Fairy Tail: This Little Chickie

Preview: Farewell From Fairy Tail

Dad! Dad!" a young voice called excitedly. The world was hazy, a blur of dull colors and emotion. Only one thing stood out: a small boy with bright eyes and an eagerness to prove himself to his father and grandfather. A small boy who wanted to prove himself to the world, yet was too weak to do so.

"Weakling. Useless," his father's voice echoed. "Disappear."

Clear blue eyes snapped open and air invaded his lungs painfully. Light glared at him, forcing his lids shut once more, though he remained alert. The only thing that hurt more than his throbbing head was the rest of his body. Managing to squint, Laxus turned his head to see that he was in his room and wondered who carried him there. They must have seen to his injuries as he could feel the weight of bandages wound tightly around his limbs and torso.

Experimentally he lifted a hand into his field of vision. It felt like it was made of lead, but he could see slivers of flesh peeking out between white, layered strips. With a groan he let his arm fall back to his side.

Laxus remembered that he'd lost; he'd failed. It wasn't even Natsu's punch that finished him in the end, not really. Looking back, he realized it was over the moment the failure of Fairy Law opened his eyes to reality.

Ivan Dreyar had been right: he was weak and useless, unable to let go of some distant dream from his childhood.

"Laxus!" Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen seemed to fall through the doorway in their eagerness to enter, "You're awake?" They paused in unison to clutch at whatever injuries they'd aggravated with their activities, eyes scrunched as they worked through the pain. Laxus could only blink through the tears he had not even realized had been forming. The trio looked just as bad as he did, bandages barely hiding the cuts and bruises littering their bodies. By the time they looked toward him once more he'd let his heavy lids slide shut, his mouth forming a tight line.

"Are you sure he's awake?" Evergreen questioned shrilly.

"I heard him groan," Freed replied, but he did not sound very certain. Laxus let out a low breath.

"His eyes are closed." The chorus of Bickslow and his puppets made him cringe.

"No." Laxus winced at the dry croak that was his voice before forcing himself to face the light and his comrades. "My...eyes are open..."