Chapter 119:
Gajeel grabbed his knife and stood, stalking over to the massive curtain that was still drawn at the front of the temple. Laxus was close behind, moving in tandem with him as they both emerged and looked down into a world steeped in dream. The once-bustling complex was now vacant, as if the whole place were a box and with one savage shake the people had been tossed from it. A soft, swift mist was oozing in from the forest, choking the stone buildings in an unnatural way. It crept like dread across the ground, covering everything that the eye touched. There was a stillness to the air that made it feel thick and weightless, like walking through water. The world was holding its breath as the moon covered the sun.
"Is that... Irena?" Laxus asked as he watched a figure shift through the fog, another large form at its side with an animalistic gait.
"I don't like this." Gajeel said, clenching his fists. "I can't feel my magic. Laxus…?"
Laxus shook his head, his reply tense, "I can't either."
Gajeel muttered something that sounded like more lizard-people bullshit, and it made Laxus wince.
"Oh, I'm sure it's all their fucking fault," he snapped sarcastically.
Gajeel's voice dropped low with his anger, "You gotta better explanation?"
Laxus narrowed his eyes at him, casting his mind to find an answer and coming up unsatisfied, "Davian said something about the eclipse bringing the Otherworld close."
Gajeel blinked. He furrowed his brow as he thought. Something painful crossed his face and he hid it by turning from him. The action shattered Laxus. He felt an iron wall rise between them. It was just one unspoken gesture but it screamed so loudly of the damage Laxus had done. Gajeel might as well have just punched him in the chest. In fact, he might have preferred it.
"We can't use magic in the Otherworld." his voice was stoic, and it hurt. He refused to look at him, and it hurt. "D'you know how to hold a knife Laxus?"
He felt the color drain from his face as Gajeel presented his knife and motioned for Laxus to do this same when he hesitated. The raven's hand was deft. He gripped his knife in his fist, pointing it away from him and then flipping it in reverse, each time with the blade facing outward, navigating it in a way that spoke of expertise and practice. Using this was second nature, ingrained into his muscle memory. Laxus was much more clumsy.
"Keep all five fingers around it, or you'll cut one of 'em off. It goes without sayin' to grip under the guard, but, eh, shit happens in the heat of the moment," he said, a sordid stillness in his voice, "Don't throw it. I know I did earlier but… t's kinda a stupid thing ta do in a fight."
"I don't… think…"
"Course, t's just in case. Probably won't even need it. But, just so y'know, there's a lot of places you can stab someone that won't kill them," he said soberly, "Aim for the extremities."
Without saying anything else, he strode down the stairs. Laxus stood for a moment, locked in his indecision, and felt the coldness of familiarity creeping into his bones. He wasn't going to do this again, he told himself, he wasn't going to just let Gajeel walk away to draw blood. But the weight of what he held in his hands made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Stop bein' a kid," he whispered and forced himself to move.
He caught up to him at the base of the pyramid, and they stepped into the cold, cloying mist. They both shivered at how it felt, the aberrance of it. It wasn't mist from the mountains, trapped by the dry air beyond, it was something else. Something unnatural. It felt alive, tugging at them as they waded through it. They spotted Irena as they rounded the Temple of the Moon. She was standing with Rameses at her side, her hands to her mouth in a way that spoke of shock. They ran to her as the darkness became even more complete, the world steeped in a forced night.
"Irena…!" Laxus called, and she turned her head slightly to him. Her eyes were wide, rimmed with tears. She shook her head slightly at him and he and Gajeel stopped. Rameses whined at her side, leaning his body to her as a comfort.
Laxus followed her gaze toward the top of the pyramid, to the temple where Orotrushit stood. There was a strange presence to him, something distinctly different that Laxus couldn't place. He seemed calm, serene, even. His eyes were still glowing, one of them covered once again, and he wore the skull mask which had previously been tied to his waist. His hands were clasped behind his back and he stood like one of the many statues that had lined the road to the compound, watching over the world patiently and with a startling stillness that didn't even move the feathers framing him.
"Irena! Laxus!" a form appeared from the depths of the fog, a massive looming shape close behind it, and Serrill appeared. Moving in complete silence like a shadow, was a chameleon that towered above him. "…Gajeel…" Serrill looked relieved, "Thank the gods… I thought something happened."
"We must leave," the massive beast behind him hissed, his voice rumbling deep as a cavern and threaded with a calm sort of fear. "it is not safe for you here."
"We can't use magic," Serrill said, in a rush, "We have to get back inside before-"
There was a flutter of motion where one of the heavy curtains of the temple above them was drawn. Davian stepped from the darkness beyond it, dressed nearly identical to his brother with a small figure curled in his arms. A figure that he laid gently on the altar, unfurling his limbs with care. Was that…? It was Erandi!
"What…" Laxus gasped. Dreadful understanding made his limbs turn to ice, "What is he doing?"
A hand clamped down on his shoulder, wide and strong. Claws dug in and held him still as he lunged forward, dragging him back. He looked up at Rut, outrage coloring him with red, panic turning it immediately cold. The chameleon bared his teeth at him.
"Do not interfere…" he growled lowly, "Or I will drag you into the foressst."
"He can't do this!" Laxus snarled, and cast his eyes to Gajeel who also looked on. "Someone needs to stop him!"
"I tried already," Gajeel said quietly.
"What do you mean you…" Laxus's thoughts derailed. He knew already? He knew already? And he was just standing here doing nothing?! "You knew about this?!"
Red eyes sliced over to him, "He said he doesn't have a choice."
"The Favorite Son hasss to align himself with Father's will." Rut hissed.
The other chameleon loomed up at Serrill's side, his solemnity making his voice somehow even deeper, "The more he runs, the more blood is left in his wake. Is it not the reason you were drawn into this pact? One life for another."
It hit Laxus like a rock carelessly dropped into a shallow pool. Davian had been cagey their whole trip, dancing around the topic of Erandi, of the deal he'd made to save Laxus's life. Orotrushit had said they'd come to an agreement, that he couldn't hurt him because of it, wasn't even supposed to touch him. When they'd gotten here, people had flocked to Davian, praying to him because Orotrushit had prophesied it, made it into a spectacle… It wasn't Erandi returningthat the deal had been made for, Laxus realized, it was Davian returning. And Erandi had to die to bind it.
"No… no!" Laxus raged, wrenching his arm free from Rut. He chameleon reached for him again but Laxus threw a punch to his face. He broke for the temple, desperately trying to get to the steps but Rut was so much faster than he was. He tackled him, wrestled him to the ground and twisted his arm behind his back to keep him from breaking free once again.
"You can't do this!" Laxus screamed, but if Davian or Orotrushit heard him, they gave no sign.
