Chapter Text
Freed almost curses as he throws more runes at this large cobra like beast with skinny T-Rex arms.
This fight isn't going how any of them thought it would.
Laxus has managed to stun it briefly with his lightning though the giant serpent manages to recover.
Evergreen and Bickslow keep attacking trying to get this thing to go down.
Freed can't get the runes to tie up the beast with it moving so much. He tries only for it to slither out before the runes complete. He is snapped out of his thoughts as the serpent spins around clearly targeting. He follows its gaze with a gasp noticing that it's Evergreen who turned away for just a moment. "Look out!" He tries to warn her racing over.
Evergreen turns just as the serpent lunges at her.
Freed lunges and obviously tries to get them both out of the way. He lets out a sharp yelp of pain when fangs sink into him. He hardly registers that the serpent has snapped the front of its mouth around his torso, before he's lifted high into the air. He struggles especially feeling warmth spreading from where he is being bit. He can tell from his body starting to feel a bit numb that it's some kind of poison. He can hear his worried teammates calling to him even as his heart pounds in his head. He clenches his teeth to try to continue to ignore the pain of the fangs in his body. He has to try to get out of the serpents grip. He attempts some runes even sending some flying at the serpent as it shifts with him in the air. He finds that it isn't working so he may have to just try brute force. He doesn't dare try his demon form, worried that if he does he may let go of control to the demon just to get away. He won't put his teammates in danger by losing control when they have enough to deal with as is. He will always pick not putting them in danger of his demon form if he can help it. He tries to push the serpents mouth open enough to try to escape. His hands scrabbling at the serpents lips as said serpent thrashes its head around holding Freed like it has a toy or food. He swears that the thrashing stings even more and he can't help some small whimpers from the sharp pain. He can spot brief glimpses of the others magic going after this thing trying to get it to let go. He's starting to get dizzy and faint. He knows that the poison is really getting through his body now. He feels scared not sure if this is a poison that can kill him or not.
Finally some electricity at the back of its neck causes it to cry out. It throws its head back with a cry causing Freed to be thrown into the air.
Freed slightly flails and he is feeling too dizzy and out of it to be able to set up runes to catch himself. His vision is starting to blur, however he can still make out Laxus hurrying to try to catch him. He lands right into Laxus causing them to tumble backwards together.
Laxus tries his best to keep a good hold of Freed even with his body curled around the rune mage. He takes the blunt of the impact from the roll on the ground. He hits a rock just below the back of his skull. His grip momentarily becoming loose enough that Freeds body slips out. "No!" He tries to grab the other who slightly flies away from him.
Freed's body hits the ground with a thump that'll haunt his teammates. He landed on his left side arms and legs spread out in front of himself. He tries to raise his head only managing to get it up just a little. He blinks as he only has blurry vision that is doing its best to stop him from seeing what's happening. He swears a blurry figure hurries his way before it all goes black. His body going limp as he passes out.
"Freed!" Laxus calls out crouching beside his teammate who didn't get up. He ignores the fighting as Evergreen and Bickslow work to keep the serpent at bay. He can see the holes where the fangs punctured into Freed as even his clothes have holes. He also notices some blood seeping onto the ground clearly coming from the wounds. He feels his heart drop when he smells that something doesn't smell right with the blood.
That serpent no doubt injected some sort of poison into Freed.
Laxus looks to the others face seeing what could be the start of what looks to be a fever. He winces since Freed is looking so weak and vulnerable. He hates seeing the other so badly injured. He is also scared that he could lose the other. He doesn't want that to happen. He cares so deeply about Freed. His hands clench the ground digging up dirt that he clenches tightly in his fists. He lets out a low growl turning to look at the serpent with rage filling his body. He will murder the thing that hurt Freed! He lets out a loud enraged roar lunging at the serpent, his hands unclenching, as he transforms into dragon mode, having scales and horns, a tail, all his teeth become sharp, and looking unmistakably dragon like yet human at the same time, leaping at the serpent. He digs his finger nails that have become like claws into the serpent as he gets onto the back of its neck. He doesn't fully register Evergreen and Bickslow backing off seeing him in this mode. He slams his feet down onto the serpent ignoring how much it's thrashing to try to throw him off. He doesn't care if he slices open its throat or snaps its neck he will kill this thing! He wants it dead now and with how it's thrashing he can't get to its throat. He instead uses his strength managing to twist its head and neck. He also zaps its whole body with electricity, sending it past the serpents scales by going through his hands with his claws digging in, causing it to cry out once more before falling to the ground. He stops the shocks and growls at it daring it to get back up.
