Heeeeeey Yooooou guyyyyyyyyyyyz!

What's up? How you been? Me, I've been good. Just been practicing my procrastination. I'd still be practicing too, if I hadn't lost Top Lane in League. So you can thank that bitchy AP Nunu for forcing me to write this chapter.

Now I have to admit. I'm extremely self-conscious about this chapter. The actual reason it's so late is because I was terrified of the fight scenes I was going to have to write. Even now, I'm unsure about them, and I may have to go back and change them to assuage my concerns. I'm also not sure of the use of Flashbacks, and the brevity on other plot points, and the characterization could be done better, and... get the picture? Any and all reviews are appreciated, and will calm my thrashing heart.

Now, on to the good stuff. That new chapter. I love it for a multitude of reasons, among which include moar Gajeel, Torafusa, and the feelz. I hate it though, because it has made plotting difficult for me, AGAIN! DAMN YOU, HIRO, FOR BEING UNPREDICTABLE! But because I'm a crafty bastard, I'm going to attempt to work around it because, quite frankly, that scene was too beautiful to disclude. I wouldn't mind hearing any opinions you might have as well.

Moving on... Back to the Good Stuff.

The Price of Bonds: Chapter 7 - The Opposite of Guilt

"I love you, Laxus. Take care of Fairy Tail for me. I'm counting on you."

Laxus had been talking for an hour. He was tired, physically and emotionally spent. All he wanted to do was sit down, maybe fall asleep on his desk.

But he couldn't, not just yet. He had a job to finish.

He didn't like reflecting on the memories. It made a hard job more difficult. He was expected to remain objective and concise with this report, and to give any and all pertinent details. He had to have a clear head, but the report alone was bogging him down, forcing him to pick at wounds that hadn't quite healed.

After all, Where had he been when Fairy Tail had been attacked? He could have made a difference. he could have helped stop Tartarus. He could have... He could have...

He could have saved Gramps.

It was pathetic. He always failed to come through when his Grandfather needed him. When he needed all the strength he could gather to help fight off Phantom Lord? Too much trouble for the Grandson of the Year to lend a hand. When Gramps requested a powerful, mature wizard to lead by example? Laxus decided it was prudent to pitch a fit, force his guild mates to fight among themselves, and hold an entire town hostage. Now, he was asking Laxus to step up, to take charge and be the leader that Makarov thought he could be. How would this be any different? He wasn't a leader like his Grandfather. He wasn't wise or compassionate, patient or reliable... He was going to fail the old man again, for the final time and he hated himself for it.

After all, What shitty Grandson can't even follow through with his Grandpa's last request?

Laxus was careful, however, to keep any of these feelings from reaching the surface. He had to keep the image of power and pride at the fore, projecting Fairy Tail's undeniable strength with his very being. He couldn't breakdown in front of any of these other Guildmasters. He wasn't yet sure if he could trust any of them not to take advantage in some way, to use the weakness of the new Guildmaster against his wounded guild.

So his eyes were still impassive, his face still calm, and his jaw still set. The report continued, as if the protracted pause had never happened. Any and all concerned gestures were ignored, promptly.

"His sacrifice resulted in the dispersal of all Demons in the area. It saved Fairy Tail, Magnolia, and Fiore."

"And how do we know that?"

Roark, who'd no doubt been stewing in his own resentment for the past 60 minutes, decided to wag his forked tongue just long enough to spit on the grave of an honorable man, one last time.

The rest of the room was silent. But the tranquility belied the disapproval present on every face on the room, save one. Laxus remained passive. He wouldn't give in. He wouldn't hurt his Grandfather's... His Guild's reputation by punching a hole through Roark's head, No matter how satisfying it would be. He was pretty proud of his control, though the worried looks Bob kept giving him made him think that he hadn't quite kept the rage from his face.

