They got the okay to bring Mercury back to Magnolia the next morning. It was a tense night; they all waited, simultaneously hoping that he'd wake up and knowing that the odds of him doing so were incredibly slim. Laxus half expected some random cop – or even the assholes from Alchemist that he hadn't gotten a good beating on – to come crashing through the door, prepared for another fight.
And yet the night was quiet. Almost too quiet, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. All they needed to do was drag their stupid water mage friend back to Magnolia, and the situation would surely begin to right itself.
Since there was no feasible way to transport him physically, Laxus had to begrudgingly rely on the one man who he knew could teleport – Doranbolt. Somehow, the Council Mage kept becoming involved with Fairy Tail's business, and though Laxus didn't trust him as far as he could throw him (which, granted, was likely quite far), his grandfather seemed to trust Doranbolt to keep their business away from the Council; that much was enough for Laxus to shakily extend his own hand as well.
He still wasn't sure who Doranbolt actually was, nor why it felt like he was forgetting something when he looked at the man, but that was a question for another day.
Admittedly, Doranbolt's appearance at around eight in the morning had startled Laxus in a way that he couldn't quite describe – even though the events of the previous day seemed to be over, a waterfall of adrenaline pumped through his body whenever he remembered the image of his friend staring back at him in chains. It was an image he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.
One such feeling had washed over him the moment that Doranbolt had simply phased into the world as though he'd always been there.
In fact, it almost startled him enough to attack the man on pure instinct. Doranbolt was far closer than to ending up with a dragon-slayer's-fist shaped imprint on his face than he could imagine, and it was only Mira putting her hand out that stopped him from impulsively reacting.
"Ah, good morning," Doranbolt said, looking none the wiser. "Have any of you been outside recently?"
Mira shook her head as Laxus crossed his arms. The others were still in the other room, watching over their friend.
"Good. You should keep it that way. This town's crawling with another division of the Rune Knights because someone knocked down Alchemist's guild hall. Be careful on your way back."
"I wonder who could have done that," Mira hummed. She didn't look amused.
Neither did Laxus, who was trying his best not to say something rude. He knew it wouldn't do them any good to run off the one guy who could get Mercury to some more immediate medical attention.
Doranbolt either didn't notice Mira's tone, or he didn't care. "Where is he?"
"In the back. Be careful."
The Council Mage nodded, following behind Mira as she led him to the back room where Mercury was staying. Laxus slowly entered after both of them.
Was it… odd that he could hardly force himself to look anymore?
Doranbolt seemed to have the same issue. His face paled when he laid eyes on the bed where Mercury was resting, a blanket still on top of him. It did nothing to hide the skinniness or the general pallor of his skin, and if you weren't looking carefully, it didn't even look like he was even breathing.
It took a few moments for him to say anything. "This is… awful. Did Alchemist really do this? Forget the guild hall – you guys should have burned the whole thing down."
Laxus's opinion of the man shot up by several orders of magnitude that day.
There was hardly any struggle to pick Mercury up. Doranbolt seemed just as surprised by this as he hefted the man up in a bridal carry, tucking his arms under his shoulders and knees. "I probably won't see you guys back at the guild, but be careful on your way back."
"We should be urging you to do that," said Fried, making a pointed look at the man in Doranbolt's arms.
"Right. He'll be fine, I promise."
And with that, he was gone, leaving the five gathered mages to deal with the sudden emptiness that permeated the room.
"Dear Mercury will be fine," Doctor Rufus assured them. "It will just take time and patience."
Laxus hoped he was right.
Their own trip home was far more uneventful than any of them could have predicted. No one questioned why a group of practically-celebrities from Fairy Tail were so far away from their hometown, nor why they were there together. Right after the guild hall had collapsed. And were leaving less than a day later.
Perhaps he should have been grateful that all of the members of the Alchemist guild who had seen their faces were probably incapacitated. That's what allowed them to peacefully hop on the train that would take them home – a trip that felt several times longer than the one that had gotten them there.
Hardly anyone even said a word except for to briefly express their irritation at the uselessness of the Magic Council for even letting the guild get that far in the first place. Bixlow tried cracking a few jokes that didn't go over well, and Evergreen's idle chatter was quickly squashed by the almost oppressive atmosphere. Mira sat back with her eyes closed, a deep frown on her face. Laxus didn't even bother opening his mouth.
By the time the almost eight hour trip was done, he was exhausted. He hadn't slept the night before, nor had he gotten any sort of rest on the train; he mind was far too preoccupied with showing him that same scene over and over again, letting him feel once more the weightlessness in his arms.
But he'd never admit that to anyone, because it was far more important to stay by Mercury's side as much as he could.
At least the guild was feeling a lot better about things than they were. Festivities were in full bloom, and the arrival of the so-called "strike team" received a roar of applause and cheers that gave Laxus an even bigger headache than the one he was already nursing. Apparently, their exploits had made the front page – and by some miracle, their names had avoided being mentioned.
He didn't care either way. It wasn't like they'd get tossed in jail even if they had been caught – popular opinion ruled the country with an iron fist, regardless of what the Magic Council or Fiorean royalty tried to claim.
As usual, instead of joining in on the party, Laxus stalked past everyone else and immediately headed towards the second floor where the infirmary was. Dusty memories came to mind when he first walked into the room; his last time there had been the day of Fantasia, when he'd been excommunicated.
He found himself wondering if Mercury had ever been in there. Probably not, right? Mercury had never been injured before, let alone in need of an isolated bed on the second floor.
He was far more likely to just try to walk things off.
