This chapter has smut, X's mark the spot if you want to skip.
Chapter 18
Laxus was glad that the last portion of their trip involved walking. Four days of non stop travel had left him unable to keep more than a small portion of food down.
After the train to Hargeon they were able to find a merchant ship traveling to Caelum. The very thought of those two days on water had Laxus' stomach churning. When they reached Caelum they had to take a train to the capital city of Alpha, and from there a carriage to the small town of Lyra.
During the carriage ride their driver had visibly become nervous when they informed him that they were heading to Orion. When asked about it he regaled them in the tale that the some years ago the town had been cursed with lightning. Several people had been killed and their bodies were petrified in place from the heat and power of the electricity. The villagers had fled the area and now no one went near it.
The group knew what really happened, and it caused the uncomfortable glances they shared as people kept warning them from going to Orion when they arrived in Lyra.
Now as they walked down the road Laxus felt nauseous, and it wasn't from motion sickness. The thought that kept crossing his mind was would Ivy hate him for following her? Would she even want to be with him if they succeeded? Watching Gajeel and Levy for the past several days had not helped his stress levels.
Gajeel had explained to him the mating and biting thing in more detail the iron dragon slayer learned with Levy, and Laxus watched as the mark on Levy's neck become darker and harder until it was a solid patch of iron scales.
Laxus was thankful that the little mage knew how to make silencing runes. Everytime the mark became more noticeable it was due to Gajeel rebiting her, and from what the iron slayer had told him about when the biting happens Laxus was glad not to hear it.
He had never felt so jealous of something before. Every time he thought of Ivy his fangs would almost itch. Not to mention that when Gajeel was touching Levy he wouldn't get motion sickness; the lucky bastard. Laxus inhaled deeply through his nose, he didn't even care about not getting sick he just missed the tall woman.
Laxus suddenly stopped in his tracks as a new smell hit his nose; a smell he had memorized in a few days. He slowly turned to the right and stared at the trees that lined the road, and sniffed the air.
"Laxus, what is it." Freed and the rest of the group had stopped to look back at the tall mage.
Instead of responding he started walking forward at a quick pace into the trees. The group followed but their questions were ignored.
They moved thru the forest for almost twenty minutes with Laxus keeping a pace so fast that Levy had to jump onto Gajeel's back or risk being left behind.
Finally Laxus came to a sudden halt causing Freed, who had followed closely behind the man, to run into his back. Laxus gave his friend a glare before turning back forward as the rest of the group moved around him.
In front of them was a fort. Not a military fort or anything official, but more like a clubhouse kids would build for fun. Taking a closer look Laxus realized this fort had taken considerable planning.
Four sturdy trees stood at each corner. Each tree had a groove cut in to the side that held logs between them. These logs held up tree limbs and sheets of scrap metal that made up a roof. The walls had multiple wood pillars with large sections of canvas tied in between them. The tan canvases were covered in paint that showed images of flowers and suns, people dancing, even a dragon wrapped itself around the structure.
Laxus let out a small chuckle as he noticed the sign nailed to one of the front trees.
Fort Ivy
No boys allowed
Hearing a twig snap the group turned ready for an attack, but standing across the small cleaning from them was Ivy with her arms full of firewood.
As Laxus and Ivy stared at each other, no one spoke. Ivy was the one to brake the staring contest and began using the wood to set up her campfire in a ring of stones that was placed a good ten feet away from the fort.
Taking a few steps forward Laxus opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as the woman stood to face him.
"If you're hungry I'm going to have to hunt something bigger. If not I still have to go get my food."
"Food sounds great. Do you need help?" Levy stepped forward trying to break the tension that had settled over the area. Giving the tall woman one of her brightest smiles Levy felt herself falter as the look she received back was cold and empty.
"Get a fire going then you can get more wood and set up a spit." Without another glance Ivy walked back into the trees.
Several hours later found the group around the fire as a deer cooked over it. They sat in an uncomfortable circle, the silence only broken when liquid would drip onto the fire.
After Ivy had returned and set up the deer on the spit she had walked into her fort and tied the opening shut.
Even with the looks the rest of the group gave him Laxus refused to go and push Ivy into a conversation. He didn't need any broken bones if a fight was going to happen the next day.
