Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Wat. Anyways… I hope you all like this chappy! xD Remember: reviews is the nectar of the gods in my mind (aka, cookies… or coffee… or hot Cheetos…)! 3
Levy was staring at the scattered scrolls around her, when one still on the top shelf caught her eye – 'Forbidden Spells.' Levy frowned – a book she hasn't yet read? She quickly hopped over the table and grabbed the ladder, climbing up to the top shelf and grabbed the book delicately – something about it felt off. She frowned, but quickly slid down the ladder and walked slowly back to her table, running her fingers across the black, leather-bound cover. Something about this book felt ancient and strange.
The blue-haired mage set it down gently on the wooden table and stood in front of it with her hand on the edge of the cover, not really wanting to open it. Sighing, she dragged a chair over to her and sat down in it, then hesitantly flipped open the cover. Nothing happened. She chuckled at how silly she was being, and instead inspected the title page. Frowning, she only saw the title, no printing date or anything. She flipped the next page and saw every spell that was talked about in this book and, she breathed out a sigh of relief, it was in alphabetical order.
She quickly flipped the pages until she found the "L" section, and surprisingly found the curse: Lover's Remorse. Levy furrowed her brows and squinted at the small print, reading that it was on page 698-700. She quickly flipped to it and grabbed her red speed-reading glasses and started studying this peculiar curse.
Lover's Remorse is a forbidden curse that causes someone who has strong feelings of love for a person to continue loving them, but it makes it physically impossible to be around the said person. Depending on the caster's strength, it could cause minor illness, extreme physical pain with close contact, or even being within a certain distance could weaken them greatly. And in one instance in particular, the dark mage Zeref was able to do all of these at once and he was able to add in the factor of the person's love being drawn to the one afflicted by the curse, thus causing the inevitable death of the receiver.
According to various sources he taught only one of his disciples this spell, and that mage went by the name of Brok. He was rumored to be a dark, light and shadow mage who was suspected to be the culprit of some 500 murders.
Levy put her small hand over her mouth in a silent gasp, but continued reading.
Some even say he learned the secret of immortality, though there is no definite proof. According to various texts, after Zeref was sealed away, Brok broke off from the other disciples to find other ways to either bring Zeref back, or he went in search of different teachers to get stronger – we don't know for certain exactly what he did.
(See pages 213-216 for more information on Brok.)
Love's Remorse has no definite way of being broken, because it has never appeared enough times over the centuries to actually define a way to break it – and all of the times it has appeared, the one afflicted has always been a woman, and she's always died. According to scriptures, only two people knew this curse and one of them was sealed away for eternity and the other disappeared from history altogether.
All in all, Love's Remorse is one of the worst forbidden curses in the world, and that's why it was written out of all texts and books besides this particular one. If you do encounter this curse, try to find who did it; maybe they'll know how to stop it. But besides that, get far away from the person who makes you feel ill.
Levy slammed the book in frustration and threw her glasses across the room.
"Dammit," She growled in a very un-Levy-like manner.
I have to find out how to break this. For Lu-chan.
Levy slowly pried the book back open and immediately skipped to page 213 to read about Zeref's disciple, Brok. She flipped to it and immediately got greeted by an image of a tall, dark-skinned man with very pale irises. She started reading, forgetting to go pick up her glasses. When it gave her no information that helped – mentioning nothing of Lover's Remorse – she sighed heavily and slammed it shut again, and a cloud of dust billowed around her, causing her to cough.
"Well," She muttered, thinking aloud. She leaned forward on the book and rested her chin on her fist. "I know that only two people mastered the spell; and both were alive over 400 years ago…" She frowned and tapped her chin. "But… Brok supposedly discovered the secret to immortality… wait… you don't think…" Levy's eyes widened and she grabbed her bag and shoved the big book into it. "I have to go show this picture to Lu-chan!"
Levy sprinted out of the library, ignoring the curious glances thrown her way.
Lucy groaned loudly and cracked her eyes open, feeling something cold beneath her head. She turned her stiff neck to the side and rolled onto her back, wincing at the very sharp sting of pain that shot down her spine. Lucy felt so old. She sighed and looked up to see a dozing Gray and she smiled softly.
I'll just let him sleep.
Those were her thoughts, and she intended to follow them through… that is, until a relatively large spider crawled across her abdomen. She screeched and backed up quickly, adrenaline masking the pain, and started slapping her stomach harshly to get the blasted creature off. Gray jumped when Lucy landed on the other side of him with her legs of his lap. He frowned and glanced over at her shocked face, and she was panting slightly.
"Uh, you okay, Lucy?" She nodded her head fast and then groaned when the pain finally hit. She slumped against him and grit her teeth.
