Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
As soon as I woke up the next morning, I got ready to start the day. I quickly rinsed off in the shower before getting dressed. I put on a pair of black stockings, and some black shorts with skulls sewn on the butt pockets secured tightly with a belt. The outfit is finished off with a white tank top and a small choker around my neck that had a little metal heart hanging from it. Lastly, I throw on my trusty pair of boots and take a moment to look in the mirror and admire the ensemble as I tie my hair up into a high ponytail. I wink at my reflection and snicker playfully before heading out to meet my team for a quick breakfast at the inn before we left. As I leave my room, Laxus is shutting the door to his.
"Good morning!" I smile in greeting, wrapping my arms around him as he pulls me in for a kiss that was surprisingly deep.
"Mmh. You're hot." He grunts as he pulls back slightly and looks down at my outfit. I can't help but giggle at his casual comment. His expression totally didn't match the words. He almost seems uninterested as he begins lightly toying with the little heart on my necklace.
"Thanks hun, you're pretty damn sexy yourself." I giggle as I unashamedly look him over. He's wearing a tight black tank top and loose-fitting olive-green khaki pants with a brown leather belt. He has decided to forgo his large coat due to the warm desert outside and I'm kind of glad to see those massive arms bare. "That green looks good on you."
"Thanks." Laxus finally grins at that, his rough façade broken. "Let's go wake up Bickslow's lazy ass. Evergreen is getting ready now and Freed is already downstairs."
We walk into the room our boyfriend is staying in and he's dead asleep, sprawled out on his back. Laxus yanks the blanket off the seith mage to reveal a very naked Bickslow.
"I guess he did say once that he likes to sleep in the nude." I giggle as Bickslow finally begins to wake. He stirs, stretching languidly and grinning brightly at us, completely unashamed about his nudity.
"Morning lovers!" Bickslow says, rubbing his hands down his body teasingly.
"Hurry up and get dressed," Laxus says, bundling up the blanket and tossing it at the man's face, "I'm fucking hungry."
Bickslow and I both got a laugh out of that. The dragon slayer was a voracious eater, but you kind of had to be when you were supporting that much muscle. The seith mage quickly dresses in his full gear and we make our way downstairs, his totems following closely. There was a small little café in one corner of the inn that was full of buffet-style food and several tables to sit and eat at. Freed is reading at a table with a few casual breakfast items in front of him when we walk up. I watch as Laxus quickly loads up a massive plate from the different foods they offered. Bickslow follows up behind him with another big helping and I'm glad there is enough to accommodate their huge appetites with some left over. Soon Evergreen joins us as we all sit down to eat together. We chat casually about our upcoming job, trying to make some sort of plan in case things went wrong or the guy ended up being more difficult than we hoped. I am once again reminded that our target had been given a death sentence and it makes me nervous. Laxus's words from yesterday roll through my head, and I try not to think about it. We would come to that when it was time. Besides, I highly doubted it was going to come down to me if anything did happen.
It's mid-morning when the five of us make our way to the mountains outside the city, each one of us on high alert and prepared for anything we might come across. The ruins are a bit of a trek from the city but thankfully the road was mostly flat. It was hotter today than it was yesterday, but I don't bother trying to block out the sun for everyone. I needed to conserve my magic power for when we encountered the enchanter. As we make our way closer, I can see that the ruins have been carved by hand out of the mountain stone itself. The mountain is huge, and it's shaped more like a plateau with a mostly flat peak. It's eerily quiet and I feel goosebumps rising on my skin despite the heat of the desert.
"This place is creepy." I mutter to the group. "It feels so… ominous."
"What you're feeling is the remnants of tortured souls." Bickslow replies, surveying the ruined city with a grim look on his partially armored face.
"Tortured souls? Oh great." Evergreen shudders and Bickslow waves her off.
"Just remnants, leftover energy. Nothing that can hurt us." He says, "Some crazy shit went down way back when this place was inhabited though, for sure."
"Let's just get in there and take this guy out." Laxus says, striding towards the ruins boldly.
We all follow along behind our fearless leader as we make our way up the ancient stone pathway leading to the mountainside.