"Really! How do we know? You haven't given us any details. No evidence! You provided a bunch of unverifiable facts, ones you weren't even present to witness, before claiming that a corpse and a will prove that all our problems are solved!" Roark threw his hands up before slapping them back down on the table and using them as leverage, pushing himself to a stand. He snarled, a horrid expression on such a sunken, skeletal face, and pointed one boney claw at Laxus. "All you've proved today, is that foolishness and incompetence are heritable. I mean, Really?! The scary monsters are gone, so that means Grandpa must have saved us? Pfft."

"I disagree, Roark."

Goldmine was now standing. He walked towards the center of the circle, and carefully took his position between Laxus and Roark. "Had you been listening, rather than coming up with new ways to make an ass of yourself, You might have heard some of them."

Roark turned on Goldmine, mouth leaking venom, but whatever vile comment he was about to make dissolved into hot air. One of the Guildmasters next to him grabbed the edge of his waist coat and yanked him back down into his seat while he was still too gob smacked to protest or insult.

But Goldmine had already turned around to address Laxus. A quick glimpse of a small, proud smile. then it was back to business. "As it were, Laxus has done a fine job of providing us a synopsis of the events of the attack. There are still a number of reports to be given that will further corroborate Laxus' story."

"If Roark finds it in his heart to let them finish, that is," Bob added, jovial and innocuous as always. The placid way that the jibe was delivered only served to draw attention to it. It reminded Laxus of Mira, in a way.

Sting snorted to himself and smirked wryly. "He'd have to find it, first."

And that irreverent tone reminded him of himself. He was starting to like Sabertooth's Guildmaster by the day.

"Well, Roark?" Goldmine said with a withering tone, "Can we continue, or is there more you have too say?" The message was hammered in with brutal force. Roark was to shut-up and listen.

Roark gaped, and for a second Laxus believed he still hadn't caught on, but the Guildmaster eventually quieted.

"Good. Now if I recall correctly, Laxus said that you actually fought the Demon King, Sting. Is that true?"

"Hmph! That's right. Rogue and I showed up to recover our Lady from that sleezy bastard."

"Tell us what happened." Goldmine gestured toward the center of the room, but Sting didn't budge. He stayed seated, feet kicked up and hands behind his head.

"Hmm... Well..."

Laxus, who'd taken the opportunity to return to his own seat, was now leaning forward in earnest. He hadn't heard this story.

"We showed up just in time to rescue Lady Minerva from one of Marde Geer's attacks..."

"Marde Geer?" Was that his name? Laxus hadn't heard it from any of his Guildmates.

"Well, yeah?!" Sting scratched at his jaw indolently. "I'm pretty sure that was his name. He wouldn't stop saying it."

Laxus nodded in response. Sting paid him no further mind, after that.

"Anyway.. Like Laxus said, we sent Erza and Minerva off to go stop FACE while we kept the Demon King busy..."


"I have to admit... He was strong."

"Absolutely pitiful."

Marde Geer was unmoved. Sting wiped at his lip with his sleeve. Rogue's eyes shifted, bathing Sting in concealed worry, but otherwise saying nothing.

He'd been sporting a patronizing smirk since the fight started. Never once did it leave his face... because there hadn't been a moment where he'd been worried or out of control. He'd dominated the fight thus far, and he wanted them to know it. It was meant to break them, to fill them with fear.

All it did was make Sting angry.

This Bastard... He hurt Minerva... He twisted her, abused her, took advantage of her pain, then had the balls to try and kill her? He insulted her, Rogue, himself, as mages and as human beings.

"Like vermin caught in the tide, you struggle and thrash against a force beyond you, and the only purpose it serves is to hasten your end. I would find it sad, if it weren't so amusing."

And he wouldn't fucking shut up!

Sting gritted his teeth.

He said nothing. Conveying any audible message would alert their enemy, allow him to brace himself or otherwise respond. Besides, he didn't need to. He and Rogue had been fighting alongside each other for years. If Sting initiated, Rogue would follow up with an appropriate response.

Sting charged forward with a bloodthirsty battlecry. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw a black shadow, flitting about alongside him.

