Hi guys,
It has been a while. So I've gathered inspiration after watching my siblings play riddles. Kinda weird when inspiration hits you hard in the face, huh? Or is it just me?
I will be releasing the next chapters of my other stories on Friday. I have a lot of things going on at work but I will still find the time to make sure both of these plots sees the end!
Anyway, please continue to read this masterpiece. lol
DISCLAIMER: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail
Natsu Dragneel was considered an exceptionally mastermind when it came to solving crimes and cases when there seemed to be no hope at all at cracking one. All over Magnolia, his name was well renounced in every business. If that doesn't ring a bell, it was his persona that made him unique from other underlings who deemed themselves as so-called 'detectives'. Of course, he would always take the top list of the most reputable individual in the criminal world. One of the things that also sets him apart was his timeline with a case.
He never allowed a case to go unsolved after a week, something that really makes him stand out apart from his persona. Speaking about his persona, he had naturally salmon-colored hair that at first glance, would seem unruly and unkempt. That matter is true. But that is what throws other newbie's off. Not many people knew what the "Natsu Dragneel" looked like. No one had actually paired his name with his face. Of course, except those closest to him. He had dark olive eyes and surprisingly, fangs like dragons, as one of his colleagues expressed.
So of course, this made solving cases easy. A lack of identity meant a lack of presence. This would make blending into the crowd much easier. So yes, he was a man of many things and many achievements.
One of his most distinguished cases was the solving of a case called the Infinity Clock. Along with his team, they had discovered other links to this supposedly singular case. And it was one that he didn't dare to expect, especially professionally speaking from his perspective. Nevertheless, after he submitted his findings to the headquarters, there was a wave of respect after that case. However, Natsu knew better because there was something else he found whilst rummaging through the history of this bizarre case.
The Infinity Clock had a strange twist.
His case was given to him by the coroner. It was wrapped in a thick manila binder with all sorts of documents escaping every crook and corner. He didn't fail to hide his surprise when the weight of the folder seemed almost like a bag of packed alcohol.
"Headquarters weren't sure whether to pass this to you. But you seem promising with most of your breakthroughs including the case with Infinity Clock." Natsu looked down and briefly evaluated the mystery the folder contained.
"How about a brief summary before I open Pandora's Box?" The pinkette requested. Resting the folder on his lap. The coroner nodded.
"This case dates back to X777 on July 7. There had been sightings of the Heartfilia Estate being occupied at the last room on the third floor." A photograph was supplied with the estate sitting hauntingly in its derived state, but a light stood out at the room mentioned.
"It had been searched before. The warrant that was issued dated at least 20 years after the dynasty had fallen. This photograph that was taken, was received last week. Witnesses says that the room where the light comes from belonged to the sole heiress of the Heartiflia." Natsu eyed the photograph.
"But she disappeared after the death of Layla Heartfilia. Age seven. There was no trace." The pink-haired added. This was very unusual. He was eight when the revelation of the Heartfilia Corporation made headlines. And now, it's been 21 years since then.
"That's right. But you see, during that period, the light of that room never failed to turn on. We had sent some personnel to address the problem by scouting the area and securing the perimeter for any pranksters or unidentified civvies but the room always lit up." The old man paused, "However, we did send one of our officers into the room and..." Natsu looked up to the old man who had a pressing expression on his face.
"She didn't come out. When they went inside the room, there wasn't a trace." Natsu leaned back on his chair.
"Wouldn't this be something more of an exorcist problem?" The old man nodded.
"True, but there was something about the estate that prevented them from entering. A small box mind you. And there is one more problem that created such an uproar in the Head Office." Natsu raised an eyebrow as the old man stared directly at him.
"Sir?"
"There was a request written in blood on the mirror. It was your name, Natsu Dragneel."
That happened two weeks ago. Now, Natsu sat in the same room as the photograph told. The team that entered this building with him went missing on the first week. He had called to the office to request for their assistance, but the Coroner had confirmed that he hadn't pulled them out of the mission. To support this, there were even camera's set up outside the estate that acted as an alibi of the team going in and not leaving - in which Natsu noted that the time on the camera was flicking funnily. Ever since then, he dared not enter the room where the light shone but since he was getting desperate for answers, he made a move.