"Looks like there are several possible entrances for us to check." Freed comments, surveying the ruins. "We can each take one to scope out and if we don't find anything we can check the others."
"Mmmm, I dunno." Bickslow frowns as he looks at me "I don't really feel comfortable leaving (Y/n) alone. What if something happens?"
At first, I rolled my eyes at his statement. It made me feel a little irritated, but then my mind flashed back to our battle with the dragonoid creatures, and my heart tightened in my chest. "Bicks, I'll be okay. You can't expect to follow me everywhere…"
"Here, this should make you feel better Bickslow." Freed hands each of us a small clear orb, "We shall use these to communicate with each other while we're split up. Call immediately if you find anything. And be careful, we don't yet know the strength of this dark enchanter. Nobody should engage alone, except for Laxus of course."
I snort playfully at his comment. To be fair, the dragon slayer was stronger than all of us and most likely perfectly capable of taking down a foe like this himself, so Freed's comment wasn't totally off-base.
"Okay, fine." Bickslow pockets the communication lacrima as he speaks "But I'm sending Pappa with you too."
I can't help but smile at that, "Sounds good."
Pappa comes and floats up to me, nuzzling into my neck and making me giggle. This was Bickslow's first soul, his oldest friend, and it was comforting to have the totem around. We finally part ways, and I pick the far-left entrance to investigate. As I walk up to it all I can see is an empty corridor leading into deep darkness. I quickly draw up some light runes, and they hover above my head, illuminating the pathway. Pappa hovers directly in front of me as we head deep into the ruins. The air grows colder the farther I go and soon I find myself fighting shivers.
"How long does this tunnel go for?" I wonder aloud to the little totem after several minutes of walking straight. Soon the pathway starts to angle downward, traveling deep under the mountain. I look down to watch my step and notice a broken skull and other small bones littered against the wall to my right. The sight makes me grimace, wondering how that unlucky soul ended up here. After looking closer at the bones, I can tell they're relatively old. Definitely not a sign of our quarry, so I continue cautiously, listening and looking out for anything or anyone that might show up. The pathway turns a sharp corner suddenly and after a few feet I see a large stone doorway. I try pushing on it, and to my surprise it opens with very little resistance. As it opens we are faced with a large empty chamber littered with more skeletons.
"Bickslow wasn't exaggerating when he said some crazy shit went down here." I speak softly. Pappa buzzes in response, floating out into the space and circling the room as I look around.
There were several different skeletons based on the number of skulls and bones strewn throughout the room. The walls are painted full of archaic illustrations and handprints. There are some that look like runes, and I briefly wonder if maybe Freed could decipher whether they meant anything. Unfortunately, I saw no signs of our target after circling the chamber. There is another hallway carved out on the far side of the space and we carefully continue on, hoping to find something soon. This hallway led directly downward, with steep stone stairs carving out the path below. I see another door at the bottom of the steps and carefully make my way down there. I can hear voices as I approach and I quietly shuffle closer, hugging the wall. However, as I got closer, I realized I knew those voices. I shove open the stone door and am greeted with the sight of my teammates and Laxus standing in a large open chamber with a stone pedestal in the center. It's stained a deep brown color, and I can tell there was a lot of blood spilled there a very long time ago. Freed has cast multiple light runes that float around us and illuminate the large space, so I drop my own to conserve some magic energy.
"Hey guys, glad to see you made it okay!" Bickslow calls cheerfully. The other four totems come up and swirl around me and Pappa happily "Okay, okay!"
I look around as I join the group, confused "What's going on?"
"It seems as though our paths have converged here." Freed replies, looking around the expansive room. I notice the other doorways which my teammates have come through and at least one or two more. It was impossible to tell if they led deeper into the mountain, or if it was one of the other possible entrances we hadn't used. There are more ancient, brittle bones scattered around and multiple large clay vases sealed shut for centuries, their contents a mystery to the world. There are no signs that there's been activity here recently.
