So, yeah bro, here you go. Here is the second chapter of "Bloody Child" that you've been begging me to write! I know you want "Beauty and the Beast" too so I'll work on that eventually. I have other followers who want other stuff so let me do each story one at a time. *sighs* dang brothers…just kidding! Love you, bro! XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
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The Bloody Child (Ch. 2)
Levy was as good as new in no time. Her wounds were wrapped in bandages and she helped the still-mysterious blonde out in the kitchen as they prepared dinner. When they all sat down at the table, she spoke up. It seems that she and her rescuer bonded while cooking together.
"You never exactly told us your name," Levy said.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Her laugh made Natsu shiver again. "My name is Lucy…Lucy Ashley."
Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Lucy? That's the name the voices were chanting."
Levy smiled and introduced herself and everyone in turn. Everyone was quiet, either because the mysterious girl or because they still processing what had happened at the estate. Most of Natsu's friends were probably doing the latter, but something was just off about their new friend…at least that's what he was wondering.
Lucy seemed to note everyone's silence, but she didn't say anything on it. Instead, she asked suspiciously, "what were you all doing up at the Heartfilia Estate?"
It was Gray who spoke, "a dare."
"A dare?" Lucy repeated, taking a bite of food and blinking, "so you dared Levy here to jump in the pond? You know there are many ponds in Magnolia. Why the Heartfilia Estate?"
"We didn't dare Levy to jump in the pond," Gajeel grumpily replied. Levy, sitting next to him, rubbed his back soothingly, knowing that he blamed himself for her downfall. "The three of us boys dared each other to lock ourselves in the Heartfilia Manor for half an hour each to find out which of us were bravest. The bridge railing gave out underneath Shrimp's weight and she fell in."
"She seems surprised," Natsu noted to himself, wondering why he was so suspicious of this girl. She wasn't any dangerous.
"…Are you guys from around here? You do know about the Bloody Child Legend, right?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah of course," Juvia replied. "If we didn't know then we wouldn't be having the dare up there."
Natsu scoffed suddenly and Lucy looked at him. He found himself melting under her chocolate eyes. It was the first time she looked at him (except when Levy introduced him, but her eyes just flashed to him and then away to Wendy, sitting next to him. It didn't give him enough time to react), and he felt petrified for some reason. "When will the attraction go away?" He asked himself. He always thought that attraction was a spontaneous thing; a spur of the moment that didn't last long.
"Is something wrong?" Lucy sweetly asked him; he melted again.
"The Bloody Child Legend in baloney!" Despite his insides turning to goo, Natsu's voice didn't waver and he crossed his arms. He wasn't trying to come off rude, but sure with his mind made up.
Lucy seemed surprised at his comment as well, maybe even more surprised than earlier.
Gray sighed, "The Bloody Child Legend is true, Flame Brain! Are you out of your mind?!"
Lucy was still surprised and Levy leaned over to her to say, "they argue about this all the time."
Lucy's wide eyes were still on Natsu.
Natsu scoffed again, "the legend isn't true. The Heartfilia Estate isn't haunted with Jude Heartfilia's ghost. There's no Bloody Child."
"It's abandoned."
"That doesn't make it haunted."
"I think there is a Bloody Child actually," Levy spoke up. "He's never been found. For all we know, he's still alive."
"Or the legend isn't true at all," Natsu tried to back up his point.
"If the legend is true," Wendy spoke for the first time that night, "Doesn't that mean the Bloody Child has to spill his blood at the feet of the person he wronged in the mansion and then the world would be a better place?"
Better place is right. Not only Fiore, but all of Ishgar is not as green as it used to be and more dead than alive. It's been like that for seven long years ever since the legend came into existence. Because of how bitter the world is, most people believe the legend is true. However, Natsu was not one of these people.
"It's not true!" He exclaimed, "The world is like this because that's just the way it is. One small lie can't turn the world like this."
"You saying you don't remember the happier, brighter times, Salamander?"
"Of course I remember, but why and how could one ten-year-old child murder his entire family during Christmas and then walk out of the house covered in blood, crying? That's totally morbid and no child will ever do that!"
"Gosh, Natsu! Are you blind?!" Gray shouted, "did you see the bodies in that pond?! The legend is true! That's the entire Heartfilia family!"
Natsu stayed silent for a moment. If he mentioned the whispers, it would be going against him so he kept quiet.
"What do you think about the Bloody Child Legend, Lucy?" Juvia asked, causing everyone to turn to the blonde.
"I believe the legend is true," the blonde said and then she pointed at Natsu with her fork. "However, I'm with him as well. No child is going to kill her entire family on Christmas. I believe The Bloody Child is innocent. I believe that someone uninvited came in and killed the Heartfilia family and the Bloody Child was the only survivor."
Natsu raised his eyebrows, " 'Her'? The legend always referred to the Bloody Child as a boy." It seemed no one else caught that except him.
"You have a point," Wendy nodded in agreement, "but who would do such a terrible thing?"
Lucy shrugged.
"What were you doing at the Heartfilia Estate?" Natsu asked, still suspicious of her. There was just something off.
"Yeah," Gray agreed, turning to her, "I was wondering the same thing."
"Oh me? I'm an archeologist," she replied casually, causing Natsu's suspicion to ware off. "I want to know more about the legend so I'm up there a lot. I've fallen in the pond before so that's why I have the medicine for the poison."
