- Fairy Tail -
Seeking For the Goddess
Chapter IV
A/N: I'm back~ :D sorry for the late update. I love JerZa so much, so I don't have the heart to discontinue this story. Eh, tell me if the atmosphere is getting darker and darker…
/. . . /
"You have such a beautiful hair."
There is a small boy with blue hair…
"I was hoping we would not see each other again."
Long strands of red…
"Listen to my story; this is where all begins—"
When a hand reaches out…
"Die, Demon! You don't belong here!"
So many people… so many knives and maces… are pointing at him…
"For everything you wish, there is an equal price to pay in return."
An encounter, a contract… binding for eternity…
"Death is too good for you!"
So much blood…
'Blood… corpse… death…'
/ … /
A pair of black orbs blinks open. Small yawn escapes his lips as the owner rubs his eyes sleepily. His blurry sight slowly becomes clearer, as does his mind.
"…a dream?" He mutters to no one while gazing at the white ceiling. Those voices have haunted his mind every time he closes his eyes.
There were so many people with angry face— glaring at him with such heavy desire to kill.
Then, there was someone crying…
"It's about time for you to wake up, Natsu." He hears a girl says with a sigh, putting down books in her hand onto the table near the couch where Natsu sleep.
"Sure thing..." he mutters, stretching like a cat. " Waz zime iz itz?"
"Evening, although I guess it's like midnight outside. Gee… you sure sleep like a log."
"Awh…" the spiky haired male pouts when hearing the remark, earning a chuckle.
The blonde haired girl shakes her head when noticing her partner yawns again. "I'm making some drink in the back. Help yourself to get it while it's still warm."
"Yeah. Thanks, Lucy."
Sleepily making his way to the back door, Natsu drags his feet to the washroom instead. A quick shower sounds good. Although Natsu has the urge to ask Lucy about his unusual dreams nowadays, for a second thought, probably not. He does not want to worry his friend.
Much to the male's dismay, he begins to hear 'them' again. Alas, the downpour appears cannot wash away those bizarre voices, and instead causing 'them' to become as clear as day.
Frustrated, Natsu pulls on his own sakura-colored hair. "What on earth is wrong with me?!"
Another voice slips past his mind—
"This is the end of your journey, Erza. And so… this is the last chapter of my story."
Natsu furrows his brows.
Who is this Erza?
/ . . . /
Back in the living room, Lucy sips her warm tea while sorting out the books and papers. She takes a paper with some ancient writings on it. There is a symbol on the top right, similar with the stamp marking on the back of her right hand.
Shaking her head, Lucy arranges other papers along with the one in her hand, carefully slipping them in between pages of a medium sized book.
Ten minutes later, Natsu strolling in. His hair appears down due to being wet, which gives him a different air than his usual fiery style. It is something he rarely does except in front of his blonde friend.
"What takes you so long?" Lucy asks, although she already knew the answer.
"Been showering."
"Oh, okay."
An awkward situation ensues, followed by a few minutes of silence.
"…" Natsu notices the scattering pages on the table where Lucy tidying up her books. He takes the one with a stamp on it. "I haven't seen this marking before, have I?"
Stamp? "No, you haven't!" Lucy hurriedly snatches the paper, leaving Natsu dumbfounded. "You may mistaken it with something else." She adds quickly.
"What are these?"
"W-well… They are, in a way, my work."
"Your work, huh?" Natsu ponders for a moment. "Come to think of it, you've never actually tell me about your current job. Are you still doing those… writing thingies?"
"Of course! I am still a novelist, you know." The blonde-haired girl replies with a hint of pride. "Although it has become a part-time kind of occupation…" Lucy mumbles the last part in a low tone, secretly hoping the other will not hear.
"I see. Oh well, tough luck."
"— Stop being so mean!"
"By the way," A long slurp and gulp from the spiky haired teen and Lucy freezes. "This drink is too sweet for my liking— ouch!" Poor Natsu receiving a good smack in the head.
"Why'd you drink it all?!" Lucy practically screams, and sobbing upon realizing there is not a single drop left from her favorite tea. "My … warm milk tea…"
"Sorry. My bad."
"Didn't I tell you to take some from the kettle in the kitchen?! Awh… now I have to go buy more sweeteners."
Suddenly something clicks in Natsu's head. "Buy?"
"Uh, to… the store?" she answers hesitantly.
"…Meat…"
"Eh?"
"That is where people usually go—the town in the north, right? Is there any food store, too?!" The spiky haired male asks dreamily, licking his lips at the thought of many delicious foods available. His partner, however, already feels drenched in cold sweat.
"B-but… uh, my money is…"
"Leave it to me! It has been awhile since my last visit there!"
"Natsu, that's not what I…"
"I'M HUNGRY! LET'S GO FOR A DINNER!"
"D-D-D-D-D-D-DINNER?!" The ever-hyperactive male grabs Lucy hand and literally dragging her out. "Natsu, wait a sec—Kyaaa…!" The poor blonde practically leap to the air whilst being dragged, while trying to comprehend the male's earlier sentence.
By now, Lucy thinks her wallet— or herself for that matters— will undoubtedly crying in less than three hours.
