BROKEN AND BRUISED
CHAPTER 10
Why?...
A simple one word question that could mean many things, could derive into many different questions… such as why was Lucy sad? That's easy because her father died; why did he die? Because there was a fire in the hotel he was staying at; why was there a fire? Because a worker accidently left the stove in the kitchen working and the next thing they know the kitchen is on fire and soon after the whole building.
But this was a different why to Lucy, the others she knew the answer to, but this one she didn't, and it was oh so simple… why does everyone she cares for ends up dying? First her mother, then her brother and best friends, and now her father.
And then there is a why that peeved her to no end, that messed with her mind and left her a sobbing mess… why didn't he tell her?
She looked down at the papers before her, and what irked her are the following words.
Patient's name: Jude Heartfilia.
She doesn't know how many times she has read these medical papers, but whenever she would cross a specific section, it would still feel as the first time she read it…
Patient has been diagnosed with lung cancer, stage 3… curable… treatment effective immediately…
Small water drips were heard as Lucy gazed down at the papers, she looked to where the drips fell only to see it's at the word cancer. The blonde slowly wiped away her tears as she let out a quiet sob. She put the papers back in the drawer and turned in her chair, she was right now in her father's office sitting in front of his desk and reading the papers. This was her new routine for the past week and a half, she remembered the day she went to the scene and the doctor who was present there, his words echoed in her head…
"Miss Heartfilia I am very sorry for your loss, your father died suffocating in his room, it appears he was sleeping and he didn't notice till it was too late, and with his sickness he didn't make it out in time."
"Sickness?" the blonde questioned.
"Oh my, you didn't know?" the doctor widened his eyes.
"Know what?"
"Your father had stage 3 lung cancer, he was being treated in the hospital I work at…"
The doctor continued but Lucy didn't hear him, her mind went blank after what he told her, that night when she came back home she went through all of his stuff in his office until she found his medical records in a safe behind a bookshelf.
She didn't know what she was supposed to feel, he kept quiet about his condition even after she opened up about what happened to her, he helped her back then and she was so furious at herself that she couldn't help him, because she didn't know.
But that was no excuse, she should have known, she should have paid attention. Should have noticed the way Cobra would look at her father with sad eyes and the latter reciprocating the look, she should have understood what it meant… Cobra should have told her!
Another thing she was mad at, the fact that Cobra knew and didn't tell her, the fact that since she confronted him about it he said something that made her furious, and ever since she just avoided him, and she could see and feel that it was affecting him badly but she just felt betrayed, she told him everything and always trusted him, why didn't he tell her?
'Huh, same why different person…' the blonde thought as she looked outside the window, it was pretty late at night, peaking at the clock she confirmed it was 2 am.
But… what he said back then was true…
"How could you not have told me?! I have the right to know!" the blonde sobbed.
"The man was trying to make his daughter happy, was trying to not worry her with his problems, stop being an ungrateful brat! He just wanted to make you happy! And he was getting better so he didn't feel the need to let you know." He didn't mention the fact that he told Jude multiple times that he should tell his daughter, because it felt as if he would be putting the blame on the deceased man, and he felt if he did that Lucy would be more pissed at her father and him. He also didn't mean to snap on her, but he couldn't take her attitude for he too was grieving, he as well just lost someone he holds dear.
"Not to make me worry!? Are you out of your mind, I have the right to worry, I am his daughter!"
"And he was your father, so he had the right to know what happened to you if you want to take it that way, would you appreciate it if I told him what happened to you behind your back?!" he spat out, the blonde froze then suddenly dashed out of the office to her room and slammed her door behind her, while the slayer was left in the office running his hands through his hair due to frustration.
Yes, it was true. If he told her father when she wasn't ready about what happened to her she would have been really upset…
She heard the door creak open but didn't turn around, she already knew who it was, "Sunshine you should sleep, it's already 2 am." He said softly, he knew she was sensitive at the moment, but he couldn't but be a bit annoyed with the way she was acting, after all he also lost his father figure, and he was left to take care of the kids because Lucy simply couldn't handle them when they would ask her about their grandpa.
"Yeah, I know…" she whispered knowing that he would hear her, she couldn't believe that he was still looking after her after all she said and done, she knew she messed up, they both did that night but she did the most. He heaved a sigh and closed the door behind him, he was done! He was tired of her cold attitude and silent treatment, he wanted his Sunshine back and he would do anything for her, he was about to open his mouth when she spoke up.
"You know, I don't deserve you…" she started and he shut his mouth "You have been nothing but a great help but my stubborn ass is being ungrateful. I shouldn't have been so mean, but…" tears started escaping once again "I'm scared!" she turned to him and he could see the shattered expression in her eyes, he could hear the unsteady and frantic heartbeat of hers, he could smell the fear she was sensing… and it broke his heart bit by bit.
"Of what?" he asked her softly.
She locked eyes with him and with a sob that escaped her, she said something that completely shattered his heart "Am I going to lose you too?"
Cobra didn't know what happened but to him it was almost like the whole world stopped at the moment, and all his focus was on the blonde before him.
"Why does everyone I care about just dies Eric-nii?! Why?!"
He didn't know what to do, he just stood there his heartbeat matching her own frantic one, his breath was sucked out of him the minute she asked him that question, and he could feel moisture on his face.
"And you were right, I am just being an ungrateful brat. That night I shouldn't have been mad at you, for once again you were right, he should be the one who tells me and not you, because and to answer your question of that night, I would be pissed if you told him my story." She continued to sob, and he continued to stand there.
It took some time for his body to move under his command, but once it did he was beside the blonde in a second holding her in a tight embrace while she poured her heart out.
"I just feel so scared that I'm going to lose someone else again! And I've been such a bitch to you and my god I feel like I already failed my kids with how I've been acting lately. My god Cobra could you ever forgive me?" she clutched to his shirt as she shivered from the feelings rushing through her, his shirt was now soaked with tears but he didn't care, he kept his firm hold on her.
"You are an idiot Sunshine…" he whispered softly.
She looked at him through her misty brown orbs and let out a quiet 'huh?'.
"If you think you could lose me this easily then you are heavily mistaken Sunshine! You decided to stick around remember, so I decided to literally stick by your side. And as for that night, can we just forget about it?"
She looked at his soft smile and warm eyes, understanding from them that he meant every word he said and all she could do was smile brightly and nod her head as she crushed him once again in her hug.
"And if you are worried about the kids, you still have time you know? I haven't told them anything." He said as he returned the hug.
"Thank you so much Eric-nii!"
"You are welcome Sunshine! By the way about tomorrow…?"
She let go of the hug and stepped back, "Yeah I know, the lawyer is coming tomorrow to discuss my father's will."
"Alright, come on it's time to sleep." He dragged her by her hand to her room and turned to his room.
"Goodnight Coco."
"Goodnight Sunshine."
He went to his room and she went to hers. Sighing, she climbed her bed and snuggled under the covers. She thought about what Cobra said about her kids, and he was right there was a lot of time left to make it better, because she knew that her kids were sad about how she has been reacting and they must have felt that it was somehow their fault, just like she did when her father would lash out on her or not talk to her. She shot up from bed, yes she had a lot of time but she couldn't wait, she needed to see her kids now, she didn't want them to feel that way at all.
She sneaked out of her room and went to theirs then she slowly opened the door's room and came in, the blonde looked at the three empty beds and immediately panicked. She turned on the lights and looked around, she couldn't find them anywhere in their room so she got out and went to Cobra's room for she was about to wake him up in search of the kids when she passed her father's room, she had a feeling that they were there.
She got close to it and opened the door slowly, creeping closer to the king sized bed she noticed a lump of bodies tangled together. Silent tears started flowing from her eyes as she gazed at her kids sleeping in her father's bed while holding on to their dragon plushies that their grandpa bought them.
Trying her best not to make noise she climbed into the bed and laid next to her kids who immediately snuggled close to her when they recognized her warmth, she pulled them to her and sobbed quietly as she kept muttering 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Soon after she started to doze off then fell asleep with dry tear marks on her face, three pair of eyes opened up to gaze at their mother.
"Don't wowwy mommy, we will pwotec you!" Layla exclaimed calmly as both Red and Justin nodded their heads. Then they all relaxed in their mother's embrace and slept.
