BROKEN AND BRUISED
CHAPTER 15
WARNING: mention of rape up ahead in the chapter. Read at your own discretion…
A soft wind blew by rustling the trees causing the leaves to gently float down till they reached the ground. The birds nestled in a tree, chirping happily and loudly as they hopped from a branch to the other.
Or that's what he imagined was happening from all the noises he heard. His body felt heavy and sore, his eyes were tightly shut and opening them was proving to be a pain, he felt around him something solid and deduced that he was stuck in some rock. Having fed up with this shit, he willed his eyes to open and started rubbing them slowly to get the dust out.
He grunted when all he could see was black, he stretched his hearing for a bit and listened to some more birds and trees in the distance. Then he heard a crunch and some footsteps getting closer to where he was, at first he thought it was an enemy but when he heard this tiny voice that he has grown to like over the past few month, he felt instant relief wash over him.
"Gajeel. Gajeel where are you?" yelled Levy as she stumbled over some branches.
"Shrimp, I'm over here." He called out from under the rock and Levy quickly ran to where he was.
"Oh my god. How did you get in there?" she wondered out loud as she tried to move the rock off of him.
"I just woke up like this. Don't remember what happened or how I got here." He grumbled out as he tried to push over the rock. The veins on his arms popped as he tried hard but when he saw that it was useless, he let go and breathed deeply.
"Don't worry Miss Levy, I got this."
Another voice filtered in and Gajeel sighed at the timing of the newcomer. "Glad of you to come Lily."
Lily transformed into his battle form and took the rock in his arms then started to move it slowly. "I was in a very similar position, but I got out by my own." He mocked teasingly while gritting his teeth.
"Oh yeah? Well not everyone can turn tiny like you." Gajeel laughed as he hauled himself up from that hole.
"It's good to see that nothing can break that asshole nature of yours. I do expect payback for helping you out." Lily smirked as Gajeel gihi'ed.
"Yeah, yeah you can get all the kiwis you want when we get home." Gajeel walked towards Levy and ruffled her hair causing her to pout. "Thanks for the help Shrimp."
"I didn't do anything." She mumbled under her breath, Gajeel heard her and was about to correct her when her next words paralyzed him.
"What a strange bunny that is!" she exclaimed as she pointed a finger towards a bush that had a bunny with long ears and a long tail jumping from it.
Lily widened his eyes then turned to Gajeel to see him in a similar state. "We need to go home."
Gajeel nodded his head and began sprinting as he called out to Levy. "Shrimp, come on we have to go." Lily quickly following in his footsteps.
She whirled around to see him already on the move. She stretched out her arm as a means to stop him while she yelled behind him. "Wait Gajeel, there's something I need to tell you."
But he was already out of earshot.
…
Gajeel thought the best thing to do would be to get back to their former camp, so he followed the trail of scents and it led him straight back. He burst out of the bushes then skid to a halt when he almost rammed himself into Gildarts.
"Easy there kid. Did you just get here?" Gildarts asked with a sad expression.
"Yeah I did." Lily landed on his shoulder while he was answering. Levy appeared right after he did.
"I… told… you… to wait up." She breathed out with her hands on her knees.
"Sorry Shrimp I just needed to get here quickly." He turned around and then noticed that something was strange. Very strange.
Droy had gained some weight now and Jet seemed to be older now, the same with Alzack, Bisca and Warren. Everyone that didn't come with them on the exam seemed different.
His gut twisted and he knew there was something wrong, and he dreaded it greatly. He caught the eye of Evergreen who was crying while Bickslow hugged her. She shook her head no when he mouthed to her if she was okay. He was about to check up on her when he heard Bisca sobbing.
"I can- can't believe that you are all alive. We never lost hope, all this time we never did." She held on to Alzack' arm for support.
"All this time?" Gajeel asked loudly and Lily continued. "What are you talking about?"
Jet and Droy turned around to face Gajeel before they were flooded by their own tears. "You are alive, oh thank god." Jet wailed as Droy nodded his head with tears running down his face. They tried to launch themselves at Gajeel to hug him but he deftly evaded them.
"What the fuck is going on?" he questioned with a slight hint of anger, he looked for Freed to see if he had the answer only to find him hunched in a corner with a grim look on his face. "We failed Gajeel-san, we failed."
His body went slack at those words, somehow Gajeel knew instantly of what the green haired man was talking about. Somehow he knew, that they failed Lucy.
