Chapter 108:
Laxus didn't wake up...
...But he wasn't really asleep either.
He was in hell.
.; ;. ;- I I I s ';.. šś e ęe '; yÿo óø õu û,';../';.
He couldn't move.
,';../'I s ';.. šś e ė ęe '; yÿo óø õ ùuú..;...
It was back and somehow it was so much worse. It was standing in the doorway. It was just out of his line of sight. He could feel it. He knew what it would look like, could picture it in his mind's eye. If he turned his head, he knew, he'd see flesh skittering as if it were made of roaches, he'd see a face but no features, he'd feel insatiable hunger…
.; ;. ;- I I I s ';.. šś e ęe '; yÿo óøu û,,';../';.
It wasn't alone this time, it wasn't just accompanied by shadows that flickered in the corners of Laxus's eyes. There were others with it. People, these were people, and all of them had skin dried from the sun. They stared with gaping black sockets and broken fingernails. They stood with chests ripped open, the ribs split like torn open bird cages, hearts missing. They stood with necks broken and twisted to the side at an unnatural angle. Some were human. Most were the lizardfolk, the kinds of which he'd never seen, the kinds of which that looked like Davian. There were feathers, long and opalescent that made manes of rotting beauty framing their faces, falling down bare backs. There were ebony claws catching in the light. They were stabbed and left with pitted holes in their chests, ribs, sides, their throats slit, half-burned, heads smashed in, large chunks of them missing, corpses. They were corpses standing. Kahli was standing in the corner, nonexistent eyes turned to the sky as if beseeching for rain. Bianca was standing next to his arm, eyes glassy and throat jagged.
,,..;#;.- I Ï Į se éë e e y y ' ÿ y o o óø õ u';. u ú ū ù... #;.- -`
It was large, looming over him. Massive, massive, rocking back and forth as if unsteady. Laxus couldn't move. The body wasn't a frenetic skittering of bugs anymore, it wasn't a coalescence of trapped smoke. It was more finite, more together, as if finally the last of its wasps had returned to the nest and now they were settling in for the night.
He was a child looking at his father, Ivan. He held a crystal in his hand.
"Will it hurt?"
A boy was standing to the side of him. His chest was caved in. He was staring off to the side with glossy eyes. Ezal was looking past him like he didn't exist. Like he wasn't laying right there. He was dead. Kahli was dead. Bianca was dead. Everyone around him was dead.
"You don't want to be weak forever, do you, boy?" Ivan's voice echoed around him, spiraled into a howl. There was a crack of thunder. Pain lanced through his eye but he couldn't scream-
Laxus didn't wake up...
It was dark but he could see the shapes standing around him, the ghosts swaying in the darkness. He couldn't move. He couldn't move. He couldn't move.
. , ,';../';,..;#;.- #;.- YŸ Yøu û c çäń't t ésçáäpę e e. ,./';..,,..;#;.;.-
It was over him and it brought visions. He could see things that it could see and he didn't like it. He felt like the world was spinning beneath him and he couldn't move. There was an altar at the top of stone steps. There was a body lying there, dreadfully still. There was an arm covered in familiar scars.
Dimisia's voice was echoing in his head The beauty of it all is the art, the science, I love the way how it consumes me, growing over me, light glinting off its fangs still bared
I remember now, I know it, we've talked about it before, it calls itself my sleep paralysis demon, still I feel the need to be scared
My lovely dreams, he feeds off of, the hunger within, in him, is never satisfied, no matter how many times he tried, he didn't stop, just enough to make me void, light blinds me, my soul is fleeing-
He was heavy. His body was heavy. And empty. Oh gods he was... he was so, so empty...
Magic deficient. He realized he was magic deficient.
-On the morn,
At the surpassed night
My heartbeat pends
Eternally I sleep, at peace
Those who know me weep…
;. ';../';.. - - y y ÿo óø õ u ú -,;hh åa ā ay veęė ';../be ëé e to øu ūcč h he ęd d ';../';.. -.-
The bodies in the darkness wavered and whispered and he couldn't scream.
Laxus didn't wake up...
It hurts...
It hurts...
it hurts...
. . .
His eye was burning. It was white hot like fire, spidering across his face. He could feel the pain settling into his molars, his jaw, his brain. He couldn't think from the searing pain in his eye.
A golden knife flashed in the darkness.
A golden knife plunged into a body.
Serrated teeth tore flesh from bone.
There was a body lying on the altar-
"He was born in the absence of light a formless featureless face
A vacant void this hollowed out soul nothing but empty space
The shadow man of amorphous shape, the embodiment of night
My loves killer stood waiting as I came in to fight..."
