The First Sin
Summary: "I may not be strong. Definitely not as strong as some of the people I've had the chance to fight with. But I'll stay standing for as long as it takes to defeat you!" – Set during the Guilds disbandment. LaLu and other couples.
Authors note: I found my USB with my chapters! I'm in the middle of moving houses and works super busy coming up to the Christmas period. But here it is! I'm hoping to have some others for Made for Him and Contracted posted up shortly as well! Sorry it took so long!
Disclaimer: I in no way own Fairy Tail! I do however own my own characters.
Arc: Wrath
Previously:
Lucy paused in the entrance of the apartment, the door handle held tightly in her hands. She glanced over her shoulder, the sadness in her eyes making his heart clench, "I'm going to go for a walk... And maybe get a room at an inn."
She grinned, but after having travelled with her for a time, he could tell just how forced it was, "Bye now!"
And with that, she left, closing the door behind her.
Chapter 11: An Explosive Encounter
She crossed her arms in an effort to ward off the chill, shuffling down a dimly lit street, not really paying attention to where she was going. Lucy knew she was being foolish, and should have gone into one of the many inns with vacancies that she had passed, but her mind had rebelled, and her feet betrayed her. The sun had long since set over the small home town of the the Blue Pegasus guild, and she had seen more than a hand full of mages making their way home. Some had even offered to shelter her, but she had refused them all and continued on her way.
"Come on Lucy." She tried to cheer herself up, but the gloom the hung over her refused to move, "They just needed an outlet... that's all." Even as she spoke the familiar sting in her eyes let her know she wasn't fooling herself, "Damn it!"
The pang of loneliness hit her hard, the residual emotions from Vana's manipulation still haunted her. She staggered to a seat, her head in her hands. Each vision played before her eyes, enhanced with the voices that had stung her only a few hours before but before she could dwell on them, fingers twisted in her hair and she gasped, feeling her neck strain at the angle she was forced to look up from.
"Aw. Is the poor little princess sad? Is she suffering?" The brightest blue eyes she had ever seen glared down at her and her throat worked without sound. The hand tightened in her hair before she was thrown from the seat, "Good! Suffer like he suffered!"
The unbridled rage in the woman's voice made something click in Lucy's head and she pushed herself off the ground, her fingers reaching for her keys. But before she could even brush them, a sharp pain spread through her side, heat searing her flesh without sound or light. Choking back a gasp of pain, Lucy staggered to her feet, her uninjured hand flying to her waist. Her eyes widened when the felt the warmth bleed through her fingers and she could only stare at the red head before her.
"Who are you?" Another flash of pain drove her back against a wall of a house, "Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" The woman laughed, a deep, wicked sound as her fingers clicked, sending Lucy straight into the ground, her shoulder bleeding freely, "Because you took the one I care about. You took my Vana away from me!"
Lucy vaguely heard the distinct sound of clicking as pain surged through her, from her waist to her shoulders to her feet. Every nerve in her body radiated pain as easily as the sun gave off heat and she prayed for her body to finally hit the ground, the memory of Minerva and Jackals' magic coming to the forefront of her mind. She coughed, back slamming into a bench before she slid off it, her head hitting the ground, no one around the catch her fall this time around.
Shouts echoed in the distance, the locals likely having called in the fight. No matter how one sided it was. The attacks were soundless, the only thing giving it away was the way Lucy screamed and collided with objects throughout the street. Again, the woman twisted her hand in Lucy's hair, and the angle allowed Lucy to brush against her keys.
"Well you little tramp. What do you have to say? Are you sorry yet!" She lifted her other hand, fingers poised to click when Lucy gave her a bloody smile, "What are you so happy about?"
"Open... Gate of... the lion. Leo..."
The sound of a bell rang out and Loke appeared in a flash of light, his fist already alight and connecting with the woman's face.
"Stay away from my Princess." Loke seethed, standing over the injured blonde who crumpled to the ground without support.
"You-" Something over Loke's shoulder had her freeze before a smirk stole across her face, "No problem. I'll deal with her later. Remember the name Ira Infernos. Because I'll come after her and make her pay for what she did to Vana!"
Ira, in all her rage and previous attacks, vanished in a loud explosion of smoke and light.
Sensing the threat was gone, Loke quickly shifted to kneel beside his master, gingerly pulling her up and into his lap, wincing at the pained groan that left her.
"Oh Lucy... what were you thinking being out alone? Until they're gone you can't be so defenceless." The reprimand was softened by the way he whispered, his hand gently sweeping her matted hair away from her face.
"Gu-guess I'm still not back to normal after... after what he did..." She coughed and the sight of the blood dripping down her chin had him frantic.
"Lucy!" The sudden shout had his head snapping up and the familiar blonde-haired man had him growling. He stood quickly, careful of how tightly he held the Celestial mage.
