Chapter 17 - "The Part of the Story Arc Everyone Cried At"

Laxus POV

Darkness. Nothingness. An abyss.

It's all around me. I can't tell if I'm asleep or dead. Did I die? If I did, death is boring as fuck.

A small throbbing pain pulses from my nonexistant body, a phantom pain that is more an annoyance than anything. At first, I would fade in and out of a state where I could just barely hear the outside world, just barely feel the sweat-soaked sheets sticking to my back and the shallow barely-there breaths making my lungs flutter. Words barely registered, but I could hear them. I could hear my mate's beautiful, but ragged voice.

"I love you Laxus. Don't you dare die on me. Please don't leave me…"

Her broken whispers, tickling my ear and breaking the constricting, suffocating silence, made my heart clench. Her warm hand was holding mine, and I tried my very hardest to squeeze my fingers. I fought and fought, but I couldn't move.

"Please…" she whimpers. My heart breaks as I struggle against the darkness, the void closing back in. I love you, too Blondie! I'm right here! Please don't cry!

I fade back into nothingness.

The next time the silence is broken, it's by three different voices.

"Laxus… We're going to make them pay." The hard-edged growl sounded like Gajeel.

"Yea. They're going to regret messing with Fairy Tail. We'll make sure of that." The furious voice was Natsu.

"Don't worry, Laxus. You need to heal. But we need you to fight. We need you to not give up," the small, soft voice was Wendy, her words accompanied with a warm numbing of my pain. Her magic, I would assume. She's right. I can't give up.

But it hurts so much…

"We'll watch over Luce for you, but she needs you." That was Natsu again.

"Yea, if you give up, I will personally hunt you down in the afterlife and beat your fucking face in," Gajeel growled. I almost wanted to laugh, but I was still completely unmoving. I have to trust my fellow slayers – I have to trust they'll keep Blondie safe while I'm stuck here.

Fuck this stupid darkness. This shit isn't going to keep me down. But for now… I just need to… sleep…

I fade again, but I don't resurface this time. The darkness is so consuming, and fighting it is just so exhausting.

I'm so tired…

A spear of anguish shoots through me, but it feels off. It isn't my anguish. Is it… Blondie's?

The sheer force of the sadness seems to pull me up. Every bit of my being is now fighting against the darkness, grasping at consciousness. I need to go to her. I need to find her. She's in trouble. She's in trouble. My inner instincts feel like they're snapping their teeth from inside a cage, hurling themselves against the walls in desperation. Fight. I need to fight. Save my mate. My mate is in danger. My mate needs me. I can't give up.

"Fucking right you can't give up."

The somewhat familiar voice startles me. The darkness fades a little, almost becomes less oppressive.

"You wake your ass up right now, lightning boy," the voice came again, and I seem to regain a bit of movement. I look around the darkness wildly, searching for the voice, the all-consuming need to get to my mate still practically vibrating in my skull. I can barely make out a figure – is that… a mermaid?

Wait, I know a mermaid. I think.

"Yea you know a fucking mermaid, it's me dumbass. Now wake the fuck up and go to Lucy. The brat is in trouble. I've given all I can give, we all have, but it's not enough." The voice says, a little urgently now. I bristle and struggle to see the figure more clearly. My clouded vision clears just enough to reveal a glaring face with long blue hair. One of Blondie's spirits. She's… crying though. I hesitate – what the hell is going on? She floats closer and grips my shoulders roughly, alerting me to the presence of my own body. "Wake up, and go save the little brat." She growls, but her voice is breaking. I nod dumbly, and focus every bit of my consciousness on waking up. The figure fades away and as my eyes shoot open I could have sworn I heard a whispered, broken hearted "Please".