Please stop. Please make it stop.
Light filtered in through the curtains but Laxus couldn't move. His chest was heavy. He was struggling to breathe. The weakness was too much, the world too heavy. Vaguely he wondered how long he'd be able to stand it. Vaguely he wondered if he was going to die.
,.";_., Y Ÿ Yoøu û c çaän ń nñoò éśscç ćáä aåappé ';.. , ,';..
Dimisia was crouched on his chest, honey eyes wide and terrified. Her large wings mantled him protectively but still It was there and It was smiling. Teeth that spanned eons were bared and Its mouth was open and Laxus knew he wouldn't survive those teeth.
"Don't let them take it," her pupils were dilated, almost engulfing her irises, "It knows you are alone..."
Laxus felt like he couldn't breathe from the weight. He felt empty. He felt cold. The room was spinning and he couldn't move. He couldn't move. He couldn't move-
It was reaching down, reaching towards his eye. Ivan's voice bounced through his synapses, echoed between his ears. His father's hand and Its hand were one and the same as it dug into his eye-
"Everything will be lost if you let them take it!"
I know what it is to be hated for being weak. I know your fear.
I can devour those things that make you ugly.
. , ,';../';.;#;.- ;.-I will have what is mine.. , ,';../';..,,..;#;.;.-
The room was filled with the standing dead. The room was filled with a starving smile. The room was filled with teeth. The room was filled with avarice and his mouth was filling with blood. Laxus could see an altar and the despicable, rapacious glow of gold. He could see a vast thing crouched on his chest. He could see the stilting madness of his own spine, the waning light of it, flickering... fading... fighting to stay lit for just a little while longer...
"Laxus!" a frantic voice was rousing him from his sleep but he felt like he couldn't wake up. He didn't recognize it at first. Lilting and overflowing with concern. He heard a curse and light-footed steps, "Where...? D-do you keep potion components? Laxus! Laxus!"
Potion components. He kept them... in a pantry in the kitchen. He didn't say it aloud because he couldn't. He could barely breathe.
A hand was gripping onto his arm, shaking him frantically, "Laxus, please!"
A potion... he needed a potion...
His stomach churned and he felt like he'd vomit except he also felt empty. The room was still spinning, but when he finally rolled his unscarred eye open, nothing was moving at all. Everything was blurry. He could hardly see.
The thing over his bed was gone. The sleep paralysis demon. The nightmare from the saltbox house.
He was starting to fall back asleep.
"H-h-hey no, no, wake up! Just quickly, please, tell me where you'd keep a potion!"
Oh, fuck. It sounded like Levy. Why was Levy in his house?
He twitched his fingers and it felt like pins and needles were skittering in and out of his skin. He moved his arm and it was sore. Everything was aching and he was getting dizzy again. And he wanted to fall back to sleep. All he wanted was to rest.
There was more shaking, and Levy swore. He heard footsteps running off and things were falling, banging around. There was another set of footsteps, these quieter, as if scared to disturb him. A gloved hand was on his arm.
"You downplayed this," the voice that said it was pained.
Laxus forced his eyes open again. The figure, blurry and distorted, was Davian. His eyes were shifting between blue and green, brows knitted down in striking concern. Laxus would have said no I didn't, last time wasn't like this, but he couldn't. He didn't trust his voice to come out as he desired. Instead, he turned his head towards his bedside table and shut his eyes against the world tipping when he moved. He closed his hand into a fist and felt prickling weakness in his fingers, not allowing his muscles to fully clench. He opened his eyes again and tried to reach-
Davian beat him to it. Wrenching the drawer open and calling for Miss McGarden.
"I'm sorry, I don't use potions," he explained flatly, handing it to her. She rolled it in her hands and relief hit her face.
Laxus didn't even have the strength to sit up, to lift his head, but he tried. His arms were shaking with the effort to push himself up as Levy was muttering for him to lay still. The potion was brought to his lips, and he fought not to sputter as it went down his throat. For a moment, he just stared at the ceiling, waiting for the world to stop tipping so violently and ignoring the way Levy was staring pointedly at his scarred eye.
"Downstairs, in the kitchen..." Laxus began, "...the cabinet closest to the backdoor..."
She was gone, dashing down the stairs. He could hear her rummaging in the cabinets, opening and closing them. Glass vials were hitting the counters. Of course, the girl would know how to mix potions. He was starting to think she was even more knowledgeable than Freed.
"When did it get this bad?" Davian asked, and Laxus could hardly process the words.
"You're overreacting..." he wheezed, again trying to push himself up. He ignored the pains that began shooting up his arms, his stomach, his thighs. Davian's hands were wrapping around his bicep, aiding him, "I just need a minute."