Ultimately, he hulled his equipment out of the door and in the hallway, glared at it one more time before closing the door. He was finally alone with whatever was in there.
The room that the witnesses claimed was fairly large. It was big enough as a large studio. It had its own bathroom, a bed, kitchenette and living room. A small writing desk accompanied with a chair was at the far end of the room, right beside the fire place.
He decided to sit on the floor - at least to pay respect to whoever dwelt in that room.
"I don't know who you are or how you know my name, but I'm here." There was a moment of agonizing silence. Feeling a bit silly for talking to himself, the pink-haired male reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small notebook and a pen.
"You requested for me. And I'm here. You took my team. And yet I'm still here. I think you owe me a conversation or two." Still nothing. Leaning against the wall, the male viewed the room again. It was really old. Of course, no maintenance was evident as far as about twenty years ago. So surely there was-
A scratching sound.
He trained his ears to listen. Forcing his heart to calm down and his breathing to blend into the atmosphere. He swore he heard-
Scratch.
"Where are you?" The scratching sound seemed to be coming from the floorboard. Quickly, he got up and scanned the floorboards for any sign of life. Then, he realized it was coming from beneath where he stood. Immediately, he took a few steps back and readied himself to attack whatever was below. The floorboard moved! With a pounding heart and shaking resolve, the pinkette watched with utter suspense as the floorboard suddenly dipped. Now there was a perfectly squared area of pure darkness.
"Hello?" He tried again.
Scratch.
"I didn't think you'd fall for that one." A voice came from behind him. Upon reflex, the pink haired male jumped away from source, successfully landing on the bed as far as he could. There was a girl sitting where he once stood. About the same age as him. She seemed completely unfazed by his short outburst of shock. Her golden blonde hair was tied into a loose bun, with strands falling to frame her face. She wore a plain yellow strapless dress that ended just above her knees with white ruffles on the hem. Her brown eyes bore straight into his, as if laughing with mirth at him.
But he couldn't see her legs. Despite seated in plain sight in front of him, just after her knees was a clear transparent area where he could see the rest of the floorboards. Suddenly, he felt the feeling in his bottom leg get loose until he slumped on the bed in a frantic mess.
"You're...you...your legs..." His mouth was sputtering all kinds of words to overcome the shock. The girl watched him and laughed at his sudden change of mood.
"If Gray saw you now, he'd be having the time of his life." The girl giggled as she watched him.
"But seriously, who says 'hello'? That is the most stupid thing humans ever say when they enter this estate."
That was when they first met. Sometimes, speaking with the girl had removed all worries and fears in his heart and mind, and somehow, it didn't feel like a job anymore. Doing all this detective stuff seemed like a hobby. But funnily enough, whenever it came for the time to turn the light on, she always made him to sleep outside the room. Something had caught his eyes after looking down at his watch - he took a mental note.
They were walking outside of the Estate, she was showing him the areas where it would hold bountiful parties fit for a king. She strode over and stuck a playful tongue out at him before strutting away proudly.
He didn't understand.
"Come on, I'll show you my favorite tree. This should kick in some memories." The male raised an eyebrow with confusion but still followed after the blonde. Before leaving the front door, she turned around to lock the estate with a set of golden keys, something that raised another eyebrow at this antic.
She led him to the back of the estate, with only a single tree standing tall and proud with its leaves and flowers budding abundantly. Regardless, he still didn't understand what was going on.
"You sent this as a gift after finding out I was sick. Your dad was very unhappy when he discovered that his son had ordered the tree to be uprooted and sent to the Heartfilia residence." The blonde giggled. Running towards him and he wrapped his arms around her so she won't fall.
That's weird. Wasn't his hands supposed to go through him? She squeezed and laughed with utter delight.
He still didn't understand what it meant. Did he have a past life with this girl?
Now it was getting late. She led him over to her room again, unlocking the room with the same set of keys that she used that afternoon. It seemed like they were going to turn the light on. Curiously, he turned to her whilst she fiddled with the switch. That was weird. She usually tells him to wait outside the room. Looking to check his watch, it was nearly time.
"Why do you turn the light on?" She looked at him with an innocent expression plastered on her face. A thoughtful look, he suppose. Before giving him a shy smile.