To Laxus's surprise, though, there was someone already in there.
Makarov.
Laxus observed his grandfather for a moment. He stood silently, watching the small rise and fall of Mercury's chest, hands crossed behind his back. His head was just barely higher than the bed, nose nearly equal in height to the water mage's face, so Makarov could only really stare into the pale gray scales that shimmered in the darkening light.
"He fought hard," was all Laxus's grandfather said – the only thing he did to acknowledge that anyone else had entered the room.
Aside from the faint sounds of breaths, it remained silent.
Yeah, Laxus thought, Mercury fought hard, and this is what it got him.
The next couple of days were tough.
Waiting was tough.
Laxus couldn't shake the persistent feeling that there was something he could do. He wished there was something he could do – but Laxus wasn't a healer. He was a fighter. He'd done his part, and now it was up to Mercury to do his.
That was Mercury's whole thing, right? Healing, seemingly endless regeneration… He'd even admitted so himself during Fantasia, practically bragging about how Laxus had killed him and he'd gotten right back up.
Yeah. Nothing could stop Mercury.
He'd be fine.
Eventually.
Wendy had already come in and done her treatment. Laxus would never admit until now just how handy it was that they had someone on their side with the ability to heal – and heal she did, removing any other visible wounds that she could find after looking over the man with a gaze like a fine-toothed comb.
It was funny, though. Mercury had always claimed that magic not intended for non-humans would never work on him, and yet Wendy's seemed to work just fine. Better than fine, even – she said that he was an easy patient, whatever the hell that meant.
When she was done, Mercury looked far more alive than he had beforehand. He didn't wake up, but some color returned to his face, and most of his visible wounds disappeared. Wind Dragon Slayer Magic really was handy.
Still, there were things it apparently couldn't fix – half of Mercury's body remained black and limp, like it was part of a corpse rather than a living being. The sight of it filled Laxus with a disgust he couldn't quite put into words.
It was just another sign that Mercury was going to have to suffer more. They just didn't know the extent of it yet; only the water mage would be able to tell them what it meant or how it felt, and if even the Alchemist guild hadn't managed to cure it…
Well, Laxus wasn't a scientist, either. He couldn't help in that department – none of them could.
The infirmary was too small for many people to be in there at once. At the behest of Porlyusica, they tried to limit the number of people who came and went – something about stopping potential contaminants from hitting an already weakened immune system, which meant that Laxus was practically in there for every waking hour. He only left when he was chased out.
At some point, the act of waiting had become an obsession. Mercury had become an obsession – one that Laxus wasn't sure it was necessary to shake. He'd been trying to find the man for almost four months now, and here he was, laying in bed and yet not showing any sign that he was aware he'd even been rescued.
How ungrateful Mercury was. Laxus made a promise to himself to bug the fuck out of the man when he finally did wake up.
They'd stuck two IVs in him just to get things moving; one contained whatever the hell that Doctor Rufus had provided them with, and the other one was salt water, at Porlyusica's suggestion. The latter would have killed an ordinary man – an ordinary human. Mercury, though, supposedly gained his strength from the ocean, a fact that no one had really been able to confirm.
Porlyusica was both the only healer other than Wendy as well as the only healer with any sort of background treating Mercury – she'd apparently been a staple during the seven year gap – so they kind of just let her do whatever she wanted.
No one was sure what else they could do.
Only after two days had passed like that, sitting by the bedside waiting, did Laxus finally leave Mercury's bedside. He hadn't slept in an actual bed since the day before their raid (a matter that still wasn't fully resolved) and he was more than happy to keep it that way.
Knowing Mercury… he'd wake up the moment Laxus left, and then complain that Laxus had abandoned him.
… What a pain that man was. Laxus was seriously considering never letting him out of his sight again. He only ever seemed to get into trouble when no one was looking.
Laxus knew it wasn't like him to worry so much. He couldn't think of a single person in his whole life who'd dragged this sort of emotion out of him – not his shithead father, back when the man had been the absolute paragon of all that was good in the world, nor his team, though they were a very, very close second (a fact that he would never admit to anyone). Not even his grandfather elicited this sort of reaction.
Maybe that was just the Mercury effect; somehow, he made people care way too much despite attempting to keep them all at an arm's length away.
When Laxus finally did remove himself from the infirmary, it wasn't by choice. It also wasn't the first time someone had tried to get him to leave. First was Porlyusica, who threatened to beat him with a broom, then Mira, who was slightly more kind about it but clearly thinking the same thing, if necessary. His grandfather tried, giving up after one attempt.
The ones who finally got to leave were his own team.
More specifically, it was Evergreen. She told Laxus that he smelled so goddamn bad that Mercury probably wouldn't have wanted to wake up, if only to save himself from having to get a whiff of the dragon slayer.
(No one commented on the fact that Mercury physically lacked the ability to smell.)
Her words were scathing, but Laxus could see the intent behind them, so he agreed to run home and shower under the condition that they had to watch the sleeping man – something all three of them readily agreed to.
He promised to return quickly, but Fried told him it was better to get a breath of fresh air while he was at it. Bixlow told him he better eat something on the way back, and Evergreen told him that a walk was going to do him a lot of good if he was just going to stuff himself inside the infirmary again.
It was out of good will, he knew. All of their actions were – each and every one of them were just as worried as he was.
Begrudgingly, he went back to his house, only a short walk from the guild, and showered as quickly as he could, putting on new clothes. Evergreen was right. He did reek. His arms still stung from the minor electricity burns he'd given himself, and looking in the mirror revealed light bruises on his throat and arms from that research bastard's binds.
