A/N: Alright, it's me again, Silver Uranium. Ah, it's been three months since I last put something up on FF dot net, and in all that time I've been busy (with mountains and mountains of schoolwork). Anyway, I've got a new chapter up now, so there. I'm still alive. Now I must give you fair warning, since as this story progresses there will be certain things which may not be to your liking. So I say to you, Turn back while you still can.

Lasciate ogne ragione, voi ch'intrate.

That being done with, I would like to extend many thanks in a dozen languages to Phil-0, couch potato, and Marshmallow Ninja, the only people so far to have reviewed this story. 謝謝! 多謝! ありがとう! Grazie! Gracias! Merci! Gratias tibi! Salamat po! תודה! Danke! Ευχαριστώ! شكرا! Banzai to you, Phil-0-san, couch potato-chan, and Marshmallow Ninja-san!

Warning: This chapter contains trespassing, perverts, card-reading, ill omens, and the like. Lasciate ogne ragione, voi ch'intrate.

DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima-sama. Vocaloid belongs to Yamaha Corp.

*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α*AgU~α

Missing Pages

"You can't hide secrets - and repressed emotions - forever..."

Chapter 1: Ill Omens

It was yet another day like any other in Magnolia, and a certain blond lady was thoroughly worn out. Yes indeed, Lucy Heartfilia, resident blond beauty of Fairy Tail, had been so busy throughout the day, what with the groceries and thinking up ways to pay for rent and looking for jobs to pay off said rent and the novel-in-progress-that-only-Levy-gets-to-read-first, that she was, for want of flashier words, pooped. Which was why she was looking forward to reaching her apartment.

"Aaahhh, finally some rest," she said as she walked into her apartment - only to find a certain dark-haired guy wearing only black boxers lying in her bed. "Hey Lucy, what's up?" Gray Fullbuster said, as if it was perfectly alright for him to be there in her apartment almost totally nude. Which, though almost a regular occurrence, was still wrong.

"TRESPASSING PERVERT!" Lucy yelled, slamming her foot down on Gray's face with great force. "Do you have ANY idea how RUDE it is to be NAKED in somebody else's HOUSE?"

"All right, first of all," Gray said, rubbing his sore cheek, "I was already like this when I got here-" ("That's not an excuse..." Lucy grumbled) "...and second, I just came here to escape the noise of the guild. Although it is less noisy than usual nowadays, what with that flamehead suddenly leaving for no apparent reason...but I still have that ame-onna to worry about-"

"Wait," Lucy said suddenly, shutting Gray's mouth and cutting off his long rant. "Natsu went somewhere? Without even telling us?"

"Sure looks like it," Gray said, staring out the window at the orange sky. "He left a note, saying it was something personal. Although now that I remember, there was a request on the request board for test subjects for some experiment or something like that. The reward included the location of five of the disappeared dragons. That idiot flamehead..." Gray trailed off, staring into the distance.

Something tells me that request is a trap, Lucy thought worriedly, fear and panic building up inside her. A trap to lure Dragon Slayers like Natsu. What if he doesn't come back? What if he comes back, but completely different? Wait, she thought, trying to calm down, this is so unlike me. Why should I be worrying about Natsu? He's the legendary Salamander, I'm sure he'll be fine. But still...

For a while, neither Lucy nor Gray spoke. Then Gray broke the silence. "Hey Lucy," he said, "can I read your novel?"

"Gray," Lucy said, a vein throbbing on her temple, "for the five hundred twenty-fourth time, you will not be the first person read my novel. That honor is for Levy... And for decency's sake will you put some clothes on?"

"GAH! This always happens!"

None of them knew the madness that was to come. Meanwhile in the guild, Cana Alberona was fortunetelling just for the heck of it. Unfortunately, one card that didn't have a good meaning kept appearing. "Again and again," she muttered, "no matter how I lay them out... What the heck is going on?" She decided to drown her worries in yet more liquor.

That card was XVI, the Tower, which usually signifies calamity and disaster.

~*OWARI*~

A/N: Okay, slightly worse than the previous chapter, I'll admit that. OTL. I blame excessively tight schedules in school for that. I don't get much time to write. Anyways...yeah, foreshadowing in the cards. The Tower card does indeed signify something negative most of the time, although the Death card would have been more dramatic. Then again, the Death card signifies the end of something and the start of another thing. The Tower can also mean sudden change, one of its less negative connotations. Forgive me if my grasp of Tarot is not very good. I'd appreciate it if you could clarify more on the matter. So, that's it, this is Silver Uranium, signing off.

P.S.: Do remember to review, please. I'll return the favor if you do. Grazie e arrivederci!