Hi everyone! Just wanted to say, please read the Author's Note down below for a chapter warning!
Review Response: Dear Dragon Lord Draco, greetings! Wow, thank you, I'm honored that my story comes under consideration! I'm leaning toward keeping the Laxus Arc, mostly because it has a lot of important character interaction and plot stuff ... but it would be pretty heavily changed from canon in some aspects I think. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see. I've almost got the first one-shot finished, so hopefully that will be up soon!
Dear clashingHeartsofChocolate, hello! Glad you liked it! I know ... I almost wanted to move into a lighthouse after writing that chapter myself. Alas, it is not to be... (perks up) Cookies? Did you say cookies? I can be bribed with cookies!
Dear BizzyLizy, hi there! Ah, yes, the 'you're' and 'your' problem again. I've been trying to break that habit... I enjoy writing Cana and Bickslow, they're a lot of fun when thrown together. They give poor Wren a headache though. You're welcome, and thank you for reviewing!
Dear Reptil, hello there! I have a list of Shadow Magic spells she will eventually learn/create, some of which are inspired by the great Shikamaru (tips imaginary hat to Shikamaru), but it will take some time for them to show up as I don't want her becoming one of those 'learns-everything-and-is-perfect-within-days-or-weeks' Mary-Sues. As for her eye magic, it will evolve to be more complicated, but that will take even longer than her Shadow Magic. It's hard to safely train one's ability to rip holes in space-time without, you know, making a permanent hole in space-time.
Dear Guest, hi! Aw, glad you like it! It took forever to pick what kind of house I wanted them to have. Ah, Bickslow's and Cana's friendship/rivalry will be going places, methinks. They clash so beautifully. You bring up good points with Warren and hopefully you'll enjoy his appearance when he does show up. Not sure how Freed and Evergreen will get along with everyone at first, but I do have several plot notes involving their introduction. Hopefully it won't take too long to have them show up... I'm a slow writer. Enjoy the update!
Author's Note: Okay, so, a certain character of unsavory repute shows up in this chapter and because of that, this chapter gets a warning. I don't think it's anywhere near M-rated, but for more imaginative people or (heaven forbid) people who have gone through something similar, I thought I should give a heads-up. Namely, this chapter has mentions/references/depictions of physical abuse, hidden under mental abuse. Like I said, I don't think it's anything too drastic or scary or anything like that, but then I've never had to face this kind of thing in real life on a regular (or even irregular) basis. Therefor, I leave this little "brace yourselves" notice. This isn't to scare people off, it's just to let people who are having a bad day or have had particularly bad experiences know to expect a bumpy ride in the latter half of this chapter. I do recommend reading it anyway though, as it has some VERY important character interaction and development. In other news, this chapter also features an adorable seven-year-old Levy who is looking to join the guild, so let's all give her a warm welcome to the insanity that is Fairy Tail!
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my own OCs who are trying to steal my plot.
Chapter Fifteen - Her Boys
(Two months, two weeks, three days since joining Guild)
It was, by now, incredibly rare to see Bickslow, Rihanna, and Laxus separated when not at school or going to their respective homes for the night. Even then, it was rare, because the three somehow managed to gravitate towards each other almost instinctively. Either in the hallways between classes, or the rapidly increasing number of times when Laxus stayed in the guest room of Bickslow's and Rihanna's new home after a late evening training session with them.
Over the relatively short time since they'd met, the three were rapidly becoming the tribe their team name Raijinshū implied. They took jobs together, they trained together, and when doing neither of the previous two things, they could often be found simply hanging out together. They were seen together so often that the other guild members were already able to classify who fulfilled what role.
Laxus was, usually, their designated leader and heavy hitter. He was the one who organized their training. He was the one who picked out jobs, though he made sure to clear the job with the other two first. He was the one who barked out orders in the frequent spurts of trouble that inevitably found them and was the one to deal out the most damage to their opponents with his lightning blasts.
Bickslow was the troublemaker and budding diversion specialist. While Laxus was the one who gave out orders in the fights, it was Bickslow who carried them out in a unique manner that often completely surprised whoever, or whatever, they were fighting. His tiki dolls were also invaluable at causing distractions or attacking from long range, their loud chittering and small fast forms making it very hard for their opponent to concentrate or keep up.
Though she didn't know it, Rihanna was actually the hardest of the Raijinshū to categorize. By all rights, she should have simply been the backup or supporting member of the team. The one who helped out, but didn't really get into the thick of things because of her size, age, and lesser-known magic. In a sense, she was.
However, while she did mostly stay out of the direct line of fire, Rihanna was not so much the team support, as the team trickster. She was a literal shadow weaving in and out of corners to strike from unexpected angles with a hard shadow slap, or a tripping tendril of condensed darkness. Rarely seen, never caught, not even when she got physical with a sharp kick to an opponent's knees of ankles. While Laxus and Bickslow were the heavy hitters, their blunt force and their bedeviling long-range fire, Rihanna was their edge. The thing no one ever expected and couldn't see coming until it was too late.
But, she was also the one who broke up any rising arguments, kept Bickslow from insulting their clients too badly, and generally ensured that the other two didn't destroy anything too important during their jobs. Despite being mute, she was their voice of reason, and even thought she was the youngest by several years, many guild members had noticed the glint of intelligence in her eyes, the flicker of wisdom beyond her physical years that enabled her to handle Laxus's and Bickslow's particular brand of Fairy Tail chaos.
So it was really no surprise that when trouble struck that day, it found the three of them together. What was the surprise was where the trouble struck and what form it took.
The moment she walked into the guild, Rihanna noticed something different in the air. There was no brawl happening at the moment, but instead of being scattered lazily around the guild hall like was the norm for a non-brawl afternoon, everyone was gathered around the bar, talking eagerly and focused on some point she couldn't see through the throng. Wonder what this is all about. A new member maybe? Looking over his shoulder, Mest spotted them come in and jogged over to them eagerly, "Laxus! There you are! Your father's home!"
Laxus's face immediately split into an eager smile, his eyes lighting up with happiness that completely opposed the icy cold feeling now beginning to grip Rihanna's insides. Wait. Laxus's father. That would be-! Laxus grabbed one of Rihanna's and Bickslow's hands with his own and proceeded to drag them into the throng, yelling excitedly, "Come on! You two are going to love my dad!" No. No I'm not. He's a creep and a bad guy who tries to use his own son as a stepping stone to power and beats up his guild members for failing! He's a traitor to Fairy Tail!
As Laxus worked his way through the throng, a reluctant Rihanna and a confused Bickslow still in tow, Rihanna tried to reason with herself. Okay, calm down, Rihanna. He might not be evil … yet. I mean, look at how eager Laxus is to see him! Surely he can't be all that bad if Laxus loves him so much. There's got to be a reason for that love, right? Still trying to convince herself not to either freak out or try to strangle Laxus's father the moment she saw him, Rihanna suddenly found herself in a bubble of space at the center of the crowd.
Laxus practically crowed at the man with black curly hair who was talking to a broadly smiling Makarov, "Dad, you're home! Welcome back!"
