BROKEN AND BRUISED
CHAPTER 27
Lucy woke up the next day earlier than expected. She got dressed and went downstairs only to see that she wasn't the only one that was up this early.
"Good morning Lu." Ultear greeted as she added sugar in her tea.
"Good morning Ultear. How was your night?" Lucy asked as she sat next to her.
"Why don't you ask your little devils? They kept me up all night talking about the amazing fights they were seeing, and that they couldn't wait to see you and daddy fight. They didn't sleep till it was 4:30 in the morning. By that time I was unable to sleep so I thought I'd just drink some tea." Ultear huffed and Lucy winced.
"Anyway, why are you up this early?" Ultear inquired as she sipped her tea.
Lucy sighed. "First, let me apologize about my kids-"
Ultear stopped her with a raised hand. "Just because I'm complaining doesn't mean that I don't like it. I know you need your rest and can't take care of them at the moment because you are competing. So don't worry about it. But also, let me complain all I want without you feeling guilty because I deserve it."
Lucy laughed and shook her head. "Alright, alright. I honestly don't know what I would do without you Ultear."
"Well, a good thing is that you don't have to find out, I'll always be here for you."
Lucy smiled and brought Ultear into a hug. "I know, and that's why I'm forever grateful for you."
"Now this…" Ultear said as she tightened the hug, "This, I missed."
Lucy was then abruptly pushed away from Ultear and kept at an arm's length. "You still haven't told me why you're awake this early." She said with a raised brow.
Lucy sighed and told her all about what happened yesterday with Natsu and Yukino, and how she couldn't sleep much because her mind wandered back to that awful guild and guild master.
Ultear sat quietly and listened to everything that the blonde told her while sipping her tea slowly. The more Lucy talked, the more Ultear remembered the horrible people that took her in and how they used her time magic to experiment with horrendous things. No one thought back then about how she felt. She, a child, in the middle of all that was going on back then was never considered.
But then, a girl they barely know, and Natsu went and destroyed and fought a guild for her. Truly, the world is a much better place with people like Lucy and everyone from Fairy Tail in it. Though it would be on her dead body that she ever admits that she commended Natsu and his ways.
"I understand, it's hard. But you did the right thing Lu, you just got to show them how it's really done when you meet them in the games next time."
Lucy nodded her head. "Which is what I plan to do, trust me."
They were quiet for a while before Ultear said. "I saw what happened between you and Laxus in the battle between Mirajane and Jenny. Are you okay?"
Lucy nodded her head. "I am. He needs time, I understand."
"What is this? Drinking tea without me?"
Ultear shook her head. "I was wondering when all the peace and quiet would end. Should have smelled the poison coming in."
Cobra smirked. "You sure are getting better with these comebacks. Feels like I'm starting to finally rub on you right."
Ultear rolled her eyes. "Please, I've always been like this. It was no influence of yours that turned me into the badass that I am today."
Lucy laughed. "You two got too much energy for this in the morning." She then turned to her brother and saw the sunken eyes and bags under his eyes. "What's wrong? Why are you awake so early?"
Cobra brushed her off and kissed her forehead. "Nothing wrong Sunshine. It's just that your light is too bright for me to sleep in." he winked at the end and Lucy shook her head.
She saw Cobra scrunch his nose and tilt his head to the side. "You smell different somehow. You changed your shampoo?"
Lucy nodded her head. "Yeah I did. But seriously, you look way too tired than usual. What's wrong Eric-nii?"
"That's what I would like to know as well," Ultear said with her arms crossed.
He narrowed his eye at Ultear but then closed it and sighed. "You guys worry too much, there is nothing wrong. I'm just worrying about little things that's all."
"Like?" Lucy asked with a raised brow.
"Like things concerning the plan we put in place about the shadow. Things I can't tell you, don't worry about it. Everything is fine." He ruffled her hair in a comforting way.
Lucy was still skeptical, yet she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Ultear on the other hand straight up didn't believe him. She kept side eyeing him the entire time they sat around and drank some tea.
