The Shackled Rune

Chapter 3: Runes and Rules

Crap. This isn't what we need right now, Lucy thought as she looked wide-eyed at their guildmates. She grasped Freed's hand and whispered, "Come on, let's go talk to Master." Before they started walking she pulled her bangs in front of her left eye, wanting to avoid as many questions as she could. She knew that they would be bombarded with questions about their relationship, and most likely about Lucy's facial injury—well, what little of it was visible with her hair the way it was—and she didn't also want questions about her eye changing.

Freed was tense. He kept his face an impartial mask as they slowly started walking inside, but as they drew closer to the entrance and stepped into the hall, his heart started to pound in his chest. He did his best to control his breathing when he saw how many people were staring at Lucy and him.

"LUCE! Where have you been? Let's go on a mission!" Natsu shouted, running towards his blonde friend. He hadn't seen her in a long time, just barely catching glimpses of her when they happened to be in the guild together.

Lucy's eyes widened as Natsu ran at her. His excitement seemed to set off a chain reaction in the guild, everyone crowding around them to ask the questions that they wanted answered.

"Freed, where have you been?"

"What's with the kiss?"

"Are you together now?"

"SO MANY BABIES!"

Lucy felt Freed tense up, and she looked around for the Raijinshuu hoping that they would help her get Freed upstairs before she realized they had already gone upstairs. Lucy smiled at her friends, and said, "Freed and I need to go talk to Master. I'll see you guys in a little bit, okay?" Please let them just go.

He was panicking. He knew that his mask had slipped. No, that was an understatement, it had shattered as their guildmates surrounded them. Freed felt like he couldn't breathe, and he started shaking. He flinched when he felt someone clap their hand on his shoulder; although a part of him knew it was congratulatory, the rest of him felt as if he was going to be attacked. "Lucy… Please make them go," he whispered to her urgently. It seemed as though he was coming apart, and he didn't want to be surrounded by people any longer.

Lucy turned quickly to look at Freed when she heard him. He was panicking. Shit! He can't be around crowds?! She wished she had thought of it sooner. Lucy hated being alone, but Freed preferred his solitude. When she had gone through her own torture, she had wanted people by her side to comfort her. Freed on the other hand probably wanted to be left alone, or with the few people he was comfortable around. Wanting solitude wasn't enough of an explanation for the frightened look in his eyes or the tears that were welling up. No, it had to be something more. Lucy's eyes widened when she realized what was wrong. Freed had never told her what had happened to him the other two weeks that he was in captivity. He could have been subjected to any number of horrors, and who knows what else. Clearly, everyone surrounding them wasn't helping him, and she needed to act fast. "Everyone, please. Just back up!"

No one listened. They crowded closer.

Natsu started to get aggravated as he was pushed aside by his other guildmates. He wanted to see Lucy. He had something important to tell her, and he was hoping they could go on a mission so he could tell her in peace.

Freed flinched again, reality slowly blending with his imagination and the torture he'd endured during the first week of his imprisonment.

~~..~~

He was cold. Shackled to a wall in a dark damp cell just off of a large room, with his feet barely touching the floor. He could hear voices nearby and when he lifted his head, he was quickly struck with a whip again. His voice hardly worked after screaming so much before passing out the last time, so his pained cry left him as a rasp of air.