He wished, not for the first time and definitely not for the last, that he'd hit all of them just a bit harder.
But, what was done was done. There was nothing else he could tell himself but that.
When Laxus finished changing, he saw the pile of clothes he'd just taken off sitting on the ground. Though they still smelled strongly of blood and copper, there wasn't a speck of red left on them. Enough time had already passed that the blood outside of Mercury had already faded away, becoming nothing more than spare particles of ethernano floating in the air.
That meant it was over, right? Any remaining traces of that damned pharmaceutical should have been gone, or at least, on its way out.
But Laxus wouldn't relax until everything was over-over – when Mercury woke up. And even then… there were still plot holes to fill and a full recovery that had to be made.
He headed back to the guild, eager to return to the much-too-small infirmary room. The odds of him being asked to leave again soon weren't low, but until that happened, he'd remain there as long as he could, waiting by Mercury's side until he woke.
Laxus owed the water mage at least that much.
But, when he returned, there was a noticeable shift in the guild's attitude. The atmosphere had gone from a somewhat lighthearted, proud one, to heavy, the guild itself noticeably more empty than it had been beforehand.
And there was a distinct humidity in the air that hadn't been there before.
Someone was shouting at him before he'd even gotten fully through the doors – "Lax, we could use your help up here!"
Bixlow.
The dragon slayer flashed up the stairs, sprinting up them so quickly that he nearly missed the top one, stumbling, yet proceeding onwards. Bixlow, Evergreen, and Fried were waiting around at the top of the stairs, remaining outside the door hesitantly as though unsure of what to do.
Laxus slammed into the infirmary. A short, quiet scream came from the inside, undeniably Mercury's.
"Don't – I – not again –" He was hyperventilating, unable to breathe. Inside the infirmary, the air was thick with water. Small droplets were already starting to gather on the walls, dripping down – undoubtedly Mercury's unconscious doing as he writhed under the magically enlarged fist of Laxus's own grandfather, hands clawing where he was being pinned.
"Mercury, you've got to calm down!" Makarov insisted. His hand was shaking from the effort of grabbing the man tightly enough that he couldn't hurt himself, but lightly enough to not hurt him.
"What's going on?" Laxus demanded.
"He's panicking. If he's not careful, he's going to just make everything worse – Mercury, can you hear me?"
Apparently, Mercury could not. His eyes remained shut, giving the impression that he wasn't even awake, but his hands slamming against anything they could touch told Laxus otherwise.
This is why he hadn't wanted to leave!
He fucking knew something was going to happen the moment that he walked away.
He dodged around his grandfather, putting himself right over the water mage's face. Even with his eyes closed, he looked desperate. Afraid. No, afraid wasn't nearly enough to describe it – even "terror" didn't come close.
Mercury looked like the world was ending.
"I – I – can't," he stuttered. His chest was swollen by breaths he couldn't let out, inhaling quickly but unable to exhale.
If this went on, he'd pass out long before they got him to calm down.
The dragon slayer pushed Mercury's chest back down to the bed, pressing down on his shoulders. Mercury's head fell back against the pillow, legs still flailing against the weight of Master Makarov's large hand.
"Let him go," Laxus demanded.
His grandfather didn't question it – his hand shrank, leaving Mercury free to flail all he wanted.
Laxus put a knee on top of Mercury's legs in an attempt to stop him from hurting himself more. Even when the water mage whined, attempting once more to throw the rest of his weight to get Laxus off, there was nothing he could do but lay back into the comfort of the infirmary bed.
"Mercury, you're back at the guild now. You don't have to fight it anymore."
Mercury hit him across the cheek. He ignored it, not pressing any harder, and tried again.
"Open your eyes," Laxus grunted. "You're not in the dark anymore. It's bright."
The water mage paused. His body remained tight and coiled; Laxus thought for a second that he was going to lash out again. Staring down, the dragon slayer noticed that Mercury's nose was crooked, though it didn't look broken at all – something neither he nor Rufus had picked up on.
"I –"
"Breathe, Mercury. You're back at the guild. No one's gonna hurt you anymore, except yourself if you keep this up."
"Lax…"
Slowly, Mercury's body seemed to get looser. His shoulders lost their tension, and he visibly relaxed down into the plush pillow beneath his neck. The thrashing stopped entirely. Even his hands unclenched, blood stuck under his nails from clawing at Makarov.
Mercury did as he was told – he cautiously tried to push open one of his eyes, leaving the other precariously clenched shut.
Laxus saw recognition flash within it.
"You gonna start fighting again if I get off of you?"
The water mage limply shook his head.
With Laxus's feet back on the floor and Mercury free to move around, Laxus took a peek behind him. Makarov was just staring. He ignored the small beads of blood rolling from his wrist down to the floor, watching the interaction in front of him – watched his grandson move with much more gentleness than he'd ever seen the man move with, more care than he'd seen from anyone in a long time.
At some point when Makarov wasn't looking, Laxus had changed.
"What the hell are you looking at?" the dragon slayer hissed when he saw that look in Makarov's eye.
His grandfather simply didn't think he'd ever see the day that Laxus cared so much. He shrugged, turning back towards the door and ushering the three mages that had been waiting outside a little further down the hall.
What, was he giving them some privacy or something?
God, that old man was so…
(Laxus appreciated it, though he'd certainly never say it out loud.)
"Laxus, sorry, I…" Mercury's voice was still tight and breathy. It hardly got above the level of a whisper, so Laxus had to lean forward to clearly make out what he was saying.
