It was almost noon when I finished reviewing the runes I had gone to check on at the local branch of the bank. Laxus had, as I had requested, not asked any questions, and Morgana mused he was even making a conscious effort to not think about the subject I wanted to avoid. He just lingered and waited, escorting me from place to place when needed. And not uttering a word of complaint when I had to go back and forth to manually update some outdated runes that kept on conflicting and shorting each other out.
I had functionally split my potential energy in half when I made the shadow clone to give me my way out of the interrogation. So I was already dealing with the beginnings of hunger when I left the bank despite having a hearty breakfast. Laxus was settling some of his own affairs, getting access to his old accounts again. And being hungry, emotionally drained after the morning's events, and coming off of some tedious work was not a good place to be in when Twilight Ogre's usual visitors strolled up to the door.
I wanted to leave as quickly as possible, so I moved to get around them without meeting their eyes, my book floating in front of me so I could make sure I had saved the runes properly-
A hand reached for my book, snatching it out of the air. I grabbed it with my hands as well as telepathically, tugging it back towards me and glaring at the man. Thiabult. One of the more irritating members of the guild.
Hold security features in ready, do not trigger.
My combat security settings on my spellbook being taken out of my space by someone else were unforgiving. Not very well suited to putting down a bully.
Ready for activation.
Morgana did not seem very pleased with this call, judging by her tone.
"Let go."
I had given plenty of warnings to the man in the past. He had been forcibly removed from our guild hall several times for harassing our members. I would not have thought that he would be showing his face in Magnolia again given the Tenrou Teams return. And I was not in the mood to play nice.
Dark eyes and a face set in a sneer that was begging to be punched.
"Is this the famous courtesy of the Fairy Princess? I thought you would be nicer, Fae. It's been so long."
And the cringe at him using my name was automatic. I hated when people used my nickname so casually. Especially people like this guy. Condescending jerks. His headband made to mimic his guilds symbol looked ridiculous when contrasted with him dividing his thick dark hair into round, poofy pigtails. Most people didn't laugh since he typically was toting a spiked metal club twice his size that also happened to be a handheld magic cannon.
"If you were deserving of it, you would get courtesy. But seeing as you've been banned from half the businesses in Magnolia, it would seem you don't know how to give, or receive courtesy. The basics of not touching what isn't yours, for example."
The Twilight Ogre mage tried to loom over me, pulling on my spellbook again.
"You gonna give me a strongly worded warning, your highness? Report me to the Rune Knights again?"
I would admit, the thought was tempting. I pushed magic into my limbs to let me balance out the man's disproportionately massive strength, and stuck my feet to the ground with a chakra trick, and held my ground.
"Second warning: Let go."
Activate security in 20 seconds.
Affirmative.
Morgana's voice was practically a delighted purr of anticipation. A slight cold wind blew, making goosebumps run down my arms and the barest shiver. I had snuck out of the guild without a coat.
Oh damn.
He had seen that as vulnerable. Thiabult leaned in, focusing only on me, smaller, slighter. More vulnerable. He had backup, a pair of cronies that I had not seen before, but who had either a headband or a visible guild mark from the money focused guild.
"Why? Is the little princess gonna go and tattle on us?" One of his lackeys got brave, reaching up to haul on my book and toss it around casually. And now the words were openly condescending. And I was done.
"And you were warned. Activate security."
Active.
Morgana stopped holding back on the security precautions and the Twilight Ogre lackey jerked as white lightning arced out of my spellbook and ran over him head to toe. I mentally tugged the book back into my hands, activating a recording lacrima in its spine and aiming it directly at him. Archive Magic users were not exactly common, so there were no good laws about recording other people without their consent.
"You're gonna pay for that, witch. You don't call the shots around here. Your little mob of pathetic washups and bookworms need to learn your place!"
Thiabult hissed, reaching for a club that wasn't there. And a walking thunderhead was suddenly behind me.
Laxus was normally not that expressive. But anger was a look he could communicate very clearly. Over six feet of muscle and lighting. I could imagine how he looked right then.