The man turned and Rihanna felt the cold gripping her insides clench a little tighter at her first look at Ivan Dreyar, father of Laxus and traitor to Fairy Tail. In an instant, Rihanna remembered all the things she'd seen him do or made others do.
Wendy's and Carla lying oh-so-still on the ground, drained of magic because of that gremlin thing he'd sent after them. Wendy's nightmares because of that unprovoked attack. Gray being deliberately targeted by the short, purple-spiked mage for no reason other than petty revenge. Lucy's brutal treatment at the hands of Flare. The threatening of a tiny, innocent child with mutilation by fire to facilitate Lucy's brutal treatment. The bruises and terror Flare had been shown with after having almost lost the fight with Lucy. The fight between Laxus and Raven Tail, during which Ivan had had the nerve to first demand information that belonged solely to the Masters of Fairy Tail, then to try to kill, or at least maim, his own son, and then finally to beg for loyalty from that son when Laxus had proven why he was an S-Class mage almost without peer.
They were, truthfully, such little things at the moment. Glimpses of a future that honestly might not happen. But now, looking at the adoring smile of the boy she'd come to know and trust, knowing what could happen, probably would happen, all because of this man's greed and cruelty…
Rihanna felt something ugly rise up inside her, thick and harsh and choking and she briefly wondered if this was what bloodlust felt like. Because never, not even in the face of Aternum's ever-present cruelty, had she wanted to strangle someone with her shadows like she did at the sight of that man.
"Ow, Wren-chan, easy on the grip." Laxus's slightly pained but humor-laced words snapped Rihanna out of her staring and she looked at him in surprise before apologetically loosening her grip. Laxus nodded from her to Ivan, unaware of the true source of Rihanna's stiffness, "Dad, these are Wren-chan and Bickslow-kun, they're my new teammates."
Ivan smiled at them, a wide, pearly-toothed smile that should have been perfectly friendly but made Rihanna want to flinch away on instinct, "Is that so? Well, its nice to meet you, Wren-chan, Bickslow-kun. It's nice to see that my son has finally found such wonderful allies his age."
He said allies. Not friends. Laxus finally let go of Rihanna's and Bickslow's hands in order to gesture slightly as he asked, "How was your mission, dad?"
Ivan chuckled, a deep baritone sound, "It went well. No criminal can stand up to the might of a proper Fairy Tail mage. The weakling did not stand a chance against my magic!" Laxus made a noise of appreciation and Rihanna felt vaguely sick. She wondered suddenly if this man was the reason Laxus was so obsessed with "strength" in the Fantasia Arc. It would make sense she supposed, what with him being the boy's father. Ivan ruffled Laxus's hair with a hand, "How has your schooling been coming along in my absence, Laxus? Keeping up with the training regimen I set up?"
Laxus hesitated, just the barest hitch of his shoulders between one breath and the next and Rihanna's already screaming paranoia sensed trouble, "Well … not the entire regimen. I've had to cut back so that Bickslow-kun and Wren-chan can keep up with me. I've also been really busy helping them with their magic since they're so new to the guild … but they're catching up fast! I'll be doing the full regimen again in no time!"
Perhaps it was her imagination, perhaps it was because she was watching for it, but Rihanna was sure she saw something dark flicker through Ivan's gaze before the smile was back full force and he was clapping Laxus on the shoulder, "Well, you and I will have to have a spar this evening when I get home to make sure your skills haven't gotten too rusty, ne?"
Again, there was the barest hitch, the faintest faltering in Laxus's posture, before he pushed on with smiles and agreements. Rihanna felt like the cold was crushing her insides by this point, she could barely stand to look Ivan without being beset by suspicions, memories, and burning desires to get the man away from Laxus. She kept herself rooted to the spot, determined not to say or do anything that would come off as rude, trying to convince herself to give him the benefit of the doubt…
Then Ivan took a step toward Bickslow, hand rising in what was probably going to be a handshake but to Rihanna's spinning mind came across as a threat. She didn't know when she crossed the three-step distance between herself and her brother. She only knew that she was suddenly standing in Ivan's way, arms flung out protectively and shadowy tendrils weaving over her arms and around her body like living whips, their tips honed to dangerous points. One such tendril whipped out and slapped Ivan's outstretched hand with its flat side, the smack of shadow hitting flesh ringing out loudly in the suddenly silent guild hall.
Several gasps of surprise rose and many guild members shuffled back in shock at Rihanna's blatant display of aggression while Laxus shouted in surprised horror, "Wren-chan!"
Behind her, Bickslow made a puzzled noise and started to grab Rihanna's shoulder only to have a tendril gently nudge it away and push him back. Rihanna locked eyes with Ivan, using her gaze and her writhing shadows to convey what her lips could not, "Stay away from my brother. Stay away or I'll hurt you."
Ivan took a step back, his eyes wide with surprise as he rubbed his slapped hand and Laxus tried angrily to lecture Rihanna. Mest broke through the now-whispering throng, his placating tones breaking marginally through the roaring sound in Rihanna's ears, "Ah, I'm so sorry, Ivan-san, please forgive her. Wren-chan's been on the streets since she was very young and the people of her hometown … weren't very caring to either her or her brother. She's extremely wary of any adult stranger she meets is all. She doesn't mean any harm."
During his excuses on Rihanna's behalf, Mest had slowly maneuvered his hands through her waving shadows to rest them securely on her shoulders, an anchor amid her whirling thoughts and rising hatred. Rihanna took a deep breath as Mest squeezed her shoulders comfortingly and said, "Come on, Wren-chan. Ivan-san is one of our most respected members. You can trust him. He's the Master's son and Laxus's father, you trust those two don't you? So you can trust him too, I promise."
No, I can't. Not after what I've seen, not when I know how badly he can hurt the people I care about! How badly he can hurt them just for the fun of it! She wanted so desperately to yell those words, to scream out his sins for all the guild to hear and tell them not to trust him. But she couldn't. She was mute. Even if she could have screamed all those things, she was physically just a child, a child everyone would assume was simply afraid because of her traumatic past.
Rihanna swallowed hard, reining in the urge to attack Ivan with her shadows with some difficulty. Slowly, the shadows reverted to harmless two-dimensional constructs at her feet and Mest pulled her gently away from Ivan, passing her over to a worried Bickslow while Ivan laughed off her reaction and Laxus stared at her in puzzlement.
She didn't resist as Bickslow pulled her out of the crowd and to a private corner of the guild hall, didn't protest when he carefully sat her down and wrapped his arms around her. Pappa, Pippi, and Puppu swirled a slow defensive circle around them as Bickslow asked softly, "Wren, what was that? Why did you do that? He's Laxus's dad and Laxus trusts him. I mean, sure he must be kinda crazy to come up with that training schedule Laxus has been throwing at us, but he doesn't … he doesn't seem all that bad."
Rihanna took deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves even as Laxus suddenly slipped out of the crowd and also made his way over to sit on the bench next to her, "Wren-chan? Got an explanation?" Yeah, you're dad is an evil man who wants to use you for his own ends and will betray this guild and his own family all for the promise of power, probably giving you a debilitating superiority/inferiority complex in the process.
