Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews. :3 All reviews hold a special place in my heart, of course, the recent ones just made me smile a lot. Right now, with everything going on, it just feels like all this effort (whether I love doing it or not) in my art/writing doesn't result in anything worthwhile- seeing that it impacts people in some way, and that people are reading/seeing it, warms my heart.
Aldwyntor: Pretty sure he's dead dead. (I read this chapter to check, and she goes into it a lot, so pretty sure) Carl usually ends up dead in some way in pretty unfortunate ways, usually by mental deterioration. In my series, Carl ends up with his soul split into hundreds of copies, one of which usually ends up in a mangled tree creature. The original copy (I don't think I did it in this story, so I'm not spoiling anything, hopefully) ends up as Claire's wandering soul for a while. As she tries to nurture and care for her big brother, he slowly deteriorates and turns into a poltergeist. No matter how much she tries to help him, he just gets worse and worse, to the point that he's at risk of hurting other people. The scenes were inspired by my ex bf, who mentally deteriorated when we were dating. He effectively started exhibiting the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, and it was both the most terrifying and saddening thing I had ever experienced in my life. Most of this fanfic is actually my response to that time, which I think I've mentioned before, but Carl ends up being one of the most direct channeling of that.
The rest of the Author's Note goes into my personal series; so, if you just want to read the story, just skip on down to "Chapter 53". :)
I think I'm going to make an update post on my social media accounts soon, to do a little summary of all my Soul Circus stuff and update on how it's going. There's literally SO MUCH world building that I started to create an entire other book just to store all the information, which at the rate it was going, would be 100+ pages. (includes pictures/maps) If you want to stay updated on the series and see the latest info on them, just look up "KFutterwacken's Art" or "KFutterwacken" and I should show up on the most popular platforms. (FB and Insta are the places I update the most, at least 2x a week) I generally don't mind sending people from my fanfics to my art pages, I just generally don't do the reverse, so that family members don't stumble across some things they can't unread. ;) Also, if you *just* want to look at Soul Circus stuff, I've been trying to tag my Soul Circus related things with # soulcircusseries. Assuming I do the big update that I'm thinking, that'll either be posted tomorrow or in the coming days.
If any of you guys are interested in supporting the Soul Circus series, I don't have the novels out yet, but I do have a coloring book that's available for purchase. (Just look up "Soul Circus Coloring Book" on Amazon and it should come up) One of them has some info inside (since making it some of the language has been updated, but I think all of it is still accurate) which includes information about the background of the planet, the various cultures, world maps, etc. They sell really well at markets and I've gotten overall positive feedback, just nothing online. (my work is generally really good quality, I just suck at online marketing for them) I also post art and writing related things on my accounts, and can be commissioned.
In news more related to this story: Since this story means so much to me, and there are so many people interested and keeping up with it, I was thinking of adding a chapter after the last one. Like, writing up a cutesy, fluffy, "and everyone was happy and everything was great" type of thing. *So*, as this story gets closer and closer to the end, which kind of just drops off, keep in mind anything you'd like to see as an ending chapter. Once we get to the last chapter, (I think there are 61 total) post those ideas in a review. I haven't read this story in its entirety in years, (I'll occasionally read a chapter or two as I upload them) so the newest chapter might have a few details that are off, but I'm hoping to give you guys a more solid ending than most of my other stories. ^^ Don't post those ideas yet, since we're not at the end yet, just keep them in mind.
Second Author's Note: If I ever got taken down on this website, btw, I would reupload my stories on Archive of Our Own. I don't know why I don't already, just some kind of strange stubbornness and I'm used to this site, I guess. But like if this got taken down before completion, just know that the rest will be uploaded on there most likely under the same title.
Extra random sidenote sorry there's so many today: I'm rereading this chapter, and hot damn. Claire is such a snarky little asshole- it's hilarious and I love it. It's also interesting to see some writing techniques in this chapter that I've been utilizing a lot in my other stories/final book series. Mixing somber/sad with humor is a fun combination. It's also so much fun to see the original Soul Circus characters- when I do the last chapter, I might include their updated versions, as a fun tie in. Just reading their names in this chapter gave me all the feels, including a little cringe.
Any who- enjoy the new chapter! Be safe, everyone! As always, thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews!
Walking Cliché 53
What Now?
Tuesday, May 2nd, 3:23 PM
"Claire!" Bickslow exclaimed, reaching out to the fire mage as she ran just out of his grasp. "What the hell are you doing!? Claire!" He sent his babies after her, in the corner of his eye seeing Fried make a triumphant pose, and just as Claire flew off the barrier came up.
His babies smashed into the words, and on the other side, the vines climbed up the words to try and get in.
"Claire!" He yelled again, helplessly. "What the hell is she thinking!?"
"It sounds like she has a plan." Erza stated, switching back to her normal armor.
"And she couldn't bother to fill us in on it? Why the hell does she do this all the goddamn time!?"
"Bickslow." The red head stated sternly, getting the seith mage's attention. "She's an S-Class mage, and she knows how to take care of herself. Have faith in her."
"Aww man, why the hell does she get to have all the fun!?" Natsu whined nearby.
"Weird thing to say, considering that you got your ass kicked by a bunch of plants." Gray told him, effectively starting one of their infamously stupid arguments. The requip mage immediately hit them over the heads, giving them a disapproving look.
"It seems that Claire is fighting the monster on her own for now. In the meantime we need to help fix the damage and prepare ourselves for another fight if the wall falls." She told them, but as she spoke, a round of yells rang out. They all turned to the wall, watching in amazement as a thin layer of fire covered it.
"She used figure eyes on it?" Bickslow whispered, eyeing the creature's limbs that curled in the air non-threateningly. She can control something that huge?
"Figure eyes?" Erza asked him. "She has the ability to cast it?"
"… we try not to make it public knowledge, so don't tell anyone." He told her, keeping his attention on those limbs. There's no way she can keep control over something that big for long. Please say that she's got a better plan than that.
Everything seemed to stand still for a moment, and suddenly, yells rang out again. Except this time it was the chief of security barking orders at people, trying to get a head count to find if anyone was missing and injured people the medical attention they needed.
It took an agonizing 10 minutes before the creature burned up, and another few minutes for Claire to fly back. By that time people were still running around moving things and getting medical help, but it was slightly less chaotic, and it didn't seem like anyone had been hurt too bad.
With Fried's enchantment down, Claire simply hopped down from her soul, landing firmly on the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Bickslow asked as he jogged over to her.
"Monster's dead." She muttered, hands in her pockets, and started to walk away from him. He stopped her, grabbing the side of her face and causing her to stop and look at him.
"Don't just act like nothing happened. You scared the hell out of me." He spoke, trying to convey the worried knot in his stomach. His hand slipped to the side of her neck, his thumb brushing the edge of her cheekbone and palm the corner of her jaw.
When she tried to pull away, he tightened his grip slightly, not enough to hurt her but to try and make her look at him.
"Look at me."
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
She still wouldn't look at him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked, voice lowering a bit. Once the barrier had gone up, he had left Michael on the sidelines, and knew that he would be running over to them soon. Bickslow's eyes raked over the fire mage, finding that she had a little extra dirt on her but otherwise seemed fine.
"I'm fine, alright?"
"You're not acting fine."
