Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Forty-Seven: A Reason and an Excuse are Completely Different

WARNING: MENTIONS OF ABUSE!

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Midnight stared down at the map in front of him. It was laid out on the table of his and Freed's hotel room. His brow was furrowed and his eyes scanned the map. He sighed, his frustration growing.

"Something wrong, Midnight?"

He turned toward the door, his face softening from the glare that it had been fixed into when he spotted Lucy standing in the doorway. Midnight looked back down at the map. He was leaning forward on the table, his hands planted firmly on the surface to hold his upper body up. He sighed again. "Where did you say that our next destination is?"

He listened as Lucy walked closer and stopped beside the table. "Jult Island."

Midnight nodded. He gestured toward the map. "I can't find it anywhere."

All of a sudden, Lucy stepped closer to stand right beside him and leaned over to look at the map. Midnight froze upon instantly realizing how close they were to each other. His eyes locked onto her side profile. He could feel his heartbeat quicken and his stomach did small flips. He swallowed, a fruitless attempt at easing his suddenly dry mouth.

Midnight wanted to step away from her, but he also didn't want to. He looked down at Lucy's hand, which was so close to his own that they were very nearly touching. The thought of placing his hand on top of hers popped into his head. He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he was trying to get rid of the idea. When he opened his eyes again, they were drawn back to Lucy's hand.

Her fingers were bandaged, still not completely healed from when the fingernails were ripped out. She stopped bandaging her hands a while ago. The pale skin looked really smooth and soft, so much so that Midnight was tempted to touch it and find out if it really did feel how he was imagining it did.

Midnight whipped his head around to stare in the opposite direction. His hands gripped the edge of the table and he could feel his face burning. Why was he thinking this way? Why was he feeling this way? He didn't understand. What was happening to him?

Lucy's voice snapped him out of his confused thoughts, "I can ask Rufus to find a map that has Jult Island on it. He needs to get out of that room for a bit."

Midnight nodded. His thoughts turned to Rufus at the mention of him. Midnight purposefully kept his distance from their captive. He didn't want to have Nyx around, nor did he want to be near him if he didn't have to. Midnight didn't understand Rufus' attachment to Nyx. They had one conversation and suddenly Rufus was acting as though they were friends. It didn't make sense. Especially not when considering what Nyx had done to Lucy in the past weeks.

He sighed and moved himself to the opposite side of the table, hoping that it would calm him down. "What's Rufus' deal with Nyx?"

Lucy looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Midnight looked down at the map again. His brow was furrowed and he could still feel his face burning. It made him feel very aware of himself, and Lucy's gaze on him didn't help. He placed a hand over the bottom part of his mouth and answered, "he's a bit attached to that guy, don't you think? It's weird, right?"

He kept his eyes focused on the map in front of him as he listened to Lucy speak, "well, I guess it is a surprise, how much he seems to care about Nyx. Maybe there's something that he knows that some of the rest of us don't."

Midnight couldn't help but scoff at that. He lowered his hand and looked at the covered window. "What could he possibly know that the rest of us don't?"

Lucy was silent for several seconds. It made Midnight a bit worried that he said something wrong and made her upset. She then spoke, her soft voice a bit commanding, "Midnight, look at me."

Midnight really didn't want to. He had not the faintest idea of what was happening to him, but whatever it was, he didn't think that looking at Lucy's pretty face would make it better. However, he also knew that Lucy wouldn't let him disobey that easily. He sighed and hesitantly turned his head to look at her.

Lucy stared back at him with a serious expression on her face. The sight caused Midnight to furrow his brow again, a feeling of worry beginning to build in his gut. Was something wrong? Did he say something to upset her? Why was she so serious all of a sudden?

Lucy soon spoke, her voice low and serious, "Nyx has burn scars on his chest. They look suspiciously like cigarette burn scars. There are too many of them for us to believe that any of them were accidental."

Midnight crossed his arms over his chest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He had a feeling that he knew where this was going. He waited for Lucy to continue.

"Rufus and I believe that it's from torture. Terra and Lust might have been torturing him to make him continue going along with the plan. When I talked to him, he said that he wanted to help the celestial spirits, save them from further abuse by celestial wizards."

Midnight's face, scrunched up at that. Why did this information matter? He still followed along with and furthered a plot to take over the Celestial Spirit World. He still captured, and probably tortured, Rufus. He still tortured Lucy for a week straight. He still had a hand in killing Sorano. He still caused an indescribable amount of harm. Why did him being tortured and allegedly caring about the celestial spirits make any of his actions okay?

It didn't. It absolutely did not.

Midnight frowned and furrowed his brow as he shook his head. "None of that excuses his actions. None of that matters, he still did horrible things." His tone was harsher than he meant for it to be, but he didn't try to take it back. He stood by what he said.

Lucy's face dropped. Midnight was tempted to apologize for his tone, but he remained steadfast. Lucy sighed and stared down at the map. "Midnight, I know that you're angry about what he did, but please understand-"

"Understand what? That just because he has some sob story, he should be let off the hook? He should be allowed to stick with us? We should protect him?" Midnight sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Lucy, I know that it's Fairy Tail's brand to see the good in damn near everyone, give second chances, and forgive pretty much everyone who wrongs you, but that's not always applicable. Some things just aren't forgivable. A reason and an excuse are completely different."

Lucy seemed hurt by his words. Midnight's heart twisted painfully at the sight. He turned and walked toward the door. He couldn't keep looking at her hurt expression, and he didn't want to get into an argument over this. The last thing they needed us to be at each other's throats. He needed to be alone. He wasn't sure about the exact reason that he needed to be alone, but he just did.

He ignored Lucy's calls for him to stay as he walked out of the hotel room. He made his way out of the hotel and began walking through the town that they had temporarily settled in.

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I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!