sup nerds. yall really thought you'd seen the last of me.

Strained silence met Sting's outburst.

"Er, Sting…" Orga started. Rufus coughed under his breath and the large man went silent. The quiet was too much for the white dragon slayer and he asked the group what was wrong, to which Rogue said, "Usually you ask before giving them membership."

"Oh." There was a moment of dawning on his face before he turned to Lyla. "Well it's too late anyway, I told the Master. Besides, who wouldn't want to join the best guild in Fiore?" He boasted. Both of the women's faces were pale.

"Of course," Rufus mused to himself, touching his mask dramatically. Orga nodded in agreement.

"But I-" Lyla started.

"Who wants to be the new member of my guild?" A loud voice boomed. The little blood that had traveled back to Lyla's face drained. In front of her stood an imposing figure, arms crossed and glaring at her down his nose. The quiet mutterings around her ceased and all was quiet. Sting was motioning for her to stand up, but she was so bewildered at the events that she elected to stay down, so the blonde sighed and turned towards the large man.

"This woman right here." Sting gestured to the singer, who blinked.

"Hmm." The man narrowed his eyes and examined her, noting the mage she had put out of commission and her blood-dripping face. Her face was wounded from a small shard from before, and the large cut had started to sting as if her body was just now registering it.

"Very well. She has passed initiation, and she was recommended by one of my most powerful mages. Therefore, she has managed to gain favor of the strongest guild in Fiore: Sabertooth is now your guild." He shifted his eyes to glare at a specific person, who scuttled off to do his bidding. The large man turned to Lyla, wrinkling his nose at her still-sitting body. She stumbled to her feet fearfully, the former anger of her broken instrument gone in lieu of frantic obedience. Her taller figure seemed short next to the man.

"As the Master of Sabertooth, it is my duty to inform you of the rules." He leered at her and she resisted the urge to flinch. "Number one: You will complete every job you accept, and you will win every battle you fight, or you will be ejected from Sabertooth. Number two-"

The Master of Sabertooth continued with his rules, though Lyla only half listening. She was too busy cursing Sting and her awful luck.

Her mind was brought back to the present when a strange pressure appeared and disappeared on her right shoulder. A small tingling started spreading through her arm and chest and the singer almost hesitantly glanced down at her shoulder. There, in all its glory, was a pale orange Sabertooth guild mark.

"No…" she whispered, staring at the mark in disbelief. She knew it hadn't been smart to trust the two strangers, but there was no way she had expected this.

The guild had gone to regular business around her, the only thing out of order being her getting a few extra glances from her new guild status. Artemis was staring at her friend with a gaping mouth, her eyes flickering between the woman's silver eyes and the orange guildmark. Her mind was going a mile a minute.

"So!" Sting appeared behind her, his eyes twinkling and trademark smirk showing blatantly on his face. "Ready to be a part of the strongest guild in Earthland?"

"What about Artemis?" Lyla blurted out, the redhead in question stalking over to the two dragon slayers.

"What about her?" Sting blinked as he responded, as if he were confused with the question. Lyla sputtered for a second before taking a deeper breath, collecting her thoughts. "Well, she's my best friend; I don't go anywhere without her."

"Well it's not like she can go on mage jobs." Sting laughed at the prospect. Artemis leaned into his face, eyes sparking and flaming.

"Try me." With that, Artemis latched onto Lyla's arm and started dragging her towards the guild doors, saying, "Come on, we're finding a hotel."

"Wait." Lyla slipped out her friend's grip and crouched before her fallen instrument. She carefully grabbed the broken pieces and placed them in her pack before throwing the bag over her shoulder. Lyla stared at the wrecked tables cause by her fight- maybe not directly destroyed by her, but it was still technically her fault. The woman let out a deep sigh before exiting the building, just missing the harsh eviction of the man she had defeated for a spot in the guild.

-x-

Lyla was concentrating. Her eyes were closed and her legs crossed over the thin air she was floating on. Her hands were placed on the tips of her knees, and her magical power was slowly draining. It was an exercise she had figured out a month or so back that increased her magical storage. She made an effort to complete the exercise whenever she had free time.

"Lyla!" The singer yelped and lost concentration, falling clumsily to the floor.

"What?" She questioned her redheaded friend, only a bit of irritation leaking into her voice. Her friend stood in the threshold of the studio, paintbrush in hand. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning against the doorframe. When Lyla received no immediate answer from her friend she sighed.

"If it's Sting again, tell him-"

"It's not Sting." Artemis interrupted. At this Lyla glanced up at her friend with a raised eyebrow. Artemis played with her lip before answering her friend's unspoken question.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and I think that, well…" Artemis paused, thinking carefully how to word her idea. Lyla was becoming more intrigued by the second. It was not often Artemis thought before she spoke.

