"Still don't know why Annie has been so quiet," Sylvain remarked, walking alongside his uncle while the night began to fall with the snow. "We had a small spat last week, so what? She's never acted like this until now. Maybe she's just being dramatic because she wants attention. Either way, it's annoying."
Freed considered that. "I won't disagree that Annie has been withdrawn and really ought to say what's bothering her….however, it is, given the circumstances, at least understandable."
Sylvain turned to him, surprised. "What do you mean?"
"She had…" Freed chose his words carefully, himself not entirely sure what to make of what had happened. "A bit of a confrontation with Ivan, one that, I imagine, made her quite uncomfortable. Not that any situation with him isn't uncomfortable, but this, in particular, was bad."
Sylvain's face fell. "He didn't threaten mom, did he?"
"No, Laxus and Hisui were perfectly fine," Freed sighed. "He simply….remarked that your sister, in his words, should be the heir apparent and that, if his 'plans,' as he called them, had worked from the beginning, she would be."
Sylvain grimaced. "Ivan wanted to kill me and Fallon?"
"Perhaps not, but he at least wanted to do irreversible damage," Freed paused for a moment, looking grim. "I hate to say it, but I wonder if the thought had ever crossed Annetta's mind. It's possible, at any rate, that what he said to her made her feel rather guilty. Mira told me that it's unlikely, that Annie has never wanted to be the heir, but I can't help pondering it."
"She probably did want to be the heir," Sylvain said, shrugging. "But not because Fal got hurt."
Freed hesitated. "You honestly think Annetta wanted that? Despite knowing her entire life that her being the youngest was what spared her from all of the horrible things Ivan did to you and Fallon?"
"I mean, I never wanted any of that and I was always glad Fal was older, but Annie's different," Sylvain's eyes narrowed a bit despite his attempts to mask his annoyance. "She's always been perfect. Perfect little Annie, who never got cursed and has always been lucky. Of course she wants to be the heir. She has everything else."
Freed frowned. "That sounds a bit harsh."
"It's not wrong, either," Sylvain irritably replied. "I just wish Annie would finally give up and recognise that she can't have everything, and that she's had it so damn easy. Mom and dad never get mad at her, but then dad gets mad when I say things how they are. They don't even get mad at Fal anymore. It's just me."
"Fallon was nearly killed just a few months ago," Freed reminded him, lowering his voice a little. "And, as for Annie, I would say they've always been so relieved that she's alright and she knows it, hence why she has always been obsessed with making them happy. I'm not saying it's healthy on Annetta's part, and I'm not saying it's fair on your parents part, but I am saying that this has not come out of nowhere."
Sylvain let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling rather cold. "I just don't get it."
Freed hesitated but then shook his head. "Sylvain, you went into your first….spell about four months before Annie was born and didn't come out of it until shortly after. Three days after she was born, to be specific. I can't even begin to describe the impact that had on your parents. With Fallon, they always kept her inside the palace, rarely leaving and, when they did, she was never exposed to the sunlight. They had been living in constant fear of your curse, which has always been much less manageable, and, when it finally happened, it was severe. Your mother closed in on herself so much because of it. She was devastated, barely ate, and was already working more than anything else. Laxus….I've never seen him so afraid. And then Annie was born a month early and she was born sick, which only made things harder on your mother, who had become thoroughly convinced that everything was her fault."
Sylvain stared at him, speechless. "Why didn't they ever tell me that? Annie and I have been having fights about her being perfect for years, and -"
"They never said anything because they just don't know how," Freed gently patted his nephew's shoulder. "Your parents have always kept to themselves, you know that. And as for your relationships with your sisters….try to remember that….it's okay to be right, it's okay to know better than them or anyone...but, sometimes, that's just not what someone needs, whether to become what you say or not."
It was utterly silent in the Imperial Capital, and the night air was stifling. In the cold rooms of the castle - no, the fortress, Zeref told himself - everything had been carved in stone. The year was coming to an end, and X809 was nearly upon them. Just another half hour. They would begin their journey to Fiore then, their plan being to strike both their assaults concurrently in just a week's time. Leaving so early was a precaution, a way to give them more time to be as perfectly prepared as they could be. Irene was deep in the fortress, spending her last few moments here, before their plans, to attend to matters through the scrying pool. She was looking for traitors, and for anything that would give her an edge. Never again would she be taken for granted, or underestimated.
What she was seeing, while in this trance like state, was not pretty. It was a jumble of the past and the present, all fighting for dominance to predict the future. She had been unable to produce any reading to predict the outcome of her attack, but this was, she believed, integral. Any scrap of knowledge on them would be an advantage, and she had long since decided that to be true. The images, however, would not settle. Instead, they showed her too much. It was not until she saw herself in the pool that her head began to spin. Her own past was not what she had meant to confront, yet she was seeing herself, for the first time since then, abandoning her daughter. The only person she would spare. The only person she would ever leave be, the only one who could count on her family being unharmed.
