Mira's heart was pounding in her chest despite the fact that she felt like the world had stopped turning. Her brother. Her brother was standing right in front of her, safe and sound. Even more surprising, he had in his arms Laxus's sister who, despite her weakened state, didn't seem to be heavily injured either. However, no matter how glad she was to see the man beside her also finding the family member he was looking for, she only had eyes for Elfman. Nothing was holding her back and, as soon as she dared to move a muscle, she ran to him. During the time Mira took to reach him, she saw Evergreen painfully slide off of Elfman's arms, calling at her own brother as Elfman was making sure she could stand properly. The white haired young woman took advantage of his now free arms to throw herself at her brother, tears running down her cheeks without even noticing.
When the Strauss siblings finally let go of their embrace, they could she that Evergreen was also hugging Laxus. Even if the latter seemed to be distant as always, he was undeniably relieved to see her safe.
"What happened to to you?" Finally asked Laxus about the state she was in. "And how the hell were you in that hallway?"
To that question, Mira rose as well her interrogating eyes on them. She was so absorbed by the joy caused by their reunion that the oddity of them being in the tunnel documented by Gajeel didn't even occur to her.
"The DFA... They are true monsters" managed to say Evergreen after being assaulted by a shiver of disgust. "But you..?"
"We already know about the DFA. That's why we're here" simply said Laxus.
"We met people who escaped from this place" specified Mira. "But we have to act fast..."
Her sentence was suspended and she started to scan their surrounding at the same time as Laxus.
"You heard that?" Asked Mira to the young man.
The latter confirmed with a nod.
"We have to get out of here, quick" he agreed taking Evergreen in his arms who was still in an energy deficiency.
The others didn't argue and all ran in the direction of where Mira, Laxus and Natsu had entered. Mira clenched her teeth. She could focus all she want, in a place with this much echo and this complex, she hadn't a clue on the provenance of the steps Laxus and her had heard. At the way Laxus was nervously looking around, she could tell that he couldn't either determine the source of it.
Then Laxus abruptly stopped, wrinkling his nose to smell the air. Horror instantly hit Mira. She saw him in action once and knew how his sense of smell was extraordinary. When she caught the smell herself, she barely had time to dodge as a fallen threw itself at her. But the orange pair of eyes that was staring at her wasn't the only one and, barely seconds later, four other eyes were shining before them. Her heart skipped a beat even more as she noticed that the three beasts were surrounding them.
Natsu was ready, as smile full of challenge on his face. As for the girl she didn't have time to properly meet, she was holding her fists in front of her and that, despite the fear she tried to hide. Elfman, him, stood high with an assurance she never thought she'd see on her teddy bear of a brother. She would have like to turn to Laxus and see how he was doing but turning her back to a fallen would be committing suicide. It didn't matter anyway, the creature not letting her time to think any further and charging on her, its sharp claws this time barely missing by an inch.
A fist violently collided on the wall where the fallen was standing seconds before allowing her to witness the importance of her brother's strength, undeniably his ring's power. Sadly, no matter how big the deployed force was, the action was useless if the fallen where too fast to get hit. She had to focus, predict their actions if she wanted to have a chance to get rid of them. Sadly, despite her high-level sight, the simple light originating from Laxus's flashlight, now held by Evergreen, was insufficient. Another hit. She barely dodged. Then it was Elfman's turn to be targeted as a brutal kick sent him crashing against the wall.
She could only yell Elfman's name before the fallen's attention was once more on her who, this time, couldn't escape the impressing jaw that clenched on her forearm, extracting from her a tearing scream. The beast's teeth still in her flesh, her legs collapsed under the creature's weight and, as she laid on the ground, only her reflexes allowed her to block the claws that were once more aiming at her. Mira maintained as best as she could the fallen's arm with her free one. She trembled by the effort and knew that sooner her later, her strength couldn't be at par with the monster.
As she almost lost hope, Mira felt propelled on the side before the pressure exerted by the jaw on her arm stopped. Blinking to understand what just happened, the young woman realized that her brother had just lethally hit the fallen's skull. After making sure he was indeed dead, she looked around to find out in what condition were the others, a hand on her heavily bleeding wound. Right next to her, she could see with relief the corps of another fallen on the ground. Her quietude was, however, short as she noticed the unanimated form of Natsu laying next to the said fallen. The one accompanying Elfman and Evergreen was desperately trying to stop the blood from flowing from a horrible wound at his head. Her blood froze. If he was out could despite his resistance to pain, he could only be heavily injured.