"Did anybody find anything interesting?" I ask, and they all shake their heads no. "Me neither…"
As I finish speaking, a sudden wind picks up around us. I feel a surge in magical energy as sand and dirt fly around, obscuring my vision. I'm forced to close my eyes to avoid the debris, and I cover my face with one arm. Faintly I hear shouting from my teammates as we try to stay close to each other. Freed's lights are dispersed, and someone grabs my hand as the room goes black. I can tell it's Bickslow's, and I grip it tightly as a deep chuckle sounds around us.
"Did you guild mages honestly think I would let you find me?" A man's voice speaks tauntingly, reverberating throughout the space and making it impossible to tell where it was coming from. "You don't stand a chance!"
The winds pick up speed, and I feel my feet sliding against the ground from the force. I grit my teeth, trying to withstand the barraging winds but suddenly I'm feeling myself being thrown up into the air. Bickslow's hand is ripped out of mine as the winds form a powerful tornado, spinning us helplessly. The room starts to glow a bright red color, blinding us. I shut my eyes, helpless against the attack. Suddenly I feel sharp pinpricks penetrating my muscles under the skin and I cry out in pain. I hear the agonized shouts of my teammates before the winds explode outward and everything goes black, and the voice speaks through the void.
"Let's see how well you can fight now…."
After a moment I slowly came to, feeling my head pounding. I can hear the groans of the others as they all gradually wake up. My side is stinging from where I slid against the ground after being tossed from the explosion and there's a lump growing on the side of my head. As I open my eyes, I find that it's pitch black. When I sit up I realize can see strange, hazy outlines surrounding the other mages, each one a different color. The sight worries me for a moment, thinking maybe I seriously hit my head. I blink a few times, before trying to focus on one of the shapes. My magic power swirls suddenly, and my eyes glow green.
"Uh, Bickslow…?!" I call out to him in concern, covering my eyes as I realize I'm somehow using his Figure Eyes magic?
"Stormy? Are you okay?!"
Suddenly, a glittery explosion pops off somewhere to my left and I hear Freed cry out in shock. "My magic isn't working right!"
"You're telling me!" I respond, pulling my hands back from my face slightly. The green glow reflects brightly against my palms. I close my eyes again, willing my magic to go completely dormant and it works.
"What the hell happened?" Evergreen groans from my right. She has a faint pink shimmer surrounding her.
"That bastard switched our magic." Laxus says gruffly as he stands. Faintly I can see a yellow haze around him, and I realize this must be the aura that souls emit. Laxus holds out one arm, trying to summon his lightning. Instead, light emits from his hand, spewing runes and illuminating the space. "Fuck..."
"That's my magic!" Freed cries, standing up in awe and making his way over to the, uh former-? lightning mage. The green-haired man has a deep purple aura around him. "Laxus-sama is using my magic!"
"Well, I know whose magic I got." I dust my clothes off as I stand, and Bickslow's babies hover around me. I can feel them drawing on my magic power and am surprised at how much they use. "Sup babies!"
"YOU GOT MY MAGIC?!" Bickslow jumps up, running closer. He looks way too excited about this. Briefly I notice his bright green aura and wonder if it was possible to see my own. "This is awesome, I wonder what I got!"
He starts to summon his magic power, and suddenly lightning sparks off his body. I narrowly avoid the blast as it shoots towards me, hitting the wall behind me. I hadn't really been paying attention, instead looking down at myself to see if I could spot any kind of aura, which I couldn't. Evergreen hits Bickslow hard as Laxus helps me stand, checking me over for injuries until I impatiently wave him off. "I'm fine Laxus."
"Careful you idiot, you nearly hit (Y/n)!" Evergreen shouts, "This is very serious!"
Thunder rumbles as she continues smacking Bickslow angrily and I realize she has my magic. "Calm down Sis or you're going to flood this place."
She stops, looking up and noticing the storm clouds gathering above us, "Uh, what the hell?"
"My storm magic gets more intense with my emotions," I explain, "You really have to control yourself when you're upset, or you'll get rained on. It's something that took me a long time to learn to control."
"Learn control, learn control!" Bickslow's babies repeat the last bit of my sentence, and it makes me giggle despite the situation. I can feel their energy ripple through me and it's warm and comforting. No wonder Bicks loves these guys so much, I think as I gaze affectionately at the totems.
