Chapter Eighty Three - Ivan, Part Five

Thirteen days, four hours, and fourteen minutes after his arrival – the day after Elle got visited by the same dick who hit her with an Amaterasu Formula, and he was specifically confined to his room - Laxus finally got the signal.

He had, over that period of time, collected all of the data he needed, and sent what was needed back to Fairy Tail.

The arrival of the signal meant that Gildarts had destroyed the machine, which was unfortunately several miles away. Elle's stored magic would be transferred into lacrimas and transported there.

Unfortunately, he didn't really need a signal, because Ivan was somehow alerted…in the middle of torturing Elle, even though he had left her alone for the past few days.

"What are you doing?" Laxus had asked him.

"I need information," Ivan said, cracking the whip he held as he approached Elle's cell.

"What about the ceremony?" Laxus asked, feigning uninterest.

"This is more important," Ivan smirked, a greedy look in his eyes. "The ceremony can be pushed back."

But after two lashes - before the idiot had even asked Elle a question - Laxus got the signal, the same time that Ivan did.

"What?" he gasped, dropping the whip. "What the hell is going on?"

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art; Roaring Thunder: ZEUS'S FURY!"

Through the very ceiling, a strike came down from the sky and fried Ivan, shocking him immensely. It was the strongest attack out of his Secret Arts that Laxus could do on an individual.

Ivan's body arched as he screamed, and Laxus, feeling more than a little vindictive, let this spell last a lot longer than he'd let the other one run back at the Tower. Ivan was a wizard; that meant, as a rule, that he was stronger than normal humans, so he could stand the spell a lot longer, anyway.

Ignoring the screaming, he turned to look at Elle, who was still hanging suspended. "Elle…God, Elle, I'm so sorry!"

He turned to the side of the cell and hit the button to lower her onto the floor, before he rushed into the room to cradle her, ignoring the now unconscious body of his father.

"Elle! I'm so…so sorry!" he was crying now, holding her close, but there wasn't any real reaction from her. "Please Elle, say something! I know that you probably hate me, but please! I need you to talk! You need to be okay!"

Slowly, her mouth opened, and she croaked out. "I'm sorry."

Laxus froze, and I looked up to meet his eyes.

"Sorry!?" he practically screamed, tears running down his face. "What...What are you sorry for? I hurt you! I…God, I'm a monster!"

I'm sorry for not having faith in you.

I'm sorry for believing you betrayed me.

I'm sorry for being unable to forgive you.

He slumped, still crying, and my arms wound around him, shushing him and running a hand through his hair. "It's okay, Laxus. It's going to be okay."

This was Fairy Tail. Of course it would.

"I'm the one who should be comforting you," he said, starting to sob. "God, I'm so so sorry!"

"No, I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" Laxus yelled.

"I didn't have faith in you," I whispered. "After everything that happened…I should have trusted you. But I didn't! Instead, I thought you betrayed me! I didn't realize you were a double agent until a few days ago…"

He began to laugh; a long, drawn out, harsh laugh. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Elle. You still figured it out, but I hurt you. Actively."

"Laxus, I get it..." I said. "It's was probably Mavis's idea, right? Look, it'll be hard to move past this, but we should be able to do it."

His crying got worse, and he pulled me closer into his embrace. "Damn it Elle, I'm so so sorry..."

I'm sorry, too.

"Laxus, we're Fairy Tail. It might be hard to get through this, but we will eventually. As long as we're together."

The thing is, I always thought that I'd be able to forgive people. It was one of the things I'd admired so much about Lucy; how easily she forgave others and brought them into her heart. And I always thought that, if someone was truly remorseful, I would be able to forgive them.

But this was different. In those types of hypothetical situations, it was always them committing a crime without caring, and then regretting it and never doing it again.

But in Laxus's case, he regretted it and felt remorse and he did it anyway, and if he needed to, he might do it again.

And that's what hurt the most.

At least, by the way that he quite clearly took out Ivan, he'd probably never be able to go undercover again.

Laxus had turned to Ivan after wiping away his tears, and started ruffling through the unconscious man's pockets. "I can't find any keys for those cuffs…"

"They don't take keys," I said, holding out my wrists. "Ivan told me a few days ago, when he was boasting his evil plan. Kinda. You know he's a fucking idiot, right? I hope you didn't catch any of it. Anyway you need to strike the symbol with magic, and it will unlock it. Annoying, but also made so someone can't escape easily by themselves."

Laxus lifted a finger and brought it to my wrists, hitting each shackle with a bolt of lightning. They unlocked and fell to the floor, and he grasped my hands gently, looking at the way my wrists had been rubbed raw.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

I pulled one of my hands out of his grasp and reached behind his head, pulling his forehead to mine and running my hands through his hair. "We'll get past this, Laxus."

But the words 'I forgive you' had noticeably gone unsaid.

After a few deep breaths, Laxus pulled back and continued, lifting a finger and shocking the collar at my neck and on my ankles.

I grabbed them and began to put them on Ivan, and Laxus started to laugh a bit.

I shrugged. "I'm sure Brain will show up eventually and rescue him, but Ivan won't be able to do it himself."

Laxus laughed, and he pulled me up onto his back, like before; except this time, I couldn't actually walk.

"Let's get out of here, Elle," he said. "And we need to take someone with us."

