Message in a Bottle
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Prologue
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"To the person who finds this… in whatever time that is… Please… I need your help… we need your help."
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The young girl flinched to the sound of battle crashing against the battered walls of a home she tried desperately to cling to. The reflection of flames outside her singed bedroom door danced in her bright sapphire eyes as she tried to keep her tears from reaching the paper she scribbled on. Even though she didn't have a lot of time before the flames would be upon her, she tried to keep her trembling hand as steady as she could, her writing as neat as a ten-year-old girl was capable of.
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"I can't tell you when it happened, I was still too little. But I have to try telling somebody something… It's all… still a blur. One day, mommy and daddy started fighting. Really, really badly… I heard the voice of another woman in the yard, moments before her screams. Daddy was furious… and barely managed to survive mommy's wrath. But he wasn't helpless… He fought back right away and they haven't stopped. My brother took me into our rooms that day and said everything would be ok… I haven't left. But it's been months, almost a year of months, and mommy and daddy are still fighting. Fairy Tail is no more… The use of magic is prohibited by the magic council. If you're caught using it, you will face punishment..."
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She swiped her arm across her face to catch the tears meeting the paper. Whimpering her determination, she peeled her sweat-dampened, white-blonde bangs from her brow and pushed forward.
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"I haven't seen mommy or daddy since that day. The continent is divided… two dark guilds rebel against the magic council, against each other, the dragons and the hunters. I'm sure that's where mommy and daddy are. I asked my brother for help… but when he left, he never came back. Is he still ok? Or does he not miss our friends? Our family? I can't… I can't do this alone…"
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She let out a shrill scream and ducked beneath some rubble as the ceiling of her upper-level bedroom crashed down around her, little white wings sprouting from between her shoulders. She quickly snatched one of her most treasured possessions, but she wasn't in time to extend her dainty reach to the Kho'Misika N'Ahrai as it burst into flames despite her tearful wails of anguish. She caught her breath, clinging to the parchment she scribbled on as she took flight away from a city under siege. There was a tiny murmur of disdain as she observed the smoky ruins from above.
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"Magnolia is destroyed… The streets we used to play in, the guild where we'd meet and surprise Master-Daddy with his favourite cookies, nothing is left. Something has made my parents sick… They loved each other! Loved this city… loved me…"
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The sweet girl cried out again as she was shot to the ground from where she tried desperately to finish her note. She tumbled to the earth, protecting the paper with all her strength as she clutched it to her chest. She sniffled lightly and turned to face where she heard enemies approaching, quickly scrawling her conclusion.
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"If I inherited any of infinity's power from grandpa Ryverika… please… let this note travel through time and find it's way into the hands of friends… family… anyone who can help… Mommy… and daddy…."
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"Hey! Levy! Come get yer kid before she kills me!" Gajeel grumbled impatiently. The impatient iron dragon stomped his foot and tried desperately to shake his giggling seven-year-old daughter from his leg.
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"N'Awe come on, daddy! Let's go for a swim," Lilian giggled out happily. She snickered darkly and chomped onto her father's leg with another mischievous beam, her shaggy ebony bangs bouncing in her face to her father's thrashing.
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"Lesson time, kiddo! Do iron and water sound like they'd go good together?"
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Levy laughed to herself and raised her fingertips from where they had curled around in the stream alongside her. She gently flicked the remaining droplets from small fingertips before sighing her obligation. "You two, honestly," she breathed. She gave Pantherlily's head a reassuring pat to rouse him from his slumber. "Sorry, Lily. Daddy dragon needs rescuing." She smiled softly as the Exceed murmured some gentle words and obediently flopped to one side of the script mage's thigh beneath the tree's shadow. But as she closed her book, a glimmer caught her eye from the break of sunlight in the leaves of the tree towering above them. Her brow furrowed quizzically as she reached out and retrieved it.
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"If this note reaches you… Please tell mommy and daddy that I love them… in case I don't get to see them again in the future… I want them to know it in our pasts when life was still perfect and right…"
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She had just finished stuffing the note in a bottle when her ankle was grabbed from beyond the treeline. She winced with her wounds, banishing the angry scowls from thought as she cast her spell on the bottle. She threw it into the stream with a desperate cry of defiance, tears following it as it sailed.
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"Please…" Her brow creased with heartache as she watched the bottle strike the water's surface, bobbing a moment before it started to float away. "Save us…"
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"Huh? Levy?" Gajeel grabbed his daughter by her collar and peeled her away from his leg, rushing to his wife's side as Levy cried out in surprise. Noticing that playtime was over, Lilian turned to face her mother as her toes met the ground. The two watched as Levy raised her fingertips to her lips the moment she hit her knees, panic swelling beneath both breasts. "Hey, what's the matter, Lev?!"
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"Mommy?" Lilian rushed out uncertainly, slowly trailing her father.
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"What is it? What'd you find?" Gajeel interrogated curiously. He flinched as Levy lifted her trembling fingers to offer him the sketch that was in the bottle in familiar technique. Gajeel's expression immediately paled. "Is this…" His gaze widened in terror as he examined the bloodstained and torn family portrait drawn by his little sister and rank with the scent of Dreyar blood. "What the hell is this?!" He demanded uncertainly.
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Levy tipped her trembling gaze towards Gajeel, tears streaming down her face. "A letter," she breathed out weakly. "From Lyra."