Chapter Text
Rogue knew his life was gonna change when he heard the announcement, but he didn’t think it would mean that his life was over. Sting ran over, waving the paper announcement in his face.
“Did you see this? Our lives are over!”
“You’re being dramatic. We’ll figure something out.”
Sting shook his head.
“You don’t understand. There's nothing to figure out. This is our lives, and they’re taking it away!”
“Calm down. There’s no way this is gonna stick. Magic is too big, and they didn’t even give us a single valid reason for this. The guild masters are probably going to the council right now. We’re going to figure this out. For now though, we should contact some of our friends in other guilds.”
Sting took a long breath.
“Ok, where should we start?”
“We should start by heading to Fairy Tail to see what they’re gonna do about this.”
Sting nodded. It didn’t take them long to reach Fairy Tail since they went as fast as reasonably possible. The inside is in shambles, and everyone was panicking by the time they got there. Gray and Mirajane were trying to calm everyone down, but no one was listening. Levy was running around, trying to get people’s attention. Gajeel was sitting at the bar counter, watching. Natsu, Lucy, and Erza were nowhere to be seen.
“What’s happening?” Rogue asked, sounding surprised.
“Hey, guys,” Gray said, turning towards them.
Before either of them could respond, a chair flew through the air, and smacked Gray in the side of the head. They all watched in muted horror as he hit the ground.
“Dang it,” he grumbled as he got back up.
Rogue sighed in relief.
“Are you ok?” Sting asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just leave them be. They’re freaking out about magic being outlawed. The master took Erza with him to talk to the council.”
“Where’s Natsu?” Sting asked.
“He went on a job with Lucy yesterday. They haven’t come back yet. That’s actually a good thing though since he would have immediately wanted to fight everyone.”
Rogue nodded understandingly.
“I told you they weren’t going to take this lying down.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“What are you two doing here though?”
“We also saw the notice, and came to see how you guys were handling things,” Sting explained.
“Ok, but we should not be your standard of excellence. We tend to be a bit brash and violent,” Mirajane said sheepishly. Sting laughed.
“Well, if you guys don’t need anything, we’ll head out now,” Sting said, sounding enheartened by Fairy Tail’s resistance.
“We’re good. Best of luck to you two,” Gray says with a small smile.
Rogue nodded.
“Best of luck with your mob.”
They walked back out, stopping at a few more guilds on their way back home. It was a few hours since they had left by the time they approached Sabertooth.
“Well, it seems like we should write a speech for you to give to the council,” Rogue said, opening the door to the guild for Sting.
“Yeah, do you think Lector and Frosch are done with their ‘top secret’ project that prevented them from coming with us?” Sting asked as he stepped inside.
“We’ll have to check.”
Yukino ran up to them.
“Guys, we have a huge problem. Cops came by earlier saying they were gonna take all of the dragon slayers into custody. They said that people with that kind of magic can’t just be wandering around free. They said harboring you is a crime! All because of the type of magic you use. You have to get out of here. You have to hide.”
“I’m starting to think that there’s more going on, and that this isn’t just gonna blow over,” Rogue said, turning to Sting.
“Who cares about that?! You have to get your money, and go into hiding right now,” Yukino exclaimed.
“We have to head back to Fairy Tail. They have three dragon slayers there,” Sting said, speaking directly to Rogue.
“Ok, you go empty our bank accounts, then head to our meeting spot outside of town. I’ll head to Fairy Tail before meeting you there.”
“I packed bags for both of you. I’ll get those and grab Frosch and Lector.”
Sting and Rogue exchanged a look as she ran off.
“I know it’s going to be dangerous, but we can’t leave them,” Sting said.
Rogue frowned, opening his mouth to say something, but Yukino ran back up before he could. Rogue took Frosch, biting his lip. He hugged the Exceed tightly before pulling him back to arm’s length.
“Bud, I have to go somewhere for a while, and I can’t take you. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I promise that I’m always thinking of you. Yukino, can you take care of Frosch for me?”
She looked surprised, but nodded.
“Fro wants to go also.”
Rogue sighed.
“I know, but it’s too dangerous. I’m sorry.”
He handed Frosch back to Yukino.
“I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Rogue,” Frosch said sadly.
Rogue turned and walked out of the guild quickly, furiously scrubbing at his eyes. Sting followed him out after a minute.
“Are you sure that you’re making the right decision?”
“Yes, I’m not trying to judge you, but it would be selfish for me to bring Fro. I know that I can’t protect him, or take care of him properly.”
Sting nodded, and they split up. Rogue made his way back to Fairy Tail as quickly as possible, but the uproar he heard when he walked in was even louder than last time. Gray is grabbing his jacket.
“They arrested Gajeel and Wendy. Gray is gonna find Natsu and Lucy. Someone already contacted the master. You should get out of here. We have everything handled,” Mirajane said immediately.
Rogue sighed.
“Too late, I’m sorry.”
Mirajane gave him a sympathetic smile as he left. Sting and Lector were waiting outside of town at their secret hideout from when they were younger. Rogue slipped through the cave entrance into the secret hideout.
“Sting filled me in. What are you guys gonna do?” Lector asked.
“We don’t know yet. I guess we’re gonna fly under the radar until this is cleared up. We can’t do anything to clear it up, so we have to let the others fix this. We just have to stay away until they do. I was too late to save the others, but Gray is gonna try to save Natsu.”
“Alright, what do we do now?” Sting asked, still seeming like he’s in shock a little bit.
“Wait. It shouldn’t be too hard for us to hide out. We’ll check back every once in a while so we’ll know when we’re not going to be arrested on sight.”