The noise that came from Davian was startling. He didn't even attempt to hide the inhumanness of it, a hiss that started at his lips and sucked deep down into his lungs, a sound like a crocodile emitting a warning before it would bite.
"You are a dreadful liar," he said lowly.
"Why don't you go help Levy," Laxus said, and he had no energy to add any bite to the words. He pressed his palm to his eye to rub away the stinging tears still gathered there, "I gotta get dressed."
Davian eyed him critically before walking out of the room and shutting the door. Laxus knew he wasn't far, because he didn't hear any footsteps receding down the stairs. Trepidation made his stomach bunch as he swung one leg out from under the covers, and then the other. He put weight down slowly, scared of the stinging that flushed from the balls of his feet and up his shins. He was already breathing heavily and he hadn't even stood yet. He stared at his closet; the short distance was now far more daunting than it had ever been before. Experimentally, he pushed himself up to stand. His balance was immediately off. He swayed from one foot to the other, daring a shuffling step forward just as he began to smell copper. Black started splotching his vision and he immediately sank back down to the bed and hunched over, pressing his palms into his eyes to stem the ferocious headache that now snapped to attention. He swore and gritted his teeth as his stomach pitched.
He refused to look up at the sound of the door easing once again open and closed.
"You mentioned to me a while ago about having nightmares... would you tell me about them, please." Davian said as he rummaged through his belongings casually. Laxus was trying to steady his breathing, trying to convince himself he wasn't smelling copper and he didn't need to throw up. He was telling himself it was the migraine making him nauseous and hungry and queasy all at the same time.
"Nightmares…?" Laxus huffed, wiping blood from his nose. He stared at the vibrant red of it and calmly considered how Davian could get around blood. He was in no condition to fight or even defend himself or Levy downstairs. "What do they have to do with this?"
"Humor me." Davian was in front of him. He made a vague noise of disgust and brought a cloth to Laxus's face. Laxus gritted his teeth and accepted it, "You said there was something about your father who runs a dark guild?"
Laxus flinched at the throbbing in his eye as he looked up at him, "They're just nightmares… probably from anxiety."
Davian's own gaze was trained to the open bedside drawer. He was digging out something that was in pieces. It took Laxus a moment to realize it was the jade hagstone. Somehow, it had shattered and there were steaks of black on the stone. The color was unrecognizable from what it had been only days ago.
"Do you know why I gave this to you?" Davian asked. Laxus shrugged, "I wasn't sure of what we spoke to during the introduction ritual, so just in case I gave it to you to ward off an evil spirit that might attempt to attach itself to you… in case what we spoke to was malevolent in nature."
"I was having magic deficiency long before we did that," Laxus muttered.
"But did it ease after I gave it to you?" Davian asked. "Did the nightmares stop?"
Laxus paused, "Yeah."
Davian's eyes fluttered closed, "I am an absolute fool."
"Here," Levy was rushing through the doorway again, and Laxus could barely even move to cover himself. The weakness in his limbs had him gritting his teeth to simply pull up a blanket. Levy didn't seem to care or notice, and instead was uncorking whatever it was she'd just made, "You don't have everything I need for a magic deficiency potion, but this can help at least."
"Right…" he grimaced and took it, "Thanks."
"You lied to me, Laxus," Levy accused harshly. It startled him a bit. Tears were starting to gather in the corners of her eyes, "You told me you were feeling better."
"I was," Laxus muttered, "What are you even doing here?"
"W-well, I… you said I could look at the grimoire whenever I had some free time."
"And you just barged in when I didn't answer the damn door?" he growled, rubbing at his eye again.
"That was… Mira has been worried, you know, because you haven't been to the guild. And then I ran into your friend-"
"I was just at the guild a couple days ago," Laxus fumed, snatching a shirt from Davian. His hands were shaking too much, though, and very quickly the chameleon was taking it back in order to help him.
"Laxus…" Levy's voice was quiet suddenly, "…what day do you think it is?"
The sensation of numbness crawled up his arms as he lifted them enough to get them into his shirt. Davian was helping him with buttons and it felt humiliating. The other man acted as if this was totally normal.
"Gajeel just left this morning?" Laxus breathed, thinking. What day did he usually have therapy?
"Laxus, Gajeel left two days ago." Levy said, her brown eyes widening.
"I spoke to him yesterday," Davian stated, reiterating Levy's point.
"You… did?" Laxus asked, disbelieving. How had two days passed? He'd been asleep for two days? "I didn't know you two were getting along."
"I don't think we are."