The dragon slayer sighed, pulling a chair forward to the edge of the infirmary bed. "Don't apologize, dipshit. It's not like you were doing it intentionally."
He'd been fearing for his life. That much was obvious. Laxus could forgive the nasty bruise he was sure to get in a day's time if it meant that Mercury was now calmer.
They sat there in a somewhat awkward silence for a moment, neither man knowing what to say.
Laxus had been thinking of what words he should say when he first got to see Mercury again for the past months, and for the last three days, he'd been trying to scrape together what he'd say when Mercury finally woke up – and he still had no words come to mind when the man was actually in front of him and awake. It was like there were too many things he could say. Too many things he wanted to say.
Mercury was the one to break their tentative silence. He didn't bother fighting to sit up, just staring up at the blonde as best he could from the pillow.
"Thank you," Mercury said. "For coming."
He kept his words short and sweet. Laxus could already tell that he was starting to fade off into unconsciousness again, fighting to keep his eyes open.
And, in words uncharacteristic of the lightning dragon slayer and not nearly enough to convey his feelings, Laxus said, "Anytime."
Mercury fell back asleep.
The next time he woke up was several hours later. Daylight had faded, leaving the room darker without the light of the sun, and the guild had returned to being just as boisterous as it had before. Perhaps even more so, now that they had confirmation that Mercury wasn't, well…
Insane.
At least, not entirely.
Laxus didn't bother joining them. Again. He was now determined to remain by Mercury's side for as long as possible, especially now that he'd seen how confused the man was. It didn't matter anyway, though, because it felt like the whole damn guild had come through the room during the course of the day, each coming to pass on their well wishes to a sleeping man.
Laxus didn't get it… but he also didn't chase them out, either.
Plenty of them gave him wary looks as though to wonder what a dragon slayer would be doing, holed up in an infirmary – as though he wasn't Mercury's (arguably) best friend – and Laxus did get that. For most of them, save those present on Tenrou, the last time they'd met had been… arduous.
In hindsight, making them fight each other hadn't been the best idea. Who would have guessed? Making friends destroy each other isn't good for boosting morale or fostering friendships. It was arguably a good thing that Laxus was now intimately aware of that. He wasn't going to make the mistake of not treasuring his bonds again or whatever his grandfather had been trying to preach all this time, especially with how they'd apparently been strong enough to carry them seven years into the future.
(Yeah, he still wasn't certain how that had worked, but then again, he also had no idea how the ghost of their first guildmaster kept showing up like she owned the place.)
When the water mage awoke the next time, there was no one else in the infirmary, save the two of them. Laxus was glad; he didn't want to risk another freak out or have someone witness him attempt to calm Mercury down. His grandfather watching it had already been enough embarrassment. What, did Makarov think he wasn't able to soothe the water mage?
"Ngh –"
Mercury's cough was the first thing that Laxus heard.
He stood quickly, searching for any sign that the water mage was going to go berserk again. When he didn't see any, the man just putting a hand against his face blearily, Laxus let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been keeping in.
"Take it easy," Laxus instructed as though he had any knowledge of Mercury's health.
Well, did anyone?
"Yeah," the water mage muttered. Laxus noted that his eyes were still clenched shut, though the rest of his body looked so loose that he actually might not have been able to move more than the hand he now rested on his face.
Laxus briefly debated between calling for someone else – someone who might have known what to do when a briefly comatose patient woke up – before deciding that things were likely fine; so long as Mercury wasn't freaking out, Laxus could deal with it.
Probably.
"You feeling okay?"
He wasn't expecting an honest answer. Mercury was never very good at those; he could be bleeding out, and he'd still say he was perfectly okay. To Laxus's surprise, though, the water mage weakly shook his head.
"Head," was his only explanation.
That was probably to be expected; he'd been out for almost four days, and only he and god knew what had happened before that. Porlyusica had been in briefly to let them know she didn't expect Mercury to wake up within the week – his body had been at its limit when Laxus had found him, and the moment he'd been "safe," it attempted to shut down entirely.
(Laxus hated the sound of that.)
Mercury's right hand tensed from where it was across his eyes. It still must have been incredibly bright, but he quickly shifted the hand to grip the side of his head tightly.
And he moaned painfully.
"Merc? What's wrong? I can go get that wind dragon brat if you need. She said she cleared up most of what she could see, but –"
"Laxus."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Emotionally reeling, the dragon slayer didn't know how to respond. The first thing that came to his mind was bristling irritation – he'd waited all this time, and the first thing Mercury tells him is to shut up? – but he knew the water mage had to have a reason. Mercury always had a reason for every little action. More often than not, his actions were calculated, seeking the most personal benefit.
For what might have been the first time in his life, Laxus listened to Mercury.
Several minutes passed. He practically held his breath, watching as the man on the bed simply sat there, gripping his head and massaging his temples. What was the best thing to do here? Go fetch Porlyusica or Wendy? Go find someone whose only talents didn't involve cracking skulls?
In the end, Laxus decided that there was nothing else he could do.
As usual.
Finally, Mercury spoke again – "Better now. Probably."
The water mage let his hand relax, shoulders falling back to the bed underneath him. It was only then that he finally opened his eyes, too, blinking at the dim infirmary lightbulb above his head, yet forcing them to stay open.
Distastefully, Laxus noticed that his voice was still light and throaty, and it still appeared to hurt him to talk. His tone barely rose above a whisper.
"What was that about?"
