Downstairs and Dead
Chapter Fifteen
With My Last, Dying Breath
Since Laxus had checked the servants' quarters and the kitchens, Lucy headed first to the laundry. From there she checked the rest of the workers' areas of the house, then the public areas, while Gemini and Virgo walked the private halls listening and looking into private doors, checking on the sleeping guests.
Finding nothing inside the house, she moved outside. Checking storage sheds.
And then the oak-barrel-filled wine storage building.
It wasn't wine she found.
Well. She did. There was wine there. But it wasn't only wine she found.
There was a girl on the floor. Red hair. Long, pale legs, bare and stretched out, kicking. Kicking. Kicking. Long, pale arms, lifted so that long, pale fingers could twist a spoon in circles to tighten the tourniquet around her own throat.
The sounds she made as tears dripped from her eyes. Her body thrashing. The sounds she made as...
"Oh god!" Lucy began to run forward, but then stopped. She stopped when she finally noticed the other person in the large building.
She was waiting for her. Had been waiting for her. It was obvious. The casual stance, leaning against a stack of casks. The relaxed posture, arms crossed under her breasts. Wrinkling the soft, fine linen of her dress. Lucy almost shouted the woman's name. A woman! A woman, by the stars! She'd said she'd keep an open mind bu... But then Lucy saw the chain.
A limp chain dangling from one hand. Drifting down. Over. Connecting to the collar around the throat of yet another woman. A fourth woman. A woman with long, pale hair and near translucent skin. The woman was bent in a way that might have been considered kneeling, had she knees. But she didn't have knees. Because the woman in chains wasn't truly a woman.
She had a tail. Blue, like sapphires, highlighted with emerald flashes, and touched here and there by the pink of scars.
She was a mermaid.
A mermaid, chained. Enslaved.
There was a sound – a gasp, a gurgle – from the red-head on the floor. The girl Lucy forgot upon seeing the mermaid. Eyes snapped back to the servant girl trying to choke herself to death.
Lucy cried out. Cried out, and then turned finally back to the person responsible.
"Amilia … why?"
The youngest Domino shrugged. "They would have come after me if Victoria or Rachael or you died. No one cares about her."
"I care about her," Lucy snapped, "and that's not what I meant."
Amilia shrugged again, "I like watching."
"You... like..." she couldn't even finish the sentence.
"I can't argue. Can't be angry. Can't be too opinionated. That's not the way a Domino lady behaves. This is how I am able to express myself. You know how it is."
"No! No, I don't know how it is! The hell, Amilia?!"
She clicked her tongue, "Well, I guess it's impossible for you to understand. You never cared, and then you always fell into gold, didn't you? Just like your base-born parents. Like dirt couldn't touch any of you. And men! They just throw themselves at you. I'm nineteen years old, and unmarried. Me! A Domino! It's unheard of-"
"Maybe they sense some of the crazy coming off of you, Amilia, and stay the hell away. For good reason."
Lucy was careful to keep her attention on Amilia. A narcissist. Certainly. Killing because she was angry at being snubbed for other women? Lucy wanted nothing more than to turn her attention to the girl or the chained mermaid, but that might put them in greater danger.
"Amilia..." Lucy stopped. She could not think of a single thing to say that would reason with a person who had done all that she had done. "You …. when did you kill for the first time?"
"Kill? I've never killed anyone," Amilia smiled at the woman at her feet. "They want to die. So they die. They are all so afraid and so sad. They want to die," Amilia told her. "I just watch."
It was so very hard to breathe without screaming. So very hard to see without crying.
Amilia spoke without inflection.
Lucy shuddered.
"Why does this one want to die?" Lucy asked, remembering the visceral need Luk Kai called up in her, she didn't doubt Amilia's bullshit surface explanation. They were made to want to die. And she was the puppet master. She couldn't justify away that guilt with semantics.
"My brother made her promises he has no intention of keeping," she frowned.
"Does Brandish do that often?"
"He and others."
Lucy took a deep breath. Another. Considering this new information. How it completely altered everything they'd thought before. The killer wasn't raping them. Some of her victims, however, were picked because of who had attacked them first? Is that what she was saying? Her brother had touched this girl, and that was why she chose this one to kill?
Sweet stars.
"What about the ones who weren't touched?"
Again that shrug. Lucy clinched her teeth. "I like to watch."
"In other words, they're stand-ins for your petty anger. So you maim servant girls and mark them in a way to indicate the person they're standing in for. My lock. Rachael's necklace. The Holen house braid…"
"So smart!" Amilia drawled. She shifted, and it pulled at the mermaid's collar.
Lucy tensed at her whimper.
"Oh don't get so worked up. She's a siren. They're manipulative."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "She's a nymph, a naiad, not a siren. Like any mystical being, she's honest to her character. More honest than humans, at least." Lucy's eyes went wide when she finally understood. "Minthe."
Amilia kicked the mermaid's scarred hip, "Look Minty, you're famous!"
"Minthe," Lucy corrected, awestruck. "Funerary... preparation of the body for..." Then horrified. "You've enslaved the funerary naiad, Minthe? Are you mad? What am I saying?" she threw up her hands. "Of course you are! Obviously you are!
"Listen, idiot, you don't fuck with mermaids. I know this from experience. I was practically raised by the celestial spirit mermaid, Aquarius, and had I even considered chaining her as you have her kin-"
"Waaah waah waah, Lucy." Amilia kicked Minthe again. This time in the lower fin. "Enough with your bleeding heart bullshit."
It was a struggle for Lucy to stay in one place and not jump to the naiad's rescue. But she wasn't quite sure what other tricks the murderer had up her devious sleeve.
