Broken Fairies

by EnergyMageFrea

Light Magic has won over Dark in the battle to decide the Balance of the world, but shadow has never settled so thickly over the Fairy Tail Guild as it has now, and that darkness does not seem to want to leave. Is it possible, after all the evil and the pain suffered, lived through and triumphed over by the Guild- that Fairy Tail has finally broken? {Fourth Story in Series!}

15. Chapter 15- Saint

Chapter 15

Saint

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas

.:+:.

"May I have a moment of your time, Energess?"

Frea glanced up, turning toward the familiar voice as her attention moved from Master Makarov talking with the Chairman, Draculos, Warrod and Wolfheim. They were settled around eachother at the entryway to the Chamber, hushed words passing between another and mostly from what she could tell- the conversation being administrative. Paperwork and the like about being named a Wizard Saint, signing off on the documentation of dropping the Charges, whatnot... things she was probably supposed to be doing herself- but Master had stepped in and the Council seemed content to let him handle it.

Saige stood behind her, smiling slightly as he nodded at her a little. She blinked, her head tilting slightly at him as her eyes narrowed.

"... Is what he said true?" She mumbled, Saige blinked. "... about Draculos being the one to bring up making me a Wizard Saint, not you?" Saige chuckled softly,

"I gave you my word I would not mention it, if you did not wish me to." He replied simply, "However it seems you decided to let go of what was holding you back, hmm? Otherwise I can't imagine you would have agreed as you did." Frea sweatdropped slightly, her arms crossing over her chest as her eyes narrowed a bit.

"... I haven't." She replied softly, earning a tilt of his head. "... I... I'm going to try harder, to push myself away from being afraid of Falling... but I'm still scared. Regardless of what I want... that fear isn't going away, at least not anytime soon. But I decided I had to try harder. Do more to convince myself of everything that everyone else has been assuring me about." Her hold on her arms tightened a little, "... I can't stand the idea that I would ever... ever become like him... I don't want to... but doubting myself constantly is just... it can't help, right?"

Her eyes closed, her shoulders hunching slightly.

"... that's what Darkness feeds off... guilt and fear... and doubt... it eats at it, turns it into terror, Power... pain." She hissed, Saige's eyes flashed as his expression softened. He could see that pain work it's way into her face, see it in how he heard her breathing hitch suddenly. "... tch... I... I don't know if I'll never Fall... it keeps getting worse, and now with my Magic... I can feel it trying to take control of both me and it... But... tch... I have to try, to do everything I can... because I can't be him.. I can't be that. Whatever happens... I have to do everything I possibly can... I know that... and I realized... it made no difference if I was a Wizard Saint or not... that's not going to change anything... but I have to. I had to change me, my conviction... I had to do better than I have been so far..."

Saige's eyes narrowed, seeing her suddenly trembling though she was clearly trying not to. The wince she let slip made him frown a little, her face falling from view as her head tilted down slightly- and she held her body more tightly against what pain was suddenly rising under the surface no matter how hard she forced herself to stay standing, stay ahead of it- in control.

Stubbornness to match a will near unbreakable...

She took in a short, shaky breath, her fangs grinding down on one another as Saige waited patiently for her pain to die down, his eyes glittering and his expression soft as he watched her carefully. Her hold on her body loosened, her legs trembling enough he could see it, and still she seemed determined not to move too much, to stay upright.

This woman's force of will is really something else...

"Take it easy, Energess." He said gently, his words mimicking the ones he had said to her that night in Fairy Tail's Infirmary. "... you continue to impress me." He murmured softly, earning her narrowed eyes as she fought to catch her breath again. "Anyone else who has been through what you have, and who was faced with what you are now... I cannot imagine there being anyone who would still find the strength to keep going, let alone have the drive that you do- to do better." He shook his head a little, "Most people would have broken a long, long time ago... and still here you are, chipped here and there perhaps- but still unbroken. Still standing, still trying."

Frea's heart jumped slightly, her eyes glittering.

"You may not have faith in yourself, but I think one day you will. You'll be able to convince yourself that you won't lose yourself, some day. And you'll know in earnest, you will never be the Darkness that is trying so hard to break you." He smiled slightly, nodding toward her a bit. "You are much stronger than you realize, I have known that from the very moment I found you." Frea swallowed slightly, "But even the strongest of people need help sometimes. And sometimes, strength is knowing when to ask for it." He added, his voice lowering as he gave her a slightly pointed look.

Frea blinked, and he shook his head a little. "A lesson you are slow to learn, Energess. And reason I've not given you the choice of asking for my help," He paused slightly, his eyes flashing. "But to be honest- my helping you was never a choice on either of our ends." He hummed slightly, his eyes falling closed as his hand lift in air- finger extended as he twirled it.

There was a small flash of gold light as something appeared from thin air via Saige's Magic and landed lightly in his now outstretched hand. Frea's eyes narrowed, her eyes tracing along the silver metal of a long chain that attached itself on four ends to a circular pendant- bearing the symbol of the Wizard Saints.

"You seem familiar with Mordren's connections to the country of Adgnei, back when it was ruled by the Energy Mages." Saige murmured, "But are you familiar with the country as it is in present?" He asked, Frea shook her head slightly. "-While Adgnei was once a Kingdom ruled by Mages whose specialty settled in Caster Magic- today they rely on the opposite, in Holder Magic." Saige told her softly, "Compared to our own country of Ishgar, and near all others- the Country of Adgnei is the leading power in Magic Weapons, Tools, and Artifacts. Their technology has surpassed all others, and are certainly a force to be reckoned with. Centuries of talented scientists and Mages alike have allowed Adgnei to grow and thrive on an economy built up on incredible Magical Objects- some of which do things no Spell could ever hope to do."

His empty hand outstretched, gesturing for hers as she hesitated- confused. He smiled a bit more, before she complied with what he wanted.

"In this regard, Adgnei has become a place filled with items and tools that will be capable of helping you- more so than anything you will find in Ishgar." He murmured, his eyes leaving hers as he held her hand lightly in his- and gently wrapped the chain around her wrist a few times till it was tight enough to serve as a bracelet.

Frea went still, her eyes widening in utter shock as she felt Magic spark off the metal- and in the next second, the continual rush and thrumming of her Magic that had been pushing under her skin and control since using it against Serena- she felt it dull down, slow down and shrink almost to something normal. Like her Magic had been, completely in her control before Mordren- and she let out a shaky sigh of relief when she no longer had to actively think about keeping it under wraps.

Saige let go of her hand without a word as she drew it back, her eyes looking over it as she stared- even with her head throbbing so much, she could tell that her Magic didn't just die down- it did, at least a little, like it would be suppressed with a Magic Limiter Seal like Jynx's- but that wasn't just it. Her Magic was being channeled into the metal itself, forcing it to slow down, and settle. If anything it felt like that excess Magic she felt clamoring inside of her to get out was snatched up inside the bracelet itself, and locked up enough of it that she didn't have to worry about it. She felt almost back to normal and she couldn't hardly believe one bracelet could do it- what the hell was this anyway?

"Adgnei has for a long time now been working to perfect tools that will Limit Magic entirely, and do so safely. The intent is to Limit Magic to the point that a Mage can no longer use it at all, whilst wearing or in contact with one such Limiter." He gestured toward the Bracelet, "Though they have managed such tools already, in the form of advanced Nullification Enchantments- they have yet to make a tool that can channel and lock away the entirety of a Mage's Power inside an object- in lieu of relying on Nullification. While not all of a person's Magic, they can store a portion, and in most cases they are enough to handle situations where a Mage's Magic has grown beyond the scope of the Caster's control." Saige explained,

"The stronger the Magic being contained, and the more of it- the harder it is to shape a Limiter, or even several that would hold effective. If the Magic being channeled is too strong, the Limiter will wear down and eventually break. After all, in the art of Tools to halt Magic without using Nullification Charms, even Adgnei is still far from a permanent solution. But their technology is at least advanced enough to help you, for now." He sighed slightly, "Your Magic will need time to reach it full strength again, so what Magic that Limiter is storing and channeling for you now is likely nowhere near what amount it will try to deal with later on. I have done my best to shape this Limiter strong enough to hold against your Magic, but it will still have limits. In that case I can try to make another for you, or give you more than one- but you shouldn't rely on it entirely to keep your Magic under control." He gave her a steady look, "You will have to find a way to control your Magic again without aid, but you will need time to do so. This Limiter will help to keep your Magic from injuring you, while you learn to adjust. Just keep in mind it is not a permanent solution, Energess."

Frea nodded stiffly, her eyes flashing. "... Right." she mumbled, her eyes falling on the Limiter for a few seconds. "... Thank you. Even if it'll work less as my Magic comes back... Just right now, having it on makes me feel about a hundred times less..." she grimaced, and he nodded a little in understanding.

"You have had a long and trying day, no doubt." He mumbled, "I can only imagine how you are feeling at the moment, and I would wager the word 'fine' wouldn't fit, hmm?" She sweatdropped at that, grimacing a bit more as her eyes dropped away from him.

He silently hoped the excitement of the day wouldn't do anything more than make her exhausted and sore. It wouldn't be in her best interests, or anyone's, if the strain from the days events hit any harder than that.

"... Do try and keep your head, will you?" Saige asked softly, his voice dropping to something gentler as Frea blinked at him. "I am of course planning to help you, wherever you need... But you do need to be careful, Energess. Iron will, stubbornness, and determination or not... Even you cannot continue through life like you have been, leaning on other people as little as you possibly could. You have so many friends and family who care for you, do not forget them- nor try to cast them aside because you wish to handle everything all on your own."

His hands fell on his hips, his orange eyes glittering.

"You will need the help of the people who care for you. I may not know how, but you will need them none-the-less. Do not forget that." He murmured softly, yet firmly all at once. Frea suddenly felt her heart skip a beat, and her breath catch in her throat, the words ringing on her ears as utterly, almost terrifyingly familiar.

Why had this Old Geezer- complete stranger- been watching her so long? Why did he seem so intent on helping her? Why did he keep promising for help her, lecturing her, scolding, and now caring? He definitely cared- genuinely, she could hear it in his voice, see it in his face- recognize it even as he had been snapping at her for using her Magic like she had. And even if she couldn't begin to try and pick through the individual emotions.

He did care, and still from the beginning she had been asking why- why did he? What was his reason?

He knew what the Clear and the Crossroads were. He knew about the Darkness in her Soul, and he has known it had come from Mordren. He knew things about her no one should have, and he knew things about everything she couldn't fathom how he could-

"Vellus. It is a rune in Old Telips, you are familiar are you not?" He said suddenly, Frea stiffened. "Yes, I know of the Ancient Language, though very few do-"

A Language comprised of Cryptic Runes and holding Words that were literally Power in themselves.

"... It is understandable, Energess. You know what lies ahead will be difficult and you will continue to struggle for a very, very long time to come... and I understand your concern. I would not wish this on anyone, and I would certainly not wish it on someone who has already struggled enough before."

Suffered... Under a lot more than just Mordren, and even Kasumi. And the sudden realization that he might know-

"Tch... Energess' and their foolishness, I swear... always doing rash things, always trouble... and now I have much less time than I was hoping for. One would think for someone capable of holding enough control over forces spanning the Clear and the Crossroads, you'd actually be able to manage to control yourself, bloody girl!"

Energess. Who could possibly even know what that title actually meant?

"... hmm... puddles and storm-fools..."

Why had a phrase so odd sounded familiar at all?

Her mind was whirling, fractured, unrelated memories and ideas that were both confusing, clear and hazy, all suddenly snapping together into something that made sense, but how could it?!

"...no..." She breathed, he blinked, eyebrow quirking in confusion. "... You can't be..."

There were so many things that had been stuffed inside her head when she was trapped in the Reach. Memories spanning Mordren's life- but not just him. Fractured bits of things and hundreds of hundreds of years that trailed along the lives of so many people- all of them starting there, in a time lost and story left untold. Of a man who lost himself in darkness, who killed the woman he loved- but not before she could save the life of their son.

A son who came into the world after months spent in his mother's stomach- Reyan kept alive in the state Mordren had left her for months because she cast a Spell meant to protect her child's life. The same woman who's life ended the moment the Spell had done its work, and her son no longer needed her to survive. Mordren and Reyan's son, orphaned the minute he was in the world... But he'd never been alone.

He had a teacher, a mentor- protector. Someone sworn to keep that little boy alive, to watch him grow, teach him, guide him. Someone who took him away from utterly destroyed Adgnei, who watched as that boy grew, loved, laughed. Those two that moved on to set the stones and foundations of ties that lasted long after they were both gone. Generations of people, and families- two families side by side through the ages and two families responsible for so many things, two families who created so much, protected so much- lived so long.

There was slaughter at both ends of that tale, and so much death- but even still, there couldn't be any other explanation at all. It couldn't be possible- and yet the things she'd learned, remembered- fractured and blurred as they were, there were things clear enough still.

Mordren's son had never been alone. His children had never been alone, nor his children's children. Those families had walked side by side for so long...

