Hello. As always with this fic, there's a small warning to go along with the chapter. There's canon typical violence, but there's also an extremely NON-GRAPHIC description of murder, which is later discussed. Again, it's not graphic, but you should be warned about it. What a cheery story this is.

As always, thank you so much for any comments and kudos you leave. They mean so much. And I've got a Tumblr. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading. ^.^

Chapter Five – Returning

The carriage bumped along the grassy pathway, making for a rather uncomfortable ride towards the city of Magnolia. Laxus forced himself to look at the floor of the vehicle, clenching his teeth in an attempt to stop his motion sickness from getting all too bad. He used to have it bad as a kid but, as he'd gotten older, it had lessened. But travelling down a winding road by fairly unstable carriage was bringing back the memories of how bad it could be.

Normally, he would be trying to distract himself by thinking of anything other than his nausea, in a desperate attempt to calm his stomach. The problem with that plan was that the only other thing he could think about made him stomach churn in an entirely different way.

Worse still, that reason was piloting the damn carriage.

Throughout the rest of the royal visit, Freed and Laxus hadn't spoken about what had occurred between them both. Laxus had awoken the next morning an hour before Freed, had dressed himself and returned to his actual room, and both had silently decided that addressing their night together would be pointless. So they hadn't broached the subject, nor had they really spoken to one another throughout the week.

Bickslow and Evergreen showed no sign of knowing. Both Laxus and Freed had been successful in hiding their hickeys, and the other two retainers had been placed in rooms far from Freed's, so they wouldn't have heard them. And it wasn't as if the two men ignoring each other was unusual.

To anyone who was looking, nothing had changed.

But Laxus couldn't feel like that, because something had definitely changed. He couldn't be sure exactly what had happened, but where he previously felt a burning sense of passion and anger towards Freed, now he felt somewhat deflated. It felt as though the desire to be angry at the man had been taken from him, and it honestly felt like a waste of time. Because, as cocky and annoying as Freed had proven himself to be, he wasn't nearly as bad as Laxus had convinced himself. All it had taken was a night of incredibly misguided sex to get the anger out of his system.

Letting his eyes stray from the carriage floor, Laxus looked to Freed's back. He wondered if Freed felt the same sense of deflation that Laxus had. In a way, Laxus hoped he did, because if they both agreed that their animosity was pointless then maybe they could put it behind them.

They needed to get along, Laxus could plainly see that now. For one, Freed was one of his retainer's and that meant a certain level of trust and understanding needed to exists between them both, or Laxus' safety was in danger. But also, Bickslow and Evergreen were friends with the both of them and it wasn't fair to make them deal with – and potential pick sides on – any arguments that might occur between them both.

But Laxus had no idea what Freed was thinking, if he had calmed down in the same way Laxus had, or if their night together had made things worse. And, as the two of them had been avoiding each other, Laxus had no idea how to approach the subject.

It wasn't as if he was known for talking, after all.

He promised himself that he would talk to Freed by the time they got to the castle.

He had also promised himself that he would talk to Freed before they got in the carriage. He had not followed through on that promise.

But this time he would make good on his word, because the longer it took the less likely he was to actually do it. The next time he and Freed were alone – which would probably when they got to the castle – he would talk. He'd say that their arguments and antagonistic relationship weren't doing anything good, and that there was no point in continuing. Maybe they could get over it just like that, or maybe they would need to work on it before that could happen, but it would be something at the very least.

With this in mind, Laxus looked back to the floor of the carriage and tried to settle his stomach. Even so much as looking to the side to see the trees rushing by made him feel sick, so the floor was his only hope of not throwing up.

At times like this, when he was bested by his stomach of all things, Laxus wondered how he would be preserved as king.

This was a topic Laxus thought of often, and it was never good. Perhaps he had some kind of inferiority complex in that regard, and he often tried to stop himself from thinking about it whenever possible. Thankfully, a distraction came, and better yet it was one that settled his stomach. The carriage was slowing down.

"There's people in the forest," Freed spoke quietly, and Laxus looked up to him.

