Reading/Learning
Day 1
Levy sits, staring at the sheet of paper with a puzzled look. The writing is foreign to her to understand. Making her mind self destruct just trying to search through her mind palace for a translation.
"So, Any Luck?" Lucy asked her friend, while sitting in front of her.
"Sorry Lucy...but, these words are gibberish to me" Levy responds. "where did you get this?"
"Found it in Natsu place" Lucy answered.
"Ooh~ why were you at his place hmm" Levy said with a smirk. "Miss your dragon slayer that much...did you stay the night~"
"N-no!.." Lucy shouts with a huge blush. "I think these letters might lead to saving Natsu"
"Oh" Levy said surprised. "Why do you think so? Did Natsu tell you about these letters"
"i don't think he even knew he had them...they were hiding in a statue Natsu bought…" Lucy tells her. "But, the odd thing is...so letters are written to him"
"Who would write to him and hide their letters in a statue" Levy said, thinking out loud.
"The one who made the statue is named Emilia...I think she might have known Natsu somehow and he too...but not entirely sure" Lucy states. "This whole thing is confusing to me"
"Well, I think the answers lies in whatever is written here.." Levy said, standing from her seat. "Lets head to the library!"
Lucy chuckles at her enthusiasm. She knew that's Levy's favourite place in the world. Where the stories are made and read by many. She could also say it's one of her favourite places too, since she plans to become a novelist one day.
The two arrive at Magnolia's public library. They enter and the first thing they see is the librarian, sitting behind the desk with a book to her face. She has light long brown hair with hazel coloured eyes.
"Excuse me!" Levy spoke to the librarian.
"Yes" she answered back softly.
"Im wondering where are all the books containing translation to different writing could be?" Levy asked.
"Check aisle 5" she answers, returning to her book.
"Thanks" Levy said with a smile, walking past her desk.
Lucy follows Levy, also catching glimpse of what the librarian is reading. "Tragic Romance...thats interesting" Lucy thought, curious what made the librarian choose that book.
During the walk through the library, Lucy notices many people spending time here too. Surprising to her since she didn't know anyone else likes reading. Which makes sense, her circle of friends are people from Fairy tail causing her to feel strangely about it.
"Ouch!" Said a male voice causing Levy and Lucy to stop.
"Did you hear that?" Levy asked Lucy.
"Ya, sounded like someone is hurt" Lucy replies.
Levy walks toward where the sound is coming from. It was on aisle 4. Her eyes widen with shock seeing mountains of books on the floor. Some were spread on the ground slightly opened.
"What a mess" Levy spoke.
"No kidding" Lucy said with a shock expression. "Did someone do this or was this already here?"
Levy's attention gets caught after seeing a mountain of books sway slightly. She slowly walks back to Lucy and grabs her hand.
"L-lucy" Levy stutters.
"Hm?" Lucy responds then looks at what she is staring at. "Oh no"
The pile of books falls over to them.
"Ahhhhh!" Their screams echoes in the library.
"Shhh" The librarian spoke, turning a page in her book.
Lucy pops out of the books, feeling a little dizzy. She shakes her head and remembers about Levy.
"Levy!" Lucy said, moving through the books.
Levy pushes the books away from her face and breathes out.
"Im here" she said weakly, waving her hands in the air.
"Good" Lucy said, relaxed.
"Oh my gosh!..." Said a female voice. "Are you two ok!?"
Levy and Lucy turns their head to a girl with blond hair tied up in a bun. She is wearing jean shorts with a light blue top. She had pair of aqua blue eyes.
"Ya, were fine" Lucy responds.
"Good…" she said, sighing with relief. "Didn't want any trouble"
"Its fine" Levy said getting up. "I'm Levy and this is my best friend Lucy"
"Im Kira, nice to meet you" Kira said with a smile.
"Were you the one reading all these books?" Lucy asked curious.
"Your crazy!...sure I like reading...but.." Kira said, looking at the books on the ground. "This is insane.."
"If you didn't...who Did?" Levy asked.
"Ah...my boy friend" Kira said plainly. "Who died under these piles of books...so sad"
A fake tear slides down her face causing Lucy and Levy to be weirded out. Kira looks at them and laughs.
"Im only joking.." Kira said with a smile.
"Oh really" Levy said with a soft chuckle.
"Ya...only the dead part though" Kira tells her.
"Wow, never knew a guy would read so much" Lucy said thinking of Natsu who she never sees holding a book in his life.
"Me either" Levy said with a smile, thinking of a certain metal eating dragon slayer.
"Well my guy is something different...something he doesn't understands or is interested in..he goes and finds ways to learn as much about it" Kira said crossing her arms.
"Wow, great guy you have there" Levy states.
"Hmm.." Kira said, looking up.
"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.
"Don't think I have the perfect guy now.." Kira said, looking back at the two. "He may be independent...but there are things he can't do...which is why he has me, you could say I'm his perfect girlfriend.