"Laxus, have you been like this the whole time?" Levy sounded daunted, and again tears were beginning to spring, "We need to get Porlyusica…"
"Absolutely not." Laxus stated as firmly as he could, "I don't need her help."
"But Laxus-!"
"She'll insist on taking my lacrima out," Laxus persisted, not backing down despite how distressed both Levy and Davian now seemed, "and if I refuse, she'll get Gramps involved and then he'll insist on taking it."
"B-but… you…"
"You agreed it wasn't the lacrima doing this to me," Laxus charged.
"I can be wrong," she said, torment between honoring his wishes and the desire to get him help clearly tearing her in two, "I'm not an expert on dragon slayers or dragon slaying lacrima. There's only four of them actually known of and infused in people… which probably was never their intended purpose to begin with! This is magic we don't use anymore, Laxus. No one knows what they're truly capable of."
"I can't let them take it!" Laxus snarled, and if he'd had the ability, he would have let loose his magic just to prove his point. Instead, he just felt vertigo.
Two hands clapped on the side of his face and he found himself staring straight into Levy's eyes. There were tears, yes, but there was a raging fire as well. The look on her face was stern and borderline angry.
"Magic. Deficiency. Will. Kill. You." She hurled each word at him like a knife, "And then what will you do, Laxus? Nothing. Because you'll be dead."
She shoved him back a little, muttering something to herself as she dragged her purse out and began digging around.
"You're an idiot." She was saying, her voice trembling as she stifled her tears, "You've been magic deficient before. You should know better."
Laxus was dazed. He didn't know Levy had that sort of outburst in her. If he didn't see her in a new light before, he certainly did now. He was really starting to understand why Gajeel liked being around her so much.
"I only agreed not to tell Gajeel out of respect. I believed you when you said you were feeling better… idiot. Idiot." She was holding her stylus, and grabbed Davian by his shirt, bodily dragging him back.
"What are you-" the chameleon began, alarmed.
"Dragon Slayers get magic from their element," she glowered down her nose at Laxus, determination setting in, and his spine snapped straight. He felt magic charging the air as she began writing into thin air, "Solid Script: Lightning."
The word sailed into him and on instinct he snapped his hand forward. He sucked in a breath at the rush, slight as it was, coursing through his arm and into his veins. For the first time since waking, he felt like he could truly take in a full breath. The shaking in his hands stemmed. The hunger pangs he was ignoring were less insistent.
"You feel better," she said, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment. Where anger had crossed her features before, she only looked relieved. "Good. Good. I can do that, at least."
"He's still going to need help," She explained to Davian who only gawked at her wide-eyed with incredulity. She rubbed away the tears from her eyes with her arm, "I'll wait downstairs."
She slammed the door behind her and Davian stared after her, "She… makes things… with words? She writes things into existence?"
"Yeah… among other things." Laxus chuckled a little to see him so amazed, "She was part of a trial to become an S-class wizard."
"She was?" Davian looked over at him. "You are considered S-class, are you not?"
"You met Freed," Laxus said and he nodded, "I'm starting to think she's even smarter than he is."
"Oros's Teeth," he muttered, "Is everyone in your guild so frightening?"
"She's one of the sweet ones… usually. I've never seen her that pissed before." Laxus admitted, "I didn't know she had it in her."
Davian's response was to draw his lips into a tight line. She hadn't been wrong. He still needed help. Standing made him extremely dizzy, to the point he had to steady himself against Davian's shoulder. He cursed when for the third time, he'd had to sit down. He had finally gotten one of his boots on.
"Laxus… this is… severe."
"Part of it's the anemia," he said, as if that somehow made it better. He pinched the bridge of his nose in a sorry attempt to make the world stop spinning, "The nosebleeds… the bruising… the fucking pins and needles…"
"Please tell me about your nightmares." Davian was trying to be calm, but he could hear the underlying panic, "You said they got worse when we spoke of… Father. But you've been having them? How long?"
"Shit, I don't know…" he rested his chin on his hand, already exhausted, "I've had them… for a while. It's been… months…"
"Try to remember, please. It's important to me," Davian implored quietly, something in his voice clawing to get out, something that made the air taste like fear.
"Ahh… I mean… fuck, Davian, I've had night terrors about Ivan since I was a kid." He tried to think, to pin down when they had actually started. He'd had them while Gajeel was in prison, most nights. He'd had them before Unaven was killed… a long time now, he'd been having them... for around a year…
"You mentioned a figure and an altar, and someone lying on the altar…" he was standing before him, arms crossed, looking over his spectacles and revealing yellow eyes, "Is that what you've been having nightmares of the past two days? An altar?"
"Ahh…" Laxus winced as he remembered, "They started… there was something standing in the corner. But that's just what sleep paralysis does."