The serpent doesn't move and its lifeless eyes stare at nothing.
Laxus's head snaps upwards seeing someone approaching.
Bickslow slows to a stop at being noticed. "Hey. Laxus. Calm down baby. The thing is dead." He tells the other hoping to reach him with his words. He doesn't try to touch Laxus or anything.
All of them know very well that the only one who can touch Laxus in this state is Freed. Everyone else will get attacked if they touch Laxus like this.
Hence usually it is up to Freed to calm Laxus out of dragon mode, a job he is very efficient at as even just laying against Laxus's chest helps him to calm down, however Freed can't this time so Bickslow decided to step up to the plate.
Laxus lets out some huffing breaths mixed with light growls. His mind managing to register that it's his teammate, and friend, Bickslow in front of him. He is slowly calming down as the other seems patient for him to calm himself.
The other two can't get Laxus to calm down as quickly as Freed can. Luckily they still can even if it's at a slower rate and in not always very effective ways.
Suddenly Evergreen goes past Bickslow and hands Freeds limp body to Laxus. Her action causes the other to hold Freed bridal style close to his chest. "We don't have time to wait. Freed needs a healer. Look for yourself."
Laxus looks to Freed seeing how pathetic and weak he looks. He gasps and calms down a lot quicker. He is soon completely out of dragon mode. He holds Freed closer and looks to his friends. "Let's go."
"Go ahead. Fairy tail isn't too far from here. You should be able to reach it in record time." Evergreen encourages to Laxus. "We'll catch up."
Laxus nods his head and uses his powers to fly through the sky using a created storms lightning. He lets himself drop down crashing straight through the roof of the guild. His body protecting Freeds from the impact. He even lands on his feet still holding his friend's body. He gets up from his crouched landing holding Freed bridal style still. He glances around as a bunch of the other guild members rush towards him with worried looks. "That snake thing we fought. It's dead but it managed to bite Freed. I'm pretty sure it put some kind of poison in him." He quickly explains letting some of them check on how Freed is doing. He winces as Freed shivers likely a mix of the pain, the fever, and the poison in his body.
"Someone get Porlyusica!" Mira orders and a few rush off. She looks to Laxus letting their eyes meet. She and the others don't try to take Freed from Laxus. "Let's get him to a medical bed." She tells him getting a nod and the two hurry that way. "Are the others okay?" She asks as they hurry towards a bed.
"No one is as badly hurt as Freed. They sent me ahead and are heading back themselves." Laxus explains laying Freed on the bed gently.
Mira nods to this and looks very concerned now that she has a better look at Freeds body.
"Out of the way!" Porlyusica shoves past them, another healer following, and gets to her patient's side. She quickly removes his clothing on his upper body revealing the damage.
Laxus clenches his hands and Mira covers her mouth at the sight of Freeds torso.
Freed has round puncture wounds which look like just larger snake bite puncture wounds, his skin is badly bruising with some of it seeming to spread out across his torso due to the poison, and there's of course blood. He seems to be lucky that it clearly didn't hit where his heart is, though Laxus can't be sure about any other organs.
Porlyusica quickly gets to work with the other healer.
The other healer uses her magic to start trying to get as much poison out as she can.
Porlyusica focuses on making sure Freed doesn't bleed out.
Laxus wants to bug her about if Freed is going to make it. He keeps his mouth shut though letting her focus on healing Freed. He feels so upset not being able to do anything to help the other.
Mira must have picked up his feeling of being useless now after recovering from her shock. She looks to him and leads him to a chair so he can watch, as well as letting them talk without interrupting Porlyusica and the other healer. "What happened? Like fully. How did that thing manage to bite Freed?" She questions making Laxus sigh.
