Ch. 19: Ortega Homestead Yukino
"Deep breaths." Foreign to me are his terror-stricken eyes, planted firmly on the water reaching our shins. Moonlight exposes the sudden paleness of his face and sparkles the rosebud of his eyes. "Rogue."
Almost startled, he switches his deep focus to me. His pupils are more dilated than that of the usual Dragon trait.
"We'll do it one step at a time." Keeping his trustful gaze, keeping his clammy grasp on my sleeves and my sturdy hold on his forearms, I kneel down into the chilly night water. Ripples of cold spike up my thighs, but I ignore them. I wait for him to follow suit before easing lower and lower into the lake. The water comes up to my chest. "I don't like swimming at night in big bodies of water either. It can be scary."
"You know I'm not a good swimmer at any time of day, Yukino."
"I know you can do more than you think, too." I smile at him. "You're almost there." I let go of his arms—it'd be better for him to do the final stretch himself. Come to think of it, I've never asked why water—of all the magical and natural things in this world—terrify, or at least unease, him. Maybe I will when this is all over. When we find our family. When we can smile without it feeling like a bandage on a lost limb.
"This is taking forever," Laxus remarks behind me, annoyance vibrating his dragging tone.
I turn to him. "Please, be patient." As we speak, Rogue makes his way into the water with us. It's not the water he's cautious about. He loves the water. What is making him so resistant is his fear of losing control, drowning.
Dris drifts over to us and stands, dripping. "Swimming was never really my strong suit either. I'm not a huge fan of water."
"Oh, yeah?" Rogue snaps. "How about being blasted with it for two days straight?"
I narrow my eyes at Dris. What is he talking about? Have they met in the past? With nothing to say, she turns to Laxus. "How're you going to swim when you're carrying that girl over your head?"
"I can manage," is his answer.
"Let me help." Before he can protest, I whip out a gold key and hold it up. "Open the Gate of the Heavenly Scales: Libra!"
Watching beams the color of a newly-born sun glorify the night sky, Rogue walks over to my side.
Libra appears in a flash, gesturing openly with her pair of scales dangling from flexible fingers. "Libra," I smile. "Can you decrease Mira's weight enough to make her float?"
She nods and does just that. Mira's still body lifts just above the water.
"That's amazing! Do you think you can ease her to where we're going, too?"
She nods.
"Great! Thank you so much."
"Ready?" Rogue asks everyone. Dris nods, I give an uh-huh, and Laxus cocks an eyebrow at his sudden urge to get in the water. His ears flare up pink and he jerks his head towards the water. "You know the way, Dris. So you lead."
"We'll need to be quiet when we get there." Dris advises, making small strokes through black water. "My family hasn't been visited here since I was a girl, but we can't take any chances."
I swim by her. "If you don't mind me asking, what did Rogue ask you about back at Sabertooth?"
She chuckles softly, "You're asking me?"
"Sure." I smile at her and then at the back of Rogue's head as he swims by Laxus. "He'll never tell me."
"Have you ever wondered where he was trained to fight like he does?" I look at her in wonder. I have, but I've never had the moxie to ask him directly. I'm not afraid of him anymore, so why do I hesitate? Dris catches my train of thought and speaks carefully, "I'm sorry. I thought you two were close."
"I... We are." Maybe I should have asked him first - it is his story to tell. "But everyone has their secrets, I suppose." I gaze forward through low-riding fog. Rogue, seeming to have given up or grown too tired to swim any further, hovers over the water on a cloud-like entity of shadows. He shakes his hair out and sits crisscross. "How convenient."
"Don't tease me, Yukino," he groans, placing a dripping Lector on his head. "I just got a little tired, is all."
Lector clings to his hair, fur matted down by water. "It's freezing…"
Dris and I stifle laughter when she leans over and whispers, "You'd think with all the training he's done he'd be able to handle a few more strokes."
"I heard that." He doesn't turn around to us. He remains still, arms crossed, glancing at Mira.
Laxus snorts. "You girls didn't have to listen to his heavy breathing. You'd think he was an Olympic swimmer if you saw how hard he was flailing his arms."
"Y'know, I was going to offer to give you all a lift, but I guess that ship's sailed. And I wasn't flailing," Rogue snaps, staring ahead, trying to ignore everyone. "You try swimming when your skeleton's composed of metal."
"Here I thought the faster you flail, the faster you'd swim."
Dris hops in again, "Guess you were wrong."