Something warm fell over my shoulders, white fur tickling my neck.
Laxus, the coat he had been wearing now resting over my shoulders, stepped up between me and Twilight Ogre. And they didn't know what to think now with a tall, obviously pissed off man who looked like he could fold Thiabult like a bad hand of poker.
"What was that you said about my guild?" Laxus snarled, a hand winding Thiabult's shirt and easily hauling him off his feet. "Who do you think you are, messing with her?"
"What the hell-" Thiabult's eyes flicked between me and Laxus. "Who- Do you have any idea who we are?"
Laxus snorted.
"Couple of assholes picking on one of my guildmates."
"Guildmate!" Mook A complained, posturing to try and intimidate and failing miserably. "We haven't ever seen you before!"
"That would be because Twilight Ogre has a total history of five years." I said, snuggling into the borrowed coat with a hint of self satisfaction. "Thus you never met over half of our membership. And since I would hate to be rude: Laxus, this is Thiabult Morton, one of the bigger bottom feeders that Twilight Ogre calls wizards. Thiabult, this is Laxus Dreyer. Lifelong member of Fairy Tail."
I could see Thiabult's face getting more pale with every inch of separation that his feet got from the ground. Laxus was holding him up without seeming to show any strain. He could not have looked less like a wash up or a bookworm. And it was very sweet to see these arrogant bullies sweat for a change.
"Figured you would be up to punting a couple of little creeps like these to the horizon by now, Fae. What gives?"
Laxus asked me as if he wasn't within arms reach of three potential enemies. Though, they were all terrified enough that I doubted that they were in the right mindset to try and fight back.
"Twilight Ogre's motto is 'pay what you owe'." I said evenly. "But they're not that good at practicing what they preach."
"Ah hypocrites." Laxus mused. "Don't like them at all."
"Yeah, one of us would have a disagreement with one of their members in the professional setting. And they would make it personal."
The pharmacy that Bisca and Alzack got their medicine through regularly suddenly had higher prices, just when Asuka was sick after Wendy treated her instead of the doctor sponsored by Twilight Ogre. The package of school supplies for Romeo arrived partially destroyed after Kagura disagreed with Twilight Ogre attempted to bribe/blackmail his principal. Laki's woodshop mortgage payments jumped sky high when she did her usual thing and sourced her own lumber instead of buying from their merchants.
They were not as able to mess with me. Jude ran a tight ship and associating with Twilight Ogre would undermine business with the wealthy clientele that he, and by extension I, most commonly worked in. But when I refused to craft them a rune stamp that would let them place a tracking target on their signees, citing a blatant violation of privacy, the trend had begun of people in some jobs trying to pin damages on Fairy Tail that we had not caused.
The Furies could handle Twilight Ogre. And they didn't mess with us personally. They went after those who were either unable to fight back, or took it into a realm where they couldn't fight back at all.
"What's more, they would go out of their way to collect the debts when it suited them. When we were not around to collect from."
At least four former Fairy Tail members had needed to withdraw from the guild because they and their families had been threatened and they did not feel safe enough to stick out the waiting period. At first we had set up a rotating schedule so there was always someone in town to act as deterrence from Twilight Ogre reprisal. But we couldn't do that forever with the demand there was for our skills. And the whole time when there was someone there who actually had 'incurred debt', Twilight Ogre was good as gold. And the moment that we were all gone, they'd be back nipping at our ankles.
"Ah. Well, time for a little lesson then." Laxus's fist sparked with magical lightning and his unfriendly smile spread into a grin. "Sounds like you've racked up a lot of debt. And you clearly don't mind collecting from second parties. So I'll balance the scales a little for my friends."
I wish I had popcorn.
Laxus was toying with these guys. And they were trying their hardest to squirm away, but he kept on catching them and hauling them back for more, lightning crackling around his fists as he tossed them around like toys. I actually had my book open, still recording the whole thing for future catharsis.
"Think that's enough Fae?" Laxus called, holding Mook B by his hair. I twirled my pen, sketching in the air quickly. They were a bunch of nonsense calculations.