"Damn spider," She muttered, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and cringing when a hollow pain radiated through her leg. Gray wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder and chuckled.
"Seriously? A spider?" He teased, watching the small, black arachnid scuttle away before disappearing into the grass. Lucy slapped his bare chest softly.
"Yes, seriously, a spider," She muttered. "The bastard was on my stomach! It freaked me out…" Her voice trailed off and she quit whining. Gray stopped laughing and instead patted her back.
"Fine, fine. Anywhere in particular you want to go?" He asked her, gaining a strange look from her. "What?" Lucy shrugged her shoulders and lifted her head, wincing at the pain that spiked across her forehead.
"I don't know – I haven't really been to too many places on a, per say, vacation. Just on jobs, so I wouldn't know where to go and I can't go back in town." She muttered, tapping her chin. Gray nodded and rubbed his chin with the hand that wasn't currently around her shoulders.
"Well, we could just chill here for a while until-" A yell cut him off, and his head snapped up. He saw a familiar blue-headed girl sprinting up the path holding a bag in her hands. She was in front of them in the next few seconds, and she was panting heavily. Levy dropped the bag and sat down next to it, pulling out a ridiculously over-sized – in Gray's opinion – leather-bound book. She quickly flipped to a page and then held out the book to Lucy, who took it hesitantly and let it fall heavily to her knees with a wince. She blanched when she saw the familiar face on the paper. Slowly, she met Levy's gaze.
"Where did you find this?" Levy coughed and scratched her head.
"I found the book in the library – I thought it might have information, which it does, but not much. Mostly it says to either find the person who cast the curse and get information from them, or just stay far away from the person that causes the pain." Lucy went to object but Levy cut her off. "Let me finish. It also says that the strength of the curse depends on the caster's strength… and according to the book, Lu-chan; the person who cursed you was very strong. And only two people in the world knew how to cast this…" Levy's voice trailed off and Lucy prodded her with her soft tone.
"Levy?"
"One of Zeref's disciples… and Zeref himself." She muttered, turning her gaze away from Lucy. The blonde girl went white completely white and she started shaking. Gray's jaw was agape and his eyes were wide in uncharacteristic look of shock.
"S-so… Levy…" Lucy held up the heavy book and pointed at the tall, well-built guy in the painting. "You're telling me that he's Zeref's disciple? Because he's the one who cursed me," She mumbled, throwing the open book down on the grass, not even wanting to touch it. Levy's eyes widened by a fraction, but nodded quickly, kind of already expecting this.
"I guess so… his name is Brok. He's one of Zeref's most beloved disciples and he was suspected to have had… well, not really suspected anymore – more like proven, to have discovered the secret to immortality." Lucy frowned and turned around so that she was sitting next to Gray instead of half-on-top of him. He took his arm back and set it on his lap. Lucy glanced at his hand and immediately looked up at his pensive face, angry at herself for blushing.
"Gray, where the hell did your pants go?" Gray sighed when he saw his black boxers and shrugged.
"It's whatever," He muttered and motioned for Levy to continue.
"Well… basically, he's immortal. What I'm trying to say is; how are we supposed to hunt him down? I mean, I found no useful information at all, and even if we did want to hunt him down, judging by what you told us, Lu-chan, he can disappear and reappear wherever." Lucy frowned and nodded.
"That's true, Levy…" She gasped and slapped her fist into her open palm, ignoring the heightening stinging sensation. "But Natsu could smell him! Dragon Slayer's have keen noses; so they could totally sniff him out." The bluenette nodded and tapped her chin.
"And we can send out three teams, one with Natsu leading, and another with Gajeel and one more with Wendy. We could start by heading to where you and Natsu were when you last saw him. This is good – this is a start…" She trailed off and started mumbling things. Suddenly she jumped to her feet and grabbed the book, shoving it in her bag roughly.
"Okay, Lu-chan, I'll go tell them what we've found out and I'll ask Natsu what the guy smelled like." She randomly gave Lucy a notebook and a piece of paper. "This is for writing or whatever, I guess, in case you get bored. Oh wait! Maybe you should try talking to Natsu on the communication lacrima!" Lucy smiled brightly at the idea of being able to see her friend again without feeling like death was about to sneak up behind and shank her.
"Great idea, Levy, thank you…" But Levy was already halfway down the path, sprinting. Lucy sighed and pulled out the lacrima and switching it on. Turning to Gray and noticing his tired expression, she pat her lap and he gratefully positioned himself so that her legs were cushioning his head. Almost immediately, he fell asleep.
"Call Fairy Tail," She said to the lacrima, and instantly, Mira's smiling face appeared.
"Lucy! Are you feeling better? Did Levy find out anything? Is Gray being good company? I'm really sorry about all of this – oh, I bet you're hungry! Maybe I could get Jet to bring you some food." She rambled, and Lucy cut her off with a smile.