The pain is the first thing I was aware of. My body was wracked with agony, my muscles protesting any movement. My eyes adjusted to reveal a strange, rubble filled landscape. The sky was dark, and the stone beneath me seemed particularly harsh. I forced myself to sit up, gritting my teeth against the pain. My team and Mr. Yajima were placed neatly nearby, in the same condition I technically still am. I look around to find various guildmembers either rising to their feet amongst the rubble or already engaged in battle with odd figures. The stench of dark magic and death permeated the air and I coughed harshly. Blood speckled my lips and my muscles locked up, my head hazy.

That same spear of anguish shot through me and my instincts had me standing before I even knew what was happening. I tried to slow down and take note of the situation. I have no idea what is going on right now. My brain struggles to sort through the sensory overload, only to blank at the sound of Lucy screaming in the distance. Her heart-breaking wail erased all rational thought and my body began to move on its own.

Each step threatened to crush me beneath the pain, my head is swimming and hazy.

Find Lucy. Find my mate. Save her. Protect her.

My coat flutters behind me as I move quickly towards where I somehow knew my mate was. I hear shouts behind me, probably someone noticing I was gone.

I have to stop to lean against a crumbling wall and catch my breath, willing the oxygen to absorb into my burning lungs. I hear the rush of water and look behind me to see a wall of dark water curling around the corner and raging its way towards me. I grit my teeth and leap up the side of the wall to the top of the rubble, every nerve in my body screaming in pain. I cough up blood while I watch the water sweep by. I sniff at the water and reel back. I don't know what exactly that shit is, but it's poisonous.

What if blondie was caught in the flood.

The thought jolts me to my feet and I continue to make my way across the ruins towards where my inner dragon is pulling me, carefully avoiding the water, and stubbornly ignoring my body's desperate pleas to stop.

I grew closer and closer until the water receded and I leaped back down. I was so close, I could hear voices. I finally bust through to the clearing where the voices are coming from.

Blondie, Juvia, Natsu, and Levy were collapsed, and Gajeel was on his knees, barely conscious. The same beast from before stood over him, his arm raised to strike down. I saw the look of hopelessness in the iron slayer's eyes, I saw the unconscious, battered, and beaten form of Lucy, I saw a barely conscious Levy reaching towards Gajeel in despair and fear, and a battered Natsu lying face down…. Not moving.

I charge my lightning and launch myself at the demon with all of the power I can muster, the adrenaline and pounding need to protect pushing me past my body's limits. I barrel into him and knock him across jaw, sending him skidding away. I clutch at my chest and glare icily at the monster.

"Leave this guy to me," I growl towards Gajeel, who only stares at me helplessly. The beast pulls himself up and glares at me in surprise and anger.

"You again. How are you alive?" he barks. I smirk. I straighten up and let my magic and inner dragon consume me, my eyes glowing ominously and scales forming across my cheekbones and forearms. As the power courses through me, the pain fades to the back of my mind, the only thing remaining is the driving force pushing me to kill this fucker.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm here to kill you again. And this time, you won't be getting back up," I snarl, lightning arcing off my body. "You hurt my family. You almost killed my friends. And you harmed my mate. I'm going to rip you to fucking shreds."

I push my magic out, letting it arc and glow around me. The demon tries to maintain an impassive expression, but I can see it – theres a shred of uncertainty.

"Laxus! Don't!" Gajeel calls out helplessly. I ignore him.

My consciousness almost fades out as my body seems to move on its own, striking at the demon viciously and without mercy. He dodges the first one, but just barely, and while he recovers, I prepare a powerful spell above me, forcing as much power into it as I can. This one hits, and I take a second to breath heavily. The dust clears, only to reveal Tempester only slightly ruffled.

"Is that the best you can do?" he mocks, his aggravatingly impassive demeanor igniting my fury. He launches his own attacks. I barely dodge the first, but am forced to block the second, the force of the rock almost crushing the bones in my forearms. But I only grit my teeth.

"You've been contaminated with bane particles," The demon drawls. "Testing your limits is proving to be quite amusing, human." His taunt has my fist tightening.