Morning soon came and Lucy woke up to an empty bed, she quickly got up and looked around her, just as she was about to open the door, it opened up revealing Justin carrying a napkin draped over his left arm, while wearing a little waiter uniform, he blushed and cleared his throat as he looked at his mother, he didn't agree to this but his sister said it's important, "Right this way, my wady!"
Lucy looked at her son who bowed down while stretching his arm towards the direction she was supposed to go, she tried to contain her giggles to not ruin his serious mood but she couldn't help but give him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek which made him blush ever more "Why thank you young gentleman, I'll be on my way then."
She let him go and he held her hand to escort her there. Arriving at the stairs, she saw Red in a suit similar to Justin but he had a cute pout on his face that immediately vanished when he saw his mother only to be replaced by a brightening smile, "My Kady! Right this way!" he exclaimed as he pointed towards the staircase and came up next to her to hold her other hand.
Lucy couldn't contain her giggles anymore, she wondered how her kids could be so cute!? And their pronunciations of the word Lady is making this way cuter. Before Red could escort her she swooped in and crushed both her boys in a tight hug, they didn't complain, they were over the moon to be hugged by their mother again, and more so to see her smiling. They noticed how for the last week she wasn't smiling anymore, or playing with them, and when they asked their uncle he told them that she was sad and to just give her time.
They descended down the stairs and led her to the dining room, where she found a table set up with plates and utensils, cups and napkins. They made their way to the top chair and Red moved it aside while Justin helped his mother settle in, then they both pushed the chair to the table with the help of their mother who got up from her chair to make it easier for them.
"Yosh! My tun!" exclaimed a little blonde girl wearing a tiny waitress costume with her blonde locks tied up in a high ponytail with a pink ribbon.
She got closer to her mother and Lucy squealed at her daughter's adorable look, Layla gave her a makeshift menu. The menu was a white paper folded in half, on the front it said The restaurant that makes mommy happy with hearts circling it. Lucy opened the menu to see that there was only one dish and it was pancakes, she looked at the price section to see that it costs four hugs. Lucy appeared to be thinking on what she wants to order as she looked at her daughter, "What do you think I should order young miss?"
Her daughter smiled up at her "Our pancakes are the best, Jiji used to aways make them!"
Lucy smiled sadly at her little girl before sighing and plastering a bright smile on her face "Well then, I would love some pancakes."
"Okay!" the little girl cheered as she took the menu and left to the kitchen. Lucy looked to the side to see her sons standing upright side by side, when Justin saw her looking he turned his face into a serious expression as much as he could and announced "If you need anything my wady we are here!"
Red nodded his head furiously and Lucy could just about die from their cuteness. Moments later the door to the kitchen opened and both Layla and Cobra got out, Cobra holding plates of steaming pancakes while Layla was holding the chocolate syrup and a bowl of Strawberries.
"Here you go my lady, our special dish for our special Sunshine!" Cobra put down the plate of pancakes in front of Lucy and then picked up Layla to help her reach the table so she could put down the syrup and strawberries.
Lucy looked at her brother who was in a white apron with a chef hat on his head, and shook her head while smiling "Thank you so much Chef, it smells heavenly! But aren't you going to eat too?"
"No worries about us my lady, we already ate." Cobra said as he motioned for the plate before her "Please enjoy!" he bowed dramatically and the kids plus the blonde laughed at his weird antics.
"Okay then thank you!" Lucy ate her pancakes and when she was done she asked for the check.
"Of course my wady!" Layla chirped and soon enough the kids plus Cobra stood side by side and opened their arms wide.
Lucy went first to Red who she crushed with her hug and kissed him all over his face while he giggled and blushed from all the love he was receiving. Next was Justin who got the same treatment as his brother, then Layla who Lucy crushed in her hugs then carried her and twirled her around while the little girl shrieked in amusement. And lastly, she looked at Cobra who was awaiting her with open arms and his signature smirk on his face, "Best for last huh?"
The blonde laughed "Keep dreaming Coco!" she joked as she hugged him tightly and him reciprocating her actions "But honestly though, thank you so much! You guys are the best!" the kids circled her and joined in on the hug.
"You feeling better?" Cobra asked the blonde as he laid his chin on her head.
"You bet!"
"You better, because when Zeno finds out that I used his hat he is going to kill me!" the blonde laughed out loud as she let go of her brother.
"They you better start running." Cobra looked at her quizzically, "Why so?"
"Because he is right behind you." the blonde pointed to the angry looking chef who has steam going out of his ears.
Cobra looked back then quickly to the blonde "Welp it was a good life!" he then dashed out of the room leaving a trail of dust behind him, but the chef was soon hot on his tail.
"Get back here you idiot!" Zeno screamed after the slayer.
"Catch me if you can Chef!" Cobra cheered as he ran for his life.
Layla looked at her mother "Mommy is Zeno-san angwy because we made a mess?"
The blonde looked at her daughter "What do you mean sweetie?"
Layla led her to the kitchen only to see upon entering that it was ruined, dirty and a complete mess! The dishes were stacked in an unsteady pile on the sink, one wrong move and it would all come tumbling down, while the counters were painted with the flour Cobra had used to make the pancakes, and let's not forget the egg yolk present on the oven, how the hell did that happen Lucy did not know and didn't want to know.
"Yeah I think so sweetie."
Justin fidgeted in his place before he tugged his mother's shirt resulting in her looking at him, "Mommy, where is jiji?"
Lucy stiffened at the question her son asked her and more so at the look of pure sadness in his eyes, not only him the others as well. She crouched down to their level and hugged them "Your grandpa won't be coming back sweetie."
"But why? Did we do something bad?" Red asked with tears flowing down his face, the others in the same situation. Lucy felt like crying but she needed to start getting stronger for her kids, so she held back her tears and shook her head "No honey, to him you were the most amazing kids there ever was. But something happened, and now he won't be coming back, but he wanted to let you know that he loves you so much, and that he is very sorry that he couldn't spend more time with you, and that… that he wishes you the best in life!"
The kids continued to cry when Layla asked why he won't come back, Lucy looked at her kids and she wondered how could she tell them what happened, so she chose a simple approach and told them that right now he couldn't because he became an angel, and he had a duty to keep watch on them to make sure they are alright. The kids seemed to accept this explanation and hugged their mother once again.
Soon the time came for the lawyer to come, Lucy dressed in a simple black dress and waited for the man in her office. After a few moments there was a knock on the door, a soft 'enter' escaped the blonde and the door opened revealing the lawyer with Cobra next to him.
The blonde stood up and shook his hand, "Please have a seat Nobu-san."
The man took a seat in front of her and looked at her apologetically "I am truly sorry for your loss Miss Heartfilia, your father was a great man."
"Thank you so much Nobu-san." Lucy smiled softly at the man before her but she caught from the corner of her eye the sight of Cobra leaving the office.
"Cobra?" she called out to him.
He turned around and hummed, she simply gave him a sweet smile "Would you please stay?"
Cobra knew what those words meant, so of course he obliged with her request. To him it was obvious what she meant… Could you please stay with me so I don't do this alone? ... There was no doubt he would.
He took a seat next to the blonde and the man started telling her father's will, on how now everything was in her name, the Konzern, the company aka Heartfilia Railways, and a little special spot that she didn't know of, a beach house in Hargeon.
"There is a letter to the both of you and each of the kids he left behind, he told me to deliver these letters in the case of his death, he also requested that you would read them in private and to give the kids the letter once they were older."
Cobra had his eyes wide not at all expecting the old man to leave him a letter while Lucy nodded sadly at the news that she received.
"Also, one more thing… he left gifts to everyone, and he requested that I read the following letter in front of you both…"
They looked at each other and gave a curt nod before turning back to the lawyer. Nobu-san cleared his throat as he opened the letter and began reading…
"Dear daughter, I am incredibly sorry for the fact that I may never tell you the truth about my illness, the thing is I just couldn't bring myself to, I've wanted to tell you many times but then you would smile and all I would think of is that smile vanishing to be replaced with worry and sadness, and I couldn't handle that… I am truly sorry. Cobra was right every time he told me that I should tell you…"
Lucy looked at her brother with wide eyes but he couldn't return her gaze, he was looking everywhere but at his sister, and the blonde felt her heart tear apart at her stupidity, all this time she was mad at him when the fact that he couldn't tell her was eating him up too.