No one moved when Ivy stepped back out through the canvas, her eyes slightly bloodshot. She walked around them until she stood next to Laxus, and gave the man a soft kick in the thigh before turning and walking towards the trees with a "Let's talk" called over her shoulder.
Laxus scrambled to his feet and followed her. The two walked for a short while in silence until Laxus heard the soft bubbling of running water. Ivy stopped their march next to a stream that formed a decent sized pool before running over several large rocks to continue its path. Around the pool were multiple piles of different sized boulders.
Ivy turned to Laxus and stared at him, eyes filled with uncertainty. "Why are you here?"
Laxus froze. Why was he here? Why was he here! Anger filled him. After their conversations that had him opening up to her quicker then he ever had before, she would ask him why was he here!
"Why the fuck do you think I'm here! I'm not going to let you just give up and hand yourself over to these crazy people! They'll kill you!" He watched Ivy's eyes widen as he shouted.
He knew he should give her a chance to talk, but he wasn't done. "I get why you left, I would have done the same thing to protect the people I care about! But how can you not understand that I feel the same way about you! How could I live with myself if I didn't follow you!?
Laxus stopped as Ivy stepped forward and wrapped her arms loosely around his waist. He couldn't help himself and Laxus let his head fall to her shoulder as he tried to calm down.
When his breathing slowed and his head was more clear. Laxus leaned back to look at the women in front of him. Her hair was tangled and she was covered in a layer of filth, but Laxus still thought she was beautiful. Even if she smelled.
"Your a dumb ass," Ivy's flat tone caught Laxus off guard as she took took a step back "I wasn't going to just hand myself over. They can't use the hammer without me. Once I learned what their plans where I was going to cause enough mayhem and destruction to hopefully break up the group. Then I was going to come back to you and explain why I left like I did, and hope you could forgive me."
"So why did you leave like that?"
"I wanted you mad at me. I figured if you were mad you wouldn't follow. I know that I would give in to any demands if you or Levy; hell if anyone here was threatened." Ivy wrapped her hands into the front of Laxus's shirt and gave him sad smile. "I'm happy you all are here, but I'm scared of what could happen."
"We're Fairy Tail. It's common knowledge that we can get out of most situations and beat the odds." Laxus started to lean forward but stopped himself. "I've missed you but please tell me you brought us over here to take a bath."
Ivy snorted and walked over to a stone that rested next to the pool. Lifting the rock she revealed a hole with a bar of soap, a tube of toothpaste, and a container of shampoo in a plastic pouch. "Turn around"
Rolling his eyes Laxus did as she commanded. "Why is all this stuff out here anyway."
"Sometimes I needed to get away." A pause followed as Ivy shuffled behind him, and there was a soft thud as her hammer was placed on the ground. "From the village... from my dad. So I would come out here."
Laxus heard a splash behind him and decided it was safe to turn back.
Ivy's head bobbed out of the water and she gave him an expectant look. "You coming in?"
Laxus pulled of his shirt as Ivy spun around giving him the same privacy he had given her. When he slid into the water he couldn't help but let out a curse at the chill that caused his body to immediately shiver.
"I forgot you don't react to cold well." Ivy quickly moved closer and wrapped herself around him. "I missed you too."
Reaching behind her Laxus grabbed the bar of soap and started rubbing circles onto Ivy's back. It didn't take long before both of them were covered in suds and Laxus was massaging the shampoo into her hair while she rubbed her teeth with the paste.
When she pulled back to rinse off Laxus refused to let her go. She was the only thing keeping him from turning blue, and he was enjoying the way she was rubbing against him. Bring her into a hard kiss Laxus dunked them both under the water.
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Once they were both free of the soap Laxus pulled them on to a rock that was still warm; even as the sun sunk behind the tree line. Covering her body with his own Laxus remembered that he didn't have to worry about crushing her and let himself rest fully against Ivy's curves as he began suck and nibble on her neck. He shifted slightly and moved his hand to grasp her breast, noticing how well she fit in his hand.
