49th: Fortunetelling

Summary: Ivan's fortune tellers were the main problem they'd have to face during their invasion. He and his commander had both known this but they hadn't believed the problem to be like this.

Raven's Castle wasn't only a castle. There was also a village inside the walls and the complete fortress was the heart of Duke Ivan's realm. The evil man had chosen to fight against his father, the rightful king, and held currently the queen who happened to be his own mother hostage.

But for King Makarov, this wasn't a reason to give in yet. Quite the opposite – he had sent out the best warriors of his army to retrieve the queen and to reinstate the kingdom's power in the complete country.

"I am tired," Mirajane, one of the few women in the army, complained as she looked out for trouble. "Seriously, we should have gotten further to this damned castle before we got off our horses. Gildarts – what's the plan anyway?"

"You, Erza and most of the others will engage the castle's army into a fight while Laxus and I go to retrieve our queen," the most experienced fighter said with a shrug. "It's not much of a plan but we are sure that we will win anyway."

"Both Erzas?" Natsu asked with a wide grin. "That will be funny."

The rougher of the twins slapped him and left a crimson mark on his face. "It's still Captain Knightwalker to you," she declared with a low hiss as she glared at him. If looks had the ability to kill, she would have murdered the pink-haired man many times along the years.

"Er-chan," her childhood friend said calmly as he rested one hand on her shoulder. "Relax."

She threw a glare at him before she lowered her head as the storm inside her soul calmed down. It was handy for the king to keep Mystogan around Knightwalker most of the time because if it wasn't like this, the woman would end up killing many of her comrades.

"Gildarts," Laxus, the crown prince of the country, said as he caught up with the older man. "Why didn't you tell them of the special job we have to fulfil?"

"You just said it: it's our duty," the reddish-haired man said as he hurried up a little bit. "I see no point in burdening the others if it's only our duty to shed innocent blood … as innocent the blood of those women might be."

The reason why it had taken them so many months to prepare the attack was easily explained: Ivan had two fortune-tellers who would have told him everything … from the strength of their army to the exact position of every single fighter. Gildarts hated Ivan even more than any other member of the army hated the renegade prince because Ivan's army had destroyed his old village and so his complete life because among the dead had been his wife and so his future. Gildarts had married quite young, a beautiful woman from aforementioned village and when the village had been destroyed, the man had prayed that his wife would be save … but Cornelia had disappeared and no body had ever been found.

"Gildarts…" the blond man said but he understood his superior's outrage. Everyone knew how much the man had loved his wife and to make things even worse, his little daughter had been killed as well and according to Ur who had been little Cana's babysitter a long time ago, the girl had been a splitting image of her mother. It was also a known fact that Gildarts had adored his daughter – which was already proved by the fact that he had organised the best babysitter in the complete kingdom to take care of his daughter when he and his wife had been on their journeys.

"Let's go, Laxus," the older man said as they slipped through an open door. "You have my eternal gratefulness, Ultear," he said as he nodded at the black-haired woman who wore a servant's outfit. "You can get out of those disgracing clothes now and join the battle."

"About time," the woman snorted as she unbound her hair. "And you don't do anything foolish, alright? This is probably the only chance we will ever get … and I refuse to lower myself into such a position ever again."

"Understood, general," he said before he nodded at Laxus. "We should hurry up now."

"Ultear-san!" Erza Scarlet said as she bowed slightly. "So you did the infiltration?"

Neither of the men bothered to wait for a response as they hurried down a set of stairs to the position where the fortune-tellers were supposed to be because they had to die first.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Laxus admitted as they approached the core of the core.

"I feel it as well but as warriors of our kingdom, we cannot afford to think like this," the older man said as he kicked down a door. "After you, Prince Laxus."

They entered the centre of the castle and if they bothered to be honest, they weren't surprised when a pair of guardians stepped into their way. Gildarts was slightly surprised when he recognised those guardians as Juvia Lockser and Gray Fullbuster who belonged to their army. The duo was surely extremely skilled and since they thought before they acted it actually made a lot of sense that they had taken part at the infiltration as well but somehow, they seemed to be ready to fight for their foes' sake.

