Chapter 13 - Hope
Laxus and the Thunder Legion finally reached the Magic Council headquarters only to find out that Eclipse was no longer there, and that two women had attacked them. Once the two women were described, Laxus and the others knew that they were talking about Arcadia and Nova.
"We need to find Eclipse. I can still smell her scent. I can't smell Arcadia or Nova for some reason." Laxus explained to the Thunder Legion.
"Alright, hopefully, she'll lead us to the other two," Freed stated as they all headed out in the direction of where Eclipse was. It took the rest of the day for Laxus and the Thunder Legion to find Eclipse. When they finally found her, she had set up camp in the forest between the towns.
"Oh, hello. I didn't expect to see you guys out here." Eclipse had apparently sensed them coming, so she was welcoming to them.
"May we join you?" Freed questioned as they approached the lone girl. She nodded her head and they all came to sit around the fire that Eclipse had built.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for..." Laxus paused and wasn't sure which name he was supposed to use for Arcadia.
"For Adryn/Arcadia? Yeah, me too." Eclipse frowned and looked into the fire. "She and Nova came to... visit me and now I'm following them. I can sense them through my connection with both of them."
"We were hoping that you could find them since their scent disappeared suddenly," Laxus explained to the pink-haired girl. She just nodded her head and sighed.
"They must have someone with teleportation magic with them. They will be hard to catch."
"So, you said they 'visited' you? What exactly happened?" Freed asked with curiosity. Eclipse then explained to them what happened between her and the other two girls. "So essentially, Nova just wanted to try to break you."
"Yeah, and it nearly worked, but something about Arcadia just seemed wrong. Her pain magic wasn't nearly as strong as it could have been. It was like she was holding back for my sake. It made me realize that I needed to be strong for her to be able to save her. So that's what I'm going to do."
"We will save her," Laxus said harshly.
"Yeah, of course, we will. We all care about her deeply. I don't like this Arcadia character, we need Adryn back. She wasn't perfect, but she at least cared about us back." After that, the conversation died down and they ended up going to sleep soon after that. Laxus didn't sleep well at all. He was dwelling too much on how they were going to save his girlfriend. Eclipse was in the same boat. She couldn't sleep well because she was too worried that they wouldn't be able to save her.
~
The next morning, the group got up fairly early and headed out. They were close to the next town, but it would take a few hours. However, once they got there, Laxus picked up Arcadia's scent. They followed the scent to an apartment in the middle of town. Not wanting to bother anyone by acting like psychos, Eclipse simply knocked on the door where Laxus smelled Arcadia from, rather than breaking in the door dramatically. After a few moments of silence, the door opened to reveal Arcadia standing there.
"Oh, hello. Come on in." Arcadia spoke as she smiled at the group which confused them entirely. "Nova told me I would have visitors, but she also told me that I should kill you if any of you tried anything with me." Arcadia led them to the living room and sat down on the couch. "So, who are you all and what do you want with me?"
"What?" Eclipse questioned a little shocked at Arcadia's question. "You don't know who we are?"
"No, should I?" That was terrifying to the group, as she at least remembered them before and didn't seem so confused.
"We know you. Well, the previous you. We knew you as Adryn, not Arcadia. We were your friends and the blond is your lover." Eclipse explained only to have Arcadia chuckle at her.
"No, I'm sorry. The only lover and friend that I have is Nova. No one else matters to me." instantly, Eclipse walked over to Arcadia and grabbed her shoulders and began to shake her.
"Snap out of it! You are going to do or say something that you can never come back from!" Eclipse yelled into Arcadia's face. The redhead became furious immediately and shoved Eclipse away from her, knocking her to the ground as Arcadia stood up.
"I am not to be touched by anyone! Only Nova can touch me!"
"Arcadia. You must listen to us. We are your friends and Laxus is your boyfriend. Eclipse is your best friend." Freed calmly spoke to the now shaking girl. Arcadia just shook her head in return.
"No, you're lying to me!" Arcadia took a step away from Eclipse and the others and the pink-haired girl stood up.
"Please, Adryn. You need to wake up and see the truth." Eclipse nearly begged to her former best friend. The only thing the others could see in Arcadia's eyes was pure confusion.
"You are going to lose your family if you don't snap out of it," Evergreen stated with a sad tone. The redhead's eyes were slowly changing to acceptance. She was clearly starting to accept their words. However, at that terrible moment, the door opened to reveal Nova standing there looking furious.
