sin & sorcery

chapter 13

The thin sun rose over the courtyard of Acropolis, doing little to disperse the chilly fog that clung to the pieces of concrete that still littered the area. Natsu yawned and huddled closer to Gray, who was gripping his coffee cup tightly between his hands. The steam curled up through Gray's hair and over his head, dissipating in the early morning air. A chill crept under Natsu's jacket and he shivered.

"Don't chew your nails." Gray reached out and grabbed Natsu's hand, pulling it away from his mouth. Natsu huffed and Gray looked over at him. "You okay?"

"Mn," Natsu replied. The last week had been hectic, and being in the courtyard only reminded him of burning all those bodies, and the way the scent of scorched flesh had clung to him long after he'd scrubbed his skin raw in the shower. Gajeel was now leading a team to clear the rubble and reshape the courtyard, but it was all still a mess and a reminder of everything they'd failed to do.

"C'mere." Gray wrapped an arm around Natsu and rested their heads together, then kissed Natsu's temple. With everything that had been going on in the past two weeks, they only time they'd had to themselves were their few hours of restless sleep at night, curled up on the hard mattress in the officer's quarters and holding each other through their nightmares.

"You ready to head out?" Natsu lifted his head when Laxus stepped in front of them, holding out two fist-sized white patches. A flaming phoenix was emblazoned on the center of each of them – their new symbol of governance. Of hope.

"They look good." Gray took one of the badges and ran his fingers over the emblem. Freed had designed it after the Resistance leaders had come up with the symbol, and it now permanently adorned the breast of the white jacket Sting wore. "Hopefully people won't try to kill us on sight."

"That's what the secret knives are for," Laxus said conspiratorially, raising an eyebrow before moving on to the next group.

Natsu fixed the badge to the breast of his jacket, frowning at Laxus' retreating back. "Was he... do we have secret knives?" he asked. Gray shrugged.

"He probably does," Gray said, gesturing at Rogue, who was making his way toward them. "Secret knives," Gray clarified when Rogue looked puzzled. "I'm assuming you-"

"Sixteen." Rogue's face was impossible to read, and Natsu didn't know if he should laugh or be terrified. "That way you can protect yourself no matter what position you're in."

A hint of a smile tugged at Rogue's lip, but his gaze dropped to the spot just over Natsu's left shoulder. Natsu hesitated, thinking of Rogue in Undertown – Rogue, who probably had kept sixteen knives on him, and who had used them to stab dozens of men, who had either raped or tried to rape him. And there were hundreds more than he hadn't stabbed, but likely wished he had.

"You okay?" Gray asked gently, and Rogue shook his head, blinking away memories.

"Y-yes." He rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, it's..." Rogue tipped his head back, looking up at the sky. The sky was still dim, with gray clouds scudding across the dark water beyond the port. "Still getting used to this," he said, smiling. "Seeing the sky, sleeping somewhere safe. Not..." He trailed his fingers over a nearly-faded bruise on his wrist.

"We're, uh... headed to Sycca," Natsu said, glancing at the datapad that Freed had given him earlier. He made a face at the idea of riding on the maglev. "You staying here with Sting?"

Rogue glanced over at Sting, who was on the steps to the Acropolis, deep in conversation with Erza. Sting looked good, Natsu thought. He barely resembled the hard-faced man Natsu had met months ago in the Resistance hideout – he looked like a leader, here.

"You two off?" Edo-Natsu appeared, bumping Rogue's shoulder and giving him an uncertain smile. Natsu hadn't missed the awkward tension between them over the past week, and had tried to stay out of it. Rogue gave Edo-Natsu a gentle smile, squeezing his arm and then heading over toward Sting.