"Ok, so one long time offender, two new ones, averaged out over the damages caused by the entire guild. Divided by six, carry the two..." I mused, the lines flying out of my pen. Then I nodded.
"Debt is reduced by about 2 months, two weeks and five days worth. Leaving five years, nine months and change."
The three Twilight Ogre wizards looked like their souls were vacating their bodies, faces liberally smeared in soot and hair frizzy, chaotic messes from Laxus's barest hints of power. He wasn't actually hurting them, he was just putting the fear of god into them and it felt damn good to watch.
"Years left!" Thiabult yelped, face contorting in outrage. "We're dying here you petty witch-!"
His face impacted the ground with a dull crunch as his nose broke, Laxus having assisted his informal bow.
"I shouldn't have let the first time slide." Laxus said grimly. "That's not what we call a lady, Thia-bald." He pressed his head down further into the cracked stones of the path, voice dropping into a growl. "Apologize."
In a very, very technical term, Takeover Magic was witchcraft. Charm or mind control magic was witchcraft. But as with some words, the technically accurate term was used instead as a pointed slur, personalized for magic users.
Thiabult's response was a muffled moan of pain as red flecked the stones. The Lightning Slayers other hand shattered the rock next to his head with a supercharged fist.
"I'm not gonna ask again, scum."
This should scare me, right? Or at least unsettle me?
The casual display of violence would be off putting under normal circumstances. But standing there in the early spring weather, enveloped in Laxus's stupid fur coat, I was fine with this. More than fine, this felt good. More than just the satisfaction of watching these jerks get what I so dearly wanted to dish out to them.
"Ok, ok! M'sorry, m'sorry! Just get m'offa me!"
Laxus gave me a raised brow and a wry grin.
"Doesn't sound very sincere to me, what do you think Fae?"
I want more...but I can't eat this.
"I'm hungry, and there are a lot of people who will want to get in on this 'second party collection'."
Laxus shrugged, letting his prey go and rising.
"As you wish, sweetheart."
My mind blanked out for a second.
It was stupid.
But the words drifted up from the bottom of my mind:
'That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you."'
I blanked for a minute.
He didn't mean-
No, he meant it. Perhaps not in that same context, but he was perfectly sincere about stopping and getting you food and there is familial love in what he feels for you.
I know that, so why is this still happening?!
My heart was now determined to run away with my head and I had very little way of stopping it. I couldn't stop thinking about the way Laxus's eyes had glowed with inner fire, every inch a dragon, as he started to wreck just retribution. And his arms. I couldn't stop thinking about, or looking at his arms, exposed shoulder to finger tips in his sleeveless top.
I moved as if in a daze to follow Laxus, however he was waiting for me. And then I felt his hand on my back. And I wished that Laxus's coat had a hood because I could feel my face burning.
Oh no.
-vVv-
The return from Tenrou had brought on many changes. They had been back for about a week. And Freed had been trying to keep abreast of the work that Fae as the sole Rune Wizard had taken on. He had knocked out a number of early morning inspections and reviews. The things that their local patrons said about his apprentice had made him incredibly proud.
Professional. Polite. Exceptionally skilled. Lovely. Voraciously intelligent. Freed had been taken aback when visiting the library to see several history students pursuing articles that Fae had written. He had already spotted the handful of new, clean books that had been wrapped and left on his desk, written under her pen name, Bella Fantasia.
He had felt like he was walking on clouds with sheer pride when Bickslow contacted him through a small pin on his lapel.
"Hey Freed, your kid came home with Laxus, he invited her to stay the night. She's hanging out in your room. She said she was hungry."
"Thank you Bickslow."
Fae's old favorite food had been some savory flatbread wraps. He had seen that the food stall was still there during the last few days.
"Do you know if she's eaten already?"
"Yeah, Laxus took her to lunch."
So he would pick it up and place the food in stasis for dinner. And have a leisurely chat catching up properly with Fae. Maybe after he picked up some clothes. Did she have what she needed?
