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Remastered Edition: Chapter 1
-=Realization=-
Lucy looked upwards into the night sky as she twirled her celestial keys in her right hand. Tonight, she had to get information from an independent duo of dark mages and sell them to Ghoul Spirit, a dark guild located northwest in Shirotsume Town.
She never enjoyed her association with dark guilds, but it had to be done. It was the only way she was capable of surviving ever since she started. At first, it was a scam when she was younger until Lucy figured it out, and boy did she rain hell on those bastards. Because of them, Lucy wasn't wanted in a legal guild on the account of her record.
Sighing, she ran towards the outskirts of town and stealthily made her way towards the meeting grounds.
"Arya." The cloaked figure called. "I need the book, hurry up!" The masculine voice whispered.
"I know! I know." Arya hissed.
Before anything else could be done, Lucy sprang into action, knocking the two onto the ground.
"Tell me, everything." She glared, adding more pressure onto the man's back with her leg.
"Well, if it isn't Layla Heartfilia. Have you come here to take back the book?"
"How do you know her?"
"Oh? So it's her oh-so-precious child." He chuckled, returning her glare with one of his own as she quit applying force to the man's back.
"Damon, stop." Arya scolded. "Here, you got the book, now go." She handed her the mysterious book, albeit carefully, Lucy had glinting daggers lined along her belt.
Snatching the book from her hands, she narrowed her eyes and intensified her glare towards Damon. "You speak of my mother again, who knows what I'll do to you…"
"I could think of a couple things you can do to me." He waggled his eyebrows, earning him a punch in the face.
"Can it cretin, now you, Arya. What affiliation do you have concerning my mother, Layla?"
"Well~" Arya stood up, grabbed Damon, and ran away.
"God… DAMMIT!" Lucy yelled exasperatedly. No way in hell was she going to run after her, she'll just squeeze some information out of her the next time they cross paths.
Then realization kicked in... what if they don't.
"Damn it ALL!" She kicked nearby stones and sticks, sending them into the puddles beside her.
But what was so special about that book?
Gasping for air, Lucy had awoken with beads of sweat trailing down her skin.
"It's just a dream Lucy. An old memory really." She comforted herself.
Loke had shimmered into Earthland beside her bed. He had sensed his master's distress and came prepared for battle.
"Whoa, princess, what's wrong?" He frantically asked.
"Nothing." Lucy sighed. She had been having these dreams much more often lately. Her past was something she truly disliked bringing up. "Just, my past coming up again…"
The celestial spirit sighed in relief and sadness. He had known of her past by Gemini and his blonde-haired master, no one knows of this except for her spirits and she herself. He felt so guilty and useless for not being capable of protecting her, especially from the mage's self.
He sighed once more before tucking Lucy under the covers of her bedspread. "Hey, you'll figure out a way…" Loke wasn't so sure of his own statement's validity there.
"Mm-hmm."
"Shhh, just sleep."
As Lucy walked down the cobblestone path leading to Fairy Tail, she summoned Plue and pondered about her unforgivable past.
And the guild thought that Gajeel was awful during his Phantom days.
It made her so guilty, what she did to those mages. Especially the innocent ones. To hurt them with an apathetic facial expression when really, she was inwardly crying and cringing. The ways she did them though.
The celestial mage sighed. She needed to clean her slate faster, it was starting to consume her entire being. Every fiber of her body screamed at herself in disgust while everything she ate tasted of that sour tang of despair. It astonished her that she was called The Light of Fairy Tail or Polaris of Fairy Tail. She never truly deserved the nickname, those who call(ed) her Lucifer are correct, because she really did feel like the devil.
When Lucy entered the guild, she put up her bubbly facade once more and sat down on her usual seat at the bar.
"Mira-san! May I get the regular?" The blonde-haired mage asked.
"Extra strawberries or…"
"No, but can you spike the milkshake? I need some alcohol to drink today."
MiraJane was confused and shocked with her request. Lucy was not known to drink much, but apparently, we all have our secrets. Maybe more so than others.
Especially Lucy.
"LUCY! GAJEEL! LAXUS! IN MY OFFICE! NOW." Master Makarov commanded from the second floor's balcony.
The guild went silent after that request. Sure, it was one thing to have Gajeel and Laxus working together on a mission, but to include Lucy. Something important or fishy is going on, and all of them didn't like it one bit, mainly the present members of Team Natsu.
Perplex hit Lucy head-on. Why her? Why not someone else like Bickslow or Fried? She trailed off in her thoughts again as she made her way up the stairs and towards Master's office. Maybe this could help wipe her slate clean? Who knew.