The silence stretched between the three as Rihanna looked silently from Laxus, to Bickslow, to Ivan and the rest of the guild. She struggled inwardly with how to respond or explain. Laxus seemed to trust his father, yet … yet something told Rihanna that the trust and love was not as deep and easy as Laxus made it out to be. Perhaps it was her paranoia and natural hatred of Ivan from when he had been a mere anime character, but she couldn't just take Laxus at his word. She didn't want that man near her friends, especially not her brother or Laxus, the one boy he could do irreparable damage to with just a few words.
Finally, Rihanna twisted around to look fully at Bickslow, her index finger lightly tapping the bridge of his sunglasses before pointing at Ivan. Bickslow made a noise of dawning comprehension and whispered, "You … you don't trust him. You don't trust Ivan-san. Like, really, really don't trust him and not just because he's a stranger." Rihanna simply replied with a serious stare and a repeat of the gesture. Her desire was easily understood by her adoptive sibling of three years, "What does he look like? What are his colors?"
Wordlessly, Bickslow shifted his head so that he could stare at Ivan. A few moment's later his brow furrowed and he sighed, "Sorry, Imōto, I can't get a good look at him. There are too many people crowded around."
Laxus interjected, his voice tense and confused, "Why would you try reading his aura anyway? He's my dad, and a proud member of Fairy Tail. You can trust him. I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this Wren-chan."
Rihanna could feel Bickslow's muscles stiffen faintly before he replied softly to Laxus, "Being your dad doesn't make him automatically trustworthy, Laxus."
Laxus bristled, "What do you mean it doesn't? Of course it does! He'd never hurt me, or any of you! You're my friends! Dads don't do that!"
Rihanna felt glad for once that the other guild members were distracted by all of their goodnatured banter and talking. Too distracted to hear Laxus's shout. Too distracted to hear Bickslow's soft, unflinchingly grim reply of, "Mine did."
Rihanna wrapped her fingers around Bickslow's arms and squeezed gently in a show of comfort while Laxus recoiled as if he'd been struck, his eyes wide with dawning realization and regret at his thoughtless words, "I … I'm sorry, Bickslow."
Bickslow didn't acknowledge Laxus's apology, for once didn't snarl at the words that could be mistaken as pity. He simply held Rihanna tighter and murmured, "I don't trust anyone who hasn't proved they're worth it first. Normally I'd try to give them a chance but … I've known Wren for years, I trust her. So if she thinks there's something wrong with someone, or that someone is untrustworthy, I believe her."
Laxus scowled, "Well, I say he's fine! Don't you trust me?"
Bickslow didn't answer, he simply turned his head away and Rihanna felt her heart twist slightly at the look of raw hurt that flashed over Laxus's face. The hurt quickly vanished under a wall of anger and Laxus snarled, "Well, fine then." He stood up sharply and started walking away.
Bickslow loosed one arm from around Rihanna to reach out to Laxus as he passed, something strangely vulnerable lacing through his tone, "O-oi, where are you going?"
Laxus dodged the outstretched arm and called over his shoulder bitingly, "To go hang out with my dad. I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable with such an untrustworthy person sitting next to your precious sister and all."
Bickslow let go of Rihanna fully, standing up as he called, "Wait, that's not what I-!" Laxus had already disappeared into the throng and Bickslow sat down slowly, not pursuing the angry boy, "That's not what I meant…"
Oh no. I really did it this time didn't I? Rihanna winced at the guilt that settled in her stomach, whispering that she was to blame for the sudden fight between Bickslow and Laxus. If she'd just been better at hiding her dislike and distrust of Ivan, then this wouldn't have happened. Bickslow had enough trouble making friends without having to experience someone stomping away in anger like that. Bickslow would have no idea that it was just temporary, that Laxus was only hurt and confused and needed time to calm down before being apologized to.
As far as Bickslow knew, walking away meant abandonment, and abandonment was permanent.
Bickslow made a low noise in his throat, something akin to a wounded snarl, and abruptly stood up again. Not looking back, Bickslow stomped out of the guild building, Rihanna trailing unhappily at his heels. As soon as Bickslow had cleared the guild building, he broke out into a run down the street. His tikis chittered and whined as they suddenly shot up into the air over the rooftops, Bickslow following with ever-startling speed and agility.
Other people on the streets yelped in surprise as he lunged upward, grabbing the side of an old brick wall and scaling it like a squirrel would a tree before swinging to an awning and from there to the gutter on the edge of the tiled roof. He shot up the slope of the roof until he reached the spine, then from there took off toward another roof, his feet balancing with the ease of many years of practice.
Rihanna scrambled to follow him, afraid to leave Bickslow alone when he was in such a mood. Unwilling to waste the time it would take to climb up as Bickslow had, Rihanna shifted into Shadow Form and reached out for the shadow of a passing cloud, tugging on the velvet roughly until it gave way to a deeper darkness that she could pass through. Cold sensations chilled her arms and raised goosebumps while the door behind her eyes twinged faintly.
For a split second, she couldn't see anything. Not her destination, not Magnolia all around, not even herself, just the total cold darkness all around. The world became a black, soundless void that chilled every inch of her skin despite her clothing and threatened to drown her in just how endlessly dark it was.
Then she took a single, firm step and the world was greyscale again, the budding summer heat pressing down on her skin and chasing away the chill that had threatened to sink down into her bones. The tilt in the ground under her feet, combined with the sudden rush of visual and audial sensory data made her stumble for a moment before regaining her balance and dropping out of Shadow Form to resume chasing after Bickslow.
Bickslow ran for a long time, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with the same ease other people strolled down the street. Rihanna followed close behind, not knowing where they were going, but determined to follow all the same. When they finally stopped, it was because they had run out of rooftops to run across. Bickslow slowly dropped into a sitting position on the spine of the last roof, his chest rising and falling in faint pants as he recovered from sprinting so far. Rihanna slid into a sitting position next to him, her breathing noticeably more ragged because of her smaller size and thus, lower endurance level.
With shaking hands, Bickslow pulled his sunglasses off of his face and turned them around to stare at them. His face scrunched up unhappily and he abruptly pulled his arm back as if to throw the offending item away. Calmly, Rihanna reached out and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from throwing away the sunglasses. Bickslow jerked faintly in surprise at her touch before looking down at her.
Slowly, Rihanna shook her head, indicating that he shouldn't throw away the sunglasses Laxus had helped him get after reading about safety measures for mages with eye magic. Bickslow's mouth twisted downward even as he slowly lowered the sunglasses into his lap. For several minutes, they just sat there, Bickslow fiddling moodily with the sunglasses and Rihanna gripping one of his wrists comfortingly with a hand.
Eventually, Bickslow broke the silence, "I do trust him. I do. I wouldn't let him spar with you if I didn't. I wouldn't let him touch you if I didn't trust him. But that doesn't mean…" He sighed heavily before glancing at Rihanna miserably, "What do I do, Imōto? I know you have a reason for reacting to Laxus's dad the way you did, but he won't listen and you can't tell me. Not … not the details anyway."