"Rut… please…" Irena was crying when Rut dragged him to his feet, working to pull him away. The beast just snarled, ignoring her. "Don't hurt him."
"Let him go." Gajeel growled, but made no move closer.
"If he stopsss the ritual, he dies. You know this well." Rut growled.
"He doesn't want this. Maybe there's another way?" Gajeel clenched his fists, stared him down and the other chameleon, "Rhuntak, he's just a kid!"
"It is what the Favorite Son desiresss." Rut snarled, his hiss a threat as much as the claws that dug into Laxus.
"You cannot intervene, little wizard," Rhuntak said.
Though, he didn't lift a hand to stop what was happening, Laxus could immediately sense the understanding between him and Gajeel and Serrill. What was this? Even Serrill knew what was going on? Was Laxus the only one left in the dark? Why?! Why was he always the one being kept ignorant? He might have actually been able to do something-
"Goddamn it, Davian!" Laxus screamed at him, "Stop this now!"
Davian didn't listen, continued in his task of tying Erandi down. He drew his ritual blade, and made a sign with his hands. During all of this, Orotrushit just stared on, his head tilted back as if he were gazing across the forest, appearing nearly catatonic.
"Don't kill him…" Laxus's voice collapsed in on itself, "…not for me…"
Rut knocked him in his knee, forcing him down as Rhuntak continued to stare down Gajeel. The massive chameleon's voice rumbled deep in his chest, "He goes to feed the gods. Pray they are finally satisfied."
"Our Father, who is strong and supports us, supports the temple and the rock it is carved from…"
Davian's voice fell on them from above, strong and pure, cutting the strangling atmosphere. His tattoos were glowing and his head was back as he beseeched the heavens, his eyes alight and distant, searching the cloudless, ethereal night for something they couldn't see. In his hand, he held his knife. It flashed a wicked grin that felt aimed at Laxus as it anticipated the taking of life.
"You are the Aurincarae, the profit most high. In your presence reason grows dizzy, thou art the interior and exterior of the soul."
The sky moved; a ripple across the cosmos, or something pushing down on them, somehow there but also inexplicably separate. Laxus didn't see what it was, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky that could have caused it, but something about it writhed. A beast opened its mouth and it's scream broke through reality like a great hammer smashing a mirror.
"At the pleading lamentations of our sacrifices, accept our offerings this day, bless their flesh with your hungry bite.
Who would attempt to challenge your divine will, master of the infinite."
At the utterance of his last word, he leaned over the body laid on the altar. They heard nothing from Erandi, not a cry, not even a moan. The boy didn't appear to fight or struggle in the least as the knife was pressed to his chest. Davian moved steadily, each motion fluid as he carved open flesh. The knife disappeared into the cavity of the boy's body. Brilliant crimson chased swiftly down the stone. Davian pushed his hand into the wound, and with the same delicate gesture that Laxus had witnessed when Orotrushit scooped the precious life from the bird he'd held, Davian pulled Erandi's heart from his chest. Orotrushit slipped his hands beneath the boy's shoulders, and with a deceptively gentle twist, he rolled his body from the altar and it tumbled down the brilliantly white, limestone steps. With each emotionless thud of his body against the stone, Laxus flinched.
Davian lifted the still beating heart up and to the empty, waiting sky. Glistening red rivulets rushed down his arm and stained his skin. The whole world seemed to beat with its rhythm, a pressure concussing the air around them with enough force that Laxus's ears rang with it. Again, a piercing cry descended from the darkened sky, and as it did, the heart began to pulse with that anathemic golden light. With each double beat, it grew more intense until it stood out like a beacon in the night. Gold shifted up and away, disappearing into the sky as it vanished from Davian's grasp.
Erandi's body landed with one final hard thump against the ground.
Laxus jolted forward, but Rut still held him fast, refusing to let him go. Irena, too, tried to go to him only for Rhuntak to stand in her way, baring teeth so she'd freeze from his threat. Once the last of the gold burned away, the terrible pressure ebbed, replaced by a stillness so deep that not a single one of them moved, suddenly feeling as if the whole world were glass that one wrong move could shatter. It was in this deathly stillness that Laxus heard a noise, a shifting of air that sounded like something desperate to breathe. Both Rut and Rhuntak immediately recoiled from the temple.
Erandi's chest made one last death rattle, broken and bloodied on the ground, and then something in him moved. A hand that was and wasn't grasped at the ground, twisted, pushed himself up. A wraith, wretched and with its chest open and bleeding, stood and teetered on his feet just like in every one of Laxus's nightmares. His lips twitched and then formed around words they couldn't hear. A voice broke from nowhere, ageless and all-consuming, sounding just the same as that last death rattle from Erandi.
"Orthinosss… kneel..."
They all dropped to the ground. Not just Davian, not just Orotrushit, not just Rut and Rhuntak, all of them. It was compulsory; they were forced to kneel. They had to. They didn't deserve to stand any longer. The nothingness of them was shorn open and laid bare to be seen and they didn't deserve to stand.
Laxus's entire body shook as he pushed his hands into the ground, defiant and terrified. A weight he almost couldn't stand draped across everything. Irena was sobbing now, and Laxus could place the incoherent noises of Serrill as he spoke into the dirt. Rut and Rhuntak were frozen in their silence, in their abject horror. These creatures that dwarfed a man by more than a head had curled their tails around themselves like dogs trying to go unnoticed beneath the gaze of an angry master. Gajeel… he wanted to see Gajeel…
Again, the voice spoke, and it was terrible in every way Laxus had always imagined something could be.
"Pray to me."
It wasn't a request, but a demand, a demand that was answered in a way just as dreadful as it had been made. Erandi wavered on his feet. The sleeping, shivering mist rolled over each of them and in it there were forms taking shape. Laxus turned his head and saw the dreadful ghosts of his dreams. The gaping chests, the gauged-out eyes, and burned bodies, they all stood and stared up at the sky, their mouths moving together and speaking words Laxus knew well. He saw a familiar boot just in his periphery and his blood ran cold.
Again, Davian's voice was heard falling from the sky, but this time it wasn't strong. It was filled with the agony of broken bones.
