MOTTOLUCKY

Evergreen's unimpressed scoff echoed through the med bay, made louder than normal by the communication Lacrima's tinny speaker. She glared at him through the screen to further impress upon him how annoyed she was at Bickslow's response, and maybe if he were feeling less like crap then he'd try and bait her mood to worsen. But she was worried, and he was tired, and neither wanted to deal with his sense of humour.

"That's not what I asked," She insisted.

"I'm not important."

"Oh, aren't you indeed?" She snapped. "Well, one of my boys is in exile walking around who knows where, one of them is-" her breath hitched slightly, and she shook her head. "He's not well at the moment. And now you're bed bound with a fractured skull. So you'll forgive me if I want a little confirmation that at least you're doing okay."

Yeah, that was fair. "It was only a hairline fracture," he assured her. "And they ploughed me with so many healing spells that it's already healed up. I just need to stay in here while they monitor me."

"Monitor you medically, or monitor you like keeping you under lock and key?"

"Officially it's medically, but I'm pretty sure nobodies upset I can't leave without permission," he laughed weakly, and winced when his lower back twinged at the movement. "The knights weren't exactly happy I went passed their barricade and cast a spell on the super volatile mystery demon in the middle of town. Weird, huh?"

"Authority figures. You can never be sure what will set them off," Evergreen joked as best she could. "I shall say, Levy has gone up in my estimations after helping you. Perhaps when this is all blown over and we've kicked the crap out of Freed for worrying us, I could give her some fashion advice in thanks."

"Yeah, do that. The gals of the guild love it when you tell them how to dress."

"They'd love the results if they ever listened to me," she huffed again, and it dwindled into a stagnant moment of quiet. Even through the little Lacrima screen, Bickslow could see Ever worrying her lip and arguing with her own thoughts. One side must have won over pretty quick, because she leant back into her train seat and quietly asked, "what's he look like?"

They'd pretty much avoided this so far. But they had to talk about it, didn't they?

"Not good," he admitted honestly. "It's, erm… there's a lot of magic. He's in a load of his own traps, Levy says there's hundreds in there. And there's these… it's like rope made of runes. He's tied himself up so much that he can't move at all. Like he's stretching himself out. It hurt to look at, honestly. Like looking dead straight into a flashlight." He swallowed, throat feeling tight suddenly. He wouldn't cry, not again. Ever wouldn't handle it. "And he's maybe half way transformed into Darkness. His neck was all, sort of scaley and-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ever snapped, before wincing. "Sorry. That wasn't aimed at you. Just…" She waved her hands around, motioning at everything.

"I get it."

"And his soul? Did you check on it? Were you allowed?"

"I saw it," reaching for the glass of water by his bed. He took a sip as if that might sooth his throat, but it didn't. Obviously. "He's still there. Fighting."

"Fighting? You think Darkness is overtaking him?"

"Maybe. If not Darkness, then something is." Whatever that snake had been, coiling itself around Freed's soul and rotting it beyond recognition, it was alive in some way. "But Freed always said that Darkness had a slither of sentience, right? Like a whispering you had to tune out. Levy said that every rune she's been able to understand points to it being a cage he's set up for himself. Seems intentional, and smart, so he probably did it himself, not whatever it is that's trying to ruin his soul."

"A cage…" Ever repeated contemplatively. Sadly. "He Probably wouldn't have set up a cage if he thought this fight was one that he'd win, would he?"

"I don't think so," Bickslow whispered.

"What's the guild saying? Is there some, oh I don't know, demon mage expert coming that can help?"

"They haven't said anything."

"Well, they must have. How did they react when you told them?" When her demand wasn't answered, she all but gaped at him. "Bix, this isn't the time to play keep away with intel. Tell them what's happening and make them-"

"They don't trust him! Or us. Not really," Bickslow cringed at his own tone, so defeated and tired and sad. "Well, some of them do, kind of. Levy does, at least. And Lucy, maybe. Not sure. But they're looking at Freed and seeing some kind of trap, or bargaining chip. They think he wants to get Laxus back in the guild so bad that he's threatening to, who knows, blow up the town or some crap!"

"He's the one who convinced Laxus leaving would be the best thing for him to do!"

"I know that! But they don't. Feels like the old man is determined to see this in the worst way he can. Wouldn't even let me near him. Levy basically had to sneak me in."

"Well, at least one of them subscribes to the whole forgiveness mantra we're supposedly famous for."

"You can't exactly blame them after what we did."

"When Freed might die, I'll blame whoever I want." She tried to make it sound angry, Bickslow thought, but really, she just sounded sad. "Well, according to the station master, I should be back in Magnolia in a little over a day. When I'm there we can regroup, and I can tell some people exactly what I think of them, and then we can figure out what we need to do."

"Course we will," Bickslow agreed. "Must be late, right? You get some sleep on that fancy ass private cabin. Don't wanna waste all that money, do we?"