Cobra knew she didn't believe him, yet at the moment he couldn't do anything about this matter. He wanted to come here and drink some coffee in peace, yet he found them both here and it had been a while since he sat with Sunshine so he wanted to check up on her. He didn't know they were going to be this much on his case, but he should have seen it coming. Sunshine and the others seemed to always know when something was wrong with him, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
He just needed to suffer in silence just a bit more, and then he would be better. He would get better, without inconveniencing anyone and without anyone knowing what was wrong with him.
They sat for a while before Cobra left them to get something to eat. When they told him he could get something from the restaurant here, his reply was that he didn't fancy anything of what was available and left. That answer was an excuse that he knew they probably saw through but didn't push him about it. He felt bad that he was tricking Sunshine but he really needed a moment to collect himself before the day started.
"One day, you're going to crumble. And I hope when that happens, that someone is there to help reform you."
Cobra stood rooted in his spot at the words that were said from someone he didn't expect at all to be addressed by him.
Makarov sighed before he walked to the door of the inn. "You may think that you are protecting her, but you may be hurting her more by doing so. Being open about how you feel is the most important thing between family members, and it's something that she values greatly. I don't know the full story, so maybe I shouldn't be talking. But I can't let one of my children feel unhappy and not do anything about it."
Cobra stood there silently. After a while, the only thing he said was: "Am I one of your children?"
Makarov gave him a sincere smile. "You may not have my name. You may not have my blood. But if you are under Fairy Tail's roof, then you have my love and my support."
Cobra felt tears forming at the corner of his eye so he quickly turned away from the old man. "Thanks… I guess. I'll- think about what you said."
Makarov laughed and smacked Cobra on the back, startling him. "Good for you. Now, let's go get something to eat."
Cobra shook away his confusion and started following the master. "Now hold on old man, I didn't invite you to breakfast."
But master Makarov didn't listen to him, and instead he dragged Cobra into a nice restaurant in town where they sat and ate breakfast in comfortable silence.
Lucy watched as Cobra left the inn they were staying in and sighed. "I wish he would tell me what's wrong."
Ultear kept looking at the door that was now closed before she shook her head. "You need to prepare for today Lu. Leave him to us, we'll handle it."
"But-" Lucy turned around to speak but was cut off by a finger from Ultear.
"Go!" her tone was stern, leaving no room for objections.
Lucy shook her head dejectedly and went to wake up her team and prepare for the day.
Arriving at the arena, they stood on their balcony and listened to Mato as he explained the event for the day.
"Welcome back everybody to the Grand Magic Games. I hope you are all excited for the day as much as we are. Joining us today on the judges' council is none other than the head captain of the rune mages, Lahar." Mato pointed at the judges' table where Lahar was seated with the other judges.
"I am very glad to be here and I cannot wait to witness the games of the day." Lahar said as he addressed the crowd.
Mato then continued. "We will start the third day of the games with an event called Pandemonium. Please choose the contestants of each team before we advance any further."
Erza volunteered to go, with Cana from Fairy Tail team B going down into the arena. Jura, Orga, Millianna, Hibiki, Nobarly, and Orba are chosen from the other teams. Erza walked next to Cana and asked her about the whereabouts of Jellal, as she hadn't seen him today. Cana shrugged her shoulders and told her she had no idea.
They gathered in the arena and a building appeared behind Mato before he continued explaining.
"This building is called the Pandemonium. It is a place where monsters have gathered and is the arena of this day's challenge. Each challenger will go in, specify the number of monsters they wish to face and earn points according to the number of monsters they have defeated. There will be different levels of the monsters inside, from D to S with the S-class monster nearly rivaling a wizard saint!"
The crowd started cheering. One of the challengers asked what would happen if someone were to lose and Mato answered. "You would still retain your points, but unfortunately you will be out. The challenge will continue until you have defeated all the monsters or have run out of magic. We will be choosing by draws who gets to go in so please everyone, one by one, start drawing from this box here."
Erza looked at the number she drew and crumbled the paper.
"Will the first contestant please step up?" Mato asked.
Erza took a step forward and Mato turned to her. "How many do you wish to challenge?"