"Does she have clothes for staying the night?"
Bickslow sighed.
"I'm not at home, man. I couldn't tell you. I figured she'd just steal from you or something for the night."
Freed decided to not ask any more questions. If Fae did turn out to need something, he would fetch it for her later. The more he spoke to Bickslow about it right now, the more likely the Soul Mage would turn to teasing him about how Fae had grown up.
She was his height now. Her hair was even about the same length as his own, the same seafoam green color, more wavy now that it was longer and more weighed down.
Stars, that will take some getting used to.
Every taunt he had ever made about his student growing up loomed unspoken between them. All it took was one grin and Freed felt Dark Ecriture seize his instinctive anger to teach his dear friend not to meddle where he wasn't wanted. He had been keeping careful watch, but he had not as of yet seen any sign of romantic interest from Fae towards anyone. And for a moment, he dared hope.
"I hope take out was alright for dinner-"
Freed paused at the threshold of his room. He had let her in while he went to retrieve their dinner. But instead of reading, sewing, writing, meditating or literally any other way she would entertain herself, she was on his bed. Every blanket he owned and at least three of Evergreen's were wrapped around her and there was still a noticeable quiver to her form.
His mind leapt to the obvious conclusion.
"Fae, are you ill? What's wrong?" The food, marked with stasis runes, would keep even as he hurriedly dropped it on the table and hurried forward.
She curled in on herself with a pained whimper. And resisted any efforts to unravel the cocoon she had formed so he could try and check her temperature. Her wrapping herself up in several layers of covers was rather in character for the time she had had the flu as a child.
"Fae, can you talk to me?" He invited her gently, not fighting to get her to emerge but coaxing.
"This sucks..."
Her mutter was audible but not delirious or petulant. He managed to sneak a hand into the cocoon to feel her forehead. It was warm, likely from the blankets, but not feverish. Her gaze was clear, though her eyes were slightly reddened. Had she been crying?
"What happened?"
His student muttered darkly, pulling back inside her protective swaddle. But she began to speak.
"Story magic basically makes me extra aware of the stories that are going on around me. Everyone is the protagonist in their own life's tale."
"Yes."
He had understood that part very clearly. When he had left her a puzzle of some kind early in their relationship, she wouldn't hug him until she had solved it because touching him would get her additional insight into the solution and she wanted to succeed on her own merits. It was one of the things he had first admired about the girl.
"Well stories have genres. Adventure, horror, emotional, family, fluff...and romance."
Freed's heart sank as his mind flashed back through every time he had interacted with Fae where his feelings towards others might have transmitted to her... Being a child, she certainly wouldn't have been as able to cope with those feelings.
"Pining tends to be pretty lowkey, it's things and gestures that can be interpreted as romantic that are the loudest."
Her tight fetal position had loosened somewhat in her blanket shell and she had rolled a little to be able to see his face, cheeks rosy with warmth.
"Pretty much from Day One of their arrival, Lucy and Natsu and Juvia and Gray kept on setting off my 'ship alerts'. Juvia more so than any others. That woman's schemes have their own schemes."
The elder of the two Rune Wizards made a mental note to keep a very close eye on the Water Woman going forward. Purely for the sake of minimizing Fae's discomfort. Not because he wanted to avoid that chaotic rabbit hole of adolescent crushes which was the guaranteed recipe for a broken heart. And if she was hurt, then he would be in pain as well. And very much interested in getting revenge.
"And it's mutual feelings and gestures that set it off?"
"Oh no, it can be completely one sided. If other people view it as a pairing or think that they would make a cute couple, then just about anything can come up as a relationship alert. Like...how Natsu won't go on a job without checking first if Lucy found work for the day. Or how she's the first person other than Happy that he will take on jobs with him."
He knew intellectually that Fae would have to have been aware of this on some level. But Freed had always hoped that this part of her would remain young and innocent forever. But he was trying to think along with her. They had been comatose for seven years by Fae's count. The silence compared to them all being back was likely a jarring adjustment to be made. Especially since she was now...older and technically more...suited for those kinds of feelings-
"Is adjusting to the noise what's bothering you?"