"Okay. Sabertooth is awful. It's full of immoral people with a superiority complex, and we don't belong. Hell, it took nearly a month before they allowed me to set foot in that godforsaken guild hall again after your unwanted initiation!" Artemis's mouth twisted into a sneer.

Lyla contemplated this as she stood from her position, stretching out her muscles. This was the third time Artemis had come to her with this proposal, and though she knew the guild wasn't the best on her non-magical friend, there wasn't much she could do about it. And because of the guild she had a steady income, which meant both her and Artemis were able to pay for their apartment and food.

"Artemis-"

"No," the redhead held up a hand, palm facing outward. "Don't give me that. It's the same every time; I know we need the money, but we managed just fine without their help-"

"Artemis." Lyla groaned in frustration. "We were just scraping by without their help. We could barely shower enough to be socially acceptable. Now we have an apartment, ample food, and have enough money to buy paint supplies and musical supplies for our free time.

"What free time?" Artemis threw her arms around her angrily. "You're rarely home anymore! They're throwing harder and harder jobs in your face to see if you'll break! You can't keep this up forever, Lyla, and you know this better than I do."

"The tougher jobs give us more money," Lyla tried weakly, unable to keep eye contact with her friend.

"Money!" Artemis groaned, dragging her palm over her face. "Lyla, since when have you cared so much about money!"

"Since it became so important!" Lyla snapped back.

"Money has never been the central point of our lives!" Artemis said, eyes flashing.

"Well, our lives have changed!"

"For the worse, I'll say!"

"Artemis, have you tried to see it from my angle?"

"No, Lyla, because frankly, I don't want to be in your position. What happened to the Lyla I know?"

"I've always been this way!"

"No, you haven't! Ever since we stopped looking for Laxus-"

Suddenly the room was dead quiet, as if the name were a bullet piercing through their vocal chords. It was the first time his name had been said in months, like the very thought of their old friend was taboo.

"I'll talk to Sting." Lyla murmured, eyes watering and teeth clenched. Artemis nodded and left without another word. The pale-haired mage almost melted to the floor, holding her head in her hands. What happened to them?

Artemis was right, however. Lyla was gone far too much for her own liking, away on jobs that Sting and Rogue -mostly Sting, however- would "recommend". Teams weren't common in Sabertooth but everyone called the three a team, much to Lyla's chagrin. And she could never deny a job unless she had a logical reason behind rejecting it; claiming to be too weak, however, was not logical in their eyes.

Lyla knew that she was also selfishly using the jobs as an excuse to stay busy. Keep going, focused and pumped and filled with adrenaline so often that she would forget, if just for a day, about her past. It wasn't just Laxus; his abrupt absence reminded her of when Zara left. It also reminded her of the orphanage, of their sharp rejection after the fire…

Eventually the silver-eyed mage stood up, wiped the tears she hadn't been aware of, and shouldered her music pack. It felt no heavier than a normal pack despite the copious amounts of instruments stuffed into it; another plus of the enchantment placed on it, she supposed. Lyla never went anywhere without her pack with her, paranoia getting the better of her.

"Sting." Her voice like an ice shard and eyes just as steely, she approached the dragon slayer.

"Whattup, Ly!" Sting didn't register her sharp tone and was just as cheery as always. "Great timing, Rogue and I just found a job-"

"No."

"No?" Sting paused, actually thinking about the profound meaning of the syllable instead of being lost in his own egotistical world. Rogue glanced up from what he was doing, raising an eyebrow. It was good there were no other mages around them, or she would have created a scene from just one word. "You can't say no."

"I just did." Think like Artie, think like Artie… she kept chanting in her head.

Sting didn't seem to know how to take this complete defiance from the normally compliant woman. "Lyla, you're going on this job, whether you like it or not," he finally said.

"No, I don't think you get it, Sting," she pronounced coldly. "I'm not going on this job. Nor am I going on any other job you present me with."

Sting and Rogue's eyes widened imperceptibly at the implications of her bold statement. "You aren't quitting, are you?"

Lyla paused at this. She did like being in a guild, and the jobs -when they weren't ruining or risking her life- were fun. And there were a few moments with Sting and Rogue that she wouldn't mind repeating (then again, Artemis was there too. And Lyla wasn't completely sure whether or not her friend would be staying regardless).

"I'm… taking a break," she tried.

"You can't," Rogue spoke up with his minimalist speech.

"I am." Her voice was quiet but she had no doubt in her mind that they heard what she said. "I… I like the guild idea, and you two aren't the worst of friends… but this is all too much, we need a vacation at least."

"You can't vacation in Sabertooth," Sting sputtered. Rogue's eyes smoldered but he was silent.

"Look, Sting." Lyla took a deep breath. "Artemis and I are leaving, whether you approve or not. We're taking a vacation, absconding, taking our leave, whichever you prefer; but you can't stop us."

Sting's eyes flashed. "All I have to do is tell the Master. Then you'll get search parties."