Erza looked at Pandemonium and thought back to all the booing and hate they received these last days at the games. She thought about the seven years they missed and how much it affected her dear home, the place where she can be herself with no judgment whatsoever, her guild, Fairy Tail.
"I will challenge all 100 monsters." She said with determination, with a loud clear voice for all to hear, to show that this is a challenge that she would take head on. Just so she can show just how strong Fairy Tail really is.
The crowd gasped, the challengers were shocked except for Cana who just hiccupped and said. "That's Erza for you."
"ALL 100?" Mato exclaimed. "Are you sure? This is very risky, you can get seriously hurt."
Erza stood her ground. "Yes, my opponents will be, all 100 monsters."
From her team's balcony, Natsu and Gray stood shocked before breaking into a grin and cheering her on. Lucy looked at Erza with a new level of respect and adoration. It was for a while, but she seemed to forget that back when she first got into Fairy Tail, she was practically Erza's fan girl. And because of that, she knew how much this mattered to Erza. She knew how much the guild mattered to Erza. So with a loud voice, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "GO ERZA! SHOW THEM THE STRENGTH OF FAIRY TAIL!"
Erza looked back at Lucy and smiled. She wondered how was the blonde able to read her this easily, but then she remembered that that was just who Lucy was as a person.
Erza nodded her head and climbed the steps that took her inside Pandemonium. Once inside, she announced that all 100 monsters will be her opponents and they wasted no time in spawning and attacking Erza, yet Erza was faster. She changed armor after armor as she continuously felled down her enemies. Using wide range attacks to determine the types of enemies she was facing before changing into the proper armor left the crowd in pure amazement.
"She's breathtaking." Commented Lucy as she looked at the screen, unable to take her eyes off of it.
Somewhere in the streets, a man fully cloaked looked back at the stadium where the games were being held and held his breath. A gust of wind made his blue hair sway with the current as he breathed out. "Erza."
When faced with Fire monsters, she changed into her Flame Empress Armor and absorbed the attack while directing several slashes with her sword from the Sea Empress Armor set. When faced with water monsters, she would don her Sea Empress armor and attack with her lightning spear. The upside building she was fighting in was getting destroyed from all the attacks that were happening.
Monsters fell one by one on her feet as she continued to mercilessly defeat each and every one of them till finally, only the S-class monster remained.
Donning her Clear Heart Clothing, Erza looked at his small size, and while the crowd wondered at his questionable look and size, her concentration never wavered. In fact, it doubled, because she knew that something was off with this monster. Even though she was extremely tired, wounded badly from battling the other 99 monsters, this was the final step to victory. And it was a step she wasn't going to miss.
She stood her ground and called out to the monster. "Come."
Right as she said those words, this small monster opened his eye and he teleported her to an arena inside the pandemonium.
Mato panicked as he watched Erza being crushed to the ground by the now giant S-class monster. "This is why I told you it's impossible-Kabo! This arena is designed in a way that if the S-class monster was the only one left, its power will triple-Kabo!"
And yet Erza was unfazed. She was pushed to the side by the monster, and when he came to stomp on her, she dodged by jumping up and retaliated by breaking his fingers.
Fairy Tail cried as they watched Titania, with blood dripping from her mouth and head from the exertion of magic containers, stand again and again and fight.
Levy stared in amazement at Erza, and thought that for the rest of her life, this day was a day she would never forget. Because as Erza jumped behind the monster and cut it in half while being badly wounded, she saw a fairy that should have fallen to the ground, soar.
As the monster broke to pieces and fell behind Erza, she stood with her sword raised like a dignified scarlet flower in all its glory. A magic circle appeared below her and took her out of the pandemonium back into the main arena. The crowd erupted in cheers at her magnificent feat. Natsu, Gray, Wendy and Lucy rushed and pulled her into a hug.
"You were amazing Erza-nee." Wendy cried as she held Erza closely to her.
"I couldn't agree more." Lucy sniffled and Erza tightened the hug around all of them.
"Everyone, I couldn't do it without you. Even though I couldn't see you, I knew you were cheering for me with everything you got. And that was something I was not going to disappoint by failing," she said as she smiled warmly at her team who started crying all over again.