"Gajeel." Levy called out softly to him and he turned to meet her. "It's been seven years since the exam Gajeel."
And at those words, Gajeel felt his world tumble apart. He was about to fall but muscular hands caught him, then a gruff voice said. "Are you alright man?"
From his peripheral view he could see a crown of spikey blond hair, and he wanted to just beat the guy. How the hell was he supposed to be okay? When the girl that this prick fucked up may have been alone all those seven years without someone to protect her? And her kids! What about her kids?!
For the first time in a while, Gajeel felt like crying. Levy was quickly by his side to support him, she sat him on a nearby bench and he just stared off in the distance. Thinking about what would he do if he came back only to find the cabin gone. Or worse, his sister d-. He couldn't continue that thought, it broke him and he didn't even know if it was real.
"Gajeel man, don't. Just believe, have faith, that's what I'm trying to do." Bickslow' words confused everyone except for Gajeel, Evergreen, Freed and Lily.
The iron dragon slayer numbly nodded his head, trying his hardest to believe, to have faith that she was there, waiting for all of them to come back safely.
They boarded the ship and he knew what he had to do. Not only him, but the others as well. The minute they docked they were going to check out the cabin.
…
Hargeon was in sight when they nodded at each other. Gajeel thanked god that Wendy was here to use the Troia spell on him preventing his motion sickness of disrupting him. Freed activated his wings, the same with Evergreen while Bickslow got on his babies and Lily picked up Gajeel. They all zoomed across the sky while their comrades shouted for them.
"What the heck are they doing?" Levy shouted after them as she pulled her weight on one side of the deck.
"Just let them be child, they have business to attend to." Makarov explained quietly.
"What are you talking about Gramps?" Gray asked while he was midway in taking off his pants.
"Just as it sounds. And Gray, your clothes." Gray shrieked before he tried to pick up his clothes only to find out that Juvia had already taken them hostage.
Makarov watched the figures going farther away into the distance until they disappeared. He prayed in his heart that everything would be alright, that they don't suffer any additional loss because by the looks they had back at the camp, it looked like they lost something important. He knew what it was, he suspected it from the way Gajeel acted, but he didn't know that the Raijinshuu were in on it too. Figures they would volunteer to help after what happened, they might see themselves as guilty too.
Makarov sighed before he got back to his drink, all the while his grandson was trying to decipher what that look meant. That thoughtful look of his as if he understood why his team was acting weird, why even the Iron rod was acting weird. He shook his head and went back to sitting comfortably, trying with all his might to keep his lunch in his stomach. Sometimes he hated being a dragon slayer.
…
Gajeel landed on the ground then took off sprinting, the rest following him right behind. They reached the clearing and stopped.
Everything was still the same, the wooden swing, the porch, everything was the same. But the smell. Gajeel took a big whiff and the smells just confused him, it was all strange smells and some were even for detergents.
He took a step forward and called out steadily. "Bunny?" the rest were afraid of what might the answer be, while they were on their way they thought of many scenarios of how could this go down and a lot of them were bad, but they couldn't imagine for this to be the worst. For them to have no response at all.
"Bunny?" Gajeel tried again, he took another step forward before he felt tears prickle his eyes. He went for the door on the porch and walked in, the rest stood outside not daring to take that step, not daring to find out for themselves if she was here or not.
Gajeel almost chocked when he saw the interior of the cabin, everything was still the same except for the presence of Bunny, even her smell was gone. He walked up the stairs to see his door closed. He never left his door closed, because he always worried what if she wanted something and he couldn't hear her? What if something happened to her and he couldn't get there on time because of a closed door? To others it might seem foolish but to him, that door was a huge obstacle between him and protecting his sister.
He took a deep breath before he opened his door and the sight that greeted him made him sure of one thing, he fucked up. His stuff was gone. The whole room was empty except for the mattress and the closet, he whirled around and opened her room only to find it in the same state as his. Empty.
And now he felt as those rooms. Empty.
Alone in this room, with the curtain obscuring the light from the window allowing the darkness to seep into the room. Gajeel let his walls down and cried. He cried because he failed his sister. He cried because he lost seven years of his life stuck on a stupid island. He cried because his sister may be dead right now and he couldn't know. He cried because he blamed himself for leaving that night, that fated night where everything changed. He cried because he fucked up, he fucked up that promise he made in his heart that he would always be with her. He fucked up.