"You bastard," I snarl. He smirks, and with a muttered "Whoosh" launches another series of attacks in the form of multiple cyclones. I draw a deep breath and launch a Lightning Dragon's roar toward the approaching spell as he adds yet another spell of his own. They meet in the middle and erupt in debris with a power surge that shook the very ground. But through the smoke I see…

A large fireball that managed to slip past my attack. I barely have time to brace myself before it hits me, the force causing my teeth to rattle and my bones to protest. I stifle a pained yelp and fall to my knees, breathing heavily. The dust clears while I kneel there, and I smirk while wiping away a trickle of blood at the corner of my mouth. I laugh humorlessly.

"I gotta hand it to ya… you're good…" I allow. Behind me, Gajeel tries again to speak up.

"You have to… stop moving!" he argues. I laugh again at his attempt.

"You have a choice to make," the demon's bored drawl reaches my ears. "You can either stay still and die, or keep moving and die," he finishes simply. I smirk.

"Well that's not a very good choice, now is it?" I grunt. I struggle to my feet, grimacing. "You guys don't get it. You can keep knocking humans down… but we'll just keep getting right back up again," I roar, launching myself at him again. He activates his own magic to block my lightning imbued strike, but he can only defend. I flip around for a kick that also gets blocked, but the demon grits his teeth and winces. "And you call yourself a demon," I taunt. Just then, he releases his block, causing my balance to be thrown off and I fall forward. He punches his fist deep into my gut, forcing a splatter of blood to spit from my mouth. But I hardly even feel the pain. He will pay. He will pay for EVERYTHING.

"You're the one who's fucking afraid," I taunt, gathering my magic for another powerful spell. "Thunder Dragon JAW!" I scream, the spell running through my fists. He manages to block my fists, but is thrown off as lightning surges down from the heavens. Unfortunately, he recovers quickly.

"Swish," he mutters, and his own spell smacks me backwards to crash into the rubble. My body screams in agony, and I have to falter, lying there against the rubble. "Vwum," his voice precedes a massive boulder launching through the air to crash against me. I can't help but shout out in pain, my world spinning as the rocks around me erupt with the force. When I finish tumbling, I force myself to stand up from the rubble, despite the freshly broken bones. I pant heavily, but one stray look at Lucy's motionless form has my body moving on its own again.

"Give it up, human. I doubt you can even move anymore," the demon says boredly. I grimace and wipe the blood from my lips again.

"Whether or not I can still move…" I gasp. "Is up to me…" I finish defiantly, taking a shaky step forward. I continue moving one foot in front of the other, walking forward despite the mind-numbing pain shooting through every limb. "Don't be making… my decisions for me…" I growl menacingly. The demon's eyebrow raises, and lightning envelops my form again. I leap towards him, gathering my power for my next attack. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Roaring THUNDER!" I howl, releasing the magic in a devastating attack he grits his teeth while defending from.

He uses his own spell, and a series of large rocks slip through my spell to smash against me, knocking me backwards back into the rubble. I scream in pain.

The dust clears as I lay there amongst the rubble, far too many bones broken at this point to do much more than pant. My ears are ringing and I can feel my consciousness ebbing away with each black spot that crosses my vision. I vaguely hear the demon approaching, his heavy footsteps sending jolts of fear through my heart. No. I can't die here. I need… to save… Lucy. I will kill this bastard. And I will save her. I open my eyes to see him standing over me.

"It's time to end this once and for all," he announces, although he looks a little more beat up than he probably expected. Again.. Again I'm…

My thoughts drift to remember the state my team is in. The state Mr. Yajima is in. How they're fighting for their lives because of THIS fucker. I dart my eyes to see once again the unconscious forms of Natsu… Levy… Juvia… and….

Lucy.

Lucy is hurt. And she needs my help. I have to fight to my dying breath. I grit my teeth and lock eyes with the demon above me.

"It's time to give you a fitting end," he says. He raises his arm, readying a strike. "Farewell, human," he finishes. His fist comes down, empowered by magic, and slams into my heart.