"And the sphinx mentioned a sleep paralysis demon, yes?" Davian was frowning.
"She said a lot of things, and not a lot of it made sense." Laxus tried to be dismissive, but he was losing his resolve, "A mad oracle, remember?"
"A mad oracle is still an oracle. What she said still holds weight to it… which you believe, I think." Davian said, sounding even more desperate, "Just… your visions. Start there. Tell me what you've been seeing. Please."
"They're not visions," Laxus fought to not lose his temper, "They're nightmares. They happen usually when Gajeel isn't around, probably because I'm worried about him."
"Ok, alright, and they're about…?"
"Shit I mean, they change. It usually starts with a figure standing in the corner. I can't really see it but… I know it's smiling at me and it's hungry, I guess. And there are whispers… I used to see shadows when the whispers started but this time…" he trailed off and shivered, "there were… people… standing. Dead people. Bianca was there, and Kahli, and Ezal, and others, so many… they looked, like you? When your glamour is gone, but more… I don't know."
Davian said nothing, just listened quietly, his expression darkening.
"The figure, my sleep paralysis demon, always ended up by my bed at some point. When it got closer is when I'd start seeing things the stone altar with someone laying on it. I saw a ritual knife, I think, stabbing someone. And at some point I saw the sphinx sitting on my chest, and she kept saying not to let anyone take something, and that it knew I was alone. It always ends with the figure by my bed, reaching for my eye. It's always saying things like I see you, or You can't escape, or I will have what's mine. Sometimes it's talking to me, telling me shit about not being perfect but that it can make me perfect if I let it…" Laxus shook his head, "sometimes it's Ivan's hand pulling at my lacrima, telling me I'm not allowed to be weak, I'm a Dreyar. Sometimes its the shadow thing. Hell, sometimes I'm running through the streets of Magnolia as a kid and people are staring at me. I don't know. They're night terrors. They don't mean anything. They just make it so I have a shit night's sleep."
"I am such a fool," Davian said again. He looked like the wind might have just been knocked out of him, "I was so concerned about where you'd gotten that grimoire and what you were planning on doing with it, I didn't even hear what you were telling me."
"And why does that make you a fool?" Levy demanded, damn near making Laxus and Davian both jump. Her brown eyes were cutting into him and it was startling, "What do you know about all of this? Those nightmares mean something to you?"
Davian coughed as he fixed his glasses, immediately trying to hide, "Miss McGarden, you could at least knock."
Her lips twisted in her attempt to not scowl, "You're going to lecture me on my friend who is dying when you clearly know why?"
Laxus looked over at Davian who seemed extremely uncomfortable, "What?"
"I... only found out recently. It's why I'm here," Davian said, holding up his hands in a way that seemed less like he was explaining, and more like he was trying to stop some invincible force, "My brother recently... stopped by and wreaked havoc on my home. While he was there, among other vagaries, he eluded to knowing you were ill and why. And it makes so much sense now, knowing what the sphinx said to you..."
"The sphinx?" Levy demanded. She looked at the grimoire in the open bedside table, "You spoke to Dimisia? This is from the Bloodgood Athenaeum. Laxus...!"
"I'm going to return it!" Laxus defended, although it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"What did she say? Dimisia. What did she tell you?" Levy demanded.
"Fucks sakes..." Laxus muttered and began explaining as best he could. When he finished, Levy stood stock still. He could practically see her gears turning, clicking things into place before his very eyes. Her eyes landed on Davian, and she stared at him, hard.
"You are not a sphinx," she stated sternly. The alarm that crossed Davian's face was enough to set even Laxus's heart racing. He noticed that she had a death-grip on her stylus, a weapon in her hands. Her aura swelled in the room, "Why do you know what's wrong, or your brother, or whoever, if you're not the one who cursed him?"
Laxus's eyes widened, "I'm not cursed, Levy."
"No, Laxus, you're not. Something has attached itself to you and is feeding off your magical energy..." her eyes darted to the grimoire, "...Virale... you use it, don't you? Like the sphinxes? Is that what its doing?" she demanded of Davian, "Dimisia was trying to warn him that the thing in his nightmares was eating his magical energy and his life energy? Until it was going to kill him?"
"Fucks sakes, Levy," Laxus breathed, "It's not-"
"Laxus," she said, eyes flashing towards him, "Do you know how that poem ends? About the sleep paralysis demon? Eternally I sleep, at peace. Those who know me weep for my plotless reality never ends? The demon consumes them until they die. The Great White Plague, The Consumption, a wasting disease where the person looks ok from the outside but on the inside they're dying. You,Laxus, look ok from the outside while something is eating you from the inside. The shadow man of amorphous shape, the embodiment of night is about a shadow man that kills in the night. She was telling you a spirit was eating you alive like some energy vampire, more than likely because you're an extremely strong wizard, with enough energy that it could manifest itself in our plane of existence. This Father, or whatever it is she said. The everywhere and nowhere. It sits between your reality and the falsehood of an overactive imagination. Your nightmares are how it manifests."