"It's okay Mira, but I want to try something. Can I talk to Natsu?" Mira's eyes widened and she smacked her forehead.
"Why didn't I think of that?!" There was a bit of jostling and she heard Mira yelling. "Natsu, wake up!" She heard groaning and then a loud smash… then a squeak. Lucy scrunched her eyebrows together in worry. But before she had time to worry for too long, she was staring into a pair of beautiful onyx eyes that were wide with shock.
"L-Luce?" He asked hesitantly whilst yawning. Lucy felt some discomfort at looking at him, and her forehead spiked with pain every time he spoke – but it didn't feel anything like the near-death stuff she had felt earlier. She sighed and smiled, feeling happy for the first time since yesterday.
"Natsu! God, it's so good to talk to you again," She gushed, grinning widely and trying to ignore the pain in her jaw from doing so. Even though there was almost an entire city separating them, his presence was still affecting her. His face broke out into his signature carefree grin.
"Luce! How are you doing? Are you okay?" He asked, worry evident in his voice. She smiled gently at him.
"I-I'm okay, Natsu… I just can't be around you right now. Levy explained why, right?" Lucy was relieved when he nodded, and she felt a small weight lift off her shoulders. "Okay, good," She breathed, leaning back against the bark of the tree.
"Where are you?" He asked curiously, scratching his pink hair and taking the lacrima from Mira.
"Just on the other side of the city, right outside the border, but you can't come near me; in fact, don't leave Fairy Tail, please, at least not for right now." The blonde girl begged, and Natsu nodded immediately.
"Of course, I won't… especially if it'll ease the pain I'm causing, okay, Lucy?" He said, smiling at her, but there was a sad glint in his deep eyes. She sniffed and blinked away tears. She lightly touched the communication lacrima (A/N: which is like the size of an iPhone in my mind) with the tip of her finger and smiled lightly.
"You're not causing it Natsu; whoever did this to me caused it… you could never hurt me, 'cause we're best friends, right?" Her voice trailed to a whisper and the wind blew, causing her hair to flutter around her face. He grinned softly, but it faded quickly. Lucy frowned.
"It'll be okay, Natsu. I'll be fine soon enough – then you can stay at my apartment all the time, and I won't complain," He brightened up instantly and she giggled at the child-like reaction. "Okay I might complain a little, but I won't kick you anymore. Unless you intrude on my bath, then it's free game," She teased, and Natsu looked away bashfully. Lucy's smile faded into shock.
I-is he… blushing?!
He glanced back at her and stuck his tongue out, making her smile return, but her shock had yet to wear off… because that was really cute!
"Okay, Natsu, I have to go for now. But I'll call you back later, okay?" She offered and he shook his head yes. She smiled and waved slightly with two fingers and he got a serious expression and saluted her formally.
"Aye, sir!" She grinned and clicked the lacrima off, tossing it on the grass next to her and leaning back, letting her worry and anxiety flood her once again. She jumped when Gray grabbed her hand.
"You know he loves you, right?" She blushed heavily, but didn't pull her hand away.
"I don't know about that."
"Well, he does. He just doesn't know how to say it."
"Go back to sleep."
"I was planning to, but you woke me up with your incessant yapping." She smacked his raven-haired head lightly and he mock-cringed.
"Ouch; you've seriously wounded me."
"I hate you," She muttered around her giggles. He turned onto his side so that his cheek was pressed against her bare thigh and she felt his smile rather than saw it.
"Ditto," He breathed and dozed back off. She tangled her hand in his soft hair and began to doze off herself, but she sent one last thought into the sky before sleep overtook her aching body once more.
I promise I'll fight against this. Wait for me, Natsu.
I'm coming.
A/N: I think I like this chapter more so than the last one xD. As for the lacrima thing - I dont know if it's actually in Fairy Tail or not, but whatever, and I felt like they should talk /somehow/ but I didn't want to make it too easy or anything. Tell me if you all like the idea! But thanks for all of the wonderful feedback and support – it's really made writing this a lot of fun! And, by the way, I can't remember if Lucy calls Levy "Levy-chan" so if she does, please tell me and I'll fix it asap! :3
BookProf101: I hope you think this chapter is just as interesting as the last two! :)
Night Kaida: Oooo, well thank you for leaving me a cookie! And that sounds really interesting – I'd definitely read it. Don't worry about Natsu – he's already feeling quite guilty! :P
GoldenRoseTanya: xD You never know, a little jealousy might rise in the future… *shifty eyes*
Animation art2000-2013: *hands you the third chapter in a sparkly box with a pink bow on top* The fourth will be out soon! *winks*
