Nunnally Wallace: The Plant Mage of Fairy Tail

Chapter 24: Revelations

"I…." Freed choked. "I can't hear her heartbeat…"

For a few moments, no one said anything because none of them could believe it. Everyone simply stared at the lifeless girl's body with heartbreaking expressions of shock before Evergreen finally collapsed to her knees beside Nunnally's body with streaming tears.

"You're lying…" Evergreen gasped as she tried to keep calm before nudging her best friend's corpse. "Come on, Nunnally!" She desperately cried with a smile as more and more tears formed. "You were so excited about your date, so wake up! Wake up and tell Laxus you're okay! Please wake up… Please…"

As she denied the fact that Nunnally was dead, Freed attempted to make her believe his words, but she just couldn't. Evergreen refused to believe it; she refused to believe that her best friend, in the whole wide world, was actually dead. Just yesterday, she and Nunnally chatted like any other day before the Plant Mage went out for her date. There was nothing, nothing in the entire world, that could have led her to believe something like this would happen.

Bickslow did not handle this sudden news well either. He didn't say a word as he used all his strength to keep himself from sobbing, but no matter what he did, his tears fell without any restraint. They poured out of him without consent, and, despite him wearing a mask, the Seith Mage shielded his eyes with his large hand as if to hide the evidence. Like Evergreen, Nunnally was as important to him as she was to her. Before he got to know her, the tall man had always thought that she was just some pretty nature-freak and always made some perverted statement whenever she was mentioned, but as they gradually became friends, he saw her for the sweet girl she was and because of that... he admired her.

Despite seeing his two friends shed tears of grief and sorrow, Freed did his best to keep himself from crying as Bickslow tried to do. He refused to cry when the rest of the Thunder God Tribe was so vulnerable. He felt he needed to stay strong for them, for, at that moment, he was the only pillar of support they had, but more importantly, Freed refused to cry because he knew there was someone else hurting more than any of them, and he confirmed this when he glanced back at Laxus who appeared like he would breakdown at any moment.

As Freed looked back at Laxus, he saw that the blonde man's look of shock never left his face. Laxus didn't understand what happened and everyone and every sound seemed clouded and muffled as his mind could only focus on the sight right in front of him—Nunnally's, his love's, lifeless form.

Laxus continued to look on at Nunnally in complete and utter shock until, suddenly, all the strength in him gave out, and he collapsed down to his knees. He didn't cry or make a sound, for he felt that everything must have been no more than a bad dream that he desperately wanted to wake up from. Laxus' silence, however, didn't last long as only thoughts of her and the memories they shared together flooded his mind, and, before he knew it, the once powerful man, broke down as he cried out her name in complete despair. "NUNNNNNAAALLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

As Laxus finally let out his suppressed feelings, his cries came to a sudden halt as he heard a familiar voice echo behind him.

"So the Grand Duchess is finally dead?"

Those words made everyone's tears cease completely as they froze in place.

Hugo, who had been knocked out by Laxus just minutes before, quickly regained consciousness and awoke to see Nunnally's still corpse. "Now I can finally find out where she hid the Herculean Scrolls…" He struggled to pick himself up before he slowly made his way towards the dead girl's body.

As Laxus still sat frozen and heard Hugo's agonizing steps drawing nearer and nearer, all of Laxus' sorrow immediately vanished. With every step echoing loudly in his ears, the Dragon Slayer shook in place as a bloodthirsty rage slowly consumed him. Laxus had never before felt this kind of emotion in his entire life, but he did not reject it as he felt his own body grow noticeably larger and his canines slowly emerge. This was the first time ever fully activated the Dragon Lacrima inside him…

With the Lacrima inside him fully activated, Laxus could contain his wrath no longer as he quickly arose and rushed towards Hugo with full fury. Meanwhile, the Thunder God Tribe could not suppress their frightened looks of horror as they witnessed Laxus' relentless attacks on Hugo. They all saw that the old soldier barely held his ground against Laxus, for it was as if their leader morphed into one the monstrous beasts of legend—a dragon.

In a trance-like fury, Laxus barraged Hugo with multiple Dragon Slayer techniques and showed no intention of stopping until the murderer suffered a worse fate than he dealt on the young Plant Mage.

