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Hours. It had been hours since the guild's resident celestial wizard and the widely-known Light of Fairy Tail had been carried through the doors, unmoving. It had been hours since Natsu watched as his Lucy was rushed through the hall to the infirmary. Hours since he'd seen her blood fall to the ground in a crimson, spattered path leading to the closed door at the back of the hall. The same path that was now lit by the late morning sun, drying and untouched.
Hours since anyone had spoken at all.
Silence permeated the air in the guild building just as surely as poison had permeated it hours before, like a heavy blanket on a summer night. Oppressive and unbearable. At least Natsu thought so. Any crying, even from Happy, was done silently. Anyone falling to exhaustion did so with little movement and not a sound. Those that had felt the need to return to their homes to await news had left without a word, heads down and fists clenched. Even the kids, rambunctious and untamable, had not spoken. Not even a whisper. He felt like if someone didn't speak up soon he may explode.
Despite that, though, he found any attempt at speaking - hell, even making a sound, crying, wailing, moving at all - was impossible. His body, traitorous thing it was, absolutely refused to allow him any respite from the crushing, all-consuming stillness that he was surrounded by.
It was torturous.
Actually, torture may have been preferred. He'd never been overly concerned about his own physical pain.
The infirmary door opening, quiet though it was, pulled Natsu from his internal anguish and waking the slumbering mages. Not that many had succumbed to sleep at all, but there were a few. Every member's attention snapped to the source of the sound, only to see their small guild master exiting the infirmary, his sharp gaze sweeping over his children.
"Freed," he said quietly, but sternly, as his eyes locked onto the rune wizard.
The green-haired male stood abruptly from his spot at the Thunder Legion's normal table, posture stiff and eyes red. Lucy was a friend, and Mira was his love, and both were out of his reach.
"Master," Freed acknowledged. His voice was hoarse from disuse, but held a questioning tone.
"I know you're magic power has been strained, but if possible, I need you to place runes on the infirmary."
Freed was itching to ask why, but Bickslow stood next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, telling him without words that he shouldn't question the Master here. They were both aware of the potential threat to the guild from the inside - they'd been the ones to retrieve the children, after all - and speaking openly about Makarov's concerns with everyone listening wouldn't do them any favors. Freed nodded to his visored friend, stepping away from the table and approaching the short old man.
Freed took a tired but rigid stance in front of the infirmary door, doing what he could to ignore the sounds of coming from beyond it as Porlyusica seemingly shouted at the room's occupants. The rune mage looked questioningly at Makarov, waiting for instruction.
"No one can enter the infirmary, apart from Chelia, Porlyusica, Laxus, and myself."
A flick of his wrist and a flash of purple later, Freed nodded, indicating the rule was set.
"Ensure that no magic or physical attacks can enter or leave the barrier."
Another flash of purple.
"Lucy Heartfilia may not leave the barrier under any circumstances."
Freed's eyes widened, then narrowed - just as Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy's did - but he complied after a moment's hesitation.
"The rules have been established, Master. I suggest tethering the runes to a lacrima to maintain the barrier despite my dwindling magical reserves. My apologies, but I fear my magic is nearing its limit." Freed sheathed his sword once more and took a step back from the door.
"I'll ask you to maintain it for a few more minutes, Freed. We can place the necessary lacrima after we speak in my office."
Before the green-haired mage could question him further, Makarov shouted for a few other members of the guild and, without waiting to see if they were following him, he turned on his heel and made his way up the stairs to his office.
Makarov climbed, rather ungracefully, onto his desk and sat cross-legged on the one clear space on the rather disorganized desk, and waited for the mages he'd called to join him.
Cana was the first in the door, having been standing by the bar, followed closely by Freed and Bickslow. Freed moved toward the back of the office while Cana and Bickslow took either end of the couch to the left of the desk. Wendy followed shortly after and took the center cushion of the same couch, a confused look in her eyes.
Natsu, Gray, and Erza followed in shortly after, for once not arguing. Makarov would normally be grateful for that, but not under the current circumstances. He could tell Natsu was angry, though, a sign that the conversation to come was not going to be an easy one. Not that he expected it to be, regardless.
Makarov took a deep breath and sighed heavily as he watched the last few members stumble in.
Juvia and Jellal walked in just as Team Natsu was settling in on the right side couch, Natsu closest to Makarov's desk and Erza in the middle. The water mage settled next to Gray, perching herself on his armrest as Jellal sat in a mirrored position next to Natsu. Gajeel entered, holding a shaking - and still silently crying - Levy tucked under his arm. The former walked quickly toward Cana, squeezing in between her and Wendy, while the latter leaned against the wall just past the door.