"… Please don't be mad with him, I told him not to tell you. I know for a fact that I will never tell you, and I know it's wrong, I just can't. I just want you to know that I love you, I love your little devils, and thank you so much for forgiving me and allowing me back in your life.
Now for the brother… I do not know when did I grow fond of you, maybe it was when I saw you taking care of my daughter and her kids, or maybe when we would sit and chat, but you did… I guess no one can really resist those charms of yours after all…"
Cobra and Lucy both chuckled as the blonde wiped her cascading tears with a tissue and the slayer sniffled.
"When I first called you son, it was when you first came to the mansion, the look of joy in your eyes when I said it made me feel warm, to tell you the truth I always wanted a son, so that my little girl can have someone to protect her. Layla and I both wanted a second kid and we both wished for a boy, but then accidents happened. I guess what I'm trying to point out is the fact that I see you as a son Cobra, which was why I left you a gift, I left everyone a gift. I wanted to give this to you myself, but in the event I died before I could, my lawyer would arrange it.
Now the question is Cobra, would you like to officially be my son? Would you like to be a Heartfilia? Be Lucy's legal brother? Be the kids' legal uncle? You are already all of those things… but Erik Heartfilia does sound nice eh?
From your loving father, Jude Heartfilia… I wish you both well and hope you live life to the fullest… I will be with Layla, so you don't have to worry about me, all I can do is hope that she forgave me for all the things I've done, if not I do envision her waiting me with a glare on her face, and her foot tapping on the floor… guess I should be prepared for groveling… wish me luck my daughter and son."
At the end of the letter, Lucy was crying while Erik had his eye wide with a tear sliding on his cheek, even the lawyer had some tears down his face. He then gave the letter to Lucy and pulled out the legal papers "Jude-san wished for you to choose, it is your decision if you wish to be a Heartfilia or not."
He handed the papers to Cobra who had Lucy leaning on him squeezing him in a hug. Jude's signature was already present and what's left was his, he looked at Sunshine who was smiling so brightly he was about to turn blind and picked up the pen and signed his name.
Erik Heartfilia… that was now his official name, and he couldn't be any happier. Oh how he adored his Sunshine for giving him a real family, a father, a sister and two nephews and a niece. Could life get any better? He didn't know it then, but it will, and once again, it will be because of his Sunshine.
XXX
It was softly raining outside, yet it didn't matter to him. He kept running because he knows what is going on. They were leaving him messages here and there and he was sick of it, true he kinda missed them but he was happy here, he was more than happy he was overjoyed. So he wanted to make that clear for them, he didn't care what they did, he just wanted to be happy with his family and wish them well in whatever they do. Because no matter what, he would still care for them, of course he would never tell them that, he wasn't that kind of person except with Sunshine and the kids, but… they were his family too no matter how messed up they were, they were in the tower together, endured torture together, became a guild together, fought together and then went to prison together.
So of course he cared about the other members of the former Oracion Seis.
He reached an inn and went in, the lobby was empty except for a table at the far back of the room. He took a sniff and immediately realized it was them, they were here.
He walked up to the hooded figures and sat down on a chair, he leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head and cracked a grin "How you doin'?"
One of the figures removed their hood and shook his head at the slayer's antics "Always the idiot I remember you to be Cobra."
The slayer fake pouted at the figure "Oh come on, Midnight! Just admit that you missed me."
"Who would miss your ugly face snake?!" another figure snapped.
"Ah Angel, still the bitch of this group. How have you been?" he smiled sweetly at the former guild member and she slapped him on his arm.
"Don't push my buttons Cobra! By the way, where is the blonde bimbo? I don't see her around, did you finally get rid of he-"
"I would advise you to keep your mouth shut Angel." Racer noted as he looked at the woman beside him.
"HAH?! Why would I do that?" the woman barked back.
"Unless you want to be dead in the next second I would advise you to keep quiet." Midnight remarked as he pointed a finger towards where Cobra was sitting.
Angel followed his finger to be met with the slayer's unwavering glare that made shivers run down her spine, the alarms in her mind sounded signaling that she was in deep danger, and her fight or flight instincts were about to kick in but she calmed down and kept her mouth shut.
"By how you reacted to what Angel said about your blonde… friend, I take it you won't be coming with us." Midnight remarked.
The slayer took a deep breath to calm down then nodded, "Yeah I won't."
"May I ask why not?" questioned Midnight.
The slayer gave them a soft smile that had them shook "I will say this only once and if you told anyone I will deny it." He took a deep breath, "I- I found a family… the kind we used to dream of, the kind we would have fantasies about and the kind we would deem as a fairy tale, meaning not real. But I… I found it, and I am more than happy to stay with them, even if it meant I am under house arrest, even if it meant I can't use my magic till I'm done with my time, I am not leaving them."
They all looked at him with wide eyes and mouth gaping, they couldn't believe that the poison dragon slayer, Cobra, was being soft and expressing himself!
"Now I'm going to tell you something else that may seem shocking to you."
…
"Are you sure about this Lucy-san?" the man fidgeted in his seat outside the house, the setting sun softly caressing his face as he shifted his eyes to the blonde next to him, the rain had stopped and left behind it a soft breeze.
"You are talking as if you don't know him Lahar-san. He will be back, Cobra will be back! I know it." She told him with a smile.
He blushed a bit before heaving a sigh and shaking his head "Alright, I will trust him, but it was weird, that request of his."
The blonde nodded "I know it must be something serious to request this of you, but he said it would solve your problem so it is necessary don't you think?"
The man nodded, yes the request Cobra made was weird, he wished to have the monitor around his ankle disabled for two hours and if he wasn't back by then Lahar would take him back to jail, although this freaked out the blonde she trusted that her brother would come back home within the requested time.
The blonde looked at the man next to her, she knew what Cobra was going to do, and she remembered about how she treated him a month and a half ago with the whole situation with her father, so she was determined to pay him back for everything he has done for her.
"Ne, Lahar-san, can I ask a favor of you?"
…
An hour passed by, the sun was beginning to set and both the blonde and the rune captain next to her.
A silhouette started to appear on the horizon followed by multiple others. Cobra was back but not alone, behind him were the former Oracion Seis members, Lahar had his eyes wide and mouth opening and closing multiple times just like a fish while Lucy had a victorious smirk on her face.
She turned to Lahar and gave him a wink "I told you Lahar-san, Cobra will be back."
He gazed at her from the corner of his eye "Are you sure about your decision Lucy-san? You can think this through you know, you don't have to."
"I'm positive Lahar-san." And she left it at that, no words were spoken between them as the runaways approached.
"Yo Four-eyes, I brought them back." Cobra mockingly saluted the captain as the latter shook his head.
Just then a carriage was seen from the distance with the rune knight's emblem on it, behind it another carriage though it was different, it was made of steel with a window like bar. The runaways knew that it was here to take them away, they turned to Cobra and gave him a somewhat of a smile.
"I am glad that you found a family Cobra." Hoteye commented while Cobra shot him a glare.
"I don't know what you are talking about." The slayer retorted with so much force, but Hoteye just smiled at his childlike antics.
Behind them, Lucy was watching the interaction and she knew that her brother was happy, she could feel it through their bond, that was what made her sure that she made the right decision.
The carriages stopped and rune knights filed out, all bore happy smiles to Lucy and Cobra was confused by it. The blonde reciprocated the smiles and waved as they passed by her going to their captain.
Lahar turned once again to Lucy "You are truly one of a kind, stubborn, rightful and… someone who doesn't deserve what happened to them."
The blonde shrugged her shoulders "It's life, it happens."
Cobra looked even more confused now and he wasn't the only one, more so with the fact that the rune knights were not capturing his former guild mates, and he snapped "Okay what the fuck is going on here? What the hell is happening? Why are you guys talking like we aren't even here? I mean like HELLO!" he waves his arms around him "Look who is here!"
Lahar and Lucy looked at him and sighed, he will never change and that's a fact.
