"Freed, you need to come out. You can't lock yourself up anymore." Cana's voice was soft and desperate. It's been two months. Two months since I left my room. Two months since I saw Laxus. It's so cold and lonely. It wasn't like this before. Nothing has changed, and yet, everything is different. I stared at the blank wall, grey paint peeling like wilting cherry blossoms. It was a grey canvas with chipping splatters of white like me losing the history I held so dear. The memories are fading. My vision blurs like a dwindling wick. The door creaks open as Cana trembles in with a tray in her hands. Light comes in and I see myself reflecting on the tray bordering the bowl of soup.
My skin droops over the shell of my face, bags predominant under bloodshot weary eyes plastered with an ugly yellow hue. My hair was muddled and almost losing its once iridescent green shine.
"Freed, I want to say something," Cana said. I didn't look at her but simply only nodded. "After you eat this, I'm taking you to the hospital. I don't care what you say or what you think about it." It took me a moment to process what she said. Suddenly, I felt my anger rise. Just because I down didn't mean I need medical help. She may be helping me, but I don't need her to rule my life.
"Just leave me alone," I spat. "I'm fine."
"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed. "You've been here for weeks. You need to get out, and I can tell you're not healthy. You're barely even surviving." She reached out to grab my arm. Instinctively, I raised my hand and began to set up runes.
"JUST STAY AWAY!"
All of a sudden, I felt my chest heave as my breath was caught in my throat. My abdomen burned as I screamed.
"Freed!" Cana cried but I slumped over, black dots slathering my vision spreading like a migraine sparked every nerve in my head. I couldn't even blink as colors faded until not even greys were visible.
***
There was a beep. Then, there was another. It was like floating on air yet an ocean was around. I wasn't breathing, yet air entered and left my lungs. There was nothing, and then there was a voice.
"What's wrong with him?" a gruff voice said. It was scratchy and concerned, yet one I knew well.
"Master Makarov, I'm afraid it's magic deficiency. It's one of the worst types of cancer a mage can get. It's likely he hadn't used a large amount of magic in a long time. While he wasn't supposed to before, this prolonging condition seems to be more severe. Something would've triggered him to release a large amount of magic. However, as his power had laid dormant for so long, the sudden pull must have caused a short circuit to be blunt. I'm afraid... There's no cure."
There is crying.
"Oh god, no no no no... This is all my fault," a voice cried.
"There is nothing you have done wrong. It was good to get him here sooner than later, Cana," the master said. "You should go home and rest." Footsteps walk away. I'm sorry, Cana. Nothing was your fault.
It's all me.
"Doctor, tell me the truth," the master suddenly says. The doctor sighs.
"I hate to say this... But, he only has three days."
"I see... Thank you. If you would..."
"I'll leave you. My greatest sympathies lie with you." The doctor leaves.
"You heard all of that didn't you?"
He knows. He always does.
My eyes slowly let the dim lights trickle in. Burnt auburn wood plated walls surround me, soft leather chairs around me. The cotton sheets are warm and cover me as an IV drips into my arm. A mask covers my mouth and nose as my lungs are pumped by the machine. There's a monitor showing my heart rate, the green line moving up and then down, disappearing and then reappearing.
Three days from now, that line will go down and never rise. Somehow, that thought didn't scare me.
I met Master Makarov's gaze as he sadly looked down at me. He knows grieving will do nothing. He lays his hand against mine, tracing my veins solemnly.
His voice penetrates my mind in the silence as he telepathically speaks.
"Do you have any last wishes?" he asks.
"I want to see Laxus." Makarov nods.
"I'll try my best." With that, he leaves.
The following day comes with more beeps and ticking of the clock, second after second. I flatlined once and couldn't stomach any food. A goldish gunk came up that the doctor explained was my magic's physical essence. Funny how it was yellow almost beaming like Laxus did in a gross way.
Bickslow and Evergreen stopped by with the Strauss siblings. The tears kept coming. They told stories and stories, memories and memories. I loved them as a family, but they couldn't answer the one question I had.
"Is Laxus here?" but they could only look away.
The second day came and Team Natsu came by along with many other guild members. Loke and the other Celestial Spirits even came. If anyone knew death best, they did. Lucy cried and she spoke of events that happened in the past year. What went down at Kardia Hall during the festival, what happened on Tenrou Island. She spoke of all our adventures together with detail I almost felt myself wanting to fall back. But every time I did, I saw him standing there like a beacon. It was a hushed question this time, yet I was met with the same answer.
"Is Laxus here?"
He won't come. I don't know why I ask when I know. But, somewhere wishes there was chemistry between us. Somewhere inside me wishes I didn't let him walk away. But, he won't come back.
No one could give me an answer.
Day three was met with silence. My pulse was weak and I could no longer move. Nurses came and each time resulted in numbers that got lower and lower. I wondered how it would be. Was death simply instant? Would I be aware? Was it a cold touch or a warm fleeting moment? Death would come for me, and yet I wouldn't be alive enough to ever find that answer.
They rip the covers off. The beeping becomes distinct as I'm flatlining. I came back the first time. But, not even an hour later, I'm falling again. That dark abyss is rising, the dark water coming up to my knees. I don't have the strength to fight anymore. Simply, I'm existing until I can't.
"We're losing him!"
"Keep trying!"
"Stay with us, son!"
They don't understand that I'm ready. He won't come. He didn't before, and he won't know.
The light fades and I'm met with bursts of dark and light. Suddenly, metal doors clang open, a broad figure standing in its arms. A smile creeps across my face as I find myself crying. Am I so delusional that I'm seeing him in death?
Laxus...
Even his name is comforting in the darkness. He comes over, but my eyes are closing shut. Warmth embraces me with strong arms I'd never thought I could feel.
"I love you, Freed," he says back. "Please, stay." I cannot though. It is too late.
"I love you too, Laxus," I whisper. I don't know if he is real. But in this void, I'm glad he can hear me.
His lips touch mine, but then he disappears.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Embrace (Laxus x Freed Fanfic)
Fanfiction"Is Laxus here?" Those three words came from Freed's jaws every single day since he contracted cancer. Perhaps it was bound to happen. He was, afterall, a mage who specialized in historic spells, yet here was his life ready to join the remnants of h...
