I'M SO SORRY YOU GUYS! I meant to have this up days ago, but its been a long weekend and nice weather, so I've been a little bit distracted!Fair warning - this chapter introduces some of the extended universe lore, as set down by the truly incredible Desna. There's also some not great stuff hinted at
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"Mr. Pradesh, how kind of you to join us".
Bickslow grimaced, he should have known better than to try and sneak into class late, their tutor was razor sharp, and he never missed a thing - Bickslow knew, because he kept trying.
"Sorry, Sir" he mumbled, meekly, quickly taking a seat, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes boring into his skull, his class mate was staring - again - and something about her was giving him the creeps.
"Miss Olearus, eyes front please and thank you".
Bickslow had to bite back a chuckle at that, how his teacher knew what was happening without ever looking over his shoulder was equal parts amusing and terrifying. Thankfully, the sensation of being watched faded as his study partner turned to face the board, both throwing themselves into the days lessons.
Blissfully, for Bickslow who loathed the magic theory lessons his father insisted upon him attending, it was soon too hot for them to continue working in the airless room, and they were dismissed. Gathering their books and parchment, Bickslow walked side by side through the halls with his classmate and his friend.
"What's with the staring, Vas? Did you suddenly realise how handsome I am?"
"Just wondering how your ego fits through the doorway, actually." She sighed, eyes watching her feet as they walked.
"Come on, Vas. Talk to me, yeah? I don't have to be a truly brilliant Seith - even though I am one - to see something's bothering you."
"I'm to finish my sudehpah lessons."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, I'm supposed to choose someone to go through my induction with."
"Again, yeah. What's your point, we've all done it?" Bickslow really didn't understand the big deal, he'd gone through his induction two years prior, he hadn't given it much thought then, and he hadn't since, just enjoyed the freedoms it now provided him.
"My point, Bickslow, is that how the hell am I meant to go through that when I barely have control over myself as it is? How am I meant to keep a lid on my magic during sex, when I know I'll be distracted, when it takes all my fucking focus as it is?"
"Oh." He stopped, stunned a little by her outburst. In all the years he had known her, he'd never really seen Vas lose her cool, she'd always been the calm one, cool and collected. Although, as he thought about it, given that she worked so hard to master her magic, both stronger and more unstable than his, it made sense that she would have to maintain that level of control over herself constantly. "What's your sudehpah say?"
"To relax, to trust myself more. The only way I'd be able to do that is with another Seith, and the only one I know who's not married or promised is, well, you."
"And your point is?" Bickslow joked, nudging her with his elbow. "You're Boscan, Vas, I don't get why you're so weird about this."
"Because I could still kill you!" She whirled on him, dark hair whipping around her shoulders and green eyes ablaze. "Seith or not, Bickslow. I could kill you, I wouldn't even know I was doing it. There's something in me, something dark, and it's calling, crying out for something. I can't help but feel like this is going to go horribly wrong."
"Or horribly right." He wiggled his eyebrows, leaning down to whisper sensually in her ear, delighting in the shiver that rolled through her body. "Will you share pleasure with me, Vassenia?"
"Y-yes."
Unfortunately, it was not to be.
A series of unforseen circumstances led to Bickslow being out of town, stuck in Pelerno due to a family emergency, on the day her induction was to take place. He thought nothing of it, assumed her sudehpah would have arranged a replacement she deemed suitable and his friend would have found pleasure in the arms of another, they would celebrate her induction, her joining of the adult world, when he got back.
What he wasn't expecting to find, however, were the scorch marks on the buildings in the sudehpah square, the overwhelming aura of sadness and death and the souls clinging to the place, ripped from their bodies too soon and too harshly, holding too much pain, to pass on. While his father was in full business mode trying to ascertain what happened, how to resolve the problem, Bickslow sat in quiet meditation, communing with the souls still lingering. The things they showed him, the hurt, and the fear, had tears silently running down his cheeks as he helped them all to pass on peacefully.
"Bicks?"
His father's voice was quiet, the hand on his shoulder gentle, and Bickslow was grateful for his dad's grounding presence as he swiped a hand across his face, standing with determination.