"Rogue and I, our teamwork was perfect. We synchronized our strikes to leave no room for response. But-"

As they charged, the sinusoidal path that Rogue's shadow was following changed. It lifted from the dirt and began to spiral forward, ahead of Sting. The darkness radiated out, coiling around him until Sting was shrouded in black, murky magic. Sting smiled at his friend's ingenuity. It wasn't a technique they'd ever used before, but he understood what Rogue's plan was. He'd used his magic to turn them into a Shadow Drill of sorts.

But the magic itself wasn't meant to do damage. It was meant to obscure. With all the shadows concealing his movements-

Sting rocketed forward, using all the speed he had to close the distance. He couldn't see any better from within the technique than Marde Geer could see from outside of it, so he had to trust that Rogue would guide him to the proper destination.

"Now."

As instructed, Sting launched himself forward, cocking his fist back and throwing it forward with all of his might. shadows began to open in front of him. Black nebula surrounding him dispersed just as his knuckles were to contact the Demon King's face.

But, as the shadows fell away from him as he threw his punch, flowing from his arms and shoulders like soot, Sting's eyes locked with his opponent's.

He was hoping for huge orbs, brimming with surprise. He searched for concern, for fear, for uncertainty, anything to inspire hope that the battle was finally turning in their favor.

What he saw was boredom.

" -He deflected each and every one."

Sting cried out with frustration, launching his fist at the demon to punish his flippant display of disregard. Marde Geer twisted to the side lazily, and Sting's wrist sailed right past his nose.

Sting's own eyes widened for a second, before narrowing in concentration. He jerked his arm back while aiming a knee at the demon's right upper thigh. Marde Geer didn't move, but Sting felt a tug on the other leg supporting him before he was jerked off his feet and left sprawling with his face in the dirt.

Sting growled, and rolled into a sweep. The demon snorted, and casually stepped away from the maneuver. Anger getting the best of him, Sting leapt back to his feet and charged, arms aglow with holy, white energy.

The Demon King smirked. He flicked his wrist languidly, middle and index finger extended. Thorny vines twisted and writhed from the earth surrounding the both of them and wrapped themselves around Sting's arms and throat.

Rogue sprung from Sting's shadow, where he'd been hiding, in an attempt to intervene. His efforts were rewarded with a solid blow to his nose with Marde Geer's free hand, while the vines leashing Sting yanked him back and to the ground.

"Ah, I see. Brute force failed you, so you turn to cunning for your salvation."

He lifted his arm skyward. The vines tossed Sting into the air. He swirled his hand about, and the vines twirled Sting in similar fashion. He slashed downward and to the right, sending Sting plummeting back to earth.

"But such lowly creatures could never match the guile of the Etherious."

"The worst part? He was playing around. Entertaining himself. He figured he could end it whenever he liked."

"So... What will you do now, humans? I'm curious."

The vines slowly, deliberately unwrapped themselves from around Sting's neck. The Demon King didn't want to break his toys, not yet. But wear, such as the bleeding punctures encircling Sting's neck and arms, was inevitable.

Rogue pushed himself up into a sitting position, still leaning on his arms, and glowered at the enemy. Marde Geer was unphased, even as the Shadow Dragon Slayer dissolved slowly into the blackness beneath him, gaze never faltering.

Sting, rubbing at his throat, staggered to a stand. He spit before moving from his hunched posture to full height, rolling his shoulders as he did.

"Well... I fig'r'ed I'd shove my boot up your ass. How's that?"

"You can try."

"I'll do more than that. I'm done goofing off. It's time to go to work."

Sting started to glow with a brilliant whit aura. White Drive had been activated.

" I'll show you why I'm the Guildmaster of one of the strongest guilds in Fiore!"

Marde Geer chuckled.

"By all means.. Enlighten me."

"We traded attacks in quick bursts, took a moment to spout some rhetorical jargon, then we'd dive back in to try punching again."