Rihanna felt her heart twist in her chest at his dejected tone, he really had no idea what to do. Rihanna squeezed his wrist comfortingly before letting go and using both hands to help communicate in their semi-private language, "Talk to him."
Bickslow cocked his head slowly to one side, "But … but he didn't listen last time. He ran away. He went to go be with … with his dad." There was an underlying bitterness in those words, a venom that she had no doubt came from memories of his own parents.
With a faint sigh, Rihanna signed and whistled, "Wait for him to cool. Then talk to him. He'll listen."
Bickslow glanced at her, his eyes flickering green briefly before he settled down slightly, "If you say so, Wren." Rihanna nodded firmly and silence fell over them again for a few moments. Then, Bickslow asked tentatively, "Do you … want to do something? While we wait for Laxus to calm down, I mean."
Rihanna nodded her assent to the idea and Bickslow stood up, idly taking her hand as he scanned the rooftop world of Magnolia, obviously looking for something to do. Chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully, Bickslow suggested, "A … game?" Rihanna nodded agreeably again and Bickslow continued to worry his bottom lip in contemplation, "Hmm, what could we play…"
An idea flickered through Rihanna's mind and she suppressed a grin. Carefully, she extracted her hand from Bickslow's grip and, when he looked down at her questioningly, poked him on the forehead cheekily with a forefinger before promptly bounding off. It took a few seconds of her dashing across the rooftops before Bickslow figured out her game and chased after her with a whoop, "Oi! No fair making me 'it' when I wasn't ready! Come back here!"
The game of rooftop tag that followed was exhilarating, dangerous, and probably a bit crazy. Rihanna felt no guilt in using her Shadow Magic to gain an edge in the game, just as Bickslow had no qualms sending his tiki dolls after her. They whirled back and forth across the warm tiles, exchanging the title of "it" several times over the course of the game before it somehow migrated down onto the streets and the real chaos began.
They stumbled across Cana towards the later half of their game. The Card Mage was talking to and showing around an adorable little girl with loose blue curls who looked vaguely familiar to Rihanna. Of course, she had no time to ponder the girl's familiarity or ask for her identity because, upon spotting them, Bickslow decided that they were fair prey for the game.
Rihanna personally thought that nailing Cana with a full body tackle into the canal while screaming "you're it!" was a bit much. But hey, it garnered two more members for the game and no one got hurt, so who was she to complain? Of course, Rihanna and the newcomer eventually had to duck for cover when Bickslow's taunts and dodges finally drove Cana to attack him with her magic card explosive combo.
Rihanna finally called a stop to the game hours after she had first started it when Cana's cards and Bickslow's tiki dolls set fire to a store awning, gouged holes in two walls, and obliterated the window of a nearby house. Panting and laughing, Bickslow dodged Cana's halfhearted hand swipe, "Not bad, Same-boke! You almost had me there … not!"
Cana hid her own laughter under a faint snarl, her clothing mostly dried from chasing Bickslow around in the sunshine, "What did you think you were doing, Bicksaho? I was trying to make a good impression on Levy-chan!"
Levy? Rihanna looked over sharply at the blue-haired seven-year-old standing next to her. The girl in question shuffled shyly, "A-ano … I, actually, enjoyed that … just now. You … you all seem like fun." She thinks that was fun? … Oh yeah, she's going to fit in just fine once she joins.
Bickslow turned and hesitantly smiled at Levy from behind his sunglasses, his mouth opening to say something, only for him to suddenly stop short. His head tilted as if he was looking past her, his entire body going rigid for a split second before he swore explosively and took off down the road that led out of town, his tikis shrieking a high-pitched note Rihanna had learned the meaning of on jobs when things went wrong.
One of the Raijinshū was in danger. And only one of them was not currently accounted for. Laxus!
Bickslow ran like he was back in Aternum, trying to escape a particularly persistent slaver. His arms pumped frantically at his sides as he took corners at break-neck speed to get to his destination. His tikis shot ahead of him, their high pitched alarm shriek dying out in favor of focusing on pure speed.
Ahead of him, beyond the buildings and the diluting effect of other people's auras, was a blazing beacon he had come to know very well over the past few weeks. The ever-swirling knot of colors that made up Laxus's aura flickered and surged in a way Bickslow had seen a thousand times when the blond boy was practicing his magic or fighting.
But that wasn't what had him running like death itself was on his heels. What had him running was the dark, towering aura nearby and the gut-wrenching amounts of two colors Bickslow never, ever wanted to see in his friend's aura. The vibrant lime green of fear, and the sallow yellow with its rotting pink edges of pain.
As Bickslow sprinted ever closer, the other aura started to show itself more clearly, its colors only spurring Bickslow on to further frantic running. Rippling ink mottled and oozed into the colors of greed, anger, and pride like stains on a once fine cloth. Here and there, hidden amid the other colors but still visible to Bickslow's practiced eye, were drops of murderous blood red, signs of someone who had intentionally killed another human being.
But the red was not diluted with the mournful storm grey of grief that came from regret or shame, it flashed in Bickslow's vision like gaudy medals. Mocking tokens of a man who felt no shame in what he had done, no grief in the taking of a life.
Not a man Bickslow wanted anywhere near his sister or his best friend. Not now, not ever. Especially not when the surging of the tainted aura heralded the growth of Laxus's sickening color of pain.
At some point, Bickslow wasn't sure when, he had left Magnolia's outskirts behind and started plunging into the surrounding forest and hills, his Figure Eyes guiding him unerringly toward his goal. Trees thinned rapidly as he was guided away from the depths of the forest and out toward the many hidden strips of beach that surrounded the massive lake. His heart hammered loudly in his ears, his lungs burning and legs begging for respite after a tiring game of tag followed by his desperate charge. Bickslow stubbornly ignored all those things, ignored the headache building behind his eyes from overexerting himself. Ignored the spasm in his left leg that threatened to send him tumbling. Ignored the branches of bushes that came too close and swatted scoldingly at his cheeks and bare arms.
He arrived at his destination abruptly, with seemingly no transition from journey to goal. But perhaps that was because the first sight to greet his eyes and the first sound other than his own panting to reach his ears was Laxus stumbling back with a cry of pain. Laxus's arms were flung over his face protectively, his lightning skittering in wild, uncontrolled bursts down his arms and legs in an attempt to ward off the flying slips of white that zipped around him like angry bees.
It took barely a thought to send his tikis whirling into the fray, their lasers incinerating the slips of white en masse as his three magic constructs screamed the rage his beleaguered lungs currently couldn't. Not slowing, Bickslow barreled into Laxus, dragging him forcibly farther away from his attacker before whirling to face the source of the tainted aura, arms up to defend against the threat.