"Oh" Levy and Lucy awed at her confidence.
"Yup.." Kira said, smiling with her hands behind her back. "Sorry to keep you distracted..you two must have came to the library to read, no?"
"Ya, in matter of fact..we will be next to you guys" Levy said.
"Well, i'll leave you two be...we might be staying here the entire night, sadly" Kira said, sighing.
"Us two if we don't find what we're looking for" Levy whispers to Lucy.
"Ha, ha.." Lucy said, chuckling softly at Levy. "Well, see you Kira, come on Levy.."
Lucy grabs Levy by the arm and walks to aisle 5. Kira watches them leave and looks down at the pile of books.
"Oh boy…" Kira said, placing her hand on her forehead. "I'm not going to clean this up"
A hand twitches under the pile of books.
OOO
Four books are placed on the table. Levy sits and pulls out the letter. She places it next to her pile. She ties her hair back and puts on her reading glasses.
"Time for some work" Levy said, slamming a book down and flipping through the pages quickly.
While, Levy does that, Lucy stands there amazed at Levy's research mode. She's like a totally different person when it comes to this. She isn't sure what she can do.
"Hmm" Lucy hums, looking at the titles of the books on the shelves.
She pulls one out and sits down. She opens it and starts reading the first page. Sadly, none of the writing matches the one in the letters. She can tell that since they don't confuse her. She hears Levy closing the fourth book.
"You finish Levy?" Lucy asked.
She doesn't responds and stands from her seat. Lucy is curious what she is going to do. Levy looks straight and turns to the book shelves. She rapidly takes books out creating a pile of books on her table.
"Woah woah! Levy-" Lucy said, seeing the amount of books she collected.
"Shh Lucy...we're in a library.." Levy whispers to her, with a serious expression.
"When did you become the librarian" Lucy whispers, pouting.
Levy continues her search for the translation. Lucy just sits and reads her book, hoping to find something that matches with the letters.
Hours has past and it became close to closing.
"For the people still in the Library, its closing in five minutes" said the librarian through the speakers.
Lucy slowly wakes up from the announcement, with drool sliding from her mouth to the book she slept on. She turns her head to Levy who she can't see anymore from all those books she is behind.
"Levy!" Lucy shouts dashing to her desk.
Once she goes around the books, she sees Levy with bags under her eyes, writing something down on a piece of paper. She drops the pencil along with her head. Lucy eyes widen with a worried expression.
"Levy-" Lucy spoke.
"Sorry Lu.." She responds.
"You didn't-" Lucy said, not wanting to believe she found nothing through all these books.
"I could only translate the first paragraph..to lazy to write some more" Levy said, slowly dozing off.
Lucy smiles hearing the good news. She can tell, Levy gave her best.
"Why don't we go to bed" Lucy said with a smile.
"That sounds nice" Levy said, slowly standing up. "Oh and here"
Levy gives her the paper she was writing on earlier.
"It's the translated paragraph of the letter...I will give you the full copy later" Levy said, yawning.
"Thank you Levy!" Lucy said, hugging her close.
"Anything for you" Levy hugs back with a warm smile. "Now bring me home"
OOO
Lucys opens the door to the apartment and walks straight to her desk. She pulls out the folded paper with the translation of the first paragraph Levy wrote. She stares at it, nervously at what it says.
She didn't know if it was wrong to read it since it isn't addressed to her but if it leads to clearing Natsu's name somehow, she should. These thoughts race in her mind.
"I should grab some water" she said, walking to her kitchen.
Water flows out of her sink into a glass cup which she takes and swallows it in a single gulp. She sits back down and stares at the piece of paper.
Her room is dead silent. It is just her heart beating with anxiety. She breathes in and out slowly, calming her nerves. She reaches for the paper and unfolds it.
"Dear Natsu…" She starts reading. "..I've hidden this letter in the statue I made for you because, I knew one day you would end up breaking it since I know you get easily angered and frustrated...yet somehow, you draw people close..I may not know what your life was like when you met us, but I do know...your past is trapping you…I can see that through your eyes"
Lucy pauses confused on what she read. It feels weird to her like the person writing this to Natsu is talking about a completely different person. She continues what is left.
"...and because of your past I'm writing this letter, since I won't be able to say the things I need to say after our final meeting, I'm going to tell you a secret involving you and..the crimson slayer"
Lucy eyes widen saying the last words leaving her mouth. She stares at the words intensely.
"T-this..doesn't make sense" Lucy spoke in a scared tone.
None of what she read made sense to her. She didn't know what to think. There are so many questions going through her mind. Who was Emilia to Natsu, what were their relationship and how did they meet. More importantly, is this really address to her Natsu and not someone else named Natsu. She needs to know more, she needs to read the whole letter.
OOO
Doors open, Natsu walks in with his hands behind his back. Rune knights are at his sides. Lahar walks in behind Natsu. They have finally arrived at the magic council building.
