Chapter 5 – Truths

The next day, Adryn, the Thunder Legion and Laxus all woke up at a decent time and headed out to find Eclipse. They talked to various people of the town and asked if they'd seen her. She was very unique, so it would be obvious if they'd seen her or not. After about half the day of going around asking people if they'd seen Eclipse, they finally got a break.

"Yes, I've seen that girl. She was quite rude to a shop owner the other day. I believe she's staying in that inn on the outskirts of town." A little old lady informed the group. "Is she in any trouble?"

"No, she's my best friend and we're playing a game of hide-and-seek. I found everyone else, but her and needed help finding her." Adryn easily lied to the woman, who just accepted that and went on her way.

"Hide-and-seek?" Freed questioned looking at Adryn, confused. Adryn just chuckled and shook her head.

"Adryn and I will go follow Eclipse. You all head back to the inn and wait for us to return." Laxus stated to the Thunder Legion. "The fewer people following her, the least likely she'll catch onto that we're following her."

"Very well." Freed nodded his head and turned to leave. Evergreen and Bickslow weren't too thrilled about it but went along with their leader. The three of them went back to the inn while Adryn and Laxus made their way to the inn that Eclipse was staying in. They waited there for about an hour before Eclipse finally exited the inn.

They then followed her as she walked around town, did a bit of shopping and then took a sudden turn into an alley. They nearly lost her but came across her again as she began to enter the forest that was around the town. Laxus and Adryn followed her to a little house in the middle of the forest. She knocked at the door and they watched as Ivan opened it up and smiled at her before letting her into the house.

"So, she really did lead us to Ivan..." Adryn muttered in disbelief. She didn't expect their plan to go so well, but that also gave her a bad feeling. However, she ignored the feeling and walked with Laxus to the house. They quietly checked to see if the door was open and when it was, they threw the door open and jumped into the house. There, waiting for them was about 20 people who all had Raven Tail guild marks on them someone visible.

"Shit!" Laxus wore as the group of people began to attack them. However, the initial panic turned to relief when Laxus and Adryn realized that they were relatively weak people. During the fight, Adryn looked up and saw that Eclipse and Ivan were up in a loft just watching them. Ivan seemed cocky the entire time, even after Laxus and Adryn had defeated all of the people he'd sent after them.

"Get down here and let me kill you!" Adryn yelled out angrily to Ivan. He just laughed and smiled down at the two.

"I see that you two have been getting along," Ivan stated with a smirk on his face that infuriated Adryn.

"Get down here!" Adryn yelled once again but Ivan just wrapped his arm around Eclipse.

"I've been getting along with Eclipse quite well. She's a good little puppet." Ivan smirked as he looked at Eclipse, who was just staring blankly at Adryn.

"Adryn, you need to calm down," Laxus stated as he reached towards her, however, Ivan spoke up again.

"I'll make sure that my men have as much fun with her as they did with you." Ivan's words caused Laxus to pause, and Adryn to lose her shit. She instantly was up the stairs and lunging at Ivan. However, Eclipse stepped in front of Ivan to protect him. Adryn just shoved her out of the way and continued on, but Eclipse's appearance had given Ivan enough time to be able to react to the girl. Ivan just swatted Adryn away like she was a bug, causing her to fall down and hit the ground a few feet from Laxus. Adryn was a bit stunned but got back up again. Before she could attack once more, Ivan spoke up once more. "Have you already given yourself to my son? After he hears all that you've been through, I doubt he'd want something as tainted as you."

"Shut your mouth!" Adryn yelled out as she was about to go after the man again, but Laxus beat her to it. He was right up to his father immediately and hit Ivan, throwing him backward. Eclipse instantly moved to attack Laxus, but Adryn stepped in and knocked her to the ground. Before Eclipse could get up, Adryn punched her hard right in the face, causing her to fall unconscious. As she dealt with Eclipse, Laxus went after his father again. He easily kicked his father's ass, causing Ivan to go down and stay down. "Let Eclipse go! Break whatever you have over her!" Adryn yelled out as she approached Ivan. He just chuckled and shook his head.

"I don't think so. She's my new toy since you left me." To this, Adryn punched him just like she'd hit Eclipse. Too quick for him to dodge and hard enough to knock him out. Adryn then took a step back and fell to the ground. She began to cry to Laxus' surprise.