"Who made promises to the blonde in Holen?"
Amilia snorted. "Don't ask stupid questions."
"Runnar."
"Runnar," Amilia agreed.
"You don't … you don't watch men die, usually. Why Runnar?"
She shrugged. It made Lucy's blood boil. "I lost my temper. It was wrong of me. I feel a little bad about it. It wasn't his fault. It was, of course, yours."
"Mine?"
"Yes. Men throwing themselves at you. Like always. You should have been the one to die, but I could not find you that night. Or I did not want to find you. I can guess where you were. I saw you in Winelow. Dancing. Friends," she snorted. "Liars. Liars and spies. You never came as Lucy Heartfilia. You were always Lucy of Fairy Tail."
"There is no Fairy Tail, right now," Lucy told the woman, "but I was hired, I will admit. Hired to find the person killing servants. So, you see, someone does care."
"Hired by who?"
"Our client is confidential. She does not wish to be associated with the case, but wants it stopped. And I will stop it, Amilia. Stop you."
Mentally, Lucy prepared herself to call out Gemi-Wendy. The servant girl would need saving. She was still breathing, which was something. The talking had distracted Amilia, and slowed the girl's torture. Offensively … Sagittarius to hit Amilia directly. Defensively, Virgo. Needed chains magic to free Minthe and then to dig her away from her jailer.
Lucy felt along her wrist; Freed's rune. Laxus' power was there. He was searching. She tugged on that rune. Maybe he would feel. Maybe he wouldn't. He had so much power that he might not notice her taking power away from him.
She tugged at the tether that connected her and Loke. She had sent him to Laxus, tied them together in a way. So if Loke heard, he would alert Laxus. If Loke heard.
"How are you calling spirits?" Lucy asked, looking at the two small chicks she could see tucked under Amilia's skirts. Lucy assumed there were five more around her, somewhere. "You are not a celestial spirit mage."
Amilia tugged at the chain attached to Minthe's collar. "I control Minthe-"
"And Minthe calls them," Lucy finished. "You," Lucy looked at the mythical creature, "left the trail. You cover up after the crimes, and prepare the bodies as she wishes for their display after death, funerary nymph, but you left the scent trail out of your own choice."
"Save me-" Minthe's voice was a harsh, rattling whisper.
Amilia yanked the chain again, and Minthe screamed. Odd with just a pull. The bindings were surely more than they appeared.
"Minthe, are we well hidden?"
"Yes, Lady Amilia."
"Then call up the other two and get started. Killing her won't be easy, I'm sure, but I expect you to manage."
"Open the Gate of the Reborn Crocodile: Dao Ja Ra Kae. Open the Gate of the 3 AM Dog: Dao Mah Lap." Amilia held the keys, but it was Minthe who spoke their names and who had the power. Minthe's summon of the alternate zodiac was smooth. And powerful.
Bells rang out, and flashes of white left Lucy blinking. When she could see again, there was a translucent, but faintly green, shield surrounding Amilia and Minthe.
"The Reborn Crocodile wouldn't protect just anyone," Lucy countered, "and the 3 AM Dog can't be bribed. You need to stop, Amilia. If you, as you say, aren't a killer, don't have this woman under your control kill."
"She is no woman."
"Amilia-"
"I will watch you take your own life, Lucy. I will watch as you weep." She pulled Minthe's chain tighter, almost lifting her off of the floor. "I will watch as you beg. As you scream, sorry for the inconvenience of your corpse. I will-"
Lucy felt Luk Kai's tug. That pull. So much stronger now that the spirit was right there in front of her. Four chicks peeking out from under Amilia's skirts. One looking around Minthe's blue tail.
She choked and nearly fell to her knees. "Amilia..."
"Oh, Lucy. Such a disappointment. Sure, you look more fuckable than a cheap whore, but beyond that? What worth do you have? A mage beat by one without a bit of magic, using keys! Ha! What a lovely story!"
"Open the Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!" Lucy coughed.
"Moshi moshi," her tall, bow-wielding spirit arrived.
"I need that barrier down!" she shouted before he could give her any further greeting. "Open the Gate of the Twins: Gemini!" They popped out and again, she shouted a command without pause, "Heal the girl enough that she won't die and protect her as you can! Pull on my power as much as you need. I'm still hooked up. I'm fine." She waved at the twins and pulled at the last key she'd prepared, "Open the gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"
"Mah Lap," she called to the 3 AM Dog, who had sat silent, watchful, since being summoned. "You have been poorly treated these four years. My name is Lucy Heartfilia. When I defeat your … captor, I would be interested in speaking to you about a contract."
There was a green flare of light as Sagittarius' arrows began to hit the shield, but none penetrated. She urged him to continue.
The Dog took in a deep breath, a long yawn, and sighed. "One master or another, it's all the same to me."
This time she did laugh. "Maybe you feel that way now, but I can guarantee you'll enjoy life with me more than with Amilia."
Amilia rolled her eyes and snorted. "It is not my job to make life enjoyable for servants."
Lucy ignored her and focused on Mah Lap. "For one, I'm capable of holding to my promises, what with actually being a celestial spirit mage. For a second, you'll actually be called through my power, not that of a enslaved, abused naiad. For a third, I don't have to seal the key to hold it," she could see the rune tape around the base, forcing a contract that the non-celestial non-mage couldn't actually make for herself, glittering as the Dog considered her point.
"Fourth, I'm not a serial killer, so you can take a little more pride in your existence, if you like that sort of thing. I don't have any other white gold, alternate zodiac keys, but I do have contracts with nine of the gold keys."
The Dog's ears perked up.
"Nine?"
