Fools in the Palace

Chapter 2

With the help of Laxus' nose they managed to follow Freed all the way to the train station wthout problems and they hopped in the same train as he did.

"So he's heading towards Crocus", Bickslow said as they were sitting on a different carriage than Freed. He was pretty recognizable so it was easy to ask same tickets what he had bought. "I wonder what he's gonna do there?"

"I'm sure we will find out soon. How are you doing?" Ever asked looking at Laxus who was leaning against the wall, trying to breath fresh air as much as possible from the open window.

"I'm not dying", he grunted, slightly turning green.

"Good. Keep up with that."

The train rattled forwards as it followed the track. They stopped in few other towns, waited for passengers and continued until finally the train let out a loud whistle as it stopped at the train station in Crocus.

Laxus was more than relieved when he could finally get out from that moving can. People didn't pay attention towards them that much as all of them just walked in or out of the train, got their luggages, said last farewells for those with who they were departing and such.

"There's Freed", Ever quickly whispered pointing towards the rune mage who stepped out of the train as well with his bag.

Laxus, Bickslow and Evergreen stayed where they were, hoping that Freed wouldn't notice them as there were so many people around them. Seemed like it was their lucky day since Freed didn't even look around as he just started to walk out from the station. Three others waited until the green haired mage was far enough and finally started to follow him, keeping distance but making sure they didn't lose him from their sight even for a moment. It only needed few seconds for Freed to disappear after all with his teleportation skills and then it would be almost impossible to find him again.

Crocus was just as busy city as it had always been. Big streets were full of people, cars, carts, animals and everything possible. It was a little bit challenging for them to keep up after Freed but at least they didn't draw that much attention. In these kinds of cities, people saw all kinds of people every day so they weren't really interesting to them.

"He's heading towards the palace", Bickslow noticed as they had been walking for a while already.

"Huh? What the hell kind of business he could have there?" Laxus grunted.

"It's not sure yet, we're just walking towards it", Ever reminded while getting bumped on the shoulder by a man who didn't even stop to apologize. "There are still hundreds of other possibilities where he might be heading to", she said, not caring how that same man got crashed against the wall by Bickslow who was stretching his hands while yawning.

After the distance between them and the Mercurius started to grow smaller, they all started to wonder if Freed in fact was going there. But for what, they had no clue.

"Oh shit", Bickslow said as they had to finally stop since they couldn't walk closer without getting seen. Freed just walked straight towards the large gates and there he talked with someone for a while. After that he was let in. "Man! Now I'm super curious! Why is he going in to the palace?" Bickslow said frustratedly.

"Dunno, but obviously this job must be something big if they have called him there", Laxus said, still looking at the gates that had been shut again and guards were walking around to make sure the area was safe.

"I wonder if he's going to see the queen?" Bickslow grinned.

"Not necessarily", Ever said. "He might just as well talk with just some guards and doesn't need to meet up with her. I mean, would they even bother her if there were some problems?"