"Arcadia is now mine and will always be mine." Nova declared angrily as she stomped up to Arcadia and stood in front of her. That seemed to make Laxus snap as he took a step forward and began to speak.
"Adryn is no one's possession! She made her choice already and she wants to be with Fairy Tail! She wants to be with me and you have no right to take the ability to choose for her!" Laxus growled out loudly at the lilac-haired girl. Nova just smiled at the man, unfazed by his words.
"Don't you remember, Arcadia chose to go with me that day. She willingly came with me."
"I don't even know any of you people." Arcadia snapped at them. "You can't talk to Nova like that and you need to leave now!" Laxus just growled under his breath and walked over to Arcadia. He then grabbed her shoulders, pulled her to him and kissed her right on the lips. He felt Arcadia freeze as he did so. The kiss only lasted a few moments and Laxus soon pulled away from Arcadia.
"I will continue to love you, even though you no longer remember me," Laxus muttered to the shocked girl. "But, this is goodbye, Arcadia." Laxus went to turn away but caught a glimpse of Arcadia's face. There were tears streaming down her face and she was now holding onto Laxus' coat sleeve. "Why are you crying?"
"I-I don't know! I just know that my chest hurts and I don't want to say goodbye to you!" Arcadia cried out as she wiped her tears away from her eyes.
"Stop thinking like that! Remember that you are mine!" Nova screamed at the girl, trying to move her away from Laxus.
"No! I'm not anyone's property! I don't even remember why I'm with you in the first place!" Arcadia yelled back, smacking Nova's hands away from her.
"Do you remember anything?" Eclipse questions, approaching the confused and still crying girl.
"I don't remember anything anymore and I don't like it one bit!" Arcadia cried out as she took a step back from everyone. "I want to leave. Right now!"
"Do you want to come back with us to Fairy Tail?" Laxus asks instantly. Arcadia took a moment to look up at him before nodding her head.
"Yes. I want to go with you."
"Enough!" Nova then lunged at Laxus with a dagger out, but Arcadia just began to use her pain magic on the lilac-haired girl. Nova dropped the dagger and fell to the ground. Arcadia was using her full power on Nova, causing her to pass out within a few seconds.
"I... I don't think I trust Nova anymore."
"Good! She's the one who caused you to lose all your memories!" Eclipse spoke up as she stepped over her unconscious sister to get to Arcadia.
"Let's get going before she wakes up," Freed said before anyone else could say a thing. They all agreed with him, so with that, they headed to the train station. They boarded the train and began their journey home.
"So do you really not remember anything?" Eclipse finally asks when she realized that Adryn was turning green.
"Well, I remember a little about my life... or at least what I thought was my life. I was told by Nova that there was no one else in my life other than her and Ivan, but he's dead now so it's just Nova. She also told me that I was alone and that if I didn't stay with her, then I would be completely alone. She told me that Fairy Tail was my enemy and that I should avoid any member of Fairy Tail because no one would accept someone from Raven Tail." Arcadia explained simply as she began to get distracted from her motion sickness. Arcadia then looked to her wrist with a frown. "You know, I always knew something was wrong because I could see the Fairy Tail mark under the Raven Tail brand."
"Do you remember getting the brand?" Evergreen questioned, to which Arcadia just shook her head.
"No, when I woke up, it was there."
"That could play a part in you forgetting everything. It may be as if it is blocking your memories as it was blocking out the Fairy Tail mark." Freed suggests after a moment of thought. Arcadia thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.
"Can you all tell me about my life?" Arcadia looked to Eclipse and Laxus for answers, who looked at each other.
"Well, you were dating Laxus and me and a girl called Mirajane were your best friends." Eclipse began simply as she looked to Arcadia. "You moved in with Laxus a little after you started dating. However, before that, you lived in the forest around Magnolia. Before all that though, you were forced to be a part of Raven Tail and Ivan put you through hell causing you to help in the ending of his life."
"What about the truth about Nova?"
"Nova had been pretending to be dead all these years and she said that she was close with Ivan."
"She was close to Ivan. Disturbingly close."
"What do you mean by that?"
"They... they
were sleeping together. Or at least that's what I think. I'm not sure if that is a true memory or something false that Nova planted in my mind."