She flushed, face ducking inside the blankets until just the tip of her nose was visible.
"Not exactly...They're not all bad. I wouldn't have known to send in Laxus and Mest as backup for you all against Grimorie Heart if it wasn't for ship updates. Or about Elfman and Evergreen."
Her voice hitched slightly over the names of their guild mates. But Freed, absorbed in finding the problem so he could fix it, didn't notice.
"Ships?"
"Shorthand for 'relationship'.
"Ah." Maybe it was a new development? Or maybe Freed was more than just 7 years out of touch. Either way, he noted the term.
"While you were gone, pretty much all the 'ships' went quiet. Except for Bisca and Alzack 'cause they were both still here."
He was starting to see where this was going. And he didn't like it.
"Fae..."
"We were all pretty stressed and looking for support from just about anyone. They made leaps and bounds in their relationship. And I got notified about it...In explicit detail at some very inopportune times. Because for relationships, or at least for theirs, the Firsts tend to be a big deal."
Small wonder she was mortified! Freed felt untold amounts of second hand embarrassment on her behalf! He knew that it was hardly their fault, it was just a side effect of her magic being what it was. Must like how large concentrations of magic power appearing suddenly could disorient him because of his vision focused magic.
But he still wished to do something about the lovesick fools who accidentally spoiled Fae's innocence with their-
Fae was still talking. He shifted so that she was curled up inside her blankets against his side. A few strands of errant seafoam green hair had made their way out of her hiding place, laying haphazardly on his comforter. He wound some of the curls around his fingers, playing with them as he let her cuddle into him.
"I was fighting someone when that happened. If I hadn't had Kagura and Wendy there as back up, it could have turned out really bad. So I meditated for a while, and figured out how to put on a block on getting those updates. Like, when a new book comes into the collection, it would automatically be shelved instead of my needing to read and process it fully. I'd need to go looking for it if I wanted to know about it. And it was functionally their honeymoon period after literally years of mutual pining, so there wasn't much going between them that I wanted to know anything about."
Oh poor Fae.
The two lovebirds were made for each other, but had never actually made overt gestures to further their partnership. Freed liked them...even if he could lay Fae's innocence being spoiled at their feet.
"Perfectly understandable. I can see how that would make things uncomfortable."
"Well, I figured it out. Admittedly not before I...knew that Asuka had been conceived, but I got a filter set up that would help me avoid being distracted by similar things in the future."
"Good."
Fae hemmed and hawed and looked rather charginned. Freed paused in his absently stroking her hair.
"Not good?"
"Not good as in 'running on 2 hours of sleep for the last 24 as an adolescent' while spontaneously trying to develop my own brand of brain bleach. I put something together that worked the way I wanted it to. But I failed to consider my own development in the long term. I wrote my filter with a child's mind set. And a child, or at least the child I was, found romance to be distracting and unwanted since most of my experience with it came in the form of my friends. Feeling like that about them hits hard, but it also hits wrong."
Freed sketched a few runes with the hand that he wasn't using to hold Fae to place the take out he had retrieved on the table and triggered the preexisting ones to shut the door. This would no doubt be a very awkward conversation, and he didn't fancy Bickslow overhearing and interrupting to heckle Fae while she was already uncomfortable.
"So what went wrong?"
"The filter couldn't change what was happening in regards to the various romances around me. But it did alter my perception of it. Only instead of lowering their importance, it deleted it entirely. I have functionally been living with no concept of romance for the last six years. For myself or anyone around me."
I fail to see this as a problem.
He kept this thought to himself, tinged with guilt though it was. But Fae's baleful glare, with a spark of rueful amusement told him he wasn't as successful as he hoped.
"Since I was already behind in physical development, it didn't really hit until a year or two ago when I hit the business end of puberty. After that, the filter started needing to actively edit my conscious thoughts to prevent me from being aware of any kind of romantic interest or feelings. But because they were keeping me from noticing that in the first place, I didn't catch on that there was anything missing. At least not until someone pointed out that I was missing things that I knew would have been obvious before."