"We may be in for a difficult time with this one." Freed comments, breaking me from my focus on my new magic.
"No kidding." Laxus scowls. "How the hell am I supposed to fight without my dragon slayer magic?"
"Freed manages just fine." I offer casually, the totems repeating "Fine, fine!".
"Yeah but Freed's magic takes quick thinking and strategy, which he's good at." Bickslow snickers, poking the hulking blonde man in the side teasingly, "Laxus only knows how to fight with brute strength."
Laxus glares at the former seith mage, but he doesn't argue. Bickslow was kind of right. Laxus had most certainly gotten the worst kind of magic for his skillset in this mix-up. Hell, even Evergreen's fairy magic would have been better for his fighting style. At least that caused explosions and shit. Although, the thought of him flying around with fairy wings causing glittery blasts was downright ridiculous.
"Well, none of us are going to fare well like this." Freed says, "We should leave now while we have the chance."
"Not so fast!" The masculine voice from earlier speaks. A black shimmer appears in the air as a tall, slender man materializes above us. He has pure white hair and eyes so dark they looked black, "I think we ought to put your new powers to the test now!"
He cackles and the ground starts to shudder violently "I hope you mages learn fast!"
I brace myself as a magic circle opens up beneath our feet. To my horror, skeletons begin to arise out of the ground, wearing ancient armor and wielding swords. The man disappears before any of us have a chance to go after him, and we're stuck alone with the enchanter's skeleton soldiers.
"Oh no, what do we do?" Evergreen asks apprehensively as they surround us, completely blocking the exits.
"We have no choice but to fight. It's a good thing I made you guys learn each other's magic." Freed says, and I know we're all very thankful for his foresight. Even though he hadn't made me, I had spent a bit of time over the years reading his books on their magics and had some idea of how they worked. Bickslow's magic had especially fascinated me, so I hoped I knew enough that I could get by. Although, the Figure Eyes were a problem already.
"That doesn't help me!" Ever cries, "That was before (Y/n) came along!"
"Just leave it to us Ever." I tell her, "My magic is definitely too wild to use in here without knowing how to control it."
She nods nervously and Freed gives Laxus his rapier so that he can write runes easier. Laxus begins to draw up a barrier to prevent any attacks from hitting her. It takes him a lot longer than Freed would have, and in the meantime, I turn back to the skeletons along with Bickslow and Freed. I feel my magic power swirling inside me and sense Bickslow's souls feeding off the energy. My eyes glow again and I curse, trying to avoid looking at my team so I don't take over their souls.
"Here, you're gonna need this." Bickslow says, pulling his visor off his face and placing it over my own. He tightens it so it fits me and despite the situation, I can't help feeling excited. I'm wearing Bickslow's visor! "Took me a long ass time to get used to my Figure Eyes, so don't worry."
"Thanks Bicks," I grin, letting my magic grow now that the fear of possessing them was gone "Let's kick some ass babies!"
The totems send a wave of energy through me, and I focus on controlling them. Freed and Bickslow begin an onslaught of attacks, lightning and glittery explosions bursting apart the skeletons. They come charging at us, and I quickly send out the five souls I now controlled into the nearest skeletons. I make them turn on the others and they begin violently swinging their swords at the hoard. Laxus finally finishes the rune barrier and uses Freed's rapier to slash at the skeleton mob, forgoing any magic and using his brute strength to overpower any that got too close to Evergreen and I. Bickslow is trying his hardest to control the lightning, but every so often a stray bolt comes my way and I have to dodge it. The skeleton mob is quickly dwindling in numbers despite the switch in our magics.
"Well then, you mages are better than I expected." The enchanter's voice boomed around us as we fought "We can't have that now, can we?"
He appears suddenly behind Evergreen and grabs her around the neck, easily bursting through Laxus's rune barrier. I shout in panic, "NO!"
I quickly rip off Bickslow's visor, letting the Figure Eyes magic loose. The enchanter has no idea what happened as he looks into my eyes and goes still.
"What magic is this?!" He cries.
"Yeah Stormy, that's the way to do it!" Bickslow calls, narrowly jumping out of the way of an incoming sword. "Don't let up!"