"Have you completely turned into a monster!?" Hugo yelled in anger as he dodged the Dragon Slayer's strike before lunging forward with his own. This counterattack, however, deemed itself useless as Laxus instantaneously appeared behind the ex-officer with his lightning body and struck Hugo with the Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist before immediately following it with a violent, deep breath to unleash his Lightning Dragon's Roar.

These powerful attacks left the aging man weakened and paralyzed as he struggled to keep himself upright. As he fell to one knee, Hugo glared at Laxus who marched towards him with a frightening and murderous look. Just as he was about to prepare himself for another attack, something behind the apparent blonde beast caught Hugo's attention before his eyes grew wide in disbelief and horror. "How is this possible?" He trembled slightly.

Laxus paid no heed to his words as he slowly made his way towards the foreign soldier with the intention of delivering the finishing blow, and it was just as Laxus was about to deliver that final blow that he immediately snapped out of his trance and froze with a trembling raised fist, for he felt a familiar presence not too far behind him arise.

With gasps of fear and disbelief behind him, Laxus slowly turned his head towards the others with wide eyes to see a small, familiar body slowly sit herself up before a whole new emotion quickly took hold of him. "Nunnally…"

"How are you alive!?" Hugo angrily asked with a nervous expression of panic. He couldn't believe it… The girl he believed to be Abelia Wallace was alive.

"Curious, isn't it?" Nunnally smiled as her eyes gave him a sharp glare. "How effective a little stage acting and plant toxin can be."

"WHAT!?" Hugo expressed his anger as he did not understand her words. His spell was supposed to have killed her, so how did she survive?

The Thunder God Tribe shook in disbelief. They didn't know what to make of the situation at all. Just as Hugo did, everyone thought that she was dead, but before their eyes, Nunnally sat up alive and well—or that is what they believed they saw. The overwhelming emotions they felt made them blind to Nunnally's true state. She may have been alive, but it was obvious that she was not well as her face dripped in sweat and body involuntarily trembled.

"Nunnally?" The Plant Mage heard a woman's trembling voice right beside her—it was Evergreen. The self-proclaimed "Queen of the Fairies" knelt beside her as she simply stared at Nunnally, her best friend, as if she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were puffed red, and her cheeks and glasses were completely stained with tears. "Are-" She choked as she felt more tears coming on. "Are you really alive?"

Nunnally couldn't help but open her mouth to breathe in a breath of overwhelming air before she immediately gave her friend a grand hug. "I'm sorry for frightening you…" Nunnally softly apologized as she closed her eyes. "And I'm sorry for what you're about to see…" Just as Evergreen was about to ask her what she meant by that, Nunnally released her best friend from her tight embrace before slowly rising with unsteady legs.

Ignoring her friends' questions, Nunnally turned towards Laxus' and Hugo's direction.

"Plant's really are amazing, aren't they?" She slowly made her way towards them with a smile as her eyes glared at her attacker. "Some are sweet, some are bitter, some can heal you when you're down, and some can can even slow down your heart's rate to where not even Magic can detect it." She revealed.

"WHAT!?" Hugo glared at her as his body was still weakened.

"I really love plants." Nunnally continued as she avoided Laxus gaze of disbelief and calmly kept her eyes on Hugo. "I even have two hobbies with them that I take great of pride in." She said as he raised her right index finger. "My first hobby is Aromatherapy, and my second hobby is…" The plant loving Mage then raised a second finger. "Poison Making…"

When Nunnally said that, Hugo couldn't suppress his shock. "YOU POISONED YOURSELF!?" The gray-haired man asked. "BUT YOU WERE TIED UP THE ENTIRE TIME! WHEN DID YOU-"

Nunnally's calm gaze didn't waver as she answered him. "Even more curious, isn't it?" She stated as she remembered the unnatural strength that came to her while she was imprisoned. "Perhaps it was a blessing from the gods…" Nunnally ominously began to answer as she gave him a hard glare. "OR PERHAPS IT WAS MY WILL TO PUNISH THE TRAITOR TO MY KINGDOM!"