Freed owed someone a handshake. And then a solid punch to the mouth. On the one hand, he would hate to see Fae hindered in her growth or harmed in any way. On the other...as long as familial and platonic feelings were all she could register, then she would never experience the unique heartache that came from having an unrequited crush. Or being confused about what she found attractive.
So he wasn't sure whether he loved or hated this person who had made her aware of this incorrectly placed spell. Because it was good that they had noticed Fae's botched spellwork on herself was hindering her development...but why in the name of all that was holy did it have to be about that? He had been so relieved that there wasn't a boy who had gotten close to her while they were gone. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he hadn't been there for the first time someone broke her heart. And he had had hope for a brief, brief time that she would never experience that pain. But now-
"So I take it you...changed your filter?"
She nodded, humming affirmation.
"Yeah, I removed it entirely and put in a new one that lets me feel normal feelings again. Took all night to finish putting everything back in place and getting all the hindsight sorted out. It changed a lot more about how I think and what I do than I realized it would."
"Such as?"
He could handle knowing that Fae now liked someone. He could! He absolutely could. As long as he had the chance to talk with them. And make sure that they would be good to her. In fact a number of his guildmates would doubtless be happy to assist him in this way.
"...I think I have a crush."
Her voice was very small. He leaned to press a fond kiss against the top of her head.
"Well, I suppose it had to happen at some point. Who is it?"
Norbury's Class 4 Runes will be enough to keep him contained and prevent any undue noise.
He had been working on a plan to handle this since he realized how much this girl meant to him. A little sister that he had never gotten to have and certainly didn't deserve. Everything that a teacher could ask for in a student.
"You're not mad?" She asked hesitantly, shifting to gaze up at him with wide blue eyes. "I finally got why you were trying to kill Bickslow that one time a couple of years ago. And why Kinana had to hold you down when I invited Rogue and Frosch to Story Night."
"I'm not...thrilled about it." He admitted, running his free hand through his hair. "Holding affections for someone makes you vulnerable in a way that nothing else does. Those you love have the power to hurt you deeply. Intentional or not. And that pain is something I never wish for you to experience."
Fae sat up slightly, tucking the blankets around her again, her hair falling around her face.
"It's not love, Freed-sensei, you can calm down there. It's...just a crush."
Yes, and they call it a crush because that's how it feels when they don't feel the same way.
Hardly anything good could come out of this. He needed a name. This person would need to be thoroughly interviewed to see if he was even worthy. Although Freed already knew he wouldn't be and that he would hate him on principle for what he could potentially do to Fae's heart. And if he had turned her down, if he had upset her...then that was another story.
"It's still your first and that's no small thing." He said in a tone he hoped was light and casual. "I picked up some wraps from Salven's, but I can run out for some ice cream too. I feel like this is an ice cream conversation."
Her cheeks flushed red and her gaze dropped. And so did Freed's heart.
"I...never say no to ice cream."
Something was wrong.
"Fae, what happened?"
"I...already had ice cream today. After lunch."
"Yes. Bickslow mentioned that Laxus took you out after some work this morning."
Why was Fae's blush growing worse? She took a deep breath, compressing her lips for a moment.
"Yeah. About that...I know that it's just a crush. And you...really don't need to talk to him."
So it is a 'him'.
Boys seemed to be so much more careless about this kind of thing. No matter what was said, a Talk was definitely warranted.
"Fae, I've missed out on a great deal. Don't ask me to step aside for something like this."
He would feel compelled to listen if she truly asked him to not get involved. But he would be fighting himself over it. A lot. She giggled, cheeks still a little pink, shaking her head.
"You don't need to worry. Nothing's gonna happen."
"You are not going to pursue these feelings?"
Or had he already turned her down? She didn't look as though she had been crying. (Thank goodness this bastard wasn't worth her tears.) But a first crush and this was her reaction?
"Nope."
"Why not?"