"Let me guess, the cook?" I asked, trying not to let him know that I felt slightly uncomfortable like this - though it was mostly because I was pretty defenseless, and not because of all the ways Laxus could hurt me like this.

At least that's what I tried to tell myself.

He looked a bit surprised, but nodded. "How did you know?"

"I figured that if they were giving me painkillers, they were at least a little on my side," I admitted.

He nodded and walked out of the room, stopping to kick Ivan again, taking his keys and locking him in the cell. As he walked, he pulled out a card and pressed the second signal on it.

"What's that mean?" I asked him.

"That one tells them that we'll be a bit delayed, which means that they'll have Porlyusica waiting for us, rather than have us go out into the middle of the forest," Laxus said, leaving the dungeons and locking Ivan in there, too.

He looked back a little longingly, surprisingly.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I promised myself that I'd hurt him – carve a scar into his skin for every one on yours, but…"

I hugged him the best I could from atop his back. "Thank you, Laxus, but we should get going. I'm sure you'll get the chance eventually."

"Maybe," he muttered. "The Rune Knights should be on their way soon, so it depends..."

He looked back and forth several times before he nodded, seeming to make up his mind.

He walked out of the dungeons, with me on his back, before putting me down on the floor.

"Laxus, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, and then I saw a flash of fear on his face. Before, it's something that he didn't need to worry about the answer, but things had changed now.

"...I don't know," I said, hesitant, and felt like apologizing again.

This was Fairy Tail, which was all about forgiveness. But I just couldn't seem to say the words right now.

"I...please, just stay here," he said, before whirling around and letting the door to the dungeons slam shut behind him.

"Where am I supposed to go?" I muttered, but I didn't move.

And besides, despite what happened to my legs, I could always drag myself across the floor. That's what I had done before, when I had to get food.

It was quiet in the hallway, and I realized that the dungeons were sound-proofed. I couldn't help but wonder what Laxus was up to. There's no way that he was actually going to scar Ivan for each of mine. We wouldn't have time, and by the time the Rune Knights get here, he could get caught and get in trouble.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and I could hear some agonized sobbing echo down the dungeons until the door shut again.

Laxus looked down at me.

"You done?" I asked him.

He nodded and knelt down, in order to put me on his back again. "I didn't get to hurt him as much as I wanted, but I'm satisfied, and it should all be alright for now."

"And he's still alive?" I asked as he started walking down the halls.

"Yes."

"You going to tell me what you did?" I asked.

"No."

"Tsundere."

"Not a tsundere."

We eventually entered a kitchen and Laxus addressed the woman standing there. "Mari, we're leaving."

The blonde woman jumped, dropping the tray she was holding. "W – What?"

"Come on, we're leaving," Laxus said. "Elle and I are ditching this place, and returning to our guild. Come with us."

"I – I," she stammered, looking down at her wrists.

Laxus followed her gaze and shot a bolt of lightning at the cuffs, unlocking them.

She gasped, looking down at her wrists, who were rubbed even rawer than mine were. While mine might heal, hers would almost undoubtedly scar.

"Come with us," I croaked, and Laxus went to the fridge and pulled out some water for me. I tried to stop myself from gulping down greedily, knowing that I might throw up if I drank too much on an empty stomach and after not drinking for so long.

Mari remained quiet, contemplating, before she opened her mouth and paused, then closed it and nodded. "I – I need to get some things…"

Laxus nodded. "Sure, lead the way."

We followed her to her room, where she quickly packed some things, (including some medical bandages for our wrists) and threw the bag over her shoulder. "I – I'm good, now."

Laxus nodded and led the way out of the stronghold, starting to walk through the forest. "Luckily, we're not too far from Magnolia, so we should be able to get there by the end of the day."

We started walking, Mari mostly watching us in silence. We had made it a decent way before I realized I was starting to slip.

"Laxus, I'm slipping," I told him.

He nodded and moved to pull me up more, accidentally grabbing a bit too low on my leg. I sucked in a harsh breath, and tried to calm down the flash of fear I felt.

It's just an accident it's just an accident. Laxus would never hurt me on purpose-

No.

Laxus wouldn't hurt me unless it was necessary.

And the thought that it had been necessary made my heart ache.

"Elle!" he sounded horrified. "I'm…so sorry."

"Maybe you should carry me differently," I suggested, biting my lip to stop from crying out too much. It would hurt Laxus too much.

My chest already ached, and he shouldn't have to feel the same.

And yet, at the same time, I wanted him to feel the same way I did.

So I shut off my conflicting emotions and just stayed silent.

Laxus shifted me around to his front, putting an arm around my back and another under my knees, and I wound my arms around his neck and curled into his chest.

But there was something about it...and then everything sorta clicked into place.

I still hadn't forgiven him...but something about being in his arms made me relax, even though I was still afraid.

I know that that isn't how it's supposed to work. Psychology wise, that is. That I shouldn't be able to relax around Laxus for a long, long time.

Yet it was easy.

I didn't know what it was, and I could only hope that I would one day find out what it was.

For now, I chalked it up to 'Magic', and fell asleep in the safety of his arms.

You will eventually learn what is going on, I promise there's reasoning behind it. You'll also find out what Laxus did to Ivan eventually. Next chapter should be up by late Saturday at the latest. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. :)