Song: Maroon 5 - Maps
Laxus panted heavily from once again being dragged into a sparring lesson with Chloe and Natsu.
"Alright. You think you can handle that. Or is it too many words for the great Salamander." Chloe panted with a grin.
"Yeah shouldn't be that hard." Natsu panted.
"You always say it then you end up blowing yourself up." Chloe chuckled standing straight popping her back. "Lax you think you can handle it. I know it must be so boring for the great lightning god, to have to learn from a lowly ice queen. Ugh right?"
"I just gotta practice that's all." Natsu said stretching out his muscles.
"Of course i can handle it. I'm not S-Class for no reason." Laxus huffed.
"Aww look at my boys. So grown up." Chloe chuckled ruffling their hair before seeming to stop herself. "Ahem. Sorry. Got caught up in myself."
"Eh it's okay." natsu chuckled happily. "I don't mind honestly."
"Can you give me a minute i need to go real quick." Laxus said out of breath.
"Go ahead." Chloe nodded. "Sorry i thought you two were- nevermind. Ahem. Anyway. Remember. Arms crossed, wide stance. Has a rather large blast."
"Right!" Natsu said happily.
"I'm quickly regretting this decision." Chloe sighed seeing the area they'd picked mostly scorched and trees completely gone. Laxus had quickly left the area for training, as he had tried hard to keep from coughing. He made his way out of earshot for the dragon slayers, which was much harder than most. Natsu was too busy chatting up Chloe but he could see Chloe's ear twitch a bit in his direction. Laxus couldn't hold the coughing any longer as he leaned against a tree coughing harshly.
"Hmm. You hear that." Chloe hummed looking away from him in another random direction. "I hear deer. You hear it?" Natsu had stopped chatting as to listen carefully before smiling.
"Yeah i do. What you hungry too?" Natsu said.
"Well yeah." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Race ya." Natsu chuckled. "Whoever can get more wins!"
"Tch. You've already lost." Chloe grinned. Natsu ran off into the forest after the sound of deer. Chloe instead turned towards Laxus's direction going over to Laxus. Laxus's coughing fit had stopped and he was now just bracing himself against the tree, trying to regain his normal breathing.
"What have i said about wet blood attracting predators." Chloe huffed.
"Yeah, yeah i'll get it, give me a damn second." Laxus huffed weakly. Chloe sighed before coming over, wiping his mouth for him.
"Why're you really here kid." Chloe said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Laxus said weakly.
"You can barely make it through one session without busting a cough. I'm terrified to think what would happen if you actually tried it." Chloe sighed.
"Tch you shouldn't worry about me." Laxus huffed shakily as his breath was still short from coughing and fighting.
"Laxus. Don't ever lie to me." Chloe growled. "I hate liars."
"I ain't lying." Laxus mumbled.
"Zeref once told me when i was having Sting and Rogue that he would come back, and we'd get married and have a happy life. I believed him. For four hundred goddamn years i believed him." Chloe mumbled.
"Yeah well i ain't him." Laxus scoffed looking irritated by the mention of Zeref.
"If it weren't for Myrtenaster coming and wrecking that life, i think i would still believe him. But here i am." Chloe sighed. "The point is, i spent four hundred years believing an outright lie. I'm tired of lies."
"And so my coughing makes you believe i'm not here to train." Laxus said weakly.
"I think you came knowing you couldn't. Thinking you wouldn't, and would just sit back in the shadows and watch." Chloe sighed. "You came for something else." Laxus looked away from her since she had seen through his facade.
"Well." Chloe said looking at him.
"So what if i did." Laxus grumbled.
"Laxus." Chloe sighed. "Just tell me. What really brought you here. Why do you keep running off in the middle of training and disappear."
"Running off in the middle of training should be easy enough to figure out." Laxus grumbled
"Hmpf. Then it's settled. I won't train a pupil who can't handle it. And i won't be responsible for a lesson that pushes you too far." Chloe huffed.