... And it started even before Mordren met Reyan. Someone who walked at Mordren's side even before he learned Magic at all. Who even after all the terrible things he saw Mordren do, he swore to protect the life of the son- not because Reyan had asked him to. But because Mordren was, and would always be- his friend.

Frea felt her legs shake a little more, her head spinning as she did her best to make rational sense of something so impossible- and yet she couldn't be more sure of it either.

"You may be a fool, Mord. But you are still a friend, regardless of how much you piss me off. And don't forget I am literally the only friend you have in Kelen. So even if you're off with Lady Reyan and whatever she has planned for you, don't think you can simply throw me aside."

Mordren sweatdropped slightly, smiling just a little.

"I swear by all four of the Gods, you will need me. I may not know for what, but you will need me. That I can swear, so don't forget it." He grumbled, those orange eyes of his piercing, Mordren smiled a little more.

"Heh... I won't..."

Her eyes were looking at those same orange eyes, and she felt her heart leap in her chest.

"... Gweo..." Frea breathed, the name hardly a shaky whisper as Saige went rigid, his eyes widening in complete and utter shock. It was his turn to look nervous, his eyes falling from her as he sweatdropped slightly.

"... So you know more of Mordren's past than you've let on, hmm?" He hummed softly, "... I haven't heard that name mentioned in a very long time.." He sighed a little, shaking his head as he looked back up toward her with a slightly sad smile. "... Does that also mean you've started to remember your own past? Before your Dragon, Energess?"

Frea swallowed a little, her eyes falling from him as her arms about her chest tightened a little. Saige let out a small breath, "... Some things... But... Are you really... One of them? The Family that descends from him..?" Frea asked softly, he nodded.

"Indeed, though I am the only one left- following the events that happened in Nvindorr, so very long ago." Saige murmured, Frea stiffened a little at mention of the place. "Very few people survived that tragedy at the time... It was lucky enough my great, great, great, grandfather managed to escape Mordren's attack on our home. Luckier still for you, Energess- that my family has continued to pass along the knowledge we've gathered since the time of the Energy Mages. Without it I would not know who you are, or what your Magic is- nor what the Forces of Creation are, or even Old Telips." He hummed slightly, "... While it was my Family that continued to pass on knowledge of that language in Runes, and memory of the man that came before the God... We also served Mordren's family, and guided them throughout the ages... While they did their best to keep alive the Magic you belong to now, and the language of the Dragons, those that were their friends from near the start, and those they fought with, and beside- during the Great Dragon War."

Saige hooked his hands behind his back with a long sigh.

"... I've spent most of my life trying to reconnect what pieces of the tale were lost when Nvindorr fell... I had thought my Family's Duty to serve Mordren's was over, the last descendant of that age-old line gone long, long ago... Gweo's promise to watch over them finally broken." He murmured softly, smiling gently up at her as she stood in silence. "... You can probably imagine my surprise to find an Energy Mage still alive in the world today, I have always been told what little of them had been left were killed when Nvindorr was lost. And yet here you are, an Energy Mage and Dragon Slayer both, alive in my time... A Mage with silver eyes." He smiled a little more, "... A telltale sign of the Nadege Family that has persisted in at least one of the children of each generation."

Frea felt a shiver run up her spine, her eyes flashing.

"Adgnei has kept many of its original traditions, they differ slightly from the original, but some of those that last to the present-day are still the same. Among them being; when two people decide to bond themselves as Mates- they decide who's last name they pass on." Saige chuckled, "Most take the names of the family with the higher political status. Less common, but some even create a new Family Name to start to pass on. Very few choose to take the name of the Partner that has lower status, especially in those old days. It's stigmatized, even today inside of Adgnei."

He smiled at her a little bit more, his head tilting as his orange eyes shone, chuckling softly.

"I can only imagine the reaction Lady Reyan received when she gave up her Family Name, and took Mordren's." He said lightly, Frea's eyes softened a little. She did remember this, from Mordren's Memories... Adgnei as a whole had been rather outraged, not that Reyan cared. Mordren though?

She bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes shinning.

There were few times in his life that his love for her had managed to grow so much stronger than it already was- and he loved her for that. For sharing his name, for loving him enough she wouldn't hesitate to share the name of someone of such lower status than him.

Mordren Nadege, Lady Reyan Nadege... a name that stretched far past them and continued on through their son, and his children, and theirs.

"My Family Name's have changed countless times through the ages, but we've never forgotten where we started- or who we are meant to protect." Saige went on, "... And now I've finally reached the end of my line, and fate would have it that I've managed to find the last of the Nadege line in my lifetime." He hummed, his eyes glittering as he smiled upward at her. Frea's eyes shone as she felt her heart clench in her chest.

"My helping you was never a choice on either of our ends."

Because that's just how it's always been, for so, so long

Saige dipped his head toward her, "It is my job to help the Nadege Family however I can, and my honor to assist the last Energess that's been seen for more than an age, and even more so- the Malurey. Mortal Incarnation of Energy, one of the Forces of Creation that make up our world." He told her softly, "I kept from telling you the true reason behind my assistance, because I was unsure of what you did remember about who you were, before coming into the care of the Dragon who taught you Dragon Slaying Magic. If I had told you, and you remembered none of it- I cannot imagine you would have believed anything I said." He sighed slightly, his eyes moving up as he straightened again. "... but please do understand, it's been a very long while since the full extent of my help was owed to my Family's Promise to yours, alone. I may not be the most sociable of people, but I do have a conscience- knowing someone so young has suffered through so much, and is still suffering- I found I couldn't sit idly by, regardless of who you or I am."

Frea's eyes fell closed, her fangs grinding down one one another. How the hell was she supposed to react to this? Finding this out? Realizing he knew what she had told herself she wouldn't be telling the Guild?

I've never told them who I was before Chaitanya, I didn't remember until recently... but I wasn't going to tell them after I did remember, either. My last name... my Family, my brothers... mother, father... tch... Saige might not know them, but he also might...

Her arms shifted, her hands folding together as she pressed them against her chest. Her shoulders shook slightly,

Am I supposed to be upset that he knows? Angry he didn't say anything until now? Because I've been aware that everyone, everything I knew is just- gone...

Frea's head tilted, her body moving as she bowed toward him slightly.

That I was the only one who would ever know anything about all this time trapped inside my head... alone...

Saige blinked, looking confused as he watched her lower her head toward him, her hands clasping tightly about each other and her face hidden from view.

And... I... I'm not angry... I'm... tch...

"T...thank you." She whispered softly, "... thank you... for watching out for me... helping me... promising to... thank you..."

Saige's eyes widened a little, his eyes flicking downward toward the few drops of moisture that hit the floor at her feet.

"... I know... I'll need help, from my family... my friends... from you...thank you. I won't forget, Saige..." She hissed shakily, her voice low as she sucked in a sharp, quiet breath. "... thank you... I thought... I was the only one left... who would ever remember what happened... ever remember any of them..." She took in a long, low breath, shaking her head as her hands unhooked and she quickly rubbed at her face, before straightening up again, eyes shinning and smiling sadly.

"... thank you, really. I hated the idea, they'd all been forgotten.." Frea murmured softly, "Forgetting things like that... it's awful. I hate it when important things don't get remembered, regardless of how bad they might have been... forgetting is always worse, than living with the memories." Saige's eyes softened slightly, "I'll remember everything, everything about them, about Gweo, you... me. And I'll remember what you've said, too. I might not be ready to lean on other people readily, but... I am going to try." She smiled, just a bit more. Saige smiled back, nodding at her with a small, slightly happy sigh.

"That is good to hear, Energess." He replied lightly, "I'm happy to see you gaining your confidence back, your fire too. You truly are amazing." Frea smiled a bit flusteredly, blushing just a little. "You are very welcome, I am more than happy to help you if I can."

And I'm happy, somehow

Frea's eyes fell closed as she took in a deep breath, she could feel her legs still trembling slightly- not out of emotion though, she was actually starting to feel worse, more dizzy and tired.

"... are there any Communication Lacrima's around here I can use?" Frea asked, earning a tilt of his head. "... I think I should probably call the Guild, and tell them what's going on. And tell them not to wait up, since I already asked Master if we could go back on the train, instead of using Teleportation Magic." Saige quirked a brow at that, and Frea sighed. "... truth be told, being Transported here in the first place made me feel pretty sick... and now I'm not exactly feeling better than when I left..." She explained softly, Saige nodded.

"I understand." He murmured, his finger twirling in air as Magic flared from him. "I am sure Mr. Doranbolt will be happy to show you, and Jura would probably be happy to escort you as well." He chuckled, "Jura has been waiting rather patiently for us to finish talking. Go ahead with these two lads to call your Guild, I think Makarov wants to speak with me in the meantime."

Frea blinked in surprise, pale gold flashing next to Saige as Doranbolt appeared from thin air, glancing around wildly in shock and confusion at having been transported without wanting to. Saige waved a hand and Jura walked up to halt at Frea's side, nodding his head toward her with a small smile. "Congratulations on your new title." He told her softly, she smiled a little.

"Thanks.."

"W-What the hell...?!" Doranbolt snapped, his eyes landing on Saige who smiled easily. ".. did you...?!"

"Could you perhaps show Frea here where there are Communication Lacrimas she can use?" Saige asked lightly, Doranbolt paused, blinking several times in confusion. "She's looking to contact her Guild, while the rest of us are working to finish up here."

"... uh... yeah.. but.." Doranbolt mumbled, his eyes glancing toward Frea's smile for half a second. "... Lahar's been running me on errands, and he won't tell me what the hell is going on-"

"Ah, sorry... I bet everyone's busy." Frea cut him off softly, her fingers tapping together a bit nervously in front of her. "... but as for what's going on, the Council just appointed me as one of the... Ten Wizard Saints.. heh..."

Doranbolt went still, his face falling slack as he stared at her in sheer silence for a few seconds. Just like before, it almost seemed like he was waiting for her to tell him she was joking-

"... s-seriously...?!" He stammered, Frea nodded a bit.

"Yeah..." Frea mumbled, "... but uh, really... the Communication Lacrima? The Guild's probably been losing their minds all day..." He paused a second more, before nodding stiffly.

"Uh, yeah.. sure." He mumbled,

"Thanks."

---

Jura and Doranbolt stood in silence on either side of the door into the small room, where there sat a table with several Communication Lacrima atop in a line. Frea took a seat on a stool in front of one of them, her fingers tapping lightly against the glass surface, light popping up where she touched as she worked to connect it to the Lacrima in the Guild Hall.

Doranbolt swallowed slightly, his eyes casting sideways into the room for a second.

Wizard Saint...?

Frea sat back as the call started to go through, ringing as it waited for someone to answer the other end. She crossed her arms on the countertop, shoulders sagging slightly as she shook her head a little- the air was swimming with pale blue color for a few seconds before it faded again.

"Master, what's going on-?" Mira's face popped up in the surface of the glass, her voice filtering through the instant that the call connected- Erza and Moon pressed in on either side of her. Her blue eyes widened in the same instant that Moon's and Erza's did, Frea smiled slightly, her hand lifting from the table a bit to wave at them.

"Hey." Frea hummed, her head tilting to the side a bit.

"Frea!" All three girls said instantly, smiling back and looking relieved.

"Huh?!"

"Is that Frea calling?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Are you ok?!"

"FREA?!"

Frea flinched a little, eyes widening and sweatdropping slightly at the sheer amount of noise suddenly flooding up from the Lacrima, the image of Mira, Erza and Moon being pushed out of focus as several other people crowded in to get a look. They were pushing against eachother, growling and snapping at one another to move out of the way- Frea could imagine how much they really were pushing against eachother- the room that Lacrima was in was not that big. Especially not when it seemed from the faces she was seeing it looked like the whole Guild had tried to bud in,

"WHAT'S HAPPENING, HUH?!"

"OI! STOP PUSHING!"

Frea winced, her ears ringing at the noise in what had been a rather silent room. "N-not so loud!" She told them quickly, "You don't need to keep yelling at me either! If you'd just calm down I could tell you!"

"Enough!"

Frea recoiled, wincing when she heard the unmistakable sound of Erza's leg smacking against bodies- the faces in front of the screen disappearing as Erza kicked them out of the room again- Frea could see the redhead in the edge of the screen, looking quite annoyed.

"Frea?" Moon popped up in the face of the screen again, her eyes glittering. "You look a little pale, are you alright? You haven't gotten too dizzy have you?" She asked instantly, Frea sweatdropped.

"... nothing I haven't been able to handle just yet, Moon." Frea murmured, "Though I'm not gonna lie... I'm pretty beat at this point..." Moon grimaced slightly at that,

".. what's been going on? You've been gone for so long." Moon asked, Frea leaned her cheek in her hand.

"Jynx told you guys I'd pretty much convinced the Council I had nothing to hide, right?" Frea murmured, Moon nodded. Frea bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes narrowing slightly. "... did she mention anything else?"

"No?" Moon mumbled, Frea let out a sigh.

"Why did something else happen?" Mira asked, Frea smiled, shaking her head quickly as she sweatdropped a little more.

"N-no, nothing important for right now anyway." Frea replied quickly, Moon and Mira both narrowed their eyes at her.