In Sabertooth's balcony, Minerva chuckled. "Seems like there is someone fun in that boring guild."
Sting looked mortified at what Titania had done.
Mato congratulated Erza and told her to go to the medical bay. He looked at the other contestants and told them that after discussing with the judges privately about how to move forward, they agreed on going through with the MPF event, where they will attack the device that is called Magic Power Finder that will record and display the level of magic used.
They go in the order they got in the first event, with Cana being the last contestant. The other contestants started using their attacks on the device, some failed miserably, some did well and others got really high scores like Jura and Orga. It was now time for Cana who was drinking from a bottle of alcohol. She hiccupped as she looked at Mato and pointed to herself. "Oh, it's my turn?"
Gajeel sighed as he looked at the scene before him. "That drunkard and her antics."
Cana started taking off her jacket, which made some Fairy Tail members wonder about her actions.
Makarov's eyes bulged from their sockets once he saw the emblem on her arm and turned to Mavis. "Wait, is that…?"
"I gave it to her this once, so she can win," She told him with stars in her eyes as Makarov died inside.
"Alright, I'm gonna hit you hard." Cana announced as the emblem on her arm started glowing red. She thrust her arm above her and started chanting. "Gather! River of light that guides the fairies."
A column of light surrounded her and started to grow in size as she continued chanting and aimed her arm at the device. "Shine! To destroy the fangs of evil! FAIRY GLITTER!" she yelled as she released all the accumulated light and broke the MPF device into pieces with the numbers 9999 lagging above it.
The crowd roared in cheer, Jura smiled at Cana's feat while the others were flabbergasted at the sheer power she had. Sabertooth were completely shook with both Erza and Cana that they couldn't say anything. And that was how, both Fairy Tail teams scored the top and second place in this day's event.
The battles were to start next. Other battles happened before arriving at Laxus' match up. Alexei smiled as he told his teammates that the plan was set in motion.
Makarov looked at Alexei as he walked into the arena and stood before Laxus. His eyes drifted towards Ivan who sat with the crowd and then towards Bisca who was one of the lookouts he set up to make sure Raven Tail didn't pull anymore tricks. She sent him a thumbs up as reassurance that all was good. From the judge's table, Yajima, without turning to Lahar, whispered to him. "Lahar-san, keep your eyes on the game. And if you see Raven Tail were about to do something illegal, please intervene."
When he got no response, Yajima turned to see what was up with his colleague. "Lahar-sa-"
His words died down in his throat when he saw Lahar zeroed in on the match. No, more specifically, he was staring directly at Laxus with a deep frown.
Yajima shook his head, not understanding what was happening and why did Lahar seem to dislike Laxus greatly, and also not wishing to understand. He promised Macky-chan that he would help him with the lookouts, and so if Lahar didn't seem qualified to stop the match, he would.
Lucy watched as Laxus walked towards the center of the arena and stood face to face with his opponent, Alexei. Just then, she heard the yells of her kids as they crashed into her from behind.
"MOMMY!" they yelled in unison as they hugged their mother.
Lucy laughed as she hugged her children back. Red looked around him frantic before his eyes zeroed in on Erza, who was covered in bandages, who widened her eyes thinking she had done something wrong to upset the kid.
"Aunty Erza, you were so cool. How you stood up and were like…" he stood with one leg forward and his hands balled into fists, a glare set in place as he squeaked his voice to sound like Erza. "I will challenge all 100 monsters."
Natsu and Gray burst out laughing at the imitation, Erza's face became tomato red causing the little wind dragon slayer to giggle.
"Is that how I looked?" Erza asked, horrified.
All three kids nodded their heads.
"Yes, yes. You were so cool aunty Erza. I want to be just like you when I grow up." Layla admitted as she put up her arms towards Erza so she can carry her.
Erza looked at Lucy first for permission, when the blonde nodded her head and told her. "Go ahead, you are her role model now. I am counting on you with this."
Erza saluted Lucy. "I won't fail you with this responsibility." And then picked up Layla.
Lucy laughed. "I know you won't."