"I did have ten, but Aquarius sacrificed herself to let me call forth the Spirit King in a moment of great need a few months ago." She put a hand to cover her heart. "I … I still carry the 10th key, of course, but she can't be summoned anymore."
"Ten … who don't you have?"
"Pisces and Libra. A friend has contracts with those two."
"How many can you call out at one time?" She saw the Dog's black eyes flash. There were stars hidden in their depths.
His body language was changing, preparing for something. He looked hesitantly eager, and he was focusing his energy towards her. She could feel it.
Amilia didn't control the Dog's key. At least not to the extent that she thought she did. Not even through Minthe.
The Dog was, by nature, rather lackadaisical. Not as unfailingly loyal as the Chicks or the Crocodile. His service would have to be earned, and Amilia hadn't earned it.
Lucy could take him.
"As many as I need." She let go of her connection to Laxus' power, calling only upon her own. She remembered the moment at the waterfall when she called out to save Loke and opened the gates of all of her remaining spirits. Fewer spirits, then, but less power, too. She burned, and the air around all of them, human, naiad, and spirit, filled with the ringing of chimes.
Surrounded by friends, Lucy called, "Force Close the Gate of the 3 AM Dog: Mah Lap!" Pulling support from those of her friends around her.
Amilia laughed, and the key glowed in her hands. The chicks of Luk Kai chirped and dashed to hide under her skirt. Ja Ra Kae's head turned so that he could view her with one large, dark eye.
"Force Closure: Gate of the 3 AM Dog!"
She felt a flickering. Both in her, and in the power of the key across from her. There was a connection, and Mah Lap was reaching for her. He wasn't contracted, not officially, so there was no reason to hold on to the person currently abusing his key.
"FORCE CLOSURE! GATE OF THE 3 AM DOG!" she screamed at the barrier. At Amilia. At the Dog. All of her will, pushing outward, focused on freeing that spirit from the binding forced upon him.
In a shattering stream of sparks, the Dog vanished. Amilia yelled out, enraged. Minthe was crying.
"Open the Gate of the 3 AM Dog: Mah Lap!" Lucy called, and the Dog came into being in front of her. A white-gold key in his mouth. He dropped it into her waiting palm.
"Well then, Lucy," the Dog sighed. "I'm guessing that you don't want to hide."
"No, Mah Lap. I very much do not. I've a friend, a lightning mage, who would be useful..."
The Dog gave a toothy grin. And howled.
The 3 AM Dog was considered the constellation of thieves. Lazily sleeping through most of the night, dark, quiet, letting everyone pass. For the most part. But he was still a watch dog, even though he was most famed for being poor at it, in the early hours of night, he did eventually wake. And when awake, the 3 AM Dog was an alarm.
As a spirit, Mah Lap manipulated attention. He controlled what you saw or heard. He could hide his master from being discovered by a person standing a foot in front of them. Or command someone to come to them from far away.
The howl filled the wine cellar and likely echoed for miles in every direction. With his hearing, Lucy had no doubt that Laxus would hear. Even if he didn't feel her pull on his power.
Lucy looked back at Amilia, who was frowning and hunched. "So. Laxus will come. You don't have the Dog to hide the sound we make here. Minthe's gift of cleaning death won't be enough to cover your tracks, either, with Mah Lap's call. What else, Amilia? What else do you-"
BANG!
Amilia shot her.
The... the hell?!
Lucy hadn't seen that coming.
Wasn't a great shot. She was too angry. Hit her dead center, instead of where a good organ would be. Or her head, which would have been more instantly fatal. Amilia hit her on bone. The bullet shattering on her sternum. Probably used to hitting round targets not actual people. Or people-shaped targets.
Amilia's brother was a hunter. Maybe Amilia was, too? Or not?
Thank goodness for celestial clothing. Thank goodness for preparation. Thank goodness the woman hadn't aimed for bare skin!
Holy shit did it hurt, though.
Remember to thank Virgo for the clothing. The wonderful, protective clothing. Otherwise that would have gone much farther than bone…
She felt dizzy. Sick. There was blood, but nothing like a significant amount. This was going to lead to one heck of a bruise, maybe the bone was a bit cracked, but it wasn't in need of repair immediately.
Lucy noticed that the small gun, barely larger than Amilia's small hand, was still raised. And realized that she was going to fire again.
Shit!
Dropping to her knees, she avoided a second shot. Rolling, she missed a third. Sagittarius released a volley of arrows that bounced off of the barrier, but created enough ripples to distract Amilia from firing again.
She choked back a sob. Or a scream. Or both.
"Gemini!" Lucy called to the spirit who was still waiting by the servant girl on the other side of the room. "I'm fine for now. Stay there. Stay there." She looked up to Sagittarius, who had shifted so as to stay beside her. "What about the shield?"
"Too strong, Lady Lucy."
It had been a stupid question. Obviously it was too strong, or the arrows he had been firing would have broken it long before.
Lucy was panting but nothing too dramatic. She was rather proud of herself. She figured she'd freak out more over being shot after this was all behind her. Until then, she was happy to be up – because she was up again – and moving. To still be going. But then, Amilia wasn't a mage. Just a person. A really terrible person. A really terrible person who had killed a lot of people.
"Princess!" Virgo appeared from the ground beside her. "I'm also unable to break through the shield to free the naiad."
Lucy looked at the Crocodile at Amilia's feet, opposite Minthe. "Damn. Mah Lap?" She looked at the Dog, "Can you do anything?"
"I'm afraid not, Lucy."
"Oh, no," she breathed. This could be very bad.
BOOM!
"Lu-!" Laxus looked around at the completely chaotic room, and Lucy started laughing. Not quite hysterically, but something close to that.