The pain is unbearable. My ribs crack loudly, my brain goes numb in its attempt to drown out the pain. A scream I barely recognize claws its way up my throat. I hear Gajeel calling out for me helplessly and through the blinding pain I manage I grip his arm in my fist. This might just kill me… but I'm bringing him with me. The demon grunts in surprise and irritation. "let go." He demands coldly, his voice quavering slightly. I gasp.

"It's true.. that I can't move anymore…" I begin, my body aching more than it ever has. "But…" I glare at him, my eyes glowing as I wrench my fist from the rubble, channeling all the magic I can into it. With a final surge of power I push myself to my feet, holding his arm and making him stumble back, smirking through gritted teeth. He looks at me in surprise and disbelief.

"You… you left yourself open on purpose… in your condition?!" he bumbles. I tighten my grip.

"I was waiting," I smirk. It may not have been my smartest plan, but it worked. The demon's eyes go wide in recognition as I ready my spell. "Thunder Dragon IRON FIST!" I howl, my fist driving itself upwards to smash the demons jaw with a strength I honestly wasn't certain I was capable of. The demon's wretched mouth wrenches open and spits blood, the liquid landing on my coat. Perfect… just what Porlyusica needs to help my team. But I can deal with that later. The demon falls to the ground on his back and I fall to my knees, panting. To the side, I spot Gajeel struggling to his feet.

"Gajeel!" I call. I toss him my coat with the fresh demon blood on it and he catches it, staring in bewilderment. He look sat it for a moment.

"Wait.. Lax-" he starts.

"Take it and go!" I bark. At his confused face I continue. "The coat. Take it to the old lady… hurry," I grunt. He looks back at the garment and his eyes widen in recognition at the sight of the demon's blood. "his blood… she can use it to make… an antidote…" I explain between pants. But it becomes too much, and I fall forward in exhaustion and pain. Gajeel hurries to my side. Before I can protest, He pulls my arm around his shoulder and pulls me to my feet, supporting my weight.

"You idiot… I told you to go…" I grunt.

"Shut up." Is all he says. I shake my head, trying to clear it.

"No. Take the fucking coat to her. Get that blood to her right now," I try to demand, but I'm out of breath. Gajeel grits his teeth.

"Shut up!" he growls again, but he trails off and his eyes widen at something. I look in front of us and my heart sinks. The demon is pulling itself up to his feet, and standing up. He wipes away the blood on from his mouth with a clawed hand, staring at me coldly. Gajeel groans. "The fuck? Is this guy immortal or some shit?" he moans. I can only stare.

"I am Tempester the Immortal," the demon announces conveniently. "As long as the Underworld King thrives, I'm supplied with a small, yet constant flow of curse power," he continues, also helpfully. I hiss in irritation. "All of the nine demon gates has the ability to be revived by Hell's core," he continues on, and while his words mean nothing to me, I force myself to focus. He smirks. "Yet I'm the only one with the 'Immortal' title," he finishes smugly, taking a step forward. "Do you know why?"

Both Gajeel and I just stare at him. Sure enough, he continues his rant.

"My body is resilient to begin with," He starts. "In addition, the curse power I receive from the Underworld King boosts my regenerative powers far beyond even that of a normal demon," at this, Gajeel sucks in a sharp breath. My brow furrows and my gaze heats up. "If you insist on killing me, I'll give you a little tip," The demon sneers. My ears perk up. This is exactly what I was hoping for him to reveal. "To vanquish my immortal body…" He starts. Gajeel bristles but I focus harder. "You need to defeat me in one blow before I can regenerate," he explains. "But you'll need massive attack power to accomplish that," he sneers cockily. I smirk. There it is. "But netither of you possess such power, I'm afraid." He crosses his arms and closes his eyes. Gajeel growls at the taunt, but I hold steady. "No… I'm afraid it's over now," the demon announces. I snicker despite myself. "Huh? What are you laughing about, foolish human?" it demands. I open my eyes and look to the side. He follows my gaze and I can tell the exact moment he realizes just what is about to happen.