"So what's with the bodies in the pond?" Juvia asked.
Lucy raised her eyebrows, but answered, "The corpses, like zombies, were screaming 'I'm bloodthirsty' and drowned themselves in the pond."
"How do you know this?" Gajeel asked.
Lucy blinked, "it's in the legend; everyone knows…you guys are from Magnolia right?"
"Yeah, we are."
"Hmm. You guys don't get out often," she giggled her musical laugh.
"I guess we don't," Levy giggled with her. "We all are mostly in the clubhouse!"
"What about the whispering?" Natsu asked.
Lucy froze, turning to him with a shocking look. It was the third time she was surprised and most of those times were because of him. "T-the whispering?!"
Everyone turned to him and Levy raised her eyebrows, "what are you talking about? There were no whispers, Natsu."
"Yeah there were," Natsu said. "I heard them."
Lucy's eyes narrowed, "he can hear the whispers?"
"I didn't hear them," Wendy said.
"Neither did I," Gray agreed.
"What were the whispers saying?" Juvia asked.
Natsu nodded toward Lucy, "they were chanting her name over and over."
Lucy went silent for a moment as she processed the fact that Natsu was able to hear her dead family chanting her name. She thought she was the only person who could. Why could he hear them? However, despite her surprise, she quickly recovered, "I didn't hear any whispers either. Even if there were voices, they were probably chanting 'Luigi'. Maybe that's the name of the Bloody Child."
"I heard the voices loud and clear…they were chanting your name," Natsu wanted to say, but didn't press on.
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It was nearly ten o'clock by the time everyone had finished eating. Since it was so late, Levy decided to go home, promising Lucy to hang out with her again. It seemed like the two had a lot in common; everyone seemed to like her and wanted her to meet the rest of Fairy Tail, which is the name of their club in Magnolia. Lucy happily agreed and waved as Gajeel escorted Levy home. Gray took Juvia home as well with Wendy tagging along because the Marvell's and the Locksar's lived across the street from each other.
Natsu however, decided the stay and help Lucy clean up.
"You don't have to stay; it's fine!" Lucy, all too nice, exclaimed with a smile, washing the dishes Natsu brought in from the dining room.
"My dad will send me to bed the moment I get home so I might as well stay," he said.
Lucy turned to him, still smiling. Natsu had just finished bringing in everything and was now standing next to her at the sink, washing a plate. "Your name is Natsu, correct?"
Natsu's breath suddenly caught in his throat and he nodded, not trusting his voice. It was the first time she said his name…it was like a prayer.
"Is there any reason why you don't believe in the Bloody Child Legend? I know you said you didn't because you didn't think that one child would kill her entire family, but besides that."
Natsu shrugged, "I just find it ridiculous. I was raised in a family where we all cherished one another for who we are and protected each other with our lives and our bonds. Hearing a child murder his family, especially on Christmas, is ridiculous."
Lucy hummed, smiling, "your dad must've raised you well then."
"Actually no," Natsu said, but then took that back, "well, yeah I guess. Don't get me wrong, he's the most amazing dad ever, but Makarov, who's my adoptive grandpa, taught me and all my friends that."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, we all practically live at the Fairy Tail club here in Magnolia. You know, you should join," he smiled at her. "You could bring your friends too."
"Oh, I don't have any friends," Lucy replied casually, "but yeah, I'd love to join."
"You don't have any friends?!" Natsu exclaimed. The shocked look on his face must've made quite an impression because he was suddenly hearing an angel sing, but it was really just her cute laugh again, working its magic by turning him to goo.
"It's no big deal, Natsu." Oh gosh, she said his name again. "I've been alone all my life; my mom and dad died when I was little. You and your friends' company tonight was a rather nice change, but I'm used to be alone."
That was a lie and they both knew it: the last part drifted off into a sad mumble. It was hard to catch – she was a good actress – but it didn't get by him.
"Nu uh," Natsu shook his head, drying his hands with a towel. "This isn't happening anymore. Tomorrow morning I'm taking you to Fairy Tail."
Lucy blinked before laughing at him, "you seem determined!"
"I am!" He smiled right back, "it makes me sick that you've been alone most of your life. Consider me your first friend!"
Lucy laughed again, "okay, Natsu! You're my first friend!"
"It's an honor!" He laughed with her.
Suddenly, being around Lucy was addicting. He found himself staying at her apartment later than his curfew allowed; he knew his dad was going to ground him when he got home, but for some reason, Natsu found out that it was worth it. The attraction was suddenly worse when it should be going away, but oddly, he didn't mind at all, which is totally out of character for him. Even after this thought, Natsu found out that he still didn't mind.
secretly, he wished the attraction wouldn't stop…but despite the fact that she had him wrapped around her finger, there was still something strange about Lucy, the whispering, the bodies, and how she managed to save Levy's life…
Just what exactly is the Bloody Child Legend?
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Guys! Guess what?! I finally found the "Rave Master" manga! I've been looking for it for almost a year and I finally found it! I also wanna see the anime – I heard that it was stopped because of some issue, but I've seen some clips and I wanna watch it anyway. If you know where I could watch the anime, I would appreciate it if you told me. Also, I prefer the dub version, but if there's no dub and just sub, I'll take it anyway.
-zEllie
