Warning for descriptions of torture (aka Laxus's revenge on Ivan). Dark!Laxus.
Chapter Eighty Six - Family Meetings, Part One
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Makarov asked.
Most people were still acting oddly about my hair, which (honestly) wasn't too surprising. I was (apparently) well-known for my like of long hair and extreme hatred of bangs (I think I'm entitled).
Well, their reaction to me wasn't that surprising; they'd only ever seen me with long hair, after all. They, however, were very surprised by the change.
While they were all gossiping about it, I asked to speak to Makarov privately, and we managed to disappear before anyone could tell what we were doing. Ur continued to carry me upstairs and placed me on the chair in his office, and Makarov faced me now.
I hesitated. "You're not going to like it. Well...you are and you aren't."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked.
I sighed and looked down, poking my fingers together. "Um...Ivan has a second son."
Makarov's eyes bulged out as I looked up to see his reaction. "WHAT?"
I nodded. "And...not with Mari, either."
"Do you know who the child is?" Makarov asked.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "It's...Jellal."
"...Fernandez?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Master."
He blinked a few times, hopped down from the desk, and walked to the door, pulling it open. "LAXUS! JELLAL! MY OFFICE, NOW!"
He turned back to me, and sighed. "At least that explains Ivan's lower power level."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Magic tends to work in funny ways. Depending on the parents involved, the kids will end up with different capacities for magic. If, however, magic starts to travel down a family line, sometimes a majority of one generation's magic will be split with their children, in order to help stop...whatever is coming. Both Jellal and Laxus are extremely powerful, and it's not surprising that Ivan was weaker when his powers skipped ahead to add to theirs."
Just like with Toma and Hisui, I thought.
By now, Laxus and Jellal were both in the doorway, and Makarov gestured them in. From the look on Laxus's face, he could hear what we were talking about, and had suspicions about Ivan.
Makarov sighed, closing the door and hopping back onto the desk. "Jellal, Laxus, I have some news for you. It turns out that Ivan is...both of your fathers."
"What?" Laxus asked, his voice higher than normal as Makarov confirmed his thoughts.
"Ivan was the one who hurt Elle, right?" Jellal asked quietly.
Makarov gave a small, short nod. "I'm sorry that you had to find out he is your father, Jellal. I know what a monster-"
"Don't be," Jellal said, smiling sadly.
"What?" Makarov asked, blinking, just as confused as Laxus and I.
Jellal shook his head. "Don't be sorry. I've always known that my father was a horrible person. My mom used to tell me that she was extremely happy that I didn't resemble him at all. It didn't make sense to me until Elle's talk last year, when she started talking about...consent. But...while Ivan is a horrible person, it also means I get to be related to you two, so I'm okay with it."
Makarov was openly crying, and Laxus pulled Jellal in for a hug and ruffled his hair.
I smiled at them.
"Jellal..." Laxus said. "If possible, I'd like to speak to Jiji privately. Can you carry Elle downstairs for me?"
The eleven-year-old nodded and pulled me onto his back, and I was surprised by how easily he was able to do so, especially since he was still a little smaller than me.
"Are you sure I'm not too heavy?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "If I can pick up Erza while she's wearing armor, you're fine, Elle."
And we went downstairs to join the others and give Laxus and his grandfather privacy.
"What did you want to speak to me about, Laxus?" Makarov asked.
Laxus hesitated before saying, "I want you to know that you're not going to have any more grandkids."
"What do you mean by that?" Makarov asked.
"Ivan's a eunuch," Laxus said bluntly.
"O...kay..." Makarov said slowly. "Why?"
"I don't know," Laxus admitted.
"Then how do you know?" Makarov asked warily.
"Because I'm the one that did it," Laxus said.
"Why?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"You castrated Ivan..." Makarov said slowly. "And you don't know why?"
"No! I was hoping you could tell me!"
"Well, WHY WOULD I KNOW?"
"You're the guild master, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW EVERYTHING!"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN YOUR HEAD, BOY! I don't particularly want to, either."
There was a moment of silence between them before Makarov's expression softened. "Are you alright, Laxus?"
He thought of the things Elle had said. If they were true, and she could eventually forgive him, then... "I think I will be."
"And you still don't know why you did it?" Makarov asked.