"Adryn?" Laxus hesitantly questioned as he took a step towards her. She shook her head and staggered to her feet.

"I'm fine. Let's call the Magic Council to come to get Ivan before he escapes us again." Adryn let Laxus do the calling while she went to find a rope to tie Eclipse and Ivan up. Eventually, she found some and Laxus tied his father up, while Adryn tied up her former best friend.

It didn't take long for the Magic Council to arrive, due to the fact that Freed had already called them and they were already on their way. Adryn and Laxus figured that Freed had faith that they'd need the Magic Council so he called them before they'd even found Ivan. Laxus and Adryn were thanked for catching Ivan, and for their payment, they were given a good amount of jewels and were allowed to keep Eclipse as long as they kept a hold of her. The Magic Council gave them handcuffs that would cut off Eclipse's magic, so she couldn't fight them anymore.

"Let's take Eclipse back to the inn before she wakes up," Laxus spoke to Adryn who was still in a bit of shock.

"Alright. Maybe Freed will have some way to break this brainwashing. He's super smart after all."

"Right." Laxus then went over and picked the still unconscious Eclipse up. He carried her to the inn and went to the room Adryn and Evergreen were sharing together. He set her on a chair and used the rope to tie her to the chair. After that was done, he went to go get the Thunder Legion, leaving Adryn all alone. Adryn just sat on her bed and stared at Eclipse. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but she knew that she didn't like it. Eventually, Laxus returned with the Thunder Legion and they all began to try various ways to break the brainwashing.

"Nothing is working!" Adryn cried out, getting completely frustrated at the situation. They have tried to just shock her out of it, by Adryn smacking her around, which only served to wake up Eclipse and make her angry. They tried to talk her out of it, which also just made her mad. They tried a few other things, like trying with enchantments, but nothing worked at all.

"Just stop, I'm not going to be the Eclipse you knew once again." Eclipse snapped at the girl who just turned away from her.

"There must be something stopping her from coming out of the brainwashing." Freed concluded much to Adryn's dismay. "We should take her back to Fairy Tail and see if Master knows any way to help her."

"That's a good idea. Plus, I think you need to take a break and rest up." Evergreen spoke to Adryn who just nodded her head. The men then bid goodnight to their female friends and headed to their own rooms, which was set up the same way as last time. Adryn quickly just crawled into bed and fell right to sleep, ignoring Eclipse's name-calling and bitching.

~

The next day, they all found out how difficult it was to get Eclipse on a train. She fought them every step of the way to the train and continued to fight them once she was on the train. Eventually, Adryn lost her patience and used her pain magic on Eclipse, causing her to pass out after a solid five minutes of intense pain. Adryn was too worked up to even feel the motion sickness during the train ride but was still relieved when they reached Magnolia. As soon as they got there, they headed to the Fairy Tail guild. They then explained everything that happened while they were gone from the guild.

"I'm sorry, Adryn, I don't think I know any way to break brainwashing." Master Makarov finally stated after he listened to their story. Adryn just about broke down but kept herself together.

"I understand Master. Do you think she can stay here for a little while? I don't think I can handle being around her right now." Adryn spoke as she was clearly run down. He instantly agreed and Adryn left the guildhall. She headed home but could tell that someone followed after her. Once she got home, she turned around and realized that it was Laxus who'd followed her. "Do you want to come in?"

"I didn't follow you here to just stand outside your home," Laxus stated as he smirked at the girl. She couldn't help but smile back and open up her door. They both entered it and sat down on the couch together. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a bit better now that I'm away from Eclipse, but I'm just so upset over her. I don't know how to help her and get her back to normal."

"I'm sorry, Adryn."

"Why are you sorry, you don't need to be sorry." Adryn instantly spoke up as she looked at Laxus.

"No one should have to go through everything that you've gone through." Adryn just shrugged her shoulders.

"It's whatever at this point. I can't do anything about it."

"You can move forward." That caused Adryn to pause.

"Move forward?"

"You can forgive yourself for what you've done. You don't have to live feeling like you feel all the time." Laxus was being very kind to Adryn, causing her to turn to fully look at him.

"You know, you're a good guy, Laxus."

"You're a good girl, Adryn." They both stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Adryn burst out into a blush. She looked way from Laxus and began to think about something that she could talk about now. She then thought about Mira telling her to just tell Laxus that she likes him, so that's what she decided to do.

