Chapter 14: Connection

Mira was the first to reach the mountain of rubble. Tears were flying from her eyes as she furiously clawed at the stone. Screaming reassurances at herself, the takeover mage slowly released the green haired mage known as Freed. The green haired mage never moved once, not even a twitch of a finger. Hysteria was kicking in now as Mira began to activate Demon Soul. She was only able to stop when Freed's hand finally flickered, telling her that he was still alive.

The other members of Fairy Tail soon arrived to find the girl covered in dust as she dug through the rock and stone. Mira's hands were becoming bloody now, stones scattered everywhere around her. A crazed look was in her eyes. Elfman along with a few others tried to take her away, but their attempts were in vain for she would fight back with an almost murderous intent. So instead, they tried to help reduce the monstrosity of earth. Mira was only getting worse as she was now screaming at the others to speed up the work. But no matter how fast they clawed, rubble would quickly replace the little they had moved out of the way. It was hard to believe that Mira could get anymore vexed, but it was possible for she was preparing to unleash Demon Soul, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Mira turned her head to see a head of blonde hair.

Slowly, Lucy whispered encouraging words to the mage, "Mira, you need to stop. Do you think Freed would want you to hurt yourself for him?"

The question made Mira freeze, a medium size rock in her hands. Looking up at Lucy, eyes wide, she slowly shook her head. Smiling softly, Lucy continued.

"No, I didn't think so. Now why don't you have Wendy take a look at those hands of yours. I'll get them out for you."

Mira didn't move, however, but eyed Lucy suspiciously. Unable to control her panic and worry, the words left her mouth menacingly, " What could you do? You may have trained for three years but there's no way you're stronger than me."

Still smiling, Lucy understood the pain Mira felt. Gently tugging the white haired mage to her feet, the blonde guided her to the group.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine."

Lucy walked forward a few steps, safely away from her fellow mages.

Laxus, with a face revealing realization, yelled at his wife. "No! You can't use that spell! You know what will happen if you do!"

Lucy turned around slightly so that she could look at her husband.

"Their our friends, Laxus. We have to help them."

Laxus yelled again, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Even so! Their are other ways to get them out!"

Lucy smiled yet again before turning back around to face the rubble. Spreading her arms out wide, the celestial mage summoned a two golden magic circles, activating the spell. Lucy's body began to glow a faint yellow. Her body suddenly became translucent. The image of the blonde slowly began to fade away, while the images of two men began to flicker next to her. As Lucy's body faded out of existence, the bodies of both Gajeel and Freed came into it. Not long after, Lucy's form was gone, leaving behind both the dragon slayer and the script mage, their wounds gone. The two men slowly sat up. The mages of Fairy Tail surrounded them, happy that they were okay.

Only Laxus stood still, shock etched across his face. Suddenly, he bent forward slightly, his face looking down on the ground. Slowly, scale like etchings climbed his arms and across his entire body. His muscles grew and bulged as the markings continued to expand, as did his magical presence. The mages of Fairy Tail slowly backed away from him as they noticed his increase in magic. Makarov was about to ask the question everyone was thinking when he realized the meaning behind Laxus' actions, causing a new question to form.

He whispered the question, but still somehow everyone heard him, "Where's Lucy?"

As if answering the question, Laxus raised his left hand. His middle and index finger pointed upward, to the ceiling, while the other three fingers curled up against his palm. Laxus shouted out the name of the attack, his voice booming with the magical presence.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Supreme Thunder Crash!" Laxus flung his arm down as the last word left his mouth, the two fingers touching the ground while his right arm pointed behind him. Without warning, a multitude of large lightning bolts struck down onto the pile of rubble, breaking the caverns ceiling to reveal the blue sky and forest above. As each of the bolts of electricity shot down onto the rock and stone, the pile would shrink and slowly disappear until only a small amount remained.

In that small amount, a hand and leg could be seen. Laxus calmed down slightly at the sight, deactivating Dragon Force and running over to the pile. At that moment he resembled Mira from only a few moments ago, crazed with despair as stone and rock buried the one you love. The rest of Fairy Tail merely stood on the sidelines, confused by what was going on and what had happened moments before.

Laxus soon uncovered Lucy's face. Her breathing was ragged and shaky. She was pale and a cold sweat had broken out on her. Numerous cuts and bruises could be seen on her face alone, but as more of her body was unearthed, the knowledge in her condition did as well. It was like she had taken on the injuries of both Gajeel and Freed. It was as if she had changed the past so that she had been under the collapse and not the two men.

The only one that seemed to know what was going on was Laxus, but he was unable to talk for he was cradling Lucy's unconscious body to his, slowly rocking back and forth. What shocked the guild the most was what Laxus did next. He didn't attack the other members. He didn't verbally abuse them. He unleashed a heartbreaking scream, one that echoed in their minds. Sobs broke the never ending roar, tears not unnoticed.

The members were shocked by this show of emotion, frozen to their spots. Everyone had thought that Laxus had merely been infatuated with Lucy, attracted to her only because of her looks. That biased judgement was proven wrong.

The sobs of Laxus' slowly stopped as he stood up, hugging Lucy in his arms still. Slowly he partially turned to face the group of mages. A deep hatred was in his eyes. He glared at the different mages before yelling out knives to the heart.

"Why didn't you try to help her! Why didn't you try to help Lucy! Does she mean nothing to you! Does her life not matter as much as any other! Was it that you were hoping to have less competition in the exam! Isn't she 'nakama' too!"

No one spoke, no one moved. A menacing silence ruled the cavern. Though he was hesitant, Makarov spoke up, telling the best answer he could think of. "It's not that we don't love Lucy, or not want to have helped her, Laxus. We were just to confused about was going on."

Laxus' anger could almost be seen dripping off of his body. A deep throated growl emanated from him and echoed around. "Confused! Confused? You were to confused? That doesn't mean anything! You saw her body in the rubble, knew that at least someone was in there, and you did nothing to help! I'm stronger than you old man; so you better watch out, I might just come after you and you precious Fairy Tail."

And with that, Laxus turned himself and Lucy into a bolt of electricity and shot off to somewhere on the island. The threat had taken root in the minds of the mages of Fairy Tail. Only two people spoke, but only one person moved.

Natsu mumbled to himself so quietly not even Wendy and Gajeel could hear him. Luckily for them it was something they wouldn't want to hear. "Lucy, my precious, you shall be mine."

Makarov, meanwhile, fell to his knees as tears of his own began to fall. He was muttering something to himself. "I'm sorry Layla, I'm so sorry. I failed you."

Author's Note- Ugh, another short chapter! I'm sorry, I'm failing you guys. But you have to admit, that was a good one. My sequel to A New Fairy Tail Begins is out. It's called The Fairy Tale Continues, which I just realized is my fifth story ever, wow. It's a pleasure to serve you in some sort of entertaining way *bows like a butler*. Disclaimer: I do not own the attack "Supreme Thunder Crash"

Anyone that knows where that's from get's a thumbs up from me!

Thanks for Reading!

Archangel-Angel