Voila! StoryLover, I was going to write something for Levy, but I'm still thinking. Something will come to me...eventually. And for Macao, apparently he was divorced, so maybe I'll write about that. I dunno. I just really wanted to write a chapter about Freed. Enjoy_ XD
The guild was at its normal level of volume. The Raijinshuu decided to go on a job today, but were staying at the guild for the morning. Evergreen went to argue with Elfman, Laxus and Bixlow went to get drinks, and Freed was left to bide his time. He decided to go for a walk to escape the ruckus of the guild he called home.
Lucy and Levy, on the other hand, were showing each other books and novels. Their picture album was on the table, currently untouched. She dropped her book by accident, and it hit the floor loudly. Freed was walking by, and being the gentleman he is, he picked it up for her. Before he could give Lucy the book, the title caught his eyes.
"Have you read that, Freed?" Lucy asked.
Freed stared at the book, not looking up. "Yes. My parents used to read this to me when I was a kid."
"Really?" Lucy asked, surprised.
"Well, the simplified version," he said and handed her the book.
"Thank you," she took it. "Is it any good?"
He nodded. "It's classic, and comical. Anyway, I better go."
"Later, Freed," Levy smiled.
"Bye," the green haired mage said, and walked out.
Lucy sighed wistfully.
"What is it, Lu-chan? Is it a crush? 'Cause I have a feeling he's gay," Levy said nonchalantly.
"Wha-no!" Lucy blushed and said, "I just wish Natsu liked reading. Then we could talk about books that we've read, and..."
Instead of laughing, Levy nodded intently. "I see what you mean! It would be so cute if Gajeel was actually sensitive on the inside."
Both girls sighed and started to imagine their dream guys.
Freed sighed as he left the guild. The moment he saw the book title, a boatload of memories hit him.
Memories about his parents, and the stories they would tell him.
There were times Mrs. Valeri Justine would smile. Mostly when she was reading an entertaining book, or when she got back from a mission. Freed liked seeing his mother smile, because it meant she wasn't about to yell at him.
One day, when he was six, Valeri was smiling. Freed didn't know why, but when she offered to read him a bedtime story, he accepted.
"What would you like to read, Freed?" she asked gently.
"Um...I don't know. Anything," he mumbled.
"Don't mumble, it's impolite," she reprimanded, then walked to the bookshelf. "How about...Midsummer Night's Dream?"
Freed smiled. He loved that book. Apparently, it was a play, but he liked it in paperback better.
"Okay. Should I start where we left off?" she suggested. He nodded. She began to read out loud, with Freed listening intently.
Four years later, Freed was reading the book himself. His eyes scanned the pages, taking in every word, then turning the page to imagine how it all played out on stage. He sat in the library of the Justine mansion, surrounded by books and new adventures. His father walked in suddenly, causing Freed to hurriedly grab the other book in his lap. It was a book on runes, that his parents expected him to read.
Albion Justine was a tall man with short green hair. He, like his wife and son, had a reading obsession; and he was an S-class Rune mage.
"Freed!" he said sharply. Freed closed the book and stood up. Back straight, chin up, don't slouch, speak clearly. His mother's cold voice rang in his head.
"Your mother and I are going on a mission. Do you want to come?" Mr. Justine offered.
"Um, o-okay," he stuttered. Freed could practically hear his mother's voice telling him not to stutter. But he didn't care; he was finally going on a mission!
Freed could tell his parents were mad. It was the worst kind, since they were sitting across him and talking to each other quietly, completely shutting him out. He hated when they were mad, especially when they were mad at him. He knew that, tomorrow, during magic lessons, they were going to yell at him. But what could he say? He had already apologized more times than he could count.
They had gone on that mission, and Freed had used his magic all wrong. The runes he had written had little to no effect, so his father had to swoop in and fix them, when he was supposed to be destroying the dark guild. After he fixed the runes, the Dark guild had an opening, so they went in the castle through the side wall, which was currently free of runes. This had slowed down Freed's parents, causing them to have to write some backup runes, which slowed them down immensely. Now here they were, four hours behind schedule, on carriage home.