"I think it has to do with being a dragon slayer," Laxus admitted. "So I'll probably kinda bring it up with Elle eventually..."
But not now.
He made sure the door behind him was shut before approaching Ivan. He didn't want Elle to hear what was going to happen.
Laxus sent a bolt of lightning at his father, shocking him. "Wake up."
"Wha-ah...Laxus?" Ivan hopped up best he could, with his limbs chained together. His face turned into a snarl as realization dawned on him. "You fucking traitor!"
"ME?" Laxus hissed. "I'm not the one who betrayed his nakama. You're a true traitor to Fairy Tail. I'm only returning in kind."
"So that bitch sunk her claws in you, after all," Ivan snarled. "I should've known. I should've just taken that lacrima out of you the instant I saw you come here!"
Laxus stiffened, and not just because of what Ivan had said about Elle. Now that it had merged completely with his body, the only way to take out the lacrima would be to kill him...
"All you're worth to me now is money, Laxus-chan," Ivan finished.
Laxus smirked. "That's fine by me!"
He slammed a button on the wall and the panel opened, revealing a variety of weapons. He hit another button, and the chains connecting to Ivan's limbs pulled him apart.
Laxus grabbed two weapons and headed to the cell, opening the door. "I told myself that I'd carve a scar on your body for every one on hers," he said darkly. "But we don't have time for that. So we're only going to do two things, instead."
And then he did something that was too sick for him to remember.
He finally finished, and stopped himself from choking on his bile. Ivan could never violate Elle like he had mentioned, and that was why he went through it. But now...
"I'll admit," Laxus said, throwing the knife out of the cell. "That was disgusting. But I can still take some enjoyment out of this."
He pulled up the second weapon he had grabbed, and slammed the sledgehammer down on Ivan's leg, putting an extra boost of his magic in his arms so he used enhanced Dragon Slayer strength.
Ivan's leg flattened, and Laxus heard the loudest screaming he'd ever heard in those dungeons.
He felt a bit more satisfied at that.
Ivan's screams would erase the echoes of Elle's.
Laxus pulled back his sledgehammer, and went for the other leg, breaking it just as much, if not more.
Ivan continued screaming, and Laxus remembered a conversation he had only heard the end of a few days back, when Elle had told Ivan that she'd be alright with killing him.
She had said that she wouldn't be on his level, because she wouldn't take joy in it.
Laxus had clearly felt joy in torturing Ivan.
So maybe he wasn't on the same level as Elle, or the rest of his nakama. At least he wasn't on Ivan's level; he still cared about his family and friends, and he'd do anything for them. Still, this was just another thing that would make him a monster.
He was fine with that. He was hurting Ivan for Elle's sake, after all.
He would become a monster a hundred times over for her.
Before we joined the others in the training room, I asked to speak to Zeref privately.
Zeref joined me and Jellal (who sat me on a table), and also gave me a hug.
"I'm sorry about Mavis," he said, squeezing me gently, and I felt some tears hit my head.
I hugged him back, glad that, because I put him in the lacrima, I could finally hug him when he cried.
"It's alright, Zeref," I said.
It's not alright.
"We'll move on from this, but I have some questions."
Zeref nodded and stepped back, and Jellal began to head for the door.
"Jellal, you should probably stay and hear this, too," I said, turning to him. "Ivan was considering using you for his stupid plans, instead."
Jellal nodded and hopped up on the table beside me.
I turned to look at Zeref. "I was wondering about...the things that Ivan did. Why did he drain magic from me?"
Zeref looked at me, and then sighed, contemplating how to explain this.
"The two most versatile magics in the world are probably Stellar Magics and Slayer Magics. They tend to go hand in hand, as well. Or at least, Stellar Magic and Dragons Slayer Magic."
"Why?" I asked.
He hesitated, and sat on the table across from us.
"I am not the best to explain this to you; the connection between Stellar and Slayer is one best explained by a dragon."
"Yeah, but we don't exactly have access to one," Jellal pointed out.
"I believe Draco could suffice," Zeref said. "Once Lucy is strong enough, we should be fine."
I nodded. "That shouldn't take too long, only a few years or so. I think I'm fine with a proper explanation on the connection for that, but I want to know why Ivan was collecting the magic from me."