"Claire." Jelani spoke, landing near them and walking over. Bickslow reluctantly removed his hand, turning his attention to the fellow seith mage. "What happened? Should we prepare for another attack?"
"He's dead."
"Are you certain?"
"I used figure eyes to keep him still while I burned him alive. Pretty sure." She explained coldly, and although he seemed a little suspicious of her somber demeanor, shrugged it off.
"Any extra hands we can get would be appreciated. There were a lot of minor injuries, but nothing too big. Also, if you could dismantle the shield you put around the ships…." He rambled off, going back to directing people to certain areas to keep things under control.
1.
Tuesday, May 2nd, 9:43 PM
It irked him more than it should have.
She barely spoke ever since the monster thing, and he wished that he knew what had happened so that he could work on making it better, because that's what he did. He made shitty things less shitty for them, or at the very least, tolerable. Sometimes that meant ignoring the problem at hand, but if it kept them sane, he could work with that.
Killing monsters or even people had never been a strong issue for Claire, so he couldn't really figure out why she'd be upset by it now. He had a feeling that he was missing a big piece of it, but every time he thought about it, all he could think of was how she just ran off without him. She didn't even tell her souls to tell him, she just ran off.
Did she think he was weak or something? He's been on this world longer than her, been fighting for years, and it was sheer dumb luck that he didn't get S-Class with her.
Bickslow told Michael to take a bath and wash up, meanwhile Claire took a seat on the foot of the bed, staring off into space. The little brunette seemed a little confused by their strange behavior, but when the older man told him a second time to get moving, he disappeared into the bathroom.
Only when he heard the water running, did he finally say something to her.
"So why the hell did you run off like that?"
She glanced up at him, making a small sound, like she hadn't heard him.
"Why did you run off like that?" He repeated, hands in his pockets as he stood near her, waiting for an answer. He was still in most of his purple and navy blue fighting garb, except he'd removed his hood and visor. Claire was still in her earlier clothes, with were slightly dirtied from the fight.
"It felt right." She replied after a long pause.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"… are you upset?" She asked, her voice sounding hollow and devoid of emotion.
"Fuck yeah I'm upset. You and Mirajane barely took that thing down together, hell the strongest people in our guild including Laxus couldn't take it down, and you just randomly run off to fight it yourself? How the hell did you think I would react?"
"I don't want to argue, Bixy." She sighed, looking away from him.
"Did you even think about us when you did that? How we'd feel if you'd died?"
"He wasn't going to kill me."
"Why the hell would you think that? That thing slaughtered hundreds of people and you just thought it would give you a 'get out of jail free' card? I mean hell, we had another S-Class mage standing right next to you and instead of asking her for help, you ditched her to take down the monster on your own. Are you that egotistical that you're willing to risk your life for the glory of saving the day?" He ranted, trying to get some kind of reaction from her. Something to show that she was listening to him.
"You know I wouldn't do something like that."
"Then why the hell did you leave me?" Bickslow asked, his voice lowering for the last half of the sentence. Frustrated by her lack of eye contact, he knelt down in front of her and grabbed the back of her hair, careful not to hurt her in the process. Her soft blue gray eyes locked with his, and flickered to the mark between them. "Do you think I'm weak? That I can't handle myself in a fight?"
"You can handle yourself fine."
"Then stop shutting yourself down and explain to me why you risked your life today. When you risk your life like that you're not just risking your own, you risk the lives around you. You're not just important to our guild because you're strong, you're also a parent and I'm marrying you next month. I love you, damn it, and you scared the hell out of me today."
She pressed her lips against his, softly and hesitantly, and closed her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I love you, too." Claire whispered, and the man lessened his grip on her hair, realizing dimly that his grip had tightened during his rant.
2.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 5:50 AM
She didn't really know why she felt the way she did that morning.
Physically, she felt great. Waking up at the time she'd gotten used to on the ship, she stretched her limbs under the sheets, squirming in her fiancé's arms. He grumbled something in his sleep, turned over, and became quiet again.
Mike was sleeping soundly on the bed next to their's, half the blankets on the ground and his body slung diagonal across the sheets. A sliver of morning light came in through the beige curtains.
It took her a moment to realize why she felt so great.
Her injuries were healed. The stab wound to her abdomen no longer hurt, feet no longer tender, and limbs were sore-free.
Curious, she pulled the sheets off of herself and hopped out of bed, not minding the morning nip of cold air on her tan skin. She only wore a tank top and underwear, and since it was doubtful that Mike would wake up before 10, she didn't bother putting on pants.
Her toes stretched wonderfully against the carpet, particularly sensitive to the interesting texture, and she found herself taking her time to the bathroom. It was a remarkable feeling to not be in pain- even the constant ache in her chest was absent, a wound that Porlyusica said would never truly heal.
Yet it had.
She flipped on the light switch, closed the door behind her, and was amazed by another discovery.
Her eyesight was fixed.
She could still see souls, as she had seen Bickslow and Michael's in the other room, but now she didn't need glasses. Those lenses were in the other room on their nightstand, and she could see perfectly fine without them. Lifting up her shirt, she unraveled the bandages hastily, finding only a scar in place of her injury. Another oddity was just above it, where the scar left by Laxus was much more prominent than it used to be.
Her blue eyes fluttered back to her face, ecstatic to have her old vision back, and she noticed that her seith mark had also changed. Instead of a solid black mark, it was now an extremely intricate celtic design inside of it. Never had she seen something quite like it, and she spent several minutes staring at herself in the mirror.
With an extra skip in her step, she quickly showered and dressed, then wrote a note to Bickslow telling him that she would be back soon. She kissed his cheek before leaving, and with one last smile in their direction, left the hotel room.
She couldn't remember the last time she felt this good.
Walking felt great- hell, she didn't want to walk, she wanted to use these muscles and run. So instead of skipping down the steps, she came to an open window and jumped through, landing on the roof.
She took the most ridiculous and out-of-the-way path to the circus, taking her time. They wouldn't open for several hours, and there was a chance that the woman she was looking for wouldn't be there yet. Running, jumping, flips- anything to use her muscles to the full extent she could, truly enjoying the liberating experience.
When she did reach her destination, she was tempted to make another loop around the town to burn through the extra energy she had, but alas the woman she was searching for was there. Claire arrived just in time to see her walking to her little shop, and greeted her with a small wave. It was the same woman that gave her a 'soul massage' in Magnolia, and also the one that helped her fix her mark when it looked drunk.
"How are you? That skirt looks beautiful on you, by the way." Claire greeted, complimenting the woman's fashion.
"Why thank you. I'm doing well, how are you?"
"Feeling surprisingly energetic. Are you busy right now?"
"I don't have an appointment for a few hours. Is there something that you need?"
"Well, my mark changed again… I would ask Bickslow, but he's kind of mad at me right now."
"How did it change?" She asked, standing in front of her little shop with the fire mage.
"It would be easier to show you than explain it. If you don't have time now I can come back later."
"Now is fine, come on in." She ushered, moving to unlock her door and let them in. As they entered the dark space, magic candles lit up, illuminating the strange shop. Crystals, symbols, and incense covered the walls. Once the door closed behind them, Claire burned the make up from her face, and faced the gifted woman.
She paused, surprise evident on her face, and still holding two bags in her hands. Her green eyes studied the fire mage's face, and for several seconds, they simply stood there in silence.