"I...Laxus, I think I like you... No, I know I do..." Adryn refused to look at the man as she spoke.

"Good, because I like you too," Laxus muttered to her as he reached over and grabbed her face gently. He then turned Adryn's face to his and moved to kiss her. Instantly, Adryn internally flipped out. She couldn't handle what was about to happen, so she stood up from the couch, nearly causing Laxus to fall over. "What the hell?"

"I... I'm sorry. I can't do this."

"Why not?" Laxus stood up to stare down at the girl, but that only caused Adryn to jolt and shift away from him. It was clear that Adryn was emitting fear now, so Laxus just brushed past her. "Come find me if you get over whatever you're still holding onto." Laxus' words were harsh and cut through Adryn like a knife. As soon as he slammed Adryn's door, she burst into tears. She collapsed to the ground and held herself as she sobbed. She'd been scared for a good reason, one that she never told anyone before. She didn't mean to get scared of Laxus, but memories came rushing back and it overwhelmed her. She felt terrible for upsetting Laxus, but most importantly, she felt terrible for rejecting the only man she'd ever grown feelings for.

While Adryn cried to herself, Laxus stormed back to his house in town. There, he met up with Freed who was waiting on his front steps. Freed instantly could tell that something happened between Laxus and Adryn.

"Laxus? I thought you were with Adryn." Freed spoke as Laxus stormed past him to unlock his door.

"I was. Everything was going well, and she just rejected me out of nowhere!" Laxus snapped at his friend, who just frowned in response. "She even seemed scared of me!"

"Don't you think if she did that she had a good reason?" Freed's tone was uncharacteristically cold to Laxus. The blond man spun around to Freed who continued talking. "Adryn has been through a lot in her lifetime. She must have a reason to suddenly reject you when it's so painfully obvious that she likes you. You must have done something that triggered something in her for her to fear you."

"I never thought about that..." Laxus muttered guiltily as he looked to the ground.

"Of course you didn't. I bet you were just planning on having sex with her and then throw her away, weren't you? You're a true idiot sometimes, Laxus. You don't just want to have sex with her! You like her because your heart is falling for her!" Freed practically yelled at Laxus. Laxus just stared at Freed in shock as he watched the man gather himself and turn away from Laxus. "I apologize if I overstepped." Freed was back to normal. "If you want my opinion, you should go apologize to her and make things right before you lose her." With that, Freed left Laxus alone in his home.

"I'm such an idiot!" Laxus grumbled as he sighed to himself. He immediately left his home and headed back to Adryn's home. He wanted to get there as soon as possible, so he used his lightning dragon slayer magic to get there faster. He was there at Adryn's home within minutes. As soon as he was there, he knocked on the door and watched as Adryn opened it. He instantly felt terrible when he saw her. It was obvious that she'd been crying.

"What do you want?" Adryn's voice was quiet and low, but it was also strained. Laxus figured that she wasn't just crying, but full-on sobbing, all because of him and his actions.

"I want to apologize for my actions and words." Adryn showed her shock on her face, but Laxus ignored it and continued speaking. "I was out of line and should never have been so rude to you."

"It doesn't matter anymore. I forgive you, but it's meaningless. We can't be together." Adryn then turned away from him and walked into her house. Laxus followed immediately after her.

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Adryn," Laxus reached out and grabbed the girl as gently as he could and turned her around to face him. "What do you mean?" Tears began to come back to the girl's eyes, worrying Laxus.

"I'm tainted as Ivan said. Someone like you doesn't deserve to go so low to be with someone like me."

"What are you talking about?" Adryn looked down at the ground and sighed.

"From what I can remember, I did something that Ivan didn't like, so as a punishment, I was drugged and he let the members of Raven Tail do whatever they wanted with me." Laxus' blood ran cold. "I don't know exactly what happened to me, but I know that I was assaulted by quite a few men." Tears were falling from her eyes now but she just wiped them away and pulled her arm from Laxus' grip. "So just go. I don't want to taint you."

"I..." Laxus didn't know what to say to the girl. He was just disgusted and horrified that his father allowed and ordered such a horrible thing to happen to someone. "I don't think you're tainted, Adryn." The girl looked up at him, shocked.

"What?"