Those waiting outside, knew what this meant. The dragon slayer's tardiness had a meaning and they knew what it was. She was not here. And thus, their own tears fell, all crying for their own reasons but all leading back to one person, Lucy Heartfilia.
…
They wandered back to the guild, each with a depressed scowl on his face only to find out that their guild was now a tavern with a farm next to it.
"What the fuck?" Bickslow whispered under his breath as he took a look on the exterior of the guild.
"The years weren't easy on them huh?" Freed noted as he walked in, they knew that inside their family waited for them, that everyone was happy that they were back. And because of that they knew that they had to at least put an effort for them, that they are happy to be back as well, never minding their own feelings at the moment. So they plastered on some neutral faces, some grinning and some a polite smile, then walked in.
They noticed that a party was going on and mingled for a while, got to know some of the new members like the new bar maiden, Kinana before they settled on the bar each with a beer in the hand. And then that depressed scowl returned. Some members from another Guild came in but they didn't bother with them, they just sat at the bar drinking beer.
Laxus watched his team from afar, he knew something was up with them when they walked in, their smiles were so fake that he wondered how they fooled anyone with them. And the shock came when he saw Freed drinking beer. Freed, the one who always complained that beer had a stale taste that didn't go with his preference.
He also noticed that the iron dragon slayer was in the same shape, and he wondered what that business that his gramps was talking about earlier was. He snuck a glance to his gramps only to see him with a solemn look on his face as he watched those four on the bar.
He knew it wasn't his business to ask about what happened with his team, but he cared for them and seeing them like that just didn't sit well with him. He knew that a lot of people in this guild are still wary of him even though Gildarts announced that he revoked his excommunication, but his team always stayed by his side through the good and the bad so the least he could do was return the favor.
He was about to get up when he heard his grandfather whisper to him 'Don't. He looked up to see Makarov shaking his head no, he sat back down but continued staring at his team, and wondered over and over again. What the hell was wrong with them? He decided to trust his grandfather on this, which was the reason he sat back down, because if his gramps knew then maybe it's best if he handles it. Laxus knows very well that emotions and him don't go well together.
His thoughts were drowned out by the squeals of the girls as they found out that Bisca has a little girl.
"Oh my god she is so cute. I can't believe we finally have a little girl in the guild. Our first little fairy." Squealed Mira as she hugged Asuka, Bisca' little girl.
Evergreen looked back at the girls and heaved a sigh. "She shouldn't be the first." It was a low mumble, but one that Laxus caught on to making him raise an eyebrow as he noticed everyone else agreeing with her.
Every time they looked at the little girl, they would just be reminded of Lucy and her kids, and it would break them all the more.
"So Macao, a guild master now eh? How's that been working out for you?" Mira asked as she helped Kinana at the bar.
"You can see that for yourself Mira dear, we are the lowest of the low." Macao answered as he pointed at the run down barn they were currently occupying, Mira frowned at the answer and was about to inquire about the situation when Levy beat her to it.
"What happened?" Levy asked as she took a sip of her water while sneaking subtle glances towards the iron dragon slayer.
"We got indebted to some guild, and then we lost so much at that new event that now we are considered the weakest guild in all of Fiore." Wakaba answered this time.
"That new event? What are you talking about?" Erza questioned and they went on to explain how there was a new event called the Grand Magic Games, how each guild goes up against others to win the spot of the number one guild in all of Fiore and how for the last couple of years the guild that won them was Sabertooth. They went on about how that guild is so strong with their insane members and more so their master.
By the end of the explanation everyone was flabbergasted by the news, except for Natsu was wanted to jump right in and go fight some guild.
"Wow, a lot of things happened these past seven years." Remarked Juvia sadly.
"You have no idea. But we are proud, we are proud as hell." Macao grinned while Romeo nodded his head enthusiastically.
"What for?" Makarov' curiosity was piqued by their behavior.
"Because to think that a fairy would save the royals, you wouldn't ever believe it with our current ranks." Wakaba drank his beer while the newcomers gawked at him.
"What?" they all said at the same time.
Bisca giggled while she stroked her daughter's hair. "She isn't a fairy anymore, she left like 8 years ago but she's still a fairy in heart. Our favorite celestial spirit mage saved the royals from a traitor amongst them." At that the beer in Gajeel' hand broke but no one cared for that, no one was even paying attention to him. The four sitting on the bar stilled themselves as they listened to the story.
"No way, Lucy did that?!" Levy exclaimed with a smile, she was happy to hear some news about her best friend that suddenly disappeared.