"You think they're a danger?" Ever asked, casually glancing around.

"I've seen disturbances in the shrubbery for a while now. Too long for it to be an animal, so they've been following us," Freed continued, and the cautious tone made Laxus put a hand on his sword. "They're not subtle, so probably a thief's group of some kind rather than any real threat, but best to be careful."

"What d'you want us to do?" Bickslow asked, looking to Freed.

The carriage continued to move slowly as they quickly formed a plan. Evergreen left the carriage and started to stroke the horse, so that when they were attacked she would have free movement rather than having to scrambled out of the carriage. Bickslow had taken over with the reins, charging his magic to support the others when the fight began. Freed had started to walk beside the carriage, purposefully beside Laxus.

It was almost impressive. Having heard the quick discussion, Laxus knew why they had all moved. But he knew that they must have looked like their horses were tiring and this was respite. They looked vulnerable, but they weren't.

"This should be quick," Freed spoke, looking forward but was clearly speaking to Laxus. The first time since their night together. "You can fight with the sword, correct?"

"Yeah," Laxus replied. Freed hadn't asked condescendingly; it was almost weird.

"Good," Freed nodded, still looking forward. "It shouldn't come to it but be ready to use it."

Laxus nodded sharply and focused on looking forward rather than giving away the fact they knew they were going to be attacked. Freed helped this by quietly explaining their fight plan; Laxus had heard it but being able to focus on something else was useful. Evergreen's magic was useful at covering a large area, so she would be keeping them at bay and potentially stopping them. Bickslow would focus on keeping Evergreen healthy and stopping her from running out of magic. Freed would either be engaging in fights with the stronger members, or he would be stopping Laxus from getting injured, depending on how the fight went.

After Freed had explained, there was only silence. They slowly waited to be jumped until eventually, it happened.

They emerged from the woods on both sides of the carriage, yelling and brandishing weapons ranging from swords to axes. There was seven of them, three on one side and four on the other. Laxus glanced to Freed, who didn't seem to be shocked by the number of thieves that had appeared.

It must have only been a fraction of a second, but it felt like an eternity before his retainers started to fight back.

Evergreen slung her fist to the side, magical pellets of energy spawning in the air and flying towards the four thieves on the left. It was a relentless barrage of magical energy, and the ruthlessness of the spell meant that the thieves on that side could only make it half the way across the dirt road. Laxus had never seen Evergreens spell – Fairy Bullets, she had called it – last this long, and only when he looked at Bickslow did he get the answer as to why.

Flowing from the healer's eyes was a miasmic blue fog, streaming into evergreen and giving her a slight aura of the same colour. Laxus had never seen that either but surmised that Bickslow was fuelling Ever's magic while she used it. When had they learned to do that? It must have been with Freed.

At the thought of the man, Laxus looked towards him.

The moment they had been attacked, Freed climbed the carriage and bolted to the other side and was now facing the three thieves on that side. He had his sword out, moving between the three of them with fast brutality and somehow, despite the fact he should be overwhelmed, seemed to be entirely in control of the situation.

Though he knew he should be acting, Laxus found himself somewhat dazed. The only time he had seen Freed fighting was when it was against him, and he hadn't seen the strange mixture of elegance and ferocity in that moment. Right now, it was hard to deny.

But he couldn't focus on it for long, because he was not some bystander who needed saving. Evergreen and Bickslow were managing to keep the four attackers on their side at bay, and Freed could only hold off three men on his own for so long. The prince brandished his sword, jumped off the carriage and approached the fray.

As he fought, Laxus doubted he was as elegant as Freed. He was a trained fighter, yes, but his practical fighting experience was not large, and he felt that he was wrongfooted instantly. Still, even if kicking and shoulder barging while holding a sword wasn't elegant, it didn't make it any less effective. He had managed to keep the weapon wielding men at bay without sustaining an injury himself. Maybe Makarov had been correct that his retainer team needed to think strategically, as this was considerably better than the failed attempt at kidnapping.

He was almost confident.