"Get the ankle monitors everyone and let the prisoner out of the carriage." Lahar commanded his knights and they all started to work.
Cobra looked surprised at the knights that whizzed past him, but then his eyes landed at his Sunshine, he saw that warm smile she directed towards him and he knew something was up.
"Sunshine…?" he questioned softly.
"Surprise Eric-nii!" she gave him a closed eye smile and tilted her head.
"W-WHAT?!" he exclaimed loudly as he still didn't understand what was happening, but then he heard the knight behind him telling Midnight to sit on a chair so that he would put the monitor on him.
His eyes widened and so did Midnight's and everyone else who didn't know what was going on.
"Sunshine, what did you do?" he asked once again, this time his voice seemed a bit chocked.
"A deal, don't worry about it." She turned to the rest of them who are hiding behind the slayer "Hello everyone, my name is Lucy, and this is where you will be staying from now on."
Their mouths were gaping as their eyes unblinking, but they quickly recovered when the prisoner from the carriage came forth… blue hair, red markings on his face and a set monitor on his ankle, they locked eyes with him and he did the same.
Then they turned towards Lahar who spoke to them "Lucy-san decided to take you under her care, so please-"
"Lahar-san, if you may, please can I be the one to tell them?" Lucy interrupted the man who sighed and nodded his head.
"Very well, we shall take our leave then." Lahar signaled his men, they got into the carriage and left the Konzern.
"Please…" Lucy stepped aside and gestured her arm towards the mansion's door "Let us continue inside."
They entered and sat in the dining room, the ones who have never seen this house before were astonished by its elegance and beauty.
They all looked at Lucy expectantly waiting for her to explain, the blonde cleared her throat "Okay, I know it may come as a shock and you might think that I have some ulterior motives behind my actions but do believe me I do not, I simply wish to help."
"As if, you are probably going to treat us as your slaves while we are here, and we can't do anything because we don't have our magic." Scoffed Angel as she glared at the blonde.
The blonde held her gaze not wavering, then she did something that Angel never thought she would do, she smiled at her softly and apologized "I am truly sorry if you think like that Angel-san, but that is not my intentions, I promise you that, and you know how much promises mean to people like us right?"
Angel widened her eyes but then turned her face and humphed, even though Lucy promised her, the silverette did not believe her, because why would someone help the woman that was going to kill them?!
Lucy let out a small giggle then turned towards the rest "You will all be able to do whatever you wish, there are a few restrictions though-"
"I knew it!" the silverette mumbled under her breath.
The blonde continued "You are able to go outside but you don't have space as much as Cobra does, you can only go around the mansion and the garden, I'm sorry for that I tried my best but it was this or nothing. Also, I have three kids-"
At this they all widened their eyes except for Cobra, sure they knew she was pregnant but not with triplets. The blonde looked at their facial expression and let out an airy laugh "I'm sorry, it's just that it's too funny."
Midnight looked at Cobra who shrugged and muttered 'Crazy.'
"Coco!" the slayer flinched at the nickname and he knew she did it on purpose, Midnight raised an amused eyebrow at the slayer the latter raised his hand and stopped him before talking "Don't even think about it." The slayer growled while the other smirked.
"I am sorry Lucy-san, but I have a question, actually I have multiple."
"Please ask away Hoteye-san." The blonde smiled encouragingly and he gulped, he was not used to this much affection.
"Why are you doing this? And why is Jellal here as well?"
They turned their gazes towards the blue haired man who has kept his quiet all this time. The blonde sighed and slumped in her chair "I know you expect answers, and I shall grant them to you as best as I can… I sincerely want to help, I know you may not believe me but I do, I heard about what they do in prison and frankly I didn't like it, but of course your next question would be if that is the case then why don't you have all of the prisoners here? The answer, simple. Because you guys mean something to my brother, and a lot of times I feel a longing in our bond that at the time I didn't understand, but when I felt how happy he was when he told me what he was going to do, I knew it."
Cobra looked away to hide the forming blush on his face, he was so fucking thankful he was tanned. But nothing escapes his Sunshine, not his blush and certainly not his feelings, she just shot him a wink and he hissed at her, he didn't like how she exposed him in front of everyone.
"That justifies what we are doing here, although I never knew you felt that way Cobra." Midnight smartly remarked but then he pointed his finger towards the bluenette "But why is he here?"
The blonde sighed once again "He is here because… he deserves somewhere better than that vile place, you all do."
The bluenette shot his gaze towards the blonde who was giggling softly at her brother's flustered face, a light adorning her face and smile, he thought 'Sunshine, a name well suited for her.'
"Is everything clear now?" they all nodded "Oh one more thing, as I mentioned before you are free to whatever you like in this mansion, but! my kids are a line you do not cross, what I mean is be nice to them, they haven't gotten out of the mansion at all and they do not believe there is a thing such as bad guys, they may ask you sometimes to play with them, they may pester you with questions and if you could not tolerate that please talk to me or Cobra and we will tell them not to bother you anymore. Are we clear?" she talked about her kids with such strength that they found themselves all nodding in fear of retribution to what would happen if they object.
"Okay!" she was back to her joyful self "You guys will meet them later. Now let me show you to your rooms, I will send some people to buy you clothes tomorrow, and if you want anything to eat the chef's name is Zeno, also we all have meals together in this room, if you do not wish to or are uncomfortable please tell me and I will arrange something. Now please follow me."
They all started following her, all of them were having mixed emotions, because never in their life were they treated with this much niceness and hospitality.
She showed them all to their respective rooms, each one had a room of their own and now she was showing the last one to his room, the bluenette. He entered the room and looked around, one word could describe it, it was… lavish. He turned to the blonde who was speaking to him "Jellal-san, this is your room, please if there is everything you might need, my room is at the end of the hall. Also there are already towels in the bathroom and shampoos as well as everything you might need." She was closing the door when he stopped her.
"Lucy-san wait!" she looked at him waiting for him to continue, "Why?" he asked her not continuing his question.
"I already told you haven't I? You deserve much better." She smiled brightly at him then closed his door leaving the poor man shocked by her answer, because he did not understand it. How could someone like him… deserve better?
Lucy walked into her bedroom to find the poison dragon slayer seated on her queen sized bed waiting for her.
"I wondered where you disappeared to when I was showing them to their rooms." The blonde noted while she took off her shoes, when she was done she crept towards her bed and sat next to her brother.
"What's wrong with you? You are quieter than usual." Lucy was concerned for her brother, he wasn't even looking at her, he was staring at the ceiling.
"Sunshine, what did you do?" he asked her quietly.
"I don't understand what you mean." The blonde looked at him quizzically and he turned his gaze from the ceiling to her.
"What did you do to make him accept that weird ass proposition of yours?" he huffed out.
Lucy giggled at him "I will only tell you if you tell me how you convinced them to come back."
Cobra groaned and after a while relented with her request, "So how did you?"
He thought back to what happened today…
"Now I'm going to tell you something else that may seem shocking to you."
They all looked at him expectantly to go on and say what he has to say.
"If I was the Cobra you knew I would probably have already left them, but I didn't because I changed, she changed me and gave me something in life I never thought I would ever have, and do you know how nice it is to enjoy life and not worry about someone going after you? I left that part of me, the part that enjoyed the suffering of the innocents, and you have no idea how free I feel right now. So what I'm trying to say is you lot can feel the same way, just do your time and then enjoy your life, I am sure you will find someone that will stick by you like I did."
After that, he got up and was about to leave when Midnight stopped him.
He looked at the blonde and smirked "I just beat them up a bit."
"Cocoooooooooo!" Lucy whined as she smacked her brother on the hand "Be real what did you do?"
He chuckled "I really did beat them up, but not in the way you are thinking, and by the end of it they realized it's in their best interest to return and do their time. Now it's your turn, what did you do?"
She heaved a sigh and then smirked "Well I gave him a good beating-"
The blonde gasped as she tried to get away from her brother's ferocious attack, the monster was… tickling her.
"Stopppppp! I will tell you so stop it!" she gasped for air when he stopped his onslaught on her, she slumped back in her bed and looked up at the ceiling…
"Ne, Lahar-san, can I ask a favor of you?"
The man looked at the blonde and hummed, she turned her gaze towards the mansion then looked back at the man "Can you please also put them under house arrest, plus someone else?"
