Chapter 5: Midnight
Dreamer's arms felt like they were going to fall off. She groaned and propped the sleeping dark wizard against a wall.
"A couple more days of this and I'll have arms like Elfman." She cracked her back and then set to work quickly on fixing Midnight's appearance. Earrings off, no makeup (well, less makeup. Getting it all off would have taken a firehose). She threw her jacket on him and tried to fix his wild hair somewhat. She looked across the street at a market stand and bought a pair of sunglasses which only came in pink but it didn't matter. A disguise was a disguise.
"Alright, let's get out of here." She hoisted him up again and kept walking. Only a couple of blocks to the train station and then a straight shot to Magnolia—and at least on the train she wouldn't have to keep packing around this man who might as well be a boulder.
About a block away from the station she heard armor clanking behind her. She looked desperately to the left and right but there were no alleyways to hide in. Deep breath. She leaned against a building as casually as possible with Midnight beside her—hair patted down, sporting pink sunglasses. His head kept slumping onto her shoulder.
She prayed silently that the soldiers would march on by but, of course, they paused when they came to her. She had a feeling her numbers weren't looking too hot on Piper's dice right about now…
"Excuse me, ladies?" One of the knights called out. "You wouldn't happen to have seen anyone suspicious around here?"
"Uh, suspicious? No, sir!" Dreamer grinned nervously and scratched the back of her head, while doing her best to support Midnight's body weight.
"Nuh uh," she hummed through closed lips to make it look like he was answering too. He started to slump again. She giggled anxiously and tried her best to inconspicuously prop him back up.
"Okay then." The knight nodded and started walking again.
Phew. Dreamer's heart felt like it was rigged with an explosive magic circle. Much more of this and she'd have a heart attack.
"Wait," the knight said suddenly. He turned back and walked up to them, uncomfortably close. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Midnight. A chill went down Dreamer's spine and she tried to decide what she would do when he sounded the alarm. She could run south, but not carrying Midnight… She might have to slap him awake. First she'd try using her magic, but if that didn't work—"Would you like to go out some time?" The knight blushed fiercely and sheepishly glanced at Midnight's face and then the ground.
Dreamer's jaw hung open. He was asking Midnight on a date?!
She forced a girlish giggle and put an arm around Midnight's waist. "Sorry, but we're already together."
"Two cute girls?!" He gaped at them. "…That's hot!" Hearts gleamed in the knight's eyes.
"Ah, that's right!" She squeezed Midnight a little closer by the waist and planted a kiss on his cheek. You just kissed a member of the Oracion Seis. No big deal, you know except for the fact that he's an evil assassin. "Weren't you looking for someone?" She asked through clenched teeth. She met his eyes and forced a bit of persuasion onto him. The knight seemed to remember his duties and quickly stood upright.
"Right! Come on, we still have to shut down the train station like Lahar asked!" He ran with the other knight in the direction Dreamer had planned to go.
"So much for public transit…" She glanced over at Midnight with a heavy sigh. A smirk touched her cheeks. He did look like a girl.
Fifteen minutes later Dreamer was paying an ungodly price for a private boat ride across the lake. "There goes all of the money I had left from my last job…" Could this get any worse? She was already beginning to highly regret her decision not to turn Midnight in to the Council. The world seemed to be conspiring to put a halt to her choice.
"Alright, hop on."
At least she got to rest during the boat ride. She'd still have to find a way to get all the way from Oshibana to Magnolia but, for now she took the opportunity to rest her arms and back. "I really wish you'd wake up," she complained, shooting a glance at the other wizard. His response was a bubbly snore. "Man, this guy could sleep through anything."
Midnight didn't wake up until after they'd gotten off at Oshibana, Dreamer had stocked up on some food, and the sun had reached its peak in the sky. Finally, he let out a groan and started to pick up his own feet. Dreamer made sure to draw her magical energy to the surface. She would need it to keep him compliant.
"Where are we?" he asked in a low voice.
"Oshibana," she gently answered.
He removed his weight from her and stood up on his own. "Where are we going?"
She looked over at him, causing him to meet her eyes. Her magic worked much better when her target was looking at her eyes. It wasn't impossible to use it effectively without the added bonus but, she didn't want to take any chances with Midnight. She had to keep his emotions suppressed or risk him running off or worse.
