Hello!
Sorry for taking so long! So many opportunities concerning my studies were given to me during these weeks, and I did not really find time to write properly.
I know the previous chapter was kind of confusing (well, that was a bit the point), and I hope this one will bring some answers that will satisfy you.
I hope you will enjoy!
Part 3
Funny how the situation may change in a few minutes. Allies can become enemies after some unexpected revelation, and the contrary can also be seen (sadly, not often). Imprevisbility was generally something Fairy Tail's members were used to in their everyday-day lives. But the kind of uncertainty that was laying in there was not the kind they wanted to experiment ever again. It was suffocating, full of unanswered questions, contained rage and defiance, whether it was in the opponent's side or in the defendant one.
Especially in the defendant one.
Larcade sighed, crestfallen. It was like this since the dispute with his uncle. Since his mother's... disappearance.
He winced. The memory was painful ad invoked others of the same kind. He felt helpless.
Well, helpless but not hopeless, to be correct. How could he even be here? If he was here, then, everything wasn't really over, right? His mother must be here, somewhere.
But where?
That question lingered between all of them, making the air heavier to breathe by the minute.
The guild even left him alone, although some of them were glancing at him curiously sometimes. But it seemed the apparent loss of their companion was more important than their curiosity for the moment.
It seemed to be worst on his father's side, as he was sitting on a rock, head down on his arms and unmoving since his confrontation with the ice mage, a short amount of time after his mother's disappearance. So many things happened quickly at that time, yet, the shock of the moment had numbed them and slowed up their perception of it.
"So, you're it. You're END."
Larcade watched the dark-haired man approach to his father. The tone was calm, but cold and detached.
Natsu did not answer. He did not seem to have heard him, as his gaze was still lost on the ground, seemingly always thinking about what happened earlier, searching for answers. But it did not inspire Gray's sympathy and seemed to have added more fuel to the fire. The dark-haired mage got closer to him dangerously.
"You're the monster that has been threatening us since all this time... The one that Tartaros wanted to revive, the one that created all of this... The one my father died for..."
The silence continued.
"ANSWER ME, YOU... DEMON!" He yelled.
"GRAY!" Erza screamed. Then, she calmed down suddenly. She lowered her head, as if to hide the tears in her eyes and managed to utter a crestfallen "Enough.".
Gray's knees fell at this word. It was like everything in him had turned off, except one thing...
He was almost laughing humorlessly when his voice came out.
"After all these years, all these adventures together, you were in front of me, narguing me, making me believe that I had not only a rival, but also a friend, a brother... Even when we thought it was over, you brought us together, but what was it for, Natsu? It was all just a game, wasn't it? You knew it since the beginning, I bet it even amused you to see me open up to you like that about my father, that plan of revenge... And Lucy..."
Natsu raised suddenly his eyes, stricken.
"You played with her too... You played with all of us, you..."
But he did not continue, as Natsu punched him on the face, still glaring at him with tears in her eyes as the hit were sending the ice mage a few meters backwards.
"DON'T YOU DARE..." he began. But as soon as his mouth opened, his body shook terribly and his voice came out hoarse, soon inaudible.
One dark laugh answered it. Gray. "Finally you show your true colours..."
"ENOUGH!"
The cry came from the water mage, her voice betraying the tears that couldn't help but fall on her cheeks. Everyone looked at her, bewildered, Gray more even so. His eyes widened, his mouth opened. She lowered her head, but continued with a firm voice.
"This is not how it should be. This can't be! This has to stop!"
"Juvia..." Gray began.
She interrupted. "When Juvia first met Master Gray, he was fighting. Fighting for Lucy Heartfilia, his friend that was missing. Fighting with his friends, not against them. His determination to protect them, to fight by their sides, like they were his family...That's why Juvia fell for him. That's why she decided to join Fairy Tail, to be part of that family. She made new friends, some were love rivals, but after a while, she began to trust them and cherish them. Lucy Heartfilia was one of them, even if Juvia envied her relationship with Master Gray. But it felt great, to be accepted despite Juvia's water. And even when that family divided for a while, she stayed by Master Gray's side, not only because she felt guilty for his father's death, but also because with him, it was the closest she felt when she was in the guild. She felt like she belonged."
She took a small break to let out a sob. "But can Juvia call that family now when Master Gray does not want to protect his friends anymore? Does he still deserve to be called Master Gray? Can Fairy Tail be still called Fairy Tail when its members fight against each others? Is it the Fairy Tail Lucy wanted to reunite with Natsu? Would she like to see it?"
The silence continued, sometimes broken by sobs. Larcade was watching all of this, but it did not seem to go anywhere. They were all devastated and it was like they forgot that their former opponents (well, needless to say the war was over now that their leader had isolated himself from the battlefield after Gray's intervention, quickly joined by the first master) were still here, watching it with the same detachement as if it happened in fiction.