W̶e̴ ̸a̸r̵e̵ ̷f̶o̵r̸e̴v̷e̴r̷.̶
̵W̸e̶ ̴e̴m̷b̶o̵d̸y̶ ̵p̶e̵r̷f̴e̷c̶t̶i̸o̸n̶.̶
̶W̵e̵ ̷h̵a̷v̷e̴ ̸b̶e̴e̵n̶ ̷l̴i̵g̸h̸t̸.̵
̴W̴e̴ ̷h̴a̶v̷e̸ ̵c̵o̸m̵e̷ ̸f̸r̵o̵m̴ ̴s̸h̴i̸n̸i̸n̶g̷ ̸s̵t̵a̸r̶s̴.̷
̴W̴e̶ ̸a̶r̸e̷ ̶i̴n̴c̶o̶n̸c̵e̴i̴v̷a̵b̵l̷y̴ ̵l̷a̸r̸g̶e̴.̸
I̴n̸t̷o̵ ̷t̵h̷e̵ ̶s̶h̵a̴d̵o̴w̸ ̶w̵i̷t̵h̷ ̷t̶e̶e̵t̸h̷ ̵b̴a̷r̸e̵d̴
Gajeel was standing amongst the tormented dead, his eyes also cast to the heavens. Laxus could see his dilated pupils, blown so wide the red that encircled them resembled the blistering eclipse. He stood when the rest of them were forced to kneel, and he had his knife in his hand. He looked liked them. He looked like he belonged there.
̷T̶h̸a̸t̵ ̶w̴h̴i̷c̵h̴ ̷i̸s̶ ̷a̵b̸o̷v̵e̵
̵S̷h̷a̵l̶l̷ ̵r̴e̶f̸l̶e̵c̴t̴
Laxus pushed against the ground, his muscles screaming with the effort to defy the inevitable. He reached out with his magic and felt no reply. He thrashed against the weight that held him down but could hardly move against it. Through gritted teeth he screamed and found a way to get his foot beneath him.
I̴n̸t̷o̵ ̷t̵h̷e̵ ̶s̶h̵a̴d̵o̴w̸ ̶w̵i̷t̵h̷ ̷t̶e̶e̵t̸h̷ ̵b̴a̷r̸e̵d̴
̶W̷e̴ ̸a̵r̶e̷ ̷i̵m̸p̸e̵r̸c̸e̷p̶t̵i̶b̶l̴y̷ ̶s̵m̵a̶l̸l̶.̵
̷W̴e̷ ̸w̶i̷l̵l̸ ̷r̷e̶t̷u̸r̶n̷ ̶t̴o̷ ̴b̵l̴a̵c̷k̴ ̵h̵o̶l̵e̶s̶.̴
̴W̸e̶ ̸w̴i̸l̷l̸ ̴b̴e̵ ̵d̸a̴r̶k̵.̶
He dragged himself to his feet, feeling as if the weight of the world were baring down on his shoulders as he did. He shuffled a foot forward, searching for the form he so loved. Gajeel was holding his knife in his hand and pressing it to his wrist. There was a shape beside him, leaning against him with shimmering black hair. She was whispering something into his ear, and despite not looking at Laxus he knew her throat was exposed and bleeding.
"Gajeel… snap out of it…" he whispered, feeling like a child who would be caught if he made the mistake of speaking too loud. He was scared of the shifting wraiths, the hundreds of them, the thousands, praying to Father. But more than that, he was terrified that Gajeel would draw blood to the bone. He took another stumbling step towards him. "Gajeel!"
̷W̸e̷ ̴a̸r̶e̴ ̵O̷r̸o̵s̷.̴
̷W̷e̷ ̵a̴r̶e̶ ̴e̶t̶e̴r̷n̵a̶l̵
Laxus clenched his teeth and with everything in him he searched for something. Just a little bit of magic would be enough, anything. But nothing came. He just pushed his mind and spirit out as far as he could, straining to touch life that could fuel his magic, until he brushed it… in Gajeel.
They'd made a connection before, an inherent bond that tangled them together like branches in a flooded river, tumultuous and desperate and together. He struck that cord and pulled it, spread his fingers out and reached for him. His hand gripped his wrist, and he felt Gajeel's flesh skitter and writhe against being held down. Whatever reverie he was forced into, he was released. He collapsed.
I̴n̸t̷o̵ ̷t̵h̷e̵ ̶s̶h̵a̴d̵o̴w̸ ̶w̵i̷t̵h̷ ̷t̶e̶e̵t̸h̷ ̵b̴a̷r̸e̵d̴
The overwhelming pressure crackled with ravenous intent until Laxus couldn't see beyond what was immediately in front of him. The intensity blurred everything in his periphery and made his mind go blank aside from the need for violence, for revenge, for the taste of blood in his mouth. Rameses started barking, his teeth bared as he snarled and snapped at the air. He heard a deep hissing growl and turned his head around to see Rut holding Rhuntak's arm, the massive beast was heaving a breath and closing his eyes. Rut, the monster that Laxus had known to be so ruthless, had tears streaming down his face. Serrill was draped protectively over Irena, clutching her as he, too, fell into shock and horror.
Darkness funneled down like a great cloud whisked into a cyclone. It fell down into Davian who was curled up into a small, pain-filled ball. Laxus heard him scream from where he lay, but there was nothing he could do. Nothing any of them could do. Laxus couldn't use magic and he could barely stand… but he did stand.
What stupid and hopeful determination he had. When all else fell to the ground and trembled in fear, Laxus stood his ground. He refused to be torn down, to falter. He wouldn't be laid low, not by man, wizard, or even god! And it was this determination that he held fast onto as he reached with that energy and power he kept locked inside, felt it arch above and below, reveled in how it responded to him and swelled when he summoned it. He would not kneel.
With a sickening snap, the power that had funneled down into Davian coalesced and vanished inside of him. The horrific pressure was now no longer falling on all of them from above, but now had found its awful center. Davian pulled himself up, arms blood soaked as he staggered against the alter. He wobbled on his feet for a moment, trying his best not to fall again. Laxus could see the black lines of rotting blood slipping soundlessly down his face. His stomach twisted.
"Orthinosss… my son who has returned to me…" Father spoke and the trees swayed as if a blustery wind was pressing into them despite how the world remained stagnant and quiet as a sleeping bog, "This body cannot hold the divine."
Laxus's eyes widened and he looked to Irena, still curled beneath Serrill's arm…
"I have returned to you, that was all that was asked of me!" Davian yelled back, his voice nothing but a broken sob, "That is all."
"My son... how is it that you do not realize that you are above those such as these? It is your destiny to inherit this world..."
"I have given you want you want." he deplored, but Laxus could see the coalescing darkness behind him, how it forced itself against reality, how it opened up behind Davian, far reaching and never satisfied, "Please just accept what I've given you."
"My son," Davian froze. Laxus could sense his terror and watched as his eyes were overtaken by gold in the same way his brother's had been during the ritual. He stared blindly forward, his head tilted back as if preparing to scream, "Why do you continue to cling to childish things? Just as the moth cannot turn back into a worm, you cannot break yourself back down, you cannot metamorphose in reverse. Crawling back into the husk will provide you no shelter. You must eat."