"She did, it was all over the news. But she wasn't alone. Apparently the former Oracion Seis members plus Jellal, Meredy and Ultear helped her." Bisca continued and gasps ran across the lobby.
"What? They helped her?" Erza was shocked by the news of these former criminals helping Lucy, more so was Gray.
"Not just that. One rune official commented on how they were worried when Lucy was fighting the traitor, Linda. They all freaked out when they saw a blade run through the blonde and when he tried to calm them down, a silverette blew up in his face on why they couldn't keep their calm, because it's their sister out there."
The room was silent when Macao continued. "Lucy fought for them a lot apparently, and she took them all under her wing and now after the accident with the royals they were excused of their crimes and all are living their lives now, with Lucy."
Wide eyes stared at them, Gajeel had a smirk on his face as he felt his heart lighten, the same with the Raijinshuu, they all had smiles on their faces while they were hearing that story, but it got brighter when they reached the end of the story.
"The same official said that it was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, while Lucy was fighting the traitor, he said it was like she brought down the stars on her. She started to glow in gold and then stars filled the sky, one by one they came down on Linda rendering her unconscious. Other nobles started to talk about how the former Oracion Seis members protected them, the King talked about how not a moment was he left alone, Jellal and Sawyer were always with him and the latter even tried to comfort the man. While the Princess commented on how Lucy and Jellal saved her from her death. It all blew up like crazy and in the end, he talked about how much he felt safe knowing he was being saved by a former fairy." Macao finished.
It was silent for a while before Natsu breathed out a 'Woah.'
"We were so happy, people started to file in our guild and we were so proud of her, but then Sabertooth happened and everything flopped. She helped us a lot without even knowing it." Alzack laughed at the end.
"But why hasn't she come back? Why is she not here?" Gajeel actually agreed with Natsu on that, but apparently Macao didn't know about the kids since he hadn't said a word about them, not only he but the rest as well so that only leaves the fact that Lucy hid her children from the world, she didn't want to come back with three kids and have them figure out that Laxus was the father.
"Well, my guess is that she's busy with running her company. Now she owns almost all the railways and trains, plus her other little business companies. I don't know though I wish she would return, that way we wouldn't feel as if we are missing a person. We tried going to her place, she lives back in her manor and she's busy with her new family, the former criminals so we felt as if we were intruding and we didn't go." Alzack responded to that, and with that the discussion was ended but now Gajeel has a plan. He will go tomorrow to that manor and he will see his little sister. He and the others would go and surprise her with a 'WE'RE BACK!' and everything would go back to normal.
He should have known that nothing was going to be normal after this.
That night they all drunk themselves into oblivion. The next morning Gajeel woke up, got showered in the back bathroom and took clothes from the storage that Mira arranged for him. He got out to see that almost everyone was up now continuing the party and he smirked a little to see that everyone was having a good time. It wasn't Fairy Tail if the party didn't last a week or a couple of days. He motioned for the Raijinshuu who sat at a nearby table and they waved for him. He sat with them and they all discussed their plans quietly of what they should do today so to not alert any slayer.
He was so happy that he didn't notice Laxus hanging around close to their table.
XXX
They reached the train and cussed under their breath as they watched it go away.
"We have to do something. You guys go by the next train, just tell them who you are and that it's an emergency and they will immediately take you. Sawyer and I will go with our magic, we need to catch up to them." The rest nodded and Jellal plus Sawyer continued on their track, Jellal with his meteor and Sawyer with his speed, all desperate to catch the kids before Lucy saw them.
With Lucy, she has reached Magnolia and now is going back to Fairy Tail, only to find out that it was moved. When she asked for its location, people laughed and started mocking them but pointed her in their direction nevertheless, she really felt like kicking their ass for their ungrateful behavior, how many times has Fairy Tail saved this city? She shook her head and started her journey.
She walked along the road because of its unfamiliarity, until finally she saw a barn in the distant hill, and with a smile on her face she ran up to it. At that same time, the kids got off their train and went after their mother's smell.
XXX
Gajeel got up from the table and headed to the bar, he was about to order when a wind blew by in the small crack of the door, carrying with it an odor that he spent all of yesterday searching for. His body jolted up and he headed straight for the door.
"Gajeel?" Mira questioned worried because of his weird behavior, she noticed how he was last night but didn't say anything about it.
"Gajeel?" Freed called out louder when he saw Gajeel standing in front of the door.