"Do you require silencing runes, Master?"
Makarov shook his head at the exhausted looking rune mage, "Not yet, Freed. Others will be along in a moment."
As he finished speaking, Laxus entered the room with Mira's arm draped across his shoulders and the demon takeover mage looking better, but still requiring some assistance in walking. Laxus leaned her against the wall next to a frantic looking Freed, who instantly hugged her close (propriety be damned) and ran his hands through her hair as if reassuring himself she was really there.
"I'm fine, Freed. Honestly," Mira reassured weakly. He reluctantly pulled back, placing hands on either side of her face and looking in her eyes.
"Are you sure?"
Mira gave a watery smile, her blue eyes showing lingering sadness, but she responded anyway, "I am".
Master Makarov cleared his throat, looking at Freed, who dropped his hands and immediately threw up silencing runes and leaned back against the wall and allowing Mira to use him as support.
"Why the hell is Luce not allowed to leave the infirmary?!"
And there it is. Makarov knew Natsu would be the first to speak up.
Laxus was the one to sigh, though, as he leaned against the front of his grandather's desk and crossed his arms over his massive chest, "Some of you know this, some of you don't, but here's the situation as we know it right now-"
"That's not what I asked!"
"Natsu, shut the hell up. No more interruptions, we have shit to tell you," Laxus glared down at his fellow dragon slayer. He knew what the kid was going through and how fucking confused he had to be, but honestly this conversation would be hard enough without his constant interjections.
Natsu glared, and he started steaming a bit - Jellal and Erza both scooted a few inches away from him - but otherwise held his tongue. He crossed his arms and legs and looked pointedly at the blonde towering over him.
Laxus took that as an agreement, and continued, "Two nights ago, the guild hall was targeted by four members of a dark guild known as Fallen Star, at a time when the majority of Fairy Tail's top members were away from Magnolia for the randomly scheduled S-Class Trials."
The guild members all nodded, apart from Natsu who seemed to be waiting for someone to get to the point.
Makarov continued, "From what we can tell, the following happened during the attack: three members breached the front entrance of the hall and engaged the top three wizards present at the time - Natsu, Mirajane, and Lucy - with support from the remaining guild members. Lucy, before engaging personally, sent the children with Max to the East Forest, claiming she would also have her spirit Virgo escort them."
The mages around the room started showing signs of agitation. Levy was biting her lip and glaring at both Dreyers in front of her, Team Natsu - who had been calm (besides their namesake, he was never calm) - were narrowing their eyes. The other dragon slayers were behaving similarly. By the way they were talking, it almost sounded like they didn't trust Lucy.
Laxus picked up on the tension in the room and decided that the next part might go over better with the slayers if it came from him, one of her Kin. He spoke up once again, "Shortly after Max and the kids left the tunnel Virgo created for them, the spirit disappeared. Max was forced to guide the children to Porlyusica alone. Here in the guild hall around the same time, Lucy used one of the most powerful celestial spells ever known, but somehow managed not to fatally injure any of the enemy. Shortly after that, when no one was watching Lucy, a fourth member of the dark guild appeared and cast a sacrificial spell on their own teammate, effectively bombing the building with a poisonous gas, and Lucy was 'kidnapped' just before it went off - having been spared from the poison."
Surprisingly, it was Levy who stood up. She was shaking harder than ever and she had her head down as she walked to Laxus. And promptly smacked him across the face.
Laxus, for his part, didn't move. He kind of expected something like that. It was pretty obvious at this point that they hinting that Lucy was a traitor. He was just surprised a smack was all he got, and that it didn't come from one of Lucy's other dragon kin.
"You shut up…" Levy said lowly, raising her head to stare up at Laxus with a murderous glare, "Lucy would never-"
"Actually," a weak and sorrowful voice interrupted. Looking to the back of the room, everyone directed their attention to Mira, who had pushed off of a shocked and horrified Freed and taken a step toward Levy and the center of the room, "I-I was t-t-there…"
She swallowed thickly, "N-Natsu… you were too. You heard what… what that man said… as he was l-leaving, right?"
Natsu didn't look at her. He stared straight ahead, unmoving, but answered her all the same, "That doesn't mean anything…" he whispered. The room was quiet enough that everyone heard it.
Mira felt tears escape her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Natsu… B-but I think it does…." she was openly sobbing now, and Freed had come behind her to hold her around the waist gently, "He called her out by name, Natsu… And you heard them talk before everything started… there… there isn't any way they had the information they did unless it came from someone in the guild hall."