Feeling awkward, Claire shifted slightly, and the other woman finally set down her things and took a step closer to her. She held up a light to her face, continuing to examine it, and her blue eyes shifted to the interesting walls. "When did this happen?"
"Sometime within the last day. I didn't notice it until this morning…. Is it bad?"
"I've only seen this once before. Is this a result of fighting with the island monster?" She asked, and Claire shrugged, unsure.
"I don't even know what it means."
"It's an incredibly rare protection spell that usually requires a sacrifice. It renders the person mostly invulnerable to spells cast on them, including figure eyes cast by another seith mage, illusion magic, any kind of possession magic…. Did you make the monster cast this before killing him?"
"He…" Claire sighed, clenching her jaw slightly and hating the implications of her words. From what she was telling her there was no way around telling her what happened, though. "When my family was transported to this world, our bodies were altered. My brother and sister were turned to demons, I was turned to a dragon human hybrid, and my brother Carl was turned into a weird parasite thing. He was the island monster."
"… oh."
"He asked me to kill him, so I did. As I was burning him he turned into a weird light at the end. I was so… freaked out, I haven't put much thought into what happened." She explained, knowing how stupid everything she said sounded as it left her mouth. Her hands were shaking in her jacket pockets, as was the deep breath she tried to take.
"Well… it sounds like he had a change of heart at the end." She said, and pulled her into a hug, surprising the other.
Claire left soon afterwards, applying her make up again before leaving. Her mark wasn't dangerous. That's all she needed to know.
What she didn't know was what to do with the information she was given. Claire killed her brother in cold blood, and it turns out that she got an upgrade in the process. He sacrificed himself to make hers better, and so that he couldn't hurt others anymore.
A light drizzle covered her as she walked back to the hotel, but she didn't notice it. Too many things occupied her mind, and although her mind zoomed from one thing to another, it landed on one in particular when a small stand caught her eye. It was a flower shop, and although she'd never been into the whole 'buying someone flowers' romantic thing, it felt oddly fitting right then. The man running the cart smiled at her, seeing that his flowers had caught her attention, and she walked over.
"Do you by chance have chocolates, too?" She asked, and he chuckled. He was an older man, in his late 50's, and reminded her oddly of her dad.
"Piss off your boyfriend?"
"Something like that." She smiled back, admiring some of the bouquets. Trying to recall if the man had any favorites, she came up blank, but settled on a pretty assortment hiding behind a bouquet of roses. It was a mix of different colored roses, along with a few other exotic plants. "How much is it?"
"I kind of put that one together at the last minute, honestly."
"I think it looks weird but beautiful. Which totally fits my boyfriend." She told him, and the man laughed heartily.
"I don't have too many chocolates, but there's a chocolate shop just down the street. If you tell them I sent you, you'll get a discount."
"Lucky I came here first." Claire laughed, watching the man pull out the bouquet from the side and add an extra plastic wrapping to it, along with an extra nice bow for her. After paying for the flowers, she skipped down to the chocolate shop and got a couple bags of chocolate she thought Bickslow would like.
She felt rather odd walking down the street with flowers and chocolate. The happy, light-hearted feeling spreading through her chest also felt unnatural given her circumstances, but for whatever reason, she felt chipper.
As she returned to the hotel, she passed by her comrades in the lobby. As per usual they were bickering and arguing with each other, and she had intended to simply wave and keep walking. When she had gone down the hallway and turned to walk up the stairs, however, Natsu called out to her.
The fire mage stopped in front of her, an uncharacteristic serious expression on his face, and simply stared at her for a moment. Claire waited for him to say something, awkwardly standing at the foot of the stairs, and blinked back her surprise when he pulled her into a hug.
Most of Fairy Tail could vouch for how wonderful Natsu's hugs were. Just like everything else in life he didn't half-ass them- when he gave someone a hug, he pulled them into a tight embrace, and no one could make you feel quite as safe as him. Even more to Claire's liking was how warm the man was at all times, like a human radiator.
"I heard what happened yesterday." He whispered. Her body tensed, wondering what exactly he meant by that. "I'm sorry about your brother." He said, genuinely meaning it and patting her back.
She relaxed into the hug, exhaling a shaky breath, and hugged him back. "Thanks, Natsu."
After a moment they separated, he gave her a solemn nod, and walked away. Their friends were still in the lobby, having been openly staring at their moment, and the fire woman turned to leave.
Adding it to the mountain of things for her to think about later, she went back to her original journey. Hopefully the two boys would still be sleeping when she got there.
Arriving at her destination, she swiped the card in front of the door, and quietly entered the still dark hotel room. She tried to be careful with the flowers, not to accidentally hit them against anything, and slowly closed the door behind her. Setting the flowers on the nightstand, she put one of the bags of chocolate on the nightstand by Bickslow and one by the 10 year old.
Once those were in place, a wicked smile tugged at her lips, and she climbed onto the bed with Bickslow. Pushing him gently onto his back, she then straddled his hips with her legs, effectively sitting on him. Finding that he wasn't waking up with the usual morning wood, she leaned down, nuzzling her nose against his neck and placing kisses along the sensitive skin.
His hands reached up, still asleep, and caressed the soft fabric of her pants. When her lips met his earlobe, sucking on it gently, she felt the familiar bulge forming beneath her. "You awake, sleepy head?" She purred quietly, careful not to wake up the sleeping boy on the other bed.
"Not as much as you." He grumbled, his voice deep and gruff.
"Interested in a shower?" She questioned, smiling as the man sighed beneath her. Leaning back slightly, she gazed into his sleepy and confused face.
"… yes?" He asked, unsure. The fire mage quickly slipped from her spot on him and stood, pulling him out of bed as well. "You're in a hurry."
"Just excited." She whispered back, tugging along the slow man. When they made it to the bathroom, Bickslow closed and locked the door automatically, not even thinking when he cast the silence charm. He raised a curious eyebrow at the mischievous grin dancing along her pink lips.
"How long have you been up?"
"A while." She shrugged, and went to turn on the shower. As she turned the shower knobs to get it to the right temperature, Bickslow stripped down in a matter of seconds. While she continued messing with the temperature he came up behind her, pulling her against him and massaging her left breast. Excitement swelled within her, loving those warm hands and needing them on her bare skin.
His hot mouth on her ear caused a moan to ripple through her, and she reached her hand back to tangle within his messy bed head.
"What happened to your bandages?" He asked against her neck.
"Don't need them anymore." She said simply, and turned her head to capture his lips. Her clothes soon joined his on the floor, and she found herself pinned against the wall of the shower. Normally she was okay with it, but today, she felt like something different.
Carefully, she turned them, and pressed the tall man against the tiled wall. Lips parted slightly, the handsome man gave her a questioning look, confused by the role reversal. Water bounced against their bare skin, and she watched as the curious expression turned to a pleased one. Her hand stroked him back and forth, his eyes rolling back, and she started placing loving kisses along his chests as she moved down.
His member throbbed excitedly in her hand as her lips neared the sensitive organ, and once she was on her knees, she looked back up at him. Placing a soft kiss along his shift, he gave a sharp exhale, and she grinned in satisfaction. The well toned acrobat before her was a sight to look at, especially with the water hitting that beautiful skin- she didn't admire this man enough.
Whipping her tongue out, she licked the head teasingly, enjoying his strong reaction. Using a combination of her warm breath, tongue, and hand, she lathered the pulsing organ in her saliva. His hand found its way to her head, gently stroking her scalp, and she finally popped the head into her mouth.