Through the gray air, I can see Rogue's ears turning bright pink again. His head ducks when he compresses into himself, letting out a quiet growl of humiliation. "Okay, everyone," I say, meeting eyes. "We should focus on getting to shore." I point ahead at silhouettes of trees and boulders.
As if on cue, the fog parts slowly, revealing a monstrously large mansion with vines growing on the walls like veins, weeds sprouting from unkept gardens with a crispy brown to their textures, and dried-out fountains with cracked angels at the tips. "Yup, that's it," Dris confirms.
Despite what he said earlier, Rogue, eyes glued to the sight, holds out his arm gently, signaling individual puffs of black to carry us to shore.
"Why didn't you do that sooner?!" Laxus suddenly hollers, making us all jump.
Rogue recoils. "What? You guys were so set on swimming, I didn't think it'd matter."
"You should've at least said something."
"I did, but you were too busy drooling over MJ to notice. Plus, you were watching me float halfway across the damn lake!"
"Don't you think it's common courtesy to—"
"If I did summon my magic without telling you, you'd all freak out."
I wave my hands between them. "Guys, please! We don't know who else could be here!"
Everyone falls quiet for a few seconds, until I hear Laxus mutter something. "Mutt."
And Rogue: "Knock-off."
##
Rogue pulls up the hood of the black poncho shirt he has on, shoving his hands in the thin pockets. I button up my coat and fasten the loops to keep it together. It's gotten colder since we reached the beach with gusts of wind that almost sting. Then again, it could just be that we were swimming at night in January. Our footsteps are the sole noises in the mansion. No rats scurrying across the floors or crows fluttering their wings outside. It's just silent - the kind of silence that absentmindedly makes you cling to other people.
My heart skips a beat when Rogue glances at me once and squeezes my hand when I inch away, blushing. "It is pretty dark," he comforts me. "Don't worry. You're walking with the king of darkness. I'll make sure nothing touches you."
I chuckle. "How kind of you, Rogue."
The corners of his mouth twitch upward. "If it makes you feel better, I'm... I don't like the dark, too." His grip tightens so that our hands quiver.
I tilt my head at him. I don't know much about man's pride, but I know it takes a lot to admit that. Although it's not the dark that's making me shiver, I know what he's trying to do for me. "We all have our fears, right?" I suggest. "I can't ever sleep with the door closed at night. I get claustrophobic."
His jaw clenches, then releases. The corner of his mouth twitches in a struggling smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"Thank you, Rogue," I say after a while.
His hold lessens, and blood rushes back to my fingers with pins and needles. He rolls his eyes to hide the rise of the smile. "Always so optimistic. And you could have told me I was hurting you. Sorry."
"You aren't. Don't worry." I smile wider and look at our hands, the side of his face. Dris nudges me, bobbing her eyebrows up and down. "What is it?" I whisper, getting closer.
"Ms. Celestial Wizard and the Shadow Dragon, huh?" she teases, a confident raise in her brows as if we're just schoolgirls gossiping at lunchtime. "You two lovebirds need some space?"
I feign a laugh, but my heart races. When I look at Rogue, I find the familiar flutter of apprehensive fondness swell my chest. "It's not like that." Rogue eyes us, pretending not to listen. "He's just looking out for me. That's what family does." Family… And yet, sweat slips between my shoulder blades the more I remember the heated glare he gave me back in Fairy Tail, how his voice morphs into two or three when his magic gets the best of him.
"Friend-zoned, much?" Dris says to him.
Rogue's eyes shut in annoyance. "We take care of each other."
"If you say so." Dris taps her chin. "Oh, but that's right. I saw you checking out that sleeping beauty over there." She points behind us at Mira in Laxus' arms.
"Talk all you want. You're still on thin ice with me."
"Rogue Cheney: dragon-slayer, RR graduate, lady-killer."
Rogue comes to a sharp pause that startles me and stands over her. "Did I stutter?"
"Whoa, hey. Calm down. Jesus, you'd think the goth dragon wouldn't be the one with the temper—"
"Stop talking. Just lead us through this shithole." I touch his arm in an attempt to calm him, and he shoots me a quick glance. Laxus approaches us, looking rather annoyed between the two. He lets out a lengthy sigh and shifts his weight to the side. The two meet eyes. "Any sign of her waking up?"
"Not a single movement." Watching the two of them disheartens me from wanting to know who Mira really loves, if either of them. Both eyes are full of such immense love. Accompanying love in Laxus' eyes is exasperation. In Rogue's, hesitance shading despondency.
