"We are going to bring you back."

Laxus hoped that Freed had heard his words, that he knew that they weren't leaving even as he knew his partner would still be pleading with them to go, but there was no time to do more than hope because the darkness was upon them. Laxus felt the chill of it against his skin, and dropped, slamming his fist into the ground and sending lightning sparking through the air around him, trusting Evergreen and Bickslow to get out of the way. There was a snarl and the wave of darkness dissipated, torn apart by the storm in its mist, but it was a short-lived victory because the Demon was there at once, and it was done playing. And there was no time to worry about the fact that it was Freed that they were fighting, that it was Freed who would bear the brunt of any damage they inflicted because the Demon wasn't giving them that time.

Laxus lashed out, hating himself but not hesitating as lightning wreathed his fist. I'm sorry Freed, he thought as for a moment it seemed as though the blow would land, but it was like trying to catch shadows, the Demon darting to the side, the air shimmering in its wake as glowing letters formed and Laxus was forced to lunge out of the way as his own attack was deflected back at him. That was a new trick, as was the sight of some of the lightning being pulled into the demonic script, turning them from purple to red. He barely had time to shout a warning, before crimson-black lightning lashed out, scorching the ground between him and the others as Bickslow yanked Evergreen to safety just before it could strike her. The land where it had struck now glowing, as though it had been turned to molten lava.

The change in the Demon's power had been palpable earlier, and part of Laxus had known that was going to make this fight harder than it was, especially with the lingering effects from their exposure to the Barrier Particles, but he was unprepared for the sheer ferocity of the Demon this time. Whether it was because he had pushed too far, his promise to Freed too much of a threat for it to ignore. Although that itself was no different than always, because he always had, and always would promise to bring Freed back – or because of whatever the Demon had done to seal its control over Freed, it wasn't holding back in the slightest. The ground was still glowing, when it lunged again, lips twisted in a snarl. Laxus' breath caught both at the sight, and the terrifying realisation of how close they were to the petrified forms of their guildmates, and it must have shown in his expression because the Demon grinned as blades of shadow formed and were flung out towards them even as it bore down on him.

The blades never hit, because Evergreen was there, blasting the first few out of the air with her own attack, but she wasn't able to stop them all, and the last one caught her shoulder as she flung herself between then blade and their friends, a physical, human barrier. Crying out as the blade cut deep, darkness seeping into the wound as blood began to trickle down her arm.

Laxus heard Bickslow shouting her name, and then the Demon was on him, and Laxus retreated, trying to draw it away from them and the statues. "Freed," he called when he saw dark eyes shifting back towards the others. "Fight him." He knew that usually Freed could hear him even when trapped inside, but he wasn't sure that the Demon would allow that today, but while his heart twisted at the thought of Freed alone, his words weren't for Freed at the moment, as rage twisted the Demon's expression as it focused on him once more.

"He can't fight me," it snarled, as they traded blows, the Demon following, pressing the attack as Laxus fell back beneath the onslaught. It wasn't as much of an act as he wanted it to be, because the Demon was relentless. He knew better than anyone how strong Freed was in his own right, and their sparring was more evenly matched than most people realised, and Freed's mind was a trap all of its own, and Laxus had lost count of the number of defeats he had because he'd been lured in. That aspect was missing today, the Demon didn't care about traps and cunning and cleverness, it wanted to hurt them, to destroy and break and kill, but it was also free of the restrictions that Freed put on himself, and that was dangerous.

Very dangerous he discovered, as clawed fingers wrapped around his throat, tight enough that the tips of the claws broke skin immediately and he swallowed thickly as he felt blood trickle across his skin as the Demon leaned in close. "Do you want to know why?" There was a trap in those words, Laxus could feel it as clearly as he felt the claws tighten when he didn't answer quickly enough.

"Why?"

"Because he will die if he does," the Demon whispered with such obvious relish, that Laxus didn't wait to ask what it meant, to try and work out if it was a lie or not, as he took a deep breath waiting for the muffled rumbled of thunder overhead before he roared. There was no missing at this range, and he felt the Demon's claws leave more bloody gashes as it was forced away with a pained screech that had him gritting his teeth, because regardless of anything else that was Freed's voice that he was hearing. It was Freed's body that was smoking and quivering with pain as the Demon sprang clear of the rest of the attack as the roar petered off.