"I still want to be with you, but if you really don't want to be with me, then I won't force you. I'll show you that you deserve to be happy with someone. I'll help you get over the pain of your past."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I... don't know yet," Laxus admitted as he looked away from Adryn. To his surprise, Adryn began to chuckle.

"Fine, do whatever you want." Laxus looked back at the girl and she was smiling a slight smile. "Can you go home now? It's late and I've been through quite an ordeal today. I really need to sleep."

"Of course." Laxus walked to the door but paused. "As I said, I will protect you, even if I have to protect you from yourself." Adryn was a little confused but still smiled at the man as he closed her door and disappeared into the night.

Immediately, Adryn got ready for sleep and climbed into her nice warm bed. She fell asleep thinking about how Laxus was going to help her. There was a smile on her face as she drifted off.

~

The next day, Adryn went to the guildhall first thing in the morning. She wanted to talk to Eclipse about everything. She wasn't sure if it would do any good, but she wanted to tell Eclipse her whole life story and keep her updated on what she missed while she was "dead". Eclipse had been set up in the infirmary, so that's where Adryn headed to immediately. She said hello to the few people who were there that early, and then made her way to Eclipse. Thankfully, the pink-haired girl was awake and just sitting up in one of the beds. She instantly glared at Adryn as soon as she walked into the room.

"Hey there, Eclipse. I have a story to tell you." Adryn started as she walked over to the girl.

"I don't want to hear it," Eclipse responded instantly. Adryn just chuckled and pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. Adryn ignored the girl's protests and told her everything she'd told everyone else. She literally gave Eclipse her life's story and even informed her of the assaults that she's gone through. Eclipse seemed to cringe at hearing that, but Adryn just ignored it. She wanted her best friend to know everything about what had happened to her. Adryn knew that the real Eclipse would greatly care about it all and be upset over it.

"So, that's my story, now onto Nova." Eclipse twitched as soon as she heard Nova's name. Adryn noticed it but continued talking anyway. "From what Ivan told me, your little sister was murdered in a brutal way. She was supposedly fed to wild dogs and suffered great pain in her last moments alive." To Adryn's surprise, hearing that brought tears to Eclipse's eyes. Adryn wasn't sure what that meant and if it was a good thing or a bad thing. However, there was something else that Adryn wanted to tell Eclipse, something she thought was most important currently. "You know, I loved your sister dearly. I would have died for her. At one point in my life, she was my everything. However, I found someone new now. It's a man, surprising right? I really like him a lot and I think Nova would like him too. If you were yourself, I'm sure you'd have bad things to say about him because his personality isn't always that great, but you would overall be supportive of it." Adryn watched Eclipse slowly turn her head to face her with a deep frown with pure anger in her eyes.

"What's wrong with you!? You are cheating on Nova by falling for someone else!" Eclipse suddenly burst out, all trace of tears gone and turned to rage. Adryn was shocked for a moment, but just softly smiled at Eclipse as she shook her head.

"You're wrong, Eclipse. You know better than anyone that Nova would approve of this and want me to move on instead of dwelling on the past. That just shows me that we were right, you are being brainwashed by Ivan." That seemed to cause something strange in Eclipse's mind. It was almost like she began to overheat and panic, before suddenly falling backward in bed. "Eclipse?!" Adryn herself began to panic, but before she could go anywhere and get some help, Eclipse's eyes shot open. Adryn let out a little shriek as Eclipse sat up in bed with a smile on her face. Adryn was preparing for the worst when Eclipse just normally turned her head to look at Adryn.

"Hey, Adryn. Somehow I'm... back?" Eclipse spoke up in a questioning tone. She seemed to have a different air around her now. It was less threatening and angry than before and felt like the way she used to feel like before everything went to hell.

"Are you really back? How is that?"

"I guess hearing all the shit you've been through and then talking about Nova somehow broke the brainwashing." Eclipse explained simply. Adryn then removed the magic canceling shackles and the

two girls hugged and nearly started to cry.

"I'm so glad you're back!"

"Same!" They both began to laugh, however, Eclipse seemed to gain memories that she'd forgotten and began to cry. Adryn instantly began to panic once again.

"What's wrong?"

"I remember all the horrible things I did to people while I was being controlled. I tried to kill you and successfully killed others."

"I've done worse, so it's alright." Adryn was trying to be supportive but Eclipse just shook her head.

