Oncoming Storm (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 17

Kayla took a deep breath and— "Hey Laxus?"

"Hm?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you guys."
____

Kayla didn't look at Laxus, and kept her gaze focused on a singular lavender rose, waiting for a response from Laxus.

"What do you mean by that?" Laxus asked.

"I haven't told you a lot about before I joined the guild— and I know that Freed is suspicious of me."

"He has voiced his concerns." Laxus stated simply.

Kayla nodded, not keeping her eyes off the rose as she took a deep breath. She hesitated, was this really the time to tell him? Should she wait until after she told the Master? No, she had already started talking, it was too late to back out now. "I don't really know how to say this exactly, but, here goes nothing. Before FairyTail, I was in another guild. And this guild wasn't good. At all."

"You saying you were in a dark guild?" Laxus asked, and Kayla heard the rustle of clothing as he stood up and walked towards her.

She just nodded, feeling her eye start to water as panic washed over her. Her breathing started to get shallow and quick as she thought back to her time in Death's Storm. "Not just... Not just any guild. I... was in D-Death's Storm." She said, her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew Laxus would hear her.

He stopped right behind her, and Kayla could hear and smell the lightning that was hopping off of his hands. "So what? Were you sent to Spy on FairyTail, to make sure we weren't planing on going after you guys?" He accused.

Kayla turned, looking at Laxus with wide eyes, "I would never!" She exclaimed, standing up and looking up to have her eye's meet Laxus'. "FairyTail is my home, and living without it after seeing what a real guild is like, I would die— probably for real."

"What do you mean by that?"

A small, sad smile appeared on her face "The only reason I was in that guild was so they could use me to resurrect a demon. When I was a little girl, they implanted a Storm Dragon Lacrima into me, and up until about half a year ago they trained me and my magical abilities until I found out exactly what I was there for." Her smile fell and she looked up at Laxus, her vision blurring slightly as tears tricked down her cheeks.

Laxus was quiet his expression not changing as he looked down at her.

"I was gong to die if I stayed, we all were going to die. So, we ran, all five of us. We ran as far as we could and split up, each of us joining different guilds. We thought.... we thought that was it but— it was all planned. From the first time we heard of the job to when we were going to escape. They know where each of us are and—" she started shaking, looking down at the ground and wiping her eyes. "Once we're strong enough, they're going to practically kidnap us and take us back to that hell. I-I don't want to go back, I don't want to die." The last part was barely a whisper as her voice cracked slightly. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

Laxus placed a hand on Kayla's head, and she looked up to see him giving her a serious look, more serious than normal. "You want to live, that's normal. And no matter the past, anyone who tries to earn redemption, deserves a second chance." He seemed to be talk from experience.

Kayla looked at him, her chest hurting and her head spinning. But, she was hopeful, and somewhat happy. Happy that there was a chance that she was going to be able to live, and Death's Storm becoming a part of her past. She looked up at him with a smile on her face, "Thank you." She said. "Thank you, Laxus."

***

The Gala ended later that night, and Kayla was sitting on her bed, lost in her thoughts. After calming down from her breakdown earlier, she ended up telling Laxus bits and pieces of her past. He knew she was the Storm Bringer, he knew about the others, he knew that there was a strong chance that her every move was being watched, as well as little bits and pieces of the way that they trained her— which Kayla noticed made Laxus' expression became more tense the more she told him. Kayla kept some things to herself, things that she just couldn't bring herself to say out loud.

Letting out a sigh, she fell back and her head hit her pillow. Staring up at the ceiling, she couldn't help shake the feeling of being watched. After everything she heard after talking with her friends, it probably wasn't unrealistic that someone was watching her.

She slapped her cheeks and tried to clear her head, she could worry about it later, for now, she needed to get to sleep and get back to the guild as soon as she can. Placing a hand on her forehead, she closed her eyes and the world started to fade away.

The next morning, Kayla was sitting on a train. She watched quietly as the scenery flew by. All of them had left almost immediately the day after the Gala, Laxus saying it was because he didn't want to linger in the capital when they could be taking jobs and working to get stronger. Kayla was just glad that they were getting back to the guild.

Looking at Laxus, who sat across from her, Kayla thought back to when they were leaving the inn. He walked in front of her, standing tall and seeming to be on guard. The only one who had seemed to notice anything was Freed, since the green haired male had started glaring at her, either with distrust or jealousy.

Needless to say, she couldn't wait until she was back at the guild hall.