She fidgeted, retreating slightly inside his blankets.
"It'd make me feel more weird than happy."
Weird. Fae did not use words lightly, and Freed was inclined to believe her but...this was hardly how he expected her first crush to go.
"Do I know this person?"
She nodded, the blanket cocoon lifting to cover her mouth. He didn't hear what she said.
"I cannot hear you inside your chrysalis, Fae."
The soft barrier lowered and sheepish blue eyes met his over rosy cheeks.
"It's Laxus."
Oh...
I...can't really protest that.
And then he heard and saw nothing.
-vVv-
Freed hadn't moved for about five minutes and I was starting to wonder if he had passed out.
I wanted to explain everything to him. I was pretty sure that the crush thing had just happened because he was a convenient target who did something nice for me in an emotionally vulnerable moment. That it probably wouldn't last more than a few days and would in no way be acted on. At all. It was too weird. The guy was family, someone who had already been a grown man why I was a seven year old brat going out of their way to push his buttons. There was no way in hell that anything would come from it.
I think it's normal that you 'crush up'. I'm not even a blip on his radar.
And the stupid rose colored emotions pointedly brought up the memory where he looked me in the eye and verbally acknowledged that I was no longer a child. So there had to be an inkling-
Nope. not a thing. Bro-zone him like there is no tomorrow. This is just a phase.
But my old tutor still was largely catatonic. I reluctantly unwound myself from my Chrysalis of Embarrassment, and used one of the throw blankets to prod the motionless young man on the bed with me. I didn't want to touch him right now. His thoughts were probably going to be pretty overwhelming. He was still staring into space, an expression of horror on his face. I could follow how he was probably feeling.
A blind man could notice that Freed liked Laxus. And one of his friends had just told him there were rosy feelings. He had probably been prepared to kidnap and interrogate my 'crush' as a concerned, overprotective family member. And I had just told him that I had a crush on his long standing crush.
Freed probably didn't know what to think or feel. And honestly, not being the only one at a total loss made me feel a whole lot better about this.
"Earthland to Freed, come in Freed." I shook him gently, using the blankets as a shield, and there was no response.
We have smelling salts in the book, don't we?
The enchanted ones to counter magically induced sleep. They would probably keep him awake for days.
Well that factor took it off the table as an option. I really should get more...normal precautionary things in my repertoire.
I got up to get a glass of water, to drink and possibly to pour over Freed's head if he continued being non responsive. Freed shared a bathroom with Evergreen, one that had a full tub not just a shower. I only let myself notice the rubber matting on the floor, likely there for Laxus in case there were any stray sparks.
Nothing more. I am not looking at anything else.
I focused on the mirror frame, a tasteful thing in pale ceramic that I was pretty sure Evergreen had chosen. The hand towels were definitely Freed's choice though. The finest, softest Stellan cotton.
Morgana hissed.
The Watcher is back.
I went stock still. All my thoughts and worries vanishing in the face of a more present, pressing need.
Where?
First, they could see me on a train. Now inside the Thunder Legion's house? The first time, I was in transit, making it hard for any kind of scrying magic to get a fix on me. And now this? Freed had gone out of his way to make his house private. I would trust his rune work with my life and someone unknown could still find me here?
Still non-hostile?
I believe so.
Any chance you can get a fix on their emotional state?
Not without further information.
Which meant my best option was to sus out the ways that someone could be looking at me. I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror.
Mirrors. There are plenty of stories where they are used to spy on people. They connect to another world.
I reached out tentatively towards the mirror.
Scan for...anything.
Roger that.
When my fingertip touched the mirror, they didn't stop. They passed through it, cool and unmistakably liquid ripples extending from where I had made contact.
Now when you were expecting one thing, got something else entirely, and had already been having an emotional day, it only took one more surprise to tip you over the edge.
I jumped back, the glass shattering on the floor as it slipped from my hand.
What the actual-!?
Mirror based Scrying magic confirmed. Identity is unreachable. The Watcher has withdrawn his gaze.