His hands stilled on the knobs, afraid that what he might be smelling may just be an illusion, that he was hallucinating and he didn't want to go crazy yet. But like a silent prayer that was answered, a confirmation came through. A distant 'GAJ-NII!' was all he needed to open the doors and run out.
"BUNNY!" immediately the Raijinshuu were up on their feet and outside the door. The sight that greeted them had them in tears.
Lucy running towards them, her big brown eyes with unleashed tears shone with the sun's reflection, her long blond hair swayed with the wind matching the sway of her white sunflower dress, her scarlet lips pulled in a smile as she screamed over and over for them.
And then finally, a shriek broke out from Evergreen that alerted the guild to its feet. "LUCY!"
The Raijinshuu ran down to catch up with the blonde as she engulfed her brother in a hug, she cried in his chest while he stroked her hair, muttering over and over again about how much she missed him, how much she loves him. And when the Raijinshuu caught up she brought them all in a hug, doing the same routine with each and every single one of them.
The guild came outside to be met with the scene of a laughing Lucy being held by sobbing mages. They caught Lucy' eye and her smile widened.
"I missed you everyone!" she broke out of the embrace to go and hug everyone else, until she was met with grey blue eyes that stopped her in her tracks. A breath escaped her lungs. "Laxus."
XXX
He looked at his team, or could he say team? Shouldn't he say former team? He grunted as he told himself to focus. He looked at them to see them planning something with the slayer quietly, and even with his enhanced hearing he couldn't hear shit because of the chaos in the guild that already started even though it was still in the morning.
He then saw the Iron-Head go to the bar before he stopped completely. He could see that his body went rigid and that he flared his nostrils, and so Laxus did the same. He breathed in the most intoxicating smell he ever smelled in his life, strawberry and vanilla. This scent almost made him feel full, it calmed him like it was his home. He jolted himself from that idea, but then his head went and betrayed him and started thinking about the blonde they talked about yesterday, the one who saved the royals. He was impressed with that truth be told, and he remembered her vaguely but he didn't know why every time he did his heart would pinch in pain.
His train of thought broke when he heard the iron dragon slayer yell at the top of his lungs 'Bunny!' and then he saw his team, or former team or whatever, get up on their feet and go outside, so naturally he decided to follow them. It was minutes before Evergreen' shriek came out and soon everyone was out the guild.
They saw Lucy being held by his team and Gajeel, which made them all widen their eyes, even his grandfather and he thought that the fucker knew something. Clearly he didn't.
Then he saw the blonde turn to them with a smile that got brighter as she saw them. Then and then, he thought that she was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and at that thought something in his gut squeezed, alerting him of the bad that was about to come, but he was captivated by her beauty till the point it didn't matter what his instincts warned him of. But it should've. He should've paid attention.
Because the moment their eyes met, she stopped in her tracks and her face blanked. With one word that was filled with so much heartache and sadness, she opened something in him that he didn't even know was there. And he never thought that word to be his name.
His skull felt like it's cracking as he held on to it. Flashes and flashes of that same blonde that was running so happily, that was smiling, was begging for someone to stop, that she was hurt, that that person was hurting her, and the name she pronounced rattled his entire body.
It rung in his head.
"LAXUS PLEASE STOP!"
"LAXUS IT HURTS!"
"LAXUS PLEASE! STOP IT PLEASE!"
It kept coming and going, his mind a raging sea not giving rest to his soul, not giving it time to comprehend what was going on. He saw her scratch at his body, trying to push him away while he kept coming at her, over and over until he felt his release and she cried. It was all like a sick movie being played out right behind his eyes. He saw everything, felt everything, heard everything. His arms started to burn of the imaginary scratches that happened long ago, but it was till now that he felt them.
He started yelling things that he didn't even hear over his own mind that sounded like a broken record, it was all on repeat. Everything going over and over again in his head. He fisted his hand and pounded it at the ground, not even realizing that he was on his knees now. He did it again and again till he felt blood dripping from his hand, he held on to his head as he roared, a roar that came out filled with rage, aimed at himself and his father; sadness, because of what he'd done; loathe, because of what he'd done. He always prided himself of not touching a woman if she didn't want to but now to find out that he did this. It broke him, completely shattered his soul and it happened so long ago, meaning she had to live with it for a long time while he was carefree in his own world.
But now everything came back. Every single memory came back and it fueled him with a rage that was unlike ever before, unlike the time where his father was kicked out, unlike the time he tried to take over the city, unlike everything at all. He felt his magic bubble beneath his skin and was about to erupt before it was stopped.