"Frea." They growled warningly,

"S-seriously, it's not that big. It'll be better to just tell you about all the little details tomorrow." Frea replied, shaking her head a bit more. "I was just calling to let you guys know that I'm ok, and that we're pretty much done... Master's wrapping a few things up right now, but after that we'll start to head home."

"But what have you been doing for so long?" Erza asked,

"Yeah! And what's with that weird Saige guy that sent the Old Man a letter earlier?" Natsu popped into the picture, earning a small scowl from Erza.

"... ah, well the longest part of it was just answering questions." Frea replied softly, "There was a lot to talk about, that's what's taken so long." Erza nodded slightly in understanding, "... as for Saige... he's someone I met while ago, at the Rainbow Sakura Festival. He's been doing his best to help out with all of this."

"He's a Wizard Saint, from what Aisha said." Chase leaned in on Mira's right, Frea nodded. "You never mentioned him, Teach."

"Grant you, I've had a lot of things on my mind since right after the Festival." Frea grumbled, Chase blinked, sweatdropping slightly.

"... right..."

"So you'll be home soon, then?" Moon asked, Frea paused.

"... well, actually we're gonna take the train back." Frea murmured softly, earning blinks of surprise from everyone on the other end. "... so we're not gonna be back until it's pretty late."

"Wouldn't coming back the way you left be faster?" Gray ducked into the image next,

"... well, yeah... but..." Frea mumbled, "... coming here through Transportation Magic made me feel pretty sick, and that was before I spent the whole day standing around, arguing, and..." She trailed off, grimacing slightly. "... It'll be easier on me, taking the train.. even if it does take longer. Sorry." She saw the concern flicker on their faces at the words, but she didn't pause long enough to let them say anything. "... that was other reason I called, I wanted to tell you guys not to wait up for me. I know you guys have a lot of questions- but I'm exhausted, all I wanna do is go to sleep when I get back... so I'd rather just tell you the full story tomorrow."

Her hands moved as she brought them up, clapping together in front of her. "Please?" She asked softly, "I hate to make you guys wait, but I just don't have the energy to get into it today."

There was a small moment of silence, their eyes widening a little and looking a little taken aback as Frea's voice dropped on the other end. It was a huge change from how she had ordered them to do what she wanted that very morning- and now she was asking, so gently, and almost nervously.

"... alright." Frea blinked at the answer, what people she could see in the screen nodded slightly.

"We can wait another day, we won't push you if you're tired, Frea." Mira said softly,

"Yeah, you rest up for now."

"We can hold over till tomorrow."

"We're just glad it all went ok."

There we soft calls coming from the people who had kept themselves from crowding in again. Frea smiled, "Thank you." She hummed,

"I'll come pick you up from the Train Station later, Frea." Moon told her, Frea nodded.

"Alright."

"Would you like us to come with her, Frea?" Erza asked, Mira nodding slightly at the question.

"I can come too, if you'd like." Wendy piped in, poking her head in between Moon and Mirajane. Frea shook her head,

"No, you guys get some sleep." Frea replied easily, "That goes for the rest of you too, you're probably all pretty tired from being so tense all day, right?" They seemed to stiffen, looking a little nervous at the assumption as they glanced away from her nervously.

"... ok..." They relented softly, Frea smiled a bit more, nodding her head.

"Thank you. I'll see you guys tomorrow... we're gonna have a lot to talk about."

"Don't forget Granny's going to want to see you pretty soon, Frea." Wendy added, Frea sweatdropped.

"Yeah, I kind of figured..." Frea sighed,

She's gonna kill me, though...

---

"You wanted a word with me, yes?"

Master Makarov blinked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he turned from the commotion of Frea talking to the Guild up the hallway a ways. His eyes landed on Saige, who smiled slightly.

"I take it you received my letter before the Council's summons came?" Saige asked lightly, Master nodded stiffly.

"... I've never known you to get personally involved in anything that didn't include you directly, Saige." Master grumbled, "I have to wonder why it is you have taken such an interest in what happens with Frea."

Right to the point it seems

Siage's hands fell on his hips, smiling just slightly. "You are worried about her." He said simply, Master stiffened. "... As well you should be, you and I both know her troubles are far from over. What becomes of her Magic is something to be concerned over, especially as her strength returns." Master sweatdropped slightly.

"... What do you know of it?" He asked lowly,

"The same as you. Her Magic increased and grew exponentially when she battled against Mordren, enough so her body had no time to adjust to it. At the level it is now, she's never had so much Magic Power- and it will be hard for her to keep it under control. Should she lose control, her Magic could harm her almost as irreparably as it did before, and perhaps worse." Master's shoulders tightened a little, "... Maybe even some day, enough to kill her."

Master swallowed, his fists balling at his sides. "... I've never come across a case this extreme... I have never known anyone who's Magic grew as quickly as hers has, or to the level it is." Master mumbled, "... And I am lost on how to help her, as much as it pains me to admit it... I know of nothing I can do."

"You care for your Guild as much as any parent, Makarov. I know it must be hard to see them hurt, or struggling- more so when you cannot find a way to ease their suffering." Saige said softly, "I may not have the same experience, but I do feel it when I see people suffering in front of me. And it is not so easy to turn away." Master blinked, "I've had my eye on Frea since you sent her to Capture that Demon of Zeref on behalf of the Council. A feat that should have granted her plenty reason to have been anointed a Wizard Saint before now." Saige murmured, "It was clear to me she was someone of incredible power- so I kept an eye out, and when it became clear some great darkness was rearing its head- and she was at the center of it, I had to do what I could. Though I fear I did little back then, the circumstances she faces now are something I can assist in- and I intend to." Master's eyes widened slightly, "... If I don't do something, I'm afraid she'll only end up getting herself killed. And I think we can both agree she has been through more than enough already."

"... What do you mean, you can help her now...?" Master asked instantly,

"I have a few ideas on how to help her control her Magic, one of which I have already started with." Saige replied, gesturing toward the direction Frea disappeared down. "A Limiter, made in Adgnei- powerful enough to channel and store the excess Magic she has right now, and help to force her Magic to mellow out a bit- without simply trapping the Magic inside of her where it might do harm." Master's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping slightly in slight awe. "It is not a permanent solution, but for now I expect it will help her a great deal- maybe even be enough to give her time to adjust to the Magic on her own." He paused,

"... Later on, I think she'll need a bit more than just a Limiter. When that time comes I plan to train her to control this Power that's grown so strong inside of her." Saige murmured, his eyes tracing the hallway as his voice dropped slightly. "... I've seen a few things that can relate to this situation, and I'm confident I can help her find a way to take control again."

Master stared, his mind whirling slightly as he kept Saige in his gaze, stiff and jaw dropped slightly.

He... He was serious...?

Master's jaw clenched slightly, his eyes falling as his fists clenched a bit tighter. His eyes fell closed a moment, shoulders hunching.

"I do think his intentions are sincere."

Makarov couldn't find himself disagreeing with her.

Saige glanced back toward Makarov, blinking in surprise to see the other man bowing toward him suddenly and out of near nowhere- a sudden change in the wariness of the man that he hadn't been expecting so soon at all.

"... Thank you, Saige... For helping her where I could not." Master murmured lowly, his voice tense. Saige shook his head slightly, smiling lightly as he waved a hand at Makarov.

"No need, Makarov." He replied easily, earning Master's quirked brow as he straightened slightly. Saige hummed good-naturedly, his orange eyes flashing slightly. "I think I should be the one thanking you, for taking such good care of her all these years- through everything."

Master's eyes narrowed in confusion, not sure what the other man meant- but Saige started to turn away, waving a hand behind him, smiling still as he started to head away.

"Goodnight, Makarov. Tell the Energess goodbye for me."

Master stood alone in the corridor for awhile, watching Saige walk away in sheer silence. Master let out a low breath, turning the opposite direction once Saige was out of all sight.

... That brat had him watching for that long...?

Master's jaw clenched a little as he started forward,

... I'm glad he was... If he really can help her.

---

Earlier that Morning-

"What?" Laxus growled, his eyes narrowing to slits down at Moon as her ears swiveled back slightly.

"They left about half an hour ago." She mumbled, her paws crossing over her chest as she sighed. "... Frea was pretty adamant on the Guild letting the Council have what they want... Which no one's been very happy about." She mumbled, motioning toward the Guild of people frowning and brooding the lot of them.

Freed, Evergreen and Bixlow cast Laxus a glance each, sweatdropping slightly.

"She said she didn't want to start any trouble, so she went with the Council willingly." Moon mumbled, Laxus scowled slightly, his jaw clenching in agitation as his eyes fell closed.

"...tch... Damned woman." He growled lowly,

The one morning I-

He growled, a vein ticking on his forehead as small flickers of lightning sparked around him for half a second. Moon and the Thunder-God Tribe stiffened slightly, all of them grimacing slightly.

He looks pissed...

Laxus turned on his heel and stalked toward the stairs, still looking miffed and saying absolutely nothing as the four watched him go in somewhat strained silence.

"... he looks annoyed." Moon mumbled,

"... We did get here later than usual." Freed mumbled, his eyes watching Laxus move up to the second floor slowly. "... It is a bit of a surprise to hear that Frea ordered the Guild to stand down when the Council came in- and we missed all of it."

Evergreen let out a low huff, her legs crossing as took a seat down at the bar, pushing her glasses up her nose. "... What was she thinking? Even if she didn't want to cause trouble, to just go willingly like that?" Evergreen grumbled, "It's not as if she's in the right sort of health to be gallivanting around Era. Everyone knows that."

"... And she still left, hmm?" Bixlow sighed, smirking just slightly as he cast Evergreen a look. "Careful there, Ever. It sounds like you've started to care~"

"Hmph." Evergreen huffed hotly, Freed sighed slightly.

"Hopefully she gets through with the Hearing no worse for wear..." Freed said lowly, Moon nodded a little, though she looked concerned at the thought.

Laxus sat down at one of the tables on the second floor with a growl, lightning still flickering about his person in his barely muffled annoyance. He heard Freed say the words on the floor below and his jaw clenched harder.

She goddamn better... I'm going to kill her. The one damn day...

---

The train-car was quiet and dim, the train pulling quickly over the tracks as the moon remained half-full in the sky overhead.

Master's halfway open eyes moved from watching Frea across from him, her back against the window and feet propped up on the seat. Her arms were hooked around her body, hugging herself slightly as her head tilted to rest against the seat, eyes closed and breathing softly- moonlight glinted off the silver chain and pendant wrapped around her wrist. She'd taken up her seat there and immediately fallen quiet, once they settled in and even before the train had started to move- tiredness dragging sorely at her heels no matter how hard she tried to stay ahead of it.

He let out a low sigh, leaning his chin in his hand.

"... She's kept up really well."

Master blinked, his eyes moving toward the owner of the voice- Jura, who had decided to ride the train with them, and who was sitting across the isle with his hands in his sleeves. Jura cast Frea a small, sympathetic look, letting out a small breath. "... There were a few times she looked ready to fall over, no matter how hard she tried to hide it- she was clearly starting to feel worse the longer things went on. And even so, she never complained, or let herself give in to how awful she must be feeling." Jura murmured, Master nodded slightly, worry falling into his face a moment.

"... thank you for keeping an eye on her, Jura." Master murmured, Jura nodded.

"Truth be told I did little." Jura replied, shaking his head slightly. "... I did what I could, after Serena appeared... but there was little that I could do, with how quickly the conflict was started and over with."

"What?" Master murmured instantly, eyes flashing as Jura stiffened slightly- eyes widening as he halted.

"... no one told you.." Jura mumbled, Master's eyes narrowed.

"Told me what? What conflict with Serena?" Master growled, Jura grimaced, his eyes falling closed and thoroughly hating what he'd stepped into without realizing it.

"... God Serena answered the summons when he realized it was Frea that was being questioned. We were all unaware he had come at all- until he showed himself, by immediately attacking her." Jura mumbled quietly, his eyes staying closed as Master's face pulled into a mix of anger and terror at once. "He wanted to test his strength against hers, seeing as how she was the one who stood against, and won, with Mordren."

"He did what?!" Master snapped, his voice low as not to wake Frea up, but no less seething. Jura grimaced a little at the rage suddenly bubbling up inside of the older man. "If that insolent little brat laid a finger on her-!"

"He didn't." Jura interrupted lowly, his eyes flashing toward Makarov who scowled slightly. "When Serena first appeared we were all too stunned to react- but Frea did. He sent his Magic out toward her, and she destroyed it, easily- before sending Serena to crash through the wall on the opposite side of the room."

Master's anger shattered in a wash of astonishment, his eyes growing wide and his jaw dropping at the words.

Frea did... did what?!

"Needless to say everyone was about as shocked as you, Makarov." Jura grumbled, "... I had not thought anyone capable of laying a finger on Serena- but Frea destroyed his attack and retaliated in the matter of a few seconds, and Serena was likely as surprised as we were." He shook his head, grumbling under his breath a moment. "After that, Saige and I stepped in- along with that younger girl, Jynx. We were able to halt Serena's actions before he could do much else... but the damage had been done already."