But as he pushed the man he was fighting with back, he noticed something. He had only been fighting this one man, despite three thieves fighting the two of them. And he was probably the worse fighter when compared to Freed, so it would make sense if he was being ganged up on. Why were they focusing on Freed.

They weren't.

Freed also was only focusing on one man, and Laxus quickly glanced around to see where the third was. When he did, Laxus felt his breath hitch slightly in concern.

The third fighter, who Laxus now identified as the leader, was different to the rest. With long, erratic and blonde hair; a partially exposed chest with a glowing black mark; and a sadistically gleeful grin on his face, Laxus could only focus on one thing. Between his hands was a pulsating ball of yellow and black fire flickering menacingly. He was a magician, and by the looks of him, a fucking insane one too.

Grinning, the blonde shot his hands towards Laxus, and the ball of yellow fire began to fly through the air.

"Shit!"

Laxus' shout was cut off when he was shunted out of the way, the magical projectile hitting who had shoved him rather than Laxus himself. The prince looked to see that it had been Freed who had saved him, and his sleeve was burned clean off and skin a colour skin shouldn't be. His cape had been set alight also, and Freed was working to get it off.

Looking back to the magician, Laxus saw him reading another attack to aim at Freed. The prince lunched forward, dropping his sword and slamming into the man. He punched him in the face, stopping the ball of magic from forming. Laxus then slammed his fist into the man's stomach in an attempt to wind him.

A loud clang od metal rang throughout him.

Looking to its source, Laxus saw the head of an axe less than an inch away from his skull. It was stopped by an unmoving rapier. Freed was holding it, his flaming cape now discarded to the ground where it was slowly burned away. Laxus didn't notice it; he nearly had an axe in his head.

"Step back," Freed shouted firmly, and Laxus did whether Freed was speaking to him or not.

Apparently he was, as the retainer lurched forward towards the magician the moment Laxus wasn't standing in the way. Laxus watched only for a second when Freed began a barrage of attacks with his sword, all being blocked by a flaming fist.

He couldn't admire the fight for any amount of time, as the axe wielding thief was still beside him. Laxus took the chance to slam his fist into the man's stomach, making him bend over. In turn, Laxus slammed his knee into the man's jaw. He grabbed the axe out of the man's hand and threw it to the forest, leaving them both without a weapon. Laxus quickly glanced to see where the third man was; Freed must had knocked him unconscious as he was slumped on the ground, unmoving.

The fist fight that occurred between Laxus and the non-magical thief was harder than Laxus expected. The prince had size and muscle over his opponent, but he was slippery and hard to hit. They were evenly matched, and Laxus found himself panting and trying to keep up.

"You little fucker!" A sudden roar ripped through the forest, and all eyes fell to the magician. He had a large gash in the side of his chest, inevitably from Freed's sword, and was heaving manically. Even from such a small injury, he seemed enraged.

Even Freed had taken a step back when the magicians eyes began to glow.

All around them, the eyes of all thieves began to glow as well, even the unconscious man on the floor. Laxus could only watch as the man who had just been fighting him went rigid in his position, making direct eye contact as the man began to scream. It only lasted for a second before the glowing in his eyes stopped, and revealed blankness. His eyes were just white now, and a moment later he dropped to the floor

This happened to all the thieves but the magician himself. Yellow fog lifted from them all, flowing to the magician who gained an aura similar to Evergreen's, though more intense. Laxus looked towards Bickslow and Evergreen to see if they were okay and saw Bickslow throwing up over the side of the carriage.

Bickslow had always said eyes were the windows to the soul. These people had lost their eyes. They had lost their souls.

Dear god, Laxus had just seen six people die. Right in front of him. For no reason.

"Laxus, get back in the carriage," Freed demanded, but he almost spoke softly. "Right now, Laxus."

The blonde almost didn't move; he had never seen someone die before. Certainly not like this; it was as if the lift had been drained from them completely, and by someone who was on their side no less. Laxus had never expected to have to deal with this, and the only reason he was moving at all was because Evergreen had taken his shoulders and was directing him towards the carriage.