Everything was stopped. The raging sea of his mind turned to a calm lake, the shattered parts of his soul tried to mend itself back, the rage that he felt disintegrated into nothing and the magic that he was about to let out, completely vanished.
All because of small arms that enveloped his hulk of a body.
"It's okay. I'm here. I'm alright."
Three sentences, a few words and his body sagged. He felt heavy, his head felt heavy but the heaviest thing was the weight of his crime and guilt that resided over his heart.
He took a shaky breath and whimpered out. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
…
The moment their eyes met, Lucy knew that he didn't remember, he looked at her normally until she called out to him and all hell came crashing down after this. He held his head in his hands, he began screaming but she was sure he wasn't even aware of it. Then he got on his knees and before she knew it he was pounding his hand on the ground, he kept hitting it till it drew blood but no one stopped him, all were surprised by his actions. Even she was, Gajeel came to stand in front of her, to shield her from the view but she stopped him because the next line that came out of his mouth broke something in her.
"WHAT THE HELL DID I DO? WHAT HAVE I DONE?" he kept hurting himself and Lucy knew he wasn't guilty, knew that it wasn't his fault but he didn't. And the way he kept tormenting himself brought her to tears, she sobbed as she shook her head and silently called out that it wasn't his fault, and now all eyes were on her.
"It wasn't your fault Laxus. Please listen to me." She cried out as she held her hands to her heart, silently praying to let him hear her. She had a lot of time to think about this matter, and she decided to move past it.
When she saw that he was about to overcharge himself, she leapt towards him without even thinking and brought him to her chest, she hugged him tightly and kept telling him soothing words, she felt the magic pressure lifting, she felt his body going limp in her arms and then she heard something from him that she didn't know she needed to hear so badly.
"I'm sorry." And it was like a door that closed on all these bad memories, locked with a key and never to open again.
She tightened her hold on him and he let her. "I know, I am too. This wasn't your fault, it never was. So please don't think it was." She kissed him on the top of his head as she ran her fingers through his hair.
Laxus knew she wasn't right. If he was stronger he would have been able to fight the shadow that controlled him, he would have been able to do something to at least stop it. But he didn't, he couldn't. He felt her hold on him tighten and he wanted nothing more than to hug her, than to drown in her tiny frame. But the mere thought of his hands on her sickened him, he could never touch her, never again. It all just reminded him of what he's done to her.
He didn't know that it was about to get worse.
"Mommy?" a tiny voice yelled out and Lucy instinctively spun towards the place it came from.
"Layla?" she called out surprised.
That word swam in his head. Mommy, mommy, mommy all over the place. He didn't dare look up, he couldn't look up, he doesn't want to open his eyes. He can't believe it went that far, he can't believe he fucked up that bad. He didn't want any of this, he just wanted to drown in the blonde's embrace. But fate had other plans.
When he felt Lucy tensing he knew he had to open his eyes, and when he felt the way her voice changed from soothing to deadly he knew he should do so.
"Step away from my kids." Lucy growled out.
Kids. In plural. He was sure he fucked up, but a fleeting thought assured him that they may not be his, and he felt relief wash over him but it was shortly lived. He slowly opened his eyes to see three little blondes with quivering lips staring at Lucy, behind them stood a mob of mages that were cackling like maniacs. He knew something bad yet again was going to happen, and especially when he saw the same eyes that looked back at him every time he looked in the mirror looking at Lucy now.
"Step away from my kids. I won't warn you again." Lucy stood tall and shielded Laxus from the view, she believed that he doesn't want to be seen in front of strangers like that and she had no idea how appreciative he was that she did.
"Oh, these are your little kittens. I wouldn't guess, but since they are all blonde I guess they gained the stupidity from you? Caught wondering around our place." One of the men spat.
"That's because mommy's smell led back to your base. So we thought you took her." Red yelled as he struggled in the man's grip.
"Did you now? Such a sweet little kid trying to protect his mommy." He mocked as he shook him till he got dizzy.
"Listen up asshole!" all the members of the guild gaped at Lucy the moment she cussed, even Laxus widened his eyes. "I will give you one more chance to get the fuck away from my kids, or you will be sorry you ever got out of your mother's womb."
Gajeel felt proudness bloom within him when he saw the way his sister handled herself.
"Oh~ so scary. Should I be scared? Listen up bitch, we just came here for our money."