He moaned, the back of his head hitting the tiled wall.
"Don't hurt yourself, honey." She warned, and the man chuckled.
"You feel wonderful." He complimented, and moaned again as her warm mouth covered the sensitive tip. Moving her hand in sync with her mouth, she moved back and forth, massaging his balls gently in her free hand.
It didn't take long before his body began tensing, and she recognized that look on him.
"I'm close." He muttered, breathing hard.
She slid as much of him as she could into her mouth, swirling her tongue around as it slid out, and repeated. After a few more pumps he shuddered, and she immediately removed her mouth at the foul taste of his semen.
"Shit, I fucking love you." Bickslow spoke between raspy breaths, and after a moment, looked back down at her. Claire rested her head against his thigh, batting her eyes cutely at him, and he smiled down at her. "That was amazing."
"Glad you liked it." She hummed, slowly moving back up to him. His hand, still tangled in her hair, pulled her into a sloppy kiss.
She wanted her Bickslow happy. If she lived for any one thing, it would be the satisfaction of seeing that wonderful man smiling in her arms.
"I would offer to return the favor, but I don't think I have the energy to." He told her guiltily.
"It's alright. You can pay me back later." She teased with a lick of his lips, and leaned in to kiss him once more.
3.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 11:30 AM
Erza informed them that they needed to contact the guild master. Everyone needed to report to him about the previous day's events, especially Claire. Thankfully Bickslow and Fried had brought a communications lacrima with them on their journey, so they didn't have to use the one on the Soul Circus's ship.
They had enough to worry about trying to salvage their trustworthy vessel- they'd even canceled most of their shows due to the labor intensive aspect of it. Initially Erza had volunteered to help, also volunteering her team, but the Soul Circus soon learned of their destructive power.
Bickslow was the first one to talk to Makarov. Claire took Michael down to the restaurant by the lobby for lunch, and when the seith mage was done, they would switch.
"So what the hell happened out there?" Laxus asked, sitting next to the guild master. The old man shot the youngster an annoyed look, but it was ignored.
"Monster showed up, destroyed one of the ships, and while Fried put an enchantment up to protect us Claire disappeared. Ten minutes later, monster's dead and Claire's back." Bickslow explained, shrugging at the end. "She won't tell me the details."
"She had to have told you something." Makarov insisted.
"Nope. Yesterday she got all quiet, anti-social, and wouldn't say anything. Today she's a fucking ray of sunshine, but she still won't talk about it. She bought me flowers and chocolate this morning." The seith mage explained, smiling at the fond memories.
"How long was she alone out there?" Laxus asked.
"I dunno. Ten, twenty minutes maybe."
"And she didn't say anything else?"
"Just that she killed it." He told them, and both men sighed. "What?"
"Do you at least know if it was targeting the circus or her specifically?" Makarov asked.
"I, uh… I dunno. I'd assume the Soul Circus."
"How is she holding up?" Laxus asked, leaning forward slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"She just killed her brother, dumbass. What do you think I mean? Should we send her home?"
"Brother? What?" He asked, utterly confused. "Whose brother?"
"Claire's, you idiot. How did you not know that the monster was her brother?"
"What are you talking about? Since when…" The blue-haired man trailed off, realization slowly sinking in. As it clicked in his brain, remembering this information, guilt pulled and ravaged in his chest. "Fucking shit. I forgot about that."
"How the hell could you forget my brother trying to murder our entire guild?"
"You guys have so many goddamn mass-murdering family members, it's hard to keep track. Fu- damn iiiit shit." Bickslow groaned in frustration, sinking into his chair and covering his face with his hands. "Shit."
"Go get my sister, dumbass." Laxus ordered, trying to hide his amused smirk. Judging by the man's reaction he had messed up big time, and he was more than a little curious to hear what he'd done.
After a few more seconds of self loathing in his seat, Bickslow reluctantly pulled himself up and stood, making his way to the door of the hotel room, cursing all the way. Several minutes later, both men on the communications lacrima waiting impatiently, Claire finally returned to the room. She had an extra skip in her step, and when she reached the chair in front of the lacrima, she spun it around on its leg. Once it had stopped, she swung her leg over and sat on the chair, arms resting on its back.
"'Sup?" she asked, smiling at her family. Both of them were caught off guard by her chipper behavior, and waited a moment before responding.
"What the hell happened yesterday?" Laxus demanded.
"A lot, actually. You'll have to be more specific."
"You know what we're talking about." Makarov told her, narrowing his eyes.
"When I took Mike to the circus again? Did Bickslow tell you about the giant rainbow tiger he got him? It's actually pretty cool."
"No, about when you ditched your comrades to fight a giant flesh eating monster island on your own. Everyone we've talked to says you just randomly ran off to fight him on your own." Laxus told her.
"Hmmm…." She hummed, looking between the two. "You guys are really bad at 'bad cop' 'good cop'. You guys are acting more like equal partners in crime, which is pretty trippy."
"Are you high right now?" Her brother asked.
"Well, I suspect that elevation is slightly higher in Magnolia Town than here, so I think you two are the high ones right now."
"Claire, this isn't a laughing matter. We need to know what happened." Makarov told her, his signature vein beginning to get slightly more pronounced. The old man was so easy to get worked up.
"Carl wanted to die, so I killed him. That's all that you need to know." She summarized quickly.
"So he attacked the Soul Circus because you were there? Are you certain that the Ghoul Guild didn't send him?"
She shrugged. "I mean, if you want to go into conspiracies and theories, it's possible that Carl told them that he wanted me to kill him, so they planned my arrival in Midi with the route that the circus was taking. All I know is that Carl told me that he wanted to die."
"So he just… let you take him down? You must have known that somehow, or else you wouldn't have left such powerful allies in the dark." Makarov questioned.
"Duh." Claire stated childishly, and got a snort from Laxus. The guild master glared at both of them. "Any other questions, losers? I have a kid that cries when I leave him for more than ten minutes."
"I'm sorry that you're the one that did it." Laxus spoke, suddenly becoming serious again. "We'd hoped that Mira and I would have been the ones to fight him. We thought keeping you on vacation would keep you away from that."
"I thought you were keeping me on 'vacation' to babysit Natsu's team?"
"That, too." Makarov said with a guilty grin. "Mostly it was to keep you safe, though. You've been through a lot."
"Oh, what did Bickslow do to piss you off?" Laxus asked with his signature cocky grin, and although the man next to him rolled his eyes, Claire knew he was also curious.
"He didn't piss me off. What makes you think he did?" She asked curiously.
"He started cursing when we told him who the island monster was. He didn't realize it was Carl."
"Huh… that explains a lot." She commented, although not thinking too much on it. At the moment, she didn't really care whether he knew or not, or whether he acknowledged it. Endorphins were still pumping in her veins, and she had an abundance of happy energy she wanted to use to make her loved ones happy as well.
"You seem to be taking Carl's death really well." Makarov commented.
"What can I say? Once you kill one brother, the rest get easier."
"Don't go getting any ideas." Laxus warned, and she chuckled.
"As if I could hurt the great Laxus Dreyar."
"Damn straight."
"For real, I do need to get back to Mike before he starts crying again. Between all the traveling and getting sick the other day, he's had a pretty rough trip."