This, this was the moment Laxus remembered that this tiny girl had once in minutes nullified Freed's runes and rewrote them. Twice. And on one of those occasions, she rewrote those restrictions so that only she and Gajeel could slip through. He remembered her speech about being small, about being a wallflower, and thought to himself that she must be delusional to think she couldn't cast a large shadow if she just found the confidence to do so.
"That was... you put that together far faster than I." Davian's eyes were wide in wonderment, and still flustered he tried to calm her, "That's what I believe is going on as well. If I had realized, I would have done something sooner."
"So, you know how to banish what's attached to him." Levy said, eyes hard and unwavering, "How?"
"I... don't know how exactly. The bond was made between him and the... spirit, and without knowing exactly how, I can't break it. My brother, though, can. He's more versed in these things than I."
"Which brother?" Laxus asked, trying not to sound as skeptical as he felt, "The one I'm thinking of wouldn't do something like that out of the kindness of his heart."
"Well, as it were, he's agreed to a... a trade, I suppose you could call it." Davian said slowly, carefully, like he were tiptoeing around something, "It's been discussed already. But, we need to go to one of the temples for him to sever the connection, specifically his temple."
"What's the trade?" Laxus demanded.
Levy looked a bit bewildered, "Laxus... your life is at stake."
"Which means we're trading one life for another, aren't we?" Laxus said, "That's how these things work."
"Correct but there is more than one way to give a life," he said purposefully, as if with each word he were side-stepping a landmine, "Very recently, your other half happened upon one of my kind out on the other side of Verbena. It seems he got separated from my brother during an altercation with a wizard. For his safe return, Orotrushit will sever the bond. A life for a life... which is why we have to get to the temple for the full moon."
"And that's it?" Laxus said.
Davian made a noise at the back of his throat, his eyes darting to Levy for a brief second, "There's not many of us left as gifted as Erandi is. In a way that I'm sure the boy himself doesn't understand, he is important. Orotrushit wants him back... something desperate."
Levy was looking at Laxus again, brown eyes large and round, "Do you want me to go with you?"
"No." When Davian said it, his eyes flashed and the room filled with a heavy presence. Davian shuttered, and the presence dissipated just as suddenly, as if the room had somehow developed its own heartbeat, "Oh... that was a bit much, don't you think?"
"What the hell was that?" Laxus asked.
"Apologies... I've recently developed a temper. I'm trying to get adjusted to it." he sighed, "I'm sorry, but no... the less wizards, the better."
"And why would that be?" Levy demanded.
"You seem an incredibly intelligent woman," Davian said, levelling her with his naked gaze, exposing reptilian eyes for what they were. To Levy's credit, she stood her ground, "I think you know why we don't want mages around. Why an excess of them might scare some of us."
Levy's brow furrowed.
"It's fine, Levy," Laxus assuaged her, "Davian is the least of my concerns."
"No offense, Laxus, but that doesn't make me feel any better," she snapped, "I would ask when you started keeping such large secrets from your nakama, but you did hide the Lightning Palace, didn't you? I guess I thought maybe you'd changed after you'd come back."
Laxus clenched his teeth, "Everyone has shit they deal with. No one needs mine on top of it."
She stomped her foot angrily, "Fairy Tail is a family, Laxus. We help each other. We don't hide when we're suffering... or at least, we're not supposed to."
"If it eases your mind at all, I came here because I wanted to help," Davian said quietly, "Laxus is a friend of mine as well. I want him better."
Levy regarded him again, coldly.
"Well, maybe you'll except this then. If it weren't enough that I want him better? His other half has made it clear that if something happens to him, he's hunting me down. And after he made the threat, he demonstrated just how easy it would be for him to accomplish such a thing," Davian said curtly, "At the very least, I'd like to avoid bothof our untimely demises."
"Is that how you figured out he carries a knife?" Laxus asked, for some reason thinking that would bring some levity. He wasn't sure why. Mostly, he was just tired and so ready for this conversation to be over.
"No, actually, he used my own against me. It took seconds," Davian was trying not to show his teeth, "I don't want to make a habit out of provoking him in such a way he'd feel necessary to prove that point again."
"Fuck..." Laxus breathed.