Mercury didn't respond right away. There seemed to be a long delay between him hearing – he tilted his head towards Laxus slightly – and actually being able to register what was being said, as though he had to filter through several layers of noise. Only after several seconds had passed did the water mage respond.
"Too loud."
"Loud?"
Last he checked, Laxus was the only person in the room, and he'd been told to shut up.
"Ocean," Mercury corrected. "Haven't been this close for a while."
Oh. Right.
Laxus had forgotten – a trend that was quite common, apparently – that Mercury could 'hear' the ocean. It hadn't even occurred to him that there were situations in which he couldn't hear it, but, then again, it had hardly ever occurred to the dragon slayer that he could hear it in the first place; it hardly ever seemed to bother him.
"Makes my head spin," Mercury said, then coughed loudly.
A thin line of saliva flew from his mouth to the closed fist that he'd managed to weakly stick in front of his face, but that wasn't the end of it. A second cough followed in the wake of the first, and then a third. Soon enough, the water mage was having a hard time breathing, each inhale seemingly triggering an itch in his throat that made the next one even worse.
Quickly, the coughs turned into wet gags. The dragon slayer, who'd never cared for anyone in his life, didn't know what to do other than wait until they subsided, even if that meant his friend was struggling to form a complete sentence.
As usual, Laxus was useless.
"Should I call for —?"
"No," the water mage quickly, quietly cut him off. "Will be —"another harsh cough broke through, wracking his body "— fine soon."
It didn't matter what Mercury intended to happen, though, because the door was thrown open. Laxus heard the click of it hitting the wall behind it, turning quickly to see who'd burst in — a mop of tightly bound white hair bounced past him, rushing to the struggling mage in the bed.
"Mira," the dragon slayer commented. He stood there as little more than a statue, fully aware that his presence was unnecessary at best.
Either she had the best timing, or she'd been eavesdropping. Laxus wouldn't put either one past her.
The Take Over mage delicately guided Mercury's head to a glass of water she'd somehow known to bring in with her, helping him sit up against a couple of pillows in the process. His right hand trembled around the cup, his left remaining laying at his side. Only with Mira's support was he able to avoid dropping it entirely onto his lap, especially with how each cough shook his body.
Mira was more gentle than Laxus could ever hope to be.
"If you're going to keep hogging the room, I think we'd all appreciate it if you could offer some support," she said dryly.
Mercury, the traitor, bit out a laugh – and spit the last mouthful of water he'd taken onto his lap.
"Shut it," Laxus hissed.
If Mercury could laugh, he'd be fine. Laxus was certain of that.
With her task seemingly completed, Mira set the nearly empty glass on the bedside table, but instead of leaving, she took a chair from one of the other empty beds and, to Laxus's displeasure, dragged it right next to his own.
Sitting down, she said, "I'm glad to see you're awake now. And reasonable."
"Sorry about that," he said. "Thought they were trying something new to mess with me."
He sounded like he thought everything before was a dream. In fact, he looked like he felt somewhat guilty about the whole thing, glancing towards the bruise on Laxus's jaw with a squint. His pupils were still as small as pinpricks.
The room must have been too bright for a man who'd spent the last four years trapped in a basement.
"It's fine," Mira said gently as she wiped some of her hairs out of her face. "Don't apologize for something like that. It's not your fault."
Something about the statement seemed to make the water mage even more apologetic, but he didn't say anything else.
Laxus noticed that he looked somewhat faint, eyes unfocused despite trying their best to lock onto either other person in the room. There was a slight sway to his movements despite being propped against a pillow – something that made Laxus feel on edge.
It looked like Mercury could fall at any moment.
"Are you feeling any better now? How's the… noise?" he asked instead of commenting.
Mercury wouldn't want people to point out his weaknesses right now. He was probably the most aware out of any of them just how helpless he felt.
"It's better. Feels like my head's under water a bit."
Mira leaned forward. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"No." For a moment, it felt like he was going to leave it at that, but Mercury added, "... it's just a matter of figuring out how to ignore it again."
"Other than that, are you feeling okay?"
Laxus watched Mercury's movements very carefully when he opened his mouth to respond, waiting for the inevitable.
"I'm fine, I guess," he responded after a moment, biting the inside of his cheek.
When it came to lying about himself, Mercury thought he was great at it, but that wasn't the case at all – it's just that most people didn't pay attention to the little things. But Laxus… he'd been with Mercury for over six years.
He knew the man's tells probably better than anyone else.
And one of them was biting the inside of his cheek.
"Just –" Laxus wasn't sure what to say. Just stop lying? Just give it up? "Just tell the truth. Please."
Mercury flinched. Laxus never said please, just as Mercury never told the truth; there was a first time for everything, and he hoped that the admission was enough to get the man to actually be candid about how he was feeling.
That was their promise, right? No more secrets.
They sat in a tense silence for more than a minute. Mercury stared only at his hands like he couldn't meet Laxus or Mira's eyes without breaking, quietly breathing.
"I feel like I'm going to stop breathing if I stop thinking about it," he finally said just as quietly. "Or like my heart is going to stop beating the moment I close my eyes."
Something in his body became noticeably tighter.
"Should we fetch Porlyusica?" Mira asked. Laxus didn't miss the sudden sharpness to it; he was just as tense as she sounded.
"No. I don't think it's something she can fix." The quiet part of his words that went unsaid was that he didn't think anyone could fix whatever was wrong with him. Mercury's right hand clenched into a fist. "I'm sorry that you guys came to rescue me just for me to be –"
"Shut up."
