Hello my dear readers! Nice to meet you! I am Morgana and this in my first fanfiction :) I do NOT own Fairy Tail and the cover image! Credits to the amazing authors!
Now, let me quickly tell you a couple of things before starting:
1) The story starts AFTER the Grand Magic Games, and BEFORE Tartarus (so, Lucy has still Acquarius)
2) Cobra has been assigned on probation at Fairy Tail. When the story starts, seven months had already passed, and our favourite poison dragon slayer has found his place at the guild... well... kind of
3) I might edit again some chapters every now and then, but I am not going to modify the storyline or the characters, don't you worry! Moreover English is NOT my mother tongue, there might be some spelling or grammar errors... I will do my best :)
4) I haven't seen the anime, I have ONLY read the manga! You will not find here the infinity clock arc, etc in here.
I guess there is nothing else you need to know... Therefore, I welcome you to this adventure!
My dear readers, let the story begin!
At the border between Fiore and Bosco, Blue Mountains, an April morning...
If we look at the map of Ishgar, on the border in between the lands of Fiore and Bosco, we will see tall peaks drawn in blue ink, with snowflakes on their top and pines of their flanks. The label above says 'Blue Mountains'. If we look closer, we notice a small picture of a city, in one of the valleys that cut the mountain chain. Its name is 'Linveland'. Look up even closer. Do you see the symbol of a rock and a hammer? Exactly, that means that close to Linveland there is a mine, and the red cross above the hammer means it has fallen into disuse.
However, if we observe carefully the surroundings of the mine, we notice that the old entrance of the mine had been reopened, and men in working uniform are going in and out, bringing out barrows full of stones and debris, emptying them on a nearby dip, and going back inside the tunnel, ready to pull out more debris and rocks.
Let us now follow the workers into the tunnel.
A few lamps are scattered around, and if we search with our eyes in the darkness, we see five figures, walking in line. The first one is tiny and short, and is leading the way on a rough path in between pickaxes and crumble stones. Look at the other four... Do you recognise them?
Laxus huffed. He didn't like mines. They smelled of coal, and the dust made his throat dry and his eyes burn.
"So, if you please follow me, you will see why I called for Fairy Tail." said the short man in front of him, leading the way through the dirty tunnel.
Laxus heard Evergreen behind him complaining, as her shoes were getting stuck in between the cracks of the ground, but he ignore her. He said her thousand times that high heels where not appropriate for missions, but she had always refused to wear anything else.
Freed and Bickslow were trailing after the, looking around in the newly digged gallery.
"This way!" bellowed again the small man in front of them, lifting the lamp he was holding and illuminating an uneven trail in between rubbles and rocks.
The name of the man was Mr. Jones, and had called Master Makarov a few days before, asking him to send one of his mages as soon as possible. By chance, the Thunder Legion had just come back from a job, and Makarov asked Laxus and his team to go. "I don't know what is going on, Laxus, Mr. Jones hasn't given me any details, but he seemed quite worried."
So, since Freed had not yet picked up a new job request, Laxus and his teams left Magnolia later that day, and after two days travelling by train, much to Laxus annoyance, the four mages had arrived to the small train station of Linveland. Mr. Jones was waiting for them at the rail, and he lost no time in guiding them to the old mine.
"Is this mine yours, Mr. Jones," enquired Freed, inspecting the dark tunnel, as they walked deeper and deeper into the mountains.
"No, Mr. Justine." replied the small man. "I am just an employer of the FioreTrains s.p.a., you see, a foreman, to be precise. This mine is very old, and it was used until a century ago, and then it was closed because of a collapse. Most of the the mine became unaccessible, and they didn't think about reopening it again at that time." Mr. Jones gestured to the freshly cut walls. "My men are restoring part of it. We are currently walking where the main tunnel was, you see."