I can feel the man struggling against me, and I mentally burrow down further into his soul to control him completely. The skeletons fall to the ground, and his arms drop to his side. Evergreen quickly runs behind me, standing close to the others. They all watch as I force the enchanter down onto his knees. Without breaking eye contact I ask, "What now?"
The others share a concerned look behind my back before Bickslow comes up beside me "Well, that would depend on you, baby…"
His tone is soft but grave, and I tense as I realize what he meant. Surely in this case, Bickslow would have taken the chance to end the man's life with his soul under complete control. I wasn't sure if I could do the same and I felt myself starting to panic. Bickslow's hand rests on my shoulder reassuringly, "You don't have to if you don't want to (Y/n), none of us will blame you."
I can feel the enchanter's fear growing as he realizes the situation he's in, and he fights harder against me. I grit my teeth, increasing my grip by pushing more of my magic power through the connection. This was one of the most intense moments of my life. I had no idea what to do, I wasn't even thinking about the money. This was someone's life under my control, and I had to decide whether I was going to end it or let someone else do the job. It's quiet for a long time as I think hard. Eventually I realized that this was something that I needed to follow through on. Many of Fairy Tail's enemies would not hesitate to end our lives if given the chance, and I needed to be just as ruthless when it came time. "Tell me how."
Bickslow looks over at the others apprehensively. Evergreen shares the look, while Freed scowls darkly. Laxus comes to stand on my other side, laying his hand on my shoulder. He has a blank look on his face as he nods to Bickslow who nods back before addressing me, "Okay, when you look at his soul, what do you see?"
I take a moment to truly focus in on the physical manifestation of the enchanter's soul, "It looks like a flame…"
"Perfect." Bickslow says, "You're going to focus on the flame and send a wave of power over it until it's snuffed out, like blowing out a candle with magic. But you need to have the intent behind it, you can't waver."
"Okay…" I sigh, taking a moment to brace myself. It seemed simple enough, but I was still nervous.
I begin to summon more magic power, and it swirls rapidly inside me. It felt completely different from my own, and I almost struggled to focus. My storm magic was stronger with my emotions, but it wasn't working quite the same way with Bickslow's magic. I planted my feet more firmly against the ground, and took a deep breath, stilling any kind of doubt I was being consumed by. I took one more deep breath and felt the wave growing steadily. The enchanter was trying to fight again, fear consuming him. I ignore the feeling and grit my teeth in determination as I send the energy through my connection with his soul, and he cries out as it barrels toward him. At first the light from his soul flickered softly, and I bore down harder, sending as much power as I could through. I shout at the intense sensation inside me as the man struggled harder. After flickering violently for a moment, the flame finally goes out. Where there was light, it was now dark. My magic ceased on its own as the man crumbled to the ground, dead. I felt incredibly drained, and my feet wavered from the lack of energy. Laxus and Bickslow both caught me in their arms as I began to fall forward, wrapping me in a tight embrace. I take a moment to catch my breath, trying not to let what had just happened bother me. I've taken someone's life…. The room shimmers for a moment as the spells that the enchanter had cast dissipate. The skeletons disappear and I feel my magic return to normal as the light runes Laxus had cast go out and are quickly replaced again by Freed. I was still surprisingly low on power and leaned wearily against Bickslow as Laxus pulled back.
"Are you okay?" He asks, looking into my eyes.
I quickly looked away, not ready for the eye contact after what just happened, "Yeah, I'm fine…"
"Let's get out of here." He says gruffly, "We'll let the city guards handle the rest."
I pull away from Bickslow, avoiding the concerned look he and Evergreen were wearing. Bickslow grabs his visor from the ground, dusting it off before fitting it back onto his head. I almost wished I could continue wearing it myself, but not in the same excited way as before. Now, I understood why the seith mage got so used to wearing it. He'd said that his Figure Eyes magic had taken him a while to get used to, and I was sure the paranoia never truly left. The five of us head out through one of the doors my team had come through. I'm almost thankful for the warm desert air as we leave the cursed ruins for good. The heat of the midday sun felt nice against my skin, warming me. However, I still felt a bit cold on the inside after what I'd just done. That was not something I could see myself getting used to, no matter what the situation was. My magic power starts returning now that we're in the open air, and I slowly start feeling my energy returning. We're all quiet as we walk back to the city. We make our way directly to the town hall building to report back to the mayor Gareth. The man is waiting for us inside with several guards and a couple of other government officials. There are even a few curious townsfolk meandering around.