"I accepted that when i started this fiasco." Laxus huffed.
"Then until you either take it easy or leave, there will be no more lessons." Chloe huffed. "I'll go back to sabertooth."
"I know it's important to you and fire breather, don't worry bout me. I knew what i was getting myself into." Laxus huffed.
"Then why do you keep staying with it. Why do you constantly make me worried that one of these days each pant could be your last." Chloe huffed.
"Because i have to fin- because." Laxus stopped in his tracks looking away again, this time with a more saddened expression was on his face. Chloe sighed before turning his chin and turning his head, making him face her.
"Tell me. What is driving you so damn hard that you want to go through this." Chloe sighed.
"I didn't come here to train that's for sure." Laxus grumbled. "I…. i came to hopefully find someone."
"And yet you keep training." Chloe sighed. "You know by now they're not here. So why stay."
"Because maybe she'll come for him." Laxus said. "It's only logical that she would."
"She? Roslyn." Chloe nodded. "Well i can tell you one thing. She's not coming for him." Choe said. Laxus looked surprised before frowning.
"How would you know?" Laxus scoffed. "Natsu is His little brother. If he's planning anything, He'll keep him safe and so he'd be one thing to go after, if you want to get at him."
"She made a lot of talk of going back to alvarez, last time we talked." Chloe said. "Said there was someone she was thinking of visiting."
"Alvarez?" Laxus said looking shocked and angered.
"Yeah. Place she comes from right. I mean if that mark really does anything and it actually does compulse her to return to her lord, like she was led to believe it does-" Chloe shrugged. Laxus growled angrily.
"I won't let him get away with this." Laxus hissed.
"And she told me not to let you. So you're staying here." Chloe said gripping his collar. Laxus looked at her definitely.
"I won't just sit on the sidelines." Laxus hissed. "If i can't get her because she's been reeled in, then i'll find a way to get her out."
"And she wants you to stay here, so you could get stronger. And when you come back, she told me to tell you to kick Zeref's ass." Chloe hissed.
"I'll do more than kick his damned ass." Laxus hissed.
"And you're not going to the way you are now." Chloe huffed. "She asked me to train you stronger than any Dragon Slayer who ever lived. Even Natsu, and by god i will."
"What's the point in getting stronger if one fucking attack blows all the air from me and i cough my lungs out?" Laxus huffed. "Im fucking pathetic like this. I have nothing i can do to stop it."
"Hmpf. I was gonna save this lesson but whatever." Chloe sighed. Laxus looked at her curiously. Chloe suddenly punched him in the chest. Laxus gasped coughing once again. Chloe held him on her shoulder as she picked shattered ice shards off her fist.
"Here. Eat up." Chloe huffed forcing the ice shards in his mouth.
"I'm not an Ice Dragon slayer." Laxus huffed weakly. He found himself swallowing the ice shards anyway as he could feel them suddenly go down the wrong pipe, going to his lungs. Every breath was like breathing in cold air, but he could feel the burn in his lungs having something non air in them, before finally surprisingly being able to breath easy.
"It's a temporary fix. So don't go wasting it." Chloe huffed.
"Well thanks. Tho saying, hey this will help first would have been nice." Laxus gumbled.
"I put an ice shell on your lungs. It'll last you awhile. But it's limited. So don't go wasting it now." Chloe sighed. "Hopefully it will somewhat motivate you to stay and finish. At least a little?"
"Fine." Laxus said.
"And do me a favor." Chloe said turning to look him over her shoulder.
"Hm?" Laxus said.
"Never say anything along the lines of you're pathetic or useless ever again. You don't even have any idea what pathetic and useless feels like." Chloe said.
"Fine." Laxus huffed. Chloe chuckled before leaving him alone, going back over to Natsu who had come back with what must've been half the deer population.
"Aww you beat me." Chloe pouted.
"Of course i did!" Natsu said happily.
"But the question is, can you out eat me." Chloe grinned challengingly.