disclaimer: i don't own fairy tail
title: failure
summary: when all else fails, think of water…then think of me
dedication: my dad for letting me dye my hair bright pink and my mom for not freaking out over it
notes: i'm leaving for china in 3 hours fuck yeah also i've been binge re-eat-ading (so many puns in that one word like come on, binge eater, the re from Tokyo ghoul:re and reading because that's what the original meaning is) Tokyo ghoul. also i appreciate arima but he needs to die? crazy kaneki was cool. polite kaneki as cool. happy, fluffy kaneki is a fake shit. honestly though i hated centipede cause the mask that uta made him was so cool and he couldn't use it when he was centipede…also touka's hair what even happened to it? okay and i just tokyo ghoul is so good so obsessed life is so good when you're obsessed it's just very very very very good
i'm in spanish class
sue me
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Silver was not happy.
Of course, that was an understatement. There were many, many things that made him extremely angry, and combined, that made for a terrifying and corrupt king.
First of all, Deliora was still running free, as Kain Hikaru had been found passed out in a bar with alcohol poisoning, and had to be treated and freed of the sickness for at least a couple days. Although the fatty couldn't match up to Deliora at all in terms of combat, it was true that he was the only one who could render Deliora disabled with just one touch. All he had to do was pull out a piece of the assassin's hair (if he was bald, he had to at least have eyebrow hair or something!) and stick it onto his puppet; Deliora would then be completely under his control. But the stupid fatass's inability to live a week without getting drunk proved to be the anger that resided in the creases of Silver's brow.
Second of all, his spy from Faera was missing. He'd left to attend some engagement party, which Silver later found out was the exact same that he'd sent Azuma to crash, leaving a note that said he'd be apparently "missed" if he didn't attend. That was true, Silver supposed, what with people probably searching for the spy by now in the Faera courts, but it didn't make the truth any less bitter. After Kain's failure as a person, Silver needed a cheer-me-up in the form of more information on his worst enemies (of the moment). The king was the type of person who had few true enemies, but a lot of people who called him their enemy; Makarov was someone he could call a real enemy.
Third of all, Azuma had failed.
The weight of that sentence was enormous. Azuma was one of the greatest warriors to have ever appeared in this frozen land. Yet he had been defeated by Knightwalker – no – Erza Scarlet, as Silver now knew. It was true, though, that even Azuma was not powerful enough to defeat a slew of magically trained individuals such as those who had burst from the floor. Azuma had been a fool to fall for Erza's tricky plan. No doubt the spy would not be pleased. Silver couldn't risk losing the one connection he had to the inner workings of the court. Silver had to find a way to incapacitate Laxus before the spy got mad.
Speaking of the mysterious cloaked figure, however, Silver still had no idea of his identity. It had been a condition of his, and the hooded cloak that he wore seemed to be on whenever any other person was around. His room was given the utmost privacy and even the servants that were sent to deliver food and wake him up had never seen his face. It was rumored that he had horns in the shape of lightning bolts, although Silver hadn't heard of anyone that grew natural horns, in the shape of lightning bolts no less.
But they were all just rumors. Silver would very well like to know the spy's identity. He did not have anything over him at all, and it made him uneasy. Although the cloaked man did seem like he was sincere about his interests, Silver wanted to be able to expose him in the event that Makarov somehow found out secrets about the courts of Skyrrgia (not that Silver took care to expose his secrets to anyone).
The problem was, was that Silver was sure that the spy would really not appreciate finding out if the king set his own spy on the spy. Even the sentence was somewhat confusing him. But with his disappearance, Silver could not help but be worried. If he wasn't lying about being in Faera, who knew what he was doing!
But there was no time to think about this matter. Deliora was the greater crisis.
It was time Silver paid a visit to the infirmary again – something he seemed to do a lot nowadays.
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The silence in the room was stifling. They'd literally been waiting here for over five minutes for something to happen, like the courtier to return bearing news of King Makarov's decision as to how to deal with the event.
In fact, the incident seemed almost surreal. Who would've thought that some random guy with strangely blocky afro-like hair would wreck the ballroom during an engagement party, drain Laxus' magic power to knock him out, fight Erza in a one-on-one that ended up in his retreat, and then trap the rest of the magical company under the floor? Certainly no sane person.
Besides, most of the tension was erupting from the two currently glaring teens, magic twitching on their fingers. Fire danced on Natsu's palm while Gray's glare was so hard that frost was beginning to form on where his eye-daggers were pointed, also known as Natsu's shoes. But neither of them dared to move a single muscle, because Erza had her eye trained on both of them.
Just as the cold on one side of the room and the heat on the other became almost unbearable, Makarov himself finally came striding into the wreckage. At once, the magic was dispelled and the two abruptly turned away.
"What do we have here?" muttered Makarov, surveying the mess. "Well, it does seem like the court owes the Locksers a new ballroom, if this was not set up."
"O-Of course not, King Makarov. But really, we're just planning to build a new one," Lord Lockser stammered out.
Makarov shrugged. Well, if they didn't need money, he had no real wish to give it. "Now, where's my grandson? Laxus?"