What followed was almost ethereal. Laxus knew – he knew – that something was happening just out of his peripheral vision. He knew that Freed was engaged in a fight with a madman who had just gained large amounts of magic. He knew that Bickslow – who was attuned to souls in a way Laxus had never understood – was vomiting and disgusted by what he had just seen, but he could only focus on Evergreen and her attempts to comfort him. It was as if the carriage was the only thing happening, despite the fact he knew that was not the case.

He didn't know how long this had happened and was only ripped from this false-calm when he heard a scream. A scream that was not Freed's. Not Evergreen's. Not Bickslow's.

Where Laxus looked towards where the fight had been, he saw that the magician had a large wound in the middle of his stomach. He was slumped against a tree, head lolling and blood flowing from his wound. Freed seemed to have wiped down his sword, and had a small black cloud of fog surrounding him, which dissipated the instant Laxus saw it. He didn't focus on that, though, as all he could look at was the bleeding body of the magician. It was now just a corpse.

He and Freed definitely needed to talk.

"So," Freed spoke calmly. "I expect this wont just be about the events of today."

"No," Laxus replied.

The two men were in Laxus' quarters, sitting either side of a breakfast table. When they had returned to the castle, Freed had first informed the relevant people that there was a group of bandits who had attacked them, and that their bodies needed to be dealt with. The moment that was done, Laxus had approached him, told him that he needed to speak with him and that they should do so in private. Moments later, they were in Laxus' room.

Laxus took a moment to think, so he could get this conversation right. He couldn't help but notice that this was probably the most civil they had been to each other since meeting, and the irony of this happening after a night of ungodly sex and on the same day as Laxus seeing Freed kill someone was not lost.

That was where he should begin. What had happened on their way home.

"But we do need to talk about it," Laxus continued. "You killed him, didn't you?"

"I did," Freed said, and the words came slightly too easy for Laxus' comfort.

"Do you regret it?"

"No," Freed said, and again there was no hesitance. Laxus didn't immediately respond, so Freed kept talking. "The type of magic he used, God Slayer Magic, is illegal. Its seen as an abomination by anyone who uses it, and it's treated with the same severity as necromancy. The fact he used it at all makes him despicable in the eyes of many. Myself included."

Laxus still didn't speak.

"But, even if we ignored that, he killed six people. He made a choice, he weighed the possible wealth he would have gained against the lived of those six people, and decided that the money was more valuable," Freed continued. "So, despite the fact it's not a nice thing to say, he deserved to die in pain, and I won't lose sleep because I caused it to happen."

"Did you," Laxus started, hesitantly. "Did you weigh his life against anything? Like you said he did with the people he killed."

"If I hadn't killed him when I did, he would have likely killed the four of us," Freed spoke, voice patient. "The life of a murderer who justifies using that kind of magic is nothing compared to the lives of three good people."

Three good people? Laxus wondered who had been discounted.

"Have you ever killed anyone before?" Laxus asked, not sure if he wanted the answer.

"I haven't," Freed said, and Laxus was somewhat shocked. "There had been instances where I was prepared to. Once, I had tried to and had been stopped. But this has been the first I haven actually taken a life."

"Are you okay?" Laxus asked, though he didn't know why.

"As I said, with the type of man he was, I won't lose sleep."

A silence occurred between them, and Laxus found himself wanting it to be more uncomfortable than it actually was. The fact of the matter was Freed had killed someone and didn't seem remorseful. But Laxus didn't feel uncomfortable, he didn't feel angry or sad or in any sense of danger. Freed had seen this death from purely a pragmatic viewpoint – the magician was a danger and Freed saved people by killing him – and Laxus felt that line of reasoning to be… fine. It was accurate, and while Laxus felt he should feel something about the fact he was sitting opposite a murderer, he didn't.

His relationship with Freed was complicated, to say the least. Which brought the blonde onto the second thing he spoke about.

"So, guess we should talk about how we fucked a few nights ago," Laxus said, and Freed laughed a little.