"Um, guys," I blurt out louder than necessary. They both turn to me, Rogue almost immediately, Laxus with less energy and less interest. "We should get moving again. It'd be better to have her wake up somewhere... that's not crawling with dust mites. No offense, Dris."
"I hate this place as much as you all do." Dris leans against a wall, looking worn-out from the swim.
Rogue rakes his bangs to the top of his head, scanning the area. "Hate to say it, but if she wakes, she wakes. It's survival now. No luxury hotels for a while."
Dris' eyebrows scrunch down and she rubs the bridge of her nose where her frames made dents. "I recognize this area." She spins around slowly, observing. "There's a secret passage right... there." She points at the bookcase. "I snuck up on my father going through it once, but..." She approaches it, a hand hovering from a red book to the far gray one. The tendons in her neck twitch. Without uncertainty, she plucks out the bookmark wedged in the center of a green one. The entire mansion trembles as if there are gears in the walls. By her hand, the bookcase splits to two and unveil a strip of stairs traced by candles that ignite by themselves.
"How did you do that?" I ask, knowing better than to approach her now.
Dris chuckles. "My magic allows me to see through solid objects."
"X-ray vision, huh?" Laxus says. "Impressive."
Lector and I exchange looks, and he crosses his arms, giving a very Sting-like frown. "Interesting enough we didn't know that till now."
We reach the base with shaking knees and aching muscles. I have to bend over to catch my breath before I can scan the cold room. It's almost like a tavern. There's a bar to the far left, a door leading to a study—a hurricane of papers and dusty books—and the walls are vandalized with scribbles and drawings of flowery, circular designs.
Rogue looks as if he's seen a ghost.
Dris stares from wall to wall, mouth widely agape as if the world around her had been crushed before her eyes. I place a hand on her shoulder, startling her. "So this is what Dad was doing." Her fists clench.
Rogue and I meet eyes. He points over in the right-hand corner. "Can you see through there, Dris?" She watches him go over to whatever it is he's pointing to. "I can smell something funky here."
"Funky how?" I ask.
The lively sparkle in his eyes dulls. "Like rotting flesh." His eyes switch to Laxus, crossing his arms over his chest. "You smell it, too?"
Nodding, Laxus backs up to hoist Mira away from whatever horror that is about to be revealed. I come over and hold her limp hand, wondering what must have knocked her out so hard. "So, can you see through that wall or not, lady?"
There's a wicked smile to her voice. "I can, and I'm very pleased with what I see." Everyone meets her orange-glowing eyes with haste.
I stifle a gasp when I realize what she's gazing at. Rogue's entire face drains into a scowl. "Get serious."
Dris clears her throat and squints her eyes so tight that it appears they're closed completely if it weren't for the lasered shine emitting from her pupils. "There's a... a book? Huh." She scans further, touching the wall with a caressing hand. "Right here." Reaching for a capped pen on the desk, she draws a large X right where Rogue was sniffing around.
"I'm not sure if I want to break down the wall," Rogue says, eyes inspecting the cracked concrete ceiling and old wood on the floor.
I trace my finger along a long crack on the wall. "Are you sure there isn't another hidden button or something around?"
"I haven't been down here before, remember?" Dris replies in a sour tone that makes Rogue shoot a look at her. Not in frustration, but in question or consideration. He must understand how she feels, not knowing much about her father. Bitterness always finds some crevice to build on, I suppose. "Point is: our best chance is getting that thing out and seeing what it contains." She, almost automatically, reaches behind a bookcase and extracts a sledgehammer, tossing it to Rogue. "Best get to work, Shadow Dragon."
Rogue shoves up his sleeves and takes ahold of the sledgehammer's neck. "Yeah... Hey, La—"
"Yeah, I'm coming," Laxus slides between the three of us, having placed Mira on the least dusty table by the bar. I sit on the stool next to her to get out of the way, Dris following me with her eyes—having grown slightly... mischievous in the way she watches the two, to my notice—glued to the X.
Rogue hands Laxus the sledgehammer. "You swing, I'll dig."
"All right. Give me some room."