Bickslow and Evergreen – pale and bloody, but still standing- were waiting for the Demon, trapping him between them as they unleashed, buying Laxus the time he needed to swipe a hand over his throat checking the damage wasn't too severe. His mind was racing. He had learned the hard way how to decipher the meaning behind the Demon's words, to see through its lies and games, and there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that perhaps this time it hadn't been a lie. Bickslow went flying, his dolls scattering as shadows leapt towards them, shrieking in terror, only for Evergreen to blast the shadows away as she moved to cover the Skeith mage.

"STOP!" Laxus shouted, moving to join them, flanking the Demon from behind and Evergreen froze, her arms spread, ready to attack again, while Bickslow pulled himself back to his feet. Visibly winded and bruised from the attack, and no trace of his grin to be seen as he glanced at Laxus in question.

"Laxus...?"

"Yes, Laxus…" The Demon echoed mockingly, turning to look at him, darkness rising up behind him, letters glistening in its depths, a defence against any sneak attacks. "Is there something you want to ask?" It was enjoying this, still furious, still hungry for their destruction, but utterly at ease surrounded by them and Laxus didn't like it. Didn't like that the only way to get the answers he needed was to play right into its games, but the uneasy feeling was growing.

"What did you mean?"

"About?"

Laxus took a threatening step forward, and lightning struck the ground close to the Demon, a warning and a promise, and the Demon laughed, looking delighted at his reaction.

Then it disappeared, fading away to that shimmering, script that was so similar and yet so different from Freed's runes.

Evergreen and Bickslow instantly moved back to back, the latter's dolls whirling around them in a protective formation, quiet for once, while Laxus took a breath and sniffed the air. It had always been hard to track Freed when he teleported through his runes, and it was even worse now with his scent almost lost amongst the Demon's. But Laxus could smell the Demon, it was all around them, it's scent spread everywhere from their fighting, and only the fact that he knew it couldn't resist lingering and making sure they were destroyed stopped him from worrying that it had fled and taken Freed with it.

There.

There was nothing to betray it's presence, no ripple in the air, no shifting darkness, but Laxus' nostrils flared as the scent grew stronger and he threw himself to the side, just in time to avoid the claws that dove towards his throat once more as the Demon rematerialised. He rolled as he hit the ground, hands moving, praying that he knew what he was doing as he surged back to his feet. "You will have to do better than that," he said. Deliberately goading, as he started to circle the Demon. Waving the others back when they made as to join him, hearing the faint intake of breath as at least one of them realised what he was doing, as he gathered his magic, nimbly stepping out of the way as the Demon lunged again. "Still too slow," he taunted, still moving. He wasn't so lucky this time, as the Demon went for him at the same time as dark tendrils rose from the shadows at the Demon's feet and shot towards him, tangling around his feet, and he stumbled, falling forward, landing on his knees and bracing himself on his hands. "And too late," he added. Wiping the triumphant look off the Demon's face as a split second before it could reach him, lightning crackled, flaring out from his hands still braced against the ground and around the rough circle he had etched into the ground, the few runes he knew flaring to life.

The Demon flinched back for a second, caught by surprise, and Laxus grinned, all sharp teeth and narrowed eyes, because he hadn't been sure of Freed had managed to keep this weapon from the Demon. Wouldn't have blamed him if he hadn't, but it was clear that if nothing else the Demon hadn't connected the dots, and that gave them a chance. It didn't take the Demon long to rally though or to realise that the shadows that had been wrapped around Laxus had been ripped apart, leaving the Dragon-slayer free to rise to his feet, just as the Demon threw itself at the glistening cage with a howl. Ozone and the awful smell of burning hair filled the air, as the Demon was immediately flung back into the far wall, crying out before stumbling forward away from that wall too. It wouldn't hold him long, the walls already flickering just from that impact, but it just had to last long enough.

"You're not going anywhere," Laxus said, stepping as close as he could, praying the lie didn't show in his voice or expression, and trusting it hadn't as he was met by a look of incandescent rage that promised his demise in the most painful way possible. He did not flinch and instead hardened his expression. "Now, tell me what you meant."

He could tell that the Demon was weighing its options. The fight was not over, this was just a stalemate, and Laxus knew it was debating whether it would hurt them more if it remained silent. Possibly, he thought, the uneasy feeling growing, and he had to fight not to fidget, carefully not looking at the others, sensing their confused looks.