A wave of fear filled her despite the two defeated fallens and she started to look for Laxus with even more ardor. She hoped to see him out of danger, having also achieved to protect Evergreen, a third and last fallen's body at his feet, but all she saw was a row of claws aiming at her and, this time, she didn't have enough time to react.
Laxus tightened his hold on Evergreen, detecting some fallen's presence. Three of them had managed to spot them. Mira and he had a hard time getting rid of only one. He, however, had to acknowledge that they were also more numerous themselves. But how was he supposed to fight those things as he was carrying Evergreen? After hardly having dodged two of the fallen's attacks, Ever, having noticed the handicap she represented started to talk.
"Put me down".
"No way! They're only waiting for this to finish what they started!"
"But I can't keep pulling you back like that, I… I'll find a way to fend for myself…" she said with the most conviction she could.
"Tch. You can't even fool yourself. I've walked for days to get to you, you stay right here!"
"Laxus…" whispered Evergreen, out of words, before seeing the fallen getting once more at them. "Watch out!"
Another attack came close to take, for good this time, Laxus's right eye. He panted a little, readying himself for another blow. However, he couldn't dodge forever.
"Have enough strength to hold on my neck?" He asked.
"Yes"
"Good"
As soon as he felt the grip tightening around his neck, he freed his right hand and took out a knife, holding the rest of Evergreen's weight with one arm. The situation obviously wasn't ideal but at least, he now had a chance to fight back.
"Bring it on, you bastard" taunted him Laxus.
However, being close enough to reach him with his dagger and far enough to stay out of harms 'way was more complex them he initially thought. As if it wasn't enough, heartbreaking cry turned his attention on Mira. His blood started to boil as he saw her being assaulted by the fallen she was fighting. But he couldn't do a thing. That simple second of inattention almost cost him his life. He focussed once more and managed to make a gash near his adversary's eye. It was of course progress from what he had done so far, but the wound seemed to have no effect at all on the fallen. He got back to his fighting position, the fatigue now slowly filling his every muscle. Another hit, another dodge, before the blade finally entered deeply the flesh where its heart was. However, getting close enough to do so had a cost, making him vulnerable to the violent hit that sent him on the wall.
The young man chased the dizziness he got from the blow, focussing back on the fight… too late. The fallen was already on his feet, facing Mirajane, ready to open up her throat. Laxus didn't have time to attack anymore, but if he didn't move this instant, there was no way she could survive that.
His body moved as his mind was still trying to figure out what was happening. Then he felt a vivid pain in his back, which he just exposed to the fallen's paw. The pain almost made him lose consciousness. He could, however, feel a soft hand brushing his, taking the knife he wasn't in the position to use anymore. He then understood Mira had used the weapon to attack the fallen's head, the only place other than the throat that seemed to be effective against the creatures. Then he collapsed on the young woman as Evergreen was falling from his arms.
"Laxus!" Yelled Mira, slowing his fall the best she could.
"You don't have to be this loud" he growled once his shock had vanished. "It's not like it's going to kill me…"
Despite his words, Mira delicately placed her hands on his back practically bare because of the shattered shirt, inspecting the gravity of the wound. She made an uneasy face but confirmed that the wounds weren't life-threatening. She sighed in relief.
"Only you could be this insufferable just after playing hero" she smiled.
"I'm no hero" he mumbled, not expecting such a comment from the young woman.
"Thank you" she simply answered.
"Tch. Did you really think I would let him cut your throat?"
"Most people would have stayed out of danger rather than save me" she maintained her point.
"I'm not like most people".
"That, I know" she smiled.
While translating my chapters, I get to read them a couple of months after writing the original French chapter. Sometimes it makes me smile, remembering a detail I forgot. Sometimes it makes me frown, changing what was wrong in the original version. This time, I especially loved rediscovering this chapter (I think it's my favorite in this fiction until now). Hope you liked it yourselves! Don't forget to review :)
To answer your question Kaito1412, at the moment I started writing this fiction in French, I only had heard of Attack on Titans so it wasn't my intention to base my fiction on this show. However, I was aware of the main plotline so I might have been unconsciously influenced by it. I honestly can't tell. But after watching the anime myself, I can see the common points :)
As for Mira D. Blackjack, thank you for your support through all of my English fanfictions! I really appreciate it!
Also, even though I only answered to those who commented my last chapter, I'm grateful to all of you who commented before and who fav/followed the story!
Have a nice day/evening!
Lily xxx