"Are you rehabilitating the mine, then?" asked again Freed. The Rune mage hated to have little or none information on a job. Linveland was a small town in the middle of the mountains, that was cut from the mainland during winters, because of the snow and the strong winds that blew through the Blue Mountains, and cool, brief summers. Apart from the fact that in the past centuries the area was full with coal mines, he didn't know much on the region. Oh, and that Linveland could be reached after almost twenty hours by train, which meant that they had to deal with a grumpy, nauseated dragon slayer.
He hadn't had time to gather any information before leaving Magnolia, with Master Makarov asking to catch the first available to Linveland.
"Oh, not at all, sir!" exclaimed Mr. Jones, turning to look at Freed and almost tripping over an axe. "We are exploiting part of the old mine trails, to build a gallery for a new railroad, that will connect Fiore and Bosco. I am here to supervise the works!" said Mr. Jones proudly. "My employer has won the public procurement, you see, and with this new railroad it will be possible to cross the Blue Mountains in much less time. That is why this gallery is important."
But suddenly his voice became wary and preoccupied. "You see, many investments have been made and this project is really important for my boss. I really don't want any trouble, you see... But you will see in a while, we just need to walk a little more..."
Laxus nodded to himself. A tunnel, then... That explained the smell of concrete he was feeling here and there.
"Have you had any problem digging?" asked Freed politely. It was clear that something was upsetting the small man, but on the other hand, being in the dark was upsetting Freed.
"Ehm, you see... while digging, we found... something... nothing dangerous, of course, but..." Mr. Jones muttered, glaring back at Freed. "But we have done nothing but our work, you see, we don't want any problems..." he added quickly.
"Sure." Freed nodded.
"Well, it is at the end of the gallery... We didn't move... it, we waited for Fairy Tail to come, you see..." Mr. Jones voice dropped, as he fastened his pace with his little legs.
It was clear that whatever Mr. Jones and his men found at the end of the gallery, their priority was to go back to their work as soon as possible. Freed hoped it was nothing dangerous, as Mr. Jones believed. It might be only an old artefact, he thought, or something magical, like a crown, or a sceptre, or a spell book.... In that case, the job of the Thunder Legion would have been to retrieve it and bring it to the Council, as the standard procedure required. And Mr. Jones had promised a good reward to the mages to help him get rid of the problem. But why had Mr. Jones called specifically Fairy Tail? he asked to himself once more. However, Freed cut back any other question, and simply nodded to the foreman.
As they continued to walk in silence, Laxus looked around the gallery. It was almost lunchtime, and the gallery was nearly empty. Barrows and pickaxes where scattered around the walls, were the workers have left them a while ago. They passed two workers that were eating their lunch in a corner under a small lightbulb. The workers nodded to Mr. Jones, looking sheepishly at the group behind them. They seemed to recognise only Laxus. "I didn't think he was so tall." he heard them commenting. Laxus turned his head only slightly, and the workers gasped.
Laxus chuckled to himself, keeping trailing after Mr. Jones. It was no news for him to be intimidating, but it never ceased to amuse him. Since the Grand Magic Games, nealry one year ago, the dragon slayer had been a lot under public attention, and not only because he was the only grandson of the Master of Fairy Tail. It was because he had defeated the whole Raven Tail guild by himself, and Jura, the fifth Wizard Saint. Jura had actually expressed his will to train him and helping him becoming a Saint himself, but Laxus had postponed his answer. Becoming a Wizard Saint was his childhood dream, but he liked life at Fairy Tail. Things were starting to go back to normal, after what happened at Tenrou Island, the seven years gap, and the Grand Magic Games. He wanted to enjoy his time at the guild a little more, now that he was no more the Laxus of Fantasia.
His thought were interrupted by some distant voices. After a few minutes, Mr. Jones seemed to hear them as well.
"Damn, I told them to stay behind..." he growled under his breath. "We are close! Come with me!" he said, turning to look at the mages behind him, and sprinted, for all his short legs allowed him, towards a crowd of workers gathered at the far end of the gallery.
Laxus narrowed his eyes, but the backs of the workers were in his way.