"This body isn't human anymore…" The Demon finally replied, managing to sound as reluctant as it was triumphant as it looked at Laxus, who had to fight tooth and nail not to let his expression crumple. "Those Barrier particles that Freed inhaled, unwillingly and then willingly for your sakes." That hurt, a wound that hit its mark and Laxus couldn't entirely stop himself jerking as though struck, and the Demon smirked, stepping forward until they were facing each other through the bars of the cage. "They paved the way for my freedom. Feeling his magic fading away, the restraints holding me down…it was intoxicating, but I know him, and I know you. Knew that you would come for him, regardless of what Tartaros believed, that you would try and find a way to drag him back to the surface."

Laxus didn't speak, because there was nothing he could say. His own words from earlier damned him at this point, and their very presence, bruised and battered, surrounded by what could be the very remains of their guild, signified that the Demon was right. "Tartaros…" He didn't like the reverence, the belonging in that single word, or the way Freed's hand rose to caress the mark on his shoulder, the mark that had no place being anywhere on Freed's body. If it's even his body anymore, Laxus thought before he could stop himself, the uneasiness becoming dread as the Demon stared at him, far too knowing at that moment as its lips curled up in a smile. "Tartaros welcomed me despite the human in me…" The disgust in that single word hurt, and Laxus was uncomfortably reminded of how he had said 'he's not human' when faced with Tempester, heart sinking in his chest. I'm sorry, Freed. "And they offered me a deal. A place with them, as the Tenth Gate, as myself… in return for two things. One that I helped them achieve their goals, and two that I let them drive the humanity from me."

"But, Freed…" Bickslow finally spoke up, and the Demon's eyes flickered towards him before it shrugged dismissively.

"He's still here, for now…" The Demon paused, letting that sink, savouring their reactions, and Laxus knew that he wasn't the only one who had tensed at those words, at the threat in them. "But, this body," the Demon spread its arms wide, and turned, as though showing off to them. Letting them see the dark chains, that shifted and glided across pale skin, before focusing on Laxus once more. "This body isn't his, they filled it to the brim with Demon particles, with the very essence of what makes me who I am. Freed's humanity? It is but a memory to his body, there's no magic left, nothing but that faint echo of him trapped inside here." The Demon tapped its head, gleeful now. "And soon enough that will be gone too because without you to anchor him why would he fight? Especially for a body that would die around him if he managed to break free, poisoned against the very thing he used to keep me trapped for so long…"

"You're lying," Evergreen hissed, more desperate than anger and Laxus didn't need to hear the Demon laugh, to see Bickslow paling as he removed his helmet to look at Freed with glowing eyes, to know that she was wrong even as he desperately wished she was right.

The Demon wasn't lying, not this time.

Freed was reeling, caught between agony and anguish, forgetting all about fighting the darkness around him if he'd even been able to find the strength to struggle. His failure to push the other's away had brought the Demon's wrath down on him, even as it had lashed out against Laxus and the others, and the tremors of that attack, worse than it's earlier punishments had left him teetering on the precipice. Only the knowledge that Laxus and the others were there had kept him holding on, clinging to consciousness with every iota of strength he'd had left.

He almost wished that he'd let himself fall.

He'd wanted to know what the Demon had done to him, what the chains on his skin had meant, but now he wished that he didn't have the answers. This body isn't human anymore. That had been a hammer blow, striking deep in his heart, and sending cracks throughout his entire being, because if his body wasn't human anymore, and his mind was trapped, then what was he? Could he even claim to be Freed Justine anymore? And if he couldn't, then who was he? What was he?

What were the others fighting for?

He was only vaguely aware of Evergreen protesting, of Bickslow looking at him, his friend's magic a distant tingling that didn't feel real, his attention riveted on Laxus. Laxus, who had always seen him as human even when his control had slipped, who'd always believed in him, even when Freed's faith in himself had wavered. Laxus, who looked as though he was about to throw up, or crumple to his knees, and that more than the pain, more than the Demon's words, and the looming realisation that he wasn't sure who or what he was anymore, that broke him.

Laxus, I'm sorry, he thought, closing his eyes.

Unable to bear the grief that was written across Laxus' face right now, the despair in the blue eyes that were locked on him, as the Dragon-slayer realised the choice that lay in front of him. Keep his promise, free Freed and yet still lose him…or, let the Demon go, and lose Freed all the same because Freed didn't doubt the Demon when he said that he wouldn't linger long. Maybe it was his imagination, a terror fed by the realisation that not even his body was his any more, or perhaps it was just the inevitable, but it felt as though he was slipping with each second that passed.

…I'm sorry.