"A woman deserves luxury," Evergreen sniffed. "See you soon, Asshat."

"Later, Queen."

The Lacrima screen shut off, and Bickslow was left alone in a cold, quiet medical bay. Freed was on the brink of death, Laxus was travelling in the far reaches of the country, and Evergreen had always been more adventurous than he was, wanting to see the farthest reaches of the world. Perhaps he should get used to being lonely. That might be his future soon.

Only then did he feel the tears falling again.

——

"So essentially, he's been hit by a spell that makes him lose control of his impulses, and the demon he's merged with is taking advantage of that," Mirajane explained to the small, gathered crowd in the guildhall. "He must have known that that was happening and cordoned himself off from the world before he could do anything. But we don't know how long that will hold, or what specific failsafe's he's put in place, but we have to assume that this isn't something we can just leave."

Mirajane had been the one called upon to explain everything. Lucy, though sat at the back of the meeting, was still working on finding any information she could to fix things, and Levy wasn't sure of her standing with Makarov after letting Bickslow past the barricade. Mirajane was the obvious choice.

Before her, Makarov sat in the middle of the guild, letting nothing show on his face. Erza and Laki were there, having been the ones to find Freed, were obviously called in case they could help. Levy sat at the back, bracketed by her teammates who clearly knew that she was a little shaken after seeing what had happened with Bickslow, which she blamed herself for. Elfman, Gajeel and Gray were there too, having been given scraps of information but never the full picture before. Natsu was meant to be there but, well, nobody but Mira and Lucy needed to know what he was doing right now.

Also absent, thankfully, were any runic nights. They would only muddy the water, and nobody needed that right now.

"And we're sure this is what's happening?" Erza asked. "I can see why you think, but we can't act like it's a certainty."

"After what happened with Bickslow, he had some magical particles thrown into him. Levy saw it happen. Well, Porlyusica syphoned them all out of him and we were able to contain and identify them," she motioned towards a small, enchanted test tube she'd set up. "It's a strain of dark magic that's entirely in keeping with the mage Freed wrote about in his mission notes. It's also not anywhere near close to Freed's own magic, so we can be sure that he was hit by the mage he was sent to apprehend, and it was laying dormant for a few days. We're confident that this is what's happening."

"So we cure him, take the runes down, and it's done right?" Jet asked from the back row. "Not too bad."

"We don't know if there's a cure. Freed's notes are basically all we know about this magic so far, and he said there was no obvious, consistent reason for why the people who could break over the spell were able to," Mirajane sighed. "We've sent a message to the county jail where the mage is being held, but we haven't gotten a reply."

"Can't we send a couple knights over to hurry them up?" Elfman suggested.

"We're hoping to keep the knights out for now. They're very… reactionary," Mirajane explained as best she could, hoping she wouldn't have to point out that the knights were shambolically incompetent when dealing with delicate matters. "Lucy's looking into the magical strain to see if there's a way to reverse it that Freed didn't realise, and Levy is making sure the runes he set up are strong and maintained."

"We can't leave him like that, though," Gray argued. "Either he's a ticking time bomb, or he's basically a sentient coma patient with a demon screaming at him. If he's set this whole thing up, he must have given himself a way out, right?"

Mirajane didn't answer immediately. She didn't want to. Because Freed had given them a way out, and it was one that she didn't even want to consider. He'd left a message for Levy, calling Laxus. And he'd mentioned in his mission notes – which he'd once confessed that he knew Lucy read and found it flattering – the only surefire way to stop someone from being under the magic's influence. He'd essentially teed up his own death and called for Laxus to be the one to strike the final blow.

Freed couldn't be killed because of this. Mirajane wouldn't allow it. She and Freed had become friends, of a sort, since the battle of Fairy Tail. He was odd. He was obnoxious. He kept his cards close to his chest. She saw a lot of herself in him, and knew that there had to be some way to fix this. There had to be.

But she wasn't stupid, either, and knew that she couldn't hide this.

"He left a message on the outer most enchantment, calling for Laxus to be summoned, and for him to be given Freed's sword."

"To what end?" Erza asked, her hand twitching slightly in the way it did when she summoned a sword.

"Well, and we're not sure if this is what he wants, but his notes did suggest that, well, that the only surefire way to get rid of the curse is for the person to be… killed," her voice broke on the word, and the group seemed to sit up. "We think that maybe Freed asked for Laxus to come because he trusts him to do it. We're not sure-"

"No," Makarov said firmly.

"Master," Erza began. "If the evidence is pointing this way-"

"I said no," Makarov yelled, hand lurching and stretching forward to smash into the chalkboard Mirajane had set up to explain everything. He winced as it clattered to the floor, then slowly walked to the little stage to speak to the whole group. "We are going to keep looking at other avenues that do not end in murder, and we will be vigilant in making sure the runes hold until we find a way to fix this. Laxus Dreyar is not to be involved in this at all!"