Gray stood up, fuming, "That doesn't mean shit!" he stalked toward an angry looking Laxus and Makarov, "It could have been anyone there! And why did she protect the guild kids?! Huh?! And why is she sitting in the infirmary right now fighting for her fucking life?"
Makarov stood then, exhausted, but he allowed his magic to swell anyway and he grew a few inches, standing just taller than Laxus while standing on top of his desk, "That's enough!"
Everyone backed off, returning to their seats, but they all looked angry. Gajeel looked ready to murder, Wendy looked royally pissed off, and Natsu… Natsu was despondent. He hadn't stopped staring straight in front of him, no doubt running through every second of what he remembered of the events.
"We aren't here to debate," Makarov addressed the group, "These are the facts as we know them. If the evidence weren't enough… Lucy told us herself that she was the one responsible. Her confession lines up with the facts as we know them. We have no reason to doubt this is the truth, and she has shown no remorse for her actions."
The was still. Silent. Just as it was only moments prior, before they all knew what had truly happened.
"Maybe they threatened-"
Makarov shook his head at Gajeel's protest, effectively cutting him off.
"This is what we know, from Lucy herself - Gray, you may want to listen, I am about to answer your questions so shut up," Makarov glared down at the Ice Demon Slayer. Gray grumbled, but quieted anyway, "Lucy is a member of Fallen Star-"
Chaos. Everyone started protesting, speaking at once, yelling about how it wasn't true. There wasn't a voice in the room that wasn't shouting - apart from Natsu, who wasn't speaking at all.
"QUIET!"
They quieted down at Laxus' shout.
"As I was saying," Makarov continued, "Lucy is a member of the guild that attacked our nakama, and the one who betrayed our information to said guild. She has been seeking information on Fairy Tail's secrets since before she arrived here with Natsu almost five years ago. As she has been here so long, and has yet to retrieve the information they were looking for, she and the other members of her guild decided to take more drastic action and stage an attack. She was told the main objective was to take the children hostage and use them as leverage to force us to release the information to them. That is why she sent them with a single mage to the East Forest, where she believed they would intercept them with little interference. According to Lucy, she only sent Happy and Romeo away to us with the pass phrase because during the assault, her comrades gave away too much information and she feared Natsu and Mira would become suspicious of her if she didn't seek help. She didn't intend for us to be close enough to save the poisoned guild mages."
The room was quiet, but every mage listening to the information had a similar look of despair on their faces. After all, Lucy was the Light of Fairy Tail. Incorruptible. Steadfast and honest, always-keeps-her-promises, Lucy Heartfilia.
Believing this was impossible, and yet, not even Levy or Freed could find a way to refute the master's explanation. Especially not with Lucy's confession.
"So what prevented the fiends from capturing the kids? And… A-and why is Lucy i-injured?" Erza, for the first time since entering the Master's office, questioned.
"A good question, and one I asked myself when we found her," Makarov stated sadly, "Lucy was lied to. Her guild," he took a second to swallow. Calling those bastards Lucy's Guild was really hard, considering everything they did to her. But his explanation was almost done, and he owed it to Lucy to lie for her so she could take on her mission. He'd given his word that he would, and he was so close to having said it all…
"What Gramps is trying to say," Laxus interjected, "Is Heartfilia's guild turned on her because she fucking failed. In their eyes, she failed for twelve years because of Tenrou, and her overall fucking weakness," Laxus was a little disturbed at how easily he fell into his asshole persona when he tried. He couldn't stand lying to his family, and couldn't stand letting Lucy walk into something so dangerous, but you wouldn't know that listening to him now, "When they staged the attack on us, they were writing the whole thing off as a bad job and getting rid of the loose ends. So instead of getting her out and kidnapping the kids like she thought they were going to do, the grabbed her, took her to the East forest, grilled her for information to make sure she hadn't 'gone native' and was holding out on them, and were going to kill her and move on to the next dumbass scheme they had in the works."
"We got there in time to drive them off-"
"Personally, I think we should've let 'em cut her fucking heart out," Laxus interrupted his Gramps with his signature scowl. He thought he might be sick at just the thought of what he'd said aloud, but he held himself in check.
Makarov shot a glare at his grandson, "Fairies don't kill," he said calmly, "even after a betrayal like this, we are the good guys, Laxus."
Laxus knew the reprimand wasn't real. Just like none of the garbage they were spewing was real, but it was working. The mages in front of him seemed at a loss. He knew they'd been convincing, but he was honestly a little disappointed in his nakama for doubting Lucy so easily. Sure, it all added up if you spun it that way, but it was fucking Lucy. How many times had she proven to be trustworthy?