Standing up suddenly, Irene cast her magic into the scrying pool to destroy the image, and it shattered, almost like glass rather than ripples of water as they indeed were. She would not confront that tonight. The matter of her daughter was one for another time, for after she knew what things would like. If happy endings did exist, then there would be time for that, Irene told herself, though she had spent her life since she had turned her back on life in Ishgar insisting that fairytales simply did not exist. Donning her silks again and grabbing her staffs, Irene began to walk up towards the stables. At midnight, as she had chosen, they would ride, splitting up only after they had reached Fiore. It would not be an immediate attack, but it would be done by the end of the first week of this new year, of this X809.
Coming down from where he had been sitting atop one of the spires, Zeref, too, was heading to the stables, a sense of dread starting to arise in him. His step grew heavier, his thoughts demanding to know if he would accidentally harm Mavis again, if he would kill her in this attempt to give her life again. The wind cutting through him, he stopped and looked up at the waning moon. He still had not been able to reckon with that particular thought, nor the memory of the harm he had done her. He had never meant to turn into the dark'ness, but he had in this pursuit of her, in this pursuit of reviving the one person he had ever been able to love. The reputation he had of being the most dangerous and cruel mage of all time was not one he had ever wanted, but it was one he would have to deal with.
Even the supposed weapons he had made were originally meant to take a soul but revive another. He knew it wasn't fair, that others would never be able to accept or understand that, but he no longer cared. If he could escape with Mavis once again, he didn't give a single fuck. She was the only reason he had been able to survive so many centuries, the only reason he had ever tried to go on. If this failed, he supposed he would turn on his only accomplice, whom he expected to fail. Irene had been around nearly as long as him, but he did not believe her capable of winning. He had discovered just a few hours before that the news of Ivan's death had been falsified and that he had betrayed them, but Zeref refused to say anything of it. It was not worth it; he would never get the chance to get to Mavis if Irene had any doubt of ability to win this.
This, Zeref was sure, would be his last chance to reunite with his love and he would sacrifice anything and anyone for that end.
"Are you prepared?"
He nodded, mounting himself and waiting, with Irene, for the sound. Then, the clock struck midnight, and the sound of the bell sent them off.
"X809…" Zeref mused to himself once there was some distance between them. "I can only hope this year will either be the first with my love again or, perhaps finally, my last."
"I still can't believe this," Laxus shook his head. "They could show up here any day and try to destroy the whole city, our family, and even the entire kingdom."
"I can't believe it," Caity stared at the report Arcadios and several advisors had drawn up, her eyes still wide behind her glasses in utter shock. "We always knew they were planning something like this, but, for it to be coming by the end of the week at the latest…it's horrifying."
"We know, however," Siegrain put in, patting her knee. "It will be fine. They can be dealt with, because we know what we're up against and we know they're coming."
"That in no way makes it better," Laxus sighed, reaching over to take Hisui's hands tightly in his. "We've fought them before, but there's never been a conclusive victor. If this goes badly…"
"That's why we're going to be here," Evergreen said, sharing a look with Elfman. "None of us are leaving the palace until we've gotten the chance to beat that bitch into the dirt."
Elfman nodded. "We won't stop until those assholes get what for."
"Precisely," Freed said, crossing his arms. "I'll slice the shit out of her and her entire fucking army if I have to, without hesitation."
"Agreed," Mira's gaze went dark. "I feel no sympathy, especially after what they did to Fallon."
Lisanna cracked her knuckles. "Hopefully they'll enjoy pain."
"They won't have as much of an advantage as they thought they would," Caity put in mildly. "I'd recommend caution because of the sheer force of who we're dealing with….but they're not concurrently attacking the Magic Council now either, since Ivan's been….extradited. Not that I'm convinced that son of a bitch has told us everything, but he's told us enough to put the pieces together."
Bickslow snorted. "Bold of you to assume that Ivan isn't trying to weasel his way outta this."
"Either way, this is more than addressable," Freed calmly interjected. "Nothing about this is out of our hands, and, I'm sure, however scarring this may end up being, it will resolve and we will be fine."
"You're underestimating them," Laxus said, sounding unusually resigned. "After…"
He squeezed Hisui's hand, them both trying to set aside the horrible memories that were flooding them. She did not object when he shifted to wrap an arm tightly around her, and, in fact, she leaned into his embrace.
"This wasn't what I wanted at all," Hisui finally said, her voice quiet. "Not for any of us."
"No one wanted this," Evergreen gently put in. "But Freed's right. It's almost over. Every last one of them have lost any chance for sympathy, and most especially her for the shit she's done to your family over the years. We will deal with them, and then that will finally be that."
"I hope you're right," Laxus said, sighing heavily. "But I'm also terrified that we're going to be wrong."
"We won't, not this time," Siegrain assured him. "The Council will be sending members of its guard and the rune knights to protect us, and to fight if that is what it will come to. This won't end in tragedy, Laxus, of that I promise you."
He nodded, and turned to cup his wife's cheek. "Are you okay, 'Sui?"
"I will be," She said, sounding bitter. "Soon enough, at any rate."
"Good," He held her close, and gave her gentle squeeze. "I love you, 'Sui, so much. No matter what happens to the kingdom, that isn't going to change."
"I know," Hisui softly replied. "And I love you too, Laxus."
"It will be all sorted out," Freed assured them, although he sounded almost as if he were trying to convince himself. "Of that, we can be certain. After all….we know plenty more than they have ever accounted for and we will prevail…..they've already taken enough from us as it is."