"The serpent. We found it. It was as aggressive as people said." Laxus shifts a little in his seat still watching the two as the healer gets more poison out. He is pretty sure she's using some extra magic to keep things from getting worse, such as Freed potentially bleeding out to death, even as Porlyusica works on that. "We fought it and it was tougher than we thought. We couldn't even get it to hold still long enough for Freed to trap it in runes. It kept getting away before it was complete. Our magic wasn't as strong against it as we thought it would be. Making it even harder. Evergreen turned away for only a moment and that thing went for her. Freed reacted first out of all of us. He was also the closest to where she was. He tried to tackle her out of the way. But that thing managed to grab him at a moment where Ever fell a little faster than him." He shudders as he remembers seeing it happen.
Mira places a comforting hand on his shoulder helping him to continue.
"Before I could react it lifted him up high. Taking him out of my reach. It was horrible seeing him held in its mouth. All the while I couldn't reach him to help pry that things mouth open to get him out. I was also unable to try to use more powerful attacks not wanting to hit him as a result. I could hear his pained sounds. It was so awful. We all flung magic at it trying to get it to let go. We were careful that we wouldn't hurt Freed with our attacks. I finally did manage to get it to let go though it tossed Freed into the air. I quickly realized that something was wrong as Freed couldn't seem to get any magic up to catch himself. I managed to catch him as he fell. We both hit the ground. My grip loosened when my neck bumped a rock... It was enough that Freed slipped out." Laxus has a full body shiver as he can see it playing again in his head. "I panicked but couldn't grab him before he got out of my reach. He hit the ground." He takes a shaky breath able to hear the sound in his head once more. "He only raised his head for a moment before passing out." He covers his mouth remembering how the other looked lying there on the ground.
Mira's hand clenches his shoulder trying to send him more comfort.
"He looked so weak and vulnerable. I was so scared Mira. I thought I might lose him. Especially when I smelled that his blood smelled off telling me that he was indeed poisoned." Laxus doesn't usually like to be this open to others. His previous relationship with Mira before he accepted his feelings for Freed helps him admit this to her. "I got so angry and lost control. I went into dragon mode and twisted that things neck until it was dead. The two managed to calm me down and Evergreen told me to get Freed here. That they'll catch up." He blinks not having expected tears to appear in his eyes. He tries to push them away not wanting to cry in front of anyone but his team. He feels one or two slip out but holds the rest in. His hand lowering from his mouth to his lap. "What if he doesn't make it? What if I failed to protect him from the worst? There's still so much I want to tell him. So much time I had planned for us to still be together. I planned for us to live for so many years. Maybe die of old age. Not die like this." When he was allowed back to the guild, and they had forgiven him, he had sworn to be better... Now one of his own teammates is lying there potentially dying. "I failed to protect him. I failed. I'm supposed to be better now. What if I lose him forever because of this?!"
"Laxus." Mira's stern voice gets Laxus to turn to her. Her gaze strong and a little stern yet a bit sympathetic. "Put your trust in Freed. Trust that he'll make it through. He's strong. But right now he badly needs your support. He needs your faith in him to be able to fight to get better. People have a higher chance of recovery if someone is there with them. Supporting them. Using touches, if they're unconscious, to let them know that they're there. Like something shifts in their brain to help them heal or something like that. Be the rock Freed can use to hold onto so he doesn't slip away. You got him here and got him help. That sure as hell also helps a lot in making it a better chance of him surviving."
Laxus stares at Mira for a moment before pushing down his fear and worry. He nods which causes her to relax. He turns to look back at Freed telling himself that the other can fight through this. He'll be able to talk to him again and spend more time with him.
... Late that night...
It is about three in the morning and Porlyusica and the healer finally back away looking exhausted.
The poison all got out of Freed by midnight and it took another three hours to work on his wounds.
Laxus gets up heading over to them wanting to be close to Freed. "How is he?" He glances to Porlyusica who wipes sweat from her brow.