He swallowed his anger, and just wrote it off as a good thing. They needed to buy into the lie if Fairy Tail was going to stay safe, and if Lucy was going to be safe while she took on this near-suicide mission alone. It was annoying that they so easily doubted her, but very necessary.
"Do you all have any questions?"
Makarov's words were unanswered. They all had things to say, of course, but none of them said it. No matter how they looked at it, Lucy was guilty. She'd even said so!
Gajeel scooped Levy up from where she was practically frozen, still standing in front of Laxus, and stormed out the door to the office and out of the hall entirely. Wendy stood next, walking slowly back down to Charle.
Gray said nothing more, but he seemed more confused, frustrated, than angry as he walked calmly out of the office.
One by one, they all followed suit, meandering out of the office to find somewhere to think. For some, likely to find something to punch.
Five minutes later, the only remaining guild member was Natsu, who hadn't moved. He hadn't even twitched, still staring blankly ahead of him.
Makarov gazed sadly at him, then nudged Laxus and nodded at the fire dragon slayer. Laxus scowled back.
In Laxus' opinion, of everyone there, the one person who should have believed in Blondie was Natsu. While Lucy was kin to him, to Wendy, and to Gajeel, even that bond seemed to pale in comparison to the bond Team StarFire shared. Which was saying something, considering how powerful a dragon's bond to its kin was. He should know her better than to believe this bullshit, and the fact he didn't was pissing him off.
Beyond that, Laxus was nearly one hundred percent positive that Lucy's main reason for killing the life she created at Fairy Tail to go after Fallen Star - alone and without support - was Natsu. Because the fire mage was impulsive as shit and twice as protective, she was giving up everything she'd worked for, every last person she considered family, so he wouldn't go off and get himself killed trying to avenge her injuries.
And it irked him that his little sister was doing something so drastic for him, the guy who was even now sitting on his Gramps' couch, believing every dumbass lie he and Makarov had told him about Lucy.
All that to say, he really didn't want to comfort Natsu right now. But another, harsher elbow to his ribcage from his grandfather had him grunting and standing up to approach the near catatonic dragon slayer.
Natsu jumped a bit when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the angry eyes of Laxus staring back down at him.
"Why don't you go find Happy, Natsu? Little blue dweeb is gonna need ya."
Natsu took a deep breath before nodding slightly, "Yeah…"
He stood and walked out slowly. Laxus shut the door behind him quickly, but quietly, and leaned heavily against the door, "I still hate this. It's Natsu's fucking fault. We should just lock him up so he doesn't try and go after them, so Blondie doesn't have to leave."
Makarov slumped his shoulders, clearly upset, but still voiced his disagreement, "Lucy's compassion is one of her greatest strengths, Laxus, but in this case, I believe it is to her detriment. While I'm certain Natsu was a part of her decision, I think you are underestimating how much guilt she feels at having been - in her opinion - the cause of so many grievous injuries to her family, to Fairy Tail. She is leaving because she doesn't feel strong enough to protect us, maybe not even herself. She is leaving because she feels it is the only thing that will guarantee our safety. And at this point, she may not be wrong."
Laxus glared at his grandfather, "We could find another way and you know it".
"Maybe," Makarov conceded, "Given time, and more information. Unfortunately, those are things we don't have right now. I don't like this any more than you do, and were it not for Lucy backing me into a corner, I would not have allowed it at all. But this is where we are now. And Lucy is so much stronger than she believes she is. I am choosing to trust in her, and in her abilities."
Laxus contemplated this for a moment.
Finally, after several minutes of thoughtful silence, he spoke, "I won't let her do this all on her own. She's my sister. Maybe not by blood," he focused on his grandfather and guildmaster, "but she may as well be. To both of us."
Makarov grunted, not really disagreeing with that. Lucy was like a granddaughter to him. Losing her would be unbearable. It would be like losing Laxus.
"But," Laxus continued, "I'll let her do this her way. I'll honor the terms you agreed to. Honestly," his gaze turned toward the ceiling as he spoke, "I've never met a mage with more potential than Lucy Heartfilia. Maybe getting away and focusing on herself and her training for once will help her reach that potential."
"So, we are in agreement, then?"
"Yeah," Laxus sighed, "We're the support on this one. We'll do whatever we can to make it easier for her, but she's running the show."
Makarov cracked the smallest of smiles, "Not like that stubborn woman gave us much of a choice, eh?"
Both Dreyer men chuckled quietly. Of course she didn't. And she never would.