"Money?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"Yeah, that guild is indebted to us. Just look at how pitiful they are." He laughed while slinging his head back.
"What the fuck? Macao, I sent you money each month for the past six and a half years, what the fuck happened?" Lucy turned around facing him with a dangerous aura, it wasn't directed at him but he didn't want to try his luck.
"What money you are talking about Lucy? I didn't receive anything." Macao quickly said.
She turned her head towards that man who began laughing again, her brows pulled into a glare and her lips turned to a snarl. "What did you do?"
The man kept laughing till he was crying. Red glowered in his hold then turned to his mother. "Mommy there were mails with your scent on them and they were directed to Fa- Ack!" another man slapped him across the face.
Their leader shrugged his shoulders. "Well I guess the cat's out of the bag now. We took your money then handed it to them as a loan, that mail shop is ours Blondie. Oh this is like some sick joke. But thank you really, we got real rich because of you." he finished then continued laughing.
Lucy' rage bubbled beneath her skin, her aura turned downright frightening that the kids started to shiver. Everyone backed away from her, even Gajeel and The Raijinshuu. Her dress started to flow as the wind picked up.
The man stopped laughing and stared at the blonde, he saw the kids shivering then heard them whisper. "Angry mommy."
Just then something zoomed past him, then another. He looked beside him and saw that the kids disappeared. His eyes focused back on the blonde only to see two men next to her, one with blue hair holding the girl while another with blond hair holding the boys. And in the middle, stood the blond chick.
A few seconds after that, he felt rage filled auras coming from behind him, and he and his men turned around only to see a group of mages with shadowed eyes coming their way.
"Which one do you want Sunshine?" called out a maroon haired guy.
The blonde pointed at him. "That fucker is mine, have fun with the rest."
His head kept swiveling back and forth between the blonde and the other group until he put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I think we need to calm down. I won't take money from them how about that yeah?" he miscalculated, he thought that if he brought a big mob with him he would be fine, that the returnees were weak since it's been seven years. But he didn't know who that chick was, nor who these people were. He just wanted to come and frighten Fairy Tail, make sure they know that even with their returnees they are still under their command, but nothing worked out how it should be.
"Won't take money from them?" the silverette looked as if she was contemplating, then cracked a maniacal smirk. "Nah, you hurt those kids. You stole from my sister and you tricked her former guild. Did you really think we would forgive you?"
They all lunged forward and he ran away, leaving his men to fend for themselves while looking at them. That was a big mistake he did, because as soon as he felt the air shift around him, he turned around only to be met with a blonde that was being adorned in black, from top to bottom. He took a step back before he started running the opposite way, looking behind him for one minute to see the blonde sinking in a puddle of shadows. He screamed and looked ahead of him to watch for his surroundings when a hand shot out from under him and brought him down. All around him, shadows were trying to take a nab at him, stretching their arms to take ahold of him and then the blonde would change directions so they get far from him. That lasted till she threw him from the shadows and he landed on his face.
He looked up to see the group of Fairy Tail, then looked behind him to see all his men down. Then his eyes met black voids and he shuddered.
"What's your name?" she asked him with a monotone voice.
"T-Thibault."
"Guild?"
"Twilight Ogre."
She crouched down next to him, then pulled him up by the shirt. He squeaked in fear. "Listen up Thibault from Twilight Ogre, if you come closer to Fairy Tail again I will personally handle you. If I see you asking money of them I will personally handle you. I don't want your money back, I don't give a fuck about it. I will press charges though, that is for sure. But, if I ever see you laying a hand on my kids again, I will personally fucking murder you. Got. That?"
He nodded his head several times before she let him go and he scrambled away, he got up to his men and they all left with bruises on their bodies.
Lucy kept looking at the place where he was before Ultear put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay Lu?" the rest didn't interfere because they knew that only Ultear can handle her when she got like this.
"Lu, it's fine. It's over." And with that, Lucy transformed back.
"I'm sorry, it's just that he got me so mad." Then she turned to Macao. "I'm so sorry Macao, I sent you money every month and I didn't know it was being taken, and you were treated badly as well. I'm so sorry, I should have done more. I'm sorry."
Macao sighed as he smiled. "Don't worry about it Lucy, just the thought of knowing that you remembered us all this time matters more than money."
The blonde smiled. "Macao I can see the pain within that smile." At that they both laughed.
Jellal and Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their sister back to normal. But that relief washed away when Red pointed at Laxus. "Daddy."
