Five Little Sacrifices

Chapter 88

"We found the traitor", he said and Laxus and Erza almost jumped up from their seats.

"When the hell did that happen?" Laxus asked.

"I had my suspicions so I asked Warren and Mest to help me confirm them", Freed explained. "The important part is that we have found the one who gave all the information to Yuidose."

Laxus instantly glared around but he saw no sign of Theophilius. Freed chuckled.

"It's not Theophilius", he assured. "It's someone we have known for a few years already."

"Huh?" Laxus grunted confused and they all looked at the doors when they were pushed open.

Mest and Warren threw a man on the floor, his long black hair tangled. Ketkel quickly raised his head, looking around in panic as he saw all those angry stares.

"You fucking -" Roscoe snarled and was about to step forward, when Erza stopped him.

"Don't anyone do anything stupid", the red haired mage warned with a stern voice. "No one touches Ketkel or uses magic. He might have caused lots of trouble to us, but we will not hurt him. At least not before we've heard everything", she said a bit ominously and it made Ketkel tremble.

Freed stepped up, looking down at the man.

"I knew something wasn't right", he said. "You were acting a little bit too curious and getting closer. That letter you gave me in the library from Humphrey, you had it with you all along and was just waiting for the perfect moment to give it."

"I never wanted anyone to die", Ketkel assured, his voice high-pitched and he was sweating as mages surrounded him, making it impossible for him to run away. It was like a nightmare!

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Laxus growled. "It's not just Granny. You helped them to destroy Ginkgo."

"And Naava Town", Roscoe frowned. "You walk on these streets every single day. You were born in this town. You can see all the destruction. Hundreds of people have died because of you!" he roared angrily and Bickslow had to grab his shoulder so he wouldn't actually attack Ketkel.

The black haired man started to sob, staying at the floor on his knees.

"I-I know", he stuttered. "It hurts me every day to see all this..."

"Liar, if you actually cared, you wouldn't have done it in the first place", Macao said and others agreed.

"You're just trying to weasel your way out of this mess", Wakaba huffed.

"You will end up in jail and you can't stop it from happening", Elfman growled. "You're not manly at all, you're just one of Yuidose's dogs and responsible of everything just as much as they are."

"No! I... I had no other choice!" Ketkel shouted, looking at them horrified. "I had to do as they told... What he said..."

"Who?" Gray asked narrowing his eyes.

"Humphrey!" Ketkel almost screamed, big tears rolling down his cheeks and his face was full of pain. "I can't... I can't resist him!"

"What?" Roscoe asked and now they all looked more confused than angry.

"I love him! I love him so much it hurts!" Ketkel cried out, hugging himself. "I just... I want to please him, give him anything he wants so maybe... Maybe one day he will be mine."

"Oh shit, he's nuts", Bickslow sighed and face-palmed.

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" his 'babies' hollered while flying around them.

"No", Freed frowned lifting his hand. "He's not crazy, I know what this is."

"A charm spell?" Evergreen asked looking at the rune mage. "Didn't Humphrey try that on you too?"

"Yes", Freed nodded, looking at Ketkel who was almost lying on the floor, sobbing and wiping tears and snot with his sleeve. He was a complete mess and not beautiful to look at, but he did feel sorry for him now that they knew more. "Humphrey has used that spell. Ketkel can't help it, he is madly in love and he would do anything Humphrey asks him to do. And Humphrey is cruelly using him in any way he wants."

"So, what? He's innocent?" Laxus asked.

"Not innocent", Makarov huffed. "But also, he's not just a cold blooded mass murderer."

"I never wanted to hurt anyone!" Ketkel wailed. "I never wanted to betray my town, my people! I just couldn't help it."

They all went silent and exchanged stares. No one really knew what they should do with Ketkel. They were still mad, but how could they stay mad at someone who was doing everything against their own will and couldn't help it?

Finally Erza sighed.

"Right now all we can do is to give him to the guards to take care of", she said. "We have to follow the law. Judges will decide what is his sentence. We can talk more with Ketkel later and find out about Yuidose's plans."

With that, Mest dragged Ketkel outside and the rest of them were left in silence. They scattered and slowly started to chat.

"How did you figure out it was Ketkel?" Laxus asked as they sat down too.

"Just an instinct", Freed shrugged.

"Bullshit, you never follow just your instinct."

"He somehow felt suspicious", Freed explained. "And we had met already once many years ago. He knew about Fairy Tail and he lived in the same town as Madam Roxanne. He could stay close to us and pry information from Roxanne -"

"Hey, Granny wouldn't just blurt everything to him", Roscoe frowned.

"That is not what I mean", Freed assured. He understood that Roxanne was still a very sensitive subject to talk about with Roscoe and Bickslow. They would not tolerate anyone to even suggest that Roxanne might have purposely or by accident done something wrong. "The point is, Ketkel had everything Yuidose needed so he made Humphrey make Ketkel fall in love with him. Of course I couldn't be sure about this before Warren confirmed it."

"He's gonna pay", Bickslow said.

"I'm sure of that", Erza nodded. "Even if they would decide he is not responsible of his actions because of the spell, this will haunt him for the rest of his life. He will never be free."

They all knew it was true. Ketkel would never be able to forget this, was he in jail or not.