As Nunnally angrily yelled that, vines suddenly emerged from the snow-covered earth beneath Hugo's feet and constrained his entire body in an almost crushing grip as sharp thorn-like climbing plants made their way to pierce the traitor before they suddenly paused midway.

"I've honestly answered your questions…" Nunnally continued to glare at him as she felt that the poison in her system began to weaken her body. "NOW YOU WILL HONESTLY ANSWER MINE."

The Thunder God Tribe and Laxus looked at Nunnally in complete and utter shock. They were already overwhelmed with the fact that Nunnally was still alive, but now they saw a new side of her that even Laxus didn't know about. The blonde man had seen her anger on a few occasions such as when they went on their first mission together and when they battled Nyx, but this was completely different.

Hugo returned her hard glare "So now that you've become Grand Duchess, Abelia, you've decided to-"

"SILENCE!" Nunnally harshly commanded. "I have told you plenty of times. Do not speak that name, traitor! I am not Abelia!"

"You expect me to believe that!?" Hugo angrily asked. "I've thoroughly done my research!"

"Then you were thoroughly wrong! I am not Abelia!" Nunnally repeated before she raised right arm parallel to the ground to exhibit grace. "I AM NUNNALLY WALLACE—THE CURRENT GRAND DUCHESS TO THE PERGANDE KINGDOM AS WELL AS THE FOURTH CHILD AND SECOND DAUGHTER TO THE PREVIOUS GRAND DUKE, DMITRI WALLACE!"

Never before had Nunnally felt so powerful as she partially repeated the self-introduction she was taught to say as a child. There was something about saying it that gave the Plant Mage a sense of confidence that she never experienced, and it showed as she put up a cold air of superiority to her attacker.

"THE YOUNGER SISTER!?" Hugo's eyes grew wide in shock as he realized that she was telling him the truth, for he finally saw that Nunnally was too young to be Abelia.

Hugo was not alone in his surprise with this new revelation. Everyone, including Laxus, was surprised. Nunnally had never revealed any details of her past to anyone, but they never expected something like this. Laxus was probably the most astonished of them all, for he was her boyfriend, yet she rarely confided in him.

"You've upset me greatly, Snake." Nunnally gave Hugo another glare as she tried to avoid her friends' stares. "You ruined my date with Laxus, kidnapped me, and tried to kill me! But worst of all…" She trailed off as she tried clenched her first in anger. "You've made all my friends worried sick about me."

Nunnally angrily looked away as she held in her tears. All the young Mage wanted was to go on her date with Laxus. She never meant to worry anyone, but she just had to get kidnapped by a mad and traitorous snake. Hugo was to blame for all her problems. He was the one who forced her to ingest her own toxin, and he was the one who forced to reveal who she was in front of everyone. There was no doubt in her mind that would she have to explain everything to them later.

As she quivered from both anger and the effects of the toxin she ingested, Nunnally immediately shook her head to calm her nerves before cooly looking back at Hugo. "Hugo Salvatore." She powerfully stated with a hard glare. "You have committed crimes against both the Pergrande Kingdom and the Royal Family as well as made an attempt at my life—the Grand Duchess. Are you aware of what the punishment for treason in the Pergrande Kingdom is?" Nunnally asked as the thorn-like vines still hovered in the air between the two Pergrandeans before they swiftly made their way towards the criminal.

As he realized what was about to happen, Hugo immediately shut his eyes as he waited for the sharp plants to pierce his restrained body, and he kept waiting until he realized that nothing happened. With this realization, Hugo quickly opened his eyes to see that the sharp vines were but centimeters from his skin.

"But we're not in the Pergrande Kingdom anymore now, are we?" Nunnally softly asked as she looked down with a look full of sorrow. All her confidence was now gone, and she suddenly felt weak again.

Hugo couldn't help but express his surprise at the young Grand Duchess' mercy, for he didn't understand it until Nunnally calmly lifted her head back at him with a completely unreadable expression.

"I live in Fiore now, so I will respect and abide by the Kingdom of Fiore's laws. I will not kill you, Hugo." She announced with unwavering eyes.

