Part 12 – The rising
"So the scent's the same?" Bickslow asked Laxus as he sniffed the blood stain on the ground.
"No doubt about it, the arm in the guild belonged to the guy who died on this spot. There are several scents leading into the town but none coming before the point of this body." Laxus said in puzzlement. Lucy sat on the ground a few meters away with Freed trying to get information from Crux.
"So you say he was an Earth make wizard?" Freed asked intrigued by the spirits wealth of knowledge.
"It makes sense, when they retreated they sunk into the ground. I'm guessing the guy whose arm I ripped off was an earth make mage." Lucy said groaning, it was starting to get dark and they still had a ways to go to the town. Laxus decided to walk in case he picked up anything with his nose.
"Damn cosplayer, I'm never lending you a hand, in fact, don't touch any of my appendages; I like them fine where they are." Bickslow said and Lucy threw a rock at him.
"So now you're throwing rocks at him, I'm starting to think you have a crush on him." Freed chuckled.
Lucy stuck her tongue out at him and made her way to Laxus.
"Let's get moving; there's nothing left here. They were able to hide as long as this bastard was alive." Lucy hissed.
"Well Lucy I think you may have single handedly dealt a great blow to Raven Tail's defences. Good job Blondie."
"You realize you're blond too right?" Lucy said shaking her head as she trudged in front of them.
"You ladies coming?" She called over her shoulder.
"I liked cosplayer better when she trembled in fear crying 'save me, save me Natsu'" Bickslow grumbled as he followed a smirking Freed. Laxus shook his head and fell in step with his friends as they followed the celestial spirit mage.
"Her spirits are much better now than they were when we left, I am so grateful" Freed said thoughtfully, he admired the girls drive and determination to deal justice.
"I spoke to Porlyusica earlier; they implanted an artificial in Lisanna. Her ovaries weren't damaged thankfully so she won't have to be on any permanent hormone therapy. The sky god slayer girl was able to fix most of the major organ damage. Lisanna should wake up soon." Laxus said.
"How is she going to cope with everything that happened?" Bickslow asked directing 2 of his babies to float above Lucy.
"I don't know… it's not going to be easy." Laxus said in a dead voice.
"I wish there was more we could do." Freed said sadly.
"We will definitely get her justice but the harms already been done. Mira feels so helpless; she feels she failed to protect Lisanna." Freed said thinking of his girlfriend. Lucy who had slowed down to listen to their quiet mumblings joined their conversation.
"She's stronger than you think, it will take her time but she's going to pull through. A woman's strength isn't on the outside; it comes from in here." Lucy said directing her thumb at her heart.
Natsu and Elfman had their eyes glued to Lisanna. It had been almost a week since her ordeal. Chelia thought it best to keep her in a coma like state until her body had fully healed. She would have enough to deal with psychologically without the added trauma of physical pain. Wendy readily agreed and convinced Porlyusica.
Cheria and Wendy had lifted the magical barrier they placed in her mind keeping her comatose. It was now a matter of time. Mirajane had fallen asleep waiting for her to wake. Erza had just carried her to the spare couch in the room to get some well needed rest.
"Elfman" Erza murmured waiting for the beast soul mage to turn to her.
"When was the last time Mira ate?" Erza said taking in the shrunken appearance of her old frenemy.
"She hasn't left Lisanna's side the entire time. I can't even remember the last time she slept." Elfman sighed; his eyes fixed on Lisanna's calm emotionless face.
He was capturing the peaceful, serene expression on her face while it was there. Who knew if they would ever see her old happy, calm self again…? Elfman hoped, deep down, that she would never awaken; that she would never have to come to terms with her ordeal. He wanted to save her from the emotional storm that hung over them.
Lisanna moaned; both Natsu and Elfman leaned in wearing the biggest brightest grins they could muster. Her eyes flew opened and she screamed agonizingly as she scrambled off the bed and into a corner. She went into foetal position; screaming louder as the men got closer. Mira was at her side in an instant. Lisanna clutched onto her screaming as she held onto the older woman for dear life. Gray who had entered with Wendy and Chelia dragged Natsu and Elfman away.
"You ice prick let me go, can't you see she's scared? She needs me." Natsu struggled against Gray who slammed him into the wall outside the room. He held Natsu up by the scruff of his shirt.
"Natsu, remember what Lucy said? It's going to take time… She needs to deal with…" Gray fought to control his anger; looking for the words to finish his sentence.
"Her ordeal" He spat.
"We're going to have to protect her from afar for now." Gray said releasing Natsu and sticking his hands into his pockets. He walked out the house with Elfman following. Natsu closed his eyes, drawing in deep breaths to calm himself before joining the men outside. He found them sitting on the ground outside Lisanna's window. They listened in silence as she broke down.
Lisanna's agonizing cries and screams were muffled as she buried her face further into Mira's chest. The older take over mage cried with her sister, rocking on the floor with her till her tears had run dry and she dry sobbed. Erza tentatively stroked her hair from behind, kneeling on the floor behind her and Mira. Lisanna snapped back, her eyes were wide open in terror and fear. Recognizing Erza; she latched onto her as she did to Mirajane. Wendy left Chelia to monitor Lisanna while she contacted the Master.
"Erza… Mira…" She gasped as she lost consciousness once more.
Erza and Mira immediately moved her to the bed as Chelia placed her hands over Lisanna's head allowing her magic to scan through her brain.
"The mental stress was too much for her… she simply fainted. She'll come to again in a few minutes." Chelia said as each woman took on of Lisanna's hands. Mira kissed the hand she held affectionately as she stroked Lisanna's hair.
Natsu pounded his fist against the ground repeatedly letting out an anguished pained howl.
"I won't let them break you, I won't let the darkness take over you. I promise I'll take away the dark and fill you with light." Natsu vowed.
Laxus and his group had just entered Salem. The town seemed more like a ghost town. Laxus extended his dragon hearing; noticing there weren't any people conversing anywhere in the town. His nostrils suddenly flared as the smell of blood along with one of the scents he picked from the site of the body assaulted his nostrils. Laxus grabbed Lucy and used his power to transport them instantly. Lucy grabbed onto Laxus as her knees gave way. The scene before her was all too similar. Yukino Aguria lay bare on the ground in a pool of blood, this time the blood didn't belong to the woman but the man who lay in pieces not far from her.
There was a shimmer in the air and Loke appeared with Virgo. Virgo examined Yukino's unconscious form and dressed her body. She returned to Lucy, Loke and Laxus with a comforting smile.
"She wasn't harmed in anyway. It seems there was some sort of… foreign magic that saved her." Virgo said as Laxus grabbed Lucy dodging 2 powerful blasts as Sting and Rogue appeared before them. Sting was seething; glaring at Laxus.
"Did you try to harm my mate?" Sting growled low and dangerously as he approached the 2 blondes and the celestial spirits.
A/N: There you have it part 12, I hope you guys enjoyed the update. I was suffering with a case of Iwastoodrunktowrite but I'm back now. My brain is still a little woozy but recovering. Special thanks to: Abe no Seirei, Irish . Skye, DaisyChainsAndHandGrenades (Cool name!), 8XAlice, Nakora-Chan, bluedot, lyricalgurl8, Lolita-girl-765, Exo-Toxicimpulse, Cal-Kitty, Clairedamoon, NanamiTsukyhime, samuraigirl666, riri drea heart, JcL107, Mythologyfreakgirl, Taurus, XxShyxX, H8rslovemecauseI'mawesome and AkariNeMellia for the faves, follows and reviews. Your reviews are a real treat for me :) You're all SUPER!
Love
Rogue
