough to be heard underground. Laxus's dark eyes bore into Ximus's, and his hands clenched into fists beneath his dark jacket. He looked as though he were ready to snap anyone who challenged him in half.
Ximus quickly composed himself and brushed something off on the side of his navy robe. "Ah, Laxus. Welcome to my lab. I must say this is a surprise; what are you doing here?"
Laxus darkened at the advisor's words. A bolt of lightning jumped off his coat and electrified a nearby metal table.
"I could ask you the same thing." He was ten steps away from the advisor when Ximus started to back up. He didn't appear flustered, and his steps were smooth against the uneven floor.
"Maybe we can make a deal." Ximus smiled, an unholy, gruesome thing that Laxus immediately wanted to wipe off his face. "I can give you money, power, women- name it."
Lightning cackled and Laxus raised a fist, sparks dancing around his knuckles. He flicked a bit of electricity towards him, via his middle finger. It gave the advisor a clue as to what the Fairy Tail wizard what he thought of the offer. Ximus put up his hands and yelped as he hit the back wall. "Okay, okay! How about 10% of the blood stock?"
Blood stock? Laxus was now even with the girl, who was straining to look at him out of the corner of her eye. He glanced down at her and saw she was in bad shape. A nasty purple bruise was on the side of her temple, and her lip was busted as well. They must've roughed her up after apprehending her. And the runes on her body seemed to be under the the first layer of skin, tightly constricting her muscles and tendons.
The thought made Laxus seethe with rage. It boiled in his stomach and spread through his entire body. Ozone filled the air and he let out a roar. The blond wizard sprung at Ximus, winding his fist back for a violent punch. Laxus slammed his fist into his gut and lightning cackled. The skinny man crumpled around the Dragon Slayer's blow and flew backwards against the wall between the gated doorways. Electricity circulated around the man's body and he writhed in pain on the floor.
Laxus stood over the advisor and curled his lip in disgust. "You think I'm interested in whatever fucked up shit you've got going on down here? Think again." Lightning curled off his body and singed the inside of the Dragon Slayer's shirt.
Ximus gasped for breath and curled his arms around his stomach, curled up into a fetal position. "…How… unfortunate." He rasped. The advisor didn't seem to be getting up anytime soon, so Laxus turned around and went to go see how to help the girl out of the chair.
The wizard took a few steps toward the girl's chair when a low growl echoed around the room. He stopped and looked behind him, bristling. Behind the gated door, a hulking beast rammed its head straight into the bars. It snarled and clawed at the metal; the bars bent and cracked. Ximus chuckled and reached up to unlatch the lock.
"Laxus, I would like you to meet Maxima, my little lion."
If the lion was 'little', he would've hated to see what was considered normal. The lion's haunches came to Laxus's shoulder. It had no mane, but its fangs dripped with saliva as it pushed out of the dungeon door. The Dragon Slayer straightened and turned to face it, his eyes staring down the monster. It's reddish fur was dirty, and its ribs stuck out on its side. The lioness crouched, studying her prey, and her jaws snapped, sending a wave saliva toward him. Where it met the stone, it sizzled. A thick, iron collar was around her neck. Laxus glared at Ximus, who was picking himself off the ground.
"So you starve animals, too?" The Fairy Tail wizard snarled at the royal advisor, who shrugged and brushed the navy robe off.
"I rescued Maxima from a fighting ring. The beast owes her life to me. I'll do with it however I please."
Laxus snarled at that, and the lioness roared back, snapping her powerful jaws again. Her maw opened was big enough to swallow the blond wizard's head, and even though she was skin and bones, hard corded muscle moved beneath her fur, as if it were about to burst from the skin. Laxus didn't like fighting animals like this, especially animals who didn't act on their own accord.
"But you're right," Ximus continued as he retreated to the corner of the lab. "She hasn't been fed in several days. But I always find ways to fill her appetite." Laxus turned to strike at the advisor, but that was when the lion pounced.
Her claws swiped towards him and shredded the corner of his jacket. Damn. Laxus grunted as he pivoted away, energy seeping through his eyes and electricity oozed out of every pore. He darted forward and hit the animal in the belly, sending her flying upward. She roared in pain and landed on a metal table, scattering beakers and test tubes everywhere. The lioness's claws dug into the shiny surface, crumpling it like tinfoil.
"As you can see, my experiments enhanced every aspect of Maxima." Ximus proudly declared from the corner. Laxus slipped into a crouch and glared at the lion. "Shut up," He muttered. Maxima growled from her perch, her hackles raising up on her thin body. Her eyes were wide, desperate, and bloodthirsty.
This needed to end, fast.
