Chapter 300 was not ok man. Not at all. I am so not ok with it for so many reasons. Brb for three years, I need a bathtub for my tears.
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I awoke to the sound of Sting trying to break through the guestroom window with Lector carrying him from behind. I almost jumped out of my skin when I tossed over to my side only to see the White Dragon Slayer's face smushed against the cold glass.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked no one in particular as I jolted out of the bed and quickly unlocked the window and stepped aside to let the two in. I watched as Lector settled Sting down slowly and I quickly went to close the curtains to keep the sun's bright rays from blinding us.
When I turned back to examine the two Sabertooth mages, I realized with a clouded heart that Sting wasn't wearing his usual outfit and that his forehead was tightly bandaged up. Probably from the fight with the dragon slayers of Fairy Tail. The fight that I didn't get to watch.
It was then that I noticed the giant box Sting had in his hands.
It was an understatement to say that I wasn't feeling guilty for the curiosity that rushed through my system in that one moment.
After settling down in the giant guestroom, the other blond followed my gaze and let a wide smirk grace his lips as he set it down on the bedside table, moving the lamp and rearranging some random things in the process.
"Ms. Greeney told me I needed to deliver this to you the moment she found out one Miss Lilian Orelohr was back," Sting explained sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.
I could only smile at that before Sting's loyal red cat swooped down in between us and inspected me slowly. Up until now, I almost forgot that he practically trailed Sting everywhere he went and that he wasn't properly introduced to 'Lilian Orelohr' yet.
I swallowed nervously as Lector stared at me with wide curious eyes that reminded me of a quiet baby's. Sting had once said that the tailor would tell them stories of me and her time at the estate every time they visited.
Sting had taken well to my true identity of being the girl he was always told of, I guess... That or maybe it hadn't sunken in yet but Lector?
I exchanged glances with Sting and by the way his posture changed, I could just tell he was thinking the same thing.
If Lector ever found out the truth, he'd be devastated.
"The Great Sting has come all the way to deliver this for you and you don't even say thank you?!" The cat perked up suddenly, folding his small arms across his chest as he glared at me. I felt the air catch in my lungs; I honestly certainly was not expecting that.
Apparently Sting hadn't expected it either because after I got over my shock, I saw Sting in the background with a hand over his mouth, with a scrunched up expression written all over his face. He was probably trying to hold back some witty remark, I thought to myself dismissively. His brows were scrunched together and his eyes looked almost watery from nearly laughing; nothing seemed more like a legit explanation than that at that moment.
Lector cleared his throat and I felt a warm blush brush against my cheeks.
"Right..." I muttered as I walked towards Sting in the same way you'd expect how a noble lady would- even though I definitely was not dressed for the part. Sting dropped his hand as I came to a stop in front of him, straightening out his face in a serious manner but still never failing to raise his eyebrow suggestively in a subtle manner that Lector wouldn't pick up as the cat stared at us eagerly. I almost laughed.
"I must thank you for going out of your way to actually deliver Ms. Greeney's gift to me. I really appreciate it," I replied softly, copying the way Azalia spoke during her sudden appearance at the Games- quiet, dainty and yet still empowering.
The only difference was that she was born to be a debutante and I was a girl who was just barely getting by.
"Well, I've always wanted to meet the girl she always talked about," he did a mock bow and I let a wide smile cross my face.
"Oh, really?" I pretended to be surprised and laughed when Lector swooped in on the conversation eagerly.
"Is it true that the servants used to play poker in the basement and the losers would have to go through their duties the next day in their underwear?" He asked a bit little too excited as he perched comfortably onto Sting's shoulder.
In a matter of minutes, the three of us somehow ended up pulling out pillows and arranging them on the ground in a way that we could all stare at the ceiling comfortably on our backs. We were exchanging stories of our pasts like we weren't actual strangers at all and laughed at age old inside jokes. Lector had fallen asleep in the middle of Sting's story when he stopped all of a sudden and rolled over towards where my body laid.
"Lily," he whispered before sharply jabbing into my ribs with a finger. I let out a quiet curse before rolling over and adjusting myself just so I was facing him completely on the ground.
"What?" I muttered darkly as I glared at him under my blond bangs tiredly, unconsciously brushing it aside as we began a halfhearted staring contest.
Sting shuffled around then, throwing a pillow off to the side and glared back down at me. Quickly trusting my instincts, I followed, sat up in front of him and tilted my head curiously. There was a frown set straight on his face that I swore wasn't there while he was storytelling, "what's wrong?"