"So that you would find me." Then she turned the light on. "I needed to get your attention. Somehow. And since I was restricted to this building, I only had this room that would work." Then Natsu realized that there was something on the bed. It was...
"Yup. Thats me. Lucy Heartfilia. Alive and well in the flesh."
"But how? Everything makes no sense!" He said, flicking through the folder that was given to him by the Coroner. It made absolutely no sense to him. There were pages indicating the death of all associated members of the Hearfilia Estate. And what more, this girl on the bed was just his age, healthy and alive. He couldn't stop glancing from the folder to her sleeping face. After the shock, he advanced to the sleeping teen and checked her state. Sure enough, she was alive and well. Her skin was warm when he touched her wrist and the rising and falling of her chest explained that she was alive.
"I don't know. I don't know whether I'm dead or alive or halfway." she replied anxiously, just standing a few distance behind the male who was checking over the body on the bed. Boldly, she took a step forward and looked down on the sleeping counterpart of herself.
"That's why I needed your attention. I heard you were the greatest person. Thats why I needed you." He turned abruptly around to face her.
"What about the blood? Where did that come from? And my team?" She shook her head in response.
"The blood belonged to Michelle. The sargent who entered this room and didn't leave-"
"Where is Michelle? Oh god - did you kill her?" Natsu interrupted her, taking a shaking step back and hitting the dressing table. The girl before him shook her head and sat sadly on the bed.
"Michelle was helping me to reach you. Please know that Michelle and I were good friends before the devastating event occurred. To seek justice, she offered to assist in everyway that she can in order to bring you to me." The blonde girl thumbed the bed sheets before reaching towards a doll that sat idly on the bed. Brown curls and an empty smile and readjusted the doll on the bed.
"In order to preserve her life, I only asked for a bit of her blood to write on the walls outside before sending her away. Michelle was more than willing to see this operation through. Afterwards, she requested to see her mother so I released her from the contract with the Heartfilia Estate." With this, she brought up her set of keys and held it in front of her, dangling the pieces in the dimmed lights of the room.
"What about my team? Where are they?" Natsu watched her carefully. She stood up and made her way over to the pinkette and stood before him.
"No team entered this place. After you all arrived, your boss had called for them to withdraw individually to avoid suspicion if they all withdrew on the first night-"
"Bullshit. He told me that he never issued any command of the sort. And the video-"
"Was taken three years ago. Did you not realize that?" Suddenly, memories of viewing the video was brought fresh to his mind. The flicking of the time. The suspicion. The disappearance. His eyes glanced to the sleeping girl on the bed. Then back to the supposedly girl before him who was waiting anxiously. Still trying to process the information inside his head, he took a deep breath and sighed defeatedly.
"How do I help?"
"Well... do you think it will work?" The blonde asked as she watched him writing the rest of his reports into the notebook. It wasn't much, it was more like updating day by day operations that he did with his work. Right now, he had been planning on how to awaken this Lucy person that only shows when the light is turned on at night. It had been an extra four days since his shocking discovery of this fact. And ever since then, he had been working aimlessly around the clock to figure out the connections with the light and why she only appeared at night.
"I'd like to think we have a chance actually." He replied, finally finishing his report before closing his notebook and the manila binder that lay under his notebook. Checking his watch once again.
"What does that even mean?" She sat on the edge of the bed whilst looking outside. It was almost night. Almost time for them to turn the light on. There was a shuffling of paper and bags being zipped. Curiously, she turned her head to watch him put away his things inside the bag before watching as he grabbed his bags and place them outside the room.
"I don't know. We just have to test all our theories." He replied, locking the door and running a tired hand through his pink locks. He was almost out of food and there was only enough left to last another week. He would need to finish this quickly before he starved of starvation.
"So what are we doing tonight?" In response, he shrugged his shoulders before walking back to the desk and seating himself down on the wooden chair. He placed an elbow on the desk and leaned his head onto his palm.
"Why do you turn the light on? Is there a specific reason why you turn the light on at a certain time?"
"Not really," The girl replied with a shake of her head. "I can turn the light on at any time during the night. And for its reasons... well, I'm not quite sure. I've never realized why. But my body just moves on its own." Natsu turned his head away and looked at the now-empty bed.
"Do you have any reason why you are outside your body?" The girl shook her head again,
"No clue."