A young man left the crowd. "Mr. Jones! We have just finished extracting her!" he shouted, pointing at the crowd behind him.
"Yeah, yeah!" grunted Mr. Jones, who seemed to get angrier at each step.
"I told you to stay away!" he shouted, finally reaching the group of men "This is none of your business!"
Bickslow, who had been strangely quiet as they walked into the mine, chuckled. "Her?" he asked, sticking his tongue out.
Mr. Jones was sending the workers away with big waves of his tiny arms. "Shoo, shoo! Old perverts, they don't even - excuse me, young man!" Mr. Jones held one hand out, blocking Bickslow from moving too close to the end of the tunnel, "I would rather prefer if it was Ms. Evergreen to have a look, first."
Laxus and Freed exchanged a glance. Laxus shrugged, and peeked in the darkness, trying to see what all that fuss was about. However, the only thing he could distinguish in the dim light of the lamps, was a big block of a translucent material, laying on the ground. It was rather long and tall maybe four feet. It looked like a huge coffin. Laxus raised and eyebrow. There better be something very serious with that crystal, he thought. If he had been tossed into a train for two days just to see a piece of rock at the far end of Fiore, he was going to electrocute someone.
Evergreen was making her way where the workers were standing a few seconds before. She was still struggling with her hills and the rocks and cracks on the floor, and Laxus rolled his eyes hearing her hissing and ranting. "What is it?" she asked, moving closer and looking warily at the giant block.
"Oh, do not worry, Miss, there is no danger, but, you see,-" Mr. Jones explanation was interrupted by Evergreen's small scream. "Oh my Mavis." she whispered, lifting her hands to cover her mouth, eyes wide with horror, as she looked at the crystal.
"What it is?" asked Freed, trying to peak from behind Bickslow. But Bickslow was already next to Evergreen, and was looking inside the crystal as well.
"Oh fuck!" he shouted, "There is a girl inside here!"
A girl? In a crystal? Ok, maybe there was the chance that this was serious, after all. Laxus was ready to check himself, but as soon as he did, a torrent of protest and shouts came from Mr. Jones, and seemed to wake Evergreen from her daze. Holding her fan in her hand, she started hitting Bickslow angrily on his head. "Stop looking, you pervert! She is naked!".
Magnolia, seven months ago...
A man in white uniform was standing rigid in front of his desk. Makarov Dreyar, sixth (or third, no one was really sure how to address him), had his eyes closed, as he was caught in deep thoughts.
The two men were silent. They had been silent for a while now, the last minutes spent studying each other carefully, as if they were preparing themselves for a sort of battle. Or maybe the outcome of the battle had already been decided, and they were just turning their respective results over and over in their minds.
"So, it is decided." said slowly the small Master of Fairy Tail. His eyes opened, and his stern gaze fell on the man in front of him. "I understand this is your final word, Lahar."
Lahar, Captain of the Rune Knights, his expression unreadable and his back straight, looked back to the small Master of Fairy Tail with equal gravity. "Yes. These are orders from the Council. I am a mere messenger, Makarov."
Makarov was sure he saw a sly smile hidden under Lahar controlled face, but he did not lose time investigating. It was pointless, now. If the Council had made up its mind, there was not much Makarov could do.
"For how long?"
"His probation will be five years long." Lahar said dryly. "Usually it's shorted, but since he has been a criminal for most of his life..." Lahar made a vague gesture with his hand. 'for all his life' would have been much accurate, but there was no need to point out that detail. Not when they where talking about one of the worst, most wanted and dangerous criminal under the Council custody.
Cunning, evil and merciless, Cobra was no man to play games with. Makarov was very aware of that, since when Natsu and his team had defeated the Oraciòn Seis, almost eight years ago.
And, from the folder Lahar had given him that very morning, his sadistic, and scathing personality had not changed much during his seven years of prison.
Was Cobra still evil?, that was the question that bothered Makarov the most. Makarov sighed. He couldn't give any answer, not now al least.