He moved like a flash of heat lightning in the night sky when you didn't expect there to be rain. You had to look twice to be sure he moved at all, and in the expanse of that time, it was already too late. Suddenly, he was there at the base of the pyramid, a dark wind following him like it owed him some sort of penance. He looked like a nightmare, arms soaked in blood and ink running down his face. There was a depthless shadow moving with him, always at his heels, and Laxus could hear it whispering.
"What has been begun must now find its end..."
"Davian... snap out of it!" Laxus yelled, but he didn't even glance in his direction. He was gone and Laxus knew it, taken over by Father. He moved towards where Irena and Serrill were curled on the ground, both still entrapped in the blind fear the divine employed. Laxus lunged for them, "Davian! Snap out of it!"
He grabbed him by the arm, attempted to drag him back, to just stop him, but he didn't budge. It was like trying to tear down a marble sculpture with his bare hands. He didn't even glance in Laxus's direction, unseeing eyes still wide and pointed towards Irena. He moved and dragged Laxus along with him, an obscene amount of strength that made him nearly inexorable in his pursuit. Nearly.
Laxus wasn't one to give up so easily. He remembered what had snapped Davian out of it last time, after all. He threw a fist as hard as he could and was stunned when his momentum was suddenly, forcefully stopped. Davian's hand had snapped up, and though he wasn't looking over at Laxus, he felt a sickening gaze boring into him. Davian gripped his wrist, and in a movement that resembled the annoyance of swatting a gnat that had veered to close, he whipped him around and sent him cartwheeling. He smashed into the limestone side of the pyramid, his head cracked against the rock.
Through the stars in his vision, he fought against the now spinning world. He staggered upwards, horrified as Davian stood before Serrill and Irena, hand stretching downwards, still dripping cool, thickening blood. Laxus tossed his mind to what he could do and found himself gripping his knife. Holding the handle in his hand, that same stupid determination welling up into his throat as he pressed the sharpened edge into his palm and without hesitation drew blood. It wasn't much, just a thin line of red that glistened fine pearls in his hand, but he felt the attention of the thing that had possessed Davian shift. The savage intent, the hunger, was suddenly directed at him... and Laxus realized that at this point, he had no idea what to do.
Davian's head snapped towards him. With the drawing of fresh blood, the starving need was now frantic, enraged. Davian didn't step towards him, but sprang like a waiting cobra, clawed hands outstretched to tear him apart. Laxus readied whatever defense he could muster, braced for impact, but it never came. Gajeel was there, rage that had long since broken the things that bound it making his ruby eyes churn with its storm. He bared his teeth like an animal desperate to taste blood. His foot slipped between Davian's legs, an arm hooked behind Davian's back and slipped beneath his armpit. He used his body to drag Davian over his shoulder and slam him into the ground. Before he could recover, he stepped into a kick to Davian's spine, sending him rolling away from them.
"Are you fucking stupid?" Gajeel growled over to Laxus, standing before him with arms spread.
"He was going to kill Irena!" Laxus snarled back at him.
"And it's better if he kills you instead?" Gajeel snapped, eyes flashing.
Laxus shouldered him out of the way, "What makes you think I can't handle myself?"
Gajeel shoved him, the rage in his eyes dissipating into sudden and shocking fear. Laxus didn't know why until he saw the flash of gold. A knife plunged where Laxus had been standing just a second ago, and Gajeel was tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away from strength neither of them survive if it got a hold of them. He fell hard onto the ground. Laxus heard a loud crack, but he didn't have the luxury to investigate. He backed away as Davian faced him, brandishing his golden blade with murderous intent. His heart jumped up into his throat. There was a terrible second where waiting stillness settled between them, and then Davian moved.
It wasn't complete chaos, because this was a calculated strike, but in the haze of a fight that was all it felt like. Laxus dodged just out of reach from a slash that would have sliced him from shoulder to hip, his eyes tracking the edge of the blade with far more fear than respect. Davian was fast, nearly too much for the eye to follow. Laxus worked solely with his senses, waiting for the atmosphere to shift to know when to move. He leaped back, staggered away, tried to find a way to do something other than dodge and retreat. But Davian was swift in a devastating way. All it took was Laxus not feinting quite fast enough, time that was less than the blink of an eye, and a thin line of pain flashed up his throat.
It took his mind an eternity to process what it was as he fell backward. He saw the knife in Davian's hand, the scarlet that dripped from it, still hungry despite tasting both Erandi's and now even his own blood. Shock made him bring the back of his hand to his throat, swiping away something hot and sticky.
The blade flashed forward, but arms like tree limbs circled around Davian's waist. Rut picked him up, lifting him from the ground until his feet dangled and thrashed. He winced as the blade in turn sank into his arm as Davian fought to be free. Rut hissed and threw him to the ground. He stood protectively over Laxus and growled.
"Remember yourself, Favorite Son..." he hissed, voice twisted with pain and something else. "Before you do something you regret."
Davian was back on his feet, mindless, deaf to Rut's words. He rushed him, using power that far exceeded Rut's own strength to wrestle him out of his way. He twisted Rut's wounded arm, digging claws into his bleeding wound, tearing into muscle and sinew. Rut growled and wrenched himself free, gripping his arm and falling to his knees from the pain. In the next instant, Davian fell on Laxus again. Precise strikes aimed for his chest, his throat, and one long slash would have disemboweled him if he hadn't staggered back in time. It was a losing battle. Laxus could only do so much without his magic, and he couldn't compare with the raw strength and speed Davian wielded.
The reality of death settled into his bones, something that always seemed on the fringes until this moment. It sunk into him like the spiteful fangs of a viper that Davian would kill him. Without hesitation, without a second thought, he'd kill him. In front of Gajeel.
His mind reeled, unbelieving. Gajeel had told him, in the dim light of a romantic dinner that had turned sour with morbid conversation, that that would be the worst thing to happen to him, watching Laxus die... and here he'd stumbled right into it. Maybe he was as stupid as Gajeel had said. He had to think of something... anything. He didn't have his magic but he could use Virale, couldn't he? Somehow? But he couldn't concentrate like this-
He missed a step backwards. His mind processed his body's misstep and berated him the entire time. It wasn't like he hadn't seen the thrust of the knife coming, he had known what Davian's next move was going to be, but he wasn't fast enough. He blade flashed forward, glinting in the darkness like a morbid promise. But a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him back. Gajeel, because of course it was him, threw himself between Laxus and the dagger. His hand clamped around the hilt of the blade, and slowed the thrust down to a stop. His chest shuddered as he gasped between caged teeth, and Laxus saw blood slipping from between his fingers. In a move that was practiced to the point of reflex, he gripped Davian by the wrist and twisted his arm to the side at a sickening angle. Davian hissed, and for the first time, screwed his eyes shut as he dropped the knife.