"Milady…" Freed trailed off in a whisper as he stared at Nunnally's back.

Everyone looked at the young noble with wide eyes. No one expected for things to turn out this way. All they could do was stand back, for they felt like they no longer knew how to approach their friend, and it was just as they did this that Nunnally turned around to look to all her friends. She took a good look at Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow before looking over to Laxus, who now stood nearby the others, with a longing expression.

"My home is no longer the Pergrande Kingdom!" She declared for everyone to hear as she felt a few tears form. "MY HOME IS FAIRY TAIL!"

Evergreen and Bickslow gave joyed smiles at her words while both Freed's and Laxus' eyes still lied wide open from surprise. Just as Nunnally was about to smile back at them, she suddenly heard the man behind her give an audible chuckle.

"While that's all said and good, Your Royal Highness," Hugo gave Nunnally a mocking smile as she glared back at him. "Are you really going to abandon your country given its current state?"

Nunnally slowly turned back to the fugitive as she tried to make sense of his words. "What… do you mean?" She gave him a serious look as she asked this, for the young Wizard didn't understand his ominous words.

"Come closer, and I'll gladly tell you." Hugo politely asked as his taunting smile never left him. "This isn't something for outsiders like them to hear."

Nunnally didn't say anything as glared at the Snake for what felt like the longest time before she slowly and cautiously made her way towards him. The moment she was close enough to him, Hugo urged her to lean closer, and as she reluctantly did, he whispered something into her ear. However, the moment he told the Grand Duchess what wanted, Nunnally's eyes immediately grew wide from shock as she quickly backed away from the criminal and angrily lifted her arm to her plants. With that motion, the young Wizard's vines quickly crushed Hugo as he gasped for air until he completely fainted.

Even after Hugo passed out, Nunnally kept her arm up as she heaved deep breaths before collapsing to her knees. Hugo revealed something to her about the Pergrande Kingdom—something she wished she didn't hear.

Just as Nunnally tired to process Hugo's words, someone called out to her.

"Nunnally!" Evergreen worriedly called out as she and Bickslow rushed over to her side with Freed slowly making his way over and Laxus nervously frozen in place.

"You okay?" Bickslow gently asked with both him and Evergreen knelt down by her side.

In response, Nunnally gave him a small, anxious nod before the two Wizards helped her up, and after Nunnally was finally able to stand on her own, she remembered something very important. "Laxus…" She turned to the blonde man who was only a couple meters from where she stood. The two stared at each for what felt like an eternity. Neither of them made a move, but as Nunnally stared at him in a complete daze, she suddenly found herself in a tight embrace. This sudden hug immediately snapped the Plant Mage back to reality and she quickly looked up at the person who held her.

"Why do you always have to do this?" Laxus roughly whispered as he held her tighter and tighter in his arms. "I thought I lost you again..."

As Nunnally's face was buried deep in chest, she could feel his body shake. 'Laxus…' She thought before she slowly wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry I worried you..." She whispered as she felt like she was about to cry, but just as her tears were about to fall, Nunnally realized something and pulled out of her lover's embrace. "That coat…" Nunnally studied Laxus more closely as she realized that he was wearing the coat that she planned to give him on his shoulders. "But how?" She looked up at him in surprise. "I thought it was lost."

"Oh yeah…" With an awkward expression, Laxus rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at the fabric on his shoulders. "Sorry about that… 'guess I already got it dirty." He apologized, noticing the few wet spots on it from some melted snow. It was as Laxus did this, that he remembered something. He and the Thunder God Tribe spent the entire night, warm in Freed's home, but Nunnally… Laxus realized that Nunnally was out in the cold this whole time. With that, he immediately removed the warm fabric from him and wrapped the young Plant Mage in it instead. "You're cold, right?"

Just as she realized what he did, Nunnally frantically opened her mouth. "N-No, that's not what I-"

"Milady..." Freed suddenly interrupted the two lover's blissful moment with a stern expression. It was obvious that Laxus' most loyal follower was not happy with her all. "You've worried all of us…"

"HEY FREED..." Laxus glared at his friend. He just wanted to put this whole mess behind them, and he didn't like the way Freed looked at his girlfriend.