He faltered for a split second when he saw Ivan Dreyar, Laxus's dad whom he had just met that afternoon, standing on the opposite side of the small beach. The man's eyes were wide with surprise very similar to what Bickslow felt even as Bickslow's tikis finished off the last of the white slips and swirled into a defensive formation around him. Then Ivan smiled a warm, friendly smile that was at complete odds with his aura and Bickslow's surprise melted away under the heat of his sudden rage. The man who dared call himself Laxus's father lifted a hand in a calming gesture, "Well, well … Bickslow-kun, wasn't it? What brings you out here this fine evening?"
Bickslow ignored all formalities, abandoned all pretenses of politeness as all of his hatred and mistrust for adults came flooding back and honed in on the man before him, "You're not hurting Laxus again! I won't let you!"
From behind Laxus made a strained noise, "Bickslow, what do you think you're doing?"
Bickslow clenched his jaw even as confusion flickered through him, "Protecting you! What else?"
Ivan laughed in an easygoing manner, but Bickslow saw the darker patches of anger starting to grow in time to the growth of the lie colors, "It seems your friend has misunderstood the situation, son! You see, Bickslow-kun, Laxus and I are just sparring. It's … our way of bonding, father and son. Isn't that right, Laxus?"
"R-right." Shock at Laxus's answer had Bickslow looking incredulously away from Ivan and to where Laxus was shakily picking himself up. Laxus was bleeding from at least a hundred cuts and deep incisions running up and down his limbs, allowing blood to trickle and flow so freely it was staining his clothing, and what little unmarred skin he had, a vibrant red. He was heavily favoring his right side, his left eye was shut and under the small dribble of blood running down it from a cut on his forehead, Bickslow could see that the eyelid was already turning an unhealthy purple color.
As if those weren't enough indicators of just how badly Laxus was hurt, Bickslow could still see copious amounts of the pain color swirling amid his aura. There was so much of the color it almost completely drowned out what remained of Laxus's normal colors, the rest vanishing under his fear and an unfamiliar color Bickslow instinctively loathed.
Bickslow bared his teeth as he hissed, "Right? What do you mean 'right'? He's attacking you!" No, a cold little voice in Bickslow's mind whispered, this isn't even an attack. This is … this is a beating. This is just like them.
Laxus shook his head stubbornly, forcing himself to stand up straighter, "No, he's not. We're sparring. Just like he promised we would this afternoon when you met him. You know, before you and Wren ran off like anti-social jerks."
Something warred inside Bickslow and, even though he couldn't see his own aura, he knew that it was becoming overrun with the colors of hatred and rage. His tikis moved to keep him covered in case Ivan attacked even as Bickslow turned to fully face Laxus, "This is not sparring! This," he motioned from Laxus's injuries to the unscathed Ivan, "this is a beating, and I am not letting him hurt you any more!"
Laxus's fear spiked alongside the other, unknown and unwanted color, "He's making me stronger! This is training! If I get hurt, it's because I'm not good enough yet, too weak, and need more training to make me strong! To make me worthy of being a member of Fairy Tail!"
Bickslow's voice almost cracked under the strain of his emotion and volume, "No, it's not! What you do with Wren and me is training! This is nothing like what we do! Nothing!"
Laxus started to yell something back, but Bickslow cut him off angrily, "How can you stand there and agree with him? You are not weak! You have never been weak! Would a weak mage be able to save my sister's life? Would a weak mage be able to shrug off Figure Eyes within minutes? Would a weak mage be able to do all the things you've taught me to do and can still beat me at?"
Bickslow's fists clenched as his voice rose, "And since when do you need to be 'worthy' of Fairy Tail? Wren and I are nowhere near as strong as you and Makarov-jiji still let us join! Ivan's not training you! He's beating you! He's using you! Punishing you because he hates you!"
Laxus's eyes were glistening with unshed tears, "No … no, liar! Liar!"
Bickslow started to shout again when his tikis shrieked and several things whipped across his cheek and his arms, bringing with them stinging pain and the feeling of liquid dribbling down his skin. Bickslow whirled, cursing internally as he realized that he'd forgotten to keep a ear on Ivan. The man was no longer smiling. His eyes had, in fact, gone as hard and cold as his seething aura. Bickslow felt fear crawl up his throat as he realized he'd gone too far.
He knew exactly what Ivan really was, and for that, Ivan now hated him. The black was growing, providing a perfect backdrop for the rising droplets of blood. Ivan suddenly smiled again, but it was not his fake, warm smile, it was hard as ice and held the sharp edge of danger that made Bickslow's insides squirm with fear, "It would seem, boy, that no one has ever taught you proper respect for your elders and betters. I will just have to correct that oversight, now won't I?" Ivan tilted his right palm so that it was facing the sky and the things whipped past him again, drawing a startled cry and more blood from Bickslow on their way to orbit above Ivan's palm. Suddenly more and more of the white slips started forming above his palm, joining the bloodstained ones in a twisting, rustling oval. Realization and surprise flickered through Bickslow even as he winced. Paper. He uses Paper Magic. That's how he inflicted those cuts!
Laxus shouted and tried to move out from behind Bickslow, "Dad! No, please wait! He didn't mean it! I swear he didn't mean it!" The fear was evident in his voice now and Bickslow felt his own growing accordingly. If Laxus, one of the strongest, if not the strongest, mage he knew was terrified and helpless before this man, then what chance did he have?
Guilt-formed inhibitions dissolved under the force of fear and Bickslow reached up a hand frantically to remove his sunglasses just as a veritable whirlwind of sharp-edged doll-shaped paper went hurtling toward him.
The throng was too thick for his tikis to destroy in time, and it was moving at such a speed Bickslow knew he'd be lucky if Pippi, his fastest tiki, would be able to launch even a single shot before it hit, let alone buy him enough time to remove his sunglasses and make eye contact with Ivan.
Instinctively, Bickslow moved so that he was more firmly between Laxus and the oncoming attack and braced for pain-
Then black of such an abyssal quality it literally froze the air ripped into existence and obliterated the paper storm and a portion of the beach between Ivan and the two boys. Ivan recoiled with a roar of fright and surprise. The black hole had exploded into being closer to him than Bickslow and thus forced the man to back up or risk frostbite.
The hole shrunk to the size of a coin, but that did not make the cold decrease. Instead, the temperature continued to sink the longer the abyssal hole seethed and pulsed there on the beach. Bickslow exhaled sharply in shock, his breath coming out as a puff of white frost, at the sight of the hole. Wren…? Sure enough, his sister stalked slowly onto the beach, the faint shaking in her hands serving as the only sign of strain from keeping the black hole open.
Bickslow barely noticed his sister's shaking hands, or Ivan's sputtered demands to know what was going on. All he could do was stare at the transformed state of his sister's aura. Blazing rage red hissed and snapped, curling with the color of hatred and leaping like a bonfire on the coals of the ever-mysterious dark green and an inconspicuous yet powerful powder blue emotion. It was like a pure contradiction in emotions. The rage and hatred were so powerful it made him want to shy away from his own little sister, while the powder blue and dark green mix made him feel oddly … safe. Even with the seething black hole just on the edges of their designated safe distance, those colors made him know instinctively that no more harm would come to him.