"Hey! I want to be picked up too!" Justin mumbled as he looked at his sister snuggling in Erza's chest, and at Erza who seemed to burst from his sister's cuteness.
His view changed when he was picked up by Natsu and put on his shoulders. "Well if that's the case, here you go little man."
Justin laughed, and turned to his brother to see that he was on Gray's shoulders.
"This is so cool!" Red exclaimed as he looked around him.
"Thanks you two." Lucy smiled as she looked at the happiness on her kids' face.
"What you thanking us for? As uncles, we need to step up as well." Gray said as he winked at Lucy.
"Yeah! We can finally hold them and not be glared at by Iron head and Poison snake." Natsu gave Lucy a thumbs up that made her laugh.
Her laughter was wiped off her face when she remembered that these exact two, Gajeel and Cobra, were supposed to take care of the kids today.
"Hey Justin, where are uncle Gajeel and uncle Eric?" asked Lucy.
Justin looked at his brother and sister for help. They both looked away, not knowing how to offer help in this situation.
"Justin?"
His mother's tone warned him that his time to answer was almost up. "Daddy told us to go to you and watch him fight, because our uncles had missions they needed to do. And he told me not to tell you so you don't worry."
"What are you talking about?" Lucy questioned, an edge in her tone that caught the attention of her teammates.
Before they could question her on what was going on, the fight started and Laxus was thrown to the ground by Alexei. The entirety of Fairy Tail gasped as Laxus was continuously being pummeled to the ground by Alexei.
"That's impossible!" Freed exclaimed with his mouth open, completely shocked that his strong leader was losing this badly.
"Daddy~" cried all three kids as they watched the fight. No one from Fairy Tail moved as the onslaught continued, with Laxus being the one to receive all the blows in the fight.
"No, there is something wrong." Lucy whispered, but only Natsu heard her.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
"He isn't hurt yet. I don't know how, but I can feel it." She tried to explain.
Bickslow used his eye magic to try and see what was happening. He saw two souls standing, and the Laxus and Alexei that were moving had no souls in them. "What in the world is going on?" he focused back on the two souls, they were dimmed. Very dimmed. Like something was cloaking their existence.
"An illusion!" he exclaimed out loud, startling his team members where he then continued to explain what he saw.
"What do we do then? Do we stop the match?" Evergreen asked.
Bickslow shook his head. "I feel like we shouldn't."
"We shouldn't! We shouldn't!" his babies repeated after him.
"But-"
Bickslow cut off Freed before he can continue. "I know, it isn't fair. But I feel like, boss needs this. He needs this to move on. I don't know why I feel that way."
Back in the arena, Laxus stood and watched as the fake Laxus and fake Alexei fought off, with him losing badly.
He turned towards Alexei and with a gruff voice asked. "What is the meaning of this?"
Alexei smirked and pointed towards the fakes battling out. "This is an illusionary magic, one that I can control however I like. How do you think your guild mates feel, watching this unfold before their eyes?"
He didn't need to think about this, as he can very well hear them voicing their concerns. He heard his gramps wonder about how Laxus was at such a disadvantage against Alexei.
Alexei continued, content with how this was going. "Victory is not our goal. The illusions are a distraction for those around us."
Just then, fake Laxus was able to block fake Alexei's punch and start his counterattack. The rest of Fairy tail cheered when this happened, yet Lucy and the Raijinshuu knew something was up.
"GO DADDY!" yelled Red at the top his lungs as Laxus delivered a lightning dragon roar.
That happiness was short lived when Alexei dodged it and sent Laxus into a wall.
"Daddy?" Justin's scared voice pulled Lucy out of her musings. She ushered the kids off their uncles' shoulders but they refused to budge. They wanted to see what was going on.
"What's going on Luce?" asked Natsu, concerned with Lucy's worried expression.
"I don't know what's going on, but that's not Laxus down there," She replied.
"What do you mean?" questioned Erza.
Lucy just inhaled and exhaled. "I don't know."
The fight continued with fake Laxus losing hard against fake Alexei.
Laxus sighed and asked. "Is this what you mean with controlling the match however you want?"