Laxus felt as though he was drowning, his determination, his resolve to bring Freed back now turned into a weapon against him, one that had been used with deadly efficiency. He couldn't look at Evergreen and Bickslow, and he didn't need to see them to know that they were as shaken as he was, he could hear Evergreen's strangled sobs that she was valiantly trying to hold back, and the low keening noise that the dolls made in place of Bickslow's stunned silence.

Freed…

He couldn't look away from the Demon, desperately searching for some sign that it was a lie, a trick, words meant to harm and nothing else, but he already knew he wouldn't find it. There was one difference, though, just the faintest of shifts in Freed's scent. Nothing that anyone else, maybe even the other Dragon-slayers would have been able to notice, but this was Freed, and Laxus was attuned to him in a way he had never been with anyone else. It was the sourness of terror, tinged with grief, and he could almost see Freed as he was in the aftermath of a loss of control, huddled in on himself, eyes a little too bright, and salt in the air. Freed… There was a sour taste in his mouth, as he saw the Demon smirk, realising that this might well be the first that Freed had heard of this too, depending on how deep the Demon had kept him trapped. That Freed might have believed Laxus' words, put his faith, his hope, in what the Dragon-slayer had promised him, only to have it ripped away from him in an instance.

"Freed…." He started, stepping forward before trailing off. He couldn't ask the question that he wanted to say, because it would be turned against them, and he could practically feel the Demon leaning forward with interested although it hadn't moved, and instead he closed his eyes. Taking what small pleasure, he could in its irritated huff.

Freed, what are we supposed to do?

It was harder than he cared to admit, to dredge up the image of Freed as he was supposed to be, untouched by the Demon, as though that version of his partner had already slipped beyond their reach. Freed. His hands curled into fists at his side, trembling slightly, as he realised that for the first time Freed wasn't there to answer him, to balance him. They were barely six feet apart, separated by a crackling cage that he knew the Demon would break in moments once it put its mind to it, and yet there was a yawning gulf between them, a distance that he didn't know how to close, and he took a shuddering breath.

Freed…

He didn't need to ask the question he realised, eyes slowly opening, because he realised that he already knew the answer. That what had seemed to be an impossible choice, between stepping back and losing Freed to the Demon, or stepping up and bringing him back just to lose him anyway, was anything but because he knew Freed. Knew that his partner would choose to risk it all, to risk that the Demon was telling the truth just for a chance to be himself again, and he stared at the Demon, waiting until it tilted his head, uneasy at his gaze before he forced his lips up into a tight grin that he knew was more of a grimace. Just as he knew that Freed would understand what it meant, if he was even able to see him or make sense of what was going on and that prompted him to step forward, ignoring the worried warnings from the other two, eyes locked on the Demon.

"Freed, I am going to bring you back," he said, amazed that he managed to keep his voice as even as he had because there was a storm in his chest as he tried to continue. "Even…" He couldn't say the words, no matter how he tried to force them out, and he hoped that it was enough, because the Demon was laughing at his words. An awful mocking sound that seemed to echo around them, reverberating in the tense quiet around them, but the dark eyes that locked on Laxus were furious as it stepped forward, mirroring him. There was a terrible cracking sound, as its shadow burst outwards, rushing towards the walls of the cage.

The impact was blinding, and Laxus found himself being flung backwards and from the startled shouts on the other side, he knew that Evergreen and Bickslow had been brushed aside too, caught in the backlash. Pain exploded in the back of his head, as he landed, but he barely had time to do anything but grunt, because the Demon was on top of him. "He doesn't believe your promises anymore," it snarled, and Laxus couldn't see anything anymore as the darkness rushed in, curling around him, blinding him, deafening him to anything but the Demon's words. "He knows this over that you can't save him." Laxus wanted to deny the words, wanted to argue that Freed would never lose faith in them, but he was choking on the words, on the shadows seeping down his throat.

Freed…

There were claws around his throat again, tightening, choking, deepening the darkness around him, and belatedly Laxus realised that he needed to fight. That he had to fight for Freed's sake if nothing else, lightning gathering around his hands, and even though he could feel it against his skin, it didn't break the darkness it was too deep, and he was slipping. Falling, but somewhere up above, there was light. Not the sun. Not lightning. It was too bright, so radiant that the darkness had no defence against it, the shadows seeming to recoil through it, and Laxus had a fleeting glimpse of something large rushing towards them. Then the world was shaking, as something slammed into the creature beneath them, ripping through it, a bellow so deep that it almost blocked out everything else. Would have been were it not for his enhanced hearing that let him the whisper that brushed against his ear, a split second before the entire world started to fall.

"Let me go…"