Zeref sighed. "As I said, Stellar Magic is extremely versatile, and it's probably one of the closest magics to the One Magic. Connection wise, all Stellar Magic can be intertwined and exchanged, and can be used to power everything."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Stellar Magic, at a pure form, is an enhancer and a connector," Zeref said. "Some could even consider is a support magic. It is used to make things stronger; like the spirit that are summoned, or yourself, in the case of your magics," he nodded at the two of us. "It's another reason why it's so easy for people with Stellar Magics to do Unison Raids. Stellar Magic is on another frequency, a higher frequency than the rest of most magics, and it's what allows it to strengthen everyone else's. Imagine-"
"Etherion," I whispered.
Zeref paused. "What?"
"Last time around," I said quietly. "One of the Dragon Slayers ate pure Etherion in a crystallized lacrima form. The council had fired an Etherion Blast, and the lacrima was made to absorb it. He ended up eating it and he immediately went into Dragon Force, and beat the shit out of a Wizard Saint. Also, I read that the idea for the Council's Etherion came from the telescopal Celestial Battle Spell."
Zeref sighed. "Yes. I'm not quite sure of the entire connection, but I do know that Etherion and pure Stellar Magic is connected on a level which most magics are not. That is something we should ask Draco, because I'm afraid that I will not know. But, as an enhancer, Stellar Magic can be used for just about anything, from a series of rituals to a pure attack."
"So what was Ivan trying to do?" I asked.
Zeref scowled. "He was trying to power something that was better left untouched."
I understood the look on his face and quietly asked. "Was it something you made?"
Zeref clenched his fists and slowly nodded. "The Stellar Animator. Another thing I made to try and bring my brother back...it was meant to bring back the dead. Instead, it controlled the living, and took away all of their free will. I had thought it was completely destroyed, but somehow, Ivan got his hands on either it, or it's blueprints. It's gone now, though, Gildarts completely destroyed it. He's also going to bring back all of your drained magic, Elle. It's yours, and you should decide what to do with it. It could be helpful in the future."
I thought of all the things I had learned about Stellar Magic. I nodded. "We'll see in time."
Jellal pulled me back on his back and we left to join the others.
Bickslow gasped as Jellal entered the training room with Elle on his back.
His previously dormant blue strings connecting to the Dreyar family were lit with a brilliant glow.
So he knew what was going to be announced before it was.
Unfortunately, before Elle, Jellal or any of the Dreyars announced it, Erik, who's thoughts centered around the new people entering his vicinity, blurted out, "JELLAL AND LAXUS ARE BROTHERS?"
Which, of course, threw the entire guild into chaos.
Eventually, after Laxus and Makarov came down, everyone calmed and accepted the news, and got ready to watch some movies.
I added 'Teach Erik some tact and also not to reveal news that isn't his' to my To Do list, which would hopefully prevent any sort of chaos like that happening again. I knew that he wasn't actively searching for information like that, but when we had gotten close enough for him to shift his focus directly on us, we (Jellal) was still in the process of reviewing the information. Maybe it wouldn't be as crazy.
Okay, that was pushing it. This was, after all, Fairy Tail. There was bound to be chaos all of the time (and I didn't really have a problem with chaos anyway).
We tried to choose seating, which once again, caused another problem.
You see most (read: everyone) wanted to sit with me, but I wanted to sit in the back. They wanted to sit in the front row so they could see properly.
I just wanted my back to the wall.
Eventually, Laxus settled everything by carrying me over to the wall and prepping up some fluff so I wouldn't hurt my back by leaning against it.
The kids stopped fighting and swarmed me in the back, which left the adults to sit in the front.
The kids watched the movie (Peter Pan), and Maggie started making me a wheelchair out of her maker magic, so Laxus wouldn't have to carry me everywhere.
While they did that, I sat and thought about Fantasia. I wasn't kidding when I said that we had to go all out this year, and I wanted to find a way to give Ivan a big 'Fuck You'.
Unfortunately, we couldn't actually say that because children tend to come to the parade.
So I'd have to find something else.
Eventually, as we watched the movie, I fell asleep, and dreamt of flying fairies.
If you want to laugh, google 'British Video on consent'. And I guess if you really want it, I could publish a one-shot of the torture scene, for all of you who are extremely, extremely vicious. And mentioned cacti.
Seriously, like five of you mentioned torturing Ivan with a cactus.
Next chapter should be up Wednesday.