Davian held up his hand, "We've had this conversation. I'd do the same if it were Irena, or Keirin, perhaps not as efficiently, but nonetheless, I understand."
"This isn't a good idea," Levy said, looking back to Laxus.
"You have a better one?" he asked. Maybe on a regular occasion it would have been sarcastic. She didn't, and it was made apparent when the agitated set to her shoulders slumped into something more defeated.
"How far is it?" she asked.
"It's a two, possibly a three-day trip, if we're slow." Davian replied.
Levy shook her head, "Please won't you consider seeing Porlyusica? I know she's harsh but she's not unreasonable. And she can at least give you more magic deficiency potions."
"You know what she'll do," Laxus said.
"Fine. Fine. Men and their stupid pride. Cana is right." Levy's eyes were welling up with tears again, "But Gajeel will be back in town soon. Don't you dare ask me to lie if he asks me where you've gone."
"Levy..." Laxus tried to be stern, to sound at least half as intimidating as he usually would, but he was lacking in fervor. He just couldn't muster it.
"No. I trust you, Laxus, and I believe in your skill as an S-class mage, but none of you dragon slayers understand your limits," she said, stomping her foot again for good measure, "And I will not lie to a friend. Not over something like this. I won't seek him out, but if he asks me, I'm telling him."
Laxus stared her down and she held his gaze, not wavering, not backing down. Laxus realized he'd never been so wrong about a person before in his life. He let out a huff in defeat. She crossed her arms and nodded before looking over at Davian again.
"Now tell me, where are you going?" she asked, doe eyes finally, after long last, turning soft, "And when should I be expecting you back?"
As the train made its way into Magnolia's station, Gajeel had found the conversation with Serrill had turned out quite fun. He ended up walking with him through town and to Porlyusica's dwelling, observing while he got fitted for his new prosthesis. The look of relief on his face when the new one slotted into place was nearly infectious. The man hadn't really complained, of course, but it was clear he'd been uncomfortable. Porlyusica was very, verygood at her craft, and only offered minimal words of criticism to them both as they left.
Gajeel was smoking on a cigarette and was walking Serrill back to the station, the latter wrapped up in the middle of explaining his own process for writing songs when he was younger, when Gajeel felt something was off. The wind kicked up, whisking away the smoke from his mouth. He stopped where he stood in the middle of the street, suddenly hit with the scent of the desert. They were on the outskirts of the market. Gajeel's heart immediately slammed into overdrive in his chest, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck standing at attention. His gut twisted and he swept his eyes around, looking for something that might be lurking in plain sight.
He found it, them, nearly immediately. A teen was sitting on one of the benches, awaiting the train. His cloak was wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and he sat hunched and staring at the ground as if waiting for it to swallow him up. Looming over him was a figure, hulking and equally cloaked, eyes that Gajeel couldn't quite see turned also towards the ground. And then, Gajeel laid eyes on Irena and one massive dog, a shepherd of some sort, laying at her feet, vigilant eyes ahead and ears pricked. She brightened suddenly and waved somewhere out of Gajeel's sight, and his heart sank.
The Major stepped up, civilian clothes and a cloak around his shoulders. Gajeel could tell by the pack he carried, the packs around Irena and the others' feet, that they were in for a long trip. And who was at Davian's side? Laxus, looking inexorably pale and haggard. He had deep bags under his eyes, his hair was a mess. To his absolute surprise, he also saw Levy, and she was talking rapidly, her hands moving in a way that told him she was dreadfully nervous.
"Hey Serrill..." Gajeel drawled, getting his companion's attention, "...what in the hell is the Major doin' here?"
Serrill stopped and followed his gaze, "I... don't know. But I know an easy enough way to find out."
"Mmh..." Gajeel let out a low growl and stepped back a few paces, walking back towards a more secluded area where he could still keep the group in his line of sight but was more assured he wouldn't be seen. Serrill watched him questioningly but followed. Gajeel pulled out his receiver and dialed.
Laxus stood there, eyes nearly glossed over, and blinked a few times in confusion before pulling out his own receiver. He gave the group a stoic once-over and then stepped away.
"Hello," Laxus said warmly, smiling, "You know, I was just thinking about callin' you."
"Ah, well, you know what they say about great minds, don't ya?" Gajeel smirked.
"Yeah... you almost home?"
"I am. Stepped out at one of the stops between. Needed some fresh air," Gajeel lied smoothly, "But shouldn't be more than two, three hours tops."
"Damn... guess that means I'll miss you," Laxus said. His smile faded slightly, and he glanced off to the side. Gajeel knew from where he stood that he was looking back at Irena and the chameleons, "I'm leaving for a mission. It's gonna be a few days. I don't know if I'll be back by the time you're leaving for therapy again."