Sting burst forward with all the speed he could muster. He threw punch after punch, forcing Marde Geer to play defensively. He was still dodging where he could, but the speed and offesive boosts that White Drive forced him to use his free hand to redirect most of the blows. With some satisfaction, Sting noticed that the smirk had been replaced with a serious look of concentration. In an attempt to catch him off guard, Sting used the momentum from a dodged left cross to transfer into a reverse roundhouse with his right foot. Marde was forced to bend low to dodge it, but he aimed a quick jab at Sting's left. The White Dragon Slayer flipped away from the attack and -

"White Dragon's Roar!"

- fired a potent beam of Holy Magic at the King of Darkness.

Marde Geer immediately leapt to the side, sliding to a stop. Sting attempted to curve the beam, but Marde quickly threw his arm to the side, and the vines grabbed Sting by the arm and tugged him off balance, redirecting the beam away from its intended target.

A murky mass whipped around from behind Marde Geer, slashing at him as it passed. It rounded on him again, and again, and again, making several passes in seconds. With his only free hand occupied with upholding the Curse that was restraining Sting, he wasn't able to react to the Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash. The Demon King quickly diverted his attention from Sting to deal with Rogue's assault, dropping his hand and turning, forcing Rogue to run into his palm, face first. He turned with the momentum, and tossed Rogue right into the gut of the charging Sting.

"How unfortunate. For a second I was worried I would see some real Dragon Slayer Magic. Lucky for me, you two don't seem to be capable."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "How would you even know what real Dragon Slayer Magic is?"

He was right. This demon couldn't possibly have met that many Dragon Slayers. To whom was he comparing them to?

Marde Geer chuckled. and waved his hand about again. Rogue melted back into the shadows while Sting leapt to the side, just barely escaping the explosive technique.

"Neither strategy really helped us gain any ground."

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it, damn it."

Sting hit the ground with his fist as he picked himself up and off of his stomach.

This wasn't going well. Not at all. That explodey-rose thing and those vines were reason enough not to give the enemy space. If Marde Geer had the time and range to throw curses at them, they wouldn't last long. The only way they were going to win this was by overwhelming him in close combat.

But they'd been trying to do that the entire fight, and it hadn't worked. The Demon King was successfully holding them off with one hand.

"There was a moment... I wasn't... I don't know what I was thinking."

Could they really win this? This guy was the toughest opponent they'd ever faced. He was stronger than Natsu, by far, and he'd been able to stomp them both at the same time.

And Natsu hadn't had any intention to kill them.

What if they... what if they died? What would happen then? What would become of the guild?

Who would take care of Lector?

"No..."

He couldn't do that. It was unacceptable. He would never leave Lector alone like that.

So it looked like he would just have to win.

"But It was Rogue that finally came up with a way to push him back."

"Sting. This isn't working."

The voice of Rogue came from beneath him, within the shadows.

"I noticed. What's your plan."

Rogue rose from the shadows to stand beside Sting. Neither took their eyes off of the Demon King as they spoke.

"Y'see... He was faster than us, and he was stronger than us, But he was cradling this book. He only ever had one hand to fight us with."

"We'll have to time this perfectly," Rogue continued. "All he needs is a second. If he can focus one of us, without the other taking advantage of his distraction immediately, then he wins the engagement."

"Got it."

Marde Geer chose to wait patiently for them to reorganize. But he didn't wait long. Sting and Rogue, surged forward, more determined than ever.

"That one hand, though more than enough to hold us off one at a time..."

Sting threw a heavy punch, and Marde Geer leaned to the side to dodge.

"Disappointing. I hoped for more than the same -"

He was silenced by Rogue's jab to his right. Marde attempted to dance away from the Shadow Dragon Slayer, but he was boxed in by a Whit Dragon's Roar, aimed at where he would have been a second later.

The Demon King was forced to stop his momentary retreat, and it allowed Rogue to leap right back on top of him. The Demon King frantically waved his hand, attempting to snare Rogue with his Curse, but the Dragon Slayer melted into shadows and continued to advance. Marde braced himself, but was caught off guard by the kick to the back of his knee, knocking him off balance. Rogue leapt out and jammed his knee into the demon's jaw and sent him reeling backward.