"Where are you taking me now?" Natsu spoke, looking over his shoulder to Lahar.
"To a temporary cell" Lahar answered with a serious expression.
"Temporary.." Natsu said softly.
"Don't get your hopes up, for the crimes you commented...there is a specific cell made for people who threatens Fiore, you will be moved there after your judgement day" Lahar exclaims to him.
"Hehe" Natsu chuckles.
"What are you laughing for?" Lahar asked.
"Well, that special cell you have for me will have to be empty since I'll be set free once my friends prove that I'm not guilty" Natsu responds with a smile.
"You think so.." Lahar said, deepening his tone.
"Yup" he said with confidence.
"Hmm, say that after your judgement day" Lahar said.
"I'll yell it to you instead" Natsu said, grinning.
Suddenly, they stopped causing Natsu to wonder what is about to happen. He notice an outline of a door appearing in the aqua blue wall in front of him. It opens.
"Don't try to escape...we have you in surveillance" Lahar warns him.
Natsu enters the room. His eyes adjusted with the aqua blue colour of the room. Once they did, there was someone sitting in the corner of the small boxed room.
"Natsu…" Jellal spoke softly in a surprised tone.
"Jellal" Natsu said, shocked seeing him again after so long.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Long story but I'm being framed for something I didn't do" Natsu said, sitting down in front of him.
"Really.." Jellal said. "When I first heard that I was going to have cellmate, I would never have guessed it would be you"
"Haha, well life is full of surprises.." Natsu said with a smile. "So how are you?"
"Besides staying in a box for months now...pretty good" Jellal said with a warm smile.
"Sorry that we couldn't do anything to stop you from being in a such boring place" Natsu said.
"There is no reason to be sorry...this prison is perfect for a guy like me, after the things I done...I can't imagine a better place-" Jellal said.
"But you were controlled" Natsu spoke. "You weren't yourself..that power you had was the one that made you do those horrible things..you're not the one to blame for that-"
"But I let that power control me…" Jellal said with a frown. "I was weak and let the evil power control my thoughts and actions...I let it in because I craved for it...I know that for certain now...this place is my punishment for my weakness"
"You may think that but Erza and me don't.." Natsu tells him, looking straight into his eyes.
"Erza, thinks so.." Jellal said, surprised hearing her name.
"Ya, she doesn't think it's your fault and should be set free"
"It's not easy Natsu...you can't erase the blood from your hands" Jellal said, looking down at his hands. "No matter how much you try...your past will stay with you"
"So, do you think being here is where you should be?" Natsu asked.
Jellal keeps quiet and thinks about what he said. He leans back against the walls and looks up. He shifts his eyes to the camera watching the two. He's been here long enough to know where they hide the cameras. The thought of being somewhere other than prison has punishment for his crimes never crossed his mind. He looks at Natsu and remembers his question. The only thing he can say now is.
"I don't know, Natsu" Jellal said simply.
"Hmm" Natsu said with a slight frown.
Sadly, not even Natsu knows what he can do. He never really been in Jellal position. Now he thinks he crossed a line. He decides to sit quietly, has time goes by.
OOO
The past…
Months have past after the dragon war has ended. Many we're still in disbelief in what had happened. Some say it was just rumors and others think that one dragon actually defeated both sides of the war. However, it is shared that everyone felt uneasy and scared about the whole thing. They started to rebuild the cities that were destroyed and some of the villages. It may take years for it too fully be restored.
At one of the villages burnt down, Zeref is seen walking. He looks around at the destruction. It only brings him sorrow. Its worse when it's your own village that you grew up in and called home.
He keeps walking until he reaches a square structure that looks to be the least damaged thing out here. He slowly turns the knob, opening the door causing it to creak.
He takes one step into the room he remembers very well since it was when it all started. Papers are seen on the walls with writing. Symbols are drawn on the wooden walls. Books are spread across the floors with crunched up paper. Lastly, there was Natsu holding a book.
"Hows it going Natsu?" Zeref asked him.
"Hmm...too many words, some I don't understand" Natsu answers, looking deeply at the page he is on.
"Sorry, my writing needs a little more work" he replies with a small smile.
"Do I have to read all this?" Natsu asked with a pout.
"Yes, its important for you to know more about magic and casting spells..if you want to be a powerful mage someday"
"..Will I get to see Igneel again?" Natsu asked with a sad tone.
"Yes...just try your best to study...I'll go for my daily walk" Zeref said, leaving the room.
Natsu sighs and continues to read. Truthfully, he is only doing this because his brother told him too. He isn't the type to read but spending time through Zeref's notes, he realizes there is more to magic than his fire dragon slayer magic.
"I can mix elements uh" Natsu said then raises his hand. "That sounds fun...but what should I mix with my fire"
His fire appears over his palm. He stares at it then shifting to the book. There is a circle with elements around it and lines connecting one element to the other.
"Wind…" Natsu said softly.
Suddenly, his flame begins circling into a miniature twister over his palm.