Silence protruded the room and Natsu watched as the girl just sat there looking outside. A few minutes had passed until a singular thought passed his mind.
"You mentioned the first time we met, that 'Gray' would have the time of his life if he saw me. Who is he?" A couple of seconds passed and she turned slowly to face him.
"It really serves no purpose if I explained it to you because it holds no significant value. Well, to you and to this operation. I fail to see how that would help the current situation at hand."
"Still, I need to know who and what is associated with you." There was a deep breath of empty air.
"Gray Fullbuster was your second in command. A man as cold as ice yet deep inside, his heart was like lukewarm water. Both of you would always cause a ruckus wherever. And were both entire idiots with no sense of shame." She replied with a little chuckle at the end. Standing up, she moved towards the switch and fumbled with the light.
"He died trying to protect me. But ever since, I have not known of whether he truly died or is just like me. Wandering." And with that, she switched the light on. Natsu glanced down at his watch. Then, he took a step forward to reach towards the doll that sat on the bed, turning the doll over in his hands.
"Can I just take a look?" The blonde gave a bored look before shrugging her shoulders.
"Sure."
"Okay. You seem to talk as if we both knew each other. I'm sorry but I've never seen you before." Last night, nothing had changed. It was almost the same. The light turned on and the figure appeared in bed. Natsu watched until the morning sunlight crept through the mountains, until the figure slowly disappeared like smoke from a teacup. That was one theory down.
"We did. Apparently, so I think. I'm not sure anymore." She replied, twirling the flower that she had plucked from earlier that day. They had done nothing the entire afternoon except laze around in the sun and soaking up its warm embrace. The cool breeze of the early evenings blew softly. She held it up towards the light before putting it down. "I'm not confident anymore about all this."
"We will figure something out." He said, taking a step towards the blonde that sat on the garden chair. Hastily, she gathered her yellow dress and made her way towards where he stood at the entrance. Halfway, she tripped on a loose rock and squealed with surprise. Natsu darted towards her and helped picking her off the ground and cleaning the soil from her dress. Trying to fight the chuckle that crawled to his throat. He looked at her with mirth and amusement in his eyes. She looked cute with that face.
"That looked like it hurt." Natsu joked, "I didn't take you as the clumsy type." Seeing her flinch with main as the loose rock has managed to tear a certain part of her dress and cause a nasty swelling on her ankle. The blonde turned to glare at him.
"Shut up." And with a light dust on her cheeks, she accepted his assist and finally gained confidence to walk back to the estate. Even if it meant painfully hurting her foot instead of her pride. But she will not allow this man to see that.
He checked his watch.
"We should probably head over to your room for your nightly grand entrance." He spoke, following closely behind her.
"Wow. Wonder what really is going on, huh?" The blonde spoke whilst her companion was sitting at the desk writing in his little notebook. He hadn't said a single word. They spent the afternoon doing nothing again. Except for him. After the ordeal last night, he immediately went outside, grabbed his notebook and sat at the desk writing whatever came to mind, ignoring the pretty girl that was on the bed.
The blonde sat with boredom on the bed. It seemed as if the long day couldn't go by faster. Suddenly, she went still for a few seconds before sitting up slowly and turning to face the pinkette writing on her desk.
"Do you believe in love?" The scratching sound of his pen on the page went still. He looked at her with a calculating gaze. In response, the blonde girl felt her cheeks heating up with embarrassment.
"Not really. I just don't think much about it." And he went back to writing.
"D-do you have someone that you love?"
There was a pregnant pause before he opened his mouth again. "Had would be a more corrective term. But she died a few years back."
"I'm sorry for asking."
"Don't worry too much. I'm over it." Then the silence dropped again.
Evening rolled over once more and the two found themselves sitting on the floor side by side. Waiting for the night to fall again. He had finished writing in his notebook and made sure to put it away in the bag that laid outside the door. He eyed the room once more and made a glance to the blonde who sat next to him with the same yellow dress. His eyes followed further down to her legs. It had taken him a while to realize that he could see her legs, unlike the first time they met. Noting a change in her legs, he made a mental note in his head before turning straight and closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry for this. I'm just losing a lot of hope so I'm down to what's left." Her voice pierced through his thoughts. Snapping his eyes open, he turned to her,
"Don't be sorry. Hope is all you have now." He replied. It wasn't that he meant to say it in a mean way but it was best to just get things over with. Not even realizing that the more the hours flew, the more he just grew a sense of making sure that he was doing the right thing.