Alexei laughed and behind him spawned the rest of the Raven Tail team. Nullpudding smirked as he addressed Laxus' eyebrow raise at their appearance. "Reality is harsh you know?"
Bickslow almost toppled over when he saw four new souls get added to the arena, all siding with one of the souls. He could recognize his boss' soul from everywhere, even with this thick fog, he knew it was Laxus against the entire team of Raven Tail down there.
He told his team of what just happened and Freed immediately asked Bisca if there were any changes.
"Bisca said that all is clear. Something is clearly going on." Freed relayed the news he received.
"Hey guys, why are you so tense?" asked Lisanna, who just got back from her bathroom break. She was assigned to monitor with them.
The Raijinshuu shared looks before telling Lisanna of what's really going on.
"What? That's crazy! We need to tell the master so he can stop this!" She said as she was turning to go to the other balcony.
"Wait!" Bickslow announced and she stopped in her tracks.
"Something is going on." He informed them as he looked at the souls.
"What do you mean?" asked Evergreen, worried due to the expression on Bicks' face.
"Boss' soul color changed. He's happy. Very happy." He whispered, not believing what he was seeing.
Evergreen and Freed looked at each other, confused by what they just heard.
Back in the arena, Alexei raised his arms as he continued. "You can't fight all of Raven Tail's elites at the same time. If you tell us what we need to know, then you will get out of this alive and a winner."
"And if I don't?" asked Laxus with his arms crossed, unbothered by the fact that he is now facing not one, but five enemies.
"Well…" Alexei started as he took off his helmet. "Then you would lose, not just this match."
Laxus stared at the man that was supposed to be his father, grin at him manically.
"Now, you will tell us where is Lumen Histoire. If you don't care about yourself then that's alright. But you care about a certain blonde, don't you? You foolish son of mine."
Laxus' eyes dilated, causing Ivan, who was dressing as Alexei this whole time, to laugh.
"She has been dealing with some problems lately, hasn't she? Problems concerning a shadow that has been playing with her thoughts, clouding her mind, ruining her from the inside. I can fix that for you, if you tell me what I need to know. So, what do you say?"
Laxus slowly took off his cloak and threw it to the ground. "You don't know how long I've waited for this moment."
Ivan looked confused at his son's reply. "Hmm?"
"How much I fantasized punching a hole in your face for all the shit that you made me go through. For all the shit that you made her go through. For all the shit you made my family go through." Lightning started pouncing on him the more he continued talking. He looked Ivan dead in the eye and laughed. "And now, my chance is before my eyes, and I don't plan on missing out on this opportunity."
He started advancing towards them. "I know all about you and your team. Gramps made sure to get every information he can get on you. Some, you were even ready to give away for free." Laxus smirked.
Ivan widened his eyes and Flare gasped. "Gajeel, he betrayed us." She said.
"He was never with you from the beginning. I gotta hand it to him, he knows his shit. And that's why we know where your little shadow guy is." Laxus stood a few inches away from Ivan. "And right now, he is being visited by two very angry brothers." His smirk widened, now showing his fangs.
Ivan paled as he moved back and ordered the rest. "It seems you need to be taught a lesson. Quick! Orba erase his magic."
Before Orba could even move, Laxus knocked him out with a lightning infused punch. "You were the one who attacked Wendy and Charle, weren't you?"
Nullpudding sent an attack aimed at Laxus, only for Laxus to disappear and reappear behind him. "This is for Gray." He pounded Nullpudding in the head, knocking him out.
Red hair encased his wrist and he turned towards Flare. He smirked, grabbed her hair and pulled her towards him. "This is for my mate." He sent a lightning dragon roar that sent her flying into a wall.
Kurohebi appeared behind him, trying to sneak an attack on him when with a wave of his finger, Laxus created a torrent of lightning beneath his opponent that sent him flying and crisped. "I forgot that you were here."
He looked at Ivan, who has lost all color from his face and was slowly backing away. "You- you wouldn't hurt your father would you, Laxus-chan?"
Laxus took a step forward and Ivan sent a torrent of paper that Laxus easily disintegrated. "Pathetic. You are nothing but a pathetic man. Father? How dare you use that word?"