I had touched the spell. That much was unmistakable. But all I got was the endless void stretching out. Like when I tried to read Natsu's story back before Igneel. Or Gajeel's, or Wendys. Or Rogue or Sting's. All of them lead to the same emptiness.
Not the same.
Morgana's voice was calm, as always. And that made me call up the memory and place them side by side to look at them.
The Dragon Slayer's history was just that, it was history. The story I could normally see in other people was shrouded by that impenetrable darkness that I couldn't understand. But understanding this magic wasn't history. The scrying spell someone was using to watch me didn't extend back behind me into that same void.
It was in front of me.
Freed did snap out of his semi coma at the sound of the glass shattering on the floor. There was a clatter, then footsteps sounded towards the door. Freed tripping as he climbed off the bed and then coming towards me.
"Fae, what happened?"
I calmed my racing heart, shuffling awkwardly amid the glass shards that were at my feet.
"Don't come in yet. I dropped the glass, hold on. Reparo." The fragments flew back together into a whole glass at a gesture and a word. I picked it up and returned to its place next to the sink. The repair would hold, since this was it's first time being broken. It would be a bit more fragile going forward though. There was a slight rattle as I put the cup down. My hand was shaking slightly. The green haired rune mage peered into the bathroom, a little ruffled but much more lucid now.
"Fae, you look like you've seen a ghost, what's wrong?"
I gestured at his mirror.
"Just noticed a gap in your security, that's all. Did I ever tell you about all the ways mirrors are actually huge liabilities for onlookers." He pursed his lips, looking at the item in question.
"There is some mention of it that I have read about. Do you have a suggestion on how to manage it?"
"Well, I just have some curtains I put over mine at home. But that doesn't quite fit with your aesthetic. So we'll have to work something else out."
I distracted myself successfully for the rest of the afternoon reviewing anti-scrying wards with Freed. They were very popular among my usual clientele so I had seen and reviewed several decades worth of different styles, approaches and scripts. Freed even identified one as the same kind that his family had purchased for their house, in the interim years.
I did feel some strange need to apologize to him. Everyone else who had family to miss them, I had contacted after Jude reminded me that there were more than just the Fairy Tail mages mourning the absence of loved ones. But I hadn't gone to his family. And...they hadn't looked for him either.
He hadn't shown any change in expression.
"I stopped being family to most of them when my father became ill, Fae. He is the only one I consider family."
Other than that, our evening was spent comfortably together as much of our time had been spent a decade prior: with lots of runes, magical theory talks and of course: Teasing. Mostly me to him, though he was warming to return fire on some points. And telling him about my different adventures outside the country. I didn't realize that the rest of the Thunder Legion was camped outside the door listening to my recount about the rise of King Marcellus and the Decimation. Not until I paused to take a drink and Bickslow hollered from the otherside of the door to not leave them hanging.
There was a crackle and a thump and I had to get my cheeks under control as Morgana helpfully informed me that Laxus was equally invested in the story.
The relaxing comfort of the night helped me assuage some of the guilt I felt at not telling Freed about the fact that someone had managed to watch me twice.
I need them to try one more time to confirm what they're using. What facet are they channeling the power through? Is it the mirror specifically, or the bathroom in general?
I had two points of data, which was still just a coincidence. If it happened one more time, then it was time to consider it to be enemy action and call in reinforcements.
-vVv-
I was greeted the next morning when I entered the guild hall by Simon.
"Fae. Do you have a minute?"
No, I have a deadline.
But something in the air made me pause before saying that off hand. People were here, those that hadn't found work that they could easily slot back into. And there was a notice pinned to the board for a guild meeting to take place tonight and for everyone who wanted their voice to be heard to be back in the guild hall just after sun down.
"What's going on Simon?"
His expression was as serious as a grave.
"Fall out from yesterday's... encounter with Twilight Ogre. This has been a long time coming."
A/N
The entire Freed POV section in a nutshell:
Fae: So this is a little awkward, and I really want it to go away, but I have a crush on Laxus.
Freed: Oh girl, same.
Freed: Wait what-?
