Hello, all I really have to say is that I am so sorry about the wait for this chapter. My health has been up and down for the last half a year. School is/was very stressful and very hard to handle. I had half of this chapter done for a while and it took a long time for my inspiration to come back to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think. Also to keep updated make sure to follow and favorite.
Freed watched as both Lucy and Natsu made their way off the arena. The crowd was still stunned at what they had saw and therefore the cheers were a soft murmur compared to earlier. Freed could still feel the way his heart had dropped to his stomach at the sight of a broken Lucy.
However, he couldn't dwell on what had happened. She was going to be safe with her team. There was no need to worry for her safety, but that still didn't stop Freed from looking up across the pit to see Raven Tale glowing darkly with pride.
He promised himself that he was going to make sure he got them back when his time came.
"Lucy will be okay, right?" Chelia asked with trepidation laced in every word.
Yuka moved to her side and gave a lingering glance to Freed. The events of just a few moments before still fresh in his mind. Something was shifting inside of Freed. It was like he was fighting some sort of inner struggle. A struggle that sadly Lamia Scale was not going to be able to help in.
Yuka placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "She will be alright. With some rest, she will be back before the games are over." He said reassuringly.
With that the team was left to deal with the tension between both Lyon and Freed.
As the second and third battle of the day were fought, Lamia Scale made sure that they watched in silence. Only adding their commentary when needed or just to try and break the silence that fell over them.
Then finally it was the last battle of the day. Soon everyone was going to be able to return to their hotels and rest for the remainder of the day.
Already the thought of rest after such an eventful day lighten the team's mood. Even if it was just by a small amount.
When it was announced that Fairy Tail and Laima Scale were going to face off Freed tried to bite back the feeling of worry and dread. Mystogen was going against Jura. One of the of the ten wizards' saints. The man didn't have a chance against the strongest wizard in Lamia Scale.
Freed just hoped that Jura would take it easy on him.
The entire team walked Jura to the end of the long stone hall way. Where a bright light cast a shadow over Jura's large form covering his face of excitement and fondness for his team.
Chelia jumped up on her toes calling out as Jura began to walk towards the arena. "Good luck Jura!"
"He's pretty much won this match." Yuka said with pride and an air of arrogance. His crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at Freed with a smirk on his lips.
Freed tilted his head to the side, his lips for the first time in a long while turned up in a smile. His eyes were on Jura and one could see as he swallowed back words the he wanted to say.
Lyon didn't dare speak in fear that it would just ruin the moment so he opted in squinting his eyes against the bright natural light that came in through the colosseum's tunnel. "Now all we have to do is wait." He said to the group.
As they watched Jura's form disappear they all turned around and began heading back to their balcony; where they would watch the match together.
To their surprise, it was not what they were expecting.
"I'm still confused!" Cheila cried. She treaded alongside Yuka who was just patting her head in amusement.
"Does it matter?" Lyon asked. He turned his head to look at her with a victorious grin. "We won, that's all that matters."
Freed pushed past a few excited fans as he and the team made their way back to the hotel they were staying at. "Lyon's right. Let's not question what happened during that match. Regardless of how truly strange it was. Isn't that right Jura?" Freed asked. He looked at the larger man with a question stare.
He rolled his eyes when he saw that Jura was still in a confused haze as to what happened during the fight with him and Mystogen.
Lyon laughed softly catching up to Freed. "It seems that he is still trying to figure it out." He said cautiously. His voice soft so as not to push Freed away. Lyon let his eyes wander over the man's face in search of any sign of emotions. Freed held onto his mask tightly not letting a single clue slip out from his tight lips, cold eyes, and stiff shoulders.
He was thinking, contemplating something that Lyon was not ready to face.
"Freed I'm – " He started, then was suddenly cut off with just one look from Freed.
Onyx met dark emerald and for a moment Lyon couldn't breathe.
The look in Freed's eyes was heart breaking. It was clear that he was caring a weight that was sucking the life out of his lean body. Already you could see the shadows under his eyes, the way that his face was just a slate of no emotions, and how his eyes had no luster for anything dark or light. For a moment, Lyon prayed that Freed would have just been infuriated with him; outraged. Just anything that would show that he still felt something.
"Lyon, it's fine. I just want these games to be over so I can go home." Freed said defeated. He brought up a trembling hand up to his hair so that he could push his bangs to the side. That didn't help a single bit because seconds later they were back to brushing softly against the bridge of his nose.
