Sanctuary

Chapter 10: Love

Damian had his arms crossed and no shirt on.

Laxus gave a look to Bickslow that said, It's now or never. He charged his fists with all the lightning he could and punched Damian in the face. Damian took the hit, then grabbed Laxus by the neck with one hand. Bickslow reacted almost instantly. He sent two of his babies to sandwich Damian's head, knocking him out. Damian's grip on Laxus' neck loosened and he fell to the floor.

"Shit! Shit! Laxus, what the hell?!" Bickslow bent over to examine Damian. Laxus stepped over his body and walked over to the bathroom.

"Will you ever not dive into something without thinking?!" Bickslow waited for a response, but he never got it. Instead, he heard shouting from the bathroom and what sounded like splashing water.

"L-Laxus?! What're you doing here?! H-hey! Let go of me!"

Moments later, Laxus came out of the bathroom with Freed over his shoulder wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Freed was punching Laxus to let him down. Bickslow stood in shock.

"Bickslow, use that blue powder I told you to bring on Freed," Laxus ordered.

"W-what.. Laxus why would-"

"Just do it! I don't know how many more of his punches I can take!" Laxus yelled.

Bickslow quickly took the container with the blue powder out of his pocket. He went up to Freed, who was still dangling over Laxus' shoulders, and blew some in the direction of Freed's face. The powder spread around Freed and he started to calm down. Seconds later, his eyes closed and he was fast asleep.

"Laxus what the hell?!?" Bickslow went back to whispering.

"We had to. He was making too much noise. We have to get him out of here without drawing any attention to ourselves," Laxus explained. "I don't know what they did to him, but he nearly broke my back with those punches. He's gotten a hell of a lot stronger."

Laxus walked back toward the balcony, climbing on the edge. "Let's go. We're getting Freed back to Fairy Tail. Tonight."

Bickslow walked out to the balcony to follow, passing by Damian's unconscious body. He examined his unconscious best friend hanging on Laxus.

He looks different. Is he still the same Freed?

****

It took Freed a moment to realize where he was when he woke up. He scanned his surroundings. The familiar scent of Fairy Tail lingered. He was in Fairy Tail's infirmary, but why? His eyes widened at the realization. He looked down to see he was now wearing sweatpants. He was a little embarrassed about how Laxus found him, but now was not the time to be thinking about that.

I have to get back to Moonlight.

Freed was beginning to panic. How long have I been away?! I have to go. I have to get out of here. He stood up and felt dizziness wave over him. He stumbled his way to the doors and opened them. He was about to bolt towards the guild's exit when he hit what felt like a wall. He looked up to see Laxus standing in front of him.

"Hey, you're awa-"

Without thinking, Freed shot Laxus with a beam of his scripture magic. Laxus was sent flying into the wall. Freed ran out the doors leaving Laxus behind. He ran into the main dining room of the guild to see it full of guild members, the usual for Fairy Tail. His mind and heart were racing. He felt painful heat coming from his eyes and a ringing in his ears.

"Freed! Wait!" Freed heard Laxus shouting from a distance.

The other members of the guild were staring. Freed felt like the entire room was spinning. He saw Bickslow, Lisanna, Evergreen, and Elfman coming toward him. His hands were sparking off magical energy uncontrollably.