She screamed out loud, her eyes so heavy by her tears that she could not open them. "IF IT'S THAT, JUVIA DOES NOT WANT TO BE IN FAIRY TAIL'S ANYMORE!"
She fell down, shaking with her face on her hands.
And, just at that moment, to everyone's surprise, Gray stood up, head down, embraced her. And cried.
She stared at him, flabbergasted.
Natsu looked at them with longing for a moment.
"Natsu..." Erza began, noticing his change of behavior.
But he did not seem to listen to her and went back to his former place.
And there he was, still in that position. The others had distanced themselves from him, but were still throwing hesitant glances sometimes. Cowards, Larcade thought bitterly.
He glared at the pink-haired man.
This was not the father he and Nashi had expected. Not the father his mother and his uncle had been talking about.
Talking about his uncle... Why was he coming back now? And why had his hands intertwined with the first master of Fairy Tail?
Was it not a little too soon for romance? Larcade thought bitterly.
"Your majesty..."
He couldn't even say if it was Irene, Dimaria, or any other member of that fucked up team. His own team.
What an idiot.
But that intervention seemed to wake up Fairy Tail's members.
"The first! Could you please tell us what is really going on here?" A tall blond man asked.
This question led to others, all asked by several persons at the same time.
"What happened? Where is Lucy? What had she done? Did the dark mage killed her? (Zeref winced at that one) What is he doing here? "
But to all these questions (except the latter) came only one answer from the first.
'She used Fairy Heart."
It took time for the information to sink in. But when it did, a small bluenette (Levy McGarden, from his memories) intervened.
"Fairy Heart? But... How did she learn it? How did she even know about it? And isn't it your..."
"She didn't," Mavis interrupted. "Fairy Heart is not a magic you learn, it's a magic you feel."
Her hand left her uncle's, who didn't spare her glance and went hesitantly to Natsu's side. Mavis gazed at him for a minute, as the pink-haired man paid no attention to him, listening as if his life depended on it.
"You all think you know what Fairy Heart is. One of the most powerful magic reservoir the world had ever seen. All of this contained in my body since centuries. But what you don't know is that it isn't just in me..."
She breathed in, then out.
"Fairy Heart is bestowed to everyone that holds its mark," She continued."As long as they want to protect what they hold dear.. It's what protected you from dying in Tenrou Island. It's what made you stronger when you thought everything was going to end. The power of our bonds, linking us by our marks, or, for some people, by their biological proximity. And when I recover my body, that power only strenghtened."
"That's complete nonsense, the first! Damn, could you get to the point?" Natsu yelled. "Where is she?"
"Calm down, Natsu." Zeref reprimanded him without even looking at him.
His red eyes were shining dangerously.
"You..." Natsu began with rage, fire wrapping his body suddenly.
"Natsu, don't..." Erza cried.
But it did not seem to impress Zeref, as he continued.
"She's here."
A silence followed his revelation.
"WHAT?"
His father's head turned vigourously from right to left, looking for her. But Larcade could only stare at his uncle, puzzled.
"And, at the same time, she isn't..." Mavis intervened hesitantly.
"What's that nonsense?" Natsu groaned.
"Is it like Edolas and its anima?" A white-haired girl intervened.
The name was Lisanna, if he remember well.
"Not exactly," Zeref answered. "As you must know, the Heartfilia family has a strong bond with the Eclipse Gate..."
"But it had been destroyed!" Levy interrupted.
Damn... What was wrong with Fairy Tail's members? Nobody even dared to interrupt Zeref even once! At least, not in Alvarez...
"Indeed, it has been. But it can still be opened if their owner wishes for it..."
"WHY WOULD SHE EVEN WISH IT?" Natsu raised, pissed off. "ALL THAT IS COMPLETE NONSENSE!"
Zeref glared at him, then waved. That was it. Poor man was unable to move now.
But at least his tongue still worked, apparently.
"Let me finish, Natsu. At least if you want to know where she is. "
That seemed to shut him up.
"Good. What I mean to say is that the celestial mages of that family had a strong link with time. Past, present, future. It has always been in their blood, even when they weren't aware of it. In my time, they could even travel through time. It was instinctual for them. When I talk to Anna Heartfilia about it, she told me that it happened when they had strong links to some time precisely. It served as anchors. And when Fairy Heart was added to it, it strenghened."
"Which means... Where the hell is she exactly?" Natsu intervened.
"Tsk. Always too impatient," Zeref sighed. "I was going to it. It seems like her bond to you is strong, brother. She's in the time when it all began. 400 years ago."
Silence. Then...
"Liar!"
"If you want a proof, dear brother, you just have to call one of the celestial spirits..."