"What took you so long?" she demanded.
"I found one still alive in town … It's … It's Amilia?"
"Yeah."
"Is that a ... mermaid?"
"Yeah."
"And a crocodile?"
"Yeah."
The look on his face as he surveyed the scene was priceless. She laughed again, ignoring the pain in her sternum.
"…the fuck?"
"It wasn't her," Lucy whispered to Laxus, when he helped her to stand. When had she fallen? "It wasn't Amilia making a mistake with the mint. She did with the early kill at Mason and the spiraling at Holen and Winelow town, but Minthe – that's the mermaid – released the scent as a … trail. A warning, as best she could."
"Help from the inside," he muttered.
And we still lost two.
She could hear his thought. She didn't bother with the usual. That she got to the girl at Mason before they even arrived. That it being a woman was completely unseen. Well, mostly. Mostly unconsidered. That all this power at her disposal seemed almost alarmingly impossible... It wouldn't work. Shouldn't work. They had lost those women. Lucy felt that keenly.
But now they had her.
She saw Laxus notice the blood on her shirt, and she waved away his raised eyebrow. "I'm fine," she told him. She could hear her own voice. She knew how terrible she sounded. But she didn't change her statement.
"Sure."
They both of them turned back to Amilia who was watching from inside the shield.
"The lizard is a celestial spirit known as the Reborn Crocodile," she told her partner. "He is a guard. Manipulative. Like Luk Kai, in a way. I believe Minthe has held him back thus far, but he will begin to work on you. Amilia will want you. She'll have him try and take you."
"How?"
"He chants and takes over your mind so that you desire to guard what he desires you to guard."
"Sound pods?"
"Your hearing is very good," she was honestly a little scared. If the Crocodile took Laxus, she could not overcome him.
"Open the gate of Lyre: Lyra!" The silver key spirit, who had aided them in dance would now hopefully aid them in this. "If he starts chanting, drown him out and break it up as best you can."
"Yes, Lucy." Lyra's usually soft, smiling face was serious and almost hard with determination. She lifted her harp into a ready position.
Laxus had covered his ears, "What about you?"
"Lyra will work for me; my hearing is not so good. And if he takes me, you're powerful enough to knock me out to get to Amilia."
"I don"t-"
"I know, Laxus, but you'll do what you have to do." She smiled. "I trust you completely."
He swallowed. Nodded. She released his power, and he shook his head. She smiled again. They didn't know what the Crocodile could do. He might very well need everything he had. His eyes narrowed and hardened, and he turned to face their opponents.
Lucy raised her voice.
"Virgo. The chains." Her spirit didn't appear, but she didn't expect her to. She was underground. Waiting.
"Amilia. One chance. Turn yourself in. We'll take you to the guard and no harm will come to you."
The woman laughed. It was a high, sweet sound. "Harm can't touch me, Lucy."
And lightning fell while thunder roared. The bolt of power hit a dome of words.
The Crocodile was speaking.
Lucy heard it. His voice was deep. Sweet. Slow. And commanding. Filled with need and determination and righteousness.
"See? Do you see? I am not even a mage, and yet one of the greatest mages in our country, Laxus Dreyar, is unable to touch me. You must acknowledge my superiority, Lucy."
She sucked in a breath as the Crocodile's words made her dizzy, reluctant, but then Lyra hit an off-key note, and her eyes focused.
"Gemini!" They appeared between blinks. "Gajeel. I need Gajeel singing!"
Five out. Three gold, one silver. One white gold. She swallowed. Up until this point the power she used had been Laxus', so she was not yet exhausted, but she felt her power being used, now.
"Sagittarius, thank you," she told the tall spirit at her side. He nodded and faded. Maybe he spoke a farewell. She couldn't hear.
Four. She couldn't dispense with Gemini or Lyra. Virgo was on standby for an opening to get Minthe.
"Mah Lap, thank you. I'll greet you properly and form a true contract when this mess is ended."
Him she heard as he said goodbye with a long howl, and then one more drain was ended as another gate was closed.
Three. She sighed with relief. Three was no problem. She could hold three keys for quite some time... she shifted her stance and begin to focus on the next issue at hand.
Amilia's keys.
Could she take control of the white gold keys from Minthe? Mah Lap had been happy to abandon captivity and come to her, but Luk Kai, it was obvious, had some sort of attachment to Amilia, and Ja Ra Kae seemed pleased enough to speak for her. Lucy would have to truly force those keys from Minthe. It might be doable. The mermaid wasn't a celestial spirit mage or a willing participant in Amilia's crimes.
On the other hand, her control was firm, and she was magic. Her supply was limitless as her immortal life. But Lucy had to try. As a celestial spirit mage, who saw keys being misused, she had to try.
Lucy chose to try for Ja Ra Kae first. The Chicks seemed very attached to Amilia. That would be the harder bond to break.
"Force Gate Close," she focused her remaining power on the binding she could sense between Minthe and the Crocodile. He wasn't reaching for her. Not like Mah Lap had. Crap! Lucy fought to remember how it felt to push her will through to the spirit world when she fought to save Loke from disappearing. "Force Gate Close: Ja Ra Kae!"
In her concentration, she had almost forgotten that Laxus was still attacking the shield. She couldn't forget anymore.
It was if Laxus had struck her, the power backlash. She screamed. Almost fell. Laxus was behind her. Holding her with one arm. She trembled. She watched another bolt of lightning fall and crash against Amilia's protections. "Force Gate Close: Ja Ra Kae!" Again the pain, the drain, the weakness; Laxus struck.
"Force gate close: Ja Ra Kae!"
It hurt less. She didn't fall. Minthe leaned forward. The words flickered when Laxus struck them.
