Laxus got out of bed and walked out into the bandit camp. He noticed a shirt next to his tent, a black one. Laxus threw it on, it was tight, and slightly ripped, but it was large enough for the six-foot three-man. He walked through the bandit tribe and noticed how they naturally gave him a wide birth, while also keeping an eye on him from a distance.

Good.

They knew who the top dog was clearly.

"Is there anything to eat around this dump?" Laxus wondered out loud. He looked around and saw some bandits eating some bread. His stomach growled, he was hungry.

"Hey! You two! Where'd you get that bread?" Laxus asked. The bandits looked ready to punch somebody before they saw who was talking.

"Uh, just at the rations tent over by the entrance. There's a small lineup." The bandit said nervously. Laxus nodded and walked over, and he saw the line. They were handing out small plates of food. Laxus waited, not one to attack people just waiting for food. He saw how nervous they all were, the server wasn't nervous at all though as he handed Laxus a piece of bread and some scrambled eggs.

"So how are you gonna pay for that bucko?" He asked. Laxus' eyes widened.

"I didn't notice anyone else paying."

"That's because they're tribe members. You're just a guest. You know what they say! Don't bite the hand that feeds GYA!" The server screamed as Laxus sent a lightning bolt just powerful enough to give the man a good zap right up the ass and left him rubbing his ass in pain. Laxus walked through the camp and chowed down on his breakfast, it wasn't nearly as good as he was used to.

'Say what I will about it, but fucking hell, Fairy Tail at least knew how to serve up good food.' Laxus thought. He looked around the camp a bit, his eyes found Vernal for just a moment. She seemed bitter as always. Raven was nowhere in sight either, he wanted to ask the woman some more questions if he was being honest.

He finished his food quickly and threw it out in an empty barrel. Laxus realized he didn't want to live like this for too much longer. He was a traveller, he didn't like staying in one place for very long and the idea of bunking too long with these bandits didn't exactly appeal to him. The only thing keeping him here was a lack of information regarding his exact location and how far he was from any form of civilization.

There was Raven and her powers too, considering how unique they seemed compared to the slight powers of everyone else here. He bet even Gray could go through all these guys minus Raven without even breaking a sweat. Vernal was hardly even a challenge, even with those fire blades of hers.

If these were deadly bandits, how bad could the rest of the world possibly be?

"Laxus!" He heard Raven shout out from her tent. Laxus looked up and acknowledged her with a quick grunt before walking towards her. Anyone in his way quickly stepped aside as he walked up. He walked into the tent and sat down.

"I see you fought with Vernal last night," Raven mentioned as she ate a slice of buttered bread.

"Kids a little good I guess, for someone so powerless," Laxus grunted.

"You know, the girl isn't that young. She's nearly twenty years old."

"Whatever. She's a foot shorter than me, still younger and can't scratch me in a fight, therefore she's a kid." Laxus said.

"Well, how old are you?"

"Twenty three, why?"

"Hm, a bit young I guess."

"What?"

"Don't think about it too much. Now, should we resume our conversation? I believe you were asking who I was and I answered. Now, let's switch the subject, how did you come to acquire your magic?" Raven asked.

"...that's..complicated...especially since it can't be replicated," Laxus spoke slowly, knowing that any normal explanation would fly right over Raven's head. He would have to explain Dragons and dragon slayers, and then that would eventually lead to the whole being from another world part.

"How so?"

"...my father gave it to me before leaving. In the form of what he called a lacrima, some type of crystal imbued with a power that dissolves into the body. He shoved it into my eye. I've never seen another one." Laxus said, leaving out just enough to make it believable. Raven hummed and finished off her bread.

"You claimed there were others like you. What of them? Yours makes an inkling of sense except for one part if you've never seen another lacrima then how can the rest of your guild utilize magic?" Raven asked. Shit, she got him there. He had admitted to that as well, so he had to come up with something quickly.

"I've never seen a lacrima as heavily imbued as mine is what I meant. It was special, the others had lacrima but they were never as powerful, or dangerous. I think most lacrima were considered too deadly and most of them if not all were destroyed...mine nearly killed me." Laxus spoke slowly, making sure to make the lie as believable as he could. No one else in Fairy Tail had utilized a lacrima, but she didn't have to know that.

They kept on talking throughout the day. Laxus learned a lot more than Raven did really. Since Raven saw no reason to hide much. Laxus had a far greater reason to hide certain details so she wouldn't grow too suspicious and think he was crazy.

"Master, I greatly apologize for what I did to your grandson, but I do not believe it was the wrong thing to do," Freed said while bowing. Makarov was in his bed, recovering from a severe illness that had struck while Laxus had opened up the battle of Fairy Tail before the unthinkable happened thanks to Freed, Laxus had disappeared and no one knew where he went. Not even Freed himself.

"I understand that Laxus became unhinged, I've had the unfortunate experience of dealing with unstable family members before Freed. I exiled Laxus' father when he was young, but this is taking it too far Freed! The Fairy Law didn't work, and magic never lies! He saw us like family, and you might've sent him to the bottom of the sea!" Makarov cried out.

"Master please, your heart." Mirajane pleaded. Master looked up at her with tired, worried and strained eyes before letting out a deep sigh. Freed however panicked at the thought, had he sent Laxus to the bottom of the ocean? Had he sent Laxus to somewhere where he would instantly die? The answer lied in the nature of the spell.

"Master, with your permission. I would like to investigate the nature of my spell further, to help locate Laxus. I learned how to use it, and do have a general understanding of what it is capable of but I do not know every intricacy of it. Please, allow me to repent for my mistake." Freed pleaded, his face to the floor, bowing before Makarov. The master let out a heavy sigh.

"This is grounds for expulsion Freed. However, so long as you work to correct your error, I see no reason to punish you for protecting the safety of the guild from Laxus. However, I forbid you from using that spell on any fellow guildmates, understand?" Makarov ordered. Freed nodded.

"Yes master, consider it done," Freed said before standing up again. It was hard to believe that he had done that to the man he looked up to, to the man he once considered his only real friend in this world. His eyes had been opened up to the truth just recently.

Laxus didn't care. Or at least, didn't seem to.

Freed thought Laxus and the Thunder legion were the best of friends, a team and a form of family.

But now he saw that Laxus was just using them for his gain. Laxus had threatened him with a blast of lightning during the fight. He didn't show concern over Evergreen and Bickslow getting hurt, just concern over the fact that his plan was falling into shambles. Mirajane had helped Freed open his eyes.

Fairy Tail cared for them.

Laxus didn't.

The only thing that caused doubt in his mind was Fairy Law.

À spell that targeted all that the user saw as their enemy.

He tried to use it on all of Magnolia.

It hadn't affected a single person.

Yet even after that, Laxus hadn't stopped. He was going to continue fighting, and Freed wouldn't let him kill someone for his selfish gain.

That split decision was coming back to bite him now. That spell was used for life and death scenarios when the caster needed an out. There was a reason it was forbidden magic because now he couldn't utilize his magic for a whole month. He understood it transported people to places where they couldn't hurt the caster anymore.

He didn't know what happened to the person the spell was cast onto. That was the issue. His respect for Laxus had greatly declined since the end of the battle, but he didn't want to kill Laxus. Despite Laxus' true nature being revealed, Laxus didn't truly want to kill anyone either deep down. So what would justify Freed killing Laxus for that?

Exile was one thing

Execution was another

He would find a way to bring Laxus back

I've neglected this story a bit, and I know this is a short chapter, but trust me, there will be more updates in the future.

Only to make sure he was alive, and nothing more.