Lyla paused, unsure whether she should feel angry, betrayed, or fearful. "Search parties. You don't even know what magic I use, so why would I, of all mages, deserve search parties?"

Sting looked offended. "You use music in your magic, of course!"

Lyla sighed, long and exhausted. "Well, you're half right…" she murmured.

Rogue narrowed his eyes. He didn't seem quite at the point of realization, not yet. He'd been considering Lyla's familiar feel for a while, but hadn't pinned it.

"Sting's right," Rogue said. His expression was stormy and Lyla's mind flashed back to a night after a job when he laughed, uninhibited and brash. Hurt panged in her chest; they were good friends, except when they were being absolute assholes.

"I want to take a break," Lyla repeated. Which, honestly, why couldn't they just take a hint?

"No, that's not where Sting's right," Rogue said. Sting opened his mouth but Rogue stepped forward. Lyla finally caught the glint of - nervousness in his eyes.

Her heart dropped.

"Sabertooth mages don't take breaks," Rogue said. He stared her down. "You'll be kicked out. You don't want to be kicked out."

"No, we'd just go find her and bring her back, there's no… you don't think master would…" Sting frowned, eyebrows furrowed. "He wouldn't… to Ly?"

"What?" Lyla snapped. "What would he do?"

"He strips you," Sting said. He and Rogue exchanged glances and Lyla shuddered at the sudden seriousness on their faces. "He takes all your things, he humiliates you in front of the guild, he sometimes… beats you… and then he removes your mark and kicks you out."

Lyla stilled. Her heart beat in her ears. "You mean he destroys your dignity for failing to uphold the guild's pride?"

"Yes," Rogue said. She stared at him. Something like pain flashed in his eyes. "Don't go."

"Why do you want to leave, anyway?" Sting said. He beamed, but it didn't reach his eyes, which flashed with confusion and anxiousness. "Sabertooth is awesome! We get all the good jobs, and everyone knows how strong you are, and we're super popular!"

Lyla couldn't - she didn't want to believe it. She couldn't leave? What sort of hell guild kept their members stationary on threat of their dignity and pride? On the possible threat of maiming, or worse? He sometimes beats you. Sting's voice rang through her ears.

They would track her down. They would search after her fruitlessly just to destroy her.

And what would they do to Artemis?

She didn't… she didn't know what to do. What would Laxus do? He'd snap at Sting and Rogue, back up his claims with fists and sparks, and leave with his head held high.

Lyla's not - she's not strong enough. She's barely a dragon slayer, let alone a magic user. They never used her in the Grand Magic Games because she was just never up to the task.

She closed her eyes. Sting and Rogue winning, a cocky, devil-may-care smirk etched on Sting's face, a self-assured, smaller one settled on Rogue's. Sting waving at her with bruises on his arms, shouting something that got lost in the wind but prompted Rogue to smack him upside the head.

But also… Sting laughing at weak wizards, Rogue ignoring pleas for mercy, using much too much power on individuals who really just… lost their way.

She felt Laxus's shadow and it hurt. He was always so strong, in a way she never could be.

He's gone. It's been six and a half years since Laxus disappeared, and Lyla's grief has been cauterized.

And maybe Sting and Rogue could be taught to not be - well. Dicks.

Not by her, obviously, because it's not her job and she's dealt with their antics for long enough, but somehow.

"Then I am…" Lyla's voice wobbled and she steeled herself. Even if she felt weak she didn't need to act it. "I am taking a retreat to increase my magical abilities."

"Oh, sweet, can we come with?"

"No."

Sting's eyes widened at the swiftness and harshness of her response.

Lyla blinked in surprise at herself. She took a breath. "Um. Maybe you can visit?"

"How long will you be gone?" Rogue asked.

"Months. I don't know."

"But the Games, are you training for the Games?" Sting questioned.

"No, I don't want to be in the games," Lyla said. She sighed in preparation.

"But why not? It's so fun, you get to beat up all these weaklings and show how awesome Sabertooth is!" Sting declared, his arm out in front of him, fist upright, other hand pressed against his bicep. "And you'll be super powerful!"

"I don't want to," Lyla said simply. "Um. I'm leaving."

"But…" Sting's voice took on a dejected tone.

She spun, marching towards the doors when he said, "I'll - we'll miss you."

Her shoulders slumped. "I'll be back in time to watch you in the games."

"Awesome!" Sting yelled. "I'll be great, just you wait!"

"I'm sure," Lyla muttered. She adjusted the bag strapped on her shoulder.

"Bye," Rogue said, voice barely a whisper.

"Goodbye," Lyla said. This is for the life you just created. This is for Artemis. You can't hurt her.

And she walked out the door, wishing, helplessly, that she was leaving for good.

favorite/follow/revooble. love yall. will this ever be updated again? the world may never know.

peace