Laxus' mouth worked faster than his brain did, the words coming out unintentionally harsh. His hands were equally as tight around his knees to the point that it was almost painful, nails digging into his pants.
"Laxus…" Mira practically whispered, but he'd already stood up.
"Don't say it. Don't you dare say it."
Don't say that you're going to die anyway.
Laxus remembered Fantasia and the helplessness that he felt when Mercury had admitted that he was essentially suffering from a chronic Magic Deficiency. It was still there, thrumming in his throat. He wanted to scream.
"Sorry," Mercury said, voice even quieter.
"Don't say you're sorry, either. Just get the fuck better and then I'll beat you for acting so goddamn pathetic."
He remembered what Mercury said then, too – that he defaulted to anger when he wasn't sure what to feel, and he could tell right then that it was the most accurate thing that Mercury had ever said. Laxus's whole body physically shook with rage, every hair standing on end.
What else was he supposed to feel? Resignation? Acceptance?
No way in hell.
"Laxus, even for you, that's –"
"No, he's right, Mira," Mercury said, a small smile on his face – one that wasn't quite happy, yet also not one that was fake, either. He took a deep breath. "Sorry. For saying that, not for having to be rescued."
Laxus huffed, then sat back down. "Yeah, well, if you're sorry, you can start by being honest for once. We'll deal with everything as it comes."
Mercury stared at him for a long moment – his gaze was almost inquisitive.
"What is it?"
"You sounded almost mature there," the water mage commented. "I was surprised."
Beside Laxus, Mira made a noise almost like she was choking, covering her hand with her mouth to stop the laugh from coming out – and failed. He glared at her, then returned his attention to Mercury.
"You have to be the most irritating man I have ever met," Laxus hissed.
"Have you looked in a mirror recently?"
This time, Mira's laugh was the full thing. She didn't bother trying to swallow it, the sound bursting out to fill the dull infirmary with a sound it had probably never heard before.
Laxus flushed red all the way to his ears. He couldn't tell if it was a second wave of anger or if he was just genuinely embarrassed.
Mercury was the only one who could pull such a reaction from him.
… the only one who could do so and not immediately get a fist to the nose, anyway.
"Stop being a wise-ass and answer the question."
The laughter died down, and Mercury's face turned slightly more serious, smile disappearing entirely. The look of sadness in his eyes was unmissable; Laxus held his breath, waiting for what Mercury was going to say.
He looked like he was really struggling with how to answer – not because he didn't want to, but because there were no correct words to use.
"I…" Mercury trailed off. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure."
"Sure about what?" Mira prodded.
"About how I'm feeling… I can't really feel much," he explained, quickly adding, "and I mean that literally. My arm – I can't feel it at all."
As if to demonstrate, Mercury lifted his left arm with his right; the limb dangled helplessly in his grip, falling to his chest the moment that he let it go. Not even his fingers twitched when it landed. "It's like it's not there at all. Can't move it, can't feel it."
Laxus grimaced. "Is it just your arm?"
"For the most part, yeah. Some stuff on the inside, too." The water mage traced a line on his bare chest, feeling for the difference between the scales and the blackened skin. "It'll spread further, though. It's just a matter of time before I can't walk or something."
The lightning dragon slayer found himself staring at the black, almost dusty patch of skin on Mercury's cheek that had appeared when fighting Kipsa, cursing himself for not being able to predict what would happen. "Is it a Magic Deficiency thing?"
Mercury nodded. "Far as they could tell, yeah."
'They.' There was only one group of people that could have been.
Alchemist.
Laxus grimaced, thinking about the implications. Alchemist had to have known about this, and yet they still kept taking and taking, stealing from Mercury until there was hardly anything left – and it would have continued, had they not discovered what the bastards were doing.
"Maybe you should have waited another week," Mercury joked quietly. "Kipsa was pretty sure he was gonna hit a breakthrough soon."
"Don't even joke about that, Merc," Mira sighed. "You were asleep for three and a half days… I don't even want to think about how long we would have had to wait if we were even a day later."
Who even knew if he would have woken up at all?
Mercury's shoulders slumped. "Right…"
"If he's in a good enough mood to joke around, he'll probably be fine," Laxus said. He looked at Mercury with a pointed expression. "Right?"
He stayed silent.
"Mercury…"
"I will be fine… for a while," the water mage said, "but like I said… it's going to keep spreading. It's only a matter of time."
"We'll find a solution," Mira insisted. "Now that you're here, we can focus the guild's resources into –"
"What can you do that they haven't already tried?" Mercury looked right at Mira, trying his best not to squint or look away. His face was serious, and yet something about it just looked so tired. So resigned – like the ending had already been written. "I don't remember all of it, but that guild tried a lot of things. A lot of really painful things. They really didn't want to give up their money printer."
Both Mira and Laxus frowned. Neither of them could determine the full extent of what had happened from just that sentence, and both had a different reaction.
Mira looked sad. It wasn't a pitying look – both of them would have absolutely hated that – just one that said she wanted to carry the burden of remembering with Mercury.
But Laxus? Yeah, he was just as pissed as ever.
"We'll find a way," Mira insisted.
No one said anything for a few seconds. The atmosphere was almost as heavy as it was on the train ride back, but instead of irritation, annoyance, and anger, this one was thick with a feeling not unlike despair.
What else could they try that a group of scientists hadn't already attempted? None of them were scientists. Sure, they had more resources, but that meant nothing if there was no one around to use them correctly.