"Force. Gate. Close. Ja Ra Kae!"
She didn't scream.
Laxus struck.
The shield fell.
"Virgo!" She yelled, "Force gate close: Ja Ra Kae!"
The Crocodile vanished.
"Open the Gate of the Reborn Crocodile, Ja Ra Kae!" She commanded, though the key was still in Amilia's hands. The Reborn Crocodile hadn't come willingly. He hadn't brought his key with him. But she would take that key, and he was now hers.
Amilia had the key, but it would be under her control.
"Lady." The Crocodile said when he appeared before her. "What is your desire?"
"Protect Minthe and the servant from Amilia." She trusted Ja Ra Kae to do as ordered. "Virgo, release her!" Lucy pushed back, about to command Laxus when–
BOOM!
Amilia was flat on the ground. Twitching.
Laxus needed no commands from her.
"Is she alive?" Lucy whispered.
He slid the sound pods from his ears, glancing down at the Crocodile. "She is." The tone of his voice told her that it had been a close thing. That he had almost not held himself back.
For the first time in the whole of her life, Lucy wasn't quite sure if he had done the right thing by...
She was glad it wasn't her who made the decision.
"Close the Gate of the Lyre. Close the Gate of the Twins. Thank you both. Virgo," she spoke into the dome Ja Ra Kae still held, "do you have them?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Is she safe to release?" Laxus muttered still behind her. "I'm not a big mythology buff like you or Freed, but immortals..."
"There's a risk," Lucy agreed. She walked up to the protective green shield. "Minthe, will you give testimony against her? I will guarantee my protection, in so much as if you are innocent, I will keep you safe."
The worn down mermaid bowed further to her, and nodded. "I will speak against the woman who held me."
Ja Ra Ke's shield fell.
"Minthe … can you explain it? What happened?" Lucy bent down to inspect the naiad's bindings. "And maybe how to get this off of you? There's no hinge or keyhole snap or button release…"
"I couldn't unlock them, Princess," Virgo bowed. "Punishment?"
"No, Virgo. It's okay. Minthe?"
"I am Minthe, the funerary nymph, and I was bought by that girl five years ago. As a pet, I suppose. I have been, over the last few decades, bought and sold as a curiosity. It is only the girl who has made true use of my abilities. The bindings have been in place for as long as I have been slaved to land and mortal owners. I do not know how to undo them."
Lucy bit her lip. "Since I'm guessing brute strength and metal sheers aren't an option… they obviously don't nullify magic … runes? Freed?"
"He could write on it," Laxus said to both Lucy and Minthe in apologetic tones, "but he can't unmake something, no."
"Think Jellal knows any of Ultear's arc of time magic? Could age it off?"
"It's not a material that will rust," Minthe said.
"Maybe if a virgin kissed her," Lucy suggested.
"Brains are leaking again," Laxus rolled his eyes. "I'm calling Gajeel."
"Think he can eat it off? But if it doesn't rust, I doubt it's real metal…"
"…I was calling him as a Council Guard, but that's not the worst idea to at least have him look at it. Natsu's eaten things that aren't actual fire before."
Minthe looked between the two of them. "You're calling a man to … eat the chain?"
"An iron dragon slayer," Lucy explained. "It might work."
The mermaid considered. "Indeed. It might."
"So," Laxus towered over at Amilia, who had been trussed up by Virgo, "how about we say we had justifiable self defense here."
"I did," she said. "She shot me!" She pointed to the hole in the front of her shirt.
His face shadowed.
Okay, that was not the best thing to say.
"Laxus…"
"Chill, Lucy. I won't kill her."
"Rather specific…"
Laxus stepped on the woman's right hand and glared down at her. Lucy watched as he put the full force of his body onto his foot. Listened as Amilia whimpered, and choked.
Tears ran down her cheeks. But she did not reprimand Laxus when he turned and came back to her side. She had watched. And understood. It wasn't about the bullet hole in her shirt. It was about all of those files. It was about Maggie. It was mostly, she thought, about Maggie.
Maybe it was about the girl he found in the village. He mentioned something about finding one still alive...
Had Amilia been a man... had Amilia been Char or Runnar... Had Amilia been a man and a mage, Lucy knew that Laxus would have felt justified in doing more than breaking a hand. But without Minthe and the white-gold keys to protect her, Amilia was as weak if not weaker, physically, than those victims she took. It would be all too easy for them to slip and kill her on accident if they were to attempt any kind of physical retribution.
Lucy took her own turn to stand over Amilia, and bent to take the remaining two white-gold keys from a pocket in her skirt. Ja Ra Ke's, which was fully hers now; though, she'd need to set up the contract. And Luk Kai's, which she would need to make hers. But not yet. She was tired. Very tired.
First they needed to get the guard for Amilia. Find someone to take care of Minthe. Give statements of what happened. And then she would need to sleep.
She blinked. Blinked again. She was really quiet tired. The pain in her chest had almost completely disappeared. She looked up at Laxus, who looked down at her.
And he smiled.
"It's okay, Lucy. I already sent Loke to get that guard. Surprised he's not already here, what with the racket your dog made. Go sit in the corner and rest. You can give a report when you wake up."
She meant to say something. No. Or maybe thank you. But instead, the world went sideways, and night fell, as she did.
0000
Reporting to the guard was easy. They had the paperwork from the princess, the wounded servant girl – whose name was Coleen – and the enslaved … Lucy called her a naiad, as witness. The girl, Lamie, who he found with her legs broken in town, couldn't remember anything. What happened to her was evidence, but she couldn't serve as a witness. Still, Coleen and Minthe could speak to the guard, and give a good account of the whole event.