Master stiffened, his jaw clenching as his eyes shot toward Frea on instinct.

"... though Serena may not have hit her, having to fight back against him at all took quite the toll on her, almost instantly." Jura mumbled, "... it took a while for her to regain her bearings again afterward. Saige seemed rather worried as well, but he assured us that she hadn't gained any new injuries afterward." Master stiffened slightly, his eyes glittering as his shoulders hunched slightly. "... forgive me, I had thought someone had told you already." Jura murmured softly, Master shook his head.

"... No, it's alright. Thank you for telling me, and stepping in when she was in trouble." Master murmured lowly, his anger simmering down as he sighed, his chin pressing into his folded hands as he shook his head a few more times. "... damned Serena... "

But she hit him? And destroyed his Magic? Master was very aware that Frea had been forbidden from using Magic on Porlyusica's orders, and he agreed- but he couldn't find himself mad she had used it to protect herself... just angry she had had to at all. He was sure Porlyusica would be cross, once she found out- he was cross, but it got overlaid by worry in almost no time at all.

She'd looked exhausted, she'd said so herself- and having asked him to take the train home instead, he'd figured she wasn't feeling well enough to handle the sensation of Teleportation Magic. But she must be feeling much worse than that, and the comment of 'being sore' was probably more being in pain.

... brat...

Jura sighed silently, his eyes watching Makarov as the older man sat in stiff silence, brow furrowed and shoulders tense. "... she's strong, Makarov. Given a little time to rest, I'm sure she'll be alright." Jura assured quietly, Master nodded slightly.

"... I know... I simply wish things like this would quit happening so often." Master mumbled, "... she's always getting into trouble, so many of my brats do. They're always getting into some conflict or other, destroying things, making a mess... " His shoulders hunched a little bit more, "... it's just been a long time since any of them have ended up this hurt..."

Jura nodded slightly, "I understand." Jura's eyes fell closed as silence settled between them again, both of them sitting in stillness and in their own thoughts as the train continued forward, and the night outside passed by on end. Frea still asleep in her seat as the time dragged by, until the train slowed to a halt and Makarov looked up as Jura climbed to his feet.

"This is my stop." Jura murmured quietly, dipping his head toward Makarov- who blinked. "It was good to see you again, Makarov. Hopefully next time we meet it will be under better circumstances."

"Indeed." Master murmured, nodding his head in return. "Thank you again, and be safe." Jura smiled, waving a hand behind him as he climbed off the train and left Frea and Master Makarov behind.

Master's eyes flickered over toward Frea as the train started off again, her arms hugging her body tightening just slightly as she seemed to shiver- but never woke up regardless. Master leaned forward a little, his hand landing lightly on shoulder for a few seconds, before he pulled back again and settled into his seat a bit more.

---

She was floating in and out of someplace dark and some place swaying, her head throbbing in both places and her skin crawling. There were moments where she felt her body bounce, just a little- and her stomach immediately flashed in pain that moved out toward her arms, down her legs- every time it happened the pain spread just a little bit further.

She couldn't force her head out of the darkness, she hadn't hardly any strength to try- the little she did the more uneasy she felt, the colder.

Small snippets of the day's events pecked at the corners of her mind, nothing clear, nothing whole- it was a wash of everything that blended together almost exactly like the colors in the air did before she blinked them away.

Today had been crazy, to say the least. She'd left knowing she would have to prove her innocence, knowing she'd have to answer so many questions, fight so many things... and in the end she fought little with words and more with Magic.

Serena, Dragon Slayer with eight Dragon Slayer Lacrima... using Magic after not having been for a month, feeling it surge inside of her, vying for Power- panicking.

Fear, terror, because-

... the Council admitting she had done nothing wrong, telling them and the Saints about everything... them thanking her.

Being made a Wizard Saint, finding out who Saige was, why he knew so much- knowing now that he knew who she was, where she was from- her last name.

Frea Nadege... she'd never told the Guild about it, ever. And she wasn't sure she ever would.

The Limiter; words couldn't describe just how much weight it seemed to bring off her shoulders, how much less effort she had to put forward into pushing against her Magic, keeping it under wraps, buried. She could hardly breath she was so focused on doing that- and the instant he'd wrapped that thing around her wrist, she could breathe easy again.

The water-

She shivered again, her head throbbing worse, heavier, sharper.

... falling... suffocating...

She shuddered, the pain like a wave that rammed into her in seconds.

Roaring, frothing-

"Frea."

The roaring in her ears broke off into deafening silence, her head felt like it was going to split open, her body stiff, her skin crawling as she fought to force her eyes open-

"... Frea." That voice was a little louder, a little clearer- and a bit gentler.

Frea felt cold run down her spine, her eyes cracking open and feeling the warmth of someone's hand on her knee, another on her shoulder. She took in a deep breath, groaning slightly as she shook her head a little, blinking several times to try and get the world to focus around her.

"... wake up, brat. We're home." The voice told her quietly, no conviction and nothing but fondness in the name 'brat' that was usually said in annoyance.

The haziness faded in front of her eyes enough to make out the dim of the train car, her world spinning for a few seconds as she tilted her head to the left. Her eyes glittered faintly in the dark, finding Master Makarov standing close to her, his hand on her shoulder and her knee as he gently pulled her away from whatever sort of sleep that had been. He peered up at her carefully, eyes narrowed as she seemed to struggle into wakefulness- his jaw tightening a little when he felt her shiver slightly.

"... mmm... what..?" She mumbled, her hand moving to press against her forehead as she took in a deep breath.

"We're back in Magnolia, it is time to get off." He repeated softly, Frea nodded a little in understanding. She sat up slightly, moving her legs off the seat with a small hiss as his hands drew back, but stayed hovering as she leaned forward, her hands hooking behind her neck as she took in a deep, low breath.

"...mmm, I missed Jura getting off then..?" She mumbled softly, yawning partway through. Master nodded, and Frea shook her head slightly. "... oh well..."

Her hands unhooked from behind her neck, Master took a small step back from her. "... are you alright?" He asked,

"... yeah... just... groggy..." She answered slowly, Master held out a hand for her, she blinked at it, before taking it lightly as he helped pull her up onto her feet- his eyes narrowed slightly when she felt a little cold in his hold. She paused, swaying just a little before straightening up all the way- and letting go of his hand again. Master walked at her side, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and where he was going as they made their way off the train, he frowned a little when he noticed for the first time that she seemed to be limping.

The air felt fresh and crisp as they stepped outside, the scent of Magnolia crowding her senses- but the night air only made her feel colder, her breath hitching slightly as she shivered involuntarily- the movement made her head pound a little bit more.

How is that fair...? I wake up and feel worse than when I fell asleep...

She grumbled under her breath, following Master's lead as he lead her up the platform and toward the exit, she was more following the sound of his footsteps and his scent than she was actually looking at him- or paying attention for that matter. Her head was still in such a haze she was hardly thinking where she was putting her feet. She didn't even notice herself limping, she just wanted to go back to sleep again.

Hmm..?

She breathed in a bit, her eyes narrowing when she picked up Moon's scent with ease- and something sharper, pricklier- but familiar too. She drew to a halt, blinking fervently to try and clear her eyes a little, brushing up against Master as he slowed up to.

"Frea." Moon's familiar voice sounded, the grey Exceed floating forward with a soft, slightly relieved smile. She wrapped her arms lightly around Frea's neck as the Energy Dragon Slayer returned the gesture wearily, Moon pulled back as she grimaced a little. "... welcome back...but, you look more than ready to pass out..."

"... I did just wake up, you know." Frea replied wearily, shaking her head a little. She tilted her head past Moon, settling a questioning look on the person who the Exceed had previously been waiting beside. "... why are you here?" She asked lowly, eyebrow quirking as she heard Moon let out a small sigh.

"... I told him he didn't have to..." Moon mumbled quietly,

"Tch... why do you think?" Laxus grumbled lowly, his eyes narrowed at her as Frea blinked.

"... I told everyone they didn't need to wait up." Frea sighed, shaking her head slightly in exasperation. She grimaced slightly, her hand moving up toward her face as she pressed the palm of her hand lightly against her temple, her eyes closing as she grumbled- she never waited for him to garner a reply. "... geez, whatever. Do what you want, just... maybe tone down the annoyance a little... my head hurts enough..."

He huffed as his only reply to the comment, and Frea let her hands land on her hips. She turned to look down at Master with a wary smile, "Alright, thanks for letting us ride the train, Master... but I'm just gonna head home now, all I want to do is sleep." Frea murmured, he nodded a little. "... I'll see you at the Guild tomorrow."

"Get plenty of rest, brat." He told her softly, "Will you be alright to make it home?"

"Mhmm, I got Moon with me..." Frea softly, trailing off as she tilted her head to the side. "... and Lightning-For-Brains, apparently..." Master blinked, his eyes flicking away toward his grandson who let out a small growl at the name.

"Alright." Master murmured, his eyes moving toward Moon. "Keep an eye on her for me, will you?"

"Of course." Moon replied with a small smile, "Goodnight, Master." She murmured lightly, floating at Frea's side as the Energy Dragon Slayer started forward, her hand lifting as she waved behind her.

"Night." She called back, passing Laxus by as his eyes narrowed at her- seeing her shoulders twitch as her body followed suit... she looked like she shivered, though he wasn't sure that was it entirely.

"... you keep a close eye on her too, Laxus."

Laxus let his eyes move away from her, as they met Master's for half a second, blinking at the comment that sounded like an order. Master just held his gaze steadily, his head tilting in the direction the two girls were moving off in.

There was a single second that passed between them with the look, before Laxus huffed again and started to follow behind Frea and Moon toward the edge of town and the road that lead toward the forest, and eventually toward Fairy Hills.

Master let out a breath as he watched them go, his eyes glittering. Once they were out of his sight, he turned toward the center of town and headed in, in silence.

"... Frea..." Moon murmured, her blue eyes glistening as she floated at Frea's shoulder. "... how are you feeling really? You've been out and about all day... you're not used to it."

"... mmm..." Frea grumbled, her hands moving up to rest in her jacket pockets, eyes closed and walking stiffly- limping, as both Moon and Laxus noticed instantly. The lights of the town dimmed as they left the brick roadway's behind and moved up the cobbled path into the trees- that would eventually be more dirt than cobble.

"... kinda crappy... my head's probably the worst thing..." Frea replied softly, Moon's eyes flashing. "Those Wizard Saints were... ridiculous..."

Laxus' eyes narrowed, his ears training to the sound of Frea's breath catching slightly- her shoulders and body shaking as she shivered, again.

"Was it really that bad..?" Moon asked softly, her eyes darting away from Frea for a second as she weaved around a low hanging section of branch from the trees around them. Frea's shoulders hunched a little as she buried her hands a little deeper in her jacket pockets,

"... I've never had a headache this bad.." Frea mumbled, her eyes opening for a second- only to see the world swimming in front of her, making her close them again. "... I couldn't even begin to try and block out their Magic Power... everything's just getting all jumbled..."

"... I'm sorry, maybe getting some sleep will help." Moon murmured,

"I hope so..." Frea mumbled softly, her shoulders shaking again as she bit down on her tongue. Moon blinked, her ears falling slightly at the action. Laxus' eyes narrowed to slits, he noticed it too-

"... are you cold...?" Moon asked slowly,

"... kinda... a little..." Frea grumbled, sweatdropping slightly. "... it's probably because of how tired I am... and my whole body's sore..." She trailed off, missing the look that Moon gave her at the comment, she wasn't paying attention, really. She sighed, her voice dropping a little,

"... I think... Porlyusica's Potion might have finally... worn off all the way-"

She broke off in a hiss, a jolt of unbelievable pain racing up from her right leg- enough she stumbled, it buckling underneath her as her hands lift to push against the tree she'd suddenly tilted toward without warning, nor reason as she far as she could tell.

"Frea..!" Moon stammered, eyes wide and bristling slightly. Frea's jaw clenched, her eyes scrunched tight as she put all her weight on her left leg instead, using the tree for support.

"Tch... ow..." Frea growled lowly, cursing her leg in her head and the fact it decided to give up after everything. Really, how unfair was it that she woke up feeling worse than before? She huffed, her eyes opening halfway to glare down at the tree-

Hmmm...? ... My arms... are shaking...

Her stomach flipped right then, her thrumming head suddenly whirling as she felt pain and weakness slam into her hard enough to snatch her breath away, her entire body felt suddenly, insanely cold- cold enough she felt numb, and weak...

Moon's eyes went wide, her ears dropping against her head as she watched all the color suddenly drain from Frea's face- the Energy Dragon Slayer's breathing picking up to shaky, quick little breaths as her entire body started to shake from head to toe. She groaned, her fingers digging into the tree as she swayed dangerously-

"F-Frea...!" Moon stammered, her paws hooking around her Partner's arm as she continued to lean against the tree, panting. "Hey, what just happened..?!"

"Tch... i... it's like... it all just... tch... hit me... at.. once..." Frea hissed, her voice barely a whisper, Moon's heart leapt in her chest when she felt Frea starting to shake badly under her hold, her entire form swaying.