"I'd like to take you to Magnolia," she said carefully. He blinked, uncomprehending. "To Fairy Tail, of course," she added, as cheerily as possible.
"…Why?" He blinked and then plucked the pink sunglasses off of his face, "And why am I wearing these?"
Dreamer's cheeks reddened. "Oh yeah, sorry! Disguise." She quickly snatched them away from him. "And as for why I'm taking you to my guild… Well."
She didn't answer for a moment. They walked in silence on a dirt path along the outskirts of town. Birds chirped from tree branches and park benches. A group of children chased a yapping dog into the grass and Dreamer watched as Midnight's eyes followed them. The atmosphere was so warm and serene, nearly making her forget that she was walking an assassin through town.
"Honestly, Macbeth…" She glanced at him again, "I guess it's because I like you."
He didn't show any signs of emotion at her statement, just returned her look with his own glazed red eyes.
"I just felt too bad about turning you in to the Council. I didn't think you deserved the punishment they'd probably have for you, but…" She bit her lip. "I also can't just let you go, you know? You've hurt a lot of people." My friends included. "So, I decided to bring you to Fairy Tail so that our master can decide what to do with you." She gave an airy laugh and winked in his direction. "I guess I like you too much to turn you in!"
He didn't respond—simply stared at her.
"Everything will be okay, I promise. Whatever Master decides, it will just be one more step on your new journey. Isn't that exciting?"
"A new journey, you say?" He cocked his head slightly to the side and tossed a long strand of white hair over his shoulder. "Will I get to be accompanied by you on this new journey?"
Dreamer wasn't expecting the question or the sudden teasing tone to his voice. She blinked and looked to find him smirking at her, which caused an unwarranted pink shade to touched her cheeks.
"I suppose it's a possibility," she said, regaining composure. She kept her magical energy balanced while she smiled at him. She had to keep the mood light and encouraging. It was part of the illusion.
He let out a strange chuckle and put his hands in his pockets. "Then I suppose I'll let you take me to your guild."
"I'm glad." She withheld a relieved sigh. "Let's see if maybe we can get a train ticket." They might have better luck here than in Clover town. She hadn't seen any knights. Yet, anyway.
The Magic Council wasted no time in monitoring the entire railway system, so taking the train turned out to still be a no-go. Using just a smidgeon of her magic to coerce a renter into trusting her, Dreamer was luckily able to rent a magic-mobile. That was a better option anyway, for staying out of plain sight. She dropped the mobile off in Onibus so that they could walk the rest of the way without leaving a trail. They kept off the main road just within the outskirts of the East forest.
Dreamer rubbed her eyes and willed away a yawn. She was exhausted. Not only had she been using her magic energy since noon to keep Midnight's feelings suppressed, but she'd also drained her power driving that magic mobile. She almost wished Midnight would fall asleep again so that she could give the magic a rest. She wasn't sure she could make it all the way to the guild hall like this.
Normally, she wouldn't have to keep using her charm spell for such a long period of time. After initially causing a person to fall under her spell, that person would still be caught in the illusion even after the spell wore off. For example, the man she'd coerced into loaning them the magic-mobile—she'd used charm magic to make him trust her, and also to make him feel guilty about trying to swindle her. Even though Dreamer wasn't using her magical energy on him anymore, he would probably always remember her as trustworthy, and maybe even continue to feel guilty about swindling others. That's the magic of any kind of spell that tricks the mind. Once someone has already convinced themselves of something, they'll continue to believe it even after the spell is removed.
Given the nature of her situation with Midnight, however, Dreamer wanted to take great care that he remained under her spell, so she kept the spell active long after first casting it on him. The longer she could keep it up, the greater the chances would be that—once her spell finally wore off—he would continue behaving the way he was now. There was nothing more important than ensuring this. She had felt the raw power of his negative emotions and knew that if he were subjected to them again, he'd completely lose control. It was her responsibility to make sure he remained docile. Therefore, even though she was exhausted and nearly out of magic energy, she focused on maintaining the charm's magic circle.
"You seem down," Midnight said suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"What? Oh no, not at all!" She forced that encouraging smile once more. "I'm just tired, is all. I sure wish I could sleep the way you do."
