Hidden Scars: A Fairy Tail Fic

Chapter 49: Price of Forgiveness

Laxus's POV

I had made my way through a fair amount of deserts during my year of exile from Fairy Tail, so the oppressive Prekt sun didn't bother me too much. I felt bad for Gray, who had shed every layer of clothing he could manage while still appearing at least somewhat modest, but I admired that he still managed to remain alert and attentive throughout the whole trial.

The trial had been one of the most bizarre things I had ever experienced. The self-control of the people to not speak at all during the entire thing had been eerie in a way and had made it impossible to tune out all of the atrocious stories the princesses were telling. As the sun slowly made its way across the sky, marking the hours that were going by, I had found my eyes constantly moving back to Phaedra's clearly exhausted body. I had to admit, it was strange how much I had grown to admire and care for this strange woman. Besides that one dance back in the Duke's castle, I hadn't had much of a chance to hold a real conversation with her. But hearing the princesses one by one explain how they had all broken under the strain of the King's power, I couldn't help but feel amazed that Phaedra, at just twelve years old, had never once given up fighting for her freedom.

As I listened to excuse after excuse from the princesses justifying their reasoning for giving into the King, I felt a weird sense of pride as my eyes once again moved over to Phaedra. Her body was riddled with the evidence of the torture and cruelties that the King had put her through, but as it came to be her turn and she walked shakily out of the magical pen and began telling her story, a felt an intense admiration for her. Phaedra was a fighter. She was someone who would never ever give in to evil, even after nearly a decade of being poisoned by a malicious king and forced to become an assassin.

Sounds of people desperately trying to hide their sobs could be heard throughout the entire audience as Phaedra explained what the King had put her through. My eyes never left her as she went through her explanation and I drank in every detail of her. Her shaking legs, her clenched fist that would occasionally thump against her chest when she was getting emotional, her hair that flowed in a tangled sheet around her back, and especially her icy blue eyes that were radiating more sadness than any single human should ever have to experience.

When she was finished, she sank into a prostrating bow towards the gathered people of Prekt and declared her willingness to accept whatever judgment they deemed appropriate. Anger bubbled inside me and I swore to myself that if they were so idiotic to actually sentence her to death, I would destroy the entire nation before they touched a single strand of her hair. Although if the people's reactions were anything to go by, I doubted I would have to go through with that pledge.

I could feel an uncomfortable pressure in my heart as the leader of the trial explained the three choices to the gathered people and they all bowed their heads, scribbling their votes on their cards. My thoughts turned briefly to the princesses that had not made it to the trial as everyone began passing their cards forward. Felina had destroyed herself, Jenizzah, and the King in front of all of us, but there was only one other princess that had lost her life during our battles.

I glanced at Gray and saw that his head was bowed and I let out a small breath through my nose. He hadn't expressed any regret when he found out that he had actually killed the princess who had fought against him... but after listening to the stories and horrors that all of the princesses had described, I was sure that he must be feeling at least slightly guilty for having killed his opponent. Honestly, I wished I had managed to kill Elektriz in my battle. After hearing her unrepentant and almost giddy explanation of how she had gladly followed the King's orders to decimate crops and even entire towns of dissenters, I felt like if there was anyone who deserved to die it was her.

My thoughts soon left that morbid direction though as I found my gaze once more focused on Phaedra. Her normally pale face looked almost translucent, making the dark bags underneath her eyes even more prominent. A large part of me wanted to bust through the weird magical barrier surrounding the princesses, pick up Phaedra, and take her directly to the infirmary to sleep for a week. But I gripped my knees, physically keeping myself squarely in my spot on the hot sand and watched silently as the tribal leaders began sorting through the cards creating piles to organize all of the votes.