I had to add this chapter to bridge between day 7 and 8. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Day 7.5: Interview

Lahar had no general objections to being interviewed for Sorcerer Weekly magazine; after all, he had been profiled several times over the years as a rising star in the Rune Knights. He was, however, somewhat adverse to the idea of a former member of Fairy Tail conducting it.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with Sorcerer Weekly!" Lucy Heartfilia said cheerfully as she shook his hand. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia. I'm afraid that Jason caught a bad case of the flu, so I will be interviewing you today in his place. I hope that won't be a problem?"

"No," Lahar lied. "I have no objections." He had so many objections to this that he didn't know where to begin. But he'd already scheduled the time for this interview, had reviewed the list of questions, and he'd committed to it three weeks in advance, so he was going to go through with it.

"Excellent!" As they both sat down – Lahar behind his desk and Lucy in the chair before it – Lucy pulled out her notepad. "First of all," she began with a smile, "I have to compliment you on your work in rebuilding the Magic Council and Rune Knights after the attack from Tartaros earlier this year. What would you say your greatest challenge was?"

"Replenishing our numbers," Lahar answered. "Buildings can be replaced, but people cannot be. Although there have been many new talented recruits and people eager to help, our ranks are still not what they've used to be." In truth, they were abysmal – spread out too far, with too little experience under their belts. It was a sad day when Lahar could honestly say that the most capable of the recent lot had all come from Fairy Tail before it had disbanded.

"I see." Lucy scribbled his answer down in her notebook, her brow furrowed in thought when she looked up again. "How do you feel about your promotion to Head Captain of the Rune Knights?"

"It came at too high of a cost," he stated firmly. And it was also somewhat inevitable, given that he was the only ranking officer left alive after one of Tartaros's demons had destroyed Era and slaughtered the Magic Council. "I hope to prove myself worthy of the title, all the same."

Lucy nodded, transcribing the response. "I would venture that the work you've already accomplished would have proven that. Several times over."

"Thank you, but there's still plenty of work left to do." He laughed lightly, then grimaced slightly at the pain the action caused him.

"Are you alright?" Lucy suddenly asked, her notepad forgotten as she looked at him in concern.

"Yes," Lahar was quick to reassure her, internally chiding himself over the slip. "I sustained some injuries from the attack, and I'm afraid there's been some lasting damage." Specifically, there was a rather nasty piece of shrapnel still lodged inside of him that the doctors hadn't been able to safely remove.

Although that hadn't been on her list of approved interview questions, Lucy still wrote something in her notepad about it. Then she hesitated. "If you don't mind me asking…" she started to say, and Lahar had the sinking feeling that she was about to stray from what had been agreed upon to ask. "How did you manage to survive?" Coughing, the blonde then added, "I mean… the odds were pretty stacked against you."

Lahar considered whether to respond to the question. Doranbolt – now Mest Gryder – had quit the Rune Knights once more, and his records as Doranbolt were more or less destroyed for good. Pretty much everyone aside from Lahar that had known him professionally was now dead. But Lahar didn't want to cast a strong light on his friend, anyway… just in case.

Fidgeting in her seat, Lucy opened her mouth to take back the question, only to have Lahar halt her by holding up his hand. "It's alright," he said. "It's a valid question." He was sure there were plenty of rumors going around about how he'd accomplished the feat. As if survivors of the tragedy didn't have enough to deal with in trying to pick themselves up, or in dealing with the inevitable guilt associated with living while others had not, there were also plenty of people discontent enough with the Magic Council and Rune Knights to slander them with conspiracy theories. It would be best to put those to bed as soon as possible.

"I survived," Lahar said slowly, "because a fellow member of the Rune Knights sacrificed himself to save me." It was the truth, even if Mest had not lost his life. Mest would probably never be quite the same again, after witnessing another tragedy of that magnitude. And Lahar didn't begrudge him that. After all, he owed the man his life – even if he had been a spy for Fairy Tail all along.

Instead of apologizing for the gaffe, Lucy just stared straight through Lahar for a minute, before nodding slowly. "I understand," she said so softly that Lahar wasn't certain she'd intended for him to hear it.

The rest of the interview proceeded without further incident, and soon the ordeal was over. They both stood from their seats, and Lahar walked around his desk. He shook her hand. "Take care of yourself," Lahar told her. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

Lucy flushed. "Thank you," she told him with a lopsided smile. "You know… you're a lot nicer than you initially came across to me. After the Oracion Seis."

That garnered a snort from the Rune Knight. "I have been told more than a few times that I'm a little too… enthusiastic in the pursuit of my duties. But thank you." He gestured to the door. "There are two Rune Knights outside who will escort you out of the building." Lahar had paged for them as soon as he'd been informed that Lucy Heartfilia of Sorcerer Weekly had arrived for their appointment, even before she'd been escorted to his office.

"Thank you again; it was a lovely interview," Lucy said.

Lahar returned to his desk as she departed, but even on the other side of the now-closed door he could hear her exclamations of delight.

"Gajeel! Levy!"