Chapter Fourteen:
Laxus listened carefully as he paused between forms. Lucy had been at his house for a week and hadn't allowed him to move her out of his guest room. From the reports Levy, Mira, and Ever had given him, she hadn't left the room except to use the attached bathroom. She seemed to spend all of her time in bed, just like she had in the infirmary. He had thought that the point of moving her out of the guild was to give her more room to recuperate in.
Sighing, he turned to the next form. Who knew that being a guild master meant so much extra paperwork? No wonder Gramps was always anxious to make me help him.
Working on the paperwork, he paused every so often to listen for noise from Lucy's room, but at best he could only hear her heartbeat and breathing, or the occasional turned page. All she seemed to do is read. When he suggested that they start on some of the physical therapy exercises that Wendy had prescribed, she snarled at him, saying that she didn't need anyone's help.
The younger girl had been particularly depressed about the fact that Lucy would have to do physical therapy. He could remember Wendy's tears as she explained that she had gotten to Lucy too late to repair some of the extensive muscle and nerve damage from the deeper wounds, and as a result Lucy would have to spend a fair bit of time building up the strength and coordination of the damaged limbs. Laxus could see it in her trembling arms, and he wondered if some of her insistence on staying in her room was because she didn't trust her legs to support her.
He was abruptly pulled out of his pondering by the appearance of seven new scents nearby, one of them particularly vile, almost burning his nose. Tensing, he called his lightning to his hands, comforted by the familiar static feeling running along his arms. "Lucy, stay put," he called softly. "Don't move until I tell you everything's fine."
Moving quietly towards the front door, he checked the scent profiles again, and relaxed as he identified one of them. The strongest scent was still scorching his nose, but now that they were closer the others were more distinct. "Never mind Lucy, false alarm. Just an old friend coming to chat."
Hearing her snort, he wondered if she had even worried. There had been no scent of fear coming from her room when he warned her to stay put. Opening the front door, he watched as seven cloaked figures glided down the path that led to his house.
When they reached the bottom of the steps, the leading figure pushed his hood back and Jellal grinned up at Laxus. "Sorry about the shock. May I have a word with you?"
"How did you know I was shocked?" Laxus said, moving aside to hold the door for the group. "You're perfectly welcome to come in. All of you. Can I get you guys anything?"
They filed past him silently, pushing their hoods back. He recognized the former members of the Oracian Seis from the news reports after the joint guild task force that had been formed to eliminate them. So Jellal was recruiting all lost souls then? Fine by him. Cobra had been at the messy finale to the Grand Magic Games. Laxus remembered smelling that acrid scent now, and he realized how Jellal knew that he had been startled at their approach.
"The blonde's here?" the other dragon slayer asked softly as he passed. "Where's Natsu?"
"I don't know," Laxus muttered. "And I'd steer clear of her right now. She's not in the best of tempers right now."
Cobra snickered softly, joining Angel and Midnight on the couch. Hoteye had chosen to stay outside and inspect some of the shrubberies that the builders had planted around the house. Closing the door, Laxus turned to the odd group arrayed in his living room. "Can I get you guys anything? You've come a long way for a social call."
The members of Crime Sorciere shook their heads, looking at Jellal, who said: "I have something I need to discuss with you, if possible. Privately?"
"Of course," Laxus said, gesturing to the open door to his study. "And while we talk, the rest of you can help yourself to anything in the kitchen."
He heard Cobra whisper something to Angel, and wasn't surprised when the mage looked up and asked: "I heard the Celestial Mage is here. May I speak with her?"
Laxus grimaced, but who knew? It might do Lucy some good to see someone who knew nothing about what had transpired during the year and a half she had been contracted to the mayor. "If you wish. Jellal, I'll be with you in a moment."
"Of course," the blue haired man said, lingering in the doorway of his study as Laxus went down the hallway towards Lucy's room, Angel following him. Pausing, he knocked on the door before entering. As expected, Lucy was sitting on her bed, and he watched her reach for the cup on her table, probably ready to throw it at him. "None of that now," he said sternly, moving so she could see Angel behind him. "You have a visitor to see you."
Leaving the two of them, he murmured to Angel: "Whatever she does, don't attack. She's a bit…fragile right now."
Before he joined Jellal in his study, he caught Cobra's eye. "If you hear things getting…harsh…between them, come get me." Hopefully that would forestall the five remaining Oracian Seis members attacking Lucy when she invariably drove Angel to the breaking point.