Jellal widened his eyes, so did Sawyer because the next thing that happened was that Red yelled to Justin that he found their Daddy.
Red wiggled out of Sawyer' hold and ran up to Laxus. He saw his father for the first time in his life, Lucy stopped laughing and looked on worriedly. Layla and Justin stood next to their brother. Makarov stood on the sidelines, now with a full understanding of what happened. All the others were confused.
And Laxus. He stood still, he didn't know what to do. How to interact with them? He just found out that he is the father of triplets, and there was no doubt that they were his. They even smelled half like him half like Lucy. So he kept blinking at them with no idea of what to fucking do.
Red came up to him and put his small right hand on his father's face. He took it back then lowered his face and started shaking.
"Red?" Lucy called out softly.
"DADDY! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" he flung himself at his father who caught him surprised by his reaction, the other two soon followed with their hugs and they all bundled themselves on Laxus as he tried to stop them from crying, kept telling them that everything was okay. He had no idea what was going on but he'd be damned if he didn't take responsibility. These were his kids, and all this happened because of his mistake.
"Lucy dear." Makarov started. "Let's go inside."
She nodded then decided to help out Laxus. "Come kids, we are going inside, get off your daddy."
"But I wanna stay with daddy." Layla whined.
"I know sweetie, but give daddy some space alright? Plus we want to get inside so come on." She could see Laxus starting to struggle with the whole thing.
"But mommy~"
The blonde turned to Jellal. "Mind helping your sister out?"
Jellal called out to the little girl. "Layla come on, we have to listen to what mommy says or Demon mommy will appear and we all know how that usually goes."
The little blonde let go of her father begrudgingly and walked towards the blue haired man. He caught the stare of the blonde. "What? It worked didn't it?"
"Demon mommy? Really?" the blonde rolled her eyes.
Meredy came up next to her and grabbed Justin off Laxus, he quickly melted in her hands. "You really don't see yourself sometimes Lucy-nee." She giggled. "What happened just now, classifies as demon mommy."
The blonde blushed red before she picked up Red and got inside while shouting that ganging up on her is not fair.
They laughed while the fairies just smiled at her cute reaction. Cobra came up to Laxus and held his hand out. "Just so you know, I don't forgive you and I don't think I ever will. But for her I am willing to try, we all are. So anything you need, you can ask us." He helped him up and walked inside. Her family right behind him.
Laxus looked at his back then turned back to his family, he looked down at his hand that was still bleeding and Wendy rushed over next to him to fix it but he stopped her. "Don't." he turned around to go inside but stopped before he left. "Thank you though." Then he continued walking. Laxus knew that he has a lot to make up for, and he knew that he needed to start right now.
The fairies stood shell shocked before Gray whispered out. "What the fuck is going on?"
Hello~
How you doing? I hope you are well.
I have a few things that I would like to say… first off, I am going to focus back on my other stories, my first one is about to be done and I want to finish it then continue with this one.
Secondly, I have something that I wish to ask you. I have two ideas for a new story and I am going to do both but which one should I start first:
1st story summary: it has been about two months since the guild disbanded, and Lucy Heartfilia is now working as a reporter with Jason. One day, she woke up next to a mop of pink hair, thinking it was her former teammate she happily removed the blanket only to find her teammate, except that he was a kid again. Then she met other dragon slayers she knew that turned as kids. All followed her, all fought for her attention, and the worse… all called her mommy.
2nd story summary: Lucy Heartfilia always had the perfect life. Loving parents, an amazing best friend and an adorable little puppy that goes by the name Plue. She was a 10 year old girl that enjoyed life to its fullest. And she lost all that in one day, when she woke up in her bed covered in blood, in her hand a sharpened knife was held. She turned her eyes to her doorway where she saw her trusted maid, Spetto trembling. She pointed an accusing finger and muttered. "Demon child." After that, Lucy went through hell.
First one is comedy, and drama. While the second is horror, mystery and in a modern-ish world. So tell me which one you'd prefer and I will start writing it after I finish with my first story. Of course the summaries need a lot more work, I still haven't crafted the final ideas and such but I am really excited for both.
And lastly, I hope you liked the chapter, I hope I didn't disappoint. I was really excited when I wrote this chapter that I finished in one day, but then I had some doubts and I just hope that you liked it.
Thank you very much for your support, your reviews always motivate me to continue writing. I love you all and I am really sorry for this long A/N.
KAWAIINECKO, signing out.
