Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this story ^^ My next week is going to be super busy, I don't know if I can update at all so I decided to update now. Thank you for all the comments and votes!
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Freed shook his head and gritted his teeth. His mind was getting hazy. That was not a good thing, but snapping out of it felt really hard and he wasn't anymore sure what was happening. It was like his mind was half asleep already and he just couldn't remember what was happening.
Humphrey smiled looking at the large dome above them that started flickering. But it didn't fade and he frowned, looking at the green haired mage who was struggling.
"Why are you fighting?" he purred touching Freed's face, who yanked his head away. "Usually this spell works even for the strongest mages..." he muttered.
Freed panted slightly as he kept fighting against the spell and he felt sweat. He couldn't give up. He had a mission, even though he wasn't anymore sure what it was, but he knew he couldn't just give up and let himself fall asleep or whatever would happen.
Humphrey hummed curiously letting his stare wander around Freed's body more. This man really was beautiful. He was impressed how much he was fighting against the charm spell he was using, but it was actually just more thrilling.
"Just forget everything and let me take care of you", he whispered in Freed's ear. "We will be happy together. Hm?"
His green eyes noticed something in Freed's neck and he pulled away the collar of his coat. There was a mark and lightning scars or similar. It was slightly glowing. Could that be the reason why this man didn't just fall for his spell like many others had? It sure was a pain in the ass.
Humphrey pulled his hand pack when a small spark emitted from the mark. So this man was marked by some kind of a slayer? That was the only explanation he could come up with. It was such an annoyance, but also it made this more interesting. It would be even more of a sweet victory when he would finally conquer this man even though he had a mark of a slayer.
The black haired mage smirked and took something from his pocket.
"I'm so happy I decided to take this with me", he hummed pulling out a leather collar. "With magic sealing stones, I wonder if even that mark will protect you", he purred.
Freed panted heavily as his vision was starting to get black. He knew something bad was happening, but he couldn't move at all as gentle hands brushed away his hair and he felt thick leather around his neck.
"Don't you fucking dare, you scumbag!" they suddenly heard a scream.
Freed blinked when with a loud thud Humphrey jolted and dropped the collar on the ground. In the next second he collapsed himself, curling up into a tiny trembling ball. Freed looked at the whining man and then Evergreen, his mind starting to finally slowly get back on its right track. If he hadn't been still so confused at the moment, he had definitely felt cold shivers because of what Ever did.
"Be really grateful I only crushed your jewels and didn't cut them off", Evergreen snarled her brown hair all messy and her outfit had been burned here and there. "No one does something like that to my brother as long as I live! And where the hell is Laxus when someone is trying to collar and steal his man?!" she yelled angrily looking around.
"You... Bitch..." Humphrey wheezed trying to gather himself.
"Hm? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you", Ever said. "Did you say bitch? Yeah, I know I can be one in a situations like this. And I can get even worse if you try anything funny again", she smirked deviously.
"What's happening here?" Freed asked rubbing his face.
"Don't let strangers get so close to you like that, you moron!" Ever scolded hitting Freed's head with her fan. "You almost gave me a heart attack! What if he would have tried to kill you?!"
"I'm sorry", Freed said with a small chuckle and that hit was really helping him to get rid of the last bits of the charm spell. The dome that had been flickering was strong again when he could concentrate.
They looked at Humphrey who managed to get up, though obviously in pain.
"Unforgivable", he grunted taking his top hat that had dropped on the ground. "Well, some of the blame goes for me, I didn't think there were others than him around anymore."
"I won't let you touch Freed", Ever frowned. "And because I'm still not at least a total bitch I even give you a little tip: Do not touch Freed if you value your life. There's a certain Thunder God in this town who won't hesitate to rip you apart if you hurt him."
"Thunder God...?" Humphrey asked narrowing his eyes. Was the one who had marked this rune mage some kind of a god slayer?
"But since it seems Laxus is busy right now, I'll be the one to kick your ass", Ever said moving her hands. "Fairy swarm!"
At the northern part of the town Laxus and Bickslow looked around but unlike they suspected, there wasn't much people around. It seemed like almost everyone had already left and that was good.
Suddenly Laxus stopped and Bickslow crashed right against him.
"What the hell, baby?" he asked annoyed. "Did you see something?"
Laxus wasn't sure what the feeling was. It was... Strange. It was like his senses were screaming to go find Freed, but then there was something that almost like soothed those instincts and assured there was nothing wrong. It definitely wasn't anything good.
"Someone must have attacked Freed and Ever", he growled.
"Really? Don't worry, baby. I'm sure they will be fine. But if you really start to worry, you can go check the situation", Bickslow said.
"Would you really be okay just by yourself?" Laxus asked.
"Sure, I've got my babies", Bickslow grinned looking at the Tiki dolls.
"We're good!" they giggled.
Laxus nodded, but then the ground shook under their feet and something burst out right through the street stones, crushing and throwing them all around. Low growling filled the air as they lifted their gazes and there were some kind of a golem, made out of moss and stones right in front of them.
"Holy shit!" Bickslow yelled surprised. That thing was as big as the buildings near them!
"Yikes!" 'babies' shouted.
"There's at least two enemies then", Laxus frowned.
They quickly dodged when one of the large arms smashed the ground, moving to crush down one of the houses just like that with one powerful hit. Laxus grunted and let out his lightning to hit that arm in pieces, as Bickslow used his Tiki dolls to hit the monster's head.
It didn't even slow down the golem, when the moss just grew right back and entrapped more rocks inside it to give it more power and weight.