Just as Laxus was about to chew Freed out for his attitude, Nunnally immediately grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him as her free hand tightly clenched the black fabric that now looked more like a large cloak on her tiny form. "It's fine, Laxus." She reassured him before calmly turning towards Freed. "I'm sorry… I never meant to worry any of you."

Freed didn't say anything for a few moments as he clenched his quivering hands from anger. He was upset, and he had every right to be. He was upset that Nunnally never confided in any of them about her past; he was upset that she poisoned herself, but, most of all, Freed was upset because Nunnally made Laxus worried sick about her and almost hurt him because of that. "Why did you do that?" He tried to keep calm as he referred to Nunnally poisoning herself. "Why would you do something like that?"

Nunnally didn't make any excuses as she averted her eyes in shame. "I'm sorry…"

"TELL US" Freed sternly ordered, for the green-haired man refused to accept her apology until she gave them a proper explanation.

After Freed said that, Nunnally quickly glanced back at Laxus before glancing back Evergreen and Bickslow. The all appeared nervous by Freed's sudden temper which wasn't a surprise. He was thought to be the most level-headed and patient out of all of them, so seeing him so upset at one of his friends made the others pretty anxious.

As she finished observing her friend's expressions, Nunnally looked back at Freed and apologized once more. "I didn't know where I was—much less if any of you would come for me." She began before looking down in shame. "All I could think about was escaping, and I was willing to do whatever I needed to make that happen."

"So you thought that poisoning yourself would do that, Milady?" Freed questioned as everyone else kept silence. He didn't understand Nunnally's way of thinking, for the whole thing seemed absurd to him.

"If I hadn't, I'd surely be dead." Nunnally continued. "Whatever it was that Hugo used, it was meant to kill me. He called it… "Imprisonment Magic."" Everyone around her looked stunned by her words. "I found out that it was developed in the Pergrande Kingdom—the country that I—that we hail from." She corrected herself. "From what I understood, that Magic is meant for interrogation. Whether I gave him the information he wanted by my own free will or not didn't matter. It was going to drain me of everything I knew, of all the secrets I had…. until there was nothing left…" She gave a pained expression as she remembered Hugo's words.

Freed continued to glare at Nunnally, for he still did not understand something. "I do not understand, Milady. How would that kill you?"

"I did not ask him many questions, but that traitor was courteous enough to tell me one more about it, though." Nunnally calmly responded with a slightly sarcastic tone to her voice. ""The moment your heart stops beating, the spell will be broken." Those were the words he used." She answered. "That's why I poisoned myself—to feign death before I actually did, and I did it-" Nunnally pulled a small folded piece of parchment from her sleeve and opened it. "By using this."

"A seed?" Bickslow questioned as he leaned in for a closer look and saw, in the center of the paper, three tiny, black seeds.

"They look like…" Evergreen adjusted her glasses as she leaned in as well. "Poppy seeds?"

"They do, don't they?" Nunnally responded as she appeared slightly worried by Evergreen's comparison. "But I do not believe that you would want these in your food—just one is enough to kill a grown adult within hours."

The second Nunnally said that, Evergreen and Bickslow immediately back away from her hand. "Those tiny things can kill someone!?" Evergreen exclaimed in panic as she stared at the tiny seeds that were probably no more than a millimeter in diameter. "What the heck are you doing with that then!?"

Hearing this, Nunnally suddenly forced smile as she appeared bothered by her best friend's words. "I'm not sure what you're implying, Evergreen, but these are the seeds from a new plant I cultivated!"

"But how are you not dead!?" Bickslow immediately asked. "If you took one of them, then you should be dead, right?" He continued before Evergreen quickly smacked his arm for his tactless words.

"Well, I managed to only take about half of one—that was enough to slow my heart rate." Nunnally replied with uncertainty. She did try to take no more than half of the black seed when she took it, but given the position she was in, she wasn't exactly sure how much she bit into.

"But are you going to be okay, though?" Laxus asked as he looked down at her in worry. "You still swallowed poison."