Cobra had helped the legal guilds after the Grand Magic Games, but on that occasion, it was in his own interest. But was parole really a good idea, for someone that had killed so many? Was he to be trusted?
"Why Fairy Tail, Lahar?" asked Makarov. "Why the Council thinks this is the best place for Cobra to be put on probation?"
Lahar rolled his eyes, annoyed. It was the fifth time Makarov had asked him that same question that morning. Nevertheless, part of him could not blame the small Master. Having such a criminal in his guild was no joke.
Moreover, he could not really answer to Makarov second question, since Fairy Tail was not famous for being a tranquil guild. In Lahar opinion, neither Cobra nor the Fairies should have been allowed to roam freely, anyway. If it was for him, they would have been locked up, preferably all together and let them kill each other. The destructive power of the guild was beyond his comprehension, and with Cobra, things could only get worse.
Lahar shrugged. It was not his business, after all. Cobra was not going to get bored, that was for sure, and the Captain thought it was a good thing for the poison slayer.
The last time Cobra grew bored, they had two guards heavily poisoned. They had to be treated in the infirmary for almost a week.
Lahar couldn't understand how exactly Cobra had been able to attack the guards from his own cell. The poison slayer had refused to tell him despite all his threats, and at the end Lahar had decided to play rough.
Cobra Soul Hearing magic had been almost blocked, and only after a couple of months of not hearing a soul, the poison slayer had seemed to take the hint. Still, he refused to tell the Captain how he had poisoned the guards, but Lahar was positive Cobra had understood that, if he was bored, he had to find a way to entertain himself which did not include killing Rune Knights.
Lahar was not going to involve Makarov into his train of thoughts. Moreover, he had nothing against Cobra poisoning a Fairy, after all.
"Because Fairy Tail is the only guild that can restrain him, if necessary." He blurted out. Which was actually true, since it was mainly team Natsu who defeated the Oraciòn Seis and destroyed Nirvana.
For the fifth time that day, Makarov heard the same answer, unsatisfying as it had been the other four times.
Makarov had the feeling that Lahar was concealing something to him. He knew of the poisoned guards, of course. His old time friend, Yijima, had eavesdropped the conversation between two Rune Knights that were having lunch at his restaurant in Hargeon, the 8Island. Makarov was more inclined to believe that Lahar, or the Council - 'Probably both', he thought - were scheming something against Fairy Tail.
But the small Master was not going to fall in their trap. 'I have not aged for nothing, for Mavis sake'. If they wanted to play a game, he was more than ready to make his move.
If the Council and Lahar wanted to use Cobra to degrade Fairy Tail, or even worse, to put his children in danger with the ex-criminal, they will have to deal with him.
'I will show them, what kind of guild Fairy Tail really is'.
This was more than the Grand Magic Games. 'Winning a fight is easy. Winning the trust and the affection of a person, is much more complicated.'
But Makarov had faith. Faith in his children, in the spirit of the guild, and also in Cobra. He was positive that the poison dragon slayer was everything but happy to be used as a tool by the Council.
'That child has already been used by Jerald in the Tower of Heaven and by Brain in the Oraciòn Seis... I will not allow the Council, or Lahar, or anyone else, to do the same.'
Behind him, he felt the presence of the First Master of Fairy Tail. Invisible to Lahar, Mavis Vermillion was standing right next to the Third Master of her guild, floating mid air, her green eyes full of determination. "This is the spirit, Third," she whispered, as if Lahar could not hear her, "I am sure Cobra will find his home here, at Fairy Tail!"
Makarov wished he could talk to Mavis, seeking her advice and support, but he couldn't address her in front of Lahar. It would have looked like he was talking to the air, and Makarov didn't need the Captain to think he was completely mad. 'I hope you are right, First.'
"Well, then." Makarov nodded severely at Lahar. "Let him in."
Fairy Tail could do it. He could do it. Cobra could do it, as well, if he wanted.