Laxus and Gajeel were just as bewildered as Lucy was, though they noticed the slightest change in the competent mage lately. The buxom blonde had a more depressed looking demeanor as she was lethargic and seemed to space out quite often. Sometimes whenever she left, they were able to smell tears and hear soft sobs from outside the doors. It could've been their imagination, yet it could also be reality as well.
The trio's reverie was cut short when they found themselves right outside of the third Master's office door.
When they entered and sat down, Lucy was the first to speak up, voicing most of the occupants of the room's thoughts. "Why me? Why not someone else?"
"You're best suited for the job, a paperwork lifesaver!" The old man praised with glistening eyes that held stars. "…and I know of your past."
Lucy's eyes widened while the other's wore confused facial expressions. She tried to cover her secret by acting naive. "Yeah, everyone knows."
His eyes narrowed as he challenged this stubborn child of his. "Oh~?" He asked. "So they know of your street name?"
Her eyes widened again while the other's were yet again confused, but this time, Laxus spoke up. "The hell you talkin about Old Man?"
Makarov's eyes held an unidentifiable glint in them when he answered. "I guess they don't know." He paused and looked towards Lucy before continuing. "Nightmare…"
Pantherlily's eyes widened in recognition, and Gajeel noticed. In Edolas, Nightmare was known as the terror that many people tried to avoid as best as they can. Never had Nightmare been caught nor failed an assassination for simply information, but what puzzled him was Lucy's relationship with Nightmare.
"Oi, Lily? Do you know this 'Nightmare' of sorts? I've heard of this person in Phantom Lord, the mage was known to be deadly and never failed to provide." Gajeel asked. Even in his previous guild he was on edge whenever Jose informed him that his 'information puppet' was visiting.
"No, but I do know the Edolas version. In my world, this person was a terror that many people tried to avoid 'it' as long as they can. Never was this 'Nightmare' caught or failed in an assassination for simply information and whoever saw the mage's face, died." Pantherlily shivered at the memory of the figure, he saw the aura this monster provided. Never again will he ever want to see nor experience again. Though he continued, despite his personal benefit was being squashed.
"What mystified me though, was Lucy-san's relationship with this mage."
Laxus was simply in the room analyzing the situation and absorbing the information given. Until he was beheld with the eye-opener.
Lucy's secret.
"No way." The lighting mage whispered, earning him the attention of the room's occupants. "No way in hell are you the 'Maiden of Nightmares'."
'This is it.' Lucy thought. Her identity was revealed. As a response, she lightly nodded her head up and down two times.
"Why hide it? Did you nOT TRUST US?!" Laxus yelled. Over the past month, the two blonde mages had become good friends, the same with Gajeel and her.
"I–" Lucy paused, warm tears were running down her flushed cheeks. Her eyes held a feral glint of anger as she retorted. "You're saying I never trusted you?" She whispered. "That's all I've done! Is trust you guys! DID YOU NOT HEAR PANTHERLILY OR GAJEEL?! THEY SAID PEOPLE FEARED ME! THAT I WAS A MONSTER!" Lucy's pupils had become slits as she continued.
"I KILLED TWO PEOPLE IN MY LIFETIME!"
Laxus was taken aback, he had no right to claim that she never trusted them. But to have killed people? Even he didn't have the guts to do it, nor did he ever want to.
Was this really the true Lucy? The broken, fragile, guilty, prosecuted mage? Or the bubbly blonde? Or maybe even the monster.
"I'M QUALIFIED AS A MURDERER! I WAS NEVER ACCEPTED AND I WAS TRICKED INTO THAT BUSINESS UNTIL I CAME ACROSS FAIRY TAIL! WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND INNOCENT I HAD ALWAYS WANTED A FAMILY!. But I was never given that! I was deceived and manipulated like the trash I am…" Lucy whispered towards the end, her eyes had become normal once more when she simply walked out of the room. That is, without the one last 'F-You' statement.
"… and you want to know who I was manipulated by?" Lucy paused once more. "Ivan. Fucking. Dreyar." She chuckled when she imagined his wide-eyed expression, not only was it Ivan who manipulated her, but it was many others as well. But no way in hell was she going to say that now.
When she walked out of that room, everyone was shell-shocked into oblivion. Most of all though, the Dreyars felt at fault here. Master thought himself to be the one who caused it all by even bringing her secret identity up. Yet it infuriated him on how his own son manipulated her into thinking she was trash and even pinning her into that business.
Laxus thought himself to hold the title of instigator here. He was the one who challenged her trust, and he probably won't get it back. She confided in him, yet he just threw that comfort in her face. Even he had secrets not known by the guild, much less Lucy. Though he accused her of that conviction, that was similar and related to himself as well.
Gajeel just sighed at the whole entire situation, leaving the room in search of his 'Bunny-girl'. When he entered the hallway, he saw the corridor window open with tear droplets staining the window sill. Sighing once more, he made his way out of the guild towards Lucy's house.