"Adryn, I killed Nova." Those words stopped Adryn's heart. She took a step backward and just stared at her best friend.

"W-what?"

"I murdered my own little sister..." Eclipse seemed to be the most distraught about that. Adryn thought it over for a moment before she stepped back towards Eclipse.

"It's alright, Eclipse. It wasn't your fault. It was my fault for not being able to protect both of you. I did all this to us. It's all my fault."

"No Adryn, it isn't your fault and it isn't Eclipse's fault." Both girls turned to look towards the door in shock. There stood Laxus with a frown on his face. "It's Ivan's fault." After a moment of thought, Adryn agreed with the man.

"You're right." Adryn nodded her head with a smile. Eclipse seemed to be able to accept that enough for now.

"Is this the guy you mentioned?" Eclipse questioned after a moment. Adryn just turned red and nodded her head. "I see..." That was an ominous response to that, but Adryn and Laxus just ignored it for now.

"You should take her home, Adryn. I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about." Laxus then turned and walked out of the room before either girl could say another word.

"He's right. I want to hear all about how you fell for THAT man." Eclipse seemed to be in a little shock over the type of guy that Adryn chose to like.

"I haven't fallen for him... yet..." Adryn whispered the "yet" causing Eclipse to chuckle. "Oh hush, let's go. I'll lead you to my house, but it's a long walk."

"We have time." Eclipse stated as she climbed out of bed. The two girls left the infirmary and said goodbye to the people who were there, asking one of them to explain the situation to Master Makarov when he appears later on. They weren't sure where Laxus went though, so they couldn't say goodbye to him.

They talked all the way to Adryn's home. They mostly just spoke about the town where they currently were and how the people were towards the Fairy Tail members and such. They planned on saving the most important stuff for home. They didn't want to talk about Laxus where others could hear them because Adryn was still quite shy about the situation. The time seemed to pass quickly as they walked into the forest due to them chatting. Eventually, they made it to Adryn's little home in the woods.

"This is a cute little place, Adryn." Eclipse commented as she walked into Adryn's home.

"Thanks, I found it when I was wandering through the forest one day. I guess someone else built it and then abandoned it." Adryn explained simply as she walked over and sat on a chair. Eclipse followed her and sat on the chair across from where Adryn was.

"So, tell me all about that guy."

"Well, his name is Laxus and he's Ivan's son." Eclipse just stared at Adryn.

"Yeah, no, I got that much. I meant, explain who he is and how does he treat you. Like why did you start liking him?"

"Oh. Okay, well... He's a bit prickly sometimes. He is nice to who he likes and views as friends, but he really is a great guy underneath all the muscle." Eclipse chuckled at that, but Adryn kept going. "He didn't really treat me that badly in the beginning, but it also wasn't that good. However, I got super drunk one night and he literally carried me back to our inn. I think he's actually a really sweet and caring guy, he just picks and chooses who he cares about carefully. I mean, he does have Ivan as a father, so I'm sure his upbringing wasn't all that great with him. Right? I mean could Ivan even be a good father if he tried?"

"Who knows? I know that I feel bad for Laxus for having such a father, but I also feel bad for Master Makarov for helping to produce such a bad son." Adryn nodded her head in agreement before remembering something.

"I told Laxus that I was assaulted, and he said that he doesn't think I'm tainted as I thought and that he wants to be with me, but won't force me into anything."

"That's good. I'm glad he didn't run away after hearing that."

"Well like I said, he isn't a bad guy. He's a great guy who just has issues like everyone else."

"So?"

"So...?" Adryn was lost and just stared at Eclipse, which caused the pink-haired girl to sigh.

"So, are you going to be with him or not!"

"Oh! Oh... Yeah probably. I mean I have some trauma to still overcome, but I don't want to lose him to another girl."

"Well, I fully support you and I know Nova would too. Despite what I said when I was being controlled."

"Thank you, Eclipse. I truly appreciate that."

"You should go tell him now!"

"What?! No, no, no. I can't do that. I'm not ready." Adryn got up and began to pace around. Eclipse just watched her and laughed a bit.

"You never were good when it came to matters of the heart." Adryn just frowned and stopped pacing, but then joined in on her best friend's laughter. The two knew that things would take more time to get back to how they were before, and maybe things could never fully go back to that time. However, they would be in this together and would somehow get through it all.