"So, should I do the honors of switching the light?" She asked, and the male shrugged his shoulders in response. Nevertheless, the blonde girl climbed to the wooden post and flicked the switch on. As expected, the body lay on the bed where it had always since he started taking keen observations. He glanced down at his watch once again to double check.
"Have you gathered anything yet? You're going to run out of food soon." She softly spoke, walking towards her counterpart who lay on the bed. The blonde looked down on herself and slowly touched a piece of stranded golden lock that lay on the pillow. Silently, the pinkette observed in silence as the scene unfolded in front of him.
"More or less." He replied, getting up and making his way over to the blonde standing next to her bed. With her body lying on the mattress. Unconsciously, he placed a hand on her shoulder. With the contact, she turned slightly to glance at the pinkette who stared down on the figure lying on the bed.
"Just one more night. And I'll tell you what I found. From that point on, the choice is yours." There was a moment of silence before the blonde turned back to face the front. A tear started spilling down her flushed cheeks and then it turned to a sob. Instinctively, the pinkette turned her around and gathered her in his arms, rubbing soothing circles on her back. He mentally noted how small she was, compared to his large figure. Even then, he thought she was very attractive.
"Will I see you again?" She asked timidly. Immediately, the small ministration on her back stopped abruptly. Her heart pounded with shame at her bold question. He gently removed himself from her and looked her right in the eyes.
"I don't know. But I already promised that I'll help you." Tears began to swell in the corner of her eyes and immediately, she squeezed her eyes shut and offered a big smile.
"This had been fun." He watched as she forced herself to smile through her tears.
"Sitting around all day and all night? Sure." He replied.
He wasn't prepared. After the morning passed, she had grabbed him by the hand and brought him to the place outside where they spent the other afternoon lying about. Her face was flushed with excitement and he could feel the energy emitting from her. After leading him to the same spot where she tripped, the blonde grabbed both of his hands and squeezed it affectionately. However, all the excitement disappeared when she mustered up the courage to speak.
"Before you go. I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me." He nodded slowly at her claim. He was used to this kind of stuff. Especially with how things had turned out for her. And it won't be long till he can go back home instead of sleeping on cold stones.
"And... after all the times we spent here in the estate, I grew to love you."
"..."
"I love you, Natsu Dragneel."
"It's okay if you don't return my feelings. I just want to let you know before we go our separate paths. I just know that we won't see each other anymore so, go hard or go home, right?" He didn't reply as she continued talking.
He still didn't give an answer since she confessed that morning. It just didn't sit right with him. She couldn't be serious, right?
His attention turned to the blonde who had walked away from him and stared up towards the sky.
"I can't remember how long I have been stuck like this. With the same thing happening every night. I didn't know what to do. Until I heard about you. I just knew that you would be able to do something." Silence still remained between the two.
"Say something, idiot." Natsu remained quiet. He already knew why she wanted him to talk. She needed noise to drown out her silent sobs.
He watched as she appeared before him with a smile on her face. Judging from her face, she had furiously wiped away the tears before meeting him again for the last time. Her face was red with vigorous wiping. He sighed before stepping towards her.
"Lucy, this is the last night. I will explain everything to you once the time comes." He slowly spoke. Opening the door and taking the bag that laid outside, he brought his stuff inside the room before locking the door. Zipping open the contents, he revealed the little notebook that he had been noting down since his arrival inside the estate. He took out a small iron box and a milky-coloured orb that glowed.
"And with your feelings... I'm learning love again. If you're gonna be patient with me, then I know that I can love again and perhaps, learn to love you." He continued. It was true. He did find the blonde very attractive, but right now, he wasn't sure if he was ready to open his heart to someone who probably doesn't exist. Regardless, she stared up at him before giving a bright smile.
"Of course." She replied excitedly.
The evening breeze blew once more. Natsu had shifted the writing desk and chair over to the bed and Lucy watched with curiosity as he placed his small notebook, the small iron box and the milky orb on the table. After a slight hesitation, he also reached into his bag and pulled out the thick manila folder before turning to the blonde.