4.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 11:45 AM
Of course, all of their damn friends decided to have lunch in the stupid restaurant. And, of course, Claire and Mike had been sitting with them.
He still felt guilty as hell for forgetting that the island monster was her brother. She always referred to it as a monster, never by name, so he'd just… forgot.
That's a shit excuse. When she was devastated over losing another family member, you yelled at her like an asshole. She killed her own brother to save us and you yelled at her for leaving her for a few minutes. Dumbass.
"So how's Claire holding up?" Lucy asked him.
"Yeah, it must be pretty rough." Gray added.
Did everyone fucking know except for me?
"She's holding up pretty well, actually. She was really energetic this morning." Bickslow answered, trying to act normal.
"What happened to mom?" Mike asked curiously, looking up at the seith mage with wide curious eyes. "Is she okay?" Now they were starting to tear up.
"Of course she's okay. Someone in her family died recently, so she's just a little sad right now." He explained, trying to keep his voice gentle and ruffling his hair a bit.
"I can't imagine losing so much family." Lisanna spoke up, and her brother stayed quiet next to her, thinking about his own experience on the matter.
"They weren't that close growing up, so I don't think it'll hit her that bad this time. Unlike when Bacchus died." Bickslow told her.
"It doesn't matter how close they were." Elfman spoke up. "Losing a sibling is going to hurt." At his solemn tone, the table of mages quieted down, giving him a sympathetic look. The seith mage had no idea how to respond to it, having little affection for his own sisters, and simply took another bite of his toast.
"So Fried, how long are we staying in Stale Port?" Bickslow asked the green-haired mage.
"I figured that we would stay until the Soul Circus has finished their repairs, at least. The guild master wants us to be here in case they need us." He answered, sitting next to Ever across from him.
"What is everyone doing while they're here?" Bickslow asked the group, hoping that the conversation would get more light-hearted. He really didn't want to take care of a crying ten year old at the moment.
"We've been spending a lot of time at the circus." Lucy said with a grin. "Some of the venders will give Wendy free food."
"There was an acrobatics class with the circus I was planning to check out." Erza stated at the end of the table.
"Ackabastic? What's that?" Natsu asked with his mouth full of food.
"Acrobatics." Lucy corrected. "It's like… jumping around, doing flips, good balance- the things they do during those performances we saw."
"So it's a class on jumping?" He asked the requip mage.
"Not exactly." Erza replied simply.
"Can I join you?" Gray asked her. "It would be a great way to train."
"I want to do it too!" Natsu announced, raising one hand and slamming the other on the table. "And I'm going to kick Gray's ass at it!"
"You don't even know what it is, idiot." The ice make mage countered.
"What are you guys talking about?" Claire asked as she arrived, but instead of taking the empty seat next to Bickslow she stood behind him. Leaning down and wrapping her arms around him, she placed a kiss on his cheek and looked to the others for an answer.
"They want to take an acrobatics class at the circus." Lucy answered, not particularly looking thrilled.
"Ooh, can I sign up, too?" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"If you want to learn, I can teach you." Bickslow offered.
"Maybe when we get back to Magnolia? It would be cool to take a class from circus folk, don't you think?" She asked, still leaning over him with her arms loosely around his neck and her cheek against his.
"Maybe we should all take it?" Wendy suggested.
"I can see if we can get a group lesson." Fried suggested. "It would be a great training session for all of us."
As the group started talking about a lesson, Bickslow kissed the woman's cheek and gently nudged her to her seat. He eyed her curiously, noticing that she was still as upbeat as ever, and wondered what was going on in that head of hers. After a while and noticing that the conversation about the lesson would go on for some time, he discretely pulled Claire away to talk to her in the hall, leaving Mike with their friends.
Once they were out of earshot and in a fairly empty hallway, he faced her curious expression. One of her new coats was a Minstrel style one, with white fur lining it, and she looked remarkably like Laxus in that moment.
"What'ya need sugar muffin?" She asked with a smile, and leaned against the pale yellow wall.
"Why didn't you tell me it was your brother yesterday?" He asked bluntly, unable to think of a better way to approach the topic. The smile on her face fell immediately, and she sighed, looking away from him. "I'm sorry I forgot who he was, but you could have told me yesterday. I feel terrible for being mad at you yesterday, and then you were so nice this morning…."
"I don't care about that." Claire said, the smile returning to her face and her hands finding his waist. "You were understandably upset yesterday, and today I felt happy, so I tried to share that happiness with you. I feel good, my family is safe, I can see without glasses- everything is good."
"You're ignoring what happened so you don't have to deal with it."
"Is that so bad?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to get that cute effect.
"As long as you know that you will have to deal with it eventually, and when that time comes I'll help you through it."
"Thank you." The blond said, and they shared a short kiss.
5.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 5:00 PM
Bickslow was glad he came to the lesson with his friends; he was only sad that he couldn't take a picture of it.
Everyone looked ridiculous in spandex, probably because Erza picked out the outfits for most of them. They wore pink and purple unitards. Claire, Mike, and Bickslow had been smart enough to not let the crazy requip mage dress them. Their group had gathered in one of the three large circus tents, in the middle of the large space, and waiting for their instructor for the evening. Ropes and swings dangled lifelessly from the ceiling, and across the room were some performers practicing their routines.
"Hey Fried, how'd you manage to get us a lesson so soon?" Bickslow asked the word mage, who looked the most ridiculous of them all with his clashing green hair.
"Apparently Claire did a lot of lessons when she was on their ship, so they were excited to return the favor." He shrugged. "They even offered a significant discount."
"Mom! Look what I can do!" Mike exclaimed, showing off his cartwheel for the fifth time since they'd been there. Just like every other time, Claire would compliment his amazing skills, and start the process all over again. "Mom, I'm going to do a handstand, can you keep my feet up?"
"Yes, sir." She said with a chuckle, and when the boy moved his weight to his hands, she dutifully held his ankles in the air.
"Are you going to join the circus, Mike?" Lucy asked him.
"Yeah!"
Bickslow chuckled nearby, watching the boy excitedly go from one action to another to pass the time, and constantly vying for Claire's attention. Ever since they met he liked her more than Bickslow, and ever since they formally adopted him, the seith mage just learned to accept it. Since Claire was on her 'enjoy life to the fullest' attitude that day, she was more than happy to comply to the kid's whimsical requests, doing whatever she could to 'spread her happy energy'.
"I assume this is the Fairy Tail group?" Someone asked loudly as they approached the group. Erza punched by Gray and Natsu to stop their fight, and everyone quieted to look at the teacher. There were two men dressed in dark red and black pants and long sleeve shirt, both of them having short curly brown hair and dark eyes.
"You assume correct." Fried spoke up.
"Well I'm Daniel and this is Carlos. We'll be splitting the group into two this evening based on skill level."
"What exactly did you plan on teaching us? The description for this was pretty vague." Erza asked, standing in the front.
"Depends on the skill level of the people that sign up and what they want to learn. Since most of you are wizards, we would probably work on balance and go from there." Carlos answered. "Why are you even in the class, Bickslow?"
"I'm a Fairy Tail mage." He answered easily, letting his tongue hang out and show off his emblem. Both men laughed, shrugging, and went back to the group.
"Does anyone else have experience in acrobats?"
"I teach yoga." Evergreen offered.