"If you…somehow get ahold of their data, I can probably interpret it for you," Mercury said finally. "I can't guarantee that it'll have any sort of answers in it, but it should at least… tell you guys the extent of what happened. What they already tried."
Laxus caught Mira side eyeing him, though he had no idea what for.
"That might be a bit difficult," she said. "The guild has already collapsed, and the Magic Council is starting to crack down on the people who were part of it."
Mercury stiffened. "Right. I forgot about that."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just…" he swallowed. "The Magic Council's pretty shit, isn't it? There's no way that they managed to catch all of them, and… no, never mind, it's stupid." See
"It's not stupid. Are you worried that they might come back?"
"Maybe." Mercury said it like he wasn't sure of it himself.
"There is absolutely no way that anyone from that bastard guild is making it within a thousand feet of Magnolia," Laxus grumbled. "And if they do, you can bet they're going to get obliterated long before they reach the guild hall."
The laugh that came from Mercury's mouth was actually closer to a sigh, but at least he did smile, and his shoulders relaxed a little bit. "Yeah… you're right. I shouldn't worry about them."
His hand was still tightly wound around the blanket on top of him. Laxus could tell that he was still stressed about it regardless of his words, but he didn't press; he wasn't nearly confident enough to say he could handle a fragile man without breaking him completely.
"Do you think any of them might come after you?" Mira asked gently. "Laxus is right. I don't think any of them are stupid enough to try anything, but just in case…"
Mercury went quiet. Laxus couldn't tell if it was because he was thinking, or because there were people he could think of.
"You beat Renee, right?" he said after a moment of silence.
The familiarity that he said her name with gave Laxus chills down his spine. It was strangely intimate, and yet there was something beneath, something that had Mercury repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist. It looked like an unconscious motion – he probably didn't even notice he was doing it.
"Yeah," Mira said, tilting her head. As if to show that everything was fine, the Take Over mage flexed her arm. "You won't have to worry about her. She wasn't anything special."
"She's… I don't know. The research lead was in it to get his name put on something famous and the rest of the researchers were basically in it for the money, but she was more interested from a… personal standpoint. Did she use magic when you guys fought?"
Mira nodded.
"Did you figure out what it was?"
"No," she sighed. "She just had some pretty monstrous strength. I think she was trying to set something up, but I managed to get some good hits in before she could."
Mira's smile told them both that 'some good hits' was putting it incredibly lightly; they'd both seen the state that Renee had been in when Laxus had arrived – it was likely her face would never be the same shape that it had been.
And that was assuming the woman had even been in any sort of shape to pull herself out of the burning building.
"Yeah… probably for the best," Mercury said, swallowing thickly. He rubbed his throat afterwards. "She uses a type of blood manipulation magic – she wouldn't stop talking about how it's a pseudo-Lost magic or something like that. It basically makes her immune to any sort of blood afflictions."
"Okay?" Laxus asked. "And what does that have to do with her having a personal interest in you?"
Mercury gave him a heavy stare. "My blood is apparently toxic to humans at normal concentrations, so Renee's the only one who could drink it directly – which means she gets more out of it, too. Using her magic on my blood basically makes her impervious to wounds until it wears off."
"So that's probably what she was trying to get from her desk," Mira mused, distinctly unhappy. "It's a good thing I got to her before she managed to grab anything."
Mercury nodded. "You could say she had a… v-vested interest in it…"
Somehow, his face looked even paler now, his breathing shallow yet quick.
For what had to have been at least the fifth time in the last hour, Laxus asked, "Are you okay?"
He expected no response. Not Mercury putting a hand against his mouth like he was trying to keep himself from vomiting. There was a tremble in his arm.
"Merc?" Mira said, standing up and casting her gaze around the room. She was looking for a trash can, just in case.
"I – I'm fine," Mercury said, but his voice trembled. Upon catching Laxus's suspicious stare, he opened his mouth to speak more, pausing in the air like that. He looked like a fish out of water. "I really a-am fine, it's just… that woman, she…"
Mira put the trash can at his side, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder – but he quickly shook it off. Laxus thought he looked like he was going to fold in on himself.
"Don't… just, don't touch me, okay? Give me a second. I'll – I'll get this under control. Just give me a second."
He stumbled over his words so badly that he repeated himself, his hand moving to cover the side of his neck as though to protect it. The movement was so violent and unexpected that it nearly pulled the IV out of his arm along with it.
Mira didn't make any further attempts, but the phrase 'I'll get this under control' left a bad taste in Laxus's mouth.
"Just what the hell did that woman do to you?" he asked before his mind even registered the question.
"Laxus," Mira chided. She appeared torn between hovering over the man in the bed and scolding him for his insensitive question; in the end, she decided on the former. "Mercury, I won't touch you, but I need you to breathe with me. You're going to start hyperventilating again. Breathe."
"I – yeah, okay."
How the hell had Renee Shaleback turned Mercury into… this? A stuttering, hyperventilating mess that looked like he was capable of falling apart at any moment.
Part of Laxus was terrified of the answer.
Mira counted to four, paused, then counted down from the same, and Mercury followed her like they'd done this song and dance before. Perhaps they had; Laxus had been gone for far too long to claim that he knew everything that went on here, or the relationships that his friends had formed in his absence.
It took several minutes for Mercury to calm down once more. This was the second time that he'd 'freaked out,' but Laxus was just glad that this time wasn't violent.
The bruise on his jaw throbbed as though to agree.
"Is that better?" Mira asked. Mercury nodded mutely, blankly staring at his legs as he slowly removed the hand from his neck.