The man looked at her as if she grew a second head "I'm sorry Lucy-san that is not possible, with your brother it was a… I honestly don't know how I pulled it off."
The blonde sulked for a minute before she brightened up, an idea just popped into her mind "Lahar-san, I know these people can change, because Coco did, they just had a rough past, and I know for a fact that prison will not help them, especially with the torture they are receiving from the guards."
At this the man's eyes widened "Torture?! What are you talking about?"
The blonde looked confused at Lahar "You did not know that your guards are torturing the prisoners? Cobra told me about it."
"Well maybe he was lying!" he was quick to defend the honor of the guards but a look from Lucy silenced him.
"I know he was not lying, the bond between us made me believe his words. I am afraid you do not know how the bond works, but I will tell you this, why would someone lie about something like this?! I myself see that as something that might happen, the guards may feel that the prisoners are not strong anymore in the confinement and they would unleash on them their way of justice. I wish to ask you something Lahar-san, if you see prison as a rehab for these people to change, then do you think with this treatment they will? When your guards practically don't even see them as humans, I don't think that is possible. But you might not believe anything I am saying and you may call me naïve with how I think, so how about a deal?"
The man was still shook by what he was hearing, for one of the first things they learn is that criminals are to be treated as people too, and to help them so that they may see the fault in their ways and change, but this baffled him to another extent, and he didn't understand what the blonde meant with the word 'deal'.
"A deal?"
"Yes, a deal. You and your knights will be able to move around and transport your equipment for free, there will be a train specialized for your troops, and I will arrange that. Also, do you remember when you told us how they escaped and how there has been a lot of problems in the military, well it was obvious to me that someone is causing these problems."
Lahar widened his eyes once again, he came to the realization of something, Lucy was dangerous. He hadn't said anything, he slipped something up but he quickly recovered and covered it with something else, but she was quick enough to catch on to it.
"Agree to the deal and I will help you in any way I can."
The man locked his gaze with the blonde's determined one and he exhaled a breath "Let me talk to my superiors."
"And that's what happened really."
The slayer had a bewildered look on his face before he broke out in laughter "You played Four-eyes like a piano."
"HEY! That's mean… and I didn't! It was him who slipped up when he talked to us yesterday about the situation." Lucy pouted as her brother continued laughing, after a while he quieted down and pulled her in a tight embrace.
"Thank you Sunshine, you really have brightened up my world with your light." He spoke softly and in a way that made the blonde blush uncontrollably from embarrassment, she smacked him on his shoulder "Stop it!"
The slayer merely chuckled as they broke apart from the hug and he went to her door "Goodnight Sunshine."
"Goodnight Coco."
He was about to close the door when he noticed the unopened letter on her nightstand "Still haven't opened it up?"
The blonde looked at him sadly "No, wasn't able to. Did you?"
He nodded "Yeah, the old man was mocking me even in his final words, but he… it was nice." He smiled softly before he closed the door.
…
It's been four months and all of them started to feel better with the new arrangements, at first it was really tense and uncomfortable, especially at the dinner and lunch time, but it broke apart when Layla and Red had a fight over who gets to sit next to Jellal, who was really surprised by the event, eventually Layla won because she used her puppy dog eyes on her brother and he relented.
After that Red went to sit next to Cobra while saying that he doesn't believe he lost to his sister and got to sit next to his uncle, of course Cobra felt the insult run through him as he shouted "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?"
The poor boy started to apologize to his uncle who sat sulking like a kid and ignoring Red's attempts of apologies.
The blonde started giggling at their interactions and was soon followed by a full blown laughter when Red told his uncle that he will let him eat his chocolate if he stopped staying mad at him to which Cobra immediately accepted.
The other members were looking at the carefree banter between the two with awed expressions, they could not believe how childish Cobra was being, but it was obvious he was doing this for entertainment.
Well, all the members except for one. A silverette woman who was seething with rage at what was happening and who had it in her mind to make the blonde's life hell, and what better way… than her kids.
Currently she was sitting in the living room her eyes trailing the little blonde girl playing with her plushy, the others were out in the garden so this was her shot, she called out to her "Layla dear, come here for a second."
The blonde little girl looked up at the silverette and nodded her head enthusiastically, she was looking for someone to play with, so she went and sat next to Angel.
"Dear, do you wish to know a secret?"
The little blonde girl nodded, "Your mother… she doesn't love you, I heard her talking to someone that she was looking for someone to come and take you away, because she simply cannot look at your face anymore."
"You're lying!" the little blonde girl whimpered.
"Oh I wish I was dear, I really do."
"No you are lying! Mama would never leave me!" Layla started to shout while crying.
"Keep your voice down little girl." Angel gripped Layla's wrist tightly.
"You are hurting me." Layla whimpered as she tried to get away.
"What is going on here?" Angel turned to look at Jellal with a bewildered expression, he wasn't supposed to be here.
"Yes I would like to know the same thing." Came the voice of a calm Lucy.
Oh but Angel knew, that calm was the calm before the storm.
"Mommy!" Layla cried out as she was set free from Angel's grip and ran to her mother's side.
"Mommy she was saying that you will leave me!" Layla cried and soon enough everyone emerged in the living room wondering what was happening.
One look at the blonde and they knew something bad happened, and when their eyes landed on Angel they knew that she did something. Lucy bent down and hugged her daughter's sobbing form, she got up and turned to her brother "Please take her upstairs to her room and stay with her, I will be right there."
Cobra nodded and quickly took Layla and dashed upstairs. Lucy turned towards the silverette and her gaze hardened, no more mercy for this bitch. Lucy noticed how Angel was always grumpy and how she always seemed to be disgusted with the kids, but she knew that Angel's hatred was directed towards her, not to her kids.
Angel seemed to shrink back a bit as she gulped and sweat seemed to trickle down her forehead.
"You hate me yet you go after my kids, how much more pathetic can you be?" the words laced with venom were spit out of Lucy's mouth in a way that showed complete and utter hatred towards the person directed to.
Everyone was frozen at the sudden change in demeanor in the blonde, they never once saw her this mad. But Angel, being the stupid woman she is, decided to feign innocence.
"Hmm, I don't know what you mean?" she tilted her head and put her forefinger on her mouth, she was doing this to show bravery but inside she was shaking. That was not the idea she showed, they all thought she was stupid.
"Oh you don't know? Then let me refresh your memory. When did you hear me talk to someone telling him that I wish he comes and takes my daughter away?"
At this Angel widened her eyes, "Oh, it seems you remember now." Lucy let out a dry chuckle "Do you remember what I told you the first day you were here? My kids are a line you do not fucking cross you bitch."
The others stood with a shocked face, never knowing that sweet naïve Lucy could speak like that, could spit venom like that, and they wondered if all mothers were like that.
"I-I…" Angel started stuttering, the hate she was seeing swimming in the blonde's eyes was a new thing, she never felt such hatred aimed towards her, usually people cower in fear in front of her, but in front of the blonde she found herself in the place of her formers victims.
"You hate me, so why not go after me? Don't worry I will not use magic, it's not like I'll need it anyways." She moved towards the door then looked back at Angel with dull eyes "Are you not coming?"
Angel could not move from her spot, she was frightened to her core, her heart was about to leap from her chest, she gulped and shook her head no.
"Oh okay, then heed this as my final warning, try something like that once again and your ass gets hauled back to wherever you came from." Lucy moves from the door to go up the stairs when she is stopped by a quaking voice.
"You don't know anything…"
The blonde looked back at the trembling silverette, "You don't know anything, you claim to want to help us when you know nothing about us, you just pity us but you don't know the shit we've been through, or the pain that we felt because you stayed all this while cooped up in a fucking mansion being treated like a fucking princess, even outside the mansion." Angel shouted in rage.
"I don't know pain? Ha… funny." Lucy's bangs were shadowing her face as she continued her ascent on the stairs going to check on her daughter.
The intense atmosphere in the room lightened a bit after the blonde's exit, they all turned to look at Angel who was trembling, and then one by one left her on her own, they all knew that what she did was the stupidest thing they have ever seen in their life, and especially to someone who is helping them, Angel should have known not to bite the hand that feeds her.