"I can kick Gray's ass in cargobats!" Natsu announced, pointing at the ice mage. He was quickly silenced by the requip mage.
"I can do a handstand and a cartwheel!" Mike exclaimed with a bright grin.
"Good! That'll definitely come in handy today." Carlos winked at him, and the boy blushed and hid behind Claire. "You know when you said he was cute, I thought you were exaggerating, but he is adorable." He told the fire mage.
"Actually, how about everyone do a handstand to get warmed up? Afterwards we'll do some stretches and get going." Daniel announced with a clap. "No pressure at all, it's just to see where you guys are at."
"One at a time or all at once?" Fried asked, but as he did so, his comrades were already jumping onto their hands.
"I can kick your ass while standing on my hands!" Natsu announced, landing a solid kick to Gray's crotch and knocking him over. As the dark-haired man tumbled, he knocked into Lucy who knocked into Erza.
"Natsu! Behave!" The red head exclaimed, and ran over on her hands to kick him, causing him to fly into Elfman and cause another domino effect. Before they knew it, Daniel and Carlos were watching the group of Fairy Tail wizards fight and battle each other while attempting to stay standing on their hands.
Claire stood with Mike to the side of the group, amused at the situation unfolding and making sure to keep the non-wizard boy safe from the chaos. Bickslow had somehow gotten roped into it, and he was having a lot of fun showing off as he kicked other people off balance and cackled in triumph.
"Are we by chance doing anything on the trapeze today?" Claire asked them, having been eyeing the swings hanging solemnly high above them.
"We weren't planning to, but you can go up there if you want. There's a net and everything." Daniel answered. "Are they going to be fighting the whole time?"
"Yeah." She shrugged.
"What's a trapeze?" Mike asked.
"It's when you swing from those ropes up there. Want to try it?" Carlos asked, and the boy nodded quickly, though still partially hiding behind the fire woman. "I could show them around up there until they stop fighting." He suggested to the other man, who glanced back at the childish group kicking each other, and shrugged.
"Sure. I'll wave you down if I need you." The other man replied, seeming less than thrilled at the prospect of babysitting the Fairy Tail wizards. Claire wondered if he was one of the people thinking of coming back to Magnolia Town with them, and whether this display of childishness was making him reconsider.
"So Mike, what's been your favorite part of the circus?" Carlos asked as they walked over to the ladder at the edge of the ring, smiling kindly to the shy boy. Michael shrugged, unanswering, and watching him carefully.
"Mike's a bit shy. Bickslow won him a stuffed tiger the other day." Claire informed him, and the boy's face lit up into a smile. Mike kept his face in her lower back, gripping her pants.
"He's into tigers, huh? Has he seen Monkey?"
"'Monkey'?" Claire asked, confused.
"It's the name of our tiger. We adopted him as a pup." He explained, and the woman nodded in understanding, stopping just in front of the ladder.
"Ready to go up, Mike?" Claire questioned the boy still holding onto her, and started wondering how to go about this.
Sometime later, when the other wizards had settled down enough to listen to one of the instructors, Bickslow looked around in confusion. Around him lay his bruised and tired comrades, with more than a few glares sent in his direction, but his fiancé wasn't in the mix. When he heard a distinct laughter coming from above them, he looked up, eyes locking with his fiancé standing on a ledge to the side of the tent.
Mike was crawling as if in mid air high above, and seemed fascinated by the invisible magic net.
A pang of jealousy swelled up in his chest when he realized what Claire was doing. She was holding onto the swing about to jump, with Carlos behind her and holding her hips, and she was laughing. Not liking how chummy they were getting, the seith mage summoned to of his souls to go up and talk to her. Pappa and Poppo were the closest ones to them, and within seconds they were dutifully flying up to their 'mom'.
Tell Claire that I'll teach her how to do the trapeze when we get home. He instructed them, and watched as the pair flew up and spoke to her. Carlos, unable to see them (or so Bickslow presumed) ignored them entirely. Bickslow wasn't able to hear them, but judging by the look in his direction, Claire wasn't too happy by the pair's interruption.
Mom wants to learn now. If you're done kicking our friends, you can join them. Poppo informed him. After another glance around his group, confirming that they were just doing basics (or trying to, between Natsu and Gray's bickering) he gracefully stood and walked over to the ladder.
6.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 7:00 PM
"Thank you for having dinner with us again." Celest spoke calmly, nodding to the two mages across from her. Bickslow was sporting a few new cuts on his cheek and forehead from the earlier 'lesson', and the fire mage was much more upbeat. The four men and women were seated at a different restaurant than last time, but similar themed decorations.
"Thanks for inviting us." The blond said with a smile. "It's nice to see you both again."
"It must be nice to have a night off from Mike." Alyona commented.
"After being transported to Midi, I like being near him."
"He's actually pretty easy to take care of. Give him some yarn and he'll make all kinds of cool shit." Bickslow said proudly. He was looking forward to the drink he had just ordered; something about the way they were invited made him suspect he'd need it for this meal. He wasn't sure what his grandmother was hiding, or what her motives were, but he was on his guard. "Did you have any other kids beside mom?"
"No, she was the only one. After two years of a loveless marriage I left your mother with her father and joined the circus." Alyona explained rather quickly, and took a sip of her water.
"… huh."
"So Claire, what was your upbringing like?" Celest asked, turning to the fire mage.
"I grew up in a city called Portland in a parallel universe." Claire spoke. "Two older sisters, one older brother, and two younger brothers. My older sister Carol and I were the trouble makers in our family."
"What did you do for work in your… universe?"
"I was a barista, serving coffee. I was also going to school part time at the local university."
"A university? What were you studying?"
"Computer science. It's a kind of technology on my world."
"Fascinating. Have you thought of continuing your studies on this world?"
"Not really. On my world, people mostly go to school to get a high paying job. Here I'm one of the highest ranked mages at my guild with great medical benefits and a big paycheck, so I don't really need to."
"You know that you could if you wanted to, right?" Bickslow asked, and she gave him a blank look. "I mean, our guild master pays tuition for mages at Fairy Tail all the time if they ask. He loves sending his kids off to school."
"Why don't more people go?"
"Most of them quit after the first year." He shrugged.
"They turn down free education? People on my world go thousands of dollars into debt for it."
"I thought you said people went to school to get high paying jobs? Why would they go into debt to make money?"
"Because politics and boring stuff. Why haven't you gone to school?"
"Not my thing." Bickslow shrugged, and thanked the waitress as she passed around their drinks. Before leaving she placed a bowl of breadsticks in the middle of the table.
"What do you two do for fun?" Alyona asked.
"Training, drinking, playing with Mike," Bickslow answered, feeling oddly reminiscent of their conversation with Jelani and Nara. Both women seemed to be taking notes in their minds, and after a moment of silence, the seith mage finally asked. "Why are you guys being so weird? What's the real reason that you invited us out to dinner?"
"We were just talking, and…" Celest spoke awkwardly, and her sentence trailed off.
"We wanted to make sure that you were happy." His grandmother stepped in. "I've seen parents jump into the married life too soon, and was concerned for you two."
"Why would you be concerned? We're happy. We're ecstatic." Bickslow defended, feeling on edge by the accusation. His fiancé reached under the table and took his hand, trying to calm him down. "Why would you think we're not happy?"