Wren's eyes swept over the scene, lingering on Laxus and Bickslow and he had to withhold the urge to flinch. He knew that Wren's eyes changed when her eye magic was in use, it was something all eye magic did. But he had never had a chance to get a really good look at the color, as anywhere except directly behind or otherwise outside Wren's peripheral vision was considered a potential danger zone during practice. Now he got a good look and felt a visceral terror, illogical and barely suppressible, roll down his spine.
All traces of warm hazel were gone from Wren's eyes now. There was only a black identical to her black holes. A black so deep it became indescribable … and a thin ring of murderous red that shone with an inner light, as if it was fueled by Wren's own aura. The terrifying appearance of her eyes was only enhanced by the stone-like mask her face had become, no fear, no rage, nothing. Just a cold mask of sheer, total, ice.
Swallowing hard to loosen the sudden lump in his throat, Bickslow whispered, "Wren? Imōto?" Are you still in there? Eerie eyes rested on him for a moment and the mask briefly faltered, showing a multitude of conflicting emotions until the black hole in the beach threatened to grow in size and the mask slammed back into place again. Without any whistles or signals of reassurance whatsoever, Wren strode to the center of the beach, fearlessly standing just behind her black hole, between it and Bickslow, facing the gaping Ivan.
Wren was his little sister, the one he loved and protected to the best of his ability. She was his peacekeeper and his common sense, Bickslow knew that. Had seen it countless times even when she was angry. She was sweet, sensible, and never one to hold a grudge despite her hot flashes of temper. She was his baby sister for Magic's sake.
But in that moment, Bickslow could see none of that. He only saw cold eyes, and the steady intrusion of colors he never wanted to see in Wren's aura. Colors that he knew could easily destroy the sister he loved and leave behind nothing but a dark and twisted shell.
Rihanna locked gazes with a startled Ivan and struggled with all of her might to keep her self-control from snapping and using her dōjutsu to simply erase the man in front of her from reality. It was incredibly, incredibly hard and most of her sincerely doubted it was worth it.
He had hurt Laxus. He had hurt Bickslow. He had hurt her boys.
When Bickslow had run off, she had followed as fast as she could because Laxus was very likely in trouble and they had to help him. She had thought she knew what to expect, she had thought she was prepared to help in her normal, mostly unobtrusive way like always. She had thought she was prepared for whatever she'd see upon catching up with Bickslow. She had been so very wrong.
The first thing she had seen when finally catching up to Bickslow was the almost innumerable cuts lacing Laxus's body, the way he favored one of his sides, and his developing black eye. The second thing she had seen was Bickslow's bleeding cheek and arms and the expression of terror on his face as he placed himself between Laxus and an oncoming attack while Laxus pleaded for Ivan to leave Bickslow alone.
Laxus shouldn't plead. Not in that fearful, plaintive tone that threatened to wrench her heart out of her chest. It went completely against everything she knew of his character. Laxus was a proud boy, he was a boy who knew what he wanted and if he had to ask for anything, did so politely but with an air of confidence around him that made his smiles genuine and his laughter loud.
He did not beg. He did not cower. He did not look on in terror while someone launched a massive, potentially lethal, utterly uncalled-for attack at him while Bickslow, her precious brother, stood trembling in the way.
Especially when that someone was Laxus's father.
She had barely even processed those sights before her gaze had switched to the hurtling mass of paper and the door in her mind had cracked open under the sheer force of her rage. The black hole had snapped open in the middle of the paper mass, ripping apart the attack and sending the temperature rocketing down until it almost matched the depth of her cold fury. Almost.
Ivan shifted, trying to stand tall and outstare the seeming six-year-old on the other side of the tiny, rippling black hole, "You- You possess eye magic…" His voice grated on her ears, his words and tone not mattering as much as the fact that the scum dared to vocalize in her presence when she was already struggling with the urge to kill him.
The chill in the air deepened as a voice, an urge, whispered through her mind. Kill him, the voice whispered, destroy him for what he's done. Punish him for his sins. Rihanna clenched her jaw, her fists clenching as shadows suddenly rippled and curled at her feet like fireless smoke. The strain on her magic grew, but somehow it did not become unbearable, Rihanna's rage did not let it become unbearable.
You should kill him, the voice hissed again, kill him for hurting your boys! Kill him! Rihanna took a deep breath through her nose, I want to. Oh, how I want to. Something in her gaze, her expression, must have revealed her thoughts because Ivan went very, very pale. He was visibly shaking now, his breath coming out in rapid puffs of mist as he tried to rally and intimidate her, "Stop it, girl. Stop that spell right now!" Rihanna's only response was to keep glaring, letting the full depth of her fury show through her eyes. Ivan swallowed hard and abruptly changed tactics, "This … this is all just a misunderstanding! Shut down that … that spell and I will explain everything to you! Yes … yes, this is all just a misunderstanding caused by how young and inexperienced you are in the world. You do not understand that in order to properly prepare a child for the world, a parent must sometimes discipline them rather … harshly. But only because-"
Rihanna took a single half step forward and blinked once, her current black hole snapping shut at the blink only for another one, just as small as the first, to rip into existence a half step closer to Ivan. Inexperienced? Harsh? Parent? You are not a parent, you sick piece of trash! You are nothing but a twisted little insect. A parasite. How Makarov cannot see that is beyond me, but I am not so blind.
Rihanna remembered Laxus's faint hesitations during his conversation in the guild hall with his father. She remembered Laxus's anger, the flicker of doubt she'd seen right before he'd stormed off. She remembered all the cuts littering his body right now and the mass of razor-edged paper that had rushed toward her boys with the clear, palpable intent to hurt. Kill him. The voice whispered again, growing stronger the longer the standoff lasted and for one long second, Rihanna reached mentally for her door with the intent to do just that.
Then Bickslow's voice came from behind her, shaking and small and scared in a way that hurt far more than anything she'd ever heard before, "Wren, Imōto, don't. Please…" Don't … don't what? Don't kill? Why not? How does he even know-?
The answer came with the force of a train, making her eyes open wide in shocked realization, my colors. Bickslow had told her about his perception of people's auras as colors. He had also confided once that he always knew when someone had willingly taken a human life, because it caused a blood-colored stain on their aura that would never, ever go away.
She suddenly realized what Bickslow was actually asking. He was asking her to stop before she did something she would regret. Before she did something, went somewhere, that he could not protect her from or follow her to. Before she tainted her very soul. What am I thinking?
Rihanna blinked once, then twice, the black hole swirling shut as she realized with a flash of terror just what she'd been about to do. Yes, she hated Ivan for what he had done in the anime. Yes, she hated him, wanted to hurt him, for hurting her boys. But to kill him? To take a life? Memories of blood and horror and sleepless nights sank their claws cruelly into her psyche and air pushed out of her throat in a horrified whine. No. No-no-no-no!
Ivan moved forward a few steps, his confidence seemingly returned at her sudden lack of aggression, and the motion snapped Rihanna out of her thoughts, "Good girl. Now-" Rihanna's rage came rushing back and Rihanna bared her teeth at him, I may not be willing to kill you, but that doesn't mean I'll let you touch them again. A shadow tendril lanced out and stabbed dangerously at the air just in front of Ivan, its sharp tip singing through the air and bringing Ivan up short.