Lucy arrived at her kids' room and went in, she saw Layla huddled up in Cobra's embrace while he stroked her back, she noticed that her daughter is fast asleep with tear marks on her face. She heaved a sigh and walked to her bed, she sat on it and nudged Cobra to hand her over, once he did he looked at the blonde only to find her nodding, he understood what she meant, she will tell him later. He got up and left, he went downstairs to check up on everybody but found no one, he focused on his hearing and found out they were all asleep.
He trudged back up to Layla's room and opened the door only to find Lucy fast asleep with her daughter in her embrace, they both looked so peaceful. He closed the door and went to his room, he took of his clothes and glanced at the clock, 9:30 pm, it was still early but seeing as everyone is already asleep he thought he would join them.
XXX
WARNING: insensitive talk about rape, read at your own discretion…
It was too easy…
Infiltrating the mansion was too easy…
That was the only thought that ran inside the man's head as he watched the blonde sleeping from the window. He signaled his friends and chaos erupted.
One by one the now house prisoners and the blonde found themselves outside the mansion, with Lucy in the middle and the rest on the side.
A man stood in front of the blonde "Wakey wakey eggs and bakey."
The blonde slowly opened her eyes, then widened them as she saw she was outside the house, she looked around her and her gaze slid to her new housemates and brother on the ground.
"Wh-what?" she whispered.
"Oh don't worry about them, they are fine." He looked at one of his henchmen "Wake them up."
The man stood in front of them and held up his hand, a magical surge shot through their bodies as they screamed in pain. They all started panting once the pain subsided and Cobra was able to hear his sister screaming at someone "What the hell did you do to them you fucker?"
The man in question just laughed like a maniac "Oh, and what are you going to do, you don't have your keys Blondie!"
Lucy's whole body shook at the nickname he had given her, but he was right, she couldn't do anything, she didn't have her keys and the others didn't have their magic.
She looked up at the man, he had crazy green hair and wild golden feral eyes, his mouth was split in a maniacal smirk as he gazed at her, he was slim and was wearing a green jumpsuit, with green sports shoes.
He looked at her and began chuckling, he bent back then came up in her face "Oh Blondie~ don't give me that expression, it makes me way more excited, and if I don't do what the master wants then he will punish me, and I don't want that." He pouted at the end.
The blonde shivered, she glanced at her brother who was looking terrified in her direction, her gaze swept to the men surrounding her new family and she felt sick to her stomach, they were vulnerable in their state at the moment so anything could hurt them tenfold, she turned back to the green haired man "And what does your master want?"
He smiled wickedly at her "To see you in pain of course…" he tapped her forehead with his forefinger and jumped back "And also, your kids."
Lucy couldn't hear what he said next for she felt her mind splitting in half, images started flashing through her mind, of Gajeel, of her mother, of her father, the Raijinshuu and lastly… Laxus.
"Oh~ poor girl lost her mommy when she was young." The green haired man chirped.
Cobra looked at him wide eyed, 'What the hell is going on?', he turned to his sister, "Sunshine what's wrong talk to me?"
At that instant, Lucy's ear splitting scream rang in the still cold night air "STOP IT!"
"Oh yes, do you remember it? The way your dear brother was torturing you? the way his iron club would crack your stomach every time he hit you?" the man howled in laughter as he watched the girl cry as she tried to shield her stomach but still felt the immense pain that was shot through her.
Cobra knew what was happening, somehow this man was making her relive her past, and he never hated how useless he felt right now "Sunshine listen to me he is not here, you are not being tortured! WAKE UP!"
He started struggling but a shot of pain knocked him out of breath, he looked up to see the man who had woken them up from sleep staring at him with his arm raised, he could see his red eyes glaring at him under the hood, everyone was wearing a hood except for the green haired man, and to make matters worse he and the rest couldn't move because they put restraints on them that were invisible, he could feel something weighing him down but he couldn't see it nor smell it.
"What- what is going on?" Angel whispered as she looked around them.
"STOP IT PLEASE STOP!" the blonde screamed as tears flooded down her face.
The green haired man looked at Cobra and excitement flooded through him at the look the slayer was directing at him, it was a look that promised pain and he loved it, that's why he decided to increase the intensity of the look. He gazed at the blonde on the ground screaming and crying, he raised his arm and snapped his finger, the blonde stopped screaming.
Cobra and the others thought it was finally over before a chilling scream pierced the air yet once again, but this time Cobra's heart cracked at what it was.
"STOP TOUCHING ME! GET AWAY! PLEASE STOP!"
The blonde started to cry profusely while scratching herself to the point of drawing blood.
"Oh~ interesting… looks like our little Blondie here got defiled. Hmm, such a pity for someone like you to go through something like that… NOT! Oh your screams for him to stop are making my blood boil with anticipation."
Cobra looked at the man repulsed to his very core by his actions, how could someone like that kind of stuff?!
"Oh my god, is these something that you haven't been through. Kidnapped and tortured, raped, lost your mother and brother and close friends and then recently, your pathetic father! HA! You are such a broken doll Blondie!"
Cobra let out a feral growl at the man and he was about to move but then realized he still had on his invisible restraints. The blonde clutched her head as she continued screaming, she could feel and sense everything like what happened that day, and it was breaking her. She couldn't hear anything at all, she tried to focus on something but her mind kept replaying everything that happened in the past, but then a voice rang in her mind, a loud "MAMMA!" that echoed from behind her.
There Justin stood as he clutched his sister to his right and Red to his left, behind them was a hooded man that was leading them outside the mansion with a sword to their back.
"Oh look, they are here. Come on our work here is done, let's go." He glanced at the former Oracion Seis and sneered "Pathetic!" he spat at them as he continued his walk "Come on let's deliver these kids to the master so he could have fun with them, and you know why not take these losers, they could keep us entertained."
He looked over his shoulder and gestured for his henchmen to hold the Oracion Seis members, he then gazed at the blonde "Oh by the way Blondie, your father's accident wasn't much of an accident. Oops!" he then turned back and started walking away leaving behind him a whimpering blonde and taking with him a screaming brother and kids plus the others.
The moment Lucy heard her boy's scream, the moment she saw their fearful expression through lidded eyes as they passed her, the moment he mentioned taking her family from her and the moment he announced that her father's death was planned, at that moment…. She snapped.
Magic pressure started building up around the area, the green haired man and the others whipped their heads towards the blonde only to see her glowing.
She lay on her knees, a soft light adorning her features and emitting from her body, she felt magic surging through her like never before, it somewhat answered to her call for help, something had clung to her and she started to feel as if she was sinking.
From the views of others, the light dimmed and now an incredible dark magic pressure increased, a magic circle appeared under the blonde, it was black but had red linings in it. Soon shadows started engulfing the blonde's body, it lashed out while circling her, shadowed hands helped her stand up and from them was heard "Use my power Princess, and save your family."
"Hey what the hell you playing at-" the green haired man didn't have time to talk as a golden light engulfed the area and they all shielded their eyes, the light dimmed after a while, when he looked to where she was standing he didn't see her there.
"What the Ack!" he was down on the ground.
They all started to look around them but they didn't notice anything. The setting of the day could not be any more perfect for Lucy, it was around midnight so no one saw the shadow moving on the ground.
One by one they were all on the ground unconscious, the green haired man tried to move a bit but he felt sluggish, he figured she hit in the attempt to knock him out but he protected his neck at the right time.
"Oh, you are still awake?" came a monotone voice from behind him.
He looked to his side only to see the slacked jaw expressions on all the others who he held prisoners, he slowly looked back only to widen his eyes.
There was the blonde, but not the blonde he tortured, and definitely not the blonde who was screaming and crying. No… she was different, her magic felt different.
She was wearing a black leather corset lace up, with matching black leather pants tucked in black high heel boots. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail with a few strands left adorning her face and her bangs down, her pulled up hair was showcasing her black feathered wings tattoo on her upper back, in the middle of the wings lay a mark, Corvus's mark. Black void orbs gazed at him as her scarlet lips stretched to a snarl.
"Tell your master… the next time he wishes to mess with me… he should come not send his goons instead."
The green haired man could only tremble and whimper as he nodded his head.
