A furious looking Laxus marched to the guild, electricity rising with every stomp. His mind was a jumble of thoughts that he couldn't even activate his teleportation. Happiness? That his grandfather came home and that small speck of hope that he wouldn't be lonely again? Confusion? After all, Makarov left the house early one morning, unbeknownst to Laxus, only to come back as quietly as he had gone? Anger? For all the days he would come home, only to be welcomed by silence in which he wished a loving family could replace?
But in that moment, halfway to the guild hall, he could hear a muffled woman's voice squeaking a small 'Stop!' and some shuffling from a nearby alley.
You've got to be kidding me. His teeth clenched in anger. As much as he was known to be a jerk in the guild, he couldn't let an innocent citizen get raped or robbed or who- knows- what while he was in a position to help.
Clearing his mind of any unnecessary thoughts, he ran towards the sound, his anger and annoyance rising to unbelievably high peaks.
But when he arrived to the scene in question, he came to an abrupt stop.
Blood.
The coppery scent hit him like a bullet, making him take in the smell first and then the sight.
Lucy?
The celestial mage was on her knees, a dagger lodged in her side, creating a steady flow of crimson blood. Around her were six grimy men, unconscious and barely breathing.
"SHIT! Lucy, what happened?" Laxus said urgently as he ran towards here and gathered the poor girl in his arms, trying to avoid touching object buried in her waist. He knew he needed to take it out, but the blood would pour at an unfathomable rate and maybe make things worse.
"L-laxus?" Lucy coughed out as she fluttered her eyelids to look at her savior. She let out a sigh of relief before wincing and shakily grabbing onto his coat as his arms were safely tucked around her.
"M-mages.. from a dark guild…" she spluttered. "Took.. them out… but…" Lucy wheezed then coughed, blood splattering in the dress shirt in front of her face.
"shhh. Explain later. I'm taking you to the guild." Laxus tried to coax the woman as he abruptly stood and gathered electricity around him. It was a gamble on his part, teleporting with a woman bleeding to death, but running and jostling Lucy seemed like the worst thing to do at the moment.
And with a crack of lightning, they vanished.
...
Unforgivable.
It was the thought of everyone at the guild when they heard the story from the lightning dragon slayer.
They remembered the horrifying sight of Laxus and Lucy nearly bathed in blood, as they cackled into sight in front of the guild doors.
To see their lovely celestial mage pale and barely breathing made everyone stop what they were doing and just stare in terror. That is, until Laxus roared for Wendy to take care of the girl as he wanted to go back and find out exactly what had happened.
It had been 3 hours since the blonde had been sent to the infirmary, and the guild was eerily quiet as they awaited more news from the small girl who hurried in to take care of Lucy.
Wendy sighed as she left the infirmary where Lucy was resting, and put on her best smile. "It's okay, everyone!" she addressed the group of quiet mages in the hall. "She is no longer in danger."
Mirajane sighed in relief as Levy's mouth quivered. Cana stopped drinking and just leaned onto Gildarts, relieved that her friend was out of danger. Gajeel grimaced and Erza still tightly gripped her sword, while resting an unoccupied hand on Gray's trembling shoulder.
Natsu was in the infirmary with Lucy and Happy, tightly holding onto Lucy's cold hand, trying to warm her as his bangs covered his eyes.
Pathetic. I couldn't even protect her.
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he continued looking at the tiles on the floor, only hoping that Laxus could come back quickly with more information on who made Lucy this way.
The raw need to go out and destroy the people who did this made Natsu tremble in fury, especially as he thought about what Wendy had said earlier.
….
"Natsu-san" the voice quivered. "Lucy will be okay but…"
"but what, wendy," He growled menacingly as he looked on at the pale body on the bed, bandaged, and scarcely breathing.
"The dagger. It was laced in poison specifically meant to block magic from their enemies." She looked away. "This wasn't just a hit-and-run attempt. They knew they were dealing with a mage before they even met her.. I have a feeling that Lucy-san was directly targeted."
Natsu froze. Targeted? Lucy?
"That's not all. The dagger is a special kind of weapon reproduced in the most dangerous and well-off dark guilds. There's more of them, Natsu-san. And they're working under someone big."
With a roar of anger and pain, he punched the wall next to him.
Wendy looked at him with slight fear but mainly worry as he continued to create holes in the infirmary walls.
"Wendy." He whispered, voice laced with hate. "We will destroy whoever did this, so please just watch over Lucy."
"Natsu-san. Laxus-san is out there right now, and Lucy needs someone stronger than me to protect her. Please stay with her."
…..
PATHETIC! Natsu gripped onto Lucy's hand harder. He had to sit here and wait while the criminals were still out there, free.
"I'll protect you, Lucy." Natsu whispered to the unmoving figure. "just wake up, soon. Please."
…
As soon as Laxus returned to the scene of the attack, he growled in frustration. The men were gone. No, more like taken, which had to mean that there were more of them.
So it wasn't just a small crime, huh? Was Lucy the target of a thought out plan?
Determined to know just what the men were after, Laxus teleported to the girl's apartment. It wasn't that hard to find. After all, Natsu's smell was all over the place.
Laxus looked around thoroughly as he walked through the kitchen.. then the living room.
"Just what would they want from that girl?" Laxus mumbled to himself as his eyebrows knit together. He walked further down the hall, into the girl's bedroom. It was dark, the window shades down, and the only source of light coming from the flickering of his electricity still lingering on from the teleportation earlier.
He checked the desk, first, and found a suspicious looking wooden chest. Curious, he took the box carefully under his arm and decided to take it to the guild, first wanting to ask Team Natsu if they knew about it before he could invade her privacy.
Nothing else smelled off, and he couldn't make out anything else as he turned to leave.
But a small flick of his electricity made its way to an object on the girl's nightstand as it glinted slightly.
Laxus barely noticed it, but realized that a slight, familiar scent was radiating from that object he had definitely seen somewhere before.
He walked closer and peered down at the dark object, then his eyes widened in shock.
There, sitting so casually on the nightstand, were his soundpods.
From six years ago.
...
Please feel free to virtually strangle me. I'm sorry I didnt mention earlier on that it was final exam month (Yes Im a college student) and I seriously could not find time to write this story AND study through allnighters T_T
Im so sorry, guys! BUT TODAY WAS THE LAST DAY OF FINALS. now that ive updated, I am gonna go and just drink through the night because, as i so bluntly put it, I NEED A MARTINI. RIGHT NOW.
So there you have it. Ill be updating more frequently, so please feel free to REVIEW 3 When you guys leave reviews I feel super duper uber happy :D