Laxus sprinted down the street, the rest of his team following close behind him. If Loke had been calmer he would have seen the panic and concern in his eyes, but he was beyond reasoning.
"Don't come any closer!" Loke yelled, turning so he could shield Lucy with his body.
"W-what!" Laxus stopped regardless of his concern, shocked at the way Loke spoke to him, "Why? Is Lucy okay? We got a call from the Knights saying there was an attack…"
"Okay? You heard from the Knights about the damn fight. So you tell me, do you think she's okay if I have to hold her?" Loke seethed, glaring at Laxus before he turned to face him, finally allowing them to see the poor blonde woman.
"Oh Mavis. Lucy..." Evergreen gasped, her eyes glistening with tears at the sight of her ex-guildmate, previous hate gone.
"What on-" Freed started, his eyes evaluating the scene before him quickly, "Blood splatter. Which would mean each attack had force. Explosion magic by the looks of it… Considering what an attack like that can do would mean this was a calculated attack..."
"It was. You can thank Ira Infernos for this." Loke turned on his heel, ignoring the rapid breathing of the lightning slayer, determining the fastest route to the closest hospital.
"Another sibling? How did they find her?" Laxus took a few steps forward, ignoring the warning look he got from the spirit.
"Likely the same way Vana first found you two in the room you rented. You knew they could track you two. Considering the fact that you only got rid of two of them with Lucy's help, they knew she was a threat. And with their desire for revenge, they knew she was the perfect target..." Loke sighed, weary of his rage, "I warned her this was bound to happen. That this is what would happen when she helped you."
"And just what do you mean by that?" Laxus slashed his hand through the air, the veins in his neck bulging.
"I mean that she would get hurt. Both physically and mentally. But she was desperate for an escape that she would risk her life for someone that didn't spare her a second glance while Fairy Tail was still around." Loke gave his master a tender look before continuing down the road, his shoes clacking along the path, "I have no proof that your feelings for her are genuine, especially after letting her out of your sight. You need to get your priorities straight."
xXx The First Sin xXx
Laxus paced his living room for the third day in a row. He had chewed his nails to nothing and had barely eaten, despite Freed threatening to strap him down and force feed him. He had been barred from Lucy's hospital room by her spirits, those who were strong enough to be out on their own anyway. The times he wasn't pacing he was either sleeping or hunting down the Infernos sibling that had attacked his blonde partner.
"Laxus. This really isn't healthy." The blonde stopped dead, spinning to face those in his doorway.
"Did you find anything?" He completely bypassed their question, his eyes glued to the stack of papers in their hands.
With a sigh Evergreen entered the room, placing the pages down on the couch, "We got what we could with what little information we had. I'm surprised Loke gave us anything to work with at all."
"He's worried about Lucy, and royally pissed off at Laxus, us by relation. But he wants to make sure cheerleaders safe." Everyone just blinked at Bixlow, not even his babies repeating his nickname for Lucy.
"Bix... are you alright?" Freed shifted away from the Sieth mage while he waited for an answer, carefully edging into the room.
"Hey. I can be serious. And Lucy was the first one to not only beat me in a fight, but actually be nice to me after Fantasia... I want the bitch that hurt her caught." Bixlow removed his helmet and they could all see the stern set of his face easy as he entered the apartment.
"You know... In our encounters, Lucy was the brains finding these guys. And I think her actions resulted in their defeat both times too... she saved me both times on top of it all. And when she needed me..." Laxus let out an aggravated groan and sat down roughly on the couch, causing some of the papers to flutter onto the floor, "Anyway, what exactly did you guys find?"
The others took their respective seats, Ever and Bixlow in arm chairs and Freed beside their leader, his own bundle of paper in his lap.
"We learnt that Ira is the most notorious member if the Infernos guild. We also learnt something we never knew before..." Freed paused, sharing a look with the others, "The guild, as we know, is a dark guild. However, while the majority of its members are low class mages, the ring leaders so to speak, are comprised of 7 specialised mages. Those mages are known as the Seven Sins. We don't know who their leader is, but we know who you've already met."
"The one we encountered outside Crocus was Luxuria. The witch used manipulation magic. She was the weakest of the seven. Going with the theme of it all, her name translates to Lust from old Fiorian." Ever shifted through her papers before placing one in front of Laxus on the coffee table, the faces of the two defeated mages staring up at him, "The second one you guys came across was Vanagloria, named after the sin of Envy. His magic was a very special type of illusion magic, one capable of manipulating memories and replacing them, going as far as to physically affect someone."