"Also… my kids and family…" she pointed to where everyone she cared about was huddled up next to each other "are a line you do not fucking cross you motherfucker."
She reached out her arm towards him and immediately shadows shot from her arm and trapped the green haired man in their endless torture. One of the ones Lucy knocked out woke up and with a chant teleported his partners away from the mansion.
Lucy looked at the area where the man was being punished, now empty. She looked back at her brother and kids, then at her newest members to her family before the form faded and she fell unconscious.
"Sunshine." Cobra dove in and caught her just in time, the kids came running screaming for their mother, and the house mates all encircled the slayer.
"What the hell happened?" asked Jellal.
"Who are they?" questioned Midnight.
"It doesn't fucking matter now, we need to get Sunshine to the mansion and call the rune knights so they could send some doctors over here." He looked down at his pale sister and watched how her breathing became ragged.
"And quickly! I don't think we have much time left."
They dashed into the mansion and Cobra lay Lucy on the couch, he got up and went upstairs to her office where he made a call on the communication lacrima to Lahar. When the man answered he quickly told him what happened and the man told him he was already on his way for the others trespassed the line they weren't supposed to cross, he then reassured the slayer that help was on its way. Cobra went downstairs and saw the kids huddled up against their mother.
"What's going on?" he asked as he quickly came and sat next to the blonde.
"She is getting colder by the minute, Cobra we need to do something." Racer urged the slayer as the latter sat the blonde on his lap giving her from his body heat as much as he could.
Jellal ran upstairs to his room where he took the sheets from his bed and ran back downstairs, enveloping Lucy with the blankets.
"Is- is it true what he said?" inquired Angel softly.
Cobra was feeling on the verge of breaking so he snapped at the silverette "Yes it's fucking true! Everything is… oh god please be alright Sunshine." He shook the blonde slightly noticing the scratches on her arm that were still leaking blood, Racer got to the chimney and started making a fire while Midnight ran to get some more blankets and Hoteye went to get a first aid kit.
It was no secret, it took only a while for the blonde to grow on them, and now she practically saved them from whatever hell the others were planning to do with them. Yes, they were all worried about her, there was no denying it, but one. One who was so ashamed of her actions, of her words that she stood alone in the corner, the shadows of the room keeping her hidden from view. Never in her life Angel thought that she would feel this much shame, her eyes drifted to the blonde who was unconscious, and she shuddered as she remembered her screams, especially the ones where she screamed for someone to stop, to get away from her, to stop touching her. A lone tear escaped Angel's eyes as she shut her ears to prevent herself from hearing the screams, it brought her back to the tower and she wanted anything but back.
Hoteye came back with the medical kit and they started bandaging her up, Midnight came downstairs and gave the slayer all the blankets he could find, Jellal was taking care of the crying kids and Racer started the fire.
"There is something that is bothering me…" Hoteye started gaining the attention of others, "Where are the butlers and maids?"
"They live in a separate house." Replied Cobra.
"I know… but how could they not hear her screams!?" Hoteye exclaimed and this caused the others to widen their eyes.
"Could it be…" Midnight did not want to continue that thought, he looked at Racer and as if reading his mind Racer dashed out of the mansion, he ran down the road to where the butlers' house lay. He arrived at the door and knocked, seconds later Spetto-san opened up "Racer-sama, is everything alright?"
He quickly explained what happened and she was horrified, she woke everyone up and they all made their way to the mansion. Upon reaching the door they heard a sort of vehicle behind them and when they looked it had the rune knight's symbol on it.
Lahar jumped out of the vehicle the minute it stopped only to see Racer there waiting for him with a worried expression, he led him inside while following behind him were the doctors.
He entered and saw the lifeless looking blonde and immediately sprang into action, the doctors took hold of the blonde and started treating her while Lahar took the rest to a secluded room to speak.
"What the hell happened?" asked Lahar solemnly.
And then they all pitched in and told him what happened, Lahar was beyond amazed by how well they were behaving and the huge difference in their personalities. They all talked, except for one, Angel. He noticed her sad expression and he wanted to inquire about what happened but he kept his mouth shut, he figured it had something to do with what happened.
"This is complicated." Lahar sighed "So let me get this straight, you all woke up outside not having any clue about how, you then feel like something is weighing you down and you are unable to move, then the green haired man starts torturing Lucy-san claiming how his master wants the blonde in pain and her kids. But then he announces that he wishes to take you to have fun with you and then he tells Lucy that her father's death was no mere accident and that was when Lucy-san turned psycho?"
They all nodded, this time even Angel.
"But there was something weird…"
"What was it Racer?" inquired Lahar.
"None of the butlers or maids heard any of the commotion." Racer said as he massaged his temples, feeling a headache about to pop.
"I'm sorry come again?" Lahar asked with a shocked expression on his face, soon followed by everyone else minus Racer.
"No one heard a damn thing!" Racer shouted not liking all this attention on him.
Lahar let out a frustrated sigh "So what we know is that they have a mage who can teleport, one who can restrain people, one who causes pain though unknown how and one who can make you live the worst things you've ever been in before, also one who can put up a sound barrier."
They all nodded their heads, "God this seems more complicated the more we go on."
They all agreed with what the rune captain said, some with nods and some with words. Soon silence fell upon them, all were trapped in their own minds thinking about what happened tonight. Until a voice cut through them waking them up from their stupor.
"Captain, Lucy-san has woken up." A rune knight announced as he entered the room. It was only seconds before he felt the wind knocked out of him as he saw a blur flash by him. They looked around to notice that Cobra was gone.
…
"Sunshine!" he burst into her room, his eyes fell upon the blonde figure glaring softly at him, she put her forefinger on her lips and hushed him. He averted his gaze towards the three sleeping angels next to the blonde and smiled softly, he closed the door behind him and crept closer to Lucy's bed, she looked as if she was about to fall asleep while sitting.
"You know you should sleep Sunshine." He whispered as he climbed up the bed, placing himself next to the blonde and opening his arms for her to snuggle in them.
She hummed as she snuggled in "I know, but I just can't."
He looked at her bandaged arms and tightened his hold on her "Don't worry, I am here, so just go to sleep."
She gave him a small smile and closed her eyes, he watched as her body relaxed in his hold, soon enough her breathing evened and she was fast asleep. He knew what happened to her, she used too much magic that's why she fainted, but the question still remains, what was that magic? He never felt anything like that.
The door creaked open slowly and the slayer looked up to be met with silver hair, Angel looked at him and blinked twice. She informed him that the knights have left then slid out of the room and closed the door behind her, she bit her lip hard for her plans were ruined, she was going to catch the blonde alone so she could apologize to her, but now she doesn't think anyone would be leaving her alone with what happened.
She went to her room and laid on her bed, she thought about what she told Layla about her mother and she couldn't believe how wrong she was. They weren't brought by a night full of romance and love, but the blonde still loved them with everything she has. Meanwhile she was planned and she didn't feel that much love from her parents, and when she got kidnapped she was sure they were relieved somehow. No one from her family liked her except for her little sister, and she doesn't even know if she was still alive.
She looked at the clock next to her bed and winced at the time, it was 4 am. It was too late to sleep, so she got up to take a shower, figuring some hot water would do her some good.
Meanwhile Lucy and her kids were sleeping snuggled up in the slayer's embrace. It was peaceful, until images started filtering the blonde's mind. She started thrashing in her sleep resulting in waking her kids and brother up, "Sunshine?" he called out to her quietly.
She shot out of bed drenched with sweat and heaving as she slid down the floor, "Sunshine!" Cobra crouched down next to her as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.
Lucy's vision was blurry and as she laid her eyes on the person next to her, she saw blonde hair and a scar over their right eye. She screamed as she pushed him away from her "Get the hell away from me."
She backed up into a wall where she lay panting with tears running through her eyes, "Sunshine?"
A voice flooded through her ears, a voice that appeared so broken and hurt. She shook her head and tried to get a better look on the person in front of her, she knew only one person to ever call her that. Bit by bit her vision cleared and she saw Cobra with sadness fleeting in his eye. She looked behind him and saw her kids crying, she evened her breaths then crept closer to her brother and hugged him.
"I'm so sorry Eric-nii, my mind just played a dirty trick on me."
