Chapter 13: Take care of her

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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Forest-

She was there, right in front of him, running through the forest searching for Lucy. That woman would never reach her, he'd kill her before she ever got close to her.

Zoldeo had everything planned, from the beginning to the end.

He would make Grammi pay for betraying Layla-sama by taking her life. Then he would use his [Take Over] magic on Capricorn, and find out the truth behind the spell that Layla-sama used and why she needed to do it. He had already tried asking his old friend for the truth but told him to trust Layla-sama's decision. He can't leave things like how it is, not when her death hurt so many people. It hurt what he had to do, but he needed to avenge Layla-sama and needed the power to do it.

'Sorry Layla-sama, Lucy-sama. I need to take the Key with me… But I promise I'll make everything right! I hope one day you can forgive me!'

"Die!"

It was that split second when her eyes turned to him in horror as she witnessed her soon-to-be death. That look on her face sent shivers of glee down Zoldeo's spine and a sadistic smile formed his lips.

'This is your end!'

Unfortunately, or fortunately, Zoldeos's plan would never come to fruition.

VRRRRRRRRR!

Green.

That's the last thing he saw when a tiny glowing sphere of green light smashed into his ribs with such a great force that he was sent flying backwards!

Bam!

Crack!

"AAAAARRRGH!!" Horrible pain spread over his chest as a few of his ribs were shattered from the impact. A black shadow flew past his sight, he didn't have time to think about what it was when something or someone grabbed onto his neck in an iron-clad grip.

Zoldeo's eyes widened in shock as he saw the face of his assaulter. It was none other than that giant who's been hanging out with Lucy-sama!

"What were you trying to do?" Broly asked, making sure to limit his strength so as to not accidentally kill the man.

"Cough! Wh-what Cough!" He was wheezing in pain and having a hard time breathing. Just trying to speak made his chest burn like it was on fire. He tried to free himself from the man's grip but couldn't budge a single of his fingers, they were clamped like an iron vice.

"You're that maid boy who's been following Lucy for these last few days."

"M-Maid boy?" Just what idiocy was this guy sprouting! Who's he calling a boy! He's in his damn thirties! "Let me go, you bastard! She needs to pay!"

"No." Broly's eyes narrowed furthermore as he gazed at the would-be killer as he struggled to escape from his hold. The Saiyan part of him, the part which desired nothing but destruction and battle told him to kill this guy. He could sense that this man was in turmoil as he was releasing a strong bloodlust and nearly killed that green-haired lady. While he didn't know who she was, he wasn't about to let a murder happen near his home. But the rational side of him, which he trained for these last few years, told him to consult others first before he decided what to do next.

Those who were the closest to this guy.

"You're coming with me." Without saying another word, Broly flew back to his farm. He made sure to keep an eye on the man he was holding by the neck so that the latter didn't try anything funny to escape.

"You'll pay for this! [Take Over!]" With a crazed laugh, Zoldeo turned into a pure shadow and escaped Broly's hold. Transforming into countless strands of darkness, he slithered over Broly's arm to his head. "You're mine now!"

The Saiyan watched in shock as the man escape his hold by turning into a black shadow, and suddenly lunged at him.

As his shadow travelled further inside Broly's consciousness, the last hope seeing was the man's distraught expression of despair, his last emotions before having his body taken away from him! 'I was planning to have Capricorn, but this Broly is powerful on his own. I may not know of his magic, but it should be strength-related.'

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Yet he only found Broly impassively looking at him, without the slightest hint of fear. Rather, there was a trace of green light glowing in his eyes.

"You aren't the first one who tried this."

Not the first one? Zoldeo was sure that his version of [Take Over] was unique to him alone! It was bordering the realm of forbidden magic for god's sake! There shouldn't be anyone in all of Fiore who possessed his magic.

'He's bluffing!'

Not giving any more thoughts to Broly's words, he continued his possession.

…

Broly didn't think he would need to deal with another case of someone taking over his mind. The memories of the tower were still fresh in his mind, the dark power encroaching his defence and breaking the wall which separates the Great Ape and himself, only for the former to completely take over and cause absolute chaos.

His father had trained him to take hold of his anger, to chain it down with his will. In most cases, this training involved letting a tiny bit of that anger out and going loose on Vampa's monsters; battling them until he tired out.