Lyon let his eyes moved down, they fell on Freed's left hand for only a moment before he ripped his gaze away so he could look blindly in front of him. He couldn't help think though, do you still miss that mark on your hand?
That was how the pair stayed for the rest of the journey. They did not speak nor did they try and make any form of small talk. A tension fell over them that hadn't been there for years. It confused Lyon and angered Freed.
Freed was still rattled from what had happened earlier that day. Not only did he have to face Laxus again after seven years, but he felt the call to his old guild again when he had watch Lucy be beaten. Raven Tale was going to pay for hurting Wendy and Lucy, Freed would make sure of it. Regardless of what guild he was in, he still cared about Fairy Tail. Nothing was going to change the fact that he had gone through hell and back with them.
There was still a strange feeling that was curling around the back of Freed's neck. He couldn't shake it off, but he could feel it deep inside of him that something was going to happen.
"So, what did he say?" Evergreen demanded.
Laxus looked up from his mug of ale with tried eyes. "He just said that he wouldn't come back and put himself through something again, but I have no idea what the hell he was talking about!" Laxus said defeated. "I just wanted him to come back so this guild feels like home again. I didn't come back to have something missing from Fairy Tail."
Those last few words had Bickslow choke on his drink and Evergreen fight back tears.
"Does that mean that our baby isn't coming back?" Bicks coughed out. He lowered his drink and let his head fall in clear grief.
Evergreen took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes trying to wipe away her tears before they could fall. "There must be something that we could do!" She tried to cheer up the men.
No one really believed her though. There was this sort of helplessness about the entire situation that made it near impossible to think of anything good.
"Freed's made his choice, he doesn't want to come back." Laxus muttered. The celebrations around him giving life to an ache in the back of his eye. In the corner of his mind he could hear Gajeel's voice…What is he to you?
Freed was everything to Laxus, it was just cruel fate that he had to realize that when Freed was already far away. He had lost his most prized treasure and he didn't even know until it was already gone. Laxus felt this sort of dull pain make a home in his heart, he thought for a moment that that pain was never going to go away.
"He must be trying to run away from you." Evergreen uttered softly. Her voice so low that Bickslow didn't even catch it. Laxus did though, he always could catch the smallest sound from his teammates.
Something in Laxus could sense the blame that Evergreen was trying to place on him. He could tell in the way that her eyes harden for a moment, her lips grew thin, and her delicate hands tightened their grip on her mug.
"What does that supposed to mean?" Laxus demanded. His voice a low growl, his eyes shining with betrayal. Out of all the people to turn on him, his team was the last people he would expect.
Evergreen turned her head so that her eyes could catch her leader's. "He's finally decided to give up on you…" She said.
Laxus was still confused. He didn't know how he had anything to do with Freed not wanting to come back to the guild. "What the fuck are you talking about." He said exasperated, his fist coming down on the table and making it shake under his power.
The Queen of Fairies did not cower under Laxus' intimidation tactic. She leaned back and took a deep breath. The lump in her throat making it almost impossible to speak, but she fought through it and said her next few words with as much power as she could.
"He loved you. He looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky. He would have done anything for you because he cared, but he knew one thing for sure." Her voice cracked for a moment before she started up again. "That you would never look at him the same way. That you would never feel the same way. So, this must have been his chance of finally forgetting about you and moving on."
Laxus was stunned. He had never known the Freed had felt that way. Laxus had always thought that Freed did what he did because they were best friends, that they had been together for years and had became an impenetrable force. Laxus never thought that it was more than friendship, now he was being told that for god knows how long that Freed had put himself in a position where he would have to deal with the unrequited feelings.
Feelings that just a few hours ago, Laxus had finally come to terms with. Laxus felt the same way and now it was his turn to feel the pain that Freed had gone through.
Bickslow, after collecting his scattered thoughts, finally spoke. "Maybe it's best for Freed to stay with Lamia Scale. What does he need us for?"
With those words said the Thunder Legion had given up on their mission to bring Freed back to the guild.
Natsu and his team had been watching the entire interaction. Their voice low as they tried to figure out what was going with the team.
"Do you think that they are talking about Freed?" Lucy asked quietly.
Erza shifted forward and bumped her shoulder against the blonde. "They must be, the only time they will ever show this much emotion is when it is in regards to one of their teammates." Erza said.