"I guess this is it huh," She said, as he made his way over to her.
"The keys. Do you mind if I use your keys?" This surprised the blonde. Her keys? Slowly, she reached down and plucked the bundle of keys from beside her. It dangled as it dropped inside the palm of the pinkette's hand.
"Just be careful." She said, watching as he placed it beside the iron box.
Finally, the time for the evening rolled and the blonde girl jumped off her seat and made her way to the wooden post. Finger on the switch, she turned her head to look at the pinkette, who nodded. As the light switch on, the body appeared on the bed and the girl made her way over to Natsu, who stood and offered the chair to the blonde.
"So, this is it?" She said, taking a seat. Natsu looked down at her before opening the manila binder. He paused before grabbing his phone and switching to the recording application. Pressing the red button before he began this findings. Before he started, he checked his watch once more before beginning his discussion.
"Lucy Heartfilia. Your history states that the Heartfilia Estate had been run down until X777 on July 7. That same day, Layla Heartfilia had passed away and her daughter, had disappeared without a trace. Correct?" He paused at one sheet of paper before turning the next page. The blonde before him nodded meekly.
"Ever since then, the light for this room never failed to turn on at certain times of the night. Provided that then, the body of Lucy Heartfilia will appear in flesh and alive on the bed. Taking note that even though more than twenty years have passed, the body of Lucy Heartfilia continues to age. Despite only appearing in the evenings."
The blonde seated on the chair frowned. "Hey, you're talking as if I'm not even sitting in front of you."
"But, this is where my theories have unravelled. I had five clues that lead to my hypothesis of the situation. And all five had been confirmed." He paused. Taking a look at the blonde in front of him.
"My first clue: the sunlight. According to Lucy Heartfilia's case, her body does not show the sun sets. According to greek mythology, this situation would be named 'daughters of the evening', where the sun setting can only bring forth the daughter of the stars. Which in this case - Lucy Heartfilia." The blonde watched as he flipped into his notebook.
"The second clue: anything that affects the spiritual body of Lucy Heartfilia, also affects the body. This was brought to my attention when Ms. Heartfilia tripped on a loose rock, during the late afternoon. A swelling and purple bruising on her leg appeared on her physical body. Therefore confirming a link between parallel universes with the physical, mental and spiritual areas of the vessel."
"Vessel? What are you talking about?" But the boy only brought a finger to his lips.
"Third clue. Magic. After the incident with Ms Heartfilia getting hurt, the next day, the swelling and bruising had disappeared. And..." He looked towards the doll lying on the bed, "there is suspicion that soul transfusion may have been used. As there had been no sighting of Sgt. Michelle since entering this room, Ms. Heartfilia had stated that she had 'released Michelle from her contract with the Heartfilia Estate." And that the blood written on the mirror belonged to Michelle. However, after I had asked to look at the doll, I had intently pricked the hands and blood bled out of the doll." He flipped the small notebook. Eyes not leaving the blonde who was shocked at his claims.
"Fourth clue: Keys. In all places that Ms. Heartfilia and I have been wondering, she always carried a set of golden keys. Upon closer inspection, they are the keys to the gates of the Spirit World. Or the celestial world. Knowing this fact, the possibility of magic grows stronger."
"And my last clue. Date and time."
The blonde had a small smile. "Date and time? Now that's something new." The pinkette seemed unfazed by this comment, instead, he grabbed a lock of blonde hair from the bed. His eyes settled on the sleeping figure.
"Ever since I arrived, I was shown a footage of the team and I entering the premises. You mentioned about the video being three years old and that gave me the last and final clue. Every day I spent in the estate, time moves on, life moves on. As usual right? But not in this case. As the sun sets, time stops and life also stops." He glanced at the blonde figure sitting on the chair,
"You see, every time the sun sets, time will always turn back to the year of X777 on July 7, the day of your disappearance and of your mother's death. And the reason why your body physically appears, is because that was the last thing that happened before you disappeared. That explains why you never wake up. You slept during your disappearance."
This is actually a one-shot. The last chapter will be revealed in the next hour. So only two chapters for this oneshot. I hope you enjoyed this piece.
And I will be revealing the hypothesis in the last chapter.
Lots of love,
B7K