"Wait a moment, Gildarts-sama," Gray said as he raised one hand at them. "Something is very off about the fortune-tellers. Ivan … he is very angry at them since a few days."

"Wait and listen, Juvia feels like the king was misinformed," the blue-haired woman nodded as she mentioned towards the door.

"…what do you mean, you didn't see this happening?" Ivan's angry voice yelled. "Woman, the only reason why I let you live so far is that you can tell the future. So you really claim that you couldn't see a complete army getting closer!"

"Let go of my mother!" a young woman screamed. "We really didn't see this happening. We are just as confused about this as you are angry! Oh, please don't hurt her!"

"Worthless scum!" Ivan hissed as he threw someone to the ground. "I keep you around so that someone tells me when my worthless father makes his move – and you cannot even see how he mobilises his best fighters? You are truly useless, women!"

"Do not insult my daughter, Ivan," a woman ordered strictly as whoever had been on the ground rose again. "I can tolerate that you insult me … but I will never forgive you if you insult my only daughter – you are the one who messed up and I refuse to tolerate your evil doings a moment longer. I am only here because I cannot leave. Never misunderstand my forced servitude as loyalty, your highness," she spat.

Gildarts stumbled before he fell down to his knees. "C-Cornelia…" he whispered. "Oh dear … Cornelia … why … no … how?"

"Gildarts-sama?" Gray asked as he looked at his commander who was kneeling on the ground. "Wasn't Cornelia-sama your wife? But she died so many years ago…"

"Anyway, if the fortuneteller is truly Gildarts' wife, she's a citizen of our kingdom and as a such, she needs our assistance right now!" Laxus announced as he took another step towards the door. "And if we can take out Ivan now, it would be easier for us as well."

"Wait a moment," Juvia said as she sneaked up to the door. "Ivan is already gone … and it seems like the older woman is crying for some reason."

"We will enter now," Gildarts ordered as he collected himself. "We will evacuate them both … even if I will lose my position and everything, I refuse to spill her blood today."

"Understood," Laxus said as Gray finally opened the door.

The Room of Fortune was strangely homely compared to other rooms in the castle with nice furniture and a wooded floor instead of cold stone. But the floor was covered in blood and in the middle of this pool of blood lay a brown-haired woman with purpleish blue eyes and the most beautiful face Laxus had ever seen. Next to her knelt the older woman, obviously her mother and held her hand was she cried bitterly.

"C-Cornelia?" Gildarts stuttered as he reached out before he withdrew his hand. "C-Cana?"

The older woman turned her head and looked up at him with tearfilled eyes. "G-Gildarts…" she whispered as she held out her hand. "He … he … he stabbed her…"

"M-mommy…" the young woman chocked out as she held out her hand as well and somehow managed to grab both her mother's and her father's hand. "I … I am sorry…"

"No, I am sorry," her mother replied. "I saw Death getting closer to you today but I was so sure that I would be able to prevent it … I am sorry, Cana … but I know that you won't forgive me for gambling at the price of your life."

"Alright, this would be enough for now," a sharp voice said as a pink-haired woman pushed her way into the room and caused Gray to stumble over his own feet before he crashed into Juvia and the two ended up in a very … strange position. "Get out of my way, Gildarts, and comfort your wife for Mavis' sake while you let me do my job. Jeez, and there are still people who are wondering why I hate humans that much!"

"G-Grandmother!" Laxus exclaimed as he evacuated himself from her range and nearly tripped over Juvia and Gray in progress.

"Yeah, yeah … don't tell me that you guys really believed that Ivan is manly enough to keep his poor old mother in a dark, smelly cell," she said as she rolled her eyes and placed her hands onto the ugly gash on Cana's side. "Tsk, Ivan is too much of a wimp to do something like this … and probably too scared that I'd sent him up to his room without dinner!"

The brunette woman woke up and the first thing she felt was the absence of pain. The last thing she had remembered before she had passed out had been the searing pain in her side and now, it was gone. For a moment, she wondered whether she had died or whether she had been healed and numbed again – she had been there before after all, that one time she had tried to escape her prison.

