"What?" Sylvain stood up almost the second his mother finished and clenched his fists. "That's it! I am going to kill Ivan, and -"
"No one is killing anyone," Hisui sharply cut across him. "We don't even have the means to get to Ivan at the moment, as you ought to well know."
"How can you say that?" The young prince exclaimed. "He tried to kill you! He's tried to kill dad! He tortured Fallon, and….and he's the reason both she and I are cursed!"
"I'm not saying I have any sympathy for the man," Hisui snapped. "I'm saying I'm not going to act recklessly, which is perhaps something both you and your father could stand to learn from!"
Laxus sighed. "'Sui -"
"I don't want to hear it," She said, glancing to him for a moment. "You and I both know you've put yourself in danger for the sake of trying to settle a score and I am not in the mood to argue the point."
"I wasn't going to disagree with you," Laxus irritably replied. "I was going to say that our son isn't entirely out of line."
"This wasn't Ivan," Fallon quietly put in before her mother could say anything else. "It had to be Irene. She's the only person I can think of with the skill and motive to try to kill mommy. And...and she was the last person to have those in her possession. She showed them to me while she was holding me captive."
Annetta gasped in horror and tightly hugged her sister. Sylvain tensed and eyed his sister nervously.
"That's creepy," Sylvain eventually remarked. "Why'd the bitch show you them in the first place?"
"She was…." Fallon shakily trailed off, seeing her mother flinch. She did not go on until Hisui asked her to, by which point Laxus, both worried about his wife and feeling guilty for snapping at her, had taken her hand tightly in his and was gently tracing circles on her palm with his thumb. "She was...I guess bragging about what she had done to grandmother and how what happened had...had destroyed grandfather. She claimed he had….that…"
"That what?" Hisui quietly pressed.
Fallon looked up and met her mother's gaze. "She said he begged her to kill him if it would save me and Sylvain at our christening," Fallon whispered. "Is that true?" She looked between both her parents, both of whom were resisting the urge to cry. "You two never did tell us what happened that day."
"It…" Laxus shook his head. "In short, Fallon," He finally said. "Yes, it's true."
Fallon swallowed hard. "Sylvain and I have been pressing you and mommy for years about what happened that day. Why haven't you ever told us anything about it? I don't care how painful it was for you two! It's been so much worse for us!"
Silence fell over the family and, to the shock of his children, Laxus broke down, burying his face in his hands. Hisui reached over, wrapping an arm tightly around him. He glanced up only to suddenly pull her tightly into him.
"I'm sorry, 'Sui," He said almost inaudibly. "After everything….if -"
"We should tell them the truth, Laxus," She murmured. "Fallon's right….they more than deserve to know."
Laxus sighed. "Fine," He said, probing his forehead. Then, he managed to meet the nervous looks of his children. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"What actually happened that day?" Sylvain chewed at the inside of his cheek. "And how Annie was able to escape being cursed herself when she was born."
Hisui looked between them for a few seconds and then forced herself to speak. "Your father and I didn't want to have a public christening for either of you, and certainly not Annie….however….as your grandfather made rather clear….none of you could be a legitimate heir under the law if we didn't. So, going into that day, neither Laxus nor I felt particularly good about it...and that's especially true because of the…."
"Ivan was on the grounds of the palace a few days after the two of you were born," Laxus finished. "He left a taunting note on the balcony of our bedroom, and scared your mother when she had gone to nurse Fallon."
Sylvain frowned. "Ivan can go fuck himself."
"That's one way to put it," Laxus muttered, tightly squeezing his wife's hand. "I know you had wanted to call it off then, and I shouldn't have sided with Toma. If I hadn't, maybe…"
"Neither of us knew what was going to happen, it isn't your fault," Hisui brushed tears away from her eyes and then forced herself to continue. "I think you knew something was wrong before anything had happened, Sylvain," She tried to steady her voice as she went on. "If you weren't sleeping or in my arms or your father's, you were panicking, crying. I still wonder if maybe you had sensed something was wrong, that…"
"I'm sorry mom," Sylvain whispered, awkwardly standing up to come over to her and give her a hug.
"No, it's alright," She told him. "But….regardless, what happened is not an experience any of us have ever recovered from. It was towards the end of the christening, and, while neither Laxus nor I felt particularly good about it, things certainly went better than we had thought they would...until Ivan and Irene stepped into the throne room. They managed to restrain everyone - which in and of itself was no small feat considering that your godmother, Sieg, Freed, and Makarov were there among others - and Irene attacked your father first, which drained him considerably. We still...we still don't know how she managed to do it. Then...she turned on the two of you."