"I suppose so," Freed nodded, and again he let Laxus speak first.

"We shouldn't have done that. Definitely in the way we did it," Laxus said, firmly. "We were pissed at each other, drunk, and it was a mistake."

"I agree," Freed said, and Laxus felt a small rush of relief occur. "I expect if it was found out, I would be removed from my position and, given my history, I expect finding work would be difficult. I expect you also would have issues with it being found out. So we both agree that this is something that we don't discuss?"

"Yeah," Laxus nodded, relaxing now. "And, while we're talking, I think we should get over this," He gestures to the both of them. "Thing between us. Where we try and piss each other off for no real reason, 'cause it seems fucking stupid now I think about it."

"It does," Freed sighed. "I should apologise, I certainly didn't help the situation when we first met."

"No. Neither of us are innocent though," Laxus groaned, leaning back.

Again, neither man spoke for a little while. It seemed… almost to easy for them to put aside their differences. Although, before they had slept together they seemed to have taken their grievances out in their yelling match, so perhaps that was why they were both so willing to just get over what had happened.

And, now Laxus thought back, their arguments had been pathetic. Childish and petty and stupid. It was an effort to keep up hating someone and, now with this deflated feeling, there was no reason to force animosity when they had no need to.

"Now we're talking," Laxus continued, looking back to Freed. "What's your problem with the royal family? Like, I get why you wouldn't like me, but Gramps is the reason you ain't in a cell."

"Honestly, even when I said that I didn't mean it," Freed sighed. "I used to hate your family; I'll admit. I thought you were pointless and overly pampered and out of touch with reality. I'm sure you can imagine this worsened when I was taken to jail. But meeting his highness and getting somewhat close to him, it changed my judgement. You weren't people who had money and liked to lord it over everyone, you were just people. I brought it up in our fight because, well, I was pissed off and wanted to hurt you."

That was honest. Laxus appreciated that.

And he couldn't exactly deny the claims that his family were overly pampered, certainly when compared to the people of the kingdom. And Freed hadn't had the easiest of lives if the reports about him were correct, so the contrast between their lives was clear. Laxus could forgive someone being bitter about it.

"If I may ask you something," Freed spoke again, and Laxus looked to him with a small nod. "What actually happened with your father. There's been rumours, but given I'm keeping you safe and he seems a part of why you might be in danger, I'd like to know the truth."

Laxus sighed. But it needed to come out.

"He's never been stable, for as long as I've been alive at least," Laxus explained, looking down slightly. "He got worse as I grew up, and apparently tried to make me like him. My grandfather tried to get him away from me when I was a kid but… this ain't actually relevant. Sorry. So, he always wanted me to be strong. Dangerous and shit. About a year ago, he was really broken and the worst he had been and tried to give him magic of some kind. Some sort of magic crystal."

"The Lacrima?" Freed offered, and Laxus nodded.

"That's it. Apparently they can infuse with the human soul or something. He was going to use it on me somehow, which would have made me as unstable as he was if the castle mage is right, and that was the last straw for Gramps. He kicked him out of the family, removed him from the throne. So now he's on the run, pissed off at pretty much everyone in the family, and wants to kill me because I'm gonna be king and he isn't."

Freed was silent for a moment.

"Shit," He eventually said. "That's… unfortunate."

"Kind of an understatement" Laxus chuckled. "Still, it's been months and I've only nearly been killed twice, that ain't too bad," The blonde joked, and Freed laughed a little.

"It could be worse I suppose. It's not as if these near-death experiences occurred the two times you've left the castle's grounds" Freed smirked, and Laxus found himself laughing as well.

"Aw shit," Laxus chuckled. "Well, that's why 've got you, ain't it? To keep me safe."

"Indeed," Freed smiled, standing up. "I should give you some time alone. You probably need it, I imagine you've been craving some time alone after what has happened," Freed looked down at the prince. "Have a good evening, your highness."

That was the first time Freed had said 'your highness' without it seeming like a slur. Laxus smiled a little at this; it was progress.

"You too, Mr Justine."