"What would you do if you were without your magic?" He asked blankly and slumped; propping himself up so he could have a hand under his chin and still be in the most comfortable position ever. His head dropped almost as if he gave up or something.
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes then, watching as he stared back at me with a look of pure concentration through half lidded eyes. Only Lector's soft snores could be heard in the castle as I thought on what he just asked me. Somehow it didn't sound right.
The more I thought of my answer, the more I was reminded of the decision Azalia had dropped on me before the ritual. I played around with my thumbs nervously and closed my eyes shut as I tried to clear my head.
It wasn't just the decision that bothered me either; the more I pondered, the more self conscious I felt under his gaze before I finally groaned and shuffled away from him. Covering my red face with my hands as I curled up in a ball against the side of the bedpost.
"You need to stop," I muttered as I threw the nearest pillow at him in embarrassment, hoping that it would break his stare. He let out a muffled yelp the moment I heard the pillow make contact with his face.
What was wrong with me?
'It's just a crush; I'm crushing on Sting Eucliffe that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.' I thought to myself and kept repeating it like a mantra in my head, hoping that maybe if I repeated it just enough, it'll actually be true.
"Sorry," I heard Sting say quietly as he somehow got a hold of another pillow and held it in his lap. I peeked through the gaps of fingertips as he sighed and put his free hand over Lector's sleeping head whether he realized it or not. I watched silently as he began petting his exceed, "I called you Lily didn't I?"
"I'm still..." Lily. I'm still Lily. I wanted to say but for some reason the words wouldn't form in my mouth.
We sat there for the next forever in total silence. Our breaths in perfect harmony as we exchanged fleeting glances at each other.
Dropping my hands into my lap, I heaved a huge sigh and propped my head against the bed post. If I was tired then Sting must have just rose from the dead.
Even in the dim light that I had let seep into the room, I could see bags starting to form under the white dragon slayer's eyes. Even his movements seemed worn. He was petting Lector who was still asleep as if there was no one else there with him; it could've been just the lighting but I was sure I saw just how wet his eyes were as his face softened.
"Thank you," I blurted out without thinking and crawled back to sit next to him, "for everything."
He only stared at me as I relaxed and dropped onto my stomach beside him and Lector. Like an old memory replaying in my head, I let my fingers lightly rub the red cat's stomach and delighted in the sound of the soft purrs that followed the action.
"I'm sorry." The words were so quiet, so empty that they were almost like exasperated breathes. Sting's voice cracked, and for a terrifying moment I thought it sounded almost broken. It was a throaty sound- like a croak had been given the gift of tone and I felt my heart start to panic.
I could feel him move against my side as my fingers continued to drag along the cat's stomach when I paused and felt them sink through
nothing?
I jolted up from my spot on the ground the moment I felt my hand hit the pillow Lector was laying on and looked around in confusion and horror. What just…?
My eyes fell on the empty pillow, my stomach churning sickly. Tears were beginning to slip from my eyes as I quickly scanned the room, pulling myself up and opening the curtains so that I could have a better way to find the red cat.
"Lector?" I cried, turning pillows over and opening drawers in hopes of finding the Exceed. I had ignored the imminent smell of incense that had began to float around in the air the moment all three of us sprawled on our backs on the floor; now I was beginning to wish that the smell wasn't actually there and that my mind was just playing tricks on me. Lector was probably just hiding, right? There was no way Sting would actually go as far as to-
Don't think it. Don't smell it. Just find Lector.
"Where are you?" I whispered as I checked under the bed. Nothing.
My head was spinning with thoughts when I heard something crash onto the ground; I sprung around in a hurry with a relieved expression that dropped just as soon as it formed when I saw it.
I felt my heart sink at the sight as my eyes turned to Sting who had his head completely down and looked as if his whole world was falling apart.
"Sting, please tell me this is a joke," my eyes wouldn't stop switching from staring at the contents the giant box spilled out onto the ground to the white dragon slayer.
He didn't say anything, just sat there silently with his fists in his lap. His head was still hung down like he had just surrendered under a greater power. My heart began to race as a terrible of thought entered my mind.
Slowly, I crept towards the thing that the box had spilled when it fell off the table.
There was no dress, no frills, no lace- instead inside the giant dress box that Sting had came from who knows where to deliver was something that would lead to my heart breaking into two.
Inside was a small wooden doll, covered with the ashes of incense and a vest that was much too big for the doll and too small for Sting.
I knew immediately who it belonged to however.
"Sting," I started, as I held the vest up, "What happened to Lector?"
A quiet whimper was what replaced the silence that hung between us with a sudden realization that the black jacket he wore must have been hiding more than just wounds and a battered pride.