Lahar didn't waste a moment. He had arrived at Fairy Tail with Cobra early that morning, and had spent half of the morning discussing with Makarov about the whole affair. He was sick and tired by now. What's more, he had left Dorambalt alone in Era to deal with some papers and files, and Lahar was sure Dorambalt was going to make some silly mistakes the Captain had to fix later on.
'I shouldn't have given him so many tasks...' he thought, opening the office door.
"I am sure he misses you just as much you miss him, dear Captain." cooed a sly, low voice.
Makarov held his breath, as four man with the white uniforms of the Council entered the office. But he had eyes only for the tall, handcuffed man between them.
Even if he was handcuffed, with his single purple eye and his blood red hair, Cobra was more intimidating than Makarov remembered. And the wicked smirk that was playing on his lip and the scar on his right eye were not making him look more trusty, or even approachable.
As their gaze met, Makarov saw a glint in the eye of the poison dragon slayer, that made him doubt of the sanity of the Lahar and of the Council. Probation suddenly seemed a bad, very bad idea...
Cobra looked at his new Master, his smile growing a little.
Then, he spoke, his low, mellifluous voice barely a whisper, but enough to make everyone in the room flinch and back a little. "Oh, I see." Cobra said, "You don't like my face, is it?" he chuckled, "Sorry about that, Master. Many people don't think it makes me look... trusty." Cobra hissed the last word. "It must be my bad luck."
Still in Makarov office, back to present time...
Master Makarov was sitting in his office, leafing through a huge pile of papers on his desk. Folders were scattered on the floor and on the chairs. The Master was furious. His face was pale and his lips were trembling, letting a curse escape them while his eyes searched the papers for something that was missing. On the other hand, the man sitting in the chair in front of him, was perfectly calm. Or at least, so he wanted everyone else to believe.
"It must be my bad luck again." Cobra eyed the mess around him, "If you have looked for it, and you haven't found anything yet, it means they can."
The little man slammed the papers on the desk. "Those filthy... bastards!" he spat, "I should have known they were going to play some dirty tricks!"
"You couldn't foresee that." stated Cobra. He could feel the soul of his Master boiling. Normally he would have laughed at the state the old man was in - he saw him that angry only once, and it had been when a huge bill had landed on his desk because of several houses burned down by a certain fire dragon slayer. The expenses had been paid by the whole team, but the Master have been furious with Natsu for a whole week anyway.
"You do not seem to understand, Cobra." Makarov lifted his clouded, heavy gaze on the poison slayer. "They are taking away one of my children, a member of my family, of our family! I will not step aside and watch! We will not step aside and watch!"
Cobra's expression was in between scowling and bored, as is always was, but inside of him, he could feel that muscle called 'heart', warm a little.
Since the Council gave him the chance of joining Fairy Tail seven months ago, he had swore to himself he was not going to jump onto that hideous 'merry-go-round-we-are-a-happy-family' carousel that was so typical of the fairies. Cobra had openly despised each one of the fairies more than once, but no-one had ever seemed to take him into account.
And now, after that two days before a letter from Era had arrived, saying that Lahar was going to retrieve Cobra and take him back to Era, he was in the office of his Master, being called 'one of his children', and he was founding it oddly comforting.
In the letter it was not specified why exactly they wanted Cobra back to Era. Some vague and ambiguous 'routine controls' were mentioned, but there was no indication on how long was he going to stay away.
Most likely, and it was what both he and Makarov had thought, even if no one of them had said it out loud, he was going to be taken back to prison, and released after, well... Who knew?
"They can't just come to Magnolia and take you to Era without a valid reason, Cobra!" bellowed the Master, tightening his fists. "It's probation rules. Even if we didn't find anything to prevent them from... There must be something, a footnote in some law or document, some article, that says they just can't bring you back to prison!"
"Well," Cobra shrugged, "they said 'routine controls'."
"It means anything, Cobra, and you know it!" said Makarov gritting his teeth. "And they didn't even mentioned how long you are going to be in Era!"