"... You need to sit down..!" Moon said quickly, "You've pushed yourself too far, you need to take a-"

Frea's hands slipped from the tree before Moon finished, her legs giving out underneath her as Moon felt herself suddenly yanked downward in a split second as panic hit her full on.

"C-crap..!"

Frea didn't hit the ground, Laxus had moved over in an instant, one hand catching her wrist and the other moving to curl his arm over her back and catch under her shoulder, pulling her into him before she fell too far. He hissed, eyes flashing as Frea caught herself at the last second- at least enough to keep herself on her feet, though he was mostly holding her up- she shuddered, wobbly and panting- she seemed to be in a daze that was quickly heading toward unconsciousness- but for a moment she halted, and he swallowed.

Moon let out a sigh of relief at his actions, and Laxus hissed under his breath- a shiver running down his spine when his hand caught her wrist- and she was freezing. What warmth she should have had seemed to have left her entirely, leaving her pale and shaking like a leaf- Moon couldn't have noticed it when she grabbed hold of Frea's arm and her jacket with it.

"Damn it Frea..." He growled lowly, had she been pushing it this far the entire time? Even feeling shitty enough she was hardly staying awake?

The idea pissed him off, but at the same time he somehow doubted it. She'd seemed a bit dazed since coming off the train, and up until that very second she had been doing fine, at least mostly... this really just have hit her all at once, ramming straight into her when her leg finally gave out on her and when neither she nor anyone else had been else had been expecting it.

And it all suddenly hit hard.

He hesitated a moment, his eyes flicking toward her face to see if she was listening or not- before he growled, bending down a little lower as he scooped her up into his arms bridal style with complete ease. Her head fell softly against his chest just under his chin as her arms moved to hug her body, hissing in pain at being moved. She shuddered again in his hold, her forehead pressing against the side of his neck and feeling like a block of ice compared to him- he felt his heart drop a little at it.

Moon had let Frea go as Laxus picked her up, eyes shinning in worry at just how quickly Frea had deteriorated out of nowhere. Her ears perked at the shaky breath Frea sucked in, Laxus' hold on her getting a little tighter as he pulled her a little closer.

"... Tch... She's freezing." He grumbled lowly, Moon stiffened, immediately pulling closer as she pressed her paw lightly against Frea's cheek- and grimaced.

"... Shit..." Moon mumbled, "... This is bad... If she's in enough pain, or even been put under too much strain..." Moon swallowed, her eyes flashing as she trailed off for a second. "... her body might be starting to go into shock..." Moon hissed, Laxus sweatdropped slightly.

Not a pleasant idea, to say the least- and one that had unfortunately passed through his mind almost instantly.

"... That could definitely be why she's gotten this cold, and her temperature will just keep dropping if she really is..." Moon trailed off, her stomach doing a sudden flip.

"... This is really not good... Moving her too much might even make it worse- but I don't even know what's really wrong." Moon hissed, mind racing and tail flicking nervously as she glanced up the road in the direction they had been heading. "... Tch... We need to get her to calm down, get her to warm up again- wait it out, the sooner we can lay her down somewhere and let her rest, the better. Before this gets any worse than it is." She sweatdropped, "... Fairy Hills is still pretty far away from here..."

"You coming, cat?"

Moon jumped, her head snapping around to see Laxus had started walking- briskly, but not too fast to make it easier on Frea- his feet veering down a side path. He cast the growl over his shoulder, sounding agitated as he left her behind. He'd started moving long before Moon had finished her sentence about getting Frea somewhere to lie down and warm up- he hadn't needed Moon to tell him what to do, he already knew. Any Mage worth anything knew what to do to treat injuries, and handle someone in enough pain and under enough stress that they started to react like this-

"B-but Fairy Hills is the other direction...?" Moon stammered, her wings flapping as she moved forward after him. He huffed,

"I'm not trekking through the forest to get there." He growled hotly, his eyes flicking down toward Frea when she stiffened in his hold, hissing as she hugged her arms around her stomach tighter. He bit the inside of his cheek, grimacing slightly. "... She's already hurting enough having me carry her- my place is closer. We're going there." Moon blinked in surprise,

"... Your place...?" Moon echoed,

"Hurry the hell up." Laxus snapped lowly, Moon jumped and went a little faster.

"R-right..."

"Tch... You pain in my ass, woman..." Laxus hissed under his breath, "... I sleep in for one damn day and you run off to Era like an idiot, and come back worse than before..." He shot her a small glare, his eyes catching sight of the chain and pendant bracelet wrapped around her wrist. He stiffened a little, noticing for the first time that the pendant was that of the Wizard Saint Symbol.

.... What did you get yourself into...?

"...sorry..." He stiffened, eyes widening a little as Frea's voice trailed up to his ear, so low even he hardly heard her at all. "... I didn't... Know... I would... end u..p...this... b..ad... But... Serena..." Laxus' eyes narrowed again at the name he had heard the Old Man mention- God Serena, Wizard Saint and someone he had also heard the Old Man say might start something if he'd shown up at Era today. And in that same instant he remembered Frea avoiding some subject when she'd called the Guild through the Lacrima.

He growled, "...tch... shut it." Laxus hissed lowly, his agitation flaring before he cut himself off before he said anything harsher.

Had he been at the Guild earlier this morning, and been there in time when the Council showed up- there probably would have been no way in hell he let her go. Because he knew the instant he found out she had left, that she'd probably end up making herself worse- and of course he was right. But for the first time in a month he had let himself sleep in, sleep longer than waking up before dawn so he could keep an eye on her dumbass. It had been the first time in a month she had been allowed back to her house, and he'd figured she'd sleep well into the day after doing so. So he hadn't forced himself to wake up, and because of that- he wasn't there to keep her from doing something stupid.

Because of course she'd do something this dumb the one day he wasn't around to snap her head off for it. And for a minute he was pissed at her, and everyone else in the Guild for letting her go at all-

Tch... I've gotten so used to how you think, I know when you're about to do stupid things...

She tensed up in his hold, shaking violently as she pressed her nose into the crook of his neck, her breaths shuddering as he swallowed, his anger dissipating in an instant. Getting pissed at her right now wasn't gonna help anything, but he would sure as hell snap at her later- after she'd gotten over this and back to (somewhat) normal. After she wasn't in a daze and shaking so badly, and his own stomach had managed a way to work itself from the sudden knot it was in right now.

"...damn it... just try and take it easy, Frea." he murmured a bit more quietly.

Moon's ears perked a little, her eyes softening slightly as she flew a little bit behind Laxus' shoulder as they continued through the woods quietly- hearing instantly his voice dropping and her heart fluttering slightly at a sudden gentleness in his voice she hadn't heard before.

... If I didn't know any better... I'd think he insisted on coming with me to the Train Station because he was worried something like this would happen...

Moon's eyes flashed a little, her ears dropping as she watched Frea bury her face in the crook of his neck a little more, clearly flirting with wakefulness and delirium- but awake enough she was shaking and hurting. She saw Laxus slow, just a tiny bit- holding her closer to him, making sure he jostled her as little as could be managed.

Moon swallowed, her eyes glittering ... but I know that's exactly why he came...

They said nothing to one another as Laxus lead the way through the dark, Moon's eyes narrowing against it as the path widened a little and the trees thinned- the form of a house suddenly rising up ahead of them, backed by a small rise in the forest around them- and really about halfway between Magnolia and Fairy Hills.

Moon drew ahead to open the front door for him when he grumbled for her to do so, only faintly surprised the door was unlocked- she moved in and to the side as he walked inside without a care about how dark the inside was- what light was available came from sparse little moonlight breaking through the trees and through windows across from them, and a set of glass doors.

Moon paused a minute after closing the door, eyes wide in surprise as she glanced around the first room quickly- it seemed a living room of sorts with wide open floors around a small dip in the center where a fireplace sat, and further to the right there was a bar and a kitchen connected. She couldn't see anything all that well in the dim, and didn't have time to wonder on it before hurrying off after Laxus- who turned left down a hallway immediately and toward the room at the very end (passing two other doors, one on each side), the door cracked open just slightly as he easily nudged it aside.

Moon blinked, scanning the next room to see a large bed set in the center of the wall on their right upon walking in, flanked by two nightstands on either side and directly across from an opening that lead to a big bathroom, from what Moon could tell. The opposite wall from the door had a large window, dressers, and a closet too- with there being an armchair set on the wall with the door and to the right. To the left was a desk, and it looked almost unnaturally clean- Moon couldn't find herself thinking he'd keep everything as neat as it was.

This is his room...

Moon flew forward as he headed toward the bed, shifting the comforter aside when he paused for her to do so, before slowly setting Frea down- both of them flinching slightly when Frea winced rather harshly. Moon lighted down on the bed, pulling the comforter up and over Frea, stopping at her chest as her paw moved to press lightly against Frea's forehead. Moon swallowed the lump that formed in her throat- she was still freezing, and she looked so pale she was like a ghost... it was a sight that instantly reminded her of how Frea had looked when they rushed her back to the Guild after Mordren-

... please Frea... please don't...

Moon jumped, her thoughts snapping back when she realized Laxus had moved- his coat dropping down on top of Frea as he shrugged it off, and moved toward the closet on the opposite wall. Moon blinked, pulling the coat up a little as she watched Laxus from the corner of her eye-

He hissed under his breath, shaking his head as he pulled a blanket from the closet and left it open- turning back around and heading toward the bed. He only had the one, he never needed extra's because he never got cold enough, and he didn't live with anyone else to worry over, usually.

He unfolded the blanket and let it fall softly on the bed and over Frea, who was shaking so badly still the bed was moving too.

Moon's ears pressed flat against her head, her stomach twisting in worry as she moved underneath the blankets and pressed herself up close to Frea, her arms hooking lightly around the Energy Dragon Slayer's torso as she brought herself underneath her arm a little. Moon's tail curled around her hand, burying her nose into Frea's chest and hating how much her Partner was shaking, her breaths uneven and trembling too- hating it more when she heard Frea wince.

"Easy Frea... easy..." Moon mumbled softly, though she wasn't sure Frea was awake enough to hear it at all.

Laxus watched Moon in silence, sinking down to sit crosslegged on the floor at the edge of the bed, his eyes narrowed to slits as she let his elbows rest on the bedtop. His ears trained to Frea's breathing, his eyes moving from Moon toward the Energy Dragon Slayer instead- waiting, tense.

... you idiot... what were you thinking...?

His jaw clenched slightly,

... you had to know pushing yourself this hard was gonna backfire...

He heard her breathing hitch, she hissed, her fangs grinding down on each other as she shuddered hard enough her body hurt more because of it. Her head shook a little, her face plastered in pain and discomfort, dodging in and out of reality without end- never enough to be awake, but never far enough to fall under the waves all the way.

Moon pressed herself a little closer, her heart aching. Frea hissed, her body tensing up under Moon, her voice shaky as she shuddered again. The arm Moon had pushed herself under shifted, Frea holding the Exceed a little closer, her shoulders hunching, the shaking never ceasing and just getting worse as the minutes dragged by. Moon felt her stomach dropping with each one, it's not working, she's not warming up... she's getting colder, shaking more... at this rate if she wasn't already going into shock before... she's...

... damn it Frea... what do I do...? How hard did you push yourself, to end up like this..? How could you have even managed to push yourself this far at all...? You were acting fine...

Moon's eyes snapped open, feeling the bed move underneath them. She'd been so intent on Frea she'd forgotten entirely that Laxus was there,

His eyes hardly left her, he could see her shaking get worse, hear her breathing pick up and tremble more because of it- see the pain get worse too. He sat in stiff silence for near ten minutes, his jaw clenching harder and his shoulders tensing more- before he shifted, his hand moving to draw across the bed and press lightly against the inside of Frea's neck, her skin cold as ice and her body shuddering under the contact.

He'd been ready to wait it out all night, watching her if he had to- but that wasn't working, she wasn't calming down and he knew it.

His hand drew away slowly as he got to his feet, slipping his shoes off with little a sound and leaving them where Moon had set Frea's down in the first place, circling the bed to the opposite side as he let out a silent breath.

Moon's head lift slightly, her eyes widening and glittering in the dim as she watched Laxus settle down in the bed with the both of them, moving himself under the blankets and inching closer, his hands slowly, gently winding around Frea as he pulled her shaking, freezing form into him. Frea hissed a little at being touched, Laxus stiffened at it- but she relaxed regardless, letting out a small, slightly deeper breath as she moved herself a little, but enough her head rest against his shoulder.

Moon blinked, astounded as her eyes caught his for the smallest instant- he frowned at her, looking both nervous and miffed all at once.

"Don't say a word." He growled lowly, Moon blinked once more, before shaking her head a little.

"... I wasn't going to." She mumbled quietly, letting her head fall back again.

She wasn't sure how long had gone by before her mind gave way to sleep, silence settled in on the three of them and Moon couldn't keep herself awake any longer.

Frea stopped shaking at some point, her breathing evening out as her pain seemed to fade a little too- and what halfway haze her mind had been pushed into was lifted. She shifted, asleep still even as she moved closer toward the warmth beside her, just on instinct.