"Oh, so you are awake, yes?" a kind-looking blue-haired girl whispered as she smiled friendly at her. "Can you sit up? You look like you need something decent to eat … no wonder why Prince Laxus was so mad because you are too light…"

"W-where am I?" the brunette woman asked as she felt confusion washing over her.

"In Magnolia, why?" the girl asked. "To be exact: you are in Prince Laxus' mansion … he brought you and your mother in two years ago. You weren't supposed to wake up today so she is in the main castle to visit King Makarov."

"Does this mean … that I am not longer in Raven's Castle?" the woman asked.

"Yes," the girl smiled. "You are home, Lady Clive. The nightmare is over. My name is Wendy Marvel, I work as a healer at the castle but the prince asked me to come here to take care of you. You had all of us worried, you know?"

"I didn't even believe that I'd survive," the fortuneteller said softly. "It seemed too real that I would lose my life in this place…"

"The queen patched you up and the prince hurried you to this place."

"You, my friend, are in love," Evergreen announced as she grinned at the prince. "And don't even try to deny it. Those eyes don't miss a thing."

"Did I ever mention that there are moments when I want to grab a lightening bolt and ram it down your throat?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, quite a few times," she shrugged. "Anyway, who is the lucky girl – and what are you going to do now? I mean … I never counted on the probability that you might fall in love … and now, you are a socially awkward guy who wants to court a poor girl…"

"So, what would you suggest?" the blond man asked with a sigh.

"Guys," the woman said as she looked at the door. "Fried, you teach him some manners while I go through his wardrobe and pray that I find something nice for him to wear."

"Understood, Ever," the green-haired man nodded as he approached the prince. "You see, Laxus, the woman is a quite complicated being and she might end up doing things you won't understand. Look at me – I have been married for three years now and I still don't get everything Mira does."

"And we also don't get everything Ever does," Bixslow threw in from where he was lounging on the windowsill. "So don't get impatient when she does something you cannot understand … and don't forget that she was kept hostage by daddy dearest for years."

"H-how do you even know-?"

"We saw you carrying her to this place … and we have Ever's female intuition on our side while you are left in the dark," the seithr mage said as he shrugged. "Ah well, according to Lisanna, the sleeping beauty finally awoke."

"Calm the hell down, Laxus!" Evergreen ordered as he made an attempt to leave the room and grabbed his arm. "She was a prisoner for years and now you really wanna storm into her room where she is recovering from torture and a near death experience? Are you fucking crazy, man? If you want to, I might organise a dinner with her for you…"

Cana was relaxing in her room when a brunette woman entered and placed a beautiful box on the chair. A perfectly executed bow later, the woman presented herself. "I am Evergreen, one of Prince Laxus' personal assistants," she announced proudly. "Bixslow and Fried – my co-workers – are probably securing this room 'cause Laxus is a little bit paranoid and fears that his father might attempt to steal you back again. Anyway, Laxus would like to eat together with you this evening and so I brought you a dress."

"Understood," the younger woman nodded tiredly. "So … um … what kind of person is Prince Laxus … and what's my position at the moment?"

"Laxus … he's a loveable jerk because most of the time, he offends people without meaning to do so because he is socially awkward. And you are a guest – you can leave whenever you want to. You aren't a prisoner and whether you want to use your talent or not is only yours to decide. Personally, I wouldn't do so because this would mean that you don't have to see the frontlines."

"Understood … so I shouldn't be offended at anything?"

"When he goes to far, slap him once and he will realise his mistake."

Laxus waited in his great hall for his guest to arrive and when she finally appeared, escorted by Evergreen who excused herself moments later, he couldn't help but admire her beauty. He had known that she was beautiful but he hadn't expected this kind of beauty. He cleared his throat and bowed slightly before he held out his hand. "Lady Clive, correct?" he asked, hoping desperately not to scare her away.

"Cana will be enough," she replied equally awkwardly. "Lady Clive is my mother."

"So I will be simply Laxus," he decided as he led her towards the table. "I hope that you are content with your accommodations so far, Cana-san."

"It is far better than the previous one," she stated drily as she nodded slightly.

And no matter how awkward their words were, the feeling they wanted to convey reached the other person's heart correctly. They knew without having to say it.