"The one that attacked Lucy was called Ira, the sin of Wrath. Judging by the attack, she uses explosion magic. Witness reports say they only saw Lucy getting pushed around, which means Ira has a dangerous type of magic that can't be seen or heard unless she chooses otherwise... which could pose some problems..." Freed carefully place some photos down beside the profiles they'd compiled. Each one was an image of a crime scene, wherever Ira had been. She had laid waste to everything and everyone. They all turned a little green at some of the pictures and Laxus started breathing heavily, his brain replacing those in the images with Lucy.
"That... that could have been Lucy... That- If I had just-" He stood, pushing the images off the table as he moved to the kitchen, grabbing the edge of the bench so tightly that the stone top creaked under the pressure.
"Laxus. It wasn't your fault. If anything... it was ours..." Evergreen whispered, hugging herself in shame, "And now..."
"Ever..." Laxus turned around, his face pale but his eyes firm, "We can't change what happened. No matter how much we want to. What we can do is go after the bitch that hurt Lucy and make her pay for what she did."
"I'm with the boss man on this one. And it's a good thing I have tabs on where the bitch could be too." There was a stiffness to Bixlows shoulders as he handed the papers around, "When do we go?"
xXx The First Sin xXx
"Loke! I'm going, it's as simple as that!" The yell from within the room had Laxus paused, his travelling partner obviously agitated. Hearing her pulled at his heart, an uncomfortable weight settling in his gut as he revised his plan.
"Lucy! Please. You aren't well enough to move around yet." The faithful spirit pleaded.
"Gemini has done a fine job of healing me. There's only a few burns left. Now, I'm going and you can't stop me." The sound of fabric shuffling force Laxus to gather his courage and open the door, the site before him making him freeze.
Lucy was half out of bed, the hospital shift doing little to cover her while Loke hovered over his master, his hands ready to catch her should she fall.
"Laxus." She gasped, staggering upright. Loke's arms clamped around her waist, holding her steady, "What are you doing here?"
"I..." Her question struck him dumb and the sight of her wrapped in bandages had his stomach turning. The image of her broken and bleeding flashed before his eyes and he took a deep breath, readying himself for what he needed to do, "I came to tell you that the team and I are heading out, and I'm not sure when we'll be back."
Lucy blinked owlishly at him, "Okay... Great. I'll get my-"
"I mean we're going without you Lucy." His voice was harsher than he had wanted it to be, but the thought of her hurt made him see red. 'It's for her own good.' He thought, though he didn't buy the idea himself in the least.
"What? You can't be serious! The first time you guys went you all came back nearly dead and you drank yourself into a drunk stupor! I was the one that helped you defeat Luxuria and Vana! We-"
"We nearly got killed too and both times you got severely hurt. You're-"
"Not strong enough? Is that it? Laxus you can't be serious. What we went th-"
"What we went through Lucy... was a mistake. I won't make the same one twice..." He turned to leave, ignoring the sharp inhale from the other two in the room.
"L-Laxus... what are you saying? You don't mean that. You're just worried. I can still help. With all of us-" She tried to persuade him, pulling out of Loke's grip.
"With all of us going, you'll just drag us down. The enemies are just going to get stronger. Luxuria caught us by surprise the first time. The others won't get the same opportunity." He growled when he heard footsteps approach and he opened the door, his jacket billowing out behind him, "I probably won't see you again after this... So take care of yourself Lucy..."
His only answer was a strangled sob and when he looked over his shoulder his vision was filled with the sight of a glowing fist before he was sent on a collision course for the opposite wall.
"You... You don't get the right to tell me that... that bullshit! After everything? Do you think I'm that naive? I know what you're trying to do!" Lucy glared at him from the doorway, the mark of Leo on her upper breast. She glowed faintly, her anger allowing her magic to seep out, "No right Laxus."
He pulled himself upright on the ground, floored by the hurt he saw in her eyes. His hand rubbed his sore cheek, feeling the lump already forming there. Lucy glared with everything she had before she sighed, the anger disappointing, leaving only sadness in its wake.
"Just... go then Laxus." Lucy turned and walked down the hallway, her Leo Stardress allowing her to roam freely to the checkout. And all Laxus could do was watch her walk away.
xXx The First Sin xXx
And there is the next chapter! Again, sorry it took so long. I wanted Laxus to protect Lucy, but to do it in his typical, arrogant kind of way. Want to know what happens next, leave a review! Here's my Christmas present to all of you for all your support through the year and all the reviews you guys have left me.
For those of you that did review the last chapter, thank you all so much! You guys helped me push through all the stresses of moving to get this chapter out! So a major shout out to the following people!
Illustre
RosesMcKellar
Desna
Helenezahl
BeautifulAstrology
xoxi
Paige McCarthy
DarkInuPrincess8893
saskiarosee
love crimson red ray88
Guest
Kurahieiritr JIO