The air smelled of mountain air, and the sky in the middle of a dry storm- mixing together and tinged with something sweet. And so utterly familiar...

... Aleuruen...

---

He was pulled away from somewhere empty. The silence got broken apart by something, something that sounded like... someone's breath shaking, gasping nearly.

His eyes opened to see the roof over his head, dim and tinged a grey color that instantly told him it wasn't dawn yet. He didn't remember falling asleep, at least not until-

He blinked, stiffening a little as he felt someone's hand clench tightly around his lower arm- their nails digging into his skin with a small prick of pain. His eyes narrowed, his head shifting from the pillow as he glanced down- halting.

Frea had moved from where she'd been pressed between him and Moon, her head resting lightly against his chest and her shoulder underneath his, almost hugging him as one arm curled over his chest and her hand holding onto his arm- Moon was curled up in a ball and pressed up against Frea's back on her other side.

He blinked a few times, finding that he'd moved too while he was asleep, his free arm curled around her shoulders and resting on her side, keeping her close as the blankets and his coat lay around them, messed up- Frea's jacket too, she looked like she'd taken it off at some point in the middle of the night without him or anyone else noticing it.

He might have been more focused on the closeness- if his attention didn't immediately snap on to her and the way she'd tensed up, her face pulling in hints of pain and discomfort, shaking slightly as she seemed to suck in air in uneven breaths, her hold on his arm getting tighter and more painful as he bit down on his tongue to stop from hissing. She was fidgeting slightly, and more so quickly, a bead of sweat dripping down her face as she hissed.

His heart clenched, eyes flashing as he saw fear work it's way into her expression even as she continued to sleep-

Moon mewed a little in her sleep too, shifting closer to Frea and hardly awake for even the smallest of seconds when she felt Frea start to fidget against her.

It probably wasn't really an often occurrence with Frea, but it had probably gotten more common since Mordren- not that Frea would ever admit to it, or talk about it- he was pretty sure. But even Laxus had seen this happen a few times, and several when she was drifting in and out of delirium those two weeks she'd been dying.

Nightmare

Frea's hold on his arm got tighter again, he hissed lowly, flinching a little and barely stopping himself from snatching his arm away on instinct. He growled under his breath, his hand on her hip moving up slightly to land on her shoulder- his thumb tracing lightly across her skin and the Fairy Tail Emblem, as he let his chin rest against the top of her head.

From the way she was gasping for air, he thought maybe he had an idea what the nightmare was about- and despite himself, his stomach knotted. It was a thought that stuck with, and gnawed at him ever since that night- and he hated it.

Two weeks straight, she'd been trapped in that place... drowning... and he knew well enough it was more than a dream, it was real... and she'd lived it... he'd lived it. But he'd only been there for a few minutes... and she'd never once brought it up again, after snapping at him for coming after her. He figured she likely didn't want to think about it if she didn't have to... and he knew better than to force her to, not after what she'd experienced, not after seeing her so shaken and broken apart after pulling her back up.

He grimaced, sweadropping a little.

Easy, Frea...

The prickle of pain of her nails digging into him faded away after a few tense moments, her body relaxing underneath him as her breathing eased a little.

"... I'm sorry..."

His eyes snapped open in surprise, his head tilting down as he blinked- he saw her silver eyes flash slightly in the dim of the room, only half-way open as her hand moved, her finger's trailing along his arm as she frowned. She could see small, faint little lines where she had seen wounds once upon a time, after he'd pulled her out of the Reach. He usually had his coat on, so she couldn't- but he'd taken it off, and the shirt he had on had no sleeves either. And though they were mostly faded to nothing now- she could see the places the wounds had been, and her stomach knotted.

Her mind had pulled away from waters dark and smelling of death, her lungs heaving for air, struggling as she got pulled further underneath- pulled from the nightmare because even though her head was still throbbing, she felt pain, his pain- slight as it was. She realized instantly she had grabbed on to him, and she was holding too tightly.

Her eyes fell closed again, her eyelids too heavy to keep open as her trailing fingers stilled too. A sliver of light from the window glinted dimly from the chain and pendant wrapped around her wrist,

"... sorry... I didn't mean to... hurt you..." She breathed, her voice dropping away again as exhaustion rose to bite at her heels still. His eyes flashed, narrowing slightly as he shifted the arm she had been holding onto- his hand falling softly on top of hers, his other hand moving back down again to her side.

"... don't worry about it.." He mumbled lowly, shaking his head slightly and immediately deciding he wasn't going to move- she looked comfortable enough, and she was clearly still tired as hell. He wasn't going to shatter what calm she'd fallen into, it was enough that she didn't feel like she was freezing, she'd calmed down- her health mellowing out again. And at the moment, that was all he really cared about.

He disliked the way his stomach knotted and his heart ached too much to get worked up and try and put some distance between the both of them. And he'd never admit it out loud, but it wasn't like he was uncomfortable either... and he was tired too, his mind was teetering toward sleep again just like hers.

... you wear me out... woman...

"... just go back to sleep..."

---

"...mmm... Moon..."

Moon's ears twitched, her sleep pulled apart by the soft voice and the sensation of someone nudging her softly. Someone's hand fell on her hip, pulling her gently out of the ball she'd curled up into, rolling over as she blinked up at a roof that was unfamiliar.

"... Moon..." the voice murmured again, low and wispy and tired. Moon yawned, rolling over on to her side and her blue eyes matching with Frea's silver ones, the Energy Dragon Slayer smiling slightly a few inches away from Moon- still laying in bed.

Moon blinked a few times, her eyes widening slightly as her attention moved from Frea up a little-

Laxus had his arms held lightly around Frea's torso and shoulders as the Energy Dragon Slayer lay on her side, his nose pressed against the inside of her neck- asleep still, his face barely visible around Frea's hair- Frea smiled a little nervously, seeing Moon's eyes grow wide at the sight. The Exceed sweatdropped, immediately doing her best not to smirk,

Oh my... That's...

"... Sorry to wake you up, Moon..." Frea murmured, her gaze glassy and hazed slightly- she looked rather tired srill, and Moon was a little surprised she had woken up- Moon paused, her eyes moving toward the window to see sunlight filtering through.

"... Are you alright?" Moon asked softly, her paw reaching forward to land lightly on Frea's cheek- she felt fine, at any rate.

"... Yeah, I'm just tired still..." Frea murmured,

"Is your headache any better?"

"... Not really, but... A little..." Frea breathed, "... It might get better if I sleep a bit more... But I was wondering, did you bring my bag with you?"

"... No, but I can bring it here if you want." Moon murmured, Frea nodded slightly.

"... I think I have some spare clothes in it, but I might not... I was wondering if you'd be willing to head up to Fairy Hills and grab some if there isn't any?" Moon quirked and eyebrow, "... I wanna sleep in a little bit more... But I don't think its gonna go over well if Erza or Mira try knocking on our door and they realize we never made it back last night." Moon's eyes widened slightly,

"... You're right." Moon mumbled, "... They'll probably freak out..." Frea nodded slightly, Moon let out a breath and moved to sit on her heels. "... Alright, you rest up a bit more... I'll head over and grab a few things, and put out whatever fire might get started up..."

"...Thanks..." Frea sighed, her eyes dropping closed again. Moon smiled slightly, her eyes glittering at the both of them, before she shook her head and hopped lightly off the bed, Magic sparking up from her hand as she transported Frea's bag to her and it dropped into her hold.

Moon's tail flicked behind her, purring slightly as she smirked a little to herself. She opened the bag up, finding it near empty with only some money, the room keys to Fairy Hills, and a pair of dark colored jean shorts.

Moon sighed, shrugging a little to herself. It wasn't as if they'd gone anywhere that required supplies for the last month, so it wasn't a surprise the bag was a little empty. She set it down on the nightstand softly, her wings appearing as she hopped into the air, casting a small glance backward as she halted at the door.

They were both asleep, their breathing low and completely at ease.

Moon purred, moving out of the house with little a sound and heading toward Fairy Hills- the sunlight shining through the trees overhead as morning set in deeper. Moon's tail swished behind her, smirking as she shook her head.

... so adorable..!

---

This scent... it's everywhere... It's almost like...

... it smells different, new... almost... like a mountain trapped in the middle... of a storm...

He pressed a little closer, trying to bring it closer, drink it in- it smelled... good. Really good. He couldn't get enough of it, his mouth watered a little as he took a deep breath. He felt something tug in his chest, some pull, some feeling... something deep down inside of him that was stirring where it never had before, something new.

He inched closer, his mouth opening as he took in a long, deep breath.

... this feeling... something telling me... to...

He pressed his nose into where the scent was coming from, his lips parting slightly.

... it's... like... instinct...

His fangs bared slightly, his head bowing slightly as he moved to bite down, his mind in a haze and his body moving all on it's own- his actions owed to that strange pull inside of him, the want, the need to...

... bite... to... mark... as...

His eyes shot open, his movement halting entirely and his body growing rigid as his thoughts snapped to the present and what heavy, almost intoxicating hold that scent had on his mind shattered when he caught a new scent- faint, but entirely different from how pleasant the other one was, how... overwhelming it was. Enough he hadn't even bothered to think nor care, didn't realize what he was doing-

...w...what... the hell...? Why... I've never... it's like I couldn't... think...

He felt his heart jump, panic and nervousness rushing through him as he jerked his head away, his jaw snapping shut and his face heating up like a furnace-

What the hell was I...?!

He pulled his face away from the crook of Frea's neck and shoulder, to where he had previously been pressing against her skin, his mouth moving as he tried to- he'd never even thought about doing that, to anyone! And he'd never felt so deeply like he wanted- needed to?!

Did... I was gonna... bite her...?!

He moved, unhooking his arms from around her and sliding back across the bed, putting distance between them as she grumbled a little at the action- but didn't wake up at all.

He stiffened, his body meeting thin air as he pushed himself off the edge of the bed without realizing it in his sudden nervousness- hissing as he hit the floor with an audible thump. His hand moved up to cover his mouth, his jaw clenching and blushing furiously as he stared up at the roof- not caring to pick himself up off the floor at all.

I wanted to bite her, like... really, really wanted... what the hell...?!

He'd never felt the urge to do that, not once, not even when he was with other women-

His face heated up quite a bit more, grumbling and grimacing up at the roof. What would she have done if he had? Being jerked from sleep to him biting her...?

He grimaced a little more, imaging for a minute she'd have probably punched him straight in the face- he winced at the idea.

What the fuck was I even thinking...?!

He let out a short, hot huff- shaking his head at himself as he let himself lay on the floor a few more minutes, before slowly sitting up and casting a sideways glance back at the bed, she'd buried herself under the blankets a little more, her shoulders moving in tandem with her quiet breathing. He was thoroughly glad in the next instant that she hadn't woken up at all, not even as he hit the floor.

He swallowed, his jaw clenching slightly as his eyes narrowed at her. He remembered what scent had caught his attention, and ultimately stalled him before he... He growled, his nose twitching again as he ignored that lingering scent of sweet mountains and storms, frowning when he found it again.

Blood... but not a lot.

Tch... did she open up one of those damned wounds again...?

He blinked, eyes widening slightly as he glanced around the room- realizing for the very first time that her cat was nowhere to be seen. Her scent was still around, but it was getting a little stale regardless-

He got to his feet, casting Frea a small glance, before moving out of the room without a word and moving down the hallway toward the living room and kitchen. His eyes caught sight of something on the bar-counter where it hadn't been before, eyebrow quirking as he moved toward it. It was a note, the front being the words;

'Went to grab some things from Fairy Hills, and make sure no one's sent a search party out for Frea. Be back soon~'

He sighed, shaking his head slightly as he took a seat down on one of the stools, his arms crossing over his chest and eyes flashing, the room lightening as the sun rose a little higher in the sky, the rays casting through the windows all along the wall to his right, and the glass double-doors.

It hadn't really occurred to him that people would notice if Frea didn't get home, but then again- he supposed with how worked up the Guild was, one of the other girl's up at Fairy Hills was bound to knock on Frea's door to check in. That wouldn't work too well if she wasn't there,

He let out an agitated sigh, grimacing as he bit the inside of his cheek. His shoulders hunched a little, his stomach knotting as he blushed faintly despite himself.

... 'bite' didn't sound like the right word for it... whatever new feeling that was...but somehow... 'mark' did.

---

Her head was throbbing the next time she felt her mind pull away from sleep, her entire skull felt heavy and pressurized, like it was ready to burst- sharp prickles of pain centered right on her temples, enough so she groaned. She realized instantly what hope she had her headache would go away if she slept a little more, was entirely unfulfilled. To add to it, her arms, her leg, and her stomach hurt too.

I really do feel like I got hit by a train... but it felt like that train only hit me straight on when...

She blinked her eyes open, narrowing them at the opposite wall of a room she didn't recognize.

... it's... blurry... I remember my leg giving out, but after that.. I felt... cold, and sick... but I don't even remember getting here... it's too hazy...

She swallowed a little, her eyes falling closed again.

... did I really end up that bad...? Bad enough I can't... remember... anything before...