Second, it involved suppressing his emotions and always staying calm no matter the situation. The way he achieved this was through constant sparing, battles, and training. There was a moment of rest, of letting his guard down, just constant fighting.

But there was one method that Paragus tried once and never used again as he felt that it would be detrimental to his growth. It wasn't a training method the Saiyan used generally, deemed to only weaken them in the process. Or more likely, nobody liked using it.

Meditation.

A simple method that focused on the mind and spirit, instead of the body. At least, that's what Broly remembered his father explaining the subject. Paragus also added that it was a waste of time and wouldn't do him any good in getting stronger.

But ever since that accident, it became his most valued training regiment. He would meditate every morning for hours, focusing on himself and the anger buried deep within himself. Creating a bigger wall to block it, and another wall to block anything from getting in.

"What is going on?" Zoldeo just happened to crash headfirst onto that wall. "What is this!?" He tried forcing himself further inside but couldn't, he couldn't the entrance to his mind at his fingertips but couldn't get a hold of it!

Zoldeo's many attempts at breaking his mental defence only made Broly angrier by the second.

"Get out." He asked calmly, giving the man a chance before he would throw him out forcefully. "Or you will get hurt."

Zoldeo didn't listen and continued to bash into the wall, trying to break and possess him. Each of his attempts getting more and more violent than the last.

"Hn," Broly sneered in anger, his Ki beginning to flare like a bonfire around his body. "You asked for it." With a loud shout, he released his energy and powered up, saturating the surrounding air in green Ki. "Haaaa!" Concentrating all of the energy inside him, he forcefully flooded his body with the oppressive and violent energy; which overwhelmed Zoldeo.

"What is this!?" Soon a crushing feeling came on top of him, like a mountain that fell on his shoulders. His dark shadow tendrils began breaking apart from the exposure and his very existence was being threatened. 'I need to leave!' He tried squirming out.

But it was useless, he was trapped inside!

He started feeling a part of his magic shatter more and more. "You're killing me!" The severity of his situation dawned on him and he began begging for forgiveness. "Forgive me! I-I won't do it again, I'll follow you! Please! Let me go!" The green Ki's weight was becoming increasingly unbearable to Zoldeo, and he knew that there wasn't much time left before he would die! "I'll face Lucy, I won't kill Grammi! Please, just don't kill me!"

Broly continued to gaze at the man for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath, relaxing his muscles and Ki; until it was no longer crushing Zoldeo. "Hn," Broly could say for certain.

He didn't like this guy at all.

He's too whiny.

{Break}

-Broly's farm-

She didn't see the face of her assailant, all she remembered was seeing the shadow of someone thrusting a dagger at her. She thought that she would die there, the scene of leaving her only daughter all alone terrified her.

But the next moment happened like a blur.

Just as the knife was about to pierce her, a green bubble surrounded her with what could only be described as a giant flying in and grabbed her would-be attacker and flew into the sky. She couldn't get to see his face as he disappeared soon after, like a gust of wind.

Everything felt surreal at that time.

She had nearly lost the feeling of her legs from shock and was but a breath away from falling on the ground.

Shaking her head, she put these thoughts to the back of her mind for the moment and continued making her way towards the top of the hill; until she finally made it to flat land.

"A farm?"

Just like Hansel told her, there was indeed a farm and a very shabby-looking wooden shack, which was most likely where Lucy and that other person lived.

"Lucy-chan!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that the girl would be here and answer her call. She thanked the gods when the door opened. A teenage girl with a mop of blonde hair peeked out her head curiously, her hands holding the latest issue of Sorcerer Weekly and as she was looking through the latest S-ranked wizards across all guilds of Fiore.

"Uuuhh…, who are you?" Lucy asked the weird lady, who was panting as if she had just run a marathon. She was taking a day off from training her magic and studying. She was wondering where Broly had run off to so suddenly, as the Saiyan told her that he was keeping his eyes on someone and then vanished. She was curious about who it might have been, maybe another variant of a Gorian roaming the forest or a Vulcan who wandered in. She didn't receive any information from the servants about her father sending another letter or something, so it couldn't be a wizard… probably.

"It's really you! Oh, look how big you've grown!"

"Eh? What do you me–Hey! What are doi–mphf!" Lucy's question was cut short with Grammi embracing the girl and smothering her in her chest.