/ . . . /
Meanwhile, in the Magnolia town where Natsu and Lucy set their way, a certain blue-haired young man walks around in circle, unsure of which way he should go.
"Where is this place again?" Jellal feels like smacking his own head. He should have asked about the town-map to her earlier. Now here he is, lost in the middle of a place surrounded by people walking and minding their own business.
The bright light from the side lamps mixing together with some kind of alcohol. Jellal notes all the houses around him is almost closes by now, signaling how late the time is, though there is still some building that successfully piqued his interest.
Like that tavern, for example.
He knows better than to enter such a place where alcohol fills the atmosphere— that feels like choking him even from this distance— plus the fact that no doubt there will be so many harsh mannered people present.
Should he enter…?
"Staring won't give you anything, young man."
The blue-haired young man instantly pulls his gaze away from the tavern, glancing around to find the source of the mysterious voice.
"Up here, boy." The voice comes again. Jellal then glances upward.
There are some barrels stocked up just beside the tavern. The earlier heavy smell of alcohol definitely comes from here, Jellal muses. Still, what fascinate him the most is the fact that there is an old man sitting calmly at the uppermost barrel like some comfortable chair ever.
The blue-haired male blinks. "Who…?"
"Isn't it rude to ask for other's name without telling yours first, hah?" Suddenly the voice becomes angry all of sudden. "(hic) … seriously, brats these days…! (hic)"
Jellal is not sure whether to get mad at him or to laugh at the unexpected annoyance. "Right… uhm, my name is Jellal. What's yours, grandpa?"
"Makarov." The old man states his name. "If I remember correctly, aren't you the lad I saw this afternoon with Erza?"
A flashback replays in his mind— about how Erza found him in the lower floor of some place called Cardia Cathedral, and how she almost swung her blade at him because he accidentally stepped on one of the flower. Then the second time she almost sliced her very same blade towards Jellal's throat when she found him surrounded with girls, after she had agreed to take him for a walk to the town…
She certainly is something worth to be afraid of.
"Y-yes."
"Well, what are you doing here, then?"
"I'm not really sure…"
"You're still too young to drink, kid. I know it is hard to face truth when it hurts, but you should not drink your sorrow away like this! This desperate act almost breaks my hope for you!"
"…excuse me?"
"You're supposed to be stronger than her, idiot!"
A half-empty bottle of beer would have found its way to Jellal's head should he hadn't ducked in time. "What?!"
"You are supposed to be with her!" Makarov roars and Jellal sweat-drops. "You are his knight, right? … (hic) no, no, no, wait a minute, what I am saying (hic) … she is YOUR knight in SHINING ARMOR…!"
"Wh— … Eh, I mean— yes, sure, but…" The younger of the two only nods his heads, not comprehending the words at all. "…May I ask who this Erza is?" something is wrong with his head, Jellal thinks, if not, why would he be so curious about the redhead?
"What?! Where have you been all this time, kid?! A secluded basement in the sea?"
"…" more or less, half of it is not wrong.
"(hic) Tsk, fine, I'll tell you. She is no ordinary woman, mind you. I have grown quite fond of her until I think of her as my own daughter … (hic) if you dare to touch even the slightest skin on her body, she will kill you. If you dare to ask something from her, she will kick your ass. (hic) and… and if you…" Makarov keep rambling and mumbling about Erza. Basically, all of the things he says is either ends with 'she will kill you!' or 'she will definitely kick your ass!', which can only means that this Erza woman might be a dangerous person than a vicious criminal ever.
The young man eyes drift upward, tilting his head upward as well in the process. Makarov rambling seems far and far away… as far as that moon shines on the sky.
The moon…
Unconsciously, he licks his lips. Slight shiver crawls up his spine as his hand moves to his right eye. A smirk finds its way to Jellal's face before he knows it.
/ . . . /
"… beautiful and also a kick-ass personality! And that is how Erza is to you, boy." Makarov ends his praise with pride, only to find no one else beside himself.
"Hmm? I could've swear there was a guy in…— oh, well."
If only he knew.
/ . . . /
"No! Stay away!" A screaming voice from a woman reverberates through the alley, echoing in the night.
There are some people.
"What do you want?! I don't have any jewels with me!"
The three men surrounding her don't say anything but a chuckle, sending fears to the poor woman. "I don't want anything but your company, darling~"
A gloved hand suddenly finds its way to her neck, cutting all air supplies to her lungs.
Desperate, she tries to find anything. Her sight then falls onto another figure who just walks in to the scene. The three men visibly show their displeasure in being interrupted by a stranger.
"H-help…" she chokes out, her hand reaches out to him.
However, her newly gotten hope quickly disappears as fast as it comes…
… When the stranger steps out from the shadow that the building has concealed him, the moonlight shines upon his face. The last thing she sees is blue-hair, long canines and…
...bright blue cursed eye staring at her.
/ . . . /
A loud snarl from beside her surprises Lucy. Instinctively she walks closer to her friend.
"Natsu, what—…"
The blonde haired girl can't finish her words because of a painful scream that echoes clearly. A gasp escapes her lips.
Natsu let out a growl. "He is definitely here…"
"W-what? Who?!"
"...annihilate him."
/. . . /
To be continue…