She frowned slightly, shaking her head and hissing as she shifted, pushing herself up off the bed and sitting up, one leg folding underneath her while the other propped up- her right hand falling behind her for support and her other one moving up, her fingers brushing against her forehead and temple. Her eyes narrowed ahead, the room blurring in front of her a little as her head started to throb a little more at sitting up. She bit back the hiss that rose in throat when her stomach sent a sharp stab of pain running through her,

... I don't even... know where I am... it smells like... Laxus... who...

She blushed faintly, her eyes closing.

... slept in the same bed, with me, and Moon... close enough... to keep me warm... right? I think I remember Moon saying something about that... and I was freezing... shit.

I really did push it too far, huh?

She let out a low sigh, her hand falling from her face as she leaned forward a little, her arms hooking around her torso and her eyes trailing toward the window- it looked near mid-morning, if she had to guess.

She blinked, something catching her attention at the corner of her eye- like the glint of light off metal from something on the nightstand by the bed. She moved her legs off the edge of the bed and scooted a little closer, halting halfway as her eyes widened, her heart leaping.

...n...no...way...

A small, silver ring rest on the top of the nightstand, it's edges marked across by engravings in a swirling pattern- simple looking, by all accounts. But Frea saw it and knew instantly it wasn't any old ring- it was hers.

---

Frea's eyes opened as she felt the wind pick up, the voices rose higher and she felt the Energy shift around her. The darkness was throbbing, moving, festering, reacting. Her eyes fixed to the steady spinning of the ring in the air before her, the light of her Magic flashing off the swirling designs carved into the metal.

"Deneos ze."

The wind picked up in a great burst of warm air, the trees seemed to sigh around them, and the voices faded away, the shadows around them seemed to recede, and the air grew lighter. It was as if the energy that had been suffocating this place suddenly disappeared altogether, and they could breathe easily again. The Dark Energy surrounding this place suddenly shifted, and grew lighter, more calm. Like some evil poison had been drawn from the wounds of the Land, and cast away. Everything relaxed, everything felt... peaceful.

Things went silent, and the ring fell lightly into the center of the paper again.

---

She... she'd had it, when Mordren snatched them away to her Mountain. It'd been around her neck, where she'd left it since leaving Nvindorr behind that day- but in the middle of the fighting she hadn't been paying attention. She'd hardly remembered it, even after waking up in the Infirmary- and when she did she'd looked for it in her bag and found it gone. She'd just assumed she'd lost in in the middle of all the fighting, destroyed or fallen down some crack in the earth or even in the lake, never to be seen again.

Never in a million years did she think to see it again- and certainly not sitting on the nightstand in Laxus' house.

She reached forward, taking it from the table and holding it in the palm of her hand, her eyes glittering. Why was it here? When would he have even...?

Her hand closed around it, her eyes moving behind her toward the door.

"Laxus." She mumbled, wincing slightly when her voice sounded harsh on her own ears. She coughed a little, clearing her throat and shifting to move herself over to the other side of the bed, and resting on her heels- though her leg sent a jolt of pain through her as she did so. "Tch... oww..." She hissed under her breath, before shaking her head and settling her eyes on the halfway closed door.

"Laxus!" She called lowly, her mind racing and her ears ringing at the sound of her voice- she could tell he was in the house still, even with her head throbbing she could actually make out individual Energies, surprisingly. And his was near enough he could have heard her with ease.

She heard his footsteps down the hallway, coming closer as he pushed the door open, eyes narrowed and eyebrow quirked at her and the stare she set on him instantly. He stopped in front of the bed,

"Damn it woman, why are you yelling at me?" He grumbled, his eyes narrowing a little more when he looked her up and down for half a second. "... you look like crap, you know. You should have slept more." She shook her head at him, her eyes flashing as she opened her hand and thrust it toward him.

"Where the hell did you find this?" She asked immediately, he blinked, looking a little surprised as his eyes dropped to the ring in her hand. His annoyance at being ordered in seemed to dissipate in the next moment though, his expression softening slightly as his eyes flashed a little, before they fell closed and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"... the chain broke, when I caught you." He replied lowly, she stiffened. "... I picked it up, and put it in my pocket without really thinking about it. I was more focused on the fact that you were... you know." His voice dropped a little, she sweatdropped.

---

Pain seared through her core, her eyes snapping shut as her body hunched, her chest heaving as she stumbled, a pool of blood coming up her throat and splattering against the rain soaked stone under her trembling feet, her arms hugging her body as she felt the waves and pain crash over her head and pull her under, the world tilting and growing dark.

Even through the pain she felt that familiar prickle on the air, she smelled his scent even among the overwhelming scent of the rain and her own blood. In a world going grey there was some small, faint flicker of gold. She felt his arms wrap around her broken body as she tilted forward, her legs giving out completely and threatening to send her crashing into the stone... but he didn't let her fall.

Her body was limp, she couldn't move and she hadn't the strength to try, the world was fading fast, blurred and swirling as he let her lie on the ground gently, his voice fragmented and lost on her ears, trying to keep her attention on him and her head above the waves and yet it did little good.

There was fear...

"... F.. Frea... Hey... sta... wit... me..."

She couldn't feel the rain splashing against her face anymore, let alone hear it's patter on the ground... there was the low rumble of thunder, deep and slow...

"... Fr...ea...!"

The thunder faded into silence too... the black crawled up, faster... stronger... Silence was settling...

"... s..he..."

She felt it... the waters of the Reach... Surrounding... drowning...

"... Fre..."

...Falling...

...

...

...

---

Frea's eyes dropped away from him, her hand moving back away from him again as she seemed to deflate slightly, her shoulders hunching a little. He blinked at her once,

"... I completely forgot I had it, after that... I found it finally, when it fell out of the pocket again when I was putting things away." He told her lowly, her hand closed around the ring softly, her hands falling into her lap. "... I figured you'd want it back, I brought it with me to the Guild yesterday, but when I got there you were already off with the Council." He grumbled, Frea nodded slightly.

"... thank you..." She murmured softly, "... I honestly didn't think I'd see it again, after fighting with Mordren..." He nodded, though she didn't see him do so.

"... are you alright?" He asked lowly, she blinked up at him and the question. "You pushed yourself too far, you know that? You were an inch away from pushing it far enough to actually do some damage, idiot." She frowned a little, and he did too. "What were you thinking, going off with the Council? You weren't in any shape to even think about doing that, letting alone going. I can't believe you were stupid enough to do it, or that the damned Guild just let you."

Agitation flared from him, annoyance, anger...

"You wouldn't have made it back to Fairy Hills with how you were. We barely got you here before just being moved was too much on you- you pushed it way too far, woman. The way you were, you could have really gone into shock, or worse." He hissed, she bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes fixed on her hands and not on him, silent. "Why the hell do you always have to run off and do stupid things? It's like you're addicted to getting yourself hurt worse than you already are!"

She flinched, just a little, her eyes snapping shut as his voice got lower, harsher.

"If you keep on caring so little about yourself, you are going to end up dead. And that's not gonna help anybody." He snapped, "Quit being so damned stubborn all the time and think about yourself for once! You can't handle everything all on your own- especially not when you're barely on your feet in the first damn place!"

"... I'm sorry..." She mumbled, a vein ticked on his forehead.

"Don't apologize! Just quit doing so many stupid things all the damn time!" He shot back instantly, she stiffened a little. He growled, glaring at her as she stayed sitting still- a few tense moments of silence suddenly falling between the both of them.

Frea swallowed a little, her eyes flashing and still not looking up at him.

"... are you done?" She asked softly, he growled. "... you have every right to yell at me, I know... It was stupid, it was dumb, it wasn't a good idea from the start... but I didn't have any more time to wait. The Council were going to come to Fairy Tail and fight to have me, I didn't want the Guild to get caught up in all of that... it needed to be over, that's why I went. I had to finish it." His jaw clenched slightly,

"... I didn't mean to end up like I did, I thought I would be fine... I think I would have been, if I hadn't had to stand up against Serena out of nowhere... if I hadn't..." Her hands clenched in her lap, shaking her head as she hissed. "... it's done, it's over with... I'm sorry to be a pain in the ass... I know I said I'd try to be less of one... I'm trying... I'm going to try harder... it's just not easy. I'm not the sort of person who's ever been able to depend on other people... or worry about myself, before anyone else... it's hard to change something about myself that's been this way for so long."

I hate it... feeling vulnerable... weak... I hate it when other people see it

"... but... thank you, for taking care of me... Laxus." Frea murmured, her voice dropping as she stiffened. "... I'm sorry if ending up like that... worried you..." He blinked, stiffening himself as his eyes narrowed at her.

"...tch... I said quit apologizing, damn it." He huffed hotly, his anger still there but a little less fervent now. His jaw clenched a little, growling under his breath as he shook his head a few times. "... just... quit."

Frea blinked a few times, hearing his voice drop a little. She sweatdropped, her eyes glittering as she felt her stomach knot a little- guilt.

She could feel it, underneath all that annoyance and agitation toward her. She could see it in the way he tensed just then, and even in the way he'd been snapping her head off so harshly too... he was worried, underneath all of that. She'd worried him, and she couldn't imagine how much... she must have really gotten bad last night. Bad enough he'd had to carry her, bad enough he brought her to his home instead of hers so she wasn't moved too much at once. Bad enough he'd kept her warm himself... Bad enough he was this worked up and she hated herself for doing that, because if Laxus was this worked up about her- she couldn't imagine how Moon had felt about it.

She hated she'd worried either of them at all, even if Laxus might never admit to it out loud.

"... are you ok?" He grumbled lowly, reverting back to the question he had asked first before falling into his own agitation. His tone was softer this time around, his eyes glinting slightly as his frown faded and he simply held her in his gaze, tense, waiting. It was such a common question as of late, and yet it was uncommon from him- even after all of it. She was pretty sure he'd only every explicitly asked if she was ok three times since what happened...

"I think so." She replied softly, nodding a little. "...sleep helped, a lot." He blinked, sighing slightly.

"... what the hell happened yesterday?" He asked lowly, "You keep saying something went on with that Serena guy, what did he do? And what does that have to do with you ending up in the shape you did?" Frea sweatdropped slightly, her hands unfolding as she slipped the ring from her palm and onto the thumb of her left hand.

"... he... came after me." She replied quietly, Laxus stiffened, eyes widening at the words as his heart jumped slightly.

Frea shifted, moving to let her legs hang over the edge of the bed and biting down on her tongue to try and stifle the hiss that came from the movement, her hands falling to hold her right leg as she straightened it- his eyes picked out the small smears of red that had seeped through her jeans right over her right thigh.

"What?" He growled lowly,

"... he had this idea of testing his strength against mine, after finding out about what I did with Mordren." Frea murmured, rubbing her leg gently as she sweatdropped a little more. "... I didn't even realize he there until he showed himself, and when he did, he threw his Magic out toward me and I-" She broke off, her eyes flashing as he blinked. "... I... panicked. And in the middle of it, my Magic flared and I destroyed the entirety of his attack... while also throwing him through a wall."

"... he's the number one Seat of the Wizard Saints, ain't he?" Laxus grumbled, Frea nodded. "... and you... threw him through a wall...?"

"... I'd be offended that you look so surprised, if that wasn't the same reaction all of the Council and the other Saints had." Frea mumbled, pausing slightly. "... that and the fact his Power is... fucking insane..." She shook her head a little,

Speaking of Wizard Saint, though...

"... but... it's just I haven't used any Magic at all, since fighting with Mordren. I didn't feel like I had any, until I used it against Serena. And it came flooding back at once, way too fast, way too powerful... using Magic just... hurt." She mumbled softly, "... using it was a shock on my body, and moving so fast to avoid Serena in the first place, and again after that... It was just too much at once. Too much moving and too much exertion I haven't had to do in a long while. That's the biggest reason I ended up in such bad shape last night. But with Porlyusica's Potion, all of it set in on a delay and I didn't really feel just how far I had pushed myself until it wore off all the way."

Laxus grimaced slightly at the explanation, his eyes flashing as his shoulders stiffened a little. "... and that Saige guy?" He asked next, "...he's the same one you talked to that night in the Infirmary, when the First came to get me, right?" She nodded, though she looked a little surprised he had put the pieces together like that.

"... he's been helping. He and Jura stepped in to stop Serena when he came at me a second time... and he's actually helping me to find a way to manage the new level of Magic I have. So it won't get bad enough to be a problem." He blinked, his eyes narrowing at the comment.

To be quite honest, Frea had mentioned little about her Magic getting powerful enough to hurt her like it had- it had been clear in her fight with Mordren she lost control, but there'd been little said about her dealing with that same level of Magic again. He'd assumed her Magic Energy Supply had increased since then, but it never occurred to him it might have gotten too big for her to manage at all. The way she had explained it to the whole of the Guild, what happened with Mordren was something of a 'one time deal', so thoughts that she'd be using her Magic on the same level (willingly or unwillingly) hadn't been one of the top things on his mind. But the way she said it just then made him think maybe it needed to be- and he was about to ask about it, but she went on without pausing.