Angry tears had began to stream down his cheeks when he finally looked back at me and for the first time I realized that his eyes were extremely bloodshot and he was sporting a light bruise just under his right eye. I swallowed back a gasp as his fists tightened, watching as his hands went from loose fingers to seeing his knuckles turn deathly white.
"You still haven't answered my question," he croaked in between gasps of air, biting his lip as he tried to keep his voice as steady as possible and failing to do so. I dropped onto my knees in front of him as he continued, "your sister told me about the decision you had to make and..."
"I wouldn't leave you for the world," I confessed almost immediately despite myself. Sting just stared at me with a blank expression with tears still streaming down from his eyes. He didn't say a word or even do as much as flinch when I shyly cupped his face with my hands, "if that's what you were asking. If I lost my magic, I wouldn't run away from you."
A bitter smile crossed his face at hearing that, I felt the muscles of his mouth twitch into a small smile as he placed his hands over mine on his face. A new string of tears beginning to fall as he all but chocked out, "I was careless. I shouldn't have let Lector come to those meetings- and now he's... he's..."
Without even thinking, I wrapped my hands around the white dragon slayer and sat up so that his head now laid on my shoulder as I patted his head silently. Only closing my eyes when I felt Sting's strong arms wrap around me as his shoulders shook violently.
"Shh... shh..." I whispered as his grip on my waist only tightened and he let out angry sobs.
We stayed like that for the next few minutes in each other's arms; it wasn't long until my own tears had began flowing when the thought of never seeing the red cat again finally sunk in. Lector was gone. He was actually gone.
I knew of no other way to comfort him on the loss of his best friend but a tight hug and a few hushed whispers for him to just let it all out resulting in some bruises in his miserable fury.
After a while, his grip around my waist began to slacken. Our cries had stopped a while ago and all that was left in the heavy silence were the loud intakes of air we took as we both tried to compose ourselves, pulling away from each other awkwardly.
Sting's face was still all red from all the sobs and sniffles. His eyes were so bloodshot and his nose practically glowed, emphasizing the lighter shades of purple that decorated his face. I could only presume that I looked all the more uglier than he did at the moment.
"Can we stop this," he said suddenly in a shaky voice. His eyes trained on the wall behind my head with a lost expression, "I don't want to pretend I don't know who you are anymore but"
"You don't have to worry about what Gemma would do to me." I cut in quickly and retreated under his quick glance, "I think Rufus got that all covered."
He let out a voiceless chuckle at that, nonchalantly scratching the back of his neck as he tried avert his eyes to the ceiling and avoid looking at me. I couldn't help but stare at the place where his guild stamp was curiously.
Sting had been quiet for quite some time; only speaking when his shoulders stopped shaking and after counting to death under his breath. It seemed to me he was trying not to look into my eyes, as well.
I felt a lump form in the base of my throat as I watched him shuffle awkwardly, "You... used to be in L'Arc Sibyl?"
"Yeah," I replied as I plucked a random pillow beside me and held it against my chest, "I used to be a S Class mage."
"And to think I was that close to creating a true Bunny Dragon Slayer" I heard him mutter under his breath jokingly. I let out a small laugh at that as a smile slowly started to form on his face. A small smile that looked almost fake but the way his eyes shone told me otherwise, "what happened?"
"I was kidnapped." I said it almost too quickly, like I've been eagerly anticipating this moment my entire life. I felt my heart sink once again at the now sunken look on his face and cursed myself. Quickly thinking, I added, "I heard Emily and En are planning a picnic later today. Do you want to come? You can bring Rogue if you want."
"And Frosch too?"
"Fro too." I nodded and stared at the new face he made.
"I'd like that." He whispered back at me, meeting my gaze and smiled for real this time.
"I'll like that too." I smiled back.
I am going to hell.
I feel like such a dick, but I saw the chance and I took it. The timeline in this fic is already messed up anyways and I was trying to stay as canon as possible. I know there are better ways at doing this but I owed you guys a chapter anyways, didn't I?
If it wasn't clear- Sting had put a voodoo doll into the box he gave Lilian so that she would think that Lector was still alive and wouldn't question anything. Sting is typically really strong- and thus he couldn't bare anyone to think less, even Lilian. But she's his best friend in a sense and he was going to tell her anyways, himself. But then she figures it all out a little early and he slowly starts to break down when she thanked him. The doll had a spell cast on it that needed something that belonged to what he wanted to conjure up and a pile of magical incense and voila. Formula to one undead illusionary Lector. This chapter, just saying, also shows just how bad she is at reading people.
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