Using her soft sighs as encouragement Laxus moved down as he began rolling her nipple between his fingers. Ivy arched her back and Laxus let the movement bring her other breast to his mouth. He spent time switching his hands and mouth between each mound, loving the way Ivy panted and moved beneath him as he scrapped his fangs against her.
Ivy let out a small whine when Laxus left her chest and began kissing his way down her stomach. When he reached the apex of her legs Laxus moved one of her thighs over his shoulder while pushing the other to the side with a bend in the knee. Instead of plunging his tongue into the wet slit in front of him like he wanted Laxus turned his head and began sucking on Ivy's inner thigh. He waited until she pushed herself up to lock eyes with him before moving back to his original goal.
Laxus watched Ivy's face redden unable to break away from his heated stare as he slid his tongue up past her entrance to swirl around her hardened clit before pulling it into his mouth.
Ivy bit down on her lip as he pushed a finger into her, and Laxus was starting to find a challenge in getting her to release much noise. He could feel Ivy tighten around him while he pumped his finger, and before he could add a second digit her hands grasped his head as she curled around him. Ivy only released a soft low moan before flopping back onto the rock as her lower abs twitched.
Laxus raised himself up licking his lips and finger before wrapping Ivy's legs around his waist, and grabbing her hips with his large hands. He slid himself against her waiting for Ivy to come back down from her high and when she finally gave him a nod he pushed forward filling her with one thrust. Laxus immediately knew he should have done something different.
"Fuck!" All of the muscles in Ivy's body tensed as she grabbed onto Laxus' hands. She had known it would hurt, but this was much worse then she had imagined.
"Shit, are you okay?" Laxus didn't know what to do. He had forgotten Ivy had never done this before. Hell, he had never been with a virgin before! Should he pull out? Laxus didn't think he could do that easily with how his body was screaming to get started. Fortunately Ivy answered his unspoken question.
"Don't move." Ivy ground her teeth. "Give me a minute."
Laxus kept perfectly still, trying not to think about how tight she was or how good moving would feel.
As her body started to relax and the pain dropped to a dull throb Ivy gave a small roll of her hips. The groan that escaped Laxus' throat caused her to grin cheekily at the man above her before telling him to move.
Laxus started a slow rhythm waiting to see if there were any more signs of pain. When there weren't he began to pick up the pace, determined to hear Ivy moan his name.
The sounds of heavy breathing and a look of bliss were the only rewards Laxus received until he hooked his arms under Ivy's knees. As he leaned forward the snap of his hips buried himself in deeper and caused his pelvis to hit against Ivy's still sensitive clit. At her cry of pleasure a smirk formed on Laxus' face before he had to clench his jaw to prevent from giving in to his itching fangs. He copied the movements and focused on enjoying the sounds that she was no longer able to hold back.
After that Ivy didn't last long, and Laxus couldn't either as he felt her tighten and spasm around him. He gave a few more slow thrusts before dropping her legs and leaning down for a heated kiss. Laxus let their kiss break as he grabbed her and rolled, letting Ivy's body rest on top of his.
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They lay letting their heartbeats slow enjoying the feeling of just being together. Laxus started to drift off, feeling more comfortable on the rock then he had the entire trip, but was brought back as Ivy poked his nose.
"I have a question." When he didn't respond she continued. "Is it usually supposed to hurt that bad or do you have a big dick?"
Laxus couldn't respond as he started laughing to the point tears started leaking from his eyes.
Ivy turned red and slapped his chest, "Don't laugh! I don't have anything to compare with!"
Pushing herself off of him Ivy slid down from the rock and started looking for her clothes in the dark.
Laxus followed her as his laughter finally died out. "I can't answer that question. What are you doing?"
"Getting dressed" Finding the clothes pile she threw Laxus his pants, "The deer's probably done."
Levy stepped into the house and sneezed at the amount of dust that flew in her nose. Looking around the room she felt like she was intruding even though she had permission. This had been Ivy's home.
The night before, after Laxus and Ivy came back looking ridiculously happy, they had made a plan. The thunder legion would be in the surrounding forest near the barn, Levy and Gajeel would go to the house and get Ivy's copy of the book, and Laxus would go with Ivy to the meeting.