Nunnally didn't respond for a few seconds as she wondered if she was alright. She noticed that she was no longer sweating or shaking and nothing felt wrong with her heart at the moment, so she must have gotten it out of her system. She must have been safe now, right? Thinking that, Nunnally looked back up at her boyfriend with a reassuring smile. "I'm alive now, aren't I?" She finally replied before continuing. "And I realize that I've worried you by telling you all that my interests are in poison making, but that isn't entirely true."

"I do not understand." Freed replied, showing his curiosity. He no longer held any anger towards Nunnally's actions as her previous explanation was enough to calm him.

Nunnally looked back at him with a nervous expression. "Rather than poison, I prefer making their antidotes." Her words came as a bit of a shock to the others, but they let her continue. "I first started-" She paused to find the right word. "-my hobby a few years ago. It was simple at first, honest. I took several well-known toxic plants and figured out how to counter their effects, but…" She paused once more as she suddenly felt embarrassed by her interests. "The more I did that, the more I enjoyed it—until I eventually ran out of toxins I could work with."

It was then that Nunnally began to explain how she started developing toxins and other poisons. She recounted the time when she watered a new hybrid plant she cultivated. At first, she thought it was completely harmless, considering that it was just a flowering plant, but when she discovered a few dead birds beside it as well as several seeds that belonged to her creation alongside the animals, Nunnally immediately knew that they were toxic. Not wanting any other animals to get hurt, she ended up collecting all the seeds from the flowering plant and, well, everyone pretty much guessed what happened after that.

"Honestly, we've got to get you a new hobby…" Evergreen responded to Nunnally's story with a disagreeable look before her expression turned into one of worry. "But you poisoned yourself because you were kidnapped by that lunatic. " She nervously glanced back at an unconscious Hugo as she was still rattled by the whole ordeal. "What information could he have wanted from you?"

Nunnally looked at Evergreen with a sorrowful look as she remembered how much her friend cried for her before averting her eyes at the memory. "I'm honestly not sure myself." She explained. "He kept repeating something about "Herculean Magic" and the "Herculean Scrolls," but I don't know anything about that. Also…" Nunnally's expression turned dark. "He thought I was Abeila…"

"Abelia?" Laxus questioned.

Nunnally didn't look at him as she felt her body grow cold at the mention of that name. "My elder sister…" Nunnally paused with another pained expression before calming herself. "But she's been long dead… I don't understand how Hugo could think I was her. She was only 13 when she died. Why would… Why would she have known anything about those scrolls?" Nunnally thought aloud, for she realized that it didn't really matter if she kept it to herself.

"I thought your little sister died…" Laxus subconsciously said before he realized what he had done.

Nunnally along with the others quickly looked at Laxus in complete shock. "How do you…" The 17-year-old couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as she tried to figure out how Laxus could have known that. The only person she ever told about Sofia, her little sister, was Mirajane, and she definitely knew that Laxus wasn't the type to have a casual conversation with her—especially about something like that.

Just as the Plant Mage tried to figure this out, a sudden, tired feeling of defeat quickly overtook her. It suddenly seemed pointless to keep her past a secret anymore. They already found out about her being the Grand Duchess of a foreign country, and, in all honestly, Nunnally was exhausted from keeping her past to herself for so long. It definitely hurt her, but she wondered if the pain would hurt less she told her closest friends. With this thought, Nunnally looked up at everyone with the most heartbreaking expression they ever saw on her. "Can I trust you all?" She asked, and just as everyone was about to give an immediate and reassuring nod, she spoke again with a sterner tone. "Can I trust you to tell you about the tragedy that befell upon the Pergrande Kingdom ten years ago?"

Unlike before, everyone now appeared more doubtful and reluctant to answer.

'The tragedy?' Laxus thought as he glared down at the ground. He wondered if he actually wanted to hear something that hurt the woman he loved so much. If it hurt her too much to tell them, then he didn't want to force her to say it. He was just glad Nunnally was safe. He felt he didn't need to hear it, but just as he felt this, he looked up and saw that Nunnally intently and earnestly gazed at him as if he were the only person in the world. It then that he wondered if he was really okay with Nunnally not telling him. She already knew plenty about his past, but he knew nothing about hers. Was it really fair to keep it that way? Just as he thought this, Laxus gave her the same earnest expression before he finally opened his mouth and solemnly answered. "I want to hear it."