Finally closing the door to his study, he sat at his desk, looking at Jellal who had taken the seat across from him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Congratulations on your appointment as Master, I think," Jellal said, chuckling slightly. "But you and I both know that I've come for something else."
"It's quite a trip for congratulations," Laxus agreed, moving aside some paperwork he had been working on. He couldn't remember seeing any reports of recent dark guild activity, but Jellal would know more than him in this situation. "How can Fairy Tail help?"
"I'm here about Erza Scarlet," Jellal said quietly. "It's a bit of a personal matter."
Ah, Laxus thought, noting the slight blush. He had thought the two had interacted strangely during the Grand Magic Games. So the two of them had a history? This could be interesting.
"What did our Titania do this time?" Laxus chuckled, knowing what Erza was capable of when she went on the warpath. "And how much do I have to pay in damages?"
Jella shook his head. "I would like you to order her back to Fairy Tail," he said softly. "She has been too long away from her family."
"I thought the rumor was that she had gone to the Magic Council to look for you?" Laxus said, remembering hearing Mira and Cana gossiping one evening at the bar.
The other man grimaced. "She did," Jellal admitted. "But that is not the life for her. Her happiness is with Fairy Tail. I was hoping that once you started the guild, she would return, but she's shown no indication of stopping her pursuit."
"And if she wants to stay with the Magic Council, why should I force her back to Fairy Tail?" Laxus could easily see the merits of having Erza Scarlet return to Fairy Tail. He would get his one true S Class mage back, since Mira didn't really go out on jobs, and Gildarts wasn't one for hanging around and doing normal missions. When he had started the guild, he had temporarily promoted the Raijinshu to S class, but he had to hold the exams to confirm them. However, he had resolved not to meddle in his guildmates' affairs.
"If Erza keeps chasing after me, I'm afraid she will get hurt," Jellal said quietly. "My guildmates and I walk a dark road, and Erza does not belong where the sun does not shine. I would like to spare her from as much darkness as I can."
Leaning back, Laxus considered the mage in front of him. The man cared for Erza, he could tell, and he was certainly honest in his reasoning. But he knew Erza Scarlet. "She won't just come back because I order her to," he said slowly. "I'll need something to tempt her back."
"Isn't her team enough?" Jellal asked. "If Fairy Tail itself wasn't good enough reason for her to return?"
Grimacing, Laxus said: "Her team currently is in the wind. Erza's the only member we can get a location for right now."
Jellal looked confused. "I thought Lucy Heartfilia had remained with Fairy Tail despite its disbanding."
"She's recovering from some severe injuries right now," Laxus said shortly. "It will be a month before she will be able to go out on jobs again. If she cooperates with her recovery."
Opening his mouth to speak, Jellal looked as if he was going to ask more questions, but several things happened at once. Laxus got an idea, the communications lacrima on his desk nearly fell of his desk as it emerged violently from under a stack of paperwork, and Cobra burst in.
Ignoring Jellal and the communications lacrima for the moment, Laxus stood and turned to Cobra. "Insults or projectiles?"
The other slayer looked confused. "What?"
"Ah, Laxus? You might want to answer this…" Jellal said, pointing to the communications lacrima. "It's the guild hall."
"They can wait," the lightning dragon slayer said curtly as he moved towards the door. "I'm currently about to stop your guildmates from murdering one of mine. Cobra, is she crying or yelling?"
"Um neither?" the other man said, still confused. "She's running."
"Impossible," Laxus said, stepping out into the hallway. "Lucy can't run. Her legs were damaged."
"Wait, Lucy?" Cobra asked, wide-eyed. "No, I came in here because…"
"Didn't Lucy manage to upset Angel?" Laxus said, just as confused now. If the other man hadn't come in to tell him that Lucy was about to have the members of Crime Sorciere descending upon her because she had said something to Angel, what had him looking so worried?
"No. they're fine. I actually came here because I smelled-"
"LAXUS!" a voice roared as his front door burst open and a red blur crashed through. "What have you done to her?"
"Erza?" he heard Jellal say, as the girl paused in the middle of a living room filled with the members of Crime Sorciere. Meredy had frozen with a cup of tea halfway to her mouth, and there was an open package of cookies sitting on the coffee table.
"Jellal?" she gasped.
***Well, this is going to change a few things. Laxus, Lucy, Jellal, and Erza all in close proximity. Oh the fun we can have.***