Heart of a Monster (Fraxus Fantasy AU)

6

"I demand an audience with the king!" Laxus easily pushed through the palace guards.

"Oh, Laxus! You're back! Does that mean the mission was a success? Is that horrid monster finally dead?" The king asked hopefully.

"He's only a monster because you people made him one!"

"Preposterous! I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Yeah right," Laxus scoffed. "That's the reason you just sent me, right? You wanted it done quickly and quietly."

"I don't like your tone, Laxus. You should show respect to your king."

"Ha! Then you should be a king worthy of respect."

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'll let myself out. If you're not gonna give me answers then you're just in my way."

Laxus stormed out of the castle, fuming. His quest wasn't going as smoothly as expected. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure.

"Michael."

The boy jumped and attempted to avoid Laxus' gaze.

"Michael... you were there, right? At the demon castle? Tell me what happened that day." Remembering the anguished look on Freed's face, he grew more desperate. "Please," he added sincerely.

Michael was shocked at the desperation in Laxus' voice. "Well..." he began, "one of the men from the village said he was gathering a mob to take care of a spirit living on the outskirts of the kingdom. Spirits make a lot of people anxious and the king wasn't doing anything about it. So a group of us went to the old castle where the spirit has been seen. I honestly didn't actually expect to see anyone... but the spirit was there with his two friends. The spirit didn't want to fight. I... I think I messed up, Laxus."

"What did you do, Michael?"

"I took the spirit's heart," his voice was trembling and barely audible. He swallowed hard then continued with his story. "I made everything worse. He didn't die. He... changed. He got bigger and scarier and... so much angrier. He even attacked his own friends." Tears started to form in the boy's eyes.

Hearing Freed's story confirmed renewed Laxus' motivation. "Where is his heart?"

"The king told me to bury it. I'm not even supposed to be telling anyone this story. Wait... you're not-"

"Working for the king? I'm supposed to be. But I went to the castle and saw what became of that spirit. He's in pain, Michael. I won't turn you in to the king. I just want to fix this mess. So... where did you bury the heart?"

"I didn't. I couldn't bring myself to just cover up the mess I made and pretend it never happened." Michael disappeared into his home and came back out shortly clutching a wooden box. He looked around nervously, checking for anyone who might be watching, before handing the box to Laxus.

"Thank you, Michael."

Michael nodded. As Laxus was turning to leave, the younger man added, "Please... tell him I'm sorry."

"Will do."