"It's nothing you did or said," Celest spoke quickly. "It's just that you both adopted a kid together, and are planning to adopt two more. Those are big steps, and we've seen happy couples wear down over the years with children they weren't prepared for."
"We've been a couple for over two years, I think we're a little prepared."
"How often do you two have sex?" Alyona asked, just as the waitress was bringing them their food. The blue-haired mage's face heated up to a bright red, and the blond couldn't help but snort at his utterly embarrassed expression. His look of horror turned to a glare in her direction.
"Why the hell are you laughing? That's my grandma."
"Exactly. Your grandma, not mine."
"How would you feel if your grandma asked something like that?"
"My grandpa harassed us about having grandbabies in front of the entire guild." She countered, and the man rolled his eyes, wanting to disappear. Remembering that he had a new drink to try, he reached forward and started gulping it down.
"Oh come on, stop acting like a child. You're 24 years old so I know you've had sex before." Alyona told him, only causing him to finish off the last half of his blue drink.
"Sex life is great, no need to talk about it." Claire told them with a smile.
"You both use protection, right?"
"We went to the after party, we've been thoroughly educated."
"Sex isn't just about satisfaction, but really connecting with your partner on an emotional level. When was the last time you two had a weekend just with each other?"
"And my appetite is completely gone." Bickslow stated, and pushed his plate closer to the fire mage next to him.
"Life is about more than just making money and getting by. It's about enjoying yourself and those around you. I've learned a lot over the years in the Soul Circus, and I'd just like to pass on some of my wisdom to my grandson." Alyona told him, and patted her partner's hand in an affectionate way. Her grandson seemed unmoved by this show, crossing his arms and slouching in his chair.
"Honey, don't slouch. You look like Michael right now." Claire told him, and the seith mage scooted back so that his back was straight again, but kept his arms folded.
"Alright, since you're so uncomfortable with the topic, I won't bring it up again. Will that make you happy?"
"Very." He said with a sudden smile, and retrieved his plate of pasta to start eating.
"Claire, what did you picture doing with your life five years ago?" Celest questioned.
"Like… in the long term?" She asked, and the other woman nodded. "I dunno, eventually getting married, have a stable job, save up enough money to travel the world. Then I was transported to an alien planet, became a wizard, hooked up with a hot guy and adopted dead children."
"Okay, where do you see yourself in ten years now?" She rephrased, noticing that both mages had a sarcastic and overdramatic sense of humor.
"Continue what I'm doing now. Keep working and have a family with Bickslow."
"I like that plan." Bickslow told her. "Maybe less working, though. With our combined income we could retire early."
"Retirement sounds boring."
"We could spend it on traveling and spoiling our kids."
"That does sound fun."
"You two are so easily side-tracked." Celest commented with a chuckle.
"Hey, what if we ditched the group and take Wendy, Carla, and Mike back to Magnolia Town with our own route home? We can hit every hot springs and Wendy and Carla can watch over Mike when we get bored." Claire told the man, and he grinned, obviously liking the idea.
"Can you imagine the look on Fried's face?" He snickered.
"He'd have a heart attack."
"I told you they were okay." Celest whispered to the woman next to her, and the two old ladies smiled as they watched the young couple interact.
7.
Wednesday, May 3rd, 9:00 PM
Claire sat on the bathroom counter, frowning, and staring at herself in the mirror. She had taken off her make up after taking a shower, and instead of re-applying it, she found herself entranced by the strange tattoo. She'd intended to do what she and Bickslow had planned for when she got the mark- to hide it for as long as possible.
Yet, as she stared at it, she couldn't bring herself to hide it.
This was the last and only thing she would ever receive from her brother. The older man gave up his life so that she could live a better one, and the proof of it was the celtic design etched into her face. A beautiful, ancient, magestic series of black lines in the vague shape of a person. It proved that in that monster's last moments he was her brother again, however brief it was. He was her brother before he turned into a monster.
I'm so tired of watching people die. She thought with a heavy sigh. Physically she felt fine but emotionally she was exhausted. Acting so happy all day took a lot out of her.
He was a monster, he knew what he was, so he tried to die in a way that would help make up for it. He died to make my life better. The memory was so strong and fresh in her mind that she could almost feel the creature in her arms, holding her back, and telling her that he cared about her. Telling her that he loved her.
Her fingers twitched, missing her big brother.
I'm so tired of seeing violent deaths.
She sighed heavily again, feeling a wave of pain and remorse wash over her body. Claire had always made sure that taking one life saved another's in some way or another, but it didn't make it less tragic. So many people died too soon and she had seen more than her fair share of that ugliness. At first it had been surprisingly easy, but nowadays with her ability to see souls, it made death much more difficult to deal with.
A bump came from her room again, followed by the familiar laughter of Mike. Ever since the lesson he was ecstatic, excited about learning gymnastics, and talked about joining the circus one day. For the last half hour he had been tumbling and falling in their hotel room trying to practice what he had learned that day.
"You okay in there, honey?" Bickslow called from the bedroom, and another sigh left Claire's lips. It felt sacrilegious to cover this tattoo with make up, but at the same time, she didn't want to explain this to him. She didn't want to explain it to anyone.
A knock came from the white door.
"Honey?"
"I'm okay." She replied, still staring at the hypnotizing black figure on her face.
"You've been in there for a long time."
"You two always spend forever in there." Mike accused.
"When we're together in there, yeah." Bickslow shrugged, and Claire chuckled on the bathroom counter. The couple had disappeared into the bathroom once or twice since their arrival, for less than innocent reasons.
Her eyes again locked with the mark on her face, and she debated what to do about it. When she was drugged on the ship a little over a week ago, or whenever that was, she was pretty sure that she had shown Bickslow her mark when they were on the communications lacrima. Although her memory was pretty fuzzy on that day, she didn't remember him being particularly angry about it. He knew that she had that spell on standby in case she needed it, and considering her situation, she figured that he would be understanding about it.
They hadn't talked about it in person yet, though. At the time he had been more concerned about her and Wendy's safety than a black mark on her face.
He knocked again, and Claire bit the inside of her cheek.
"You're not sick, are you?" Bickslow asked.
"No, I just…" Does he even know what this symbol means now? Has he ever seen this before?
"Can I come in?"
Her blue eyes drifted to the door, pouting slightly, and still unsure about this situation. She didn't mind him seeing this, she just… didn't want to talk about it. The events resulting in this were too fresh. "I guess." Claire mumbled, and turned back to her annoyed looking reflection. Clad in a dark blue t-shirt and gray sweatpants, she contrasted against the white marble counter and cream walls.
The popari on the back of the toilet caught her attention, and became particularly fascinating as the door clicked open. The black and blue-haired man paused in the doorway, obviously surprised by the new addition to his fiancé's face, and they were silent for a moment. Claire's chest compressed painfully, trying to focus on the stupid dried up flowers.
"Woah, what happened to mom's face?" Mike asked, having come up behind Bickslow to peer into the small room.
"She, uh… she got the mark when she was in Midi." Bickslow explained, unmoving and thus not letting the boy enter. "Give us a minute, Mike."
"I wanna see it, though." He pouted, and let out an annoyed grunt as the older man gently pushed him away from the room. Bickslow closed the door behind him and locked it.
"Seith marks aren't supposed to look like that." Bickslow stated, and slowly stepped closer to her. She tasted blood in her mouth as she continued to ignore him, continuing to eye the pink and red dried petals. "Have you gotten it checked out?"