The accident from before must have triggered the nightmares once again.
He slowly accepted her hug, "What do you mean?"
She sighed slightly as she gestured for her kids to join in on the hug "It made me see you as someone else."
And she left it at that, Cobra knew what she meant by it, but then he also figured something. He got out of the hug to look down at the blonde, he couldn't believe how he hadn't realized this sooner, how stupid could he be?!
"Eric-nii?"
"Sunshine you never dealt with it did you?"
The blonde widened her eyes at her brother's question, but then started thinking back and he was right, she never dealt with it. She never had time to, she was pregnant so she had to care for her kids, then her brother died, then she was left alone, then Cobra came in and it was becoming better with making up with her father, but then her father died and now this. It was all bottling up inside if the blonde and she wasn't doing anything about it. How long was it? Three years and a half, but still every time she thought about him, she felt uncomfortable. Every time someone called her Blondie she would feel an incredible amount of rage rushing through her body, and she stepped away from everything that seemed sexual. No dates, no flings no nothing, she wasn't ready at all.
She looked up at her brother and shook her head no, "I'm sorry Sunshine."
"Don't be, I should be thanking you, you opened my eyes about the situation. Do you think I should seek a therapist?"
"Are you seriously mocking our therapy sessions?" he gasped feigning hurt, he didn't like the intense atmosphere and decided to break it with a joke.
The blonde just giggled quietly, she felt movement on her lap and looked down to see her kids sleeping on her lap and her brother's lap. She started running her fingers through Red's blonde locks.
"But to answer your question, you should, for yourself." Cobra smiled softly at her.
"And for the kids too."
"Come on, let's go to bed." the slayer got up holding in his arms her first born, while she held onto both Red and Layla. They laid them on the bed and slept next to them.
XXX
Little footsteps were heard on the stairs as someone was running away from something.
The little blond boy looked behind him to see a blur of black after him, he squeaked and tried running faster, when suddenly he found himself in the air.
"Gotcha'!" exclaimed Midnight as he spun Red around.
The little boy started whining for him to let him go, Midnight got down the stairs with Red on his shoulder, he looked at Angel who had Justin in her embrace.
"You caught one too?" Midnight asked the silverette who was playing with the blonde locks of the boy who's melting in her embrace.
"Hmm, he was easy to find." The silverette giggled as the boy pouted.
"Was not!" he said as he hid himself in the silverette's embrace to hide his flushed face.
It's been three months since that incident, Lucy doubled the security to the Konzern, adding magic detecting sensors around the perimeters of the mansion that will send a notification to a bracelet she is wearing if an unidentified magic trespasses, some rune knights who specialize in runes helped her as well in putting up some runes to stop intruders from coming in but they didn't work much for they were no experts, so anyone who had a clue about runes would be able to disable them.
Angel apologized to Lucy and after spending some time with the blonde, she grew to think of her as a sister. She also apologized to Layla and started playing with the kids, actually that was what they were doing at the moment, they were all playing hide and seek. The former Oracion Seis members all grew to love and care for the kids, even more so for their mother, though they would never say that, but they enjoyed every minute they spent with her, and when she stated that she will start therapy they all cheered her on and helped her anyway they can, she still had some episodes where she would wake up in the middle of the night shouting and would sometimes have a blurry vision.
Finding out what happened to the blonde was a big shock to all of the ones who didn't know, because they never thought that something like that happened to the bubbly blonde.
On another note, after speaking with Corvus and Loke about what happened, they told her how Corvus let her have some of his powers to help her, and how she could do that with all the keys she has but it needs a lot of training, so that was something as well she added to the to-do list. Loke was furious when he heard of what happened, and he thanked Corvus for what he did many times, but he was as well disappointed with himself for not being able to protect his princess. He promised that he, Corvus and especially Capricorn who was so amazed with what he heard about the blonde, will help her in training.
Now back to the game…
Racer came barging in the room, "You guys need to see this."
They both got up and went after him, they got out on a balcony where everyone was gathered save for Lucy and Cobra.
Racer pointed towards a bush where a little blonde crown was showing, they also noticed Lucy and Cobra close to the spot.
"Layla, where are you?" Lucy shouted aloud as the little blonde giggled while hiding behind her bush, she didn't even notice the slayer creeping up from behind her. He was crouching now directly behind her and she was still giggling without even taking notice of him, that is until she heard a scream from behind her telling her to 'Look behind you!' she recognized the voice as her brother Justin and immediately turned around only to hit her head with a hard chest. Arms encircled her as she started squirming in his hold "What do you think you are doing Munchkin?"
She stopped fighting back and huffed out an "I give!"
He chuckled as he got out with Layla in his arms, Lucy came up next to him and kissed her girl's forehead, "You were being too loud little girl."
Layla pouted, they all agreed for another round. This time to guarantee no one would find her, Layla went to hide a bit further in the garden, she knew she wasn't gonna last long with her uncle's nose.
She quietly tried to climb up a tree by failed, "Need a hand little girl?"
She squeaked at the stranger's voice and quickly looked behind her, she came face to face with an old man who had tan skin and a black beard.
"Ano, who awe you?" the little blonde asked the stranger as the man in question crouched down for her level.
"You can consider me a friend, after all I know your mother." He gave her a toothy grin, one that a person who have lived long enough would consider as sketchy, but to an innocent little girl, she thought of his as friendly.
"What is your name little girl?" he asked her as he patted her head, she smiled brightly up at him.
"My name is Layla, what is yours?"
"Nice to meet you Layla, my name is…"
Meanwhile with the rest, Lucy's bracelet started beeping indicating that someone trespassed her land. She immediately started panicking and shouting for everybody's name.
"What's wrong Lu?" Hoteye was the first one to arrive.
"Someone trespassed." That was all she needed to say and Hoteye was calling for everybody as well, soon they all regrouped when Midnight noticed something.
"Where is Layla?"
They all looked around them noticing the absence of the girl, Lucy's heart started pounding loudly as she screamed at the top of her lungs her daughter's name and Cobra was already trying to sniff her out, and what irked him was the fact something was blocking him.
"MOMMY!" she heard a distant yell making them snap their heads in her direction and dashing towards it.
They came across the scene of Layla waving goodbye to someone before they disappeared, Lucy quickly engulfed her daughter in a hug and checked her up for any injuries whatsoever. The bracelet dinged notifying Lucy that no one was in her territory anymore.
"Layla who was that you were waving to?" the blonde breathed out as she tried to calm her heartbeat, but her daughter's answer did the opposite.
Lucy felt as if the whole world came crashing down on her, she started having problems with breathing and she clutched her shirt above her heart to try and calm it down, her vision started to blurry but a hand brought her back to reality.
She looked to the owner of the hand to see it was Angel, Lucy quickly turned to her daughter and gripped her wrists tightly "Listen to me Layla, no matter what don't you ever again speak to that man, from now on you will not wonder off on your own, and if you come across him again you scream at the top of your lungs. Do you understand Layla? You have to promise me Layla that you will never speak to that man again!" Lucy sternly scolded her daughter who only nodded with tears in her eyes at the tone her mother used on her.
"Okay mommy!" Layla whimpered as she tried to free herself from her mother's tight grip.
The blonde's eyes softened as she looked at her daughter's tears and she brought her in for a hug "I'm sorry sweetie, I was just scared because that man is dangerous alright? So promise me you won't talk to him again okay?"
This time the little girl was more relaxed and accepted her mother's hug, Lucy then carried her to the mansion and motioned for the rest to follow her to her office when they sat down the kids with the butlers.
Cobra closed the door behind him and leaned on it, the rest were already in the room waiting for the blonde who was sitting on her chair to speak. After a while when the blonde still hasn't spoken up, they looked and saw her dull eyes as she furrowed her brows, a frown evident on her lips.
Another blonde in the room couldn't handle the silence anymore, so Racer asked the blonde the question that has been on everyone's minds "Lucy, who the hell is Ivan Dreyar?"
Heya people, how you doing?
This chapter was longer than the one before and I really enjoyed writing it.
I hope you enjoy as well while reading it. Alright that was all, see you next time peeps. Oh, also next chapter, a big surprise at the end! So wait for it… hehe
KAWAIINECKO, signing out.