Fallon stared down at her hands. "And that's when she...when…"
"Fal, how much do you two already know?" Hisui asked, eyeing her daughter curiously. "I know your godmother has told you most of it, and she was the one to weaken your curses but…"
"Really not much more than that," Fallon admitted. "She didn't seem to want to talk much about what she did or what happened when we were actually cursed."
Hisui sighed. "That figures."
"Gramps and Toma tried to protect you two when your mother and I got held back and drained," Laxus finally put in. "And, yes, Toma offered himself as a sacrifice if Irene would spare me, your mother, and the two of you. Needless to say, she didn't respond well to that. What made it worse was that not only was she threatening us but she had revealed that she had, at another point, tried to kill Freed as a child. Apparently she wanted his blood, although I'm still not clear on what that would have achieved."
Annetta grimaced. "Yuck."
"Yeah, no kidding," Sylvain remarked. "So that's what happened? She attacked all of us, cursed me and Fal, and disappeared?"
"Yes," Hisui confirmed, her hands shaking. "As for why Annie escaped being cursed...that I think is still luck."
"Agreed," Laxus said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "'Sui, are you okay?"
"Are you?" She replied, brushing a rogue tear away from his eyes. "I think I'll be alright, but are you and -"
"I'm sorry mommy," Fallon ran over to her parents and tightly embraced them, not caring that she had almost tumbled over a coffee table in the process.
"You were right, Fal, you all deserved to know," Hisui managed a weak smile and tapped her daughter's nose. "We should have told you a long time ago."
"Yeah," Laxus agreed, still holding her close. "We probably should have...might have been easier."
Annetta swallowed hard. "Daddy," She pressed. "Did you and Toma fight about me?"
Laxus hesitated. "You mean about whether or not your mother and I were going to have a public christening with you?" He glanced to Hisui, who nodded shortly, before he spoke. "We did, more than once, actually. Towards the end of her pregnancy, 'Sui was so anxious she was getting sick and put on bed rest because she was both terrified that you would face being cursed like your siblings and because Sylvain had fallen into his first sleeping spell about two weeks before. Toma and I got in a spat over it but he eventually broke me. I certainly said some things I'm not proud of, including accusing him of not giving a damn about your well being let alone your mother's."
Annie shook her head. "You care about us," She said plainly. "That's what matters."
Flipping through the book Evergreen and Lucy had recovered from their "excursion," Freed found himself stopped on a particular section of runes. He reached over for the translations on his teammate's desk, just as curious as her. Setting down her glass of wine, Caity leaned over his shoulder to get a better look. Her eyes widened briefly in surprise as she cross checked the translation. Evergreen, who had been paging through a copy of Sorcerer Weekly near them, barely noticed a thing until Siegrain stepped into his wife's study, looking vaguely concerned when he saw how intently she and Freed were whispering between each other.
"Seeing the two of them talk often makes me worry that we're conspiring," He remarked, getting a laugh from Evergreen. "Well, that's not very reassuring."
Evergreen shrugged. "Sieg, look, the closest my sister will ever get to conspiring anything will be the time she tricked Bix into thinking he wasn't wearing pants and to this day I still don't know how or why she did it."
Caity glanced up in surprise. "You don't remember that?"
"I do," Freed muttered. "You braided my hair that night too, if I recall. That was the last time I openly drank in the guild hall. I believe it was shortly after you joined the guild, actually. Well before you became a respected member of the Magic Council, of course."
She scowled. "And well before you knew you're Toma's son," She taunted back.
Freed chuckled. "Well," He said, matching her teasing tone. "Would you like to try to take on a rune or two? I'm sure you know what they are, all things considered."
Caity snorted. "I can take on more than two," She said, crossing her arms. "I've taken on up to three runes before, if you'll recall."
"Fair, fair," Freed said, reaching for a light pen. "Which three runes do you want to test?"
"I'd like to test five, actually," She said, tapping her nails impatiently against the desk. "Strength, wisdom, power, resistance, and judgement."
Siegrain turned towards her, startled. "Please don't try that, love," He said nervously. "I'd rather you not blow a hole in the side of the wall."
Evergreen laughed. "You worry too much, Siegrain," She playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Adrenaline or not, she's plenty capable. Besides, if she's just channeling magic energy, I don't think it would be anywhere near as intense as using her regular magic."
"I would tend to agree with Ever," Freed remarked after a moment of consideration. "It's tapping into power she already wields. It's hardly any more dangerous than when you use heavenly body magic."
Siegrain frowned. "I don't think you fully understand the extent of any of my magic, Freed. With all due respect, you are an incredibly skilled S-Class mage but, even if you weren't the former king's son, I don't think you'd be considered a Wizard Saint."