Midnight gave a wry smile in response. "No, you don't."
Dreamer listened to the sound of their footsteps crunching leaves for a moment. "I noticed you don't seem to get very restful sleep. Do you still have nightmares?" As if she hadn't already snuck into his mind and seen them herself. "I remember you said you always had them when Jellal ruled the tower of heaven… Is it still hard, after all these years?"
"It's not hard," he stretched his arms as if he were either bored or uncomfortable. "It's impossible."
Dreamer felt another strong twinge of compassion for him. "You know… If you and I do end up going on a journey together, I can help you with that."
"Is that so?" He didn't sound like he believed her.
"It's true! It's one of my special tricks. My name isn't Dreamer for nothing, you know! I could replace your nightmares with good dreams, if you wanted." She grinned widely, even though she knew the chances of her magic overcoming nightmares as strong as his were null.
"I may have to take you up on that offer sometime," he said in response. He glanced at the trees around them. "Are we almost to Magnolia?"
"Yes!" She said cheerfully. "Look, if we go to the top of that hill, we'll probably be able to see it!" She ran ahead of him and up a hill in a clearing of trees. "Yep! There it is! And the Fairy Tail guild hall is just over there." She pointed out the beautiful city of Magnolia, sprawling out below her.
"Good," Midnight said in a low voice behind her.
Suddenly, Dreamer's chest felt tight, like a thin rope was wrapped around it, coiling to suffocate her. Her breath hitched in surprise and she looked down to see a strand of dark magical energy tightening around her like a spring.
"Because I was afraid that if I listened to that fake laugh of yours one more time, I was going to lose it." His voice dripped with cruel humor. He lifted a hand and twirled his finger, manipulating the coil around Dreamer's body and forcing her to look back at him.
"Y-you knew?" She forced the words out of slowly constricting lungs. She gaped at him in wide-eyed horror. The calm and quiet man she'd traveled with for the past several hours was now smirking from ear to ear, chest jutted and hand on his hip in haughty arrogance. The red of his eyes was as dark and sinister as blood. "But how?"
"That's a nasty little trick," he said, still smirking, "using charm magic. I even fell for it… At first."
Dreamer cried out as the coil tightened and grew upwards to her shoulders.
"But you gave yourself up and I was able to see right through your pathetic spell." He laughed out loud. "You must have been dreaming to think you could fool me."
"I don't understand…" She writhed in the clutches of his magic, making a futile attempt to escape. "I was thorough! I never released the spell!"
"Perhaps the greatest weakness of magic like yours is that its bound by the limits of its target's imagination. You can only force someone to believe something within the realms of what they already know is possible." He forced her onto her knees and guided the coil higher, around her neck. "Your spell broke the moment you told me I'm a good person."
Dreamer shook her head. It didn't make sense. He'd known ever since she'd talked with him in the hospital?
"Do you even know who I am?" He cackled and walked up to her. His magic forced her to the ground and he stood looming in front of her like a demonic shadow. "I'm Midnight, the strongest member of the Oracion Seis, stronger than even Brain himself. My heart is as black as the darkest pit in hell!" He said this proudly, wildly. "And you were stupid enough… No, you had the audacity to suggest that I'm a good person?" He laughed as if it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "If you knew me at all, you'd know that such a suggestion doesn't exist in the realm of my imagination. That's why your pathetic little spell broke."
She whimpered in pain, the coil beginning to tighten around her neck.
"Th-then why? Why did you… pretend… you were still under the s-spell?" She struggled to form words. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"That's easy." He looked cruelly down at her and watched her struggle. "Playing along with you bought me time to escape the Magic Council, though I have to admit, that wasn't my main incentive. Actually…" He pressed the heel of his boot against her head. "After I realized you'd tricked me, I was furious. And now, there's nothing I would like more than to hear a sweet lullaby of pain as I kill you just outside your city." He got on one knee and leaned to breathe against her ear. "I want to see the look of devastation on Titania Erza's face when she finds your body here. She, and all of Fairy Tail, will pay for making me look like a failure."
"Macbeth…" She pleaded with him, seeing starbursts in her vision.
"My name isn't Macbeth," he said harshly before standing up again. "It's Midnight."