The lightning intensified around Laxus, causing Ivan to shriek in fear as he fell backwards.
"The only good thing that came out of you as a father was teaching me what not to do as one."
"You- you think she'll ever forgive you! You are a monster, nothing but a monster!" Ivan yelled.
In a second Laxus was before him. "I am not a mirror. Do not reflect yourself on me!" he charged his fist with lightning and threw it at Ivan's face. "And I'll destroy anyone, who harms my family!"
The illusion shattered, and the whole arena quietened. There Laxus stood, surrounded by four people that were knocked out and one that was coughing horribly.
"She-" Ivan coughed. "She'll never forgive you, no matter what you do. You'll never be a-
He was silenced by a deafening lightning strike that fell close to him.
"You don't need to tell me something that I know. But even still, I will go beyond my capabilities just to make sure that she's happy, and that she is fine. With, or without me. I will make sure that my kids are happy and healthy, I will make sure that I'm nothing like you no matter what happens. You didn't deserve to be a father, but I'm nothing like you." Laxus dusted his clothes and went to pick up his cloak.
"If you ever come near my family again, know that your place won't be in prison, but seven feet under." Laxus informed his father and started walking out of the arena.
When the crowd started going nuts, Laxus looked around him and saw that everyone was staring at him.
"Wait…" he looked at the Raijinshuu who were cheering him on and telling him stuff like: "You go boss, let him know this shit!" "Laxus-sama, you are as magnificent as always." "Laxus~ well done!"
He looked back at his gramps, who was saying. "That's my boy! You will be the most amazing husband and father there ever was."
Laxus' face immediately got red, but then he remembered that Lucy as well was watching this battle with the kids. And when he looked back at the balcony that team Natsu was in, he didn't find them.
Erza shook her head with a smile and pointed towards the arena's entrance. His heart skipped a beat at the sound of the rushed footsteps that was coming his way. And before he even saw them, he opened his arms wide and caught his kids that crashed into him in their lightning form. Layla popped out from under Justin, having hitchhiked a ride on him. They all hugged him and started bawling their eyes out announcing to the world that he was the best father there ever was. His ears were red from all the cheers he was getting from the crowd, and the oohs and aahs.
However, there was one person that he has yet to see, and it was the one he wanted to see the most. He caught her scent first before he saw her, that sweet vanilla strawberry with a hint of the sea scent, which he found new. He heard her footsteps that were walking slowly. He took a whiff of the air around him and caught scent of salt. His heart started beating rapidly thinking he might have upset her someway.
But when he saw her tears, they were accompanied by the brightest and biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. He saw her hand twitch, knowing she wanted to hug him, but refrained from doing so. And he was glad.
There was a lot of healing he needed to do, and he knew he needed time. He was glad that she was understanding of this as well, even though he knew he hurt her with his actions before in Mira's fight. That night he was barely able to sleep. Each time he closed his eyes, he would see the disappointed look on her face and his eyes would snap open. His only wish at the moment was to fix everything he messed up, and he would do anything to make that happen.
Bickslow looked at the blonde family that was in the arena, and thought of checking if it worked out with Lucy. He used his eye magic and blanched at what he saw. "No fucking way…"
"Bickslow, anything wrong?" Lisanna asked.
Bickslow just shook his head, and decided to stay quiet. Nothing was wrong with Lucy, nor the kids, nor Laxus. But he finally understood what was wrong with a certain dragon slayer.
Yajima looked at the guards that were escorting Ivan and his goons out. He listened as Mato announced that Raven Tail will be disqualified because of the fact they broke one of the rules, which was that the guild masters cannot participate in the games.
And from the corner of his eyes, he saw the small smile on Lahar's face and heard him when he said. "I guess she's in good hands after all."
The matches continued on, with Wendy fighting against Sherria, who she later revealed that she was a sky god slayer. The match ended in a draw once the timer ran out, both girls earning five points for their teams.
Jellal watched the fight from the stands, sighing as his hypothesis of the strange magic that he sensed was from this little girl was proven to be wrong. He walked away, and was about to head towards Lucy's balcony when he sensed someone was following him. He looked from the corner of his eyes and saw the Mermaid Heel girls looking at him, specifically Kagura.