"Yeah." She muttered.
"What does it mean?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Are you, like… okay, though? It's not a curse or anything bad, is it?"
"No. I'm fine." She gulped, accidentally glanced at the green eyes locked on her face, and turned back to the small bowl. "I don't really want to cover it up."
His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her back into his chest and pressing her firmly against him. A soft pair of lips just below her ear kissed her sensitive skin, and she relaxed in his arms, loving the warmth he produced. She inhaled his scent, his skin brushed against hers, and she could hear his heart beating within his chest.
"Since I use seith magic, most people assume that I can see souls. Confirming it by showing my mark isn't going to make much of a difference."
"It gives us an edge if they don't know for sure, though." He whispered, and kissed the side of her cheek. "It gives you an edge, more specifically."
"It feels wrong to hide it." She explained lamely, unsure how to convey her feelings on the matter without having to explain everything to him.
"Would wearing masks feel better than covering it with make up?"
"I don't think so."
"Even seith mages with non-weird marks cover it up." Bickslow reminded, eyeing the strange swirls and designs in the mirror.
"I know."
"How about we go to the circus tomorrow and check out their seith mage gear? At least look around and see if there's anything you like." He reasoned, and the blond shrugged, honestly not wanting to go. The symbol, in her mind, represented her older brother. Covering it up in any fashion felt disrespectful, but she knew he had a point. "It'll be fun, don't worry about it so much."
"I guess." She mumbled.
"You 'guess'?" He questioned and nuzzled his nose into her neck, causing a small smile to tug at her lips. "You just guess?"
"No promises."
8.
Wednesday, May 4th, 9:00 AM
"Mom's face looks cool. Why does she have to cover it up?" Michael pouted in the hallway, but then giggled when the older man picked him up and placed him on his shoulders.
"It's a seith mage thing. If you ever become one you'll have to do the same." Bickslow explained, hoping that the ten year old would drop the conversation topic soon. It was bad enough convincing Claire to cover it up this morning, and having to also convince the boy was taxing. Adding to his frustration, Mike wanted a 'cool seith mark' like his mom, favoring it over the traditional one. Bickslow almost wished that her mark still looked like a drunk person drew on her face with a sharpie.
"Morning guys." A small voice greeted as the small group had started walking away from their room. The trio turned, facing the voice in question, and found both Wendy and Carla standing there.
"Morning you two." Claire greeted immediately, and kneeled down to give them both a hug. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to spend much time together the past few days. Between Michael getting sick and all the chaos…"
"It's okay." Wendy said quickly. "How have you been?"
"I've been good. We were just heading to the circus to look at masks, do you want to join us?"
"Cool! We're going to look at masks!" Natsu yelled, having exited his room at the perfect time with a wide grin on his face. Bickslow glared from behind his visor, watching as their small family outing was going to inevitably involve the entire Fairy Tail group.
At least I'll be able to patch things up with Ever…. He thought glumly, watching as the brunette got roped into the outing as well.
It took a little over a half hour to get to the booth Bickslow had in mind, and the entire time the fire dragonslayer kept biting at his heels. The annoying mage was surprisingly good at mixing subtle insults with his stupid remarks, and every chance he could get, he would do something to set him off. Natsu knew how to press his buttons, and he was unfortunately good at dodging his babies.
Claire tried to busy herself in conversation with Wendy and Carla. Even as she perused the little shop filled with masks and a few racks of 'traditional seith garb', she didn't give the items her full attention. Most of them were dark, creepy, or much too 'girly' for her tastes.
To her dislike, the two girls eventually became distracted by Lucy and Happy's comical interactions. Bickslow was busy chatting with Evergreen, patching things up, and everyone was deep in conversation with one another.
Sighing, she turned back to the wall of masks, a series of angry faces glaring at her.
"I wondered when you'd show up." A familiar voice asked, and Claire turned, smiling at the arrival. Obasi stood there in a casual t-shirt and pants, with a small and simple mask covering his mark. It was the first time she'd seen him without his fighting or security outfit.
"Bickslow convinced me to come here." She explained.
"Does that mean you didn't want to come here?"
"I'm not a fan of wearing masks." She shrugged, not completely lying. The number of times she'd worn masks were limited, and although they actually didn't bother her that much, she would rather not wear one if she had the option.
"I'm sure we can find something you'll like." He told her, as if he was accepting the challenge. Immediately his gaze moved back to the wall, to the cases housing the more elaborate masks, and to the other spaces in the shop holding more selections. "You like dragons, right?"
"I guess." She shrugged.
"Isn't your code name 'The Dragon'?"
"Yeah."
He gave her a strange look, but then shook his head and took a few steps to a glass case nearby. Pulling out the keys to open it, he expertly navigated the protective charms on it and reached into the space.
"Do you work here?"
"I own this place with my brother." He explained, and a moment later, his arm reemerged with a red, gold, and black mask in his hand. It looked like a Chinese dragon mask, with the features exaggerated and bright red colors.
"A dragon mask for 'The Dragon'. Subtle."
"Yet appropriate. Have you thought about having a fighting mask and a casual mask?"
She shrugged non-committedly, and gently took the mask from the smiling man. It was lighter than she thought it would be, and as she turned it around in her hands, could tell that it was designed for combat. The eyes had the outward appearance of golden rings, and would likely shield the wearer from common eye-contact initiated spells.
"You had to have thought about this a little before getting the mark."
"I was more preoccupied with the tactical advantage than how I looked."
"She'll take it." Erza announced suddenly, and the pair turned to the S-Class mage, confused by her announcement. "Along with a casual one. And I'll be purchasing these." She informed him, holding up a stack of 30+ masks. Most of them had feathers and glitter on them.
"You, uh… want to buy all of those?" Obasi clarified after clearing his throat.
"It's rare to find high-quality battle gear that's also fashionable. And Claire, you're an S-Class mage. Do I need to explain to you the importance of your appearance? You're an S-Class mage representing the elite wizards of Fairy Tail and should look as such."
Claire refrained from rolling her eyes, not wanting yet another lecture from the red head. "Fine, whatever."
"You know that most of those are traditional seith mage designs? You could be mistaken for one if you wear those." Obasi told her, eyeing her warily and suspicious of her.
"Since we've had so many run-ins with the Ghoul Guild, I've been familiarizing myself with their magic. These will be excellent for my new 'Death Armor'." Erza explained.
"She uses requip magic to change her armor during battle to give her an edge." Claire explained to the man, and he nodded awkwardly, still not entirely getting it.
"Uh… of course she does." He stated. "I'll, uh, get a bag for you to help carry those. Let me know when you're ready to check out."
As the pair walked off together, Claire frowned, finding herself on her own again. The mask in her hands stared at her, snarling, and she found herself considering her current dilemma. If she didn't choose a mask for herself, then Bickslow or Erza would choose for her, and she knew that wouldn't end well. The idea of having a fighting mask and a casual one did sound appealing, though.
If she changed her style to focus more on long range attacks and intimidating her opponents, she wouldn't get injured as often. Probably. Having a 'scary' mask like the one in her hands would help make that happen.
"Find something you like?" Bickslow asked as he appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her and peering over her shoulder.
"I guess."
"Try to reign your excitement, sweetie." He said sarcastically.
"I'll be more excited when we get home." She shrugged.