Freed tried to distract himself by looking out the window, but it was already too late at night to see much. They were currently driving around the forest, and there was little population, so there were hardly any lights.
The green-haired boy sighed quietly and took out a book. Before he could even start to read, his mother pulled another rune book from his satchel and gave it to him.
"If you're reading anything, it's this, Freed," she said sharply. Freed shivered at her cold voice.
"I'm sorry," he said and took the book.
Valeri sighed. "You have to stop apologizing so much. It's pathetic."
"Oh," he blushed, "Sorry- I mean, I-...I don't know."
She just went back to conversing with Albion, who had no interest in talking to his son.
Freed looked down and tried reading his book. His fingers trembled, but swallowed and stared at the page.
'Runes are only effective if you have the key trait: patience. Patience is important, but in the sense...'
He didn't want to read any more. He decided to take a nap. It was late after all, so his parents wouldn't care if he fell asleep. He closed his eyes. Slowly, slower... He began to drift into slumber...
...
Freed's eyes snapped open. There was a loud crash. His parents, and the carriage looked fine, but the crash had obviously shocked them. Albion ordered the carriage to a halt, and slowly stepped outside. Freed saw his father's eyes widen. Uh-oh.
Mr. Justine stepped inside and started speaking really fast, which was very unlikely.
"There's a herd of demons that live in this forest. Normally, they wouldn't have attacked us, but we rode over one of them.."
Valeri and Freed stared at him.
"You need to cut back on the coffee, dear," Valeri finally said.
"I'm serious, Val," he snapped. An explosion was heard.
"Oh, my god," she exclaimed, and took Freed's hand. She stepped out of the carriage and ran towards the driver
The driver had a giant glass shard sticking out of his chest. Blood was spilling out of the gash and his mouth.
Valeri screamed and Freed immediately begin crying. The scream triggered the first demon to appear. It fell out of a tree and landed.
The creature was terrifying, and was what only a human would describe as a human. It was tall, and had spiky, gray-ish skin. It looked like a forest vulcan, but smaller, and more menacing.
Freed and his mother backed up until they bumped into Albion. He had already written runes around them. More demons fell out of the trees and surrounded them. They kicked and scratched at the invisible walls. Suddenly, the runes gave out. The rules had a loophole, and the demons were coming at them, fast. Freed's parents bent down and hugged Freed, so he was surrounded.
"Don't worry, Freed. You'll be fine," his father whispered.
"We love you," his mother said. And the demons came. The next thing he knew, he was unconscious.
When Freed's eyes opened, he couldn't see anything. He felt something on top of him, and tried to get up. He pushed away whatever was on top of him and coughed. He ran his hand over his lip, he saw blood. Freed rubbed his eyes and looked around him. The demons were all gone, but the remains of the carriage were on the ground. The horses had run off, but the driver was dead, and his body was on the ground. Freed saw that whatever was previously on top of him, were the bodies of his dead parents. The green haired boy swallowed and felt tears running down his face. The last thing they said to him was, "We love you."
Freed could still hear his mother's words ringing in his head. As he dug up earth in the forest, he tried thinking about times his parents were harsh, so the pain wouldn't be so bad. The only memories that resurfaced were them reading him bedtime stories. He cried when he buried them, and buried the driver just because.
Freed blinked a few times and stared at the entrance to his guild. It seemed that he was back at the guild. Why did that book have to bring back so many flashbacks?
He sighed and walked back inside to greet his teammates. When he walked in, Ever immediately ran up to him.
"Freed Justine, look what Bixlow did to my dress!" she pointed at the stain. "He spilled some drink all over! Why did you leave? You have to keep an eye on him and Laxus, because now they're in a drinking contest with Cana! They're crazy!" As she rambled on, Freed couldn't help but smile. What was in the past, was the past after all, so he might as well just think about the future.
Lucy picked up the album.
"I want to look at more pictures. We only looked at, like, four yesterday," she said.
"Yeah. Let's look at more," Levy agreed, and they opened the book.
So that was Freed's. Freed is so cool! He needs to be in the manga more, 'cuz he is super strong- He took out, like, half the guild with just his runes. And he almost killed Cana! ^o^ ..Jk Cana's cool, too. I should write about her.
Anyway, Laterz!