"That's disgusting!" Evergreen gasped out to which Arcadia just nodded her head. The redhead then looked to Laxus who had a grossed out look on his face. He clearly didn't like to think that an older man could be sleeping with such a young girl. So, with that, their conversation died out and Arcadia drifted off to sleep. She was exhausted from the day she'd had.
Much later that day, they reached Magnolia. Eclipse woke Arcadia up, who frowned upon seeing her. She explained that she was upset because she hoped that all this craziness was just a dream. Eclipse apologizes to her for it not being a dream and then leads Arcadia off the train. All of them met up outside the train station and were saying their goodnights as it was too late to head to the guildhall.
"Um... Where am I supposed to go?" Arcadia asked as everyone was about to leave. However, instead of anyone responding to her, Laxus just took ahold of her hand and began to lead her away.
"You will come to our apartment." Laxus simply explained as he walked away from the others. Arcadia didn't pull her hand away or argue with him. She liked her hand being held by Laxus but she didn't understand why. She didn't remember him at all, but apparently, her body did. Once they got into their apartment, Laxus released her hand. "I'll sleep on the couch. You can sleep in the bed in the bedroom." Arcadia nodded her head and headed to where Laxus pointed her to. Once she got in there, she looked through the closet and found clothing that she liked. She was confused but accepted it and changed into a simple nightgown that was blue. She then walked to the bed and saw a book that she really liked sitting on the bedside table. That confused her further, but also made her realize that these were her things.
"Laxus?" Arcadia questioned as she left the bedroom. Laxus was sitting on the couch trying to get a pillow to act right for him. He was shirtless now causing Arcadia to avert her eyes and look to the floor with a blush on her face.
"What is it?"
"I... I'm sorry for forgetting everything. I can tell that you are a little... upset over me not remembering you. I'm also sorry that I doubted you all. I can see now that maybe you all were telling me the truth."
"It's alright, Arcadia. It isn't your fault. Just go to bed." Laxus didn't mean to sound so harsh, but it came out that way anyway. Before he could say anything else, the girl fled to his bedroom and closed the door behind her. She climbed into the bed on the side where the book she liked was. She figured that it was her side of the bed. She couldn't fall asleep though. She felt like there was a hole inside her heart and she didn't understand why. The pain from it was so great, the girl began to cry quietly to herself eventually crying herself to sleep. Unfortunately for Laxus, he could hear her crying and felt even worse now. He didn't know why she was crying, but he blamed himself for it.
~
The next morning, Arcadia woke up and got changed into a pair of black shorts and a blue tank top. She truly enjoyed the outfit and wondered why Nova put her in what she was wearing before. After she was dressed, she left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen where Laxus was making food for the two of them.
"Good morning," Arcadia spoke up to the man who looked over his shoulder and grunted in response. She sat down at the table and waited patiently for the man to finish up. "How did you sleep?"
"Not well. The couch is not big enough for me to comfortably lay on." Laxus sounded a little grumpy due to his lack of sleep. "How did you sleep?"
"It felt like I passed out, so I'm not entirely sure. However, I think I slept well."
"That's good." Laxus then brought two plates of food over for himself and Arcadia. The two ate in silence and afterward, Laxus went to the bedroom to get ready for the day. Once he was ready and had his coat on, they headed out of the apartment. On their way, Arcadia began to slow her walking. "What's wrong?"
"I... I am worried. What if they don't accept me due to the Raven Tail brand over the Fairy Tail mark?"
"I'll protect you." Hearing those words from Laxus caused a few stray tears to fall from Arcadia's eyes. Both herself and Laxus were confused at that, but Arcadia just wiped the tears away.
"I'm sorry. I don't understand what's going on. I have a strange feeling in my chest." hearing that gave Laxus a little hope for the girl remembering him, but he tried to not get his hopes up too far. The rest of the walk, the two remained silent. It was a comfortable silence though as neither of them had anything of importance to say to each other. Soon, they reached the guildhall and everyone looked at them as they walked in.
"Hello, Arcadia. Eclipse and the Thunder Legion have explained the situation already to us." Master Makarov stated to the redhead as he approached her and Laxus. Master Makarov then introduced himself and was about to say more, but multiple people surrounded them, asking Arcadia if she was okay and how she was feeling. It was all quite overwhelming, causing Arcadia to panic. Out of fright, Arcadia stepped behind Laxus and held onto his coat.
