A/n: I've missed a thousand Saturdays, so y'know what? Updates = Irregular. I'll get around to it when I can. Sorry for the inconvenience.
The group got two fine rooms in the best inn stationed in the plaza of the town, and in the middle of the town, which was good for them since they would be splitting up in different directions and then coming back. Figuring out the room situations were hard and then the bed situations would be decided on later, but Seph kind of felt like she was back in Crocus with her, Laxus, Gajeel and Lily in the same room again. It's just that the Raijinshuu was with them that time, including Katie and Charles, which, in her opinion, made it even better! Team Natsu plus Wendy, Carla and Juvia were staying in the other room, and they all just basically dropped their stuff, met back up, split into groups, and then they took off in different directions to search around town for different things that screamed suspicion.
When they all came back from searching around, reporting back barely anything that probably actually meant something, Erza handed Laxus a photocopy of the testimonies and such that she had managed to get so they could both go over them in their own time. Everyone started settling down, trying to figure out bed arrangements with the six beds in the room, Seph decided to read through the testimonies and statements and everything… and she didn't really find much that was useful, in her own little opinion. Maybe Laxus and Erza would have better luck…
Eventually, they all came to a decision that Laxus and Seph would share a bed—which the Exceed was totally fine with and used to anyways—, that Katie and Charles would share a bed, that Gajeel and Lily would share a bed, and then Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen would each get their own beds. It seemed fair enough and Seph felt pretty content knowing that she would still be with her partner. Everyone pretty much just climbed into bed after that and sooner than later, she found that everyone had drifted off aside from her.
Night had fallen fast upon the land. No more than an hour ago, the sky was painted with hues of red, orange and pink, but all color had faded awhile ago, leaving only a matt black canvas with no stars to be looked upon. The darkness was thick and at every little sound, her fur would rise and small bumps that tingled would run along her arms and legs. Seph had underestimated the cold and she merely sighed, unable to sleep, and pulled on her sweater along with putting her glasses back on, getting up slowly and quietly so that no one else would be bothered. She slipped out of the dark room into the lighted halls and made her way down the few steps, slipping out past another door and into the cold night, feeling all of her heat rush into her core as the cold air bit at her skin from underneath her fur. Her blood ran cold through her veins and her bones were chilled, the breeze blowing right through her sweater, yet she walked straight around to the side of the inn where little light bugged her sore, tired eyes, trying to calm herself down with the fresh air in hopes of getting drowsy enough to fall asleep once she got back to bed.
Then, it all happened at once.
Hands were grabbing at her and when she tried to scream, there was a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. She moved around violently in an attempt to get free, but she was nearly powerless against the pair of Exceeds that were pulling and pushing her into the ground, disabling her and hurting her. She cried as loudly as she could against the hand and at one point, she managed to open her mouth in order to bite down harshly on the hand.
"LAXUS!" She screamed as loudly as possible before the hand covered her mouth again, much rougher that time to the point of digging into her cheeks.
"Shut her up, dammit!" One of them whisper-yelled harshly to the other, in which Seph just tried to kick at someone, anyone, when she heard them and found that this was actually happening, that she was actually in danger.
A thought struck at Seph, however, no matter how it wasn't the time. She was sure that her Guildmates would put up a fight for her, but did anyone really care enough to defend her defiantly?
She choked back a sob that turned into another scream as someone pulled on her shorts, whether they meant to or not, and something just clicked in her tiny little heart that caused her to clench her fists, to bring her knees up to her chest, and to focus all of her magic in one place until there were no more hands restraining her. No one was touching her; no one was hurting her… If anything, she was hurting whoever was trying to get her because there was unfamiliar screaming in the air: ones full of pain. Nonetheless, she crawled around into a little dip where she just hid behind a concrete wall, the cold concrete rivaling against the warmth in her poor little cheeks that had gone red from her lack of breath and all that crying, and she just sat there as she bawled her eyes out.
Tears were streaming down her face and sobs came out in strains and painful chokes as she tried her best to stop shaking even though it didn't work out too well. Her screaming sobs were only interrupted by her need to draw breath and it was a primal sound, one that no one was programmed to ignore, and she cried as if her brain was being shredded from the inside. Emotional pain flowed out of her every pore, from her mouth came cries so raw, and she shook so violently that it was almost as if she was caught in an earthquake, but there was none happening. From her eyes came a thicker flow of tears than she had cried upon a knife being buried into a chest that one day she escaped, blood basically squirting all over her and the choking in the other's throat forever haunting her alongside everything else. Her chin trembled as if she was a small child and she breathed heavily, gasping for air that simply wasn't there as her throat burned, forming a silent scream. Her brain had shut down. She was clammy and there was the glisten of a cold sweat, her eyes as wide as if someone was coming to deliver the final blow, yet what she saw, no one else could see. She breathed in and out, but air wouldn't enter her lungs, her heart racing at tremendous speeds and her lungs shallowly rising and falling in time.
And he took the approach of love and kindness. He stayed as far as necessary, gently reaching out but not touching her and gently speaking to her, but never raising his voice too much. He became fresh air and clean water, rich soil for the harvest and the sweet spring rain. He became all of the things that she didn't know she needed or loved so dearly until they were gone. She immediately reached out as soon as she registered his presence, wrapping her arms around his torso and pulling him into her, laying her hands flat across his back before balling them up again, bawling her eyes out on his shoulder as he gently resting a hand on the back of her head, another arm wrapping around her waist to protect her from everything that had tried to hurt her and would dare to try. She felt blessed to know him, to be able to be held by him and hold him, and she was finally able to take deep breaths again, feeling the cold night's fresh air seep into her burning lungs and rush out again to help her create a rhythm.