"... Wasn't enough to keep up with two simultaneous attacks."

Sting swept his feet out from underneath him, leaving him airborne just long enough for Rogue to launch him back to earth with a Shadow Dragon's Slash to the abdomen. Marde Geer rolled with the blow, managing to get back to his feet just in time to have to hold off another flurry of strikes.

"We were winning-"

Marde leapt backward to gain some distance. He lifted his hand quickly and then slashed it downward. Massive thorns erupted from the soil surrounding him, in an effort to hit Sting and Rogue while they tried to close.

A black streak weaved between the spires before disappearing into the shadows cast by the sun. Sting was nowhere in sight.

A shadow cast over him had the demon turn around immediately, just in time to see the White Dragon Slayer cast a deadly beam of white directly at him.

"WHITE DRAGON'S HOLY BREATH!"

Marde Geer tried to leap away, to escape Sting's attack in any way possible, but his feet were held fast. He had just enough time to look down and see two pale hands, reaching from his shadow and holding his ankles in place, before he was swallowed by the light.

"... until I managed to land a White Dragon's Holy Breath..."

"Haha! Rogue, it worked! We got 'im!"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer appeared next to Sting and nodded with a satisfied smirk of his own.

The plan, constructed on the fly, had been simple, but elegant. Rogue had carried Sting with him from within the shadows, jumping from between the Shadows created by the thorns so that they couldn't be tracked. When they were finally able to move behind him without being detected, Rogue launched sting into the air, and then moved to hold the demon in place so that Sting would manage to land the attack effectively.

It worked like a charm.

They'd done it. They'd won.

But the celebration was interrupted by a primal scream from within the crater.

"It.. It did something. I don't know what, but it hurt him. Enough to take us seriously."

Marde Geer stepped out of the dust cloud, shuddering in anguish. His skin, once pale, was now a puckered red color. His face, once so composed, was now feral. His cloak was in tatters. Each breath he took was ragged. Around his right hand, surrounding the book, was a crimson shield of Curse power. He slowly, laboriously, lowered himself to the ground and gently deposited the book, finally freeing his other hand, before raising back to his full height and glowering murderously.

"You...You...harmed... Marde Geer."

Sting desperately wanted to tell him that that'd been the whole idea but, frankly, he was too scared to make any smart ass comments. Rogue took an involuntary step back.

"I.. will... eradicate you... Slowly..."

The same aura that'd surrounded the book shimmered to life around the Demon King. Then he rocketed forth, covering 70 meters in seconds, and charging right into the two Dragon Slayers at break-neck speeds.

"He stopped holding back. He nearly bashed my head open with his next strike."

Sting attempted to swing at the mad demon, but he caught the fist and punched him in the face with it. Then he pulled on Sting's arm to jerk him right into the path of his own fist, sending Sting flying into a sprawl. Rogue watched him go, and his distraction was punished. Vines grabbed his ankles and wrists, binding him in place, while Marde Geer did the motions for the Rose explosion technique. The Rose formed around Rogue.

"Die... filth."

"HOLY RAY!"

The beams of light arced toward the demon. Marde Geer deflected it with his fingers, sending the beams into the earth to the right of him, but the interruption allowed Rogue enough time to escape his bindings.

Sting stood opposite the Demon King, eye swollen and breathing heavily. He spit the blood from his mouth. Rogue reappeared a distance away from the enemy in the opposite direction.

Sting nodded to Rogue. Rogue nodded back.

They were outmatched. They needed to even the odds.

"DRAGON FORCE!"


"He was overwhelming us. We went Dragon Force to compensate... It closed the gap a bit, but that was it."

Sting was leaning forward now. He'd quickly shifted out of the relaxed posture he'd started the report in, in favor of the more somber, reflective one that he was in now. Laxus understood it. He'd been the same way after the encounter with Acnologia.