"Everyone needs to back off! She isn't in the mood to answer questions." Laxus snapped at the group, who instantly dispersed and returned to their tables. "Let's go." Laxus then began to walk, with Arcadia following closely behind him. He led her to Mirajane and Master Makarov who were with Eclipse and the Thunder Legion.
"So, child, do you have any memories yet?" Master Makarov questioned the redhead who just shook her head.
"No, sir. I do have a strange feeling in my chest every now and then though, but no memories." Arcadia responded simply as she put a hand to her chest.
"She's been crying a lot," Laxus muttered to the group.
"That could be her true self coming out through the crying as she is locked away and is upset at hurting everyone around her," Freed suggested as an explanation.
"Are you all really upset that I forgot everything?" It was a stupid question, Arcadia knew that, but she was genuinely curious. They all nodded their heads and told her that they were, indeed, upset over her lack of memories. All of them responded, except Laxus, so Arcadia turned to look at him.
"I... I am upset over you losing your memories of me, I mean of all of us." Laxus responded as he looked to the ground.
"I am really sorry, Laxus," Arcadia muttered sadly.
"Stop apologizing. It isn't your fault." Laxus looked the girl in the eyes to show that he was being sincere.
"So, about the brand... what do you think we could do about it?" Mirajane questioned bringing the topic back to what they were all wanting to discuss.
"I think we should just cut it off. I don't want it on my arm anymore." Arcadia instantly responded causing everyone around her to look at her with concern.
"Uh, let's put that as the last plan of action. Alright?" Eclipse responded nearly immediately.
"I'll start researching how to remove it with magic," Freed spoke up, causing Arcadia to nod her head in agreement. After it was clear that none of them had anything else to say, Mirajane, Evergreen and Eclipse pulled Arcadia to the side, away from the men. Arcadia had a bad feeling about what was about to be spoken about.
"So, how are you feeling?" Mirajane questioned softly and friendly.
"What we really want to know is how the night went with Laxus," Evergreen stated before Arcadia could answer Mirajane's question.
"Well... He slept on the couch and I slept in the bedroom. I spent most of my time upset because of how bad I feel. I feel terrible for Laxus because I can't be the person he cares about currently." Arcadia explained simply as she looked between the three other girls.
"Don't worry, Arcadia. Laxus is a strong man and he'll be okay." Mirajane patted the girl's shoulder, trying to reassure her. Arcadia frowned for a second before smiling and nodding her head. She didn't know Laxus that well right now, but from what she could tell from him, Mirajane was right, he was a strong man.
"Let's go to Freed and see if he has any ideas on how to remove the Raven Tail brand from your arm," Evergreen stated as she guided Arcadia away from the other two. They were about to meet up with Freed when Natsu jumped in the way of their path.
"Fight me, Arcadia!" Natsu yelled out clearly ready to just attack at any given moment. Arcadia took a step back in fright but before she could say anything, Natsu was whacked to the ground by Laxus.
"Enough, Natsu. Leave Arcadia be." Laxus demanded, causing the pink-haired male to nod his head in agreement as he saw stars.
"Thank you, Laxus," Arcadia muttered to which Laxus just grunted and went back to the bar where he and Bickslow were. Mirajane joined him over there and the two began to chat, but Arcadia couldn't hear what they were talking about. However, when Laxus smiled at something Mirajane said, Arcadia felt a strange feeling in her chest again, causing her to frown. "I'll be right back, Evergreen. I need to speak with Eclipse really quick."
"Alright?" Evergreen responded in confusion. She watched as Arcadia hurried over to where the pink-haired girl was sitting. She was alone reading a book on potions.
"Eclipse?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Eclipse closed her book and looked up at the frowning girl. "What's wrong?" Arcadia then sat down and sighed.
"I'm not really sure. I just feel a pain in my chest now that I saw Laxus smile because of Mirajane. I don't understand why I feel this way."
"Hmm... Oh! You're jealous!" Eclipse smiled at Arcadia but that caused Arcadia to frown deeper.
"Why would I feel jealous?"
"Your heart has probably remained the same and doesn't
like Laxus talking to and smiling with another girl, even if it is Mira. You wouldn't normally feel that way, but your feelings must be all jumbled right now." Arcadia then shook her head at the pink-haired girl.
"No, that can't be. I don't even know Laxus or Mirajane. Why would I care about if they talk, smile or anything?" Arcadia then turned around and ran out of the guildhall.
