Chapter 36

We're Even

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and ideas

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Frea blinked her eyes open to find herself laying on the ground, and something laying next to her. She glanced over and blinked, no it was someone. Laxus was asleep on the ground beside her and she tilted her head a little, sitting up and resting her hands behind her. She felt way better, like she hadn't been dying just a short time ago. She smiled and closed her eyes, Chaitanya wasn't kidding... you can use a spell even if your drained of Magic Energy...

And just as Chaitanya had told her that Energy Magic was mysterious in its own ways, she had absolutely no idea how she had pulled that off.

She opened her eyes and glanced over at Laxus, they were still in that hole they had been in earlier. We must have fallen asleep after I cast that Spell... She sighed and got to her feet, lifting her arms above her in a stretch and wiping the blood off of her chin. No more feeling weak, no more pangs of pain in her chest, Magic Energy returning...

The spell worked.

She crouched down by Laxus and smiled softly, before tapping him gently. "Hey Laxus, wake up." She murmured and he shifted a little but kept on sleeping. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oi! Little Lightning Laxus, wake up you lazy Dragon!' She said a bit louder and he blinked his eyes open. He immediately shot up into a sitting position and stared at her, jaw dropping. She tilted her head at him and blinked, "What's the face for?" She asked and he recovered from his shock, smirking at her.

"So you did listen to me." He said and crossed his arms over his chest. "Good, or I would have been pissed off if you hadn't." She told her and she sighed.

That's it? No, 'Oh I'm glad you're ok'? Just more attitude? She thought in exasperation but smiled anyway, he was still Laxus after all.

"Whatever, thanks for your help anyway, Laxus." She told him and he smirked a little more.

"Yeah, you owe me big time." He told her and she tilted her head.

"Um... No, I don't." She told him and his smirk faded, he blinked at her.

"I think you do." he replied and she shook her head.

"I know I don't. You saved my life, sure." She told him and placed a pointed a finger on his chest, "But I saved you too. Don't you remember Rified's "Death's Reaper' Spell? Why the hell do you think I ran toward you like I did? I put up an Energy Shield at the last second and saved your ass." She smirked at his semi-shocked face. "With that in mind, I'd say we're pretty much even."

For a minute they just looked at each other, and she could tell he was trying to some up with something to say back.

"You didn't have to do that, I would have been fine." He huffed and she rolled her eyes.

"That's not true and you know it." She told him and stood up. Laxus got to his feet too and brushed off his traveling cloak.

"Fine, I'll let it go this time. We're even." He muttered and she smiled a little.

"Good." She replied. Laxus crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down.

"Now that all of this crap has been taken care of, why not explain to me what that Spell was about? Or since when have you been a Dragon Slayer?" He asked and she sighed silently.

"Lets start with the Dragon Slayer part." She told him. "I've always been one, but remember when I told you Kasumi sealed away my memories? Well it was because of that, I just couldn't remember that I was a Dragon Slayer. When her spell was broken I remembered my years of training with Chaitanya, my foster Mother, who just so happens to be the Energy Dragon." Frea explained.

"And the Spell?" He asked, face neutral.

"Chaitanya told me, that if I looked into my heart, I could use a spell, even when I don't have any Magic Energy." She told him. "So I used a spell to get rid of the lasting affects of Kasumi's Magic that had been killing me for awhile now."

"Why the hell haven't you used the Damn spell before now?" He asked and she gave him a sheepish look.

"Well... I didn't remember it, and I wasn't actually sure it would work." She told him. "Its because of you, that I remembered the spell." She told him and he blushed a little, he was clearly thinking about when she had pressed her forehead against his unexpectedly, she smiled a little at his embarrassment. Laxus sighed,

"Whatever..." He muttered. He turned and started walking. "Come on, you have to go back to Fairy Tail and apologize to everyone for keeping the fact you were dying from them... Idiot." He told her firmly and she started to follow him. Frea smiled as she followed him, down the mountain, back toward Magnolia.

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Frea walked through the streets of Magnolia alone, she had split up with Laxus just outside the city, he wasn't looking to run into anybody from the Guild and she didn't blame him. If she had been kicked out of the Guild, after doing what he had done, even if he had done it to try and make the Guild stronger, she knew she wouldn't want to run into anyone from Fairy Tail either. She wondered if she had been gone long, she guessed it was only about a day. She sighed a little, she had to tell Master Makarov how she had been keeping the fact she had been dying from him. Now that, that was something she would have no pleasure in doing. She lifted her eyes from the ground as the Guild Hall came into sight, and she opened the doors slowly, stepping inside. She was immediately stopped in her tracks by a very worried looking Mira, who dashed over and wrapped her arms around Frea.