"We are so glad to see you all safe!" Gareth said, smiling genuinely "My men told me the moment the spells were lifted. I'm very impressed, you have certainly lived up to your guild's reputation!"
"It was no trouble at all, sir." Freed responds, and I internally sigh at that.
Easy for you to say…
"Wonderful," Gareth speaks, breaking me from my thoughts. One of the people in professional attire next to him hands the man a particularly thick envelope sealed with green wax. "As promised, here is the reward, including the bonus we spoke about yesterday."
"Thank you, we appreciate you putting your trust in Fairy Tail and I hope you will reach out to us again the next time you need something." Freed shakes the mayor's hand firmly before taking the envelope, storing it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
I notice the townsfolk eyeing us as Gareth shakes each of our hands, followed by the rest of his council. They probably didn't see mages very often and couldn't contain their curiosity, but it was kind of annoying. They didn't even bother hiding their facial expressions, some looked excited but others seemed suspicious. And of course, there was a small group of women clearly fawning over one of my boyfriends. I blocked out everything as we wrapped up, eager to be done. Bickslow kept glancing at me wearily, which I also ignored. I knew I was acting differently, but I couldn't help it. The last thing I wanted to do was entertain people. The mayor offered for us to stay another night at the Sleeping Serpent Inn, and the five of us debated on staying or not as we made our way back.
"I personally would much rather sleep in a bed tonight than out in the desert." Evergreen says immediately.
"I'm with Ever on this one, we could use a good night's rest." Bickslow adds. I frown, having the complete opposite opinion.
"Honestly, it's so early in the day," I said, "I'd rather just head home now. We could be back by tomorrow night."
"I have to agree with (Y/n)." Freed says and I internally sigh in relief that I may not get outvoted "I would very much like to get back to Magnolia and sort out my living situation."
They all look to Laxus, the last to speak and the ultimate decision-maker of the group. He looks at the other members of the Thunder Legion before his blue eyes rest on me. I quickly look away again, but not before seeing the slightest hint of concern on his stern face, "Let's get the fuck out of this place."
Evergreen groans loudly at the decision, and I pointedly ignore Bickslow's sad look. I wonder if maybe the seith mage thought he'd get a chance to talk to me about what happened if we stayed tonight, but I wasn't ready. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to talk about it. What would I even say?
The five of us make it back to the inn and we part ways inside to prepare for our journey back home. My clothes were dirty, my tank top torn, so I quickly undressed and rinsed the dirt off before I changed into new clothes. I gather up all my belongings and carelessly stuff them inside my pack. When I'm done with everything I go downstairs to sit in the lobby and wait for everyone else. Evergreen is the last one to finish, as usual, and she's pouting slightly while we turn in our keys to the front desk. We all make our way to the town market to grab supplies for our trip back. My magic power was recovering steadily, enough for me to justify cloud coverage to suppress the intense sun. I summoned a snowstorm to keep everyone cool as soon as we cleared the town of Marigold and we began the long trip back home.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur of heat and exhaustion. We walked well into the night, eventually stopping at the base of a large dune. I managed to fake a normal attitude as we set up camp, and everyone was too tired to spend any time chatting. Laxus and Bickslow snuggled up to me as we laid down to sleep. I certainly wasn't going to fight the contact, despite how I felt. The seith mage softly whispered "I love you" to me as we lay there under the open sky, while Laxus rubbed my arm gently. I couldn't help but smile at that and quietly said it back before falling asleep. Thankfully I was so exhausted I didn't dream, and soon the sun woke us up as soon as it climbed over the horizon. It wasn't very hot, but the sun was shining directly in our eyes, so I summoned clouds as soon as we got started. We all pushed ourselves as much as we could to get through the desert quickly. Thankfully we reached the small town we had passed through only a few days ago just in time to catch the late train home.