Ivan blinked and the fear in his eyes came flashing back, "Now … eh, Wren-chan…"
Wordlessly, Rihanna used one of her shadow tendrils to draw a long line in the half-frozen sand between herself and Ivan. It curled until it became a huge circle surrounding Bickslow and Laxus. Never taking her eyes off of Ivan, Rihanna pointed first at him, then at the circle, then made an X symbol over her chest. Ivan's expression waged between fear, indignation over being afraid of a child, and confusion and Rihanna sneered at him.
Let's make this really simple then. Dropping her other shadow tendrils, she reached out and grasped Ivan's shadow, animating it and making sure he saw what she was doing before sending it slinking toward the line in the sand. The moment the Ivan-shaped shadow crossed the line, Rihanna skewered it with her shadow tendrils, violently slashing through the legs of Ivan's shadow. Ivan's shadow stayed under her control for just long enough that he could see and fully comprehend what she meant with that display. Then the damage caused the shadow to wrench out of her mental grasp and rush back to rest at the feet of the wide-eyed Ivan.
Keeping every motion slow, precise, and filled with intent, Rihanna again pointed first at Ivan, then at the line, and then at the deep slashes she'd made in the ground. Her message rang clear, as clear as if she'd had a voice with which to scream it to the heavens, "Get too close to them again, and I will hurt you." She pointed at him again, pointed over her shoulders at the boys, and slapped her hand against her bare arm before unleashing another of her black holes.
The coin-sized hole exploded close to Ivan's feet, sending him scrambling backwards, ice now coating the toes of his boots and leaving another deep but small crater in the ground. Two of her shadow tendrils whipped out, slashing identical marks across Ivan's cheeks as she pointed meaningfully at the crater, then at Ivan with a hand, "Touch them again, and I will make you scream."
Raising her extended foot slowly, she looked him in the eye with every atom of aggression and hatred she could feel, "Now," her foot slammed down to the ground, sending a massive shockwave of shadows crashing into the startled Ivan. The force of the shockwave knocked him off his feet and sent him skidding backwards, "Leave!"
The moment the man had recovered his feet, Ivan fled, not once looking back.
Only once he was completely out of sight did Rihanna let her shadows dissolve. A familiar, nauseous, achy feeling swept over her and she realized she'd come close to completely draining her magic reserves with all of those spells. Closing her eyes once, she swayed slightly before turning back to Bickslow and Laxus, some part of her afraid of what she would see.
Laxus was staring at her with a huge, uncomprehending eye, the faint tendrils of fear flickering through them making her want to flinch. But Bickslow … she couldn't read Bickslow at all, and that was what really hurt. She stared at him, trying to meet his eyes despite his sunglasses, trying to determine what he had seen in her aura and if it had somehow ruined everything between them.
She had never wanted him to see her darker side, never thought she could fall that far to her darker side. She hadn't even thought her darker side was that deep. Rihanna knew what it was like to be angry, knew she could be a truly nasty person if pushed far enough by someone she didn't count as family and even then, could be incredibly rough with her words and deeds if provoked beyond the limit of her self-control.
But that … wanting to truly hurt, to threaten and maim … wanting to kill, that was new. The majority of her was horrified at just how close she'd been coming to crossing an uncrossable line. Yet there was a part of her was staring at how hurt her boys were and could only think of how badly she wanted to have done more to Ivan than just threaten and hit him with a shockwave. A part of her was still hissing and spitting in hatred over what Ivan had dared do to her boys.
My boys. When … when did I even start to think of them as that? Is this … is this what people mean by being an overprotective sibling? Or maybe what they mean by Mama Bear? This desire, this need, to protect someone at all costs … to cross any line if that's what it took to keep them safe?
Her contemplations were broken by the sudden tilting of the horizon and the sight of sand rushing up to greet her. Bickslow's voice broke the tense silence as he somehow managed to cross the distance between them in time to catch her, "Wren!"
Rolling her over in his arms so that she was facing the sky instead of the sand, Bickslow shook her lightly, "Wren? Imōto?" Rihanna swallowed hard to fight back the sudden urge to cry, Bickslow? Do you … aren't you afraid of me now? Reaching up with a hand as he hefted her unsteadily to her feet, she cradled the cut on his cheek, letting the blood smear off on her fingers as she mouthed an apology.
Bickslow stared at her unreadably again for several seconds before pulling her close and whispering, "Don't do that again, Imōto. Please. I don't care how angry you get or how badly you want to keep us from getting hurt. Please don't ever do that again. When- when those colors started taking over your aura … I thought I was going to lose you…"
Rihanna returned the hug, trying to convey her apology, her promise, through the contact, I'm so, so sorry I scared you like that. I promise, I … I'll never, never do that to you. I'll never make you lose me. Not to that. Not ever. I promise.
Pulling away reluctantly, Rihanna grabbed Bickslow's wrist and turned to face Laxus. The normally confident blond was shaking as he stared alternately at the line in the sand and the direction in which Ivan had run. When Rihanna approached and gently took hold of his fingers, not wanting to risk aggravating the cuts on his hands, he flinched slightly in surprise and blinked rapidly. Slowly, his gaze swung down to her and Rihanna let their gazes lock for several seconds before she pulled gently on his fingers and led both of her boys away from the beach.
Somehow, she honestly wasn't sure how, she managed to stay upright and conscious all the way back to the lighthouse. It probably helped that they weren't that far away from it. Ivan had chosen one of the beaches on the lighthouse's side of Magnolia and the lake to beat Laxus under some guise, probably sparring, because there had to be a guise otherwise he would have been kicked out of Fairy Tail already. Just thinking about it sent a jolt of fire through her veins, but Rihanna steadfastly pushed it down as she unlocked the door to the house and led the boys inside.
Maneuvering the utterly silent boys to the couch in the living room, she gently nudged them into sitting before making her way to the bathroom. Once inside, she battled off a wave of exhaustion-induced vertigo and retrieved the first aid kit she'd purchased just a few days ago from underneath the sink.
After a moment's pause to consider making Laxus take a bath first, she instead grabbed a pile of washcloths and detoured to the kitchen to retrieve the largest mixing bowl they had. Returning to the living room briefly with the large first aid kit and the washcloths, she returned to the bathroom, filled the bowl with hot water, and carefully took it out to the living room.
In the time she'd been getting the bowl of water, Bickslow had snapped out of his daze enough to open the first aid kit and start sorting through bandages, antibiotics, and various creams sold specifically for mages. Rihanna settled down in front of the boys and started to reach for the washcloths when Bickslow gently pushed her shaking hand away, "I can handle it, Wren, you need to rest." Rihanna glared in protest and a short argument occurred before she gave up and sat down on one of the armchairs to watch Bickslow's tend to a still trance-like Laxus.
Against her will, Rihanna found her eyelids growing heavy and, before she could consciously try to fight it off or think of what to say or how to handle the repercussions that were bound to come from the day's events, her body had already caved to its magic-drain and she was asleep.