Cobra looked at the small man jumping from his desk and opening a drawer after the other. Usually Makarov soul was usually very hard for the poison slayer to hear, but on that moment, it was clear to him that Makarov was desperate to keep him at Fairy Tail.
And, much to Cobra surprise, Makarov was not the only one.
When Master had broken the news to the team the day before - the same team Natsu that was so destructive, and yet the only team he had been allowed to join - Cobra had believed they were going to destroy the Master office. Which in particular didn't matter, since he had come to know from Kinana that their guild had been destroyed several times during the years.
Their souls had been screaming with rage even after Makarov had forced them into silence. Natsu and Gray had even needed an extra enlarged fist from the tiny old mage.
"But Master, Cobra has done nothing!" Lucy had said, holding tight a crying Happy, "He has tried to poison Natsu only twice! They can't just take him away."
"Are you sure they can do that, Master? And why?" Erza frown could have made shiver all the Wizard Saints of Fiore. No matter that the Requip made didn't trust Cobra as much as she did with Lucy, Natsu, or any other member of the guild. Erza trusted the Council even less, and Cobra was family, and had proved to be loyal to Fairy Tail and to the team. No one could ever take him away like that. Not even the Council.
Wendy was on the verge of tears, not wanting to lose a member of the team. She had come to like Cobra, and to consider him like an older brother. Well, an older brother with some murderous tendencies and a sick personality, but still a brother. Her eyes were wandering in between Master and Cobra, while Charle tried to console her.
"Silence! I said SILENCE!"
"But Master, why?"
"I don't know, Lucy. I don't know, really." Makarov sounded defeated, re-reading the letter for the thousandth time that day. "I do not know what the Council wants to prove with this. It says nothing but that Lahar in a couple of days." 'For Mavis know how long.' he completed in his head, but did not said out loud. But, of course, Cobra heard it.
"I am going."
That simple sentence, the first one Cobra had pronounced as they entered the office, startled everyone in the room.
"Cobra-" "I am going, old man. There is nothing you can do to stop them, and whatever the fuckers want to check with me, they are going to be a pain in the ass until they get what the hell they want. I know the bastards more than all of you."
"But still... They can't just take you with no explanation, neither an indication when you will come back." Lucy swallowed heavily, what her father taught her about contract and business coming into her mind at once, her brain already working out a possible solution, anything that could be used against Lahar and the Council. She liked Cobra, honestly. He was a sassy little bitch most of the times, but he had also been to prison for seven years. And into a dark guild, before. And before that, a slave in the tower of heaven. No wonder he was a little sadistic from time to time. Ok, maybe most of the times.
"Lucy is right. You are on parole, and therefore you are a member of Fairy Tail at all effects. They would never dare to do that to any other member." Makarov stared angrily at the letter.
"Yes, that's right," Cobra only eye was staring at each one of them, "but for them, I am still a fucking psychotic criminal. Most likely I have been assigned to Fairy Tail because they hoped I was going to run away or kill someone, so that they could blame you fairies." He shrugged, doing his best to pull himself together and look relaxed. "I didn't go into a killing spring, so the bastards are taking the beast back, I guess."
"You are not a beast!" muttered Wendy. Tears had started running on her cheeks, and she wiped them away quickly. "You have helped us in many missions!"
"That's true." Erza nodded. Cobra was an expert fighter and an extremely skilled mage. And he was taking jobs very seriously, not like another dragon slayer of their team - and she was not talking about Wendy, of course. Erza appreciated dedication, that was it.
"Thanks." muttered Cobra. He knew he had Titania's consideration, and he was secretly very proud of it
"And you didn't destroy much." Gray force himself to admit. He still didn't want to admit that he liked the poison slayer - a little. Cobra was bearable, when not busy messing with ones' thought. Which was happening most of the time, but for Gray it was not enough to bring him back to prison.
"See, Gramps! They can't just take him away!" Natsu snatched the letter from the hands of the Master and started to burn it "He is not going, that's it!" .