A mermaid witness was a little iffy, but the guard decided to accept it, and figured the courts would as well. They were working on the problem of her cuffs, which Gajeel hadn't been able to solve with his teeth. Minthe agreed to give witness in exchange for her freedom, though Lucy was more than slightly angry about that, saying she didn't need to exchange shit for freedom, etc etc. But it was going to cost to hire folks to work out the mystery of those cuffs. So really, they were paying for her testimony in mage work.
Laxus thought he was a damn good witness as well, but he'd only caught the end. Things didn't really start rolling with the reports and the arrest – and the bullshit craziness in the house – until he shook Lucy awake and she backed up the story Minthe and Coleen were telling.
Liked to watch.
What a crazy bitch.
He thought about all those times he'd danced with her. Talked with her. That time at Holen when she'd asked him to walk with her … what would she have done then? Had she seen him as a threat, and had she meant it as a chance to attack? Or was it just as it had seemed at the time. Flirting?
Either way. Crazy bitch. He was ashamed he hadn't smelled it on her.
He should have. Lucy'd been in harm's way – someone else he'd sworn to protect had once again been threatened – because he hadn't fully lived up to his side of the deal in life. He was a protector. A guardian. A physically superior person, who had decided – willfully decided – to dedicate himself to protecting those around him.
Sure, she was safe.
Sure, she was currently in his bed, asleep.
Sure, she wasn't in any danger now.
But he felt a certain sense of, if not failure, inadequacy. He needed to get stronger. Better. More skilled. Just being able to hit harder wasn't good enough.
For Lucy, he'd become better than a tank.
"We won, Laxus. It's been days. Are you ever going to sleep?" Her voice was weak and tired. She had used up a lot of her personal energies, despite the rune, and was recovering from the bullet wound naturally. She had put a lot of power into Gemini for Coleen and Lamie. Their contract demanded she allow the spirit time to rest, and Lucy (and Laxus, too) knew her wound wasn't anything close to fatal. But it had made her tired and sore.
He could hear that exhaustion, and that pain, in her voice. But he also heard exasperation.
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep. You're the one who needs it."
"Everyone needs sleep, Laxus. And there's no one to guard me from, now. Or the house. And even if there were, there are no less than 20 guards scattered around the house and property. It'll be okay for a night. Come to bed."
"I'm fine-"
She rolled off of the mattress and stumbled to him, where he was sitting in a large chair beside the window. Still in the Wilnlo mansion. She knelt before him. They'd done this before. He remembered. Just a few weeks ago. Her before him, reassuring him. Calming him.
She reached up and put her fingers under his jaw, putting just enough pressure on it to tilt his head away from the window so that he'd look at her. Fully at her.
"You're not fine. I don't care. Come to bed. Please. You can be worried and stressed and upset and guilty and whatever else when you wake up. Right now? Just sleep. For a small moment, realize that it's not a crime to be proud of yourself. To be happy you succeeded. To have some joy that we're here together, that we made it, Laxus. I know you can't do that forever. I know you have to be strong, you have to ride yourself, and be tough. Be your own toughest critic. But you don't have to do that right this moment. Now? Just be with me, and sleep. Okay? Please?"
Her eyes were large and shadowed. The room was too dark for him to make out emotion or nuance in her eyes, her face. No expression. Just her voice and the light grip of her hand around his.
He considered, briefly, not going. Fucking off. Leaving. He wasn't sure why he considered it. Not after all that soul searching. All that promising to himself. But in that moment, in the dark, he had a flash of feeling that maybe he wouldn't be able to do it. That maybe he wasn't worth it. That maybe he wasn't capable of doing all and being all that she needed.
Maybe, just maybe, for a moment, he was afraid. How many times would she have to kneel before him and talk him through angst? That was hardly a life you wished on someone. Not someone you liked.
But maybe someone you needed...
"Laxus."
"I can't, Lucy. I just … I just can't."
She sighed and shifted so that she rested against his leg, her head leaning on his knee. "You're such a stubborn oaf." She yawned. "Pain in the ass."
Before Laxus could reply, she was asleep there, on the floor. Her breathing calm, even.
"Look who's calling who stubborn," he muttered to her, touching her hair, and then pulling away. He sat watching her for one minute. And two. Three. And then all of the tension in him fled. "Okay. You win. Again."
She didn't wake to gloat. She didn't shift or move at the sound of his voice. So he leaned forward and carefully picked her up, carrying her back to the bed, and putting her under the blankets there. Slowly, reluctantly, he did all the things he needed to do to prepare himself for sleep. When he joined her, she took a deep breath and shifted. He stilled, thinking he had startled her into waking. But that was the only reaction she gave. After that gasp, she settled back into a steady sleep.
He reached for her, grabbing her hand, but not taking or demanding any more contact than that. He knew that by morning, when he woke, he would be smothering her. He almost always was. He told her once that he'd stop if he could help it, and maybe it was true when he first said it, but it certainly wasn't true now. Still, he wouldn't force that contact on her. Not consciously. Not when she was so weak. Not when the rest she needed was necessary, and deep.
So he took her hand. He took her hand and watched her silhouette. Studying the slight movement of her breathing. Shifting. Instead of falling asleep, he found his calm, his rest, in being beside her. In trying to accept the words. Those goddamn words of hope she gave him in that tired voice.
Maybe he could put aside his guilt for just a few more hours. Just a few more hours, and spend time being happy to be next to her.
It wasn't easy.
It couldn't be easy. Just looking at her. Just being with her. The reason for it was fucked. And it would never not be fucked. Honestly, the history behind them was always fucked. Almost every single meeting.
