I looked over my shoulder as I followed the master into his office for what felt like the hundredth time. At first I had expected Laxus to flow to us, perhaps to discuss our conversation in greater detail within the privacy of his grandfather's office. But he lingered by the bar, watching us go.
Behind him I saw Violet turn toward a table seating Natsu and the others. It confronted me that she wouldn't be alone. But I could still feel a twinge of anxiety in my gut about leaving her alone with what part of me still regarded as the enemy. I told that part of me that she would be safe. That logic said there was nothing that could happen to her. It didn't listen, and the main guildhall disappeared behind a wall before I had the chance to do much convincing.
The master waited at his door as I walked in, heading for the same chair that I always did. He closed the door behind us with a final sounding click. I tried to relax into the chair as the master wrapped around the desk and found his.
"Am I in trouble?" I asked before I could help it.
His eye brows razed in a way that made me regret the question, feeling suddenly silly.
"Is there a reason you should be?" he asked.
I shrugged. Perhaps it had been an old idea from justice valkyrie that made me ask. If the master there requested to see you, it was never for anything good.
Makarov smiled warmly. "You're not in trouble." he said, then leaned forward, his eyes darkening. I reconsigned the pose. It was the same one that he held when he asked for more information on Justice Valkyrie. The same one he'd held that night when he'd forced me to tell all. I swallowed hard, feeling my Adam's apple scrape against the collar of my shirt.
"Correct me if I'm mistaken," he said, "but according to Laxus you would like to start fighting Justice Valkyrie in earnest."
My mouth felt suddenly dry. It had been all fine and dandy to admit I wanted to hurt them when it was Laxus sitting in front of me, hunched in a back table, egging on my violence. It was another feat entirely to admit it in this bright, clean office, the calm and measured face of the master floating before me.
"I- I want to be safe." I said.
It wasn't entirely true. It was the biggest logical reason to dismantle my previous guild, but there was another reason to...a heavier one, the fact that this was the longest I'd ever stayed in one town. That I didn't know how to go shopping or order food at a restaurant. The scars on Violets back.
The master appeared to take my answer at face value. But a part of me knew that he was too wise to really believe it.
"Maybe," I said, "Once Violet gets settled better, I can go back there and…" I trailed off, the idea had been kicking around in my head for a while, but I hadn't given it enough attention for it to grow into a plan. How could I fight against them? There had been other defectors, Kaze and Topaz, and they had been unable to do anything. And they far outranked me. There was no way I could bring down the whole guild alone.
The master watched me, and I grew uncountable. He had the same look in his eyes that Violet sometimes got when she was reading me.
"As I believe Laxus already told you," he said, "Fairy Tail looks out or it's own."
I stared at him.
"That includes you now." he continued. "If you want to fight them, we will join you."
I swallowed hard. I wasn't a team player, but I had seen what Fairy Tail could do, with them on our side… but was that fair? I bore their mark. I ate their food and did their jobs. But I still couldn't make myself believe that I belonged. That either of us did.
"You-you don't have to do that." I said. Surely there were other ways. "We could call the Rune Knights, let the council know where all the bases are."
"And how would you do that and keep yourself out of jail?"
I looked at my hands. I hadn't been planning too. Fairy Tail might be ignoring the blood on my hands at the moment, but the council wouldn't be so naive. Still...it would be worth it, if Violet could stay here safely...even without me, the others could take care of her. But then…
"That puts Violet in danger too."
How was he always one step ahead of me? A hand came up and ran though my hair on it's own volition. I was losing control again. "I know…"
"There are other ways to dismantle them."
I knew that too.
"We could help you."
"I can't ask you to do that!" the words came out more desperate than I wanted them to. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have been above using anything and everything to my advantage. But….
The guild had already given us more that I could ever pay back. Given us more than I ever deserved. I couldn't ask for more.
"You're not asking us." the master said. I looked up at him, and noticed a fist curled on the table. An upper lip twitching with words that it didn't have permission to say. "You're giving us permission."
I sucked in a breath. I had often heard the other members of the guild refer to their master as "Gramps.'' My first reaction had been disgust. To watch them disrespect him like that, even though they were my enemy... And as my debt to him grew, so had my confusion. But now I understood.
his quiet power. His righteous anger. He was the head of this guild. The head of this family. This viper. And they were all angry. As angry as I wanted to be.
I let out a smile.
"Do you have a plan?"