Gray rolled his eyes and reclined against his chair. "Does it really matter, Freed left us." He said that with a tone of disgust. As if he was talking about one of their many enemies, but his friends could tell that he was just as hurt as the rest of them. His pride the only thing hiding his hurt and confusion.
Natsu perked up for moment. His head coming up from his large plate of food. "There has to be a good reason why he left. I'm sure if we asked him to come back he will." He said this with far more cheer then what his team had expected. In Natsu's mind, there was still the picture of Freed's terrified face when he had run into both him and Laxus. The look had thrown him off for a moment, but he went back to what had mattered. Still, when he was back with the guild he couldn't push away the feeling in his gut that told him that something had happened that had made Freed leave. He had faith in the man and that him abandoning the guild was not a choice, but a need. A need that could had meant a great deal more than just the fact that Fairy Tail had lost its strongest.
Then an idea had stuck him. "You know what, we can't let Laxus and the others do it alone. Freed was our friend too and we all want him back." He exclaimed around a mouthful of food that he soon swallowed when done with his sudden outburst.
Natsu jumped up on his seat so that he could better look out into his guild. "Alright! We need to talk about the huge elephant in the room!" He screamed over the chaos of the tavern. All eyes were on him and half of them had expected him to give this empowering speech about how Fairy Tail was going to win.
"What are we going to do to get Freed back?"
That was not what they had been suspecting at all from the Fire Dragon Slayer.
Makarov took his last sip of beer for that moment and cleared his throat loudly. "The boy has a point. We are not going to sit back and watch as one of our own bears another guild mark!" The old man said with conviction in his voice. His eyes shining with determination
Laxus and his team sat at their table stunned to silence. They were all confused and rather unsettled at what they were hearing. Their loyalty and care for their Captain surpassing anything that the guild might had thought up in regards to try and get Freed back. Yes, the Thunder Legion and Laxus cared about Freed, but if the man was happy with Lamia Scale who were they to take that happiness away from him.
"They don't know what they're talking about." Laxus growled. The beer in his system clouding his mind with dark thoughts.
Evergreen's eyes soften at what she heard. The pity that Laxus could see in her eyes was making his stomach turn over.
She leaned forward, her voice light. "Maybe they're on to something?" She offered.
Bickslow stood up, his nerves erratic. "We need to get him back! The Thunder Legion is nothing without him!" His voice was loud. He ignored the stares that he got from Laxus and Evergreen. At this point he was not going to worry about Laxus' own self-pitying. He was going to worry about his guild and how Freed needed to come back or the least get Freed back to talking to them.
"Maybe if we have him come over after the games! Where we can have the chance to talk to him!" Mira chimed in. Seeing as she had been the only guild member to have had the chance to speak to Freed she had high hopes that they would be able to bring her fellow demon back.
From there on everyone was chatting away about how they could have Freed rejoin the guild. Even Evergreen was starting to have a change in heart. Her eyes grew glassy at the thought of finally having her Captain back.
Laxus had yet to come back from what Ever had told him. He still heard a soft voice at the back of his mind that told him that he really should give up on Freed. That he had his chance with the rune mage and he blew it. Then there was louder stronger voice that told Laxus that Freed didn't belong in Lamia Scale. He belongs in Fairy Tail right by Laxus' side. This voice was something close to primal. Making his magic shimmer underneath his skin.
Another feeling began to creep its way up his neck; a feeling that told him something big was going to happen. After what Jella had told the old man, Raven Tail coming back, and the First Master in a way coming back from the dead. Laxus was sure that something big was on its way. He only hoped that Freed was where he was supposed to be. With the people that loved him and missed him.
Then something erupted within him, the fire of determination raged once again in his soul. His guild mark almost burning from the intensity of his emotions.
Laxus slammed a closed fist on the table. Pushing himself up lifting his head up above the rowdy guild.
"It doesn't matter how we do it! Freed belongs with us!" Laxus declared.
His sudden outburst had the entire tavern falling silence. Even Natsu had slumped back into his seat staring wide eye up at Laxus. After a few more moments of silence passed over all the mages they began to look at one another and nod their heads in agreement.
Mira was smiling brightly at the Lightning mage. Her excitement making her jump up on the balls of her feet.
Makarov looked at his grandson with pride in his eyes. Still that did not take away from the feeling of dread that was forming in his heart.
It was only the first day of the Grand Magic Games after all.
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