"Hey, it's okay…" He told her ever so softly, the statement smooth and the baritone of his voice reverberating through her bones as her grips onto her tighter, almost as if he was afraid to let her go. She was afraid to let him go. The low rumble of his voice was comforting as it wrapped around her and carried her off to a world where sound was the power that could change everything wrong in the world.
She gently pulled back, just ever so slightly, not daring to let go and not enough for him to let go, and allowed herself to peer into his soft orange eyes that calmed her despite her slight fear of eye contact. His eyes were so different, almost like the eyes of one who loves deeply, and if it were anyone else, she probably would have dropped her gaze, but he merely drew her in closer. In his eyes was his humanity, the person he really was, and there was something in his spirit that danced, like a fire giving just the right amount of warmth. Her body squirmed a little bit as it relaxed and she finally broke the eye contact, allowing herself to just lean into his warmth again, and he didn't dare to refuse her neediness, simply lifting her up in his strong, tense arms, holding onto her tightly and carefully as he began to walk.
She felt the temperature change as she was carried back inside, hearing many voices around her but being unable to identify them as most of them remained outside as she moved away, still crying ever so softly and switching her grip from around his torso to around his neck to make it easier on him, and just to get closer so she could continue feeling that warmth that was calming her down. She finally felt herself being lowered onto to cotton, nearly silken, mattress, her back pressing to the cool, cotton cover of one of the pillows. As much as she longed to snuggle into the soft eiderdown duvet and close her eyes as it caressed her cheek, she didn't want him to leave her, so she held on tight until he finally sighed and acted the inevitable, lying down with her and keeping his firm hold on her fragile form. He pulled the duvet over them, hugging it tight to her and rolling so that it enclosed them both in warmth upon seeing her shiver and watching another tear roll across her nose, and he gently pulled her glasses from her faces, handing them to somebody who she couldn't pinpoint by smell or voice or anything.
She didn't dare to think back upon what had happened, not while she could enjoy this moment with him. She felt so scared still, but she also felt content with him so close and it almost made her start crying all over again… however, she just really didn't have the energy for it. In the slightly dark room with just one little lamp on to signify the rush everyone had gotten into, his cuddles felt like a little touch of heaven, even as he lifted a hand just to brush it through some of her fur. She allowed herself to sniffle, shifting closer towards him, and he didn't seem to mind, simply holding onto her a little tighter, but still being gentle. His arms being wrapped around her brought a peace that she had never come to know before, calming the storms in heart and soul. She thought that it was him, just maybe, that brought her hope for the future. In his embrace, she started to believe that there was nothing out there to fear, that there was all sunshine, beautiful trees and kind people—friends to be.
She thought that, honestly, it could be true if she tried hard enough and if others would try, too.
Just as the first bite of cold wind crept past the duvet and her clothing, Lily's hand moved around her middle, warm and soft. In seconds, his body was molded to her own, sharing his body heat as easily as he shared his heart. She could never let another person so close, honestly, but he was so different. She had never known a person to always have the right motivations, even when he was wrong. There was purity to him, naivety perhaps, but he was the only flower in a meadow full of them for her.
Her shaky breathing leveled out and in moments, as her fear melted away, she drifted off into a better sleep than she had gotten in the past couple of nights.
Cuddled into Lily's front was the small bundle of fragile fur everyone knew as Seph, her fingers curled into the fabric of the duvet slightly drooping between them, not clasping it tightly, but just enough to reassure her that they were still there together. Everyone just wanted to scoop her up, to give her a hug of their own, but they knew that would never go over well at the moment. She needed her rest right now and Lily seemed to be at the utmost support for her, so as long as she stayed content, then everything would be alright. Every time she shifted in a concerning way or let out a soft sound, her would be able to soothe her while she was sleeping, making it more manageable for the others to discuss everything out in the hall and in the doorway, trying to keep quiet for multiple different reasons. She had been worse out there than simply in an attack because she was actually being hurt by being restrained, unlike her thoughts just whirling around nearly uncomprehendably and awfully. She had been so vulnerable, yet now the inn had a new tree out on the side. She had grown that with her magic in a desperate moment and they weren't complaining since she got herself out of trouble before they got there, and even if she had caused damage, they would have paid for it because honestly, she protected herself the best she could.
Laxus felt awfully guilty for not hearing her sooner and letting her wander off alone in the first place, but it was typical to all of them because they all felt a little guilty in the same way. He wasn't perfect, but he would follow his partner into Hell if that's what it took to keep her safe. He was her protector as she was his, on to shield the other, so he would stay with her as she stayed with him, trust in her as she trusted in him, and together they would ride through every storm only to come out the other side, waiting to see what the new dawn may bring. He was at the breaking point of his patience. Anger boiled deep in his system, as hot as lava, and it churned within as he ran a hand through his hair three times in quick succession, fixing the wall in a stare that could have frozen an ocean. He snarled more than spoke.
"If I ever meet the bastards who hurt her in the first place, I'm going to beat the shit outta them and then snap their necks to finish it off."
No one dared to question him as he made his way back into the room, noticing that Lily was slowly drifting off into sleep as Seph continued to snooze on, and he merely climbed into the bed carefully, wrapping an arm around the both of them. Lily understood, looking up for a mere second before looking back down at Seph's restless expression before finally drifting off, his breathing leveling out ever so slowly. Laxus wasn't a hero until someone hurt who he loved, and then it was war.
Someone crossed the line with his partner and he wasn't going to forget it. He wouldn't rest until they were beaten—and he didn't mean just beaten down: he meant dead or at least close to. There wasn't a place they could hide, he would find them and destroy them. He didn't care much how it happened, he just needed them to suffer as Seph had and just needed their cold souls extinguished from the universe. They might think that it was an overreaction, but they also would underestimate how much he cared for her.
He was coming. They just had to know it.