But right at this single, solitary, moment. He could put that aside. And be happy. Because they did it. They completed the job. And they were here. She was here. He was here. And he could touch her. As much as it hurt to touch her. To look at her. To see her. To know.
As much as happiness hurt when surrounded by so much hell. It was still happiness. And she was still with him. He was still with her.
She breathed.
He breathed.
She slept.
He slept.
0000
"I'm very pleased with your work."
Princess Hisui's office was unchanged in the five and a half weeks since they'd last seen been inside the castle. Like that first night, Lucy stood a few steps in front of him, taking point in addressing the princess, while he stood back against the wall. Still uninterested in addressing royalty.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I'm afraid we don't quite feel the same way, but thank you."
"None of us wanted more deaths, but you and I both knew they were possible. Inevitable even. We simply did not have enough information going into the event to solve the case right away, and the first murder happened before you even reached Mason, Lucy. Do I wish it had gone better? Of course, but I also wish I had found a way to stop the murders last year. I knew of them last year, and I was unable to stop them. Without you and Laxus, I would have seen another year and another six women dead, maybe more. You may feel like you failed, but believe me when I tell you, you did not. You tracked down a killer, and you brought her to justice. The two of you directly saved three lives, and indirectly saved the lives of all those other women who would have died had you not taken on my request-"
"But, we still lost Daine at Mason and Wen and Runnar at Holen."
"Yes, you did. You, neither of you, are perfect. But no one is, Lucy. You completed the job. In my opinion, in the opinion of your princess and client – as well as that of the guard, who have forwarded their reports to me, at my request – you did a job that no one else was more capable of doing, and did it well. Solved in the third house, and you and I both considered the possibility that it might take all six. I can understand feelings of guilt," Laxus caught her eyes as the princess glanced up at him, clearly reading him and his guilt easily, "but don't let guilt be all that you feel."
Laxus continued his silence, while Lucy bowed. "I'll consider it, Princess."
"Do. And, I thank you again. Even if you don't appreciate it, I thank you sincerely. It will be a few weeks yet before the case is completely wrapped up. The guard still needs to track who sold the Dominos Minthe; Brandish might very well be inheriting early, and a poorer estate. But that is no longer your job. I'm proud of you both. Payment, with a bonus, will be transferred into your accounts. You are dismissed."
This time he bowed when Lucy did, and they both left the office, as ordered.
Together they walked down the hallway and toward the suite they had shared that first week. Laxus swallowed, wondering when they'd have the conversation they'd been avoiding for days. Filling up their time with trial reports, Lucy's forming contracts with the alternate zodiac keys, and preparation for speaking to Hisui.
He didn't know how to ask her … the questions he didn't know. He didn't know exactly what he wanted. Didn't know exactly what she wanted.
Fuck his gramps. Shit would be easier if they were in the same guild. But they weren't. So it was automatically more complicated.
They reached the door, and before he could open it, she had her hand on the knob, holding the door wide enough for him to enter before her. He huffed. He'd figured Lucy for the romantic type, that she'd like someone to open doors and pull back chairs, but she'd been a bit standoffish.
Which worried the fuck out of him.
Goddamn it.
What was his problem?
Shit.
Okay.
"So," he started, thinking that was an okay opening. Nice and neutral and non-confrontational. "What now?"
She bit her lip and her stance shifted. Agitated. Instantly. Not good. Not at all good.
"I … I want to … I can't join Blue Pegasus, Laxus. I can't do it. I thought about it, and I just can't do it. It feels wrong for me." She turned from him, then her shoulders stiffened and she turned back, waving her hands between them, "Not that I'm judging you or your team for joining! I just … for me … I just … I don't think it's a good fit for me. And, anyway, I do like my job. Writing's what I love... Um. Writing is... I just think..."
He thought she might cry. And that made it okay. That made him understand. It wasn't what he was afraid of before, where it was only the fear and the excitement of the job that created what there might have been between them. It was that she was still standing by Fairy Tail. Which had been her position since day one.
He could get behind that. He wouldn't fight that. He could understand that.
But, just like she couldn't bring herself to join another guild, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to up and leave his new one.
"I've only been with Blue Pegasus a few months," he told her, speaking slowly. Considering his words. "It might be easy to leave, but at the same time, I can't imagine … I don't have to imagine life without a guild, I mean. I did it. And it wasn't really for me. I prefer being in a guild, even if it's... Even..." he cleared his throat. "I don't think I can leave. Not yet. Not until I've really given the place a good try."
"They're a good guild, I think." Lucy smiled at him. "I think you'd be happy enough there."
He shrugged, "What's happy enough? But yeah, I guess." He looked at the fire. "Really, I'm waiting. Just like you said. I'm waiting, too. In a different way, but the same idea."
"Yeah," she agreed.
They were both quiet for a long period of time. Again Laxus built up the nerve to continue.
"What does that mean?"
She shrugged, but then smiled as she dropped down to sit on the rug in front of the fire. That fire. Forcing herself in front of his line of sight. A nice warm spot, setting her face in flickering shadow and light, and making her hair glow red-gold.
"What do you want it to mean?" she asked, there was something odd in her smile that he couldn't recognize, so he looked over her shoulder, at the fire. The fire. Not her.
He went for the blunt, honest answer, "I want it not to mean this is over."
"That sounds good."
Her breathing was changing, but he didn't look away from the fire. He tried not to look away from the fire. He thought maybe she was about to cry, but he didn't look away from the fire.
"Will … while you're at the guild, your guild, waiting … will you wait for me, then, too?"
That did make him look at her. And she was, in fact, crying. Or on the verge of it, with tears in her eyes and heartbeat erratic. "Wait? Why wait? I thought, I mean … I thought, I'd just zap by the capitol whenever I could..."