"I'm glad you're okay! I was so worried about you!" Grammi's emotions were getting out of control. "You look just like Layla-sama!" She was beginning to cry. "I-I'm sorry Lucy-chan, it's all my fault! I should have been there to help Layla-sama! It's all my fault!" Her words became slurred as even Lucy was getting lost in confusion in her blubbering.

But then it all clicked for her.

"Grammi?" She wasn't sure if it was her, Lucy never asked any of the servants before if they knew what Grammi looked like. There were no pictures of her mother and her past students anywhere in the mansion that she remembered seeing. Even Zoldeo was gone when she went to search for him, as he used to be one of her mother's students.

"Yes, it's me… " Grammi let go of her, letting the young girl breathe for once. Lucy honestly felt like she would have suffocated if she had stayed like that for another second in that squishy prison! "I'm sure you don't remember me, the last time we met was when you were a little baby."

"So… you were my mom's student?" She wanted to confirm once again. "And that letter you sent her, about an illness, a spell? Something about Aquarius? Tell me, what happened back then!" She rapidly asked, having the answers she was searching for so close by made her desperate to know the truth.

"Well… Lucy-chan, the details aren't exactly clear to me and even then, Layla-sama made sure we wouldn't look too much into the affair back then. I only know the surface level knowledge and even then… it's not all that clear."

"Please, I really need to know." Lucy wouldn't take a no for an answer. No matter how little she'll get from Grammi, it was still better than nothing.

The greenhead sighed.

"Before you hear the full story, I think it's best that I tell you my side of the story first." Even if Grammi felt like she didn't deserve forgiveness, she still hoped Lucy would forgive her by listening to her side of the story first.

"When I left the Heartfilia Konzen to travel the world, my dream had finally come true. I would finally get to see the world beyond Fiore. At first, I travelled to different kingdoms inside Ishgar, Bosco, Stella, Pergrande, and even the Great Iceberg. I had seen most of what Ishgar had to offer me; so I decided to travel beyond our land and found myself in the empire of Alvarez. It was there I had my daughter, Brandish." Her hands lovingly caressed Lucy's head, as she thought of her daughter "And she is just your age, I brought her here in hopes you two can become friends while hoping to find forgiveness from Layla-sama."

Lucy blushed from her motherly gesture, after 3 years she grew out of her phase of always seeking attention, but it didn't mean that she didn't miss the feeling. Broly would ignore her words and continue to treat her the same way he'd done from the beginning.

Grammi's smile vanished as she was about to get on with the important part of the story. "But because of my decision to leave Ishgar, Layla-sama's letter never reached me on time.."

"What was it about?"

"About Aquarius… about how she needed all of the keys to open the Eclipse Gate." That piqued Lucy's interest.

"Eclipse Gate?"

"Yes, I do not know much on this matter as your mother never told us a lot about it, but basically it is a portal that can connect to different points in time."

"What!" Lucy grew shocked by this revelation. Does such a spell actually exist? And why did her mom have a need for it!? "Did mom ever tell you why she needed to use such a spell?" Her question was met with denial.

"No, Layla-sama was always secretive with her own affairs, not even our contracted Celestial Spirits of that time ever gave us a clue on what her true objective was. They just told us to trust Layla-sama's decision."

"So that's why mom needed Aquarius?" Everything was beginning to make sense. According to the servants, her mom used to be a very active wizard and a powerful one. The illness she contracted literally came out of nowhere with severe side effects that even baffled her father.

"Yes, in order to use that spell, one must have all 12 Golden Keys to activate it. At that time, I received her message too late, but I immediately sent the key to be delivered as soon as possible, hoping that it got to her on time. Yet, when I came back today, I found out that Layla-sama did not get Aquarius on time and used the Eclipse Gate anyway. To substitute for the missing key, she must have paid the price with her life force… thus causing her to die later on." Grammi was crying. "So you see, it is my fault… I am the reason that your mother died!"

This was a lot to take in for Lucy. Everything was becoming clear now, 'But why didn't Aquarius or any of the Celestial Spirits ever mention the Eclipse Gate to me? Did mom tell them to keep it a secret from everyone? If so, then why?' A large mystery was solved but now she had more questions than answers.

"No, you didn't." This time another voice called out and to both Lucy and Grammi's surprise, they found the source to be coming from above them.

"Broly, you're back!" Lucy exclaimed, "With… Zoldeo? Oh my god, what happened to him!? Is he okay!?"