"I'm sorry…"
Mira frowned, her tone turning somewhat harsh, though Laxus could tell it was coming from a place of genuine worry. "Don't apologize. Never apologize for something you can't control."
Laxus caught her emphasis on the word 'control,' and realized that she'd caught onto that odd phrase, too – 'I'll get this under control.' Whether it was something Mercury had been 'taught' in the past four years or a habit far older, neither of them could tell.
Mercury said nothing, only biting on his lip. He refused to make eye contact with either one of them.
"Mercury," Mira said, "I can't pretend to understand what you've gone through, and you don't have to explain it all unless you want to, but I don't want you to suffer. As long as you get better, I'll be satisfied – and I'm sure Laxus feels the same way."
Laxus nodded even though it didn't matter; Mercury still didn't look up.
It was frustrating. Laxus was genuinely terrified – terrified – that Mercury might retreat into the shell that Doctor Rufus had mentioned once more and never come out again, because if that happened, what would become of his friend? Would he wither away, too scared to even open his mouth again?
Mercury opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again, then spoke.
"Renee liked to play with things that she found pretty."
It was a short sentence, but it was enough. Laxus stood so quickly that his stool fell over. "I'm gonna fucking kill her."
Yeah, objectively speaking, Mercury was a pretty man. In fact, he was pretty as a woman, too; no matter which way you swung, you could find something to like in the man. He had long eyelashes, smooth hair, and beautiful gray eyes, but he also had a toned physique that a lot of men would kill for. The care that he put into his appearance was even more than some women did; Laxus knew for a fact that he used to spend far longer than necessary brushing out his hair and making sure it didn't make him look disheveled.
In simple words, Mercury could be described as beautiful, no matter your inclination or preference.
And the Alchemist guild master had apparently agreed.
When Laxus had asked what the hell she did to Mercury, he was never expecting an answer; he was expecting the shame of having been tied in a basement like a fucking dog to eat away at the man until he either got over it or broke entirely, at which point, he'd have plenty of people at his side to help but him back together.
But this? It was more than humiliation. It was more than shame.
It was the absolute rage in Laxus's veins as he imagined it – imagined a situation that was literally unimaginable, because he wasn't there and he'd never met that bastard of a guildmaster. All he could do was look at Mercury and see that he had been hurt in a way that wasn't actually visible to the eye.
He was gonna kill that bitch. It didn't matter if she'd already been taken into Magic Council custody or if she was on the run, or even if those stupid Council bastards had come to the conclusion that she was completely innocent.
He was –
"Laxus."
– going to –
"Laxus."
– kill her.
"LAXUS."
He looked up to see Mercury finally staring at him again, eyes strangely intense for a man who had just been on the cracking. There was no longer a tremor in his voice, but the tremor in his arm was still there as he sat there staring, waiting for Laxus to respond.
"What?" He practically snapped. God, his limbs were shaking because of how angry he was, and it felt like the room had increased in temperature.
"I – shit, this is stupid, but I," Mercury's voice got really quiet, "don't want you to leave."
"What?" Laxus repeated, his steam suddenly gone.
"Don't leave me alone," he said, putting his head in his hands – his hand, as only one worked now. Those long, pale fingers of his grabbed his own hair like he was trying to rip it out, and somehow, his voice got even quieter. "Please don't leave me again. Both of you – it's been seven years. I really, really thought that you two had died and left me alone again, and I'm… tired of being alone."
Laxus heard the sound of something hitting the soft cloth beneath Mercury's face.
The realization that he was crying hit Laxus like a punch to the gut. It knocked all the breath out of his lungs, and his legs almost went weak.
"You…" he started, but no words came after that.
What did he say?
What could he say?
He had left Mercury alone – all of them had, for seven whole, long years, and they weren't the only ones to have done it; not only had Mercury been alone, he had been alone in an entirely foreign place in which each day was some hell that Laxus couldn't begin to imagine.
Mira shot him an angry glare, either because it was his fault Mercury was crying – sobbing – or because he couldn't bring himself to say anything else.
"Merc, we're sorry," she said gently – still not touching him, but getting close enough that her breath tickled his ears. She leaned in like she was telling a secret. "You were alone for so long, and we weren't there to save you. We took too long."
"I thought you two were dead…" Mercury repeated. "Do you know how long it took me to even want to wake up again? I seriously thought… I wanted to…"
The sound of a sob from his mouth broke Laxus's heart.
"It's okay." Mira soothed him like one might a child, though Mercury didn't seem to mind. He didn't even flinch when she slowly, softly put her arms around him, giving him a hug as though her actions were a charm to keep the sadness at bay.
She didn't try to assure him that everything was fine now that they were here, nor did she explain that it wasn't their fault that it had taken themes o long; he likely already knew that if they'd known it would turn out like this, neither of them would have stepped on that damn island in the first place.
Instead, she just sat there, listening to him cry. Like he was a scared, hurt child who wanted nothing more than to see his family again.
Maybe in any other situation, Laxus would have made fun of the two of them. If he was still the same person he was before Fantasia, he would have laughed, and called such a display a blatant show of weakness, but now…
It hurt him to watch. Physically hurt him, like his chest was tearing in two.
"Mercury."
The man looked up at him around Mira's shoulder, thick tears still sliding down his cheeks – one pale, and the other a dusty black, a reminder on his face that their time might be limited.
"I won't leave you," Laxus said after a long moment of staring, "so don't go leaving me, either."
Mercury's smile was stained by tears, face scrunched like he was so desperately trying to keep the rest of them inside.
"Yeah," he said. "I won't."