"Something big?" Gajeel smirked, "Freed and Bickslow finally stop fighting?'
"I wouldn't know," Laxus said honestly, "I'm going by myself. Between Freed and Bix fighting and Ever being wrapped around Elfman's arm, the Raijinshu is a lot right now. Not really in the mood to deal with it."
"Damn. I'm sorry, Sparky."
"S'Fine," he said, wrinkling his nose a little.
"You look a little tired. Everythin' ok?" Gajeel asked and watched as Laxus wrestled the good humor back onto his face.
"Oh yeah, just haven't been sleeping well. Wish I could say the reason was you but... damn, been having night terrors. Shit like I haven't had since I was a kid. Figured a mission would take my mind off it. Get a change of pace."
"Couldn't hurt," Gajeel said, clenching and unclenching his fist as he fought to hide the hurt and anger that was bubbling up in his chest, "Bein' out on my own always made me feel better."
"Does that mean you're rubbing off on me?" he asked, smiling although it fell just short of his eyes. His eyes still just looked exhausted, "Wish some of those survival skills had rubbed off. I'm still shit with picking mushrooms."
"Best to avoid those, I think."
"Probably a good idea," Laxus glanced away again, this time looking down the tracks, "Think my train is coming."
"Aw, damn. Guess I'll catch you later then..." Gajeel replied, "I love you."
At that, Laxus paused. His smile was gone and he was staring out towards the train still, suddenly extremely distant in thought. He blinked a few times before looking back at Gajeel, "You give my heart wings to fly."
Gajeel fought to remain still, to not show the panic that suddenly rushed through his veins. Why did he say it like it might be the last time? Why did he look so tired, so exhausted? Like at any moment he might just collapse. Why was he leaving with Davian Bishop and two other chameleons, taking a train in a direction that Gajeel didn't like, after the Major had just told him something bad was coming, he could feel it in his bones?
"You are the magic in my veins." Gajeel said, barely keeping calm the trembling in his voice.
Laxus smiled and then killed the image. Gajeel watched as he ran his thumb over his eye, his lips tight, and then walk back over to where the others waited. Levy was saying something and Gajeel wished he could read lips. Laxus waived his hand dismissively and seemed to be gently talking her down.
"He lied to me," Gajeel said quietly. Serrill watched him, obviously concerned but not sure what to do about it, "Why did he lie to me?"
"I mean... you said you and the Major weren't exactly on good terms? Maybe he didn't want you to know he was going to be hanging around... with him?" Serrill offered.
"I'm not fucking stupid, I know they're friends," Gajeel snarled, "Why would he lie?"
Serrill just shrugged helplessly. Gajeel huffed.
"Well, have a good trip back to Ember Island."
"Wait... what are you-?"
"I'm getting on that fucking train," Gajeel growled.
"Isn't that a little... underhanded? I'm sure whatever the reason is that he lied, there's a reasonable explanation." Serrill said, "Why don't you wait. Give him a chance to explain himself."
"A week? You want me to wait a week? Possibly longer?" Gajeel whirled on him, "You'd do that? You'd fucking sit around and wait when your boyfriend looks like he's going to pass out any second and is leaving town and lying about who he's leaving with? Oh, and the people he's with framed you for murder once?"
Serrill opened his mouth to speak and then closed it, "I'm sure he has a good reason."
"I'm sure he does, Serrill. I'm still gettin' on that fucking train."
Serrill grunted, "Fine. Ok. Yeah... fine. I'll go too... I guess."
"I didn't ask you to come along," Gajeel said, marching around the perimeter of the station, slinking just out of sight of the group, "I don't care to go alone."
"Someone's gotta make sure you don't do something stupid," Serrill griped, "Remember what Alexi said about you running headfirst into trouble?"
"Fuck what Alexi said-!" Gajeel started and immediately stopped. Levy was standing in front of him, and when their eyes met, hers immediately began growing wider. Her lips pressed together so tightly, the color fled from them, Gajeel clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt, "Hey Shorty."
"G-Gajeel..." she regarded him.
Gajeel, had he had a bit more wherewithal might have tried harder to hide his sharper teeth, but he didn't like the way she looked like he'd just caught her red-handed. His blood began to simmer.
"You mind tellin' me what's goin' on?" he asked as calmly as he could.
Her eyes fluttered closed for a second. She shook her head like maybe she was about to tell him no. When she looked at him again, her eyes were hard, meeting his own raging gaze as its equal.
"I will, Gajeel, after you explain some things to me."
"You better be fast, Shorty," he said, taking a draw form his cigarette, "Because I have a train to catch."