His words pierced Nunnally like a sharp blade, and she began to lose her nerve as she tried to find the right words. It wasn't until a few moments later that Nunnally calmed herself enough begin her tragic tale of woe. "It happened ten years ago…" She began as she thought the awful incident, and everyone solemnly looked at Nunnally, patiently waiting to hear her story. "I was only 7-years-old at the time, but..." She forced a smile while her eyes did not. "I remember it as if it were yesterday…"

With that, Nunnally revealed everything she remembered to her most trusted friends. She told them all about the mysterious, cloaked woman, the mirror, and the aftermath of the mass-slaughter as everyone, including Laxus, gave her unsettled expressions of shaken discomfort, and it was then that Nunnally had to explain what she did after she found everyone she cared about lying dead.

"Everyone…" Her tears fell as she felt it grow harder to continue. "Everyone… Mother, Father, Grandfather, all of my brothers and sisters—even the servants…" She choked on her words. "They were all dead and there was so much blood… so much…" She quivered. "I thought I would drown in it!" Nunnally cried before she collapsed to her knees and tightened the hold of Laxus' coat around her. Laxus immediately knelt beside her in a desperate attempt to comfort her, but she didn't pay him any attention. "I-I didn't know what do..." She quivered as her words gradually became more and more incomprehensible from tears. "Days went by, and no one else was around. I couldn't just leave them there—not like that…" It was then, that Nunnally revealed something she did that no child should have ever been subjected to. "That scent… that putrid scent…" She repeated with disgust as she remembered the rancid scent of all the rotting flesh and heaps of dried blood on the walls and floors. It was a horrible slaughter, and the memory proved itself to be too much for young Wizard to handle as she felt herself gag before immediately covering her mouth. "Their bodies were already rotting, so I had to do it… I had to bury them myself…"

Nunnally looked just about ready to completely break down in tears as she told them all the painful things she held in for ten years. Knowing that she couldn't take anymore, Laxus immediately held Nunnally in his arms, and it was then that the 17-year-old girl let out ten years worth of tears and bawled in her lover's arms like a small child.

It took what felt like hours for Nunnally to calm down. Never before had Nunnally Wallace revealed so much about herself, and although it was mostly of tragic things, it felt good for the teenage girl to finally say it—to say all the things she kept to herself.

As Nunnally continued to silently cry in Laxus' arms, Freed knelt down with an apologetic face. "Milady, no I mean- Your Royal Highness…" He corrected himself as he remembered who Nunnally was.

Hearing her title, Nunnally slightly pulled away from Laxus' embrace to reveal her red, puffed eyes and tear stained cheeks. "Please do not call me by those foul words." Nunnally quietly asked, for it upset her to called by her title.

"But you're an actual princess…" Bickslow interrupted as he remembered that was the Plant Mage was sometimes compared to one because of her elegant, ladylike manner and calm personality.

Bickslow's words upset Nunnally even more as she frowned. "I was never a princess, and I am only Grand Duchess by name." Her unhappy expression remained as she tried to suppress more tears.

Laxus didn't like seeing Nunnally like this—in fact, he hated it. He could honestly say, at this point, that she was his favorite person, and it upset him to see the girl he loved so sad.

"Can you two back off?" Laxus glared at the two men with his arms still around Nunnally. "You're upsetting her even more."

"Honestly…" Evergreen added with a sigh before glaring at her two teammates. "Even if we know who her family is, she's not any different than who she was yesterday—just call like you've always had!" She chewed them out before turning her head over to her best friend with a soft smile. "Right, Nunnally?"

Evergreen's words immediately made Nunnally want to cry again, but she held them in as she gave the bespectacled girl a big and thankful nod.

Freed gave Nunnally another apologetic look as he frowned. "I'm sorry, Milady." He guiltily said. "I did not mean to upset you. I can't imagine your pain. Just who would do such a thing?" He thought aloud.