She saw the form of her father's long-time butler ash white and extremely emaciated, like he hadn't eaten anything for the last few weeks! He was coughing up blood and had a large hole in the middle of his shirt, showing off a bruised chest with Broly beside him.

"Zoldeo!?" Even Grammi recognized her fellow disciple who studied under Layla-sama's guidance. "What happened to you?"

"He tried to stab you."

"What?" Grammi was lost, till she remembered the shadow that tried to kill her a few moments ago! "It was you!?" She couldn't believe it, why would he do that? Unless… "It's about Layla-sama, isn't it?"

Anger erupted from his eyes once again, "Of course, it is about her! You betrayed her, you are responsible for her death! I heard everything, and if you hadn't decided to leave for your little adventure; then she would have still been alive!"

Grammi argued back, "I know that this is my fault, and I'll accept that for the rest of my life but I do not regret leaving Ishgar! I wouldn't have my precious Brandish if I hadn't done so!" Yes, she regretted not being there for her mentor and yes she regretted not having sent the key sooner. But Grammi never once questioned her decision of leaving Ishgar.

"Shut up! Cough!" Zoldeo walked towards Grammi, his rage boiling over every second. He was weak, coughing blood every moment and struggling to breathe, but he didn't care, his rage pushing him to move. Broly was about to intervene but Grammi and Lucy as well with a glare stopped him with a glare, not wanting him to get involved right now. "You spout bullshits and lies, it doesn't change the fact that YOU are responsible for her death! And nothing will bring her back!"

He brought his emaciated arms up in the air, ready to strike the woman down. "You don't deserve to be called one of her students!"

"Leave mom alone!" Before he could bring down his fist on Grammi, a girl's voice shouted behind him, when he turned around, for the second time in a day he saw a fish coming his way. "[Command T: Expansion!]"

Brandish' fist grew to be bigger than her head and smashed Zoldeo's face, making him nearly lose consciousness as he fell to the ground.

"Brandish, what are you doing here!? I left you with Hansel for your safety!"

"But this man was about to hurt you, mom!"

"You shouldn't have disobeyed me, young lady! What if you had gotten hurt?"

"But mooom!"

…

As the duo continued to argue, Zoldeo painfully got off the ground. He began to get back up, dragging himself to the green hair duo.

"Zoldeo!"

He was blocked by the familiar figure of Lucy, crossing her hands over her chest with a stern look.

"Lucy-sama…" He didn't know what to say to the girl right now. She had seen him at his worst, what right did he have to face her?

"Zoldeo, please stop this!"

"But Layla-sa–" He was interrupted midway.

"Mom would have never wanted this!" She exploded in anger, once again interrupting him, hot tears ready to spill down her face, "Ever since I was little, one of the few lessons she'd taught me was to never turn my back on family and friends! She told me to love and understand others whose motives we can't understand. So why are you ignoring her words! Why are you betraying her memories!?!"

"You wouldn't understand, Lucy-sama." He stated, looking at the ground, not wanting to see the hurt look on Lucy's face.

"She was my mother! She and the rest of the servants were the only family I had in that house! I felt as much pain as you during her passing, yet you don't see me planning on killing someone!" She burst out crying. "Why don't you understand… Mom treated you both like family. I may not know much about your past but I know her… and seeing you both like this would break her heart."

"..." He didn't have any words to say, knowing everything that Lucy said was true.

"Please… don't do this, don't destroy mom's memories!."

"—!?" That shook Zoldeo to his core, "I would never–" He would never what? Go against her teachings? He was just about to kill Grammi. Love and understand others? He didn't even try to understand Grammi's reason for leaving.

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'What… What have I done…'

"I… I'm sorry Lucy… Grammi… I'm so so sorry…"

He needed to leave this place, as the longer he stayed the more taint he brought along.

"Zoldeo…" Grammi called out to him. He may have tried to kill her, but she couldn't bring herself to hate or despise him, not after everything they had been through. "I forgive you."

"You shouldn't, Grammi." He dragged himself deeper into the forest, giving a last look behind his back he pointed at Broly.

"You… You better take care of her."

"Hn," Broly nodded to him, which seemed to be enough for Zoldeo as he left back to the mansion. He may not like the guy, but he did acknowledge his words.

He would keep her safe from everything, including himself.

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu and Fate are already available on my P@treon—with another fate fic in the workings. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.