Freed scowled. "Don't piss me off. Also, with all due respect, it sounds as if you're devaluing your wife's skill more than mine."
Siegrain bristled. "I would never -" He angrily began.
"No, I hear it too," Evergreen said, sending him a dark look. "You've always been overprotective of her and, I'm sorry, but she's just as skilled as you are and you -"
"Ever, shove it," Caity snapped. "All of you! For God's sake, just let me take the damn runes!"
Freed sighed. "The five you mentioned?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Looking back to the book and the translation page, Freed activated the light pen and prepared himself. Caity pushed up her sleeve to expose her left arm and Freed, his hand steady as ever, began to draw the runes on her. He drew them in with precision, a variety of colors burning into her skin. It would, he assumed, be merely temporary and give her the power tap for a brief time. However, he miscalculated. She flinched, the sensation starting to pain her as he began drawing the third rune but she did not stop him. When he finished, the burning sensation stopped but the runes were still embossed on her skin. After a moment of hesitation, Caity smirked and activated the first two runes.
"Ever," She said with an innocent smile. "Can I try and punch you and see how much it hurts?"
Evergreen considered it and then shrugged. "Sure, why the hell not?" She declared, laughing. "I've let Bix do far worse to me in a playful fight."
Siegrain stepped to the side, sharing a cold look with Freed. The two sisters stood in the middle of the room and began throwing a few punches. Caity ducked out of a swift uppercut from Ever, who just barely got out of the way of a sharp kick from her sister. Finally, Caity managed to punch her in the side, four of the runes glowing brightly. The fifth began to as well as their little fight continued, but her magic energy was, oddly, getting stronger. Feeling a little dizzy, Caity rolled out of the way of her sister and summoned an air shield around herself. Ever slammed into it, surprised by the power of it, and then grinned, climbing onto her sister's desk.
"Nice!" Ever called out. "Seems like these little drawings of Freed's really work!"
"They sure as hell do!" Caity laughed, trying to dispel her air shield but slamming into it herself. Surprised, she tried to dispel it again but found herself unable to. "What the fuck? Since when -"
"Just give it a minute," Freed said nervously. "If not, I'm sure -"
"Damn it!" Caity pushed herself through the barrier but the magic energy around her smacked her back into the wall. She let out a pained cry as she hit the bookshelf. "I swear, I -"
'Caitlin!" Evergreen exclaimed in horror, activating her own magic in an attempt to help her sister. "Are you sure you don't need help -"
"I'll be fine -" She dizzily told her. "Oh, God, I'm such a fool, I -" Caity struggled to break out of the air storm around her but it pushed her back.
"Just give me a second!" Evergreen yelled over her, trying to counteract the storm with her own magic.
"No escape from the storm inside of me -" She whispered, her hands shaking as she tried to release herself. "Damn it, I can't control anything -"
"We can work this out together -" Siegrain began rummaging through the papers, looking for a counterspell.
"Sieg, please, you'll only make it worse -" Caity anxiously exclaimed, her magic swirling around her uncontrollably and the five runes she had tried to take on terribly bright on her arm.
"Don't panic -" Ever pleaded. "Just try to control it, even a little -"
"I...I can't!"
The storm suddenly collapsed down on her and she fell to her knees. Her glasses were strewn off her face across the room, and she was lying on the ground in pain. All three of them quickly rushed to her; Ever tried to help her off the ground, along with Siegrain. Freed, for his part, tried to remove the runes when she was steadied but could not. Evergreen and Siegrain helped her to sit down and, weakly, she tried to refocus herself. By the time she got her glasses back on, too, her mind was no less foggy. Everything about her hurt, and she knew she was bleeding in a few places up her arms. For the time being, she didn't care.
"Are you alright, sis?" Evergreen asked, wrapping her shawl around her shivering sister.
"I should research these more," Freed muttered. "Must be more powerful than I realised."
"It's over, love," Siegrain murmured, rubbing his wife's back. "It's alright."
"No it's not," She shuddered, feeling horribly cold. "What the hell was I thinking?"
"Shh," Siegrain pulled her in close and tried to comfort her. "And, Freed," He sent him a pointed look. "You owe us for this."
Freed raised an eyebrow. "That's really not -"
"I'm going to go have some tea," Caitlin said suddenly, shakily standing up and slipping out of the room. "Sorry…"
Evergreen shook her head when the door slammed shut behind her sister. "I probably should have mentioned that book summoned phantoms that tried to kill me and Lucy when we found it."
Siegrain and Freed both stared at her in shock.
"You have got to be kidding me," Freed muttered. "Just our luck."