"You're back! Gajeel told us you left, we've been so worried, you didn't even say where you were going!" Mira exclaimed and Frea felt a little guilty. "We thought you might have gotten attacked like Team Natsu did." Mira pulled away and Frea flinched at how relieved the white-haired Mage looked. Frea looked away, suddenly feeling very ashamed.

"Sorry Mira, I should have told you I was going to be gone." Frea murmured. "And there's something else I should have told you, all of you, where's Master Makarov?" Frea asked and Mira looked curious as to what she was talking about. Mira stepped aside and Frea rested her gaze on Master as he walked toward them. Many of the other members had jumped from their seats as she had walked into the Hall, and they all had their eyes trained on her.

"Where have you been?" Master Makarov asked calmly and she took a deep breath.

"As I'm sure you already figured out, a Spell had been cast on Team Natsu that prevented them from getting better, unless the Mage who had cast that spell, was defeated." She explained. "I picked up on that Mage's scent and followed it, until I found him on top of a mountain."

"I figured you might have gone looking for this Mage." Master murmured.

"Team Natsu are getting better though." Levy piped up and stepped to the front of the crowd that had gathered. "Does that mean you beat him?" The small blue-haired Mage asked and Frea gave them and embarrassed look.

"Well he was defeated, yes, but you see.... I wasn't the one to do it." She mumbled and rubbed the back of her head with a hand. "It was actually... Laxus." She murmured and everyone froze.

"You mean you saw the boss?" Freed, Bixlow, and Evergreen asked at the same time and she nodded.

"Yeah, I ran into him on the way..." Frea murmured. "So now here comes the hard part..." She mumbled. "Laxus beat Rified because I couldn't, I almost died you see..." Her voice trailed off. She felt horrible, she felt so horrible for not telling them this before...

"Because I have been dying for awhile now..." She murmured, and stared at the floor in shame. She flinched a little as gasps came from her Guild Mates, she couldn't lift her eyes to look at them.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Mira stuttered.

"Some traces of the Magic Kasumi used on me were causing my body to deteriorate and My Magic Energy fade. I wasn't going to live long, and I knew I should have told you guys..." She trailed off and closed her eyes. " I couldn't bring myself to do it..." She muttered. After a moment of silence she lifted her head and flinched at all of the worried, sad, and angry faces.

The one that got her the most, was Master's face.

When she looked at him, she could see the genuine hurt in his eyes, and that just made her feel worse. She hated that look, she hated all of these looks, this is what she hadn't want to see, this was the reason she hadn't said anything before now. She hadn't wanted to make them sad, make the worry about her... but now she felt extremely guilty inside, she felt ashamed.

"I...I'm am really, really sorry... I should have told you guys, I know that..." She murmured.

"Frea." Master said quietly and she looked up from the floor. "I understand why you didn't tell us." Master told her. "But I must ask, that in the future, you do not keep things like this away from us, your family." Master Makarov said and she blinked. Frea closed her eyes and nodded,

"Alright, and I am really sorry..." She murmured.

"Are you gonna be ok? Or are you still...?" She glanced over at Mira who looked to be very hurt as she asked her question and Frea gave her a reassuring look.

"I'm fine now, I promise." She replied. She couldn't have lied to Mira, not when she looked so worried about her.

"You sure are gonna have a lot of making up to do for not telling us." Cana called out and Frea nodded.

"Yep, I pretty much figured as much." Frea replied. Frea heard the sound of a fist passing through the air behind her and she quickly sidestepped and grabbed the fist, using her shoulder as leverage she pulled the one who had thrown the punch, and pulled them over her to hit the floor. She blinked in surprise at a bandaged Natsu, who despite having been thrown to the floor, was grinning widely at her.

"You're definitely ok!" He smiled and a few other members laughed while others nodded in agreement, most of their sad faces turned to smiles as the Guild livened up again. She smiled at him, before pulling him to his feet. She spotted Lucy, Gray and Erza in the crowd too. Frea tapped a finger on Natsu's forehead, fangs flashing as she grinned widely at the energetic Dragon Slayer.

"Good to have you back Natsu." Frea murmured and Natsu grinned back.

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Last influx of Chapter Spam for today- enjoy! ^^