It was relieving to hear him say that. I was thinking about what I could have done to stop the Arena form coming back.
"Aiyana!" a voice called from down the hall. We broke apart startled.
It was Hadwin.
"There you are !" he said when he got closer. He put his hands on my shoulders in away that made me feel like he was making sure I really was there, "I heard you banging around but didn't catch you. That's so unlike you. You never did it before. What's going on?"
"Hadwin," I sighed and relaxed, "Thank the gods you're here. Hadwin it's bad."
"Bad? What is?" he asked confused.
"Hadwin they're back," I said hoping he would understand. He looked me up and down. His eyes locked on the medallion that I now wore clearly over my clothes, and I could see it click in his eyes.
"The last time I saw you dressed like this was that dark guild raid. Aiyana, please tell me it's just another rouge dark guild, It can't be that," he pleaded.
I slumped a little and looked at the floor. "It's back." He let go of me and reeled back. He turned from us and leaned on the railing. We were all silent for a moment. I felt cold with the sudden loss of Laxus and then Hadwin.
"I guess you'll be going then," he said.
I nodded, "At first dawn."
"But that's only a few hours away!" Hadwin yelled as he turned back to us, "You've been up all night and you just figured this out, and- and you don't even know where they are!"
"Hadwin!" I yelled at him, "I am going! I've worked through the night before. These things need to be stopped as soon as possible. And the man in there knows where they are! Hadwin, I must go."
"You can't go alone," he said sullenly.
"I agree with Hadwin, Aiyana you can't go alone," Laxus said taking a step closer to me. I turned to look at them both.
"Of course I won't go alone," I said, "we'll do it like we did before. A small strike team will go in with me and later reinforcements can come in to help with clean up. And lastly a healer and a two man group to protect them. Hadwin, I've done this before. I will do it again.:
"Last time you didn't take them out. They were gone before you came back," Hadwin argued.
"Who's going to do this besides us! I know how people like this work. You remember the missions I was sent on right?" I asked.
"Aiyana you swore off those kinds of missions for a reason. This isn't you," Hadwin put his hands on my shoulders and I sighed. The tension left my body and I slouched under his touch.
"I did. I know I did them for the wrong reasons. But I have experience because of them. Experience that could save lives on this kind of mission," I pleaded with them to understand why I needed to go in the morning.
Laxus's face was impassive. I couldn't read anything from him and he wasn't saying anything. I turned to Hadwin. He clearly was having none of it. He either didn't or wouldn't understand me. I came to a decision.
"Fine. I will get a few hours of sleep. But I expect all but Elfman, Freed, Evergreen, Lisanna, and Mirajane to do the same. I want them guarding the man and the rest of the guild. In the morning I will put the parties together and we will leave at the first opportunity."
With that said I strode down the hall to find a place to sleep.