Laxus flinched slightly as Bickslow started using a wet washcloth to clean his many, many cuts and then apply antibiotic and bandages to them. Bickslow grabbed Laxus's arm firmly to keep him from pulling away, "Hold still. You need this."
Laxus's reply was a low murmur, devoid of any of his usual energy or spunk, "Not really. Most of the cuts will be gone by morning and the ones that remain won't even be noticeable by afternoon."
Bickslow faltered in his work for a moment, shooting Laxus a long look, "You aren't lying."
It wasn't a question, as Bickslow had just checked with Figure Eyes, but Laxus treated it like one anyway, "No. I'm not. It's … I've had an enhanced healing factor since I was … five, I think."
Bickslow resumed cleaning the cuts, not quite willing to take Laxus at his word about not needing medical attention, "How? Can Lightning Magic heal stuff?"
Laxus gave a weak snort, not fighting Bickslow as the latter boy used what little knowledge he had in first aid to care for Laxus's wounds, "Not really. Well, sort of. I … when I was really little, I got sick easily and couldn't do a lot of stuff. So my dad," Bickslow suppressed a growling noise in his throat at the very mention, "implanted a lacrima inside me."
Bickslow's head snapped up, images of painful surgery and the bulky marble lacrima he'd seen in stores dancing through his mind, "He what?"
Laxus shrugged, winced, then held still again, "I know. It sounds … crazy. But it worked, I've been fine ever since. More than fine. I hardly even catch colds now and it boosted my magical abilities a lot, so I can take this kind of thing."
Bickslow dropped the bloody washcloth on the floor and worked on smearing antibiotic cream over the cuts, noticing that Laxus was right, they already looked smaller and shallower than they had at the beach. Morbid curiosity waged with anger before curiosity temporarily won, "What kind of lacrima can do this stuff? Why don't doctors use it more often if it works so well?"
Laxus hissed faintly as the cream stung his cuts before answering, "Because not just any kind of magic lacrima will work. Only a lacrima filled with one of the Lost Magics has that kind of effect, or can even be safely implanted. My dad had to look everywhere for the one he gave me."
Bickslow frowned, "Lost Magics … you mean the stuff we read about in the library? Things like Healing Magic and Time Magic and Dragon Slayer Magic stuff? You have one of those?"
Laxus puffed out his chest fractionally and smiled despite his black eye and clearly aching side, "Lightning Dragon Slayer, actually. That's why dad pushes me so hard in … in our spars." He faltered on the last part of the sentence, his open eye clouding over with confusion and a haze of unhappy emotions as he remembered what had just happened.
Bickslow tensed his grip on Laxus's arm as he growled, "That wasn't sparring. That was a beating. That was wrong."
Laxus tensed and snapped reflexively, "It was not-"
"Laxus." Something in Bickslow's tone stopped Laxus from protesting further. One grey eye slid over to stare at him as Bickslow paused in his ministrations, unpleasant memories rising to the forefront of his mind as he murmured, "I know what beatings look like, Laxus. I know what they feel like. I know the colors that come with them. I know-" his voice cracked and he glanced at Wren briefly, checking to make sure she hadn't somehow woken up to listen in. After her display because of Ivan's attack, he didn't want to risk her getting angry again.
Satisfied that she was still sleeping deeply on the armchair, Bickslow continued, "Before … before I was on the streets and before … my brand. My parents tried to 'cure' me of my eye magic. They, my father especially, kept punishing me for each time I slipped up and saw people's colors. He said- he said it was for my own good, that it was to make me better, that he wouldn't hurt me if there wasn't something wrong with me."
Bickslow stared off into the middle distance, the unpleasant memories of days before Fairy Tail leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, "Sometimes they would lock me in the basement, without any supper or blankets or light, and then leave me in there all night. Sometimes … when father caught me watching people's auras, he would hit me, say he was 'cleansing' me of my 'curse'. He never left bruises in places my clothes couldn't cover it up and any cuts or scrapes I got were because of 'my reckless playing and clumsy manner'."
With a faint snarl, Bickslow turned back to Laxus and started washing off his other arm, "It was always 'for my own good' or 'my own fault' or 'because of my failings'. Then one day I got sick of it, I looked my father in the eye and told him no … and he stopped. Because I'd been using Figure Eyes at the time. I got scared, so I ran and hid, but they and the neighbors caught up with me and, well…" Laxus's eye trailed up to Bickslow's tattoo and he smiled bitterly, "Yeah. You guessed it. I was on the streets ever since until Wren and I joined Fairy Tail."
Laxus looked tired, confused, weak in a way that Bickslow didn't know how to fix, "But … dad would never do that. He … he really does just want to make me stronger."
Bickslow sighed explosively, suddenly too tired to get truly angry, "Look. I don't know what he's told you to make you keep insisting that and I can't make you think otherwise. But, just answer me this, okay?" Bickslow locked gazes with Laxus, "After your 'sparring matches' are over, does he do anything to help you? Painkillers, medication, bandages? Even a hug and a 'that was a good try'? Anything at all to show that he doesn't want to hurt you the way he is? That he really does care about you? Or does he just tell you that you're a stupid, ungrateful brat who doesn't appreciate all he's done for you. That you're pathetic, a shame to the family, and then leave you to treat your injuries all alone?"
Laxus swallowed hard and even without using Figure Eyes, Bickslow knew, just knew, that he had nailed what really happened after those "sparring matches". What Ivan said to Laxus after he was done cutting Laxus a thousand times and making him feel like a stupid child.
Funny that. Because if Bickslow was right, which judging by Laxus's face he was, then Laxus's supposedly-loving father told him the exact same things Bickslow's had before Bickslow had been thrown out on the streets for his "curse". Grunting to himself, Bickslow plopped the washcloth in Laxus's limp hand and stood up, "I'm going to see if we have something for your eye and side. Clean your arm and legs while I'm doing that, okay?" Laxus made a vaguely affirmative noise and Bickslow moved for the kitchen.
However, just as he reached the start of the hallway, Laxus's soft voice stopped him, "Would you and Wren mind if I … if I stayed here for tonight? Instead of going … going back to the house?"
If Wren had been awake to hear that, to be part of the conversation, she might have noticed how Laxus used the word "house" instead of the word "home". She might have noticed the quaver in Laxus's voice, looked back and seen the tears spilling silently from his open eye.
But Bickslow was not Wren, he did not notice the difference between "house" and "home", he did not understand that the quaver in Laxus's voice might have been from something other than pain or exhaustion and so did not look back and see the tears trickling slowly down Laxus's cheek.
What he did notice however, even if it was only subconsciously, was the hidden question in Laxus's words, "Do you two care about me?"
Raising a hand easily to wave it over his shoulder, Bickslow called back, "Course we don't mind. This is the Raijinshū's house, you can stay here however long you want. Why would you even ask?"
"Of course we do. We're family aren't we?"
Japanese Translation: Same-boke - Idiot Shark.
Bicksaho - Insulting nickname by combining a name with the Japanese word for moron. Essentially Bicks-Moron.