Gajeel didn't relent. He kneed him in the gut, knocking his air from his lungs, and released his wrist just to thread his fingers into his feathered hair. He dragged him back and then threw him harshly to the ground. Davian rolled onto his hands and knees. There was no hesitation to Davian's movements. It was as if he'd lost the capacity to feel pain or shock. As he climbed back to his feet, Gajeel's eyes fell to the ritual knife, realizing just as Laxus did that Davian was about to lunge for it. He went for it first, scooping it in his hand and rolling back to his feet in time to miss sharp claws aimed at his throat.
Gajeel danced back from him, moving in a wide circle. His muscles flexed; his breathing slowed. Even his eyes, those usual razor-sharp slits, were blown wide in his focus, taking Davian's every movement in. A far-away look alighted in his eyes, a familiar detachment, an icy calm. He had a knife in each hand, and had flipped them around in his reverse grip, held them before him as he put his weight on his back leg, like a panther gearing up to pounce. Was he going to kill Davian?
Laxus's mind blanked. All he thought in that instant was do something. Davian lunged for Gajeel and Gajeel clenched his fists, readying to strike back, and Laxus reached for them both. In the same way he would have reached outside of himself with his Magic, Laxus snapped his presence wide. His vision shifted, filling with technicolor. Gajeel blazed a vibrant green and Davian a vile gold that was brighter than the sun, a form that far exceeded his own encapsulating him, drowning his own light out. Davian had said he'd driven Father out... but he couldn't survive something like that again. Not without another storm to heal the damage to his body, and he knew he wasn't that lucky. Something else… there had to be something else…
He flexed his power. Dumbly, it responded, snapping their fields into focus as Laxus's eyes began to water from staring directly into the sun. He heard Davian suck in a hiss when again he stepped out onto that delicate web where they overlapped, slipping from his own gentle pulse and into the roaring stream of the other. Don't take it in, it'll kill you... push it away...
The god had told him he could turn his magical energy into Virale and use it... and he had so much magic. He concentrated it into his chest, a ball of power that he sent outward with everything within him. He marveled at how it responded to him. He felt every nerve in his body snap with electricity that supernovaed out of him, a sudden explosion of light that blinded even himself. He heard screams. Gajeel's, he knew immediately, and Davian's. Above them both, breaking the heavens apart, was the scream of a massive creature. It grew in pitch until the fabric of reality shook, but Laxus refused to fall to his knees. He gritted his teeth and stared into the stilting, golden madness that was Father, felt Its wrath washing over him as It reached for him. But beyond Its boundaries, there was light. The moon, after long last, had finally travelled over the sun, and daylight was breaking free. Father outstretched Its hand towards him, and Laxus felt the promise there as the breaking of day washed It away.
This isn't over.
It vanished as light began returning to the compound. Laxus stood blinking up at the growing sun. He ducked his head and pressed his palms to his eyes to stem the pain and the photo-bleaching from staring at such bright light for so long. He was lucky he wasn't blind.
"Davian!" Irena fell to Davian's side where he was curled on the ground, "Davian, are you alright?"
He didn't say anything, just groaned where he clutched at his chest with shaking hands. Laxus furrowed his brow when Irena reached out to him, only to be bitten by a shock of electricity. His eyes widened when he realized that somehow, what he'd done to simply fend off Davian and Gajeel had turned into a lightning attack. He whipped his head to where Gajeel lay, himself curled into a tight ball as electricity danced over his body. A bloody eye opened. His entire body trembled as he tried to push himself up and his muscles tensed and released without his consent. He wretched but continued pulling himself to his feet.
"You shocked me..." Gajeel growled, disbelief and accusation biting into Laxus alongside his words, "You shockedme?!"
"You were going to kill Davian!" Laxus roared back at him, his only defense. He knew his lightning hurt Gajeel more than most. He hadn't known what he was doing, just trying to stop him. It wasn't really his fault he'd hurt him, was it? "What would you have done if I hadn't stopped you?"
Gajeel looked stunned. Something crossed his features, but it was quickly drowned in his rage. His voice rolled low, "Maybe ye forgot, Laxus, but he was tryin' ta kill you."
"He was possessed," Laxus defended, clenching his fists, "What's your fucking excuse?"
"My excuse?" Gajeel said, squaring up to him, "Keeping you from getting killed ain'tenough?"
"Don't fucking use me as a reason to murder someone, Gajeel!" Laxus stepped towards him, lightning snapping around his fists. Gajeel's eyes widened, his chest swelling as he sucked in a breath, "Did you not learn your lesson the first time?"
"My lesson...?" he whispered, "I haven't learned my lesson...?"
Laxus knew deep down that he should be backing down, that he was going too far. But he was hurt. They'd all lied to him! Every one of them! And Erandi had died because of it!
"All that talk about how you're different from how you were in Phantom Lord, but every chance you get you're trying to kill someone!"
A soot-stained and agonizing misery entwined itself around his ribcage. Erandi had died and Davian had bound himself to Father for him? He'd never asked for that! And yet everyone seemed to have been in on it except for him. Laxus, the strongest of them, who for some reason was always kept in the dark. Who, for some reason, Gajeel had kept in the dark. He was hurt and he was angry and he felt guilt leeching through every part of his aching chest, choking him. They'd lied to him! Every single one of them had lied to him! So he tamped down his pang of guilt and let the festering blackness that he had felt this entire trip finally break loose... on Gajeel.
"What?!" Gajeel looked stricken, like Laxus had just smacked him in the face. Maybe that would have been better. No, it would have been better than what he was doing now. Fists, at this point, would have felt like a kiss.
"If you hadn't killed Bianca, we wouldn't be here, would we?" Laxus snarled at him, "But you just can't help but go for the throat, can you? You haven't changed at all."
Iron swelled into the air, biting and cold. Green sparks dazzled and spread from Gajeel's fists from where he stood.
"Take that back." he whispered, but Laxus – damn him and his pride both – gritted his teeth and refused to back down. Gajeel's whisper turned into a hate-filled howl, "Take that back! Now!"
Laxus squared his shoulders and gripped a sharp rebuke just on the other side of his teeth, but before he could do anything, iron exploded around them. Gajeel crossed the distance between them so quickly, he couldn't even reel back from him. An iron fist clocked him across the face and then turned and grasped into his shirt, pushing him up and slamming him into an iron pillar that hadn't been there just seconds ago. Laxus heard Irena and Serrill both cry out. There were flashes of movement in his periphery, but he couldn't concentrate on them because he was drowning in blood red eyes that were inches from him; eyes that reflected at him the anguish he felt.