"How convenient!" Natsu mocked him. "Her keys disappeared with her."
"Do you really think so?"
Then, Larcade realized.
How could he have forgotten.
"CRUX!"
They all turned towards him, flabbergasted. Only Zeref and Mavis did not seem surprised.
"Wake up, you lazy ass! I need you!" Larcade continued, excited.
"What for, Master?" The poor spirit yawned.
"Where's my mother, Crux? I know you have access to that information!"
The spirit paused for a moment. "What master Zeref said is true. She's in Fiore, 400 years before that time."
"And how do we get her back here?" Natsu snapped.
"Both sides must be in possession of the golden keys and have the willingness to come back. The Eclipse Gate must be repaired. The balance between time must also be respected, which means..."
"...one of us must come back in his time," Larcade finished, his eyes widening in understanding.
The Dragneels looked at each others.
"I'll go," Natsu stated.
"You idiot!"Larcade screamed at him.
"Hey! Don't talk to your old man like that!" He whined.
"You won't be my old man if you come back to time!" He
"... Well, that's quite true..." Natsu conceded.
" Hopefully, he does not seem to have inherited his father's common sense." Zeref mumbled, the whole guild seeming to approve of his words.
"That's mean!"
"But soo true!" Happy added.
Did that little cat only exist for commentating their remarks? Larcade wondered.
Well, that was until a little bluenette approached him sneakily.
"So.. You're really Lu-chan and Natsu's son, " Levy McGarden said with a cheeky smile.
"Er..." Was that really the moment?
"I knew it!" A drunken brunette cried suddenly, excited. "Pay off, you suckers!"
"Well, hopefully, you would have inherited your intelligence from your mother..."
'Hey... I still feel insulted here..." Natsu intervened, annoyed.
"Anyway, I am the one that must go," Larcade interrupted. "No question."
"But before you got excited that much, you must realize something..." Brandish made her presence know. "We don't have all of the keys."
"Exact," Zeref approved. "But contrarily to what Natsu thought, her keys did not disappeared with her. They stayed in the same place she did. If one other celestial mage has the remaining keys, she can be brought back."
And indeed, they were. Buried quite deeply, but still here.
"But there would still be a missing key," Brandish continued.
They stared at her, not seeming to understand what she was saying.
"Aquarius'. She broke it in Tartaros to call the Spirit King," She stated.
The guild members gaped at her, realizing suddenly the situation.
"She... did?" Natsu lowered his head.
She gazed at him intensely, then crossed her arms and looked away.
"Tsk. I'll find it. I'll find Aquarius's key."
They stared at her.
"It was my mother's task to take care of it. I have to do this."
Erza approached her.
"So be it." The scarlet woman put a hand on her shoulder, smiling.
ENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENDENENDENDENDENDEND
And that's how they began to prepare themselves. Brandish left at once, and strangely, Dimaria came with her. The others were watching lazily, not wanting to do anything for their former ennemies (not that Zeref demanded them anything). Some points of the mystery were not revealed yet, but still, they did not seem to care. As if it was normal to have the (former, apparently) biggest villain by their side (if you don't count Acnologia, but it seemed that they would have to wait several times before he found his way back).
His father was sitting impatiently in front of the broken Eclipse Gate, with his friends trying to reason with him. He approached them.
"...Do you not trust her to come back?" Erza was saying.
"Of course I do! But what if she's hurt? What if somebody was keeping her from coming back?"
"She will find a way. She always does. It's Lucky Lucy, remember?" Erza scolded him.
"Yeah... Lucky Lucy..." Natsu avoided her gaze.
"Oh, come on, don't be broody... She wouldn't like it, you know?" She teased.
"Like I care! If she doesn't like it, she has to come see me!" Natsu snapped.
And he left.
Larcade was about to follow him when Erza stopped him.
"Let him. It's hard for him to handle this. First Igneel, then Lucy. And all these story about his family... He must take time to fully recover from all of this."
"Just hope he doesn't decide to suddenly go training for one year..." Gray added.
"Geez, you don't have to bring it on, Gray. You're no better." Juvia interrupted, arms crossed.
He winced. Even Larcade could see it was quite out of character for the blue-haired woman to talk like that to him.
He sighed. Well, apparently, the only thing he could do for now was to wait. And get used to this for a moment. He did not have all the answers to his questions yet, but it did not seem the right time to demand for more in his uncle's side.
How frustrating. But at least he knew one thing. And it gave him hope.
Only time could bring back what they had lost.
...
...
I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think about it! Reviews always make my day :)
Well, last time, I said that the final part was going to be released in two or three days. Sorry, but I think I was a bit too optimistic, as I realized there is a big mystery called Acnologia that I really forgot (poor guy). But I can promise that I will do my best to release it next week. Until then, bye for now!