"But-"

"He is not to be involved. He is not to be hunted or contacted. He is not to step foot in this town."

Everyone in the guild looked cowed, if unhappy. All but Lucy, who looked guilty. Mira prayed she would school her expression before Makarov saw it, but the guild master was as vigilant as he was interchangeable. He zeroed in on her, and Mira knew that there was no hope in keeping the secret any longer.

"What is it?" Makarov insisted. "Tell me."

"Well, the thing is," Lucy began, guilt practically pouring from her. "Earlier, I was with Natsu, and he sort of… heard lightning. And apparently it sounded exactly like Laxus' lightning sounds when he-"

When Makarov went running towards the guild's main door, Mirajane followed him. She didn't know what they were walking into, but she had a feeling they would need a lot of damage control.

——

"I really shouldn't be doin' this, y'know. It's gonna piss a lot of people off."

Laxus had to wonder when Natsu had started caring about pissing people off, but he didn't voice it. After Natsu was apparently sure that Laxus didn't know what was happening with Freed, he'd called off their fight – a rarity with the idiot – and said that he'd take Laxus to see Freed, but he couldn't ask any questions, and he had to keep quiet. When Laxus had demanded to know why, Natsu had withdrawn his offer, and Laxus had been forced to grovel to get it back.

They'd made their way around Magnolia quietly, taking back alleys and hiding from the knights that were patrolling. Magnolia had never had such an imposing presence of authority before, and Laxus was desperate to know why the hell they were there. But questions would get Natsu pissy, and Laxus couldn't risk that.

What the hell was happening? How was this related to Freed?

They were getting closer to Freed's house, and Laxus felt his insides clenching. In the latter years of his time in Magnolia, there were very few places he actually liked being. Freed's tiny, annoying, quirky little house was one of them. It's old furniture, creaky staircase, and ridiculously low doorframe somehow made it charming, if not annoying to get around. There had been a lot of good times spent in that house, and Laxus had a horrible feeling that he wasn't going to like what he saw when he got to it.

"Up here," Natsu whispered, nodding towards a fire escape ladder on the side of one of the buildings.

"Why?"

"They've doubled up the guards since Bix got thrown around, so now the only way in is from above," Natsu explained as he climbed the ladder, not waiting for Laxus to follow him.

Once they were on the roof, Natsu nodded in the direction of Freed's house, and Laxus could see the rooftop. There were tiles missing, and a magical hum coming from it that had the hairs on the back of his neck rising. Laxus had no idea what the hell was happening in there, but he had to use all of his self-restraint to not fly there now and see.

"The knights are really tetchy right now, so we've got two options," Natsu explained. "Either we go to the roof on the other side of the street and look in from there, or we land down on the street and take as much time as we can before they haul us away and beat our asses for trespassing."

"Why would they do that?"

Natsu gave him a long look. "You really don't know what's going on, do you?"

"You could tell me," Laxus snapped.

"I honestly don't think I could," Natsu looked away. "Come on, let's go."

Natsu took a running jump, and leapt from the rooftop towards the next. Laxus followed, and they leapt from building to building, getting closer and closer to Freed's house. The magical presence in the air got thicker and thicker, and Laxus found himself clenching and unclenching his fist as a way to distract himself from the looming presence of foreboding, Whatever was happening with Freed, whatever had been done to him, Laxus would tear down the world to fix it.

They reached the roof across the street from Freed's house, and Laxus' breath hitched at the sight. Freed was in there, somehow Laxus knew that for sure. The house was in disrepair, it was leaking with magic, and Freed was inside.

Ignoring Natsu's warning that the guards would jump on them the moment they were seen, Laxus jumped from the roof and used his magic to soften the landing. He heard Natsu land next to him but didn't look. Illuminated by the purple glow of the half-ruined house, Laxus slowly walked forward, heart hammering and legs shaking slightly as he did. He walked to the window and saw Freed for the first time in months.

He was hurting.

That was all Laxus could think. Freed was hurting so much, and Laxus knew it. His limbs were hurting and his eyes were hurting and his heart was hurting. He was trapped and hurting, and all Laxus could do was look. Look upon his magically crucified friend in limp, hopeless horror.

People were shouting, somewhere in the background. Natsu was talking too, but not to Laxus. Laxus was entirely entranced by Freed, and his horrific, beautiful, awful state. He needed to get him out. To get him safe and hold him tight, protecting him from the strain and brutality of the world. To treat him well, make up for his mistakes, and stop him from ever being in a position like this again.

Freed was hurting, and Laxus would fix it.

Without thinking, Laxus raised his hand and pressed it flat on the runes. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the runes, breathing slowly, trying to feel for Freed in any way he could. He needed to know he was okay. Needed to know that Freed was within reach, and safe, and his. He needed to know there was hope.

A judder of magic gusted out of the house. Laxus staggered back, fast enough to see the front door of the house flying open with a deep thud against the wall. The runes shifted, and in a language Freed had once taught Laxus, were two words.