"I've changed everything for you!" he screamed, and Laxus was sure he would choke on the tinny, iron sapor that made the atmosphere shimmer. It swelled in the air where Gajeel couldn't contain it, where his emotion razed through every semblance of control he had. "I changed... everything... what the hell is there left?!"
Laxus knew he needed to stop. He would do damage that couldn't be reversed. But damn him he couldn't back down now, not after he'd done so much already. He was raw and broken, the exposed edge of a bone protruding through skin, and he'd stab anyone close to him even if it meant causing himself even more horrible agony. Somehow it would be better so long as he wasn't bleeding alone.
"You could have fooled me." Laxus snarled.
Gajeel's eyes churned with dismay, with hurt, and then, with chilling quiet. He shoved him for good measure as he stormed away from him. Laxus sagged against the metal, but he wasn't done. He could still taste rage and it appeased his consuming guilt, made it easier to steal away and smother, to let it die.
"Did your damage and now you're running away?" Laxus stabbed at him, and the raven froze where he stood, but he didn't turn to him. He felt it, another iron wall rising between them. How did that hurt more even though he was the one causing it? Why did he keep pushing for more?
"I'm leaving before I do something I'll regret." he replied icily.
"Like what? Lie to me some more?"
"Lie?" he whipped his head towards him, and Laxus felt that was what he wanted. Stay here and fight. It made him feel better and worse at the same time, "When have I fucking lied to you?!"
"You told me you weren't in Magnolia. You told me you were at a stop. But you were at the train station when we left, weren't you?"
Heat lightning flashed in the atmosphere, responding to Laxus even though he didn't command it. It felt like even the sky was on his side, pushing him forward. His rage was right, it was justified, because all of them had lied to him and it felt like Erandi's blood was on his hands.
"Ha! That's fuckin' rich comin' from you! Makin' out like yer takin' a fuckin' mission when you were dyin' on yer feet!" Gajeel snapped back at him, "And I minded my damn business until you lied to me! So yeah, Sparky, I followed you out here! To make sure you weren't goin' ta kill yourself! And where would ye be, eh? Another knife wound ta add to the list?"
"And that makes it all better? You lied to help so it's fine?" Laxus shouted back at him, refusing to recognize that he could possibly be right. Thunder cracked closer, a threat.
"At least that was the only lie I told, Laxus Dreyar." he growled lowly, eyes flashing at him like the scarlet earth splitting open. Sparks flittered away from him as his rage began to build once again. Laxus wondered what would give first, the air or his fists.
"Oh no, you don't, do you? You're fuckin' sneaky about it," Laxus growled, "Don't outright lie but hide the truth instead."
"What did I hide?" Gajeel demanded, the air around him churning with magic to the point Laxus's own stomach rolled with lightning, "I haven't hidden anything!"
"You haven't hidden anything? Are you joking?" Laxus scoffed, daring a step forward with his fists clenched as he let loose everything he'd kept pent up for so long, hurling each accusation like darts to the heart of his target. The black thing that spread itself across his chest snapped, "I had to figure out what happened that first time we ran into Bianca on my own because you refused to tell me. You hid Kahli following us for months! What about when you asked Hajime for help, when you snuck out in the middle of the night and didn't tell me? Or the fact you were hiding the recording lacrima, Gajeel?! Or, how's about how all this time you hid the fact you fucking traded your life away for revenge?!"
"I didn't..." Gajeel gasped, again looking as if he'd just been struck. Again, Laxus wished he had just done that instead, "I didn't know-!"
"Yeah? And how in the hell am I supposed to believe that?" Laxus demanded. He heard thunder rumbling off somewhere, felt it crackling across his wrists and up his arms. "How am I supposed to believe anything when you keep hiding things? I have to second guess everything you tell me because there's always something you're leaving out!"
"When have I ever not answered as best I could?" Gajeel's voice cracked, pitching with his distress, "I did what I did to protect you Laxus-!"
That broke him. To protect him? To protect him? That was why he'd been kept in the dark for so long? To keep him safe? Laxus didn't need to be kept safe! He kept people safe! And Gajeel hiding things made that nearly impossible! How fucking dare he say it was to keep him safe?!
"I'm a fucking S-Class Wizard!" his magic snapped and fizzled as it mixed with Gajeel's, but there was no connection here like they'd had so many times. They didn't thread together in a beautiful dance. They hissed and seared against each other, Gajeel's magical field against his own, battling for dominance. Shimmering iron flecks became electrified and fizzled to nothing from his heat, "I'm a stronger mage than you could hope to be! What the fuck could you protect me from that wouldn't kill you on a good day?"
Lightning struck the ground a few feet from him and the ensuing thunder made the world shiver. Gajeel didn't flinch, just bared his teeth in a sneer as a single hot, angry tear slipped from his eye.
"You think you know everything, Laxus! But you don't!" Gajeel yelled at him, scales breaking across his flesh. The sharp of iron made Laxus dizzy. His eyes danced over fingers that looked like daggers and how they curled with purpose at his sides.
"I would know if you actually fucking told me! Maybe, I could even do something about it!" Laxus seethed as electricity slithered up his knuckles, danced and snapped in the air around him. He needed… he needed to calm down, "I'm not a goddamn damsel in distress, Gajeel!"
"AND I WAS?!"
It was like a gunshot. Shrapnel chewed up the ground and a whetted wind sang against Laxus's skin, dashing away indignant lightning in its wake. It was sharp enough he feared he'd be cut; silvery slivers like pieces of Gajeel's shattered heart abraded his flesh and turned it a burnished vermillion, threatening blood. Gajeel's magic swelled past what he could contain anymore, and Irena and Serrill both cried out from the torrent of it. Laxus glanced their direction, realizing far too late that everyone near them was about to be caught in their crossfire. Concern for their safety was whay finally brought back the smallest of rationality. Davian sat, eyes wide and tears streaking down his face, just witnessing what was unfolding. Rut and Rhuntak were both pacing before the temple, clearly on edge of the mages about to break into a fight. Serrill had fortified his arm, using it to try to shield Irena and Davian as Irena continued to devolve into tears at their fight. They would all be hurt if this went too far…
Cold clarity had arrived far too late. Laxus watched, numb in his despair as Gajeel, finally pushed to his limits, self-destructed.
Gajeel laughed. It was a twisted, vile thing. It sounded unhinged, manic, the cackle of a man drowning in so much grief it had blossomed to euphoria. He doubled over from what it took to hold it in, and Laxus clenched his jaw when he saw tears slipping quietly to the ground.
"Yer so fucking stupid. You and your fucking ego, is that what this is about? Ye think I don't know you can handle a little pain, Laxus? That I don't think you can handle some bastard who can't fight hidin' outside th'woods by our house? Ye really think fer two seconds I thought ye couldn't handle that?" he stepped towards him. Iron spears rose up around each purposeful step he took, stabbing at the sky so close they nearly grazed him in their flight upwards.