"Wait, Arcadia!" Eclipse got up from her table, but Arcadia was already out of the guildhall and gone from sight.
"Why did she run away like that? What did you say to her?" Laxus demanded as he approached Eclipse.
"She was just having emotional problems and she probably shouldn't be alone." Eclipse cryptically responded to the man.
"I'll go after her." So, Laxus did just that. He smelled where Arcadia had gone and followed her path. He followed her scent to the park, finding the girl seated at the base of a tree. She looked fairly upset and had her knees brought up to her chest. She noticed him instantly and frowned deeper than she was before.
"Go back to the guildhall," Arcadia muttered as Laxus approached her. Instead of listening to her, Laxus decided to sit right next to her. That just caused Arcadia to sigh and look away from him.
"What's wrong?" To Laxus' question, he receives nothing but silence. The girl doesn't even look his way. Which then causes Laxus to sigh. He then leaned against the tree and waited until Arcadia was ready to talk to him. It took a few minutes of silence for the girl to finally open her mouth, but she still didn't look at him.
"What are you going to do if I never regain my memories?" Arcadia practically whispered to the man next to her. Laxus had to think about that for a moment before responding to the girl.
"I will continue to care for you, no matter what. If anything, we can make new memories together and maybe you could fall for me again."
"You're quite arrogant to think that I would just fall for you all over again."
"It isn't arrogance, it's faith in our feelings for each other." Laxus' words were shocking to the girl. He wasn't one to say such things unless he truly meant it. Which instantly brought tears to Arcadia's eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Laxus." Arcadia covered her face and tried to hide the fact that tears were now filling her eyes.
"You shouldn't cry. I'm not good with crying people."
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry." Arcadia then paused and wondered how she knew that.
"How do you know that?" Laxus asked the question that she wondered as well. "Do you remember anything?"
"No, I just know that somehow. Maybe I just figured that because of the type of man you are?"
"Even so, you shouldn't be able to remember the type of man I am."
"Good point..." Arcadia muttered as she finally looked at the man. It seemed like Laxus had something on his mind, so Arcadia began to speak again. "What's on your mind?"
"Do you remember your time with Ivan?" Laxus finally asked after a moment of thought. Arcadia looked at him with confusion before frowning deeper.
"I do remember some things, but I doubt they were real. Most of the memories I have were neutral or good ones, but I somehow don't think that is true."
"From what you told me, your memories of Ivan were negative and he caused you a lot of problems." Laxus didn't want to explain any further. He didn't want to cause the girl to become upset or anything.
"I see... Hey Laxus?"
"Yeah?"
"What about our life together? What was it like?" Arcadia looked to Laxus with curiosity in her eyes.
"Where should I start?"
"The beginning, I guess."
"We met when we were forced to work together for a job. The job was hunting down and taking down Raven Tail members. Our feelings for each other quickly grew. I found out immediately that you are a bad drinker and shouldn't be allowed to drink too much alcohol. I had to carry you back to our inn one night." Laxus couldn't help but smile at that fond memory. "You also tried to leave me right before we moved in together. You wanted to leave because of all the messed up things that you supposedly caused, but I didn't care and don't care about that. I love you even with all the shit you've gone through and 'caused'."
"You shouldn't love me," Arcadia muttered as she looked to the ground in front of her. "You should move on."
"That's impossible. I've never loved anyone before, so there's no coming back from my feelings now." To Laxus' words, Arcadia's eyes filled with tears.
"I know you told me to stop apologizing, but I truly am sorry that I forgot you and everything between us."
"I know," Laxus spoke up with a frown. "What do you want to do now? Where do you go from here?"
"I want to do as you said. I want to try to see if I can grow feelings for you again and hopefully my memories will return eventually." Arcadia heard an audible sigh of relief coming from the man next to her, causing her to turn her head to look at him. He had a slight smile on his face. "What?"
"I'll work to gain your love back," Laxus responded without actually answering her question. Arcadia decided to just let it go and smiled at him.
"Alright, I wish you luck." Laxus returned the girl's smile and the two sat there in silence for another few moments before Laxus stood up and held out his hand to Arcadia.
"Let's return to the guild."
"Yeah, let's." Arcadia reached up and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. Neither of them were sure where things would lead them, but they had hope, which was something they didn't have a few minutes ago. So, it was a start and all they could currently ask for.