My lightning flickers and arcs from each leftover puddle of poison water. I watch with glee as the monster begins to sweat, his eyes growing more concerned with each new puddle his eyes take in. And there are a lot of them. He looks up at me in disbelief and I smirk, taking my own weight again and gently pushing Gajeel to the side.

"Beating you in one shot, eh?" I grin, despite the pain. I savor the look of disbelief for a moment. "Not a problem," I finish, pulling every last amount of magic I have in me. "THUNDER DRAGON ROAR!"

My roar fire towards him, the lightning amplified a thousand times by all of the conductive water. I feel my magic draining everything from me, but I keep pushing more into the attack. There is a moment before the attack hits that I get to witness the look of unrestrained fear and disbelief in the demon's eyes. His mouth wrenches open in an agonized scream as the attack hits, annihilating his life force.I can sense the moment his power ends, the moment his body dies its final death. As his body hits the ground, I grin in triumph. For a moment, I let myself bask in the glory of winning. And then the darkness starts to creep back in, and I feel my body giving out. I fall backwards against the ground with a thud, my strength completely gone. I vaguely hear Gajeel yelling at me to get up. But I'm so tired.

No. I have to hold on a little longer. I desperately claw at consciousness, my ears picking up the demon's final words.

"Well done, human… I'm unable to get back up," it says weakly. "The Underworld King's curse power can't help me now… In a few seconds, I will die…" it continues. A feeling of dread blossoms in the pit of my stomach.

"Shut the fuck up and just die already-" Gajeel sneers.

"but…" the demon interrupts. "I must fulfill my duty to the very end…" His words send my heart plummeting and the dread increases. I want to yell at Gajeel to run, to get everyone out and get away from the beast, but my mouth won't move. I can sense his body disintegrating in the same way it did before. "I will die… and you and these Bane Particles are coming with me…" the voice sighs.

GET OUT OF HERE GAJEEL! GET OUT NOW!

But I can't even open my eyes.

I feel the eruption of the poison and I thrash desperately against the unconsciousness.

NO! BLONDIE! GET OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!

I hear Gajeel start to cough, and I want to cry. After everything… everything… we're still all going to die…

The temperature drops to freezing and the jolt gives me enough consciousness to open my eyes. I see ice. Ice everywhere. A bewildered Gajeel.

My body is more or less rolled over to the others and I sense the warmth of my mate nearby. I turn my gaze upwards to look into her still half-conscious mocha eyes, and I smile in relief. She's okay. She smiles, her grimy face marred by tear tracks, and she places her hand on my cheek. I let her scent overwhelm me and after she presses her lips to mine, I let myself fall back into nothingness.

I did it. And I refuse to die. I will survive long enough to taste those lips once again. She holds my head in her lap and in my last conscious moments I could have sworn I heard a familiar voice whisper "Thank you."

See? Told ya canon offered up some perfect LaLu material. I mean, going by the anime of course. Because I'm super pleased that Laxus got his revenge in the anime. ANd he showed off his hotness so that was nice. I actually watched the Laxus vs. Tempester final battle episode as I wrote this one so hopefully I transcribed it well enough.

But in all seriousness, Aquarius' "Death" had me absolutely bawling. Like I was sad about it for days afterwards. It was so well done that it just affected me deeply... almost like the whole "nina" episode of fullmetal alchemist (brotherhood, although i think it happens in the original version as well).

Coming up next: Lucy becomes an alcoholic. Because seriously, the anime had her recovering waaaaaay to easily from this ordeal. Like, I get that PTSD and depression and lasting mental effects arent usually explored in shows, with a few exceptions (Legend of Korra and Fullmetal being two), but I mean, really Mashima? You wrote that heart-destroying scene and you bypassed the effects of it? Tsk tsk.