The lightning dragonslayer stepped forward. Although his exhaustion from being drained clearly showed on his face, his mind was still working faster than his element. "Do you know who did this? I was out for most of it, so I couldn't say much, but Erza and the others…" he let his sentence trail off.
"Azuma," Erza muttered. To most of the people in the room, the name meant nothing. But Makarov knew exactly who he was and who that particular man worked for.
"Silver," said Makarov. "What for?"
Erza gestured at Laxus. "He seemed to be asking to retrieve Laxus' body after he was turned unconscious."
The king raised an eyebrow. "They want Laxus."
"Yes. Although the intentions were not clear, I believe it may be an attempt to set up a hostage situation."
Fried raised a hand. "I agree with Knightwalker, King Makarov."
Laxus' eyes narrowed. "I just remembered…where were you a while ago, anyways? Bixlow and I looked everywhere for you."
"In my room," Fried replied calmly, albeit a little confused as to why his idol was questioning him so fiercely.
"We knocked," informed Bixlow.
"I guess I didn't hear it."
"I guess not," mumbled Laxus, still pondering.
Makarov cleared his throat. "Onto important matters…security will be boosted, for sure. I'm sure you'll hate this, but Laxus, you will need your own personal guard with you at all times, even during your sleep. We can't risk a hostage situation happening, you hear me?"
Laxus rolled his eyes. "I'm–"
"–strong enough to fight on your own, I know. But if we take any chances, we're done for."
"Pah," spat Laxus, but obediently didn't press on the matter.
"You may go back to your houses. Erza, could you come to the courtroom in a little bit?" Makarov asked, a little weary.
Erza nodded and the crowd dispersed.
Juvia's mind was still whirling. First of all, the cat was out of the bag. Gray knew. Even though she knew there were much more serious matters at hand such as the Crown Prince's almost-abduction, her mind could not help but ponder and pause on that one point.
Damn.
She had to find Gray. Damn!
"Gray!" she called, abandoning her parents and pushing through Lucy, Natsu, and Mirajane. "Gray!"
His dark head of hair turned around as his natural scowl relaxed into a blank expression. Gray quirked an eyebrow as Juvia came rushing over to him, but didn't say anything.
"So…" She twiddled her thumbs and looked down shyly.
"What is it?" Gray asked, almost completely flatly, voice only inflecting slightly on the second syllable. "What do you want from me?" He sounded tired. Too tired for someone who hadn't even helped out in the fight…
Juvia wasn't sure what she had wanted to say. If she was apologizing, maybe she would be inferring that Gray actually cared. If she didn't say anything, she'd look like an awkward idiot. "Um, why is Gray so tired sounding?" Good one, Juvia. Now he just thinks you're a creepy stalker who monitors his health.
"I am?" Gray sounded surprised. Then, he looked as if a bolt of lightning had hit him in between his eyes. "Azuma," he muttered. "It was the shock."
"Azuma?" Juvia wondered. "Does Gray know Azuma?"
"Ah…yeah," he answered absentmindedly. "Wait, please ignore me."
Too late. Juvia was already curious. "How does Gray know him?"
"When I was…little," he replied vaguely. "I saw him around." He was still reeling from the engagement party and his mind must not have been working properly, because when he realized what he said, he nearly bolted all the way from the palace to his home. "Shit."
"Gray lived in Skyrrgia?" The water woman was not as shocked as she probably should have been, instead looking excited at the fact she was learning more about her favorite person.
With that, Gray realized where Juvia's inquisitiveness stemmed from and his face abruptly darkened. "Why don't you tell me about your so-called engagement first?"
"A-Ah, that…" Juvia nervously scratched her head. "About that…"
Gray tapped his foot.
"Juvia guesses she just forgot to tell Gray...it wasn't much of a choice, you see. Juvia is in an arranged marriage." She hated how her throat got stuck when she started to form the words "but I love you". He probably knew, yet her cowardice was relentless. It ate her up.
Gray's foot-tapping stopped. "You serious?"
"Y-Yeah."
Something bloomed on his face, Juvia wasn't sure what, but it made her fluttery and happy until he turned on his heel abruptly and strode away.
"I see. Stop by the shop if you need new shoes." With that, he was gone. Juvia wasn't even sure if she'd just been hallucinating.
"Juvia!" called her father. "Let's go. This ballroom is wrecked and you could get hurt." In a fit of uncharacteristic anger, Juvia smashed a small tendril of water onto the floor. She was angry…but she didn't know why. Was it because Gray was so hard to read?
She calmed her mind. Water. Smooth, flowing, unhurried water. That was who she needed to be right now. "Coming, Father!" She ran after her family, following them into the hallway and up the stairs into the undamaged section of the house.
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Erza travelled to the courtroom on her own two feet. Each step she took, people from noble birth looked up and stared. After all, she was clad in armor and they recognized her as Knightwalker, even if her real identity was unknown by most likely everyone. Most people didn't even know that an Erza Scarlet existed, even though technically Knightwalker did not exist in the record books.
"King Makarov," she greeted, and sank into a respected one-knee kneel.
Makarov sighed, wrinkle lines getting more pronounced. "Thank you, Knightwalker…no…Erza. Thank you for saving my son."
She smiled and nodded. "You're welcome."
Then her face tightened.
Security would need to be upped.
"Please let me be your son's personal guard."
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