"Well I've done what I can. He has a lot of healing ahead of him. I wouldn't say he's out of the woods yet but he has a higher chance of surviving than before." Porlyusica's words do ease Laxus a bit even though he's still worried about the other. "Also despite that we got the poison out I can't say for sure that it won't have side effects. Some who have had venom injected have gone blind or have been paralyzed. Among other things. There is a chance there won't be any side effects but there is a chance that there could be. We won't know likely until he wakes up."
"Thank you." Laxus nods and looks to Freeds face. He can still see traces of the fever but it seems getting the poison out did help a bit. "Even if there are side effects we'll support him through it no matter what it is." He removes Freeds shoes wanting him to be comfortable.
Porlyusica nods her head heading to leave. "Keep someone with him and contact me if anything happens. I'm getting some rest." She heads away with the other healer not far behind. She opens the door only for Evergreen and Bickslow to race past.
Laxus looks to the two as they join him by Freeds side. "You made it back." He mentions only to see Evergreen huff.
"We made it back a few hours ago. We weren't allowed inside." Evergreen stops being angry as she changes to looking worried at Freed. "Is he going to be okay?"
Porlyusica lets out a heavy sigh and tells them what she told Laxus. She ignores the other healer who leaves.
"Don't worry baby. We won't let any side effects stop us from helping." Bickslow flashes his tongue at the healer.
Porlyusica rolls her eyes at Bickslow being his kind of crazy self and leaves to go sleep.
Laxus pays them no mind and reaches out taking one of Freeds hands into his own. He gently squeezes it and rubs his thumb on the back of the others hand. He wants to make sure that Freed knows he's here for him. "You can do this. Get better. I know you can." He tells him seriously hoping that somehow Freed can hear him. He lets Bickslow hug Evergreen when she cries in worry about Freed. His eyes remaining on the rune mage.
The next evening...
Laxus and the other two haven't left Freeds side.
Evergreen and Bickslow are sitting on the floor playing a card game to pass the time.
Laxus is sitting in a chair next to Freeds bed. He touches the others hand still hoping that he can sense him and feel his hope for him to get better. He slightly glances to the entryway as someone comes in.
Makarov approaches Laxus who turns away to focus on Freed once more.
Evergreen and Bickslow are watching what is going to happen.
Makarov looks concerned at Freed then places a hand on Laxus's shoulder.
Laxus almost thinks about shaking him off though doesn't.
"I know you're all worried about him." Makarov begins. "All of us are. Even me. However you all should go home, get some proper rest and maybe make yourselves some food. I'll make sure someone is with him. You all need a break to rest properly."
Laxus shakes Makarov's hand off of his shoulder at hearing this. "I'm fine gramps." He grunts not looking away from Freed. "I'm not leaving. I have to be here. I have to, just in case he wakes up."
Makarov gives Laxus a sympathetic look knowing how stubborn he can be about these choices. "Alright." He sighs then turns to the other two.
"We'll make sure that everyone eats and rests. But we're also staying here." Evergreen insists and Bickslow makes sounds of agreement.
"Yeah! Teammates look out for each other! Especially when they are needed the most!" Bickslow tells Makarov.
Makarov glances to the three of them after hearing this. "You four have always been the team that are the closest to each other." He admits. "I've never seen a team like yours before here in the guild. It is impressive how much you all are not only strong, but caring towards each other as well. It allows for such brilliant teamwork that I sometimes wish the others would learn." He lets out a breath after complimenting them. His words do bring a small spark of pride in them despite their flooding worry. "Alright. I'll make an exception. You all can stay. But if I find out any of you are not taking care of yourselves then there won't be an option." He turns to face the way out though doesn't leave yet. "Freed is closer to you three than anyone else. Perhaps you being here might indeed help him in his recovery. None of us want to lose him."
"Thanks gramps." Laxus ignores the small smile he gets from Makarov before the other leaves. He keeps at his post being right beside Freed. Ready to wait however long it takes for the other to heal. He doesn't care how long Freed needs to rest in order to get his strength back. He will be here when Freed finally wakes up.