As the train leaves the station, Freed pulls out the envelope he had been given by the mayor Gareth before we left. He quickly divides the jewels up, and to my surprise he hands me the entire 100,000 bonus. "Wait, shouldn't we split this too?"
He shares a look with the others before he responds "Well, uh, in cases like this we decided long ago as a group to allocate any extra reward to the one who completed the special request."
I cock my brow in disbelief, "Yeah, you guys run into stuff like this often?"
"Not often, but it does happen Sis." Evergreen says softly, "It's just not always quite like that, you know?"
"Ah, I see." I stare down at the jewels in my hand for a moment before carefully folding them up and stuffing them inside my travel pack.
We get back to Magnolia late in the evening, and I part ways with Laxus and the Thunder Legion after saying a quick goodbye. I hug Freed briefly, then Evergreen, who squeezes me tightly before she lets go, and then I quickly kiss both of my boyfriends before teleporting directly home. I really didn't feel like walking, all I wanted was to get back to my place and relax by myself. For the first time since they all returned months ago, I didn't want to be around anyone right now. Bickslow had a hurt look on his face at my demeanor, but Laxus was a bit more understanding which made me feel better. The seith mage was too good at guilt-tripping me sometimes, even when he didn't realize he was doing it. He just wore his heart on his sleeve, which I admired. However, nothing but time was going to help me now. I needed to be alone to truly work through what I'd done. I'm glad that Laxus seems to understand that. It was interesting to see how the two men treated me during situations like this, and I usually didn't prefer one over the other. But in this case, I much preferred the way Laxus was acting. He seemed to understand that I just needed space.
When I got home, I turned on just enough light so I could see what I was doing. I make my way straight to my bedroom and toss my pack onto the floor before heading for my bathroom. There was nothing I wanted more in the world right now than a shower. I let the water warm up as I quickly tossed off my sandy clothes, leaving them in a pile on the ground. As I stood soaking under some especially hot water I couldn't stop running over the incident from our job in my mind. It was easy to ignore when focusing on making it through the desert, but now it was all I could think about. How it felt when the man struggled against me, his fear, watching the light from his soul go out before he dropped to the ground, dead. It was something I never wanted to experience again.
It wouldn't have been so bad killing someone if it wasn't for Bickslow's weird magic...
I shake my head angrily at that thought. The last thing I wanted was for the seith mage to think I found his magic weird or creepy, he'd be so hurt. I didn't feel that way of course, but there was no denying it was an extremely difficult dark magic to control and wasn't for the faint of heart. Truthfully, I did feel as though it would have been easier to use my own magic to kill someone. At least then I wouldn't have been able to sense their fear. I sigh loudly as I finish soaking under the hot spray before stepping out and dressing in my pajamas. Briefly, I wished I had one of my boyfriend's oversized t-shirts to sleep in. Even if I wanted to be alone right now, their scent alone comforts me a bit.
"I'll have to steal one from each of them when I get the chance." I mutter offhandedly as I start getting ready for bed.
Despite my stomach's protest, I didn't want to eat anything right now. There wasn't much in my fridge and besides, I knew I wasn't going to enjoy the food if I did eat so instead, I laid down with an empty stomach and heavy heart. It was late enough and after our journey back through the desert I was tired enough that I thankfully fell asleep quickly. My dreams didn't provide an escape from my thoughts this time though. In them, the enchanter was back and attempting to kill my friends while I watched, helpless. I tried using my magic, but nothing happened, I tried to yell but no sound. Suddenly the scene changed, and my friends surrounded me, their faces twisted in disgust. They mumbled angry things at me until tears streamed down my cheeks and suddenly, I was drowning. I struggled to breathe until the scene went black.
A/N: Oh the angst. Seems like everyone in the Thunder Legion is emotionally handicapped, even Reader xD This chapter took so long, but I've also been going through this entire story and editing the whole thing so if you haven't read it in a while it may be worth going through, if you're into that kinda thing.
I also added some important stuff toward the end of the last chapter a bit after I posted it, so hopefully you didn't miss it.