Cobra run a hand on his face. "Burning things do not change what the letter says, ash brain."
"I don't care!" Natsu jumped in front of Cobra, the letter still burning in his hand. "You. Are. Not. Going."
Cobra sighed. "You think I am happy to see the fuck face again?"
"I beg you," Makarov let out a whimper, "no more swearing in my office..."
But there had been much more swearing from Cobra during the rest of the meeting, and for once Charle was too busy complaining for the whole affair and comforting Wendy to scold him.
Finally, the Master dismissed them all, declaring that he was going to search into his law books. He hoped to find some rule - anything - so that Lahar could 'eat shit and die', to use Cobra's words.
"I am going to look into the law books I have in here." Makarov had said, looking at his children, "They will give some more details about probation, hopefully..."
So far, Makarov had never heard of criminals being called back during their probation for unknown reasons. Their only hope was that there was somewhere explicitly stated that the Rune Knights were not allowed to bring Cobra back to Era, or at least, not at any condition.
He had spent the whole night reading old law books and papers over and over. But there was not explicitly stated that Cobra couldn't be brought to Era.
The day after, Makarov was still empty-handed.
"It is ok." Cobra already knew there was nothing to be done. He hadn't allowed himself to hope Makarov could find something to keep him at Fairy Tail. Ok, maybe a little bit, but only to see Lahar pissed off.
"I am sorry - Lahar says you can't even bring someone - But I am going to send Gajeel and Lily after you, just in case."
"It is not necessary." "It is, Cobra. You are not going to go there alone, that's it."
The small man jumped on the floor and reached Cobra's side. He didn't dare to touch him - it had been clear since his first day at Fairy Tail that trying to touch him was equivalent to steal a cake from Erza. The first time someone tried to pat his shoulder it was Bickslow, and the Seith Mage had ended up being attacked with acid and poison.
Cobra's reaction had terrified Freed and the whole episode had caused a fight between Cobra and Laxus, that the small Master still remembered with a shudder. The two slayers had almost turned the guild hall and some of the other members into ashes. Laxus was immensely strong, but Cobra was smart, experienced, ruthless, and not much below Laxus in power. Actually, Cobra had proved to be much stronger than Makarov expected.
Makarov was had convinced himself that Cobra was using only half of his capabilities during missions with team Natsu. And maybe it was for the best, since it took Mirajane with Sitri, Erza, and the Master himself to separate the two dragon slayers.
After that fight, Cobra and Laxus had studiously ignored each other, and apparently this was the best option, for the time being, since both of them were very, very stubborn.
But Makarov would have much preferred to let Laxus and Cobra respectively fry and poison each other, than sending the poison slayer to Era.
"I expect a full report when you get back." said Makarov, looking straight into Cobra indigo eye. "If they dare to touch you, I am personally going to make them regret it." Cobra saw the threatening flash crossing Makarov features, and chuckled. Well, he could not promise they were not going to beat him, the fuckers enjoyed that too much. But giving a full report to Master, that he can promise. "I promise." he said with a small smirk.
The faintest of smiles played on the Master lips. "Good. Now, go home and rest. I want to check something one more time."
Cobra said nothing, feeling the old man wanted to call his old friend an 8island and having a chat with him about that damned letter from Era. He really is not- Lahar will hear me... the Council cannot permit - I am not going to let this pass, definitely....
Makarov angry rambling reached his hears, and Cobra smiled to himself. The old geezer really considers me as family, uh-hu?. To be honest, and he couldn't say that he didn't like it.
When his hand twisted the doorknob, Makarov spoke again: "If you are not coming to us in a few days, I am sending Mirajane to Era."
Cobra didn't try to stiff his laugh. "Are you shooting your big shoots, aren't you, old man?"
"The big shots?" the Master grinned, "Not yet, child. If Mira is not enough, I will come to Era to fetch you." 'But trust me, Cobra, no one in the Council is that stupid to cross Mirajane. Not even Lahar.'