"Gajeel... calm down..." Laxus warned lowly, but he knew they were far past that point... and he was the one that pushed them there.
"You want some fucking truth, Laxus? You knew I killed people but did you know I looked 'em in their eyes while they died, too? Kurogane doesn't fucking flinch, y'know. Not when they fight back, not when they beg for their life, not even when they bring their wife an' kids inta it. I did it anyway and never once did it bother me. I've beentortured, Laxus, because that's what Jose wanted, or because I was green enough to get caught. I've been tortured so many times that I have a song in my head when it happens to drown it out. I have a routine." The iron that fled him began to lose its shape. It struck upward jaggedly, edges sharp enough to cut if you ran your hand across them rose to the sky like the importune hands of the dying, begging for one last mercy. "Do I sound like a fucking damsel in distress to you, Laxus?"
"Gajeel, stop." Laxus said again, but he lacked conviction. Gajeel was approaching him stripped down to nothing, ripped open and bleeding. Hadn't that been what he'd asked for? What he'd wanted? Goddamn, how he wished he could have eaten his words.
"Yer right, I've lied before, a lot even, to guildmates who died on missions. Looked at 'em and said they'd be alright, right before they bled out on the ground. And I've tortured people too. Was absolute shite at it, mind ye, but I could. You ever have to block out someone's screams so ye could keep cuttin' 'em open? What about cleanin' up the floor after your guildmaster tore one of your guildmates apart? Ye ever see what's left of a man when a phantom is done with them? Did ye know ye can die after ye die and that the living can hear ye screaming in the afterlife?"
"Gajeel, stop it!" Laxus hissed, drawing up his lightning as if he'd use it. They both knew it was a bluff, or maybe Gajeel didn't care either way. Maybe he wanted it.
"I thought you wanted me to be honest, Laxus? To stop hidin' shit? Now it's too much? Now you don't wanna hear it?" his tone darkened, his eyes turned nearly black. He bared his sharper teeth, "Did ye ever consider that it wasn't physical pain I wanted to save ya from? Did ye ever think fer one fuckin' second that maybe I was just savin' you from yerself?"
"What?" Laxus nearly laughed though it died in his throat, "Myself?"
"Yesss..." Gajeel hissed, nearly close enough to reach him now, and the gyre of his magic whipped his shirt back from him, tearing at the both of them in his closeness. His eyes filled with loathsome green magic and sparkling iron. Laxus felt the pieces of iron Gajeel couldn't help but manifest berating his skin like sand, "Did ya ever consider that I didn't tell you what happened in that fucking cave because for years whenever I looked at Juvia, all I could see was the look on her face when I dragged her to the ground and had my way with her? When I could barely stand you, Laxus, when you could barely stand me, the last thing I ever wanted was your fuckin' pity. And what happened when you figured it all out, eh? What was yer first response? 'Cuz Juvia told me she found ye by the river contemplatin' killin' yerself!"
Laxus recoiled from him, shocked. Of course, Juvia was one of Gajeel's closest friends. Maybe he should have known she would tell him about finding him by the river. But it had been such a short, insignificant thing. Laxus had never been one to hurt himself out of guilt. He'd always been one to try to make things right instead, to fix what he'd done. It was why he'd pursued Gajeel and told him how to redirect his lightning magic… he thought if he didn't fear him, maybe things could be better…
"I didn't... It wasn't like that..." his denial was whisked from him in the iron tempest around Gajeel. Not that it mattered. He wasn't listening to Laxus anyway.
"And what about that bastard, Kahli? What would you have done if you knew, Laxus? Strike 'em with lightning? But you don't know I fucking wanted him there. If I knew where he was, I knew he wasn't after you or someone I cared about. Maybe it wasn't just to keep you safe, Laxus, maybe it was for Lily or Juvia or, hell, even Levy? Maybe, I wanted to send a message to whoever sent him after me that I wouldn't go quietly, I wouldn't make it easy." he raged and his magic responded. Half-formed blades fled from the ground around his feet and Laxus found himself retreating another step from him, eyes trained on magic that threatened to hurt anyone too close, "What did you want from me, Laxus, back then? What did you keep trying to do to fix me?"
Laxus's brow furrowed, his lip curled. He'd never tried to fix Gajeel! He'd never wanted anything from him, either. He'd just been trying to make things better-
"To make good memories?" Gajeel snapped, but his voice was losing its edge. The rage was mixing with something else, something completely different that made Laxus's stomach twist. He'd asked… to make good memories… "Well, now that you know someone was there stalking me, stalking us, is that what they still are to you, Laxus? Is it still good? Or are they fucking awful now? How does it feel to know the night we were finally supposed to be something together, there was a freak waiting where you couldn't see? Watching?"
They weren't good… were they? Not after Laxus had found out about Kahli. They'd all been stained like photos left out in the sun, overexposed and bleached white. Maybe points could still be remembered fondly but it was all overshadowed with the sickening realization that they had been watched.
The look on his face must have said it all, because Gajeel's eyes were welling up with agonizing tears again. The cold, harsh edge to his magic was suddenly so overflowing with sour despair that Laxus felt his knees begin to buckle. He staggered beneath it, they all did. Somebody, Serrill or Davian maybe, yelled for them to stop, to let it rest, but it fell on deaf ears. Gajeel's grief was palpable and too much to stand. It ate holes in Laxus even more-so than the iron razor blades that whisked past his face.
"Goddammit!" Gajeel screamed, turning away from him and taking his storm with him. Metal melted around him, bent from their already chaotic shapes as they fled from Gajeel's form. He paced away from him, running his hands through his hair as he burned himself out. "I can't believe... how fucking could you?"
"Gajeel, please…" he knew at this point it was far too late, the fire that was started would keep going until Gajeel had nothing left inside of himself to burn, but he had to do something, didn't he? "You're gonna hurt somebody."
"You know now, don't ya? Everything? Every awful fuckin' thought I had? How she broke me? It wasn't enough ta know it happened, ye had to know exactly how she took everything from me, Laxus? D'ya feel better knowin' how she used you against me ta do it? Do ya feel better knowin' when I didn't even understand how I felt, she did?" he stopped a sob, turned it into an awful sound deep in his throat, a scoff, like it didn't matter even though they both knew how wrong that sentiment was. They both knew how painful it was for him to say it… because of him. Gajeel was falling apart because of him, "Ye couldn't have at least asked that fucking bastard to make it so I didn't relive it, eh? It didn't matter if it hurt me so long as ye dragged it kicking and screaming inta the light? Well, c'mon, Laxus, make it fucking better like you planned to. Make it better!"