He sighed and walked away, trying to blend in with the crowd so he could lose them. He eventually succeeded, and left to see how Lucy was doing.
XXX
After the games for the day ended, they all went back to the inn to relax for a bit before deciding to go to a water park that was nearby.
Somewhere else in the city, two men were bickering with each other.
"Are you fucking done? We don't have all day! Four eyes is arriving soon." One of them said to the other man.
"Oh can you shut your trap Poison Freak, am almost done." The other replied.
"What the fuck are you even doing- oh, oh wow." Cobra was shocked. "That's fucking beautiful."
"I know right." Gajeel agreed as he looked at the sculpture of the shadow user he made from iron. The man had a slash from his chest to his stomach, with worms coming out of the cut and a detailed expression on the man's face that depicted agony and fear. "Should have been an artist."
Cobra nodded his head slowly. "I kinda agree." He then turned to the man in question. "Don't you agree too asshole? Though I would have loved to see the live version of this sculpture, it's still pretty good."
The man whimpered and nodded his head, agreeing with everything he said just to get rid of the poison dragon slayer. He was tied to the chair in only his underwear, with bruises all over his body, and handcuffed with magic suppressing cuffs. He had a broken nose, a swollen eye, some broken ribs and his mouth was shut but was still pretty much alive.
He heard the vehicles of the troops and Cobra walked out of the house. "Let me do the talking, you just shut up."
Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Lahar and Doranbolt get off the vehicle and approached the men.
"What happened here?" Lahar questioned immediately, not liking the fact that there was some blood on Cobra's hands.
"Dear Four eyes, we would like to report a crime if you could please give us some time off your busy schedule." Cobra started but was cut off by Lahar.
"What have you done this time Cobra?" he asked, exasperated.
"Nothing, we found him this way." Cobra answered.
"Found who?" Asked Lahar with a raised brow.
Cobra looked at Gajeel and they both sidestepped to show the officers the man they were talking about. "Him." Gajeel said as he pointed towards the tied man who started yelling to the cops.
"What the hell is going on here?" Lahar yelled as he rushed to help the tied man.
"Before you do that dear Four eyes, you might want to listen to what this man has to say." Cobra said as he removed the cloth that was around the man's mouth. "Well?" Cobra asked as he put his hand on the man's shoulder.
The man trembled in his chair as he told the officers on how he worked with Ivan, how they were asked to kidnap Lucy and what he had done to Lucy these past months with his magic.
Lahar was beyond livid, because for one he refused to mention who ordered the kidnapping of Lucy, and for two, because he was torturing this sweet woman who he very much still loved.
Lahar looked at Cobra who was looking at him innocently. "Cobra, where did you get these cuffs?"
"Bought them."
"They don't sell these."
"They sure do."
"This has the rune mages' logo on it."
"…"
"Cobra?"
"You really need to change the location where you put these things."
Lahar sighed as he rubbed his head. "Can I for once see you and not get a headache?!"
"Now you're kinda asking too much." Cobra shrugged his shoulder.
"And what is this sculpture?" Lahar pointed at the iron sculpture of the man that Gajeel was working on.
"We found it this way." Cobra replied.
"Oh for fucks sake Cobra. You know what, just forget it." Lahar said before he walked out of the house and left with the rest of his troops.
Gajeel came and stood next to Cobra. "Job done, huh?"
"Yeah, Sunshine should be good now." Cobra sighed as he looked at the blood on his hands.
Gajeel eyed his hands before he looked ahead and started walking. "We agreed we wouldn't break any bones, why did you lose your shit on the guy when we arrived?"
"He'll live." It was the only thing that Cobra said.
They continued the rest of the walk silently.
A/N:
Hello everyone. Hope you are having a lovely day.
This was an appreciation chapter for Erza, Cana and Laxus. Next chapter is almost done, just needs some rereading and it will be good.
I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you so much for your continuous love and support for this story. I love you all.
KAWAIINECKO,
SIGNING OUT!