Frea gestured toward the bracelet around her wrist, and the one he had noticed a few times before now. "... he gave me this, it's a Special sort of Limiter, from Adgnei. It stores the excess portions of my Magic inside of itself, that I don't know how to control just yet. It'll do less as my Magic is starting to grow stronger... But so far even just in one day, and what it felt like having my Magic surge anew after using it... it's made a big difference."

"Wait- what do you mean?" He cut in, she sweatdropped. "Are you saying your Magic's gotten so out of control you can't keep a hold on it? If it gets as out of control as it did when you were..." He hissed, his eyes flashing. "You're telling me you've known there's a chance your Magic's going to screw you up again, like it did last time?" His voice dropped a little as she frowned a little, looking a little nervous.

"... yes. It's a very real possibility I'm not going to be able to control my Magic, with how much more it's grown since fighting Mordren. And if I can't control it well enough, it'll put a lot of strain on me... and probably even go so far as to start tearing me up again." She shook her head a little, "... since my Magic can't be affected by Nullification, the only option was to have Jynx put a Limiter Seal on me. But that option meant my Magic would get trapped inside of me, without forcing it mellow out, or slow down. That would more than likely just let it hurt me regardless, as it gets stronger... but that was the only option I could think of to do."

"Tch... and you've known all of that from very start?" He growled, she nodded. "Does anyone else know?"

"Master, Mavis, Porlyusica, Moon and Chase know." Frea murmured, "Saige too, but as far as the rest of the Guild is to be concerned- using All Magic was a one time thing, and though my Magic's grown since then- it's not going to be a problem. It will never be a problem, as far as they know- and it needs to stay that way. There's nothing they can do, and little anyone else can... this is going to fall on me, more than anyone." He gave her a small glare at that,

"And what if your Magic gets out of control to the point it starts to actually hurt you?" He asked instantly, his tone low.

"If it ever gets to that point, I'll..." Frea mumbled, trailing off. A vein ticked on his forehead,

"I swear if you say 'I'll handle it' I'm going to throw you-" He snapped,

"- I'll tell you." Frea cut him off instantly, frowning a little as her eyes flashed. He paused, breaking off in slight surprise. "... I'll tell you, alright? I don't want the rest of the Guild knowing, I don't want anyone else knowing who doesn't already- but if it ever gets that bad, I will tell you. I don't know if you or anyone else is going to be able to help fix it, but I will let you know..." She sighed, "... I know you don't like it when I hide things from the Guild, but I'm telling you now, so you do know... so you get it. I want to try harder to stop being so... cut off, from letting people help me..." She sighed, "So don't throw me, yeah?" She added in lightly at the end, her head tilting as he huffed.

"...tch... so this thing you have on, how the hell is it different from what Jynx's Magic would do?" He growled, she smiled slightly, just for half a second.

"It doesn't trap the excess Magic that would hurt me inside of my body- it stores all of that inside of itself, and dulls it down. It makes the flow of my Magic slow up and mellow out, calm down and keep it from rushing through me fast and wild- where it would be doing still, if it was just one of Jynx's Seals." Frea explained softly, "... it's kinda like taking the water overflowing quickly from the edges of a container, and using a small hose to siphon from the bottom all of the excess into something else, slowly."

"... and you said it's already started to help?"

She nodded, "My Magic came back really, really fast when I used it yesterday. I was actively doing my best to keep it under wraps, and I was... it was just taking up a lot of focus, and effort." Frea murmured, "After putting this on, I'm not actively thinking about suppressing my Magic at all... It feels almost normal."

"And you said Saige gave it to you? And it came from Adgnei?"

"Yeah, he has ties to them... apparently." Frea murmured, "Adgnei doesn't thrive on Caster Magic, from what he said- but they are the leading power in Magical Tools and Holder Magics. That's why they have these Limiters that work differently than Limiter Seals, and the way they work is helpful with my situation."

Laxus let out a low breath, his eyes falling closed a moment as he seemed to mull over the situation and what she'd said- his anger dissipating again- mostly when she'd promised to tell him if things got bad, she noticed. Now he seemed to just be trying to wrap his head around all the new information and implications- it was kind of a lot to take in, since this was the first he'd heard about her Magic possibly hurting her again.

"... hmph... fine." He grumbled after a few minutes, "Using Magic in the first place was stupid, but if you did it to defend yourself... I guess I can't get too pissed at you."

And though it took her awhile... she did tell him, about all of that. He was pleased she did, because that did mean she had listened to him about being there to let her lean on. And as weird as it sounded, when she said she was going to 'try harder'... he could tell she really meant it this time, something about her conviction on the matter had changed, though he wasn't quite sure why.

And he didn't care why, as long as she started letting people- him- help her. Even if she was still slow and ridiculously hesitant to do so... he understood why she was better than she probably realized. He would be too, if the situation was reversed- they were rather alike in that aspect, all things considered.

"That being said, if you try using Magic again I will knock you out." He added in roughly, she smiled faintly, nodding in understanding. "... is the fight with Serena that thing you asked if Jynx had mentioned, yesterday?"

"Yeah... she was there when it happened. I thought maybe she might have said something... though she probably didn't, so the Guild wouldn't freak out over it." He let out a low breath,

"Is there anything else?" He grumbled lowly, "Any other stupid thing you got yourself into? Or did you really just spend the entire day talking with the Council?"

She hesitated, her eyes widening a little as she quickly looked away from him, looking nervous suddenly as she tapped her fingers together a little in her lap. He quirked an eyebrow, settling her with a flat stare at the reaction he noticed immediately,

"Frea." He growled, she sweatdropped.

"... uh... not a 'stupid thing' in the sense you're thinking about... and it really was mostly just talking, after what happened with Serena... but... uh..." She mumbled quickly, "... something else did happen, but it's... a little crazy, if you think about it... but the... Council... and the Saints... they kinda thanked me..?" He blinked in surprise at that, watching carefully as she smiled nervously, her eyes slowly moving back up toward him, her hand rubbing the back of her neck a little.

"And they kinda... made me a... Wizard Saint..."

He stared, not moving, not even hardly like he was breathing and his eyes locked on to her with the utmost look of neutrality she had ever seen in him. He said absolutely nothing and the silence dragged on for a few minutes, with each one Frea getting just a slight bit more nervous as her head tilted uncertainly,

"... uh...? You... good, there...?" She asked slowly, still nothing.

She's joking

She's joking right?

... why would she joke about that?

She wouldn't

I saw the Symbol on the bracelet, but really...?

She's serious

How the hell can she be serious?

Is that why the Old Man got called in last night?

But Frea? After all the shit the Council's drudged up against her?

They thanked her too..?

Not that a thank you wasn't warranted...

She probably should have been S-Class years ago... but...

... Wizard Saint?

Like the Old Man? And Jura? That guy was no joke... I got the crap beaten out of me when we faced off...

... She said she threw the Number One Seat through the wall, right?

But... if she's a Saint now...

"... Laxus...?" Frea mumbled, blinking several times. "...hey... are you ok...?"

Shit... Gildarts probably can't even hold a candle to the First Seat Wizard Saint...

... what the hell does that say about me...?!

His eyes fell closed, his arms about his chest tightening a little as his shoulders hunched too- his fangs grinding down on each other.

We've been talking about a rematch for years now, and I never doubted the fact that-

Crap, does that mean there's not a chance in hell? I know there were rumors about making me one after kicking Jura's ass... but I knew nothing was gonna happen about it, and even so...

He stiffened, sweatdropping as his head tilted back toward the roof, grimacing.

... there's probably no way in hell I'm the second strongest in Fairy Tail anymore... you gotta be...

I can't believe... I didn't think there'd ever be a day where Frea of all people surpassed me...

"Oi! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Frea snapped, impatient now with the sudden silence- and the ridiculous amount of both surprise and unease coming from him.

... It didn't even occur to me after Mordren... but shit.

He knew it though, in the back of his mind that she'd gotten so strong- way too strong, even compared to him. It just didn't really sink in all the way until that instant.

"Laxus!" She snapped again, "Are you even hearing me, Lightning-boy?!"

... tch... if we ever do have a rematch... she's probably gonna win... damn it.

"... tch... quit yellin'." He grumbled, Frea broke off in an instant. "... the Guild is going to lose their shit when they find out, you know."

"... t-the Guild..?!" Frea stammered, "What the hell about you?! You looked like you were having an aneurysm!" He gave her a small glare,

"Shut up." He huffed, "And calm down, working yourself up isn't gonna do any good." She huffed back, glaring slightly as she growled under her breath. "I'm just... tch, surprised. My reaction is going to be nothing like everybody else's." She sweatdropped, grimacing slightly as his comment of the Guild 'losing their shit' finally sunk in.

She deflated, her hands hooking behind her neck and looking incredibly nervous. "... shit... I'm never going to live it down, am I...?" She whined lowly,

"Not a chance." He answered flatly, she groaned a little.

"... damn it... it's not like it was my idea in the first place..." She mumbled, he quirked a brow at her. "... I didn't even think about what the rest of the Guild would do... they're gonna be so loud... and Natsu's probably gonna bother me to fight him nonstop..." She sighed, shaking her head at herself. "... why am I already regretting accepting..?" She hummed,

"Stop worrying about it." He grumbled, she gave him a slightly unamused stare. "They'll get over it, though they will be loud. And if the Flame-Brain is stupid enough to try and start a fight, you can be damned sure he'll get his ass kicked before he does anything." She hummed slightly under her breath at that, nodding a little.

"What you should be worried about it was Porlyusica is going to do to you when she finds out what happened last night." Laxus added in gruffly, Frea sweatdropped.

"... shit..." She sighed, "... she was serious about locking me in the Infirmary for a month... but it wasn't even entirely my fault... not that I think she'll care if it was or not..." Her shoulders sagged, her head tilting down and entirely downcast in the next instant.

"... I'm screwed..."

Laxus felt he had to agree

Frea shook her head, her eyes moving up again as she caught sight of her bag on the nightstand. She leaned over, grabbing it and setting it in her lap- grumbling slightly at how heavy it was and knowing immediately the Energy Magic Book was inside. She pulled it out and tossed it behind her with a small growl of annoyance, earning a blink and a small frown from Laxus as it hit the floor with a thump.

"... I am so not in the mood for you, you stupid god-damn... Tilme..." She hissed under her breath as she continued to dig- and paused, sweatdropping a little more to find little else and only a pair of shorts. "...mmm..." She hummed lowly, "... oi, broody Lightning-Boy." He grumbled,

"What?" He muttered, annoyed slightly at the name.

"... I feel like I need a shower..." Frea mumbled lowly, "... can I borrow a shirt?" He stiffened slightly in surprise at the question, blinking once or twice. "... I don't care which one, I just need something cleaner than... this." She mumbled, her eyes falling on to her shirt and her stomach where the fabric was stained slightly red- similarly to where her jeans had been stained red on her right thigh. "... just until Moon comes back with some spare clothes."

He paused for a small moment, a little taken aback at the request- and annoyed she hadn't asked to use the shower, and assumed she could- just faintly annoyed, though.

"... fine.." He sighed, she blinked at how easily he'd relented. He flicked his head to the left, toward the alcove that lead into the bathroom. "Go for it, I'll give you one... even though you probably should try to sleep more." He grumbled, moving toward the dresser as Frea watched him go. He pulled out a familiar purple button up shirt and grabbed a towel too, moving back to drop them both in her hands, pausing in front of her- she sweatdropped a little when she realized he was waiting for her to move.

Frea pushed herself up off the bed, hissing a little at the flash of pain that raced though her when doing so- and feeling Laxus stiffen at the sound. She held her bag, the shirt and the towel in hand as she paused a small second to test her leg and let her throbbing head settle a little at standing up, ever aware he was watching her every move in case she swayed or gave any sign of losing her footing. When it was clear she was fine enough to be standing, he let out a soft, quiet sigh and she nodded her head at him.

"Thanks," She murmured, "... you don't need to watch me like a child, I'm fine." He huffed slightly,

"Could of fooled me." He shot back easily, a vein ticked on her forehead.

"Oh... be quiet." She grumbled, moving now toward the bathroom and determined not to limp- though walking instantly hurt, like a lot. He watched her disappear around the slight corner toward the shower, before shaking his head and slumped down into the armchair set to the right of the bedroom door, his back turned slightly in the direction he heard the shower turn on from.

Frea poked her head around the corner again, her eyes narrowed and frowning a little as a blush spread across her cheeks- seeing he had apparently decided not to leave the room, ass.

Her eyes widened slightly, seeing a flash of light hover over his head as the Energy Magic Book transported itself from the opposite end of the room- and landed with a painful thud on the top of his head. He hissed, glaring daggers as it landed in his lap- Frea laughed, pulling her head back around the corner.

Good Tilme..!

Laxus shot the bathroom a glare, he swore he heard Frea laugh but didn't see her there. His head was throbbing at being hit, and he was honestly just miffed, growling under his breath as he stared at the Book's cover and those faded, gold letters on the front.

... Wizard Saint, huh...?

---

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Even though there were plenty of breaks in here, I hope it didn't bother you guys too much!

There is one chapter after this before we move to a new Arc! That means the Aftermath of the All Magic Arc is being wrapped up, so start getting ready for all the things to come!

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