His voice was breaking but Laxus didn't reach out to him. He knew he should. That would be the thing to do, wouldn't it? He needed to reach out and stop him. But the expanse between them, though only a handful of steps, an outstretch of arms away, seemed an immense, bottomless gorge. Should Laxus take that step, he would fall forever, never reaching the bottom.
"That wasn't… I didn't…"
"I thought I'd finally moved on, dammit!" Gajeel screamed.
Iron magic exploded around them. Instinctively, Laxus threw up is arms to protect himself. His magic snapped to his command, an orb of lightning expanded around himself and the others near him. Tiny pieces of iron rived through the atmosphere, shredding everything like shattered pieces of glass. It didn't penetrate through his electric fields, though, mindless as it was. It wasn't made to hurt intentionally. It wasn't a crippling attack, not like his words had been.
"Hidin' that stupid lacrima was fucking selfish, fine, but how in the hell can ya blame me? Why would I want anyone to see me at the weakest I've ever been? Why would I want you to see me like that? You were already so fucking guilty… for leaving me… I just-I just wanted to bury it. Why is that so wrong?"
Gajeel wasn't looking at him, building up wall after wall between them and Laxus could only stand there and brace himself against the torrent. That wasn't true. He could withstand it, he could go to him, apologize. Stop this now before it got too far, before it's too late. But it was already too late, wasn't it? Here Laxus was again, now and forever trapped in his inability to reach out and show weakness. He stood in stoic silence, feeling like a sweater being eaten alive by so many venomous moths. Scarlet eyes fell on him like iron fists, gripping him in place.
"I've lost everything, I've given up everything. I've been homeless, I've been left for dead, I've broken every moral code I've ever fuckin' had but, goddamn it!It was my choice! If I had nothin' to my name, if everyone turned against me, I still had my body, I still had me. For whatever it was worth. Good, bad, ugly. Even that first fucking time in that godforsaken cave, Laxus, I knew what would happen and I made my choice anyway. I was never completely powerless. My body never turned against me! But she did it, the thing no one else could do, not even you."
Laxus felt like the ground was shattering beneath his feet. To reach out his hands and hold it together would be such a futile effort. So he stood and watched it happen, eyes wide and horrified. The only thing in his head rang louder and louder as the relentless ire of Gajeel's magic dissipated, leaving the atmosphere around them tense as a storm waiting to break: You did this. This was your fault. You did this…
"She took my fucking body from me… but I lived through it. I can live… through just about anything…" his voice dropped to something small and fragile, "But I shouldn't have to. No one should have to, Laxus. It doesn't make you stronger, it doesn't make you better. It just makes you worse. It alwaysjust made me worse. I've lived through so many goddamn ugly things that I forgot beautiful things could even exist anymore. Why would I want that for anyone? Why would I want that for you?"
He took a deep, trembling breath and ran his fingers through his hair. Laxus's heart was breaking because he'd turned his eyes away from him again. He was looking at the ground, wiping tears away with the back of his palm. Laxus's heart was breaking and all he could do was stand there and listen to the pieces hit the ground.
"I just didn't want you to live with all this fucking self-hate like I do… that's all. I just wanted to keep you the way you are, the way you've always been. But I guess that was just me being selfish too." His voice twisted, hiding sorrow and anger and hurt. He brought his eyes up to him one last time, and now they were completely caged off from the emotion Laxus knew was still raw and frothing beneath the surface. His iron scales vanished. He had trapped it all inside, Laxus knew, to eat him alive later. His tone turned venomous, flippant, like he didn't care, like he hated him, "I… don't think there's anything else I'm hiding. Unless, you count shit from Phantom but… eh, you can ask Juvia. I don't give a shit anymore."
He tossed his head back. It felt like he was waiting for something, for Laxus to respond, to do something other than just stand there with his magic swirling protectively around him. When it was clear Laxus would do nothing, his eyes fluttered closed. Laxus felt it, one final wall shutting him off from him. When he looked back at him, his face was blasé, his eyes chilled.
"Well… I came here to make sure you were safe. Guess I'll leave… b'fore I ruin anythin' else." He stood for one more moment, watching Laxus trapped in his stillness, and left. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned his back to him. He didn't look back, just walked away with his shoulders hunched and eyes cast to the ground. Laxus just… he just stood and watched him go.
"What are you doing?' Irena demanded. It took Laxus ages to realize she was talking to him. "Stop him!"
"He wasn't… trying to hurt me… Laxus."
Laxus gritted his teeth, refused to look over at Davian. He didn't want to hear it. Not now. Maybe not ever.
"He was just trying to get the knife away from me… if I lunged for it, I'd grab the blade. I wouldn't be able to get it from him…"
"How in the hell could you possibly know that, Davian?" Laxus growled. After a beat of unbearable silence, he tore his eyes from Gajeel's retreating figure to see Davian looking up at him, shame clear on his face, as he held up a bare hand. Gajeel had grabbed his hand… when he'd twisted the knife free from his grasp.
"Stop him! Now!" Irena yelled at him, dismayed and angry for some reason he didn't understand but figured he probably should, "Apologize!"
Laxus didn't. Thunder cracked in the cloudless sky ahead while he stood and watched Gajeel leave, his pride rooting him in place even though he wished he could burn it the ground. His pride and his guilt, both of which choked each other over which could wound him more. He didn't even move when Serrill left, hurrying to follow Gajeel in his place and make sure he made it out of the rainforest unscathed.
He was trapped in a fog, felt it seeping into everything. It covered the misshapen iron around them, it cooled his bones with regret, and it hazed his vision until everything seemed washed out and grey. He watched them disappear beyond the shops and compound wall, watched as the world regained the full light of the sun as the eclipse came to an end.
He stood immobile until he felt watched in turn, and followed the feeling up to the top steps of the Temple of the Moon where Orotrushit was observing him. He stood, arms crossed, eyes devoid of their wretched glow, his lips pressed into an unimpressed line. He looked bored, disappointed, like someone so used to playing their sordid games that nothing surprised them anymore. Like maybe, they even wished this had played out a little differently, but it didn't.
Because men are simple creatures. Once you figure out what drives them, their values and morals, what inspires them, it doesn't take a mastermind to guide them in the right direction… and Laxus, stupid, predicable Laxus, had fallen in the exact place he was meant to despite every warning he'd been given not to. He'd still played his part perfectly… and he hated himself for it.
Author's Notes:
It's the 3rd-quarter-breakup trope everyone loves!
Don't hate me
Don't hate me
Don't hate me
Don't hate me
Don't hate me
Don't hate me
Technically, technically, they didn't break up. It's just a bad fight so it's fiiiiiiine. They'll make up soon... probably.