They sprung at each other, roaring. Her claws dug into Laxus's shoulders and ripped downward, while he sent thousands of volts of lightning into her chest. He roared at her claws ripping into his skin, and a searing hot pain laced through the top of his chest. The smell of burning fur and blood filled the air. Laxus ripped off his coat and slammed his weight forward, sending the lion onto her back.
The lioness snapped her jaws inches from Laxus's throat, hitting the Dragon Slayer with frothy saliva and fowl smelling breath. Laxus let out a roar and grabbed her canines, prying her maw open. He sucked in a breath and magic gathered in his mouth.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!"
He released thousands of volts of energy down the monster's gullet. The lioness spasmed as the shock traveled through her gigantic body and howled in pain. Smoke curled out of her mouth and her body moved no more. He made me kill an animal for no god damn reason, Laxus seethed as he picked himself up. He ripped off his shredded, bloody shirt, and he turned to face Ximus, who was whimpering in the corner.
"You good for nothing, callous bastard!" That little brawl seriously depleted his energy, but Laxus didn't need a lot of magic to beat this pathetic wizard. He stalked over to the trembling advisor and picked him up by the embroidered cloak. Ximus was sweating profusely and his hooked nose trembled. His dark eyes seemed to shrink in fear. Laxus slammed him against the wall. The bricks shook a bit from the force, and the advisor let out a whimper of pain.
"You don't understand, she's a Praesidio!" The advisor exclaimed weakly.
"That supposed to mean something to me?" The Fairy Tail wizard curled his lip. Ximus swallowed and nodded ravenously, the gears in his head obviously turning a mile a minute.
"Their blood enhances any type of magic by unimaginable amounts! You have no idea how much people would pay-,"
Laxus sneered and punched him in gut, before following with a vicious uppercut. Blood and a tooth flew from the advisor's mouth, and he slumped against the wall, unconscious.
"I've heard enough," Laxus scoffed and unceremoniously dropped him to the ground. The advisor sagged against the moss-covered brick and the blond wizard spun to face the incapacitated girl.
As he walked over to the girl, he looked down and examined the claw marks on his chest. They didn't go too deep; his jacket took the brunt of the attack. Still, the wounds on his collar bones stung, and he sneered down at the wound, angry at its audacity to bleed. "You owe me, guttersnipe," Laxus said as he grabbed the back of her chair and leaned over her head.
For some reason, the back of her neck muscles straining to move. Why was she still tensing? He won, after all. Guess you could call me your knight in shining armor, Laxus thought and surpassed grin. Maybe she'd fall to her knees and beg him to take her to bed, like a good damsel in distress.
Something hit the back of Laxus's leg, interrupting his thoughts of where the night could lead. "Huh?" He began to turn to look down at whatever hit him, but four pinchers inserted themselves into his calf, and immediately his muscles spasmed, unable to support his weight in that leg. Excruciating pain laced up his leg, and Laxus let out a roar of surprise.
He stumbled forward as he fell and made contact with the back of the girl's chair. The pain spread, much like his own electricity over his body. It felt like every molecule in his body had suddenly turned against each other and Laxus saw red as he struggled to keep his grip on the chair.
Under Laxus's weight, the chair toppled backwards and fell beside Laxus with a crash. The needle ripped out of the girl's arm and blood began to spill out from the blood bag and onto her forearm. She fell onto the floor beside Laxus, but she was still locked in the same, uptight sitting position. Her turquoise, angry eyes glared at Laxus, and her face shook as she tried to free herself from the runes.
The Dragon Slayer let out a roar of pain through gritted teeth and his body spasmed he looked over his shoulder to see Ximus standing tall and chuckling.
"On a normal day, Laxus, you would have taken me down without a problem." And I still would if I had more magic energy. The advisor walked forward. "But today is not a normal day." Ximus smiled down at the blood oozing onto the floor.
"My magic, in case you were wondering, turns magic against itself." He gave a short laugh and continued to walk toward them. "Usually it turns against itself in my own body, so controlling it is difficult. That's why I transfer it to devices such as these." Laxus couldn't move his head to see what Ximus was referring to, but his mind flashed back to the spider-like device the advisor used on the girl at the inn.
Laxus's body trembled with pain and he shut his eyes, trying to force it out. It emanated from his calf. The pinching object was the source of this. Ximus walked past him and circled around to kneel by the dripping blood bag. He closed off the tube and stuck his finger into the small pool on the ground.
"Even then, most wizards would shake it off after a little while." He gave a bitter smile and lifted his blood-soaked hand from the ground. "'Parlor Tricks', they all told me. 'Nothing more than parlor tricks.'" Ximus opened his mouth and licked the liquid from his fingertips. The advisor sighed with contentment and smacked his lips. When he opened his eyes, a red glow emanated from his pupils. The sensations increased and Laxus roared in pain, feeling like his skin was peeling off his body.
"Not such a parlor trick anymore, is it, Laxus?"
to be continued!
More to come soon :)