I turn to Mira while they go to work. Watching how her body rises and falls with every steady breath to pass the time. Counting the inhales and exhales to calm myself. Remembering every heart-to-heart talk we've shared about our love lives and drama to reassure myself that everything will be back to normal soon. The man who's after Rogue, I presume, is responsible for damaging the guild, for what is keeping Mira from waking up, and for that odd marking on Rogue's hand. I stare at it every time he bashes his fist through a chunk of the wall. Laxus swings the hammer over his shoulder for another blow to the wall. He stops and wipes his forehead, letting Rogue tear shreds of concrete from the cracks before scooping chunks out with the handle. Dris moans, resting her chin in her palm. I look at her.
"How do you keep sane around such strong, handsome men?"
My cheeks take on the heat of the sun. Peeking at the inches of Rogue's toned back revealed under the shirt while he digs, at Laxus' broad shoulders outlined by a damp white T-shirt when he swings and retracts, I find myself tongue-tied. "I-I... Honestly I've never really thought much about it."
"Typical." Dris sighs. "You aren't even looking and you get surrounded by overflowing sex appeal. And here I am, searching for the right man to find absolutely nothing."
I smile. "It's not a matter of luck, really. I'm sure the right person will come in time. They always do." It's funny how we're having this talk at this particular moment, trapped in this dire situation. Lector flies around Rogue's head, talking without pause. Knowing him, he's trying to keep the morale high and bustling. "I think the wall's about to budge. Be careful, you two."
The hammer creates a gash in the protective wall with dust taking flight. It tickles my nose and makes me sneeze. "Bless you," everyone says in different tones, voices, and timing.
"Thank you." All eyes are on the dark hole bleeding grey leakage. Rogue reaches inside, digging almost, and feels around. Out of the cavernous thing comes a journal with smooth skin. Must be made of leather. "Does that look familiar, Dris?"
"No." She frowns, getting close. "It doesn't. I-I've never... seen it before."
Rogue stares intensely at the book, flipping it over from cover to cover, then closes his eyes heavily and asks in an even heavier voice. "You said your father was executed for speaking about this secret coalition?"
Dris matches his tone. "Uh-huh."
"Rogue." He looks at me. "Can I speak with you?"
Rogue nods slowly with arched brows, biting his bottom lip. He meets my eyes, motions for me to walk with him, and stalks off to the corner, leaving Frosch with Laxus. "Yukino, you know what this is, don't you?" he asks directly, glancing at the book.
"A skin book," I shiver, staring at the slick cover reflecting candlelight. Rogue's eyes peel up to mine. We're trading silent words, confirming that... her deceased father's flesh is on this book, wondering what to do if she asks what it is we're discussing. "Should we tell her?"
Rogue turns to Dris, who's busy fingering dust from notebook rings in subtle thought. "Her reaction isn't what's concerning to me at the moment. Her daddy issues don't matter to me."
"I suppose." But would she honestly accept such heavy information from people she just met? I doubt she would take it from Rogue, assuming from the tone of his voice towards her that they aren't exactly fond of each other, or from me, just another Sabertooth mage who would probably side with Rogue, anyways. "I think... we should focus on what's written inside it first."
"Doesn't she seem a little—"
We're interrupted by an earth-shattering rumble that seems to lurk on every wall, on the ground and ceiling. Rogue and Laxus start sniffing the air. By the way Rogue scowls, I know something must be wrong. Dris stomps over, huffing. "All right, you two. What's going on?"
Just as he steps toward her, Rogue stops and snaps his neck over his shoulder. I watch him closely. "What's wrong?"
He frowns. "Something isn't right." His scarlet irises, seemingly glowing, dart to the very edge of his eye, straining to see what everyone else can't. I follow his stare into the darkness of the study's entrance.
Shadows wash over my face, my hair dancing on my cheeks. Dris screams, piercing my ears, in terror at his magic, kneeling with her hands over her ears. When the darkness clears, I see Rogue covered in white debris, sprawled on his face on the floor. Laxus, Mira, and Frosch squished in one corner. Dris standing over him. The book is nowhere to be found.
"Wait!" I call. A hand snatches my arm and yanks. I land hard on my side, but through my ringing ears, I hear Levy screaming for me. Rogue's pupils dilate through the shade of the hood when I'm lifted by the arm. Through my blurred vision, I see Gajeel's spiky hair and Levy's blue. I blink hard and shake my head to clear my senses up. All three Dragons bare their teeth when I feel hands fondling my body. Rogue's screaming voice is thick and inaudible when he gets to his feet and tries to come to my aid, held back by two large men in black.
My keys are dangled before me. And then all I see is black. Cold, unambiguous black coating my vision while my ringing ears hear Rogue's voice. Stating his presence before this unseen force.