"Where is she?"
They were led by a knight into the holding rooms, and instructed to cover their eyes. Bickslow just laughed, swatting away the offered blindfold in favour of dropping his visor over his eyes. With a nod, the wall opened and they stepped into the cell.
Vassenia was chained to the wall, still wearing the thin, gauzy dress that was customary for the induction ceremony. Her hair was tangled, eyes wild, and the voice that came from her was one Bickslow had never heard before.
"Hello handsome. And Mr Ambassador, what a treat! Did you come all this way for little ol' me?"
"Miss Olearus, was it?"
"Not anymore" the voice barked, laughing at them. "Although it's been so long, I hardly remember my name. I think I'll keep hers. Vassenia, wasn't it? Oh yes, I like this one."
"Vassenia." Arman's voice boomed, seemed to echo in the tiny room. "You stand accused of the murder of twelve people, including three sudehpah and a fellow inductee. You are to be restrained, and transported to the capital where you'll be tried under immaculate light. Do you wish to say anything?"
"Oh, I had something for this. No, it's gone. Go ahead, take me away. I have so longed to visit Pelerno, after all."
She was further restrained then, magic cancelling cuffs on her wrists and ankles, a solid visor fixed over her eyes before she was led from the room, perhaps a little more harshly than Bickslow would have liked, but a quick tap into his magic told him that the girl he once knew was all but gone.
They were alone again, slow feet taking them away from the scene and out to the waiting carriage before Bickslow found the strength to speak.
"She told me there was something dark inside her, I should have listened. Fuck, Dad, I should have been here, I could have stopped this!" Bickslow let out a strangled sob, ripping the visor from his face and pulling on his hair as they climbed aboard.
"This is not your fault, son. For all you know, it could have been nerves surrounding asking you. I know you looked, what did you see?"
"She was, there? But only just. There's a soul inside her that doesn't belong, darker than anything I've seen, and it's suffocating her. If I had of been here, I could have done something, saved them all. Saved her."
"Or it could have killed you too, and then not only would I be down a son, the world would have one less Seith. I have a feeling you're going to be needed, my boy."
Word came, weeks later, in the dead of the night, that Vassenia had escaped. For the first time in his life, Bickslow saw true fear in the eyes of his father as he hugged him goodbye. Not more than three hours after the messenger came, Bickslow was on his way to Fiore and Fairy Tail, where he would stay under the watchful gaze of Makarov Dreyar, Wizard Saint and family friend, until such time as it was safe for him to return home, if ever.
Arman had, of course, immediately sent for an escort to see his son safely across the border, but Bickslow had argued against it, rightly claiming that would just draw attention to him. Instead, he let Cristoff cast an echantment on his very face to disguise the brand he bore, and had cut his long hair from its clan born length into something vaguely resembling a mohawk.
All in all, and with his wooden companions unhappily zipped into a bag, he should pass as just another tourist on the long journey across the border. His father had, instead, sent his men on an information gathering mission, promising to keep Bickslow updated as the hunt for Vassenia - or whoever she was now - continued.
The messenger had also brought along a copy of the runes etched into the wall of the cell Vassenia had disappeared from, Bickslow carried it in his pocket, the weight of the words resting heavily on his weary soul.
"Never more, the Seith."
Phew! Glad to finally have that out of the way! Honestly, this chapter could have gone about 12 different ways, but I think this leaves some interesting alleys we might explore later on.
Dragonfly - thank you, as always, for your reviews!!! I feel like this chapter is for you, to say thank you. I hope it's worthy! You're right on both counts - Gajeel's pervy brain is going to land him in hot water, and Bickslow's magic is green because that's what you get when you combine yellow and blue! I make a lot of these choices with a specific thing in mind, symbolism is never there just for its own sake ;-)
Please, please, please everyone - review! I can't tell you how disheartening it is to write and post something, only to get almost no feedback. Of course I'll keep doing it (I'm a completionist, I can't leave things unfinished) but it definitely happens a hell of a lot faster when you leave reviews.