Her eyes widened and her hands were up again, "Oh! I, uh. That's … that's even better. I'm not sure if … sometimes Jason sends me out for stories, so I'm not always at home, but if I'm in town, I'd lo... I'd be happy to see you! But I figured, you have jobs, and you train with your team... You might not have a ton of free time on your hands. I don't want you to feel obligated-"
"I don't feel obligated."
"And, I know that I don't always feel like myself. Like Lucy when I'm in that place. I'm less a mage, less the person you've spent time with when I work for the Sorcerer. I guess what I'm trying to say is my every-day life is pretty boring anymore. Not like … not like before. So, if you'd prefer to wait for... for the real me, like we're waiting for home... I'd understand."
He snorted. "Lucy, you're complicated as shit. That's the person I met on this job. You were forced to be three or four different people, and all of them were a little real. We're all like that. Fuck, I'm the same way. I don't give a shit. Had nothing to do with magic or no magic, fighting or no fighting. It's about you, and it's about me. Fuck half of the time we just sat around doing fucking nothing. I think I know you pretty okay by now." He lifted one shoulder and then waved his hand as if brushing away that point, "But you're right about the training and the jobs. I'm obligated to the guild. Gotta do jobs to pay dues and all. Not too hard, got no problems doing the work, but the work does have to be done, and like your work, it'll take me away sometimes. The last month was weird, and full of lots of terrible shit. I won't deny that. No way to deny that. But we can work something out so that..."
She smiled, "So that we can see if this still works in a world that is sane."
"Exactly."
"Then, when you can, you'll come see me?" The look and sound of hope in her, directed at him, burned in a way that heat never had, never would, never could.
"Yes."
"And maybe I can come visit you at the guild? I'd love to see your team in action."
"Sure, I'm sure they'd be fine with you working with us for-"
She laughed, "Oh come on, Laxus. I mean at the guild. I saw the waitresses in costumes while I was there! Do you all do rotations? I'm thinking you do. And if you do, I want to be there when the Rajinshuu are on staff duty."
He glared at her, "You're right, I should have seen that coming. And no, not everyone plays waitstaff."
"But the noobs?"
Part of him hated that sly, knowing look of hers. The other part of him appreciated it for the fact that it was so lighthearted.
"Yes, goddamn it, yes. You happy? Fuck. It's part of the dues, your first year."
"Right! So you come see me, and I'll come see you, and I pick those days-"
"Then I pick the days you're doing your underwear modeling," he leered at her, hoping to match her beat for beat, but losing immediately.
"I don't do that anymore. Which you would know if you kept better track of me. Sad. What a lonely feeling this is! I... yes. Quite forlorn. What to do with my broken heart?"
He snorted. "Bullshit. Tell me that Jason punk doesn't have you contracted to model still even though you're doing reporting, now."
"...well..."
"Yeah, I thought so."
She laughed. "He'd make a good celestial mage... or a very bad one? Very strong contracts, at least, and usually in his favor. Not that they aren't fair, but always always beneficial to him and the bottom line of his magazine."
"Still a punk."
"Yeah, he is." She was quiet. Carefully, she shifted into a different sitting position and ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay. Okay, I think that is a plan, then."
"Yeah. I think it is."
"Then this isn't actually goodbye, which is good. I don't think I could do goodbye."
Laxus chuckled, "Nah, it's not. If you've got your shit packed, I can get you to your place … well, now. Since Hisui's done with us, we can be done with the castle. Unless you want to stay."
She looked around, that red-gold, glowing hair flashing with each move. "No. I'm tired of gaudy rooms like this. I'd like to go... to go to my apartment."
"Then let's do that." He stepped into the bedroom and picked up his packed bag. Stepping back into the sitting room, he lifted his left arm so that Lucy could step up to him. Tucked into his side. Her forehead against his chest. His hand in her hair. He called his power.
He didn't usually call power in a inhabited building, but he didn't care. The princess was thankful to them. They'd done a job and earned gratitude enough to get away with the noise complaint. Probably even the broken glass windows and mirror in the room that would be left when the power exploded from him.
And that was something. The gratitude of a princess.
A young woman in Holen had told him she owed him her life. The family of an even younger woman in Winelow offered money and favors in thanks for her rescue.
At least three women, happy with what he had done with the last five weeks of his life. But it was the fourth who mattered. And the fourth whose gift meant most.
A shared happiness. A shared hope. A shared pain. And maybe, a shared future.
0000X0000
The End.
Just Kidding! Well, kind of. There's an epilogue. But then the end. So one more chapter. One more SHORT chapter. VERY VERY short. Probably be finished with it in a day or two. But I'm sure it'll be up by Monday.
To my guest reviewer, Moon. Thanks again for a great review on 14, and for sticking with this story. You've been excellent. (Everyone else, you get PMs...)
Extra Info-
Dao Mah Lap or the constellation of the 3 AM Dog is super simple, it's just the brightest star in the sky, which in certain times of year takes a long time to rise. Leading to it being the star of thieves in a way, that it's a sleepy dog that will not wake when you walk past it. Supposedly if you were born under the Mah Lap sign, you are going to be a thief or join a gang or something. I can't remember.
Dao Ja Ra Kae is slightly more complicated. A wealthy man hid his fortune and died, telling his wife where to find the money and that she needed to make a donation to the temple. After he died, a Croc was seen protecting his property, and when the wife was digging up his hidden fortune, and taking it to the temple as an offering, the Croc protected her too. People said that the Croc was her husband, reborn, and so for his generosity and goodness they made the croc into a constellation. He's the Big Dipper.