"You said it." Cobra left the office with a small smile.
But, as he closed the door behind him, he let out a shaky breath. He didn't want to go back to prison. Even if he had been forced by Lahar and Dorambalt to join Fairy Tail, seven months had been enough for him to taste freedom. He was on probation, so he was not technically free, but this was the closest thing to freedom he had experienced in his whole damned life. 'I am not fucking going back there.' he thought, gritting his teeth as tension started building inside him, once again.
Later that evening, Cobra and Lucy were walking home. They lived a few streets apart, and when Natsu was not coming to dine at Lucy's place, which she secretly enjoy, even if Natsu's stomach could host an army, Lucy had made a point walking home with the poison dragon slayer. There was no way Cobra could escape that woman, and his snarky comments and long silences made her more determined to talk to him and to help him fitting in the guild and in the team.
Lucy knew what was like starting a new life all of a sudden, and wanting to forget all that happened before. Therefore, since he was ignoring her attempt to start a conversation, she had started talking about his family and her life in high society, and Cobra found himself soaking in her memories, listening while her soul trembled with anger and fear when she talked about the marriage se escaped from, or glimmered with joy when she talked about the beautiful gardens around her house, or how her mother taught her magic.
At the beginning, he hadn't given a shit about her, her story, or her family - damn, he had gone through much worse. It was ridiculous to listen to her feeling alone and rejected because her father didn't remember her birthday. Cobra didn't even know when his birthday was.
Cobra understood that it was Lucy technique to convince him to open up a little bit.
He had fought her with all his strength, but despite his determination to not share anything with the fairies, Cobra couldn't help letting her know he had a sweet tooth, being sugar a sort of poison, and liking thriller films.
"I like spy story." he had said, after three months of his probation. And there she was, giggling and asking if he had ever seen some nice films - no, he had never been to the cinema, nor seen any film of any sort. He just heard sometimes Brain and the other guild masters of the Ballam Alliance talking about spying the Council and the legal guilds, and when he had been younger, he had sometimes dwelled into those accounts.
After two days, Lucy had organised a film-night at her place, with cake and the rest of the team. They all - even Cobra - discovered that, in the end, Cobra liked spy story because he knew how actually a real spy was. He had been a spy so many times while in the Oraciòn Seis, that his main fun was laughing at every scene, plot twist, actions of the protagonists and laugh as hard as he could.
Spoiling the film for everyone else, of course. Not that he cared. He liked that part, too.
"I am never going to see a spy story again!" had declared Erza at the end of the night. But even she laughed when Cobra mocked the poor fighting technique of the main character, plus the cakes made by Lucy were amazing.
Surprisingly, Cobra found himself wanting to do that some other time. He had real fun, and not by torturing someone and murdering them afterwards. 'It hasn't happened for the last twenty-eight years', he had thought, lying in his bed and counting how many years he had. He was not even sure of that. Hw could have been thirty one, or twenty six, for all he knew.
But that night there was no space for light-hearted conversations. Lucy's soul was gloomy and Cobra was hearing some sinister shrieks from the girl he was not used to.
"You really think there is nothing that can be done, right?" asked Lucy all of a sudden.
Cobra rolled his eyes and sighed. He had seen this coming. The girl was damn perceptive, she could as well have his Soul Hearing magic. "I am going, that's it."
Lucy's step came to a halt, and the girl looked at Cobra with wide eyes. "You are a mage of Fairy Tail! We will not let the Council take you away just because Lahar had decided so! Parole is parole - they must keep you out of prison, not taking you back in!"
"Fucking Lahar seems to have different ideas." Cobra muttered, as he kept walking.
Lucy said nothing more, keeping her fears and doubts to herself.
They headed home in silence, and when they parted, Lucy only said: "We are coming tomorrow morning, when you leave."
Cobra said nothing. There was nothing to said, anyway.
He just waved goodbye and turned right, heading to his apartment. But while walking home, he had to fought a little to control the lump that was forming in his throat.