As she arrived at her house, Lucy quickly summoned Virgo and asked for her old 'apparel'.
(A/N: Consists of the cover image's outfit but with a half face mask imprinted with a skull having a feral grin.)
She grabbed the book that her mother worked so hard to preserve and made her way out of her apartment by the window. It was time to figure out what was so special about this book, and she knew just the guild to go to.
Ghoul Spirit.
Why did they even want her mother's book? That was the real question.
And she'd be damned if she didn't find the answer to it.
With the item in the celestial realm, safe with Virgo, Lucy made her way to Shirotsume Town on foot. And boy was she ready to rain hell down on those bastards, they won't even know what hit them. Better yet, she'll even use Taurus's axe on them.
Beware. The Maiden of Nightmares' target is chosen, and she's never failed a job before.
Gajeel busted down the door of Lucy's apartment and braced himself for her infamous 'Lucy Kick'. Luckily, yet unfortunately, there was no sign of the blonde-haired mage. Her stuff was here, maybe she was in the bathroom? No, he didn't hear anything coming from anywhere in her apartment. So where was she?
That was when the dragon slayer noticed the open window.
"Bunny-girl?! Bunny?" Gajeel called. Her scent was strong outside of the window, but not in her own apartment. 'I'll find her, just gotta follow her scent.' He thought.
As he set out to find her, he kept a mantra. "Strawberries, vanilla, and chocolate. Strawberries, vanilla, and chocolate…"
Everyone at the guild was dumbstruck, they didn't hear the yelling, but was confused when only Laxus came down with a depressed and angry aura.
"Mira, get me a fire whiskey. Would'ya?"
By this time, Natsu came in. "Oi! Lucy! Let's go on a job!" The guild turned to Laxus, who had just broke the glass after drinking the contents.
"Laxus! Where's Lucy?!" Natsu had noticed the guild's main attraction, and he wanted to see what his relationship was with Lucy about the whole thing.
"I don't know…" The guild was in shambles with the whole entire ordeal, and they still haven't seen Gajeel nor Lucy come down yet. Not even Master.
"Ne Laxus. Weren't you, Gajeel, and Lucy called upstairs? Where are they?" MiraJane asked, and she could see how he tensed at the name of the buxom blonde.
"Like I said," He sighed. "I don't know…"
"But–" Natsu was caught off by Master's titan hand.
"Natsu, leave him be. Lucy and Gajeel left, do NOT pry." The guild had begun murmuring about the situation going on.
"B-But…" Happy stuttered.
"No. Now Laxus, head after her, this is both of our faults." Master trailed off, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. The artificial dragon slayer nodded and grunted in recognition and lightning teleported himself to Lucy's apartment.
The celestial mage stopped right in front of the dark guild's doors and sighed. "Here we go…" Lucy whispered.
A loud bang interrupted the Ghoul Spirit's mages conversations, and when the dust settled, they saw the person they never wanted to see again. Lucy put on her apathetic facade and took long and confident strides towards the male bartender.
She grabbed him by the shirt and glared. "Jared…" She seethed. "Tell me. Why did you want that book?"
The quaking man shrunk back, though this information was confidential, he saw what she did to a couple of men twice her size back then. He did not want to be one of those guys.
"I-it's a d-d-demon b-book. O-originally owned b-b-by a girl n-named Layla." Jared stuttered.
Despite that she was startled and dazed, she held her ground and blockade and threw the bartender into the wall. Lucy turned around and made her way to the closest person, she glared at the woman in front of her as she wrapped her hand around her neck. "Kelly… is this information true?"
Frozen in fear, the mahogany-haired girl nodded frantically while eyeing the daggers on her belt. Lucy noticed this and took one out, and whispered in Kelly's ear. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Just gonna put a show on, okay?" Again, the small girl nodded, but not as robotically. "Quit this guild and join Fairy Tail…" The celestial mage muttered. Kelly never deserved this type of life, she needed family. For example, Fairy Tail.
Lucy secretly placed the weapon in her pocket. She loved Kelly as if she was her little sister, but she needed her reputation to stay strong as she investigates and finds information of her own. Poor child, she was practically forced into a dark guild at a young age as well.
Sighing, the blonde stepped back and put the teen down. She glared at anyone who eyed her as the feared mage exited the building. Once Lucy was out of the guild hall, she ran into the forest and collapsed near a small lake.
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*Remastered Edition is Out!*
This is probably not much better from my previous edition of "Concealed... for now", but I believe this
is more suitable for the title. Don't ya think? Anyways, thanks for reading, favoriting, following,
and/or reviewing this FanFiction. A simple gesture affects my happiness so much, at least
in a good way. Hopefully...
Thanks Again! ~ Light