Nunnally didn't respond for a while as she tightly gripped Laxus shirt, but then, almost suddenly, the teenage girl answered him. "I don't know…" She quivered again, but this time in anger. "I lost consciousness when it happened only to wake up to that… that Hell…"

Freed apologized again but didn't say anything after that. He was ashamed for the way he acted before and his lack of tact. Nunnally did what to did to stay alive, and he didn't blame her for it.

It was but a few minutes later that Laxus finally released his girlfriend and leaned down to take a good look at her. "Think you'll be alright to walk now?" He asked as he figured that it was probably best for them to head back home.

Nunnally gave him a small before the blonde-haired man carefully helped her to her feet.

"We'll head back and tell the army about this guy." Bickslow casually announced with his usual smile as he pointed his thumb back at the tied up Hugo. "You two just rest up at home."

"I'll personally make sure this guy gets what he deserves!" Evergreen continued as she gave them an evil smirk.

As she held onto Laxus' arm, Nunnally looked over to her two friends with a small smile as they acted like their usual happy and carefree selfs, and it was as she watched them, that Nunnally felt truly blessed. Despite the suffering she underwent, somehow, she was fortunate enough to have to have caring friends and a loving man by her side. For this, she was beyond thankful… She knew of the pain her thoughtless and reckless actions caused them, and she hoped that she would never have to make them go through that ever again. With that last silent prayer of thanks, Nunnally felt something strange happen to her body as she suddenly grabbed her chest and gasped in great pain.

"Nunnally!" Evergreen yelled as she witnessed her friend fall to her knees with one arm still desperately clinging on to Laxus.

"NUNNALLY!" Laxus shouted as the girl continued to gasp in pain. "WHAT'S WRONG!? NUNNALLY!"

Everyone panicked as they watched the Plant Mage fall to the ground in excruciating pain. None of them knew what was happening as she appeared physically, if not mentally, fine until just a few seconds, and as they all tried to assist they young Mage, Nunnally stretched out her arm past them as she desperately attempted to stand. "P-Poison… My-My bag…" She struggled to tell them as she remembered that Hugo kept her purse with him after he kidnapped her. "T-The… an…ti…dote…"

The second she heard her say that, Evergreen immediately lifted her head to scan the area for her bag, and once she spotted the small item, she swiftly made her way to it and gave it to the Plant Mage. "Here!" She frantically passed it over.

With that, Nunnally quickly forced herself to bear through the pain and sit up as she shakingly searched her bag, until she pulled out a small vial filled with clear liquid and what appeared to be a sharp syringe. Laxus could only watch the woman he loved empty the vial's contents into the tool with trembling hands as he didn't know what to do for her. Before he could processes what was happening, Nunnally struggled to unbutton the top of the dress she mistakenly chose to close after she awoke, and it was then that, in one swift move, Nunnally brought the needle to her chest and stabbed it right through her skin before letting out one great final gasp. The pain from the gesture hurt, but not anywhere near as much as what the plant toxin inside her was doing to her body.

"NUNNALLY!"

"MILADY!"

All of her friends continuously cried out her name in worry, but as she sat there in a complete daze her mind barely registered their voices. 'I underestimated it…' She thought in a dizzying exhaustion before her body slowly began to topple over. 'I guess… I still have… a lot to learn….' Was her final thought as her body roughly made contact with the burning cold snow.

"NUNNNNNALLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

After Nunnally collapsed that day, Laxus and Evergreen checked her into Magnolia Hospital and both Freed and Bickslow turned Hugo over to the Magic Council. The Thunder God Tribe and especially Laxus worried about their dear friend's critical condition. None of them knew what the effects of the toxin she ingested were nor what its antidote was. All they could do was patiently hope that the little antidote she took was enough to save her and wait for her condition to improve. However, in spite of their hope, the young wizard remained unconscious, and, a few days later, slipped into a deep coma that she did not wake up from until the spring of the following year—the spring of the year X783.

To Be Continued...

In the Next Arc...

Author's Note:

Hey, guys! I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with my unpredictable updates. You guys have been great, and although I wasn't sure how this chapter turned out, I hoped you all liked it, and if you did, as always, please like, comment, and share with all your friends.

Thanks for sticking around so long and Happy New Year!

See you next time!