When the morning came everyone wanted to go scout the area, except for Ivy. She refused to go near the place until it was closer to the actual meeting. Levy had stayed at the fort with her while the others went out.
Now Levy stood in front of a fireplace with several pictures lining the mantel. Even under the dust she could make out a young Ivy. Pulling one down Levy wiped her hand over the glass and smiled at the image before her.
Ivy looked about ten. She wore a pink leotard with white tights, ballet shoes, and a tutu. She was up on her toes and even with her arms raised high her hair was visible curling out wildly around her head.
"Come on shrimp we don't have a lot of time." Gajeel's tense voice had Levy remembering why they were here.
Placing the photo back with one last glance Levy followed Gajeel down a hall. Ivy had told them the book was in her old room on the bookshelf.
Levy paused for a moment as they moved past a dining room. The table had plates and the remnants of food that had rotted away years ago; a dinner never finished. Shaking her head Levy quickly caught up with Gajeel, who was pushing open a door.
Following the tall mage into the room Levy noticed a small Keep Out sticker placed above the door knob. When she turned to focus on the room she felt tears come to her eyes.
Clothes littered the floor, posters of rock bands hung on the walls. In one corner was a desk covered with paper, pens, water color paints, and nail polish bottles. On the low bookshelf next to the bed was a lacrima record player with several crates of records next to it. The dark blue blankets had faded in spots from the sunlight that came in through the window, and were rumbled in away that looked like someone had kicked them off in the night.
There was a sense of waiting that seemed to linger in the air, waiting for the rooms occupant to come home. To play a record, to lay on the bed looking at the magazines placed in a haphazard stack on the floor. Even more powerful than that was the heavy feeling of loss.
Levy felt Gajeel shift closer and place his warm hand against the back of her shoulder. The underlying presence of peace and comfort from his touch allowed Levy to come back from her thoughts.
Giving the man a small nod to let him know she was okay Levy moved to the bookshelf. Finding the book she needed was easy, it was the oldest one there. Flipping through it she smiled as she noticed that none of the pages had been removed and it was in much better condition then the one she had previously seen.
"It's 2:50 lets go to the back." Gajeel held his hand out letting Levy give him the book to place in his pack. After he tucked the book away Gajeel let his hand drop to hers, his thumb rubbing circles against her skin as they left the room and moved back through the house.
On the other side of the dining room was a kitchen. A large window took up the wall next to what they were looking for, a back door. They positioned themselves on either side with Gajeel closer to the exit. Levy peeked out of the window and let out a gasp.
Roughly three fourths away from the house was a large ring of black ground where grass refused to grow. Several deer grazed around the area but didn't enter the ring. In the very center where two humanoid forms, one was on its knees while the other stood behind the first its upper limbs connecting to the firsts back. There were no distinguishing features that Levy could see just black forms, and she couldn't tell where the figures ended and the black earth began. If Levy hadn't known that they were once people she may have thought it was a sculpture planted into the ground.
The deer fled the area catching Levy's attention, and she noticed Laxus and Ivy walking toward the ring. Even at that distance she could see Ivy shaking, and gripping Laxus' hand. Once the two tall mages stood near the dark area there was a loud crack of magical discharge, and no less than fifteen figures in black robes appeared twenty feet from them. The Thunder Legions unconscious bodies among the group.
Gajeel immediately ripped open the door and sprinted out with Levy on his heels. She could only watch in horror as Ivy didn't even get a chance to pull her hammer. Something grey and putty like slammed into the woman's face and she struggled for a moment before dropping to the ground. Laxus was taken out just as quickly.
Gajeel activated his iron scales, but learned they were useless against whatever the grey stuff was. He hit the ground trying to pull it from his face but quickly became still. Levy let out a shriek of anger as he fell in front of her.
She was able to get her guard spell up and blocked the putty aimed at her, but Levy was not prepared for it to come from another direction. The goo hit with enough force to knock her back, she began to panic realizing she couldn't breath. Then the fear vanished and an overwhelming need to sleep took over. Levy fell to the ground unable to remember what she had been trying to do. Why standing matter? Why did moving matter? The only thing that mattered was sleep.
We're coming up on the end where all questions will be answered! Thank you all who have stuck with me this far