This was the humility of undeniable defeat. Being forced to come to terms with your own powerlessness, rubbing elbows with death itself... it was hard to come out of that without feeling introspective and exposed.

"It still wasn't enough to even the fight." Sting shook his head at that.

"But the weirdest thing happened... We were in the middle of the worst fight of our lives... being hand fed our own asses-" But then he raised his head and locked eyes with Laxus. He looked perplexed, with a dozen question hidden behind those pupils. "-When this tower of light appeared in the distance. When the Demon King turned to look at it..."

Tower of light? Wait... Sting and Rogue saw it too?

"He looked like he recognized it.. somehow. It terrified him."

Laxus tried to survey the reactions to this news. He had to know... did anyone else know what Sabertooth's Guildmaster was talking about?

"Rogue and I tried to take advantage of the distraction, tried to engage with our strongest technique, but-"

Goldmine was nodding ever now and again. It was the motions of someone that was listening intently, but they didn't expose any other knowledge. Bob look completely enraptured, and that had Laxus feeling a little less terrified. Onibaba was quiet and expressionless, as she had been the entire meeting.

"-it wasn't necessary. The Light disappeared... and then all we felt was this pull, like the air around us was being tugged toward the place the Light'd been."

A pull too? That had to be it. It was just like the other reports.

In the reports he'd collected, many of the fights had been interrupted, much like Sting and Rogue's had, by the sudden appearance of a huge pillar of Light in the distance.

"And the Demon King... He was pulled with it. He disintegrated... vaporized right in front of us."

Laxus winced. Gajeel claimed that their opponents, Torafusa and Tempesta, disappeared in a similar fashion. Natsu couldn't confirm that, as he'd been unconscious at the time, but Laxus trusted Gajeel enough to accept his account. Erza claimed to have witnessed the light as well, right before..

"So this light... Was this the effects of the lacrima you were talking about, Laxus?"

Shit

"I believe so."

"You believe!" Roark sputtered, but Goldmine stared him down. Quatro Cerberus' Guildmaster turned back to Laxus.

"We'll need a bit more than that, son."

Laxus sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Here it goes...

"Yes, Yes that was it. As I said, the Lacrima was used to dispose of the evil within Magnolia. Sting's account of the destruction of the Demon King confirms it. I also have similar reports from my underlings, who witnessed similar occurrences during their respective battles."

Goldmine folded his arms. Apparently, It would have been preferred that he'd added this tidbit of information to his original report.

"Gajeel Redfox, Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, and others... sir."

"So..this Lacrima. You were very nondescript about its effects, Laxus. What does it do precisely?"

"I've said all that I can on that."

Goldmine looked dissatisfied with that answer. He said nothing, but neither did he move on to other topics. Sting was watching Laxus very closely... He didn't like that.

Erza's report had been... less than pleasant. Minerva had been with her when Lumen Histoire was activated. As a demon of Tartarus... Makarov hadn't known that there would be any switching sides...

According to Erza's Report, Minerva was targeted by Lumen Histoire, like the other members of Tartarus, and like the other members of Tartarus..

She'd been destroyed.

Sting had to know that. Two traumatized Exceeds where there to witness..

"Look, You've all worked with my Grandfather. You know, just like every guild, Fairy Tail has secrets that it would like kept secret. I've told you all that I can."

Goldmine did not look appeased, but he backed down. "Very well, then. Next We'll be discussing the teams dispatched to deal with the FACE constructs. Master Bob, If you'd please?"

Bob stood and moved to speak, but Laxus was too distracted to notice.

Sting was still looking at him. Laxus could tell they'd both been revisiting the same event at that moment, but felt entirely different emotions.

After all, Guilt and Blame were opposites, right?


Next time... I think I'll take a break from all this important back story stuffs and have fun with Natsu and Happy... or Maybe I'll explore some more Shipping Wangst... or maybe I'll just write a whole chapter about Ichiya. Who doesn't Like Ichiya, men?