Chapter 19

Laxus remained silent. Until the Dragon Slayer sorted out his thoughts and emotions, he refused to answer the short man. Why did Abi set him up? Because I wouldn't have helped otherwise. Was the story about her mother a lie? She played Laxus like a fiddle, knowing exactly what heartstrings to play.

"Blood and self," his father's voice taunted him. "Blood and self above all else." Laxus wasn't sure how a part of him had come to care for that backstabbing woman, but clearly these past few days at the games with her had changed something. Laxus understood all these signs pointed to her being evil, to being in league with Zeref. But the Dragon Slayer felt there was an important piece missing to this puzzle.

Darton did not fidget in his seat or become uncomfortable with the silence. Instead, the royal advisor with the powerful eyebrows glowered back. When the assistant came back in the small room, he placed a thick folder before Darton. The title of it read: Edera Attack — CLASSIFIED.

The Royal Advisor began to flip through its content. At first, Laxus didn't recognize what he was seeing. Bodies, charred from fire, littered the pages. Medic mages and fire-fighters saving others. A section of the castle lay in absolute ruins—all that remained was the stone skeleton of its structure, which was blackened and charcoaled.

"Four people died due to this electrical fire," Darton kept flipping through. He kept his eyes fixed on the pages. These images looked familiar; Laxus tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.

"When did this happen?"

"Within the three days your guild took a job from the Imperico family, and the day after you arrived in Edera." Darton produced an image of a gaunt, hook nosed man in fine robes. Laxus recognized the image immediately. The Dragon Slayer bristled and said, "He was a madman."

"Ximus was hand-selected for a top-secret task, issued by the King of Fiore himself." Darton's voice was sharp, and the Dragon Slayer realized he hit a nerve. However, Laxus was so tired, he didn't care.

"Gathering lacrimas?" he snorted. "He tortured people and creatures."

Darton's eyes narrowed. "Yes, he did. Although we had long since ended our active search for lacrimas, Ximus became obsessed. I cannot justify his actions and he was a fool to hire wizards in order to continue his obsession. But whatever Ximus was, he did not deserve this."

The royal advisor flipped one more page and revealed a series of photos showing a mutilated corpse. The man Laxus knew as Ximus hung upside-down from a ceiling. His throat had been sliced open and all the blood drained from his body, onto the floor below. Ximus's leg contorted in awkward angles, showing that someone had clearly tortured him before killing him. Laxus got a sick feeling in his stomach. Praesidios are usually killed through people draining them of all blood.

This was intentional.

This was revenge.

This was a message.

"This room was the only one warded from the fire. All of Ximus's research and experiments were found by a fireman, which included explicit details from Ximus's orders from years ago— the fool kept records and notes of everything. It was almost a PR nightmare."

The Dragon Slayer stared at the images, his brain becoming numb from shock.

"We accepted that someone fraudulently used Fairy Tail's name. We even overlooked the presence of your magic residue at the sight of the fire. 'Give them the benefit of the doubt,' the King insisted." Darton snapped the folder shut. "But now that you're here, having been at both Ximus's lab and the Eclipse Gate. Now, I believe in a lot of things, but coincidences aren't one of them."

"'Anything Zeref creates is pure evil,'" Laxus muttered to himself. He should have listened to Jellal. He should have done a lot of things differently. The Dragon Slayer closed his eyes. Abi did all of this. He knew she did. Anger and resentment flared at this surface, but he ultimately felt hollow. He was so tired… so tired of all this shit. After his father, Laxus should have realized he couldn't trust anyone. What little trust he gave to Abi, she destroyed.

This was the line. Abi crossed it.

"What was that?" Darton asked sharply, his face gone pale. Laxus looked up, his chest tight.

"I said…" He thought for a moment. Did he really want to do this? Yes. "What you're looking for is a Praesidio."

So I made this a separate chapter because its content is so important to the story.

If you go wayyyy back to the beginning of this fic, Laxus tells Abi he wants to leave the castle/ not to kill anyone else, but after Abi drained him of energy and deposited him on the ship, she went back and cleaned up the mess. Of course, her magic signature doesn't show up due to its nature, but Laxus's magic is all over the crime scene.

Laxus exposing Abi to the Royal Army? Completely understandable, but also not good for our femme-fatale.

Chaos will ensue! R&R :)