"We have to find the one who's making that thing walk around", Laxus said. It seemed like that monster didn't really care about them, it just mindlessly moved to destroy more buildings of the town.
Not far from them they heard more crushing and another loud voice just like the first one.
"And there's more of them", Bickslow tisked. "That's gonna be pain in the ass."
Laxus nodded but then he suddenly went pale. There was a horrible empty feeling inside him. His whole body was almost trembling and his eyes widened as he looked at the dome above them.
It wasn't there.
"Oh no..." Bickslow stuttered as he noticed that too. He looked at Laxus who looked like paralyzed and scared, just standing there and staring at the direction where Freed were. "Laxus! Go, go! There might be something seriously wrong!" the seith mage quickly said and that seemed to snap Laxus out of his paralyze. "I'll handle these things, just go see what's wrong!"
Humphrey panted but he was smiling widely. His outfit was ruined and his top hat was crushed, but he had accomplished what he had decided. Evergreen was out and when she wasn't here to cover Freed's back, he had managed to surprise him while he was trying to keep his spells on. With quick fingers he had snapped the collar on it's place around this beautiful man's neck and with that there was no magic anymore.
But his sweet prey was still fighting. Standing there, his sword pointing at Humphrey and not giving in. But he knew that when suddenly getting cuffed with magic sealing stones like that, Freed must feel terribly tired and unsteady. Humphrey was seriously impressed how this man still chose to stand against him, even if it was plain clear who was the winner here. He was so stubborn it was hilarious.
"I have always liked those with great amount of pride", he smirked, as turquoise eyes stared at him with icy cold glare. "It's always then more thrilling when I finally get to crush that pride and make people fully surrender to me. Those who give up right away are not fun at all. I knew I fell for the right person."
"You are taking us way too lightly", Freed growled and he was annoyed. He was ashamed of this situation, how he had let things slip at this state! Evergreen was hurt, the fire could again spread around and if that man wanted, he could keep shooting down those meteors until there was nothing left.
He shook his head. No, he shouldn't think like that. He had made a mistake, but it wouldn't mean that everything was lost. Erza was still leading all the others here and they might appear at any minute now. Laxus and Bickslow were here also. Just because he couldn't do his best, there were still a whole lot of strong wizards who would save what was left of this town.
Humphrey chuckled straightening his scarf and brushed his hair back in order.
"Well, I'm satisfied with the situation as it is right now", he said. "I might not be able to take you with me right now, but I will return to you once again", he hummed with a smile and Freed frowned. "We are destined to stay together."
"My destiny is what I decide it to be", Freed said. "No matter what tricks you use, my destiny is to always stand beside Laxus Dreyar, our Master of Fairy Tail and the love of my life!"
"What a loyal man you are", Humphrey chuckled.
Freed took a tighter hold of his sword and Humphrey prepared for the attack, ready to counter whatever he would try to do. That was when Freed stopped as he felt the familiar tingling in the air. Humphrey noticed that too and his eyes widened slightly as he realized someone else was about to enter in their battlefield.
Someone far more powerful than these two.
Lightning struck down with loud thunder that filled their ears. Freed opened his eyes when the light faded finally and he felt a presence of the lightning dragon slayer who stood now right behind him. Strong arms wrapped around him immediately.
Humphrey had fallen down and was collecting himself from the middle of the pile of rubbish. He quickly looked at his new opponent and he immediately felt cold shivers as those burning orange eyes glared at him. The air around them was crackling because of all the electricity. His legs trembled and he felt cold sweat.
This... This was the power of the Thunder God from Fairy Tail.
Laxus looked at Freed who smiled with relief. He noticed the collar that was on the rune mage's neck and his eyes widened.
"What the...?" he snarled looking at Humphrey who flinched because of that anger filled stare. "Who the hell do you think you are, collaring my mate like some fucking dog?" Laxus growled with horrifyingly low voice.
"Well, I think my time here is up", the black haired mage said quickly jumping back on his feet.
"You're dead!" Laxus roared furiously, unleashing his lightning.
Freed didn't see much, only that just before Laxus' lightning reached Humphrey, their opponent had turned into a small bright ball of light and as the electricity hit the ground, it was already flying up in the air like a shooting star.
Laxus snarled annoyed.
"That fucking bastard", he growled and he would have gone after Humphrey if Freed didn't grab his arm.
"Laxus, calm down", the green haired mage said quickly. "Remember what happens if you won't keep your calm!" he reminded.
The lightning dragon slayer gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, doing his very best so he could soothe his bouncing anger. He snapped his glare to the collar on Freed's neck, almost startling his mate.
"What the fuck is with that collar?" he grunted, touching the leather but he felt the power of the magic sealing stones immediately. "I didn't know there were collars like that."
"It's alright, I'm sure we can get it off", Freed reassured. "This is not our biggest problem right now. We have to help Ever first", he said.
"What?" Laxus asked.
"She's hurt, we have to take her out of here."
"You don't look doing well yourself", Laxus grumbled and he saw how Freed was almost ready to collapse.
"It's because the collar, but I will be fine", Freed smiled. "Where's Bickslow?" he noticed.
"He's at the northern part of the town, there are some huge moss golems or something like that rampaging around."
"You should go back and help him."
"No", Laxus refused stubbornly. "I'm gonna first take you and Ever out of here. Bickslow has his own little army, some fucking flower monsters won't beat him down easily."
Freed sighed and nodded. He knew it was pointless right now to try and convince Laxus to go back.
"Then we must be quick and hope that Erza and others arrive here as soon as possible", he said and they went to find Evergreen.