Disclaimer applied.
Warnings: May contain typos and grammatical errors.
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"The girl-your mate looks to be about that age when it happened."
His jaw tightened and his fists squeezed tighter. He didn't like this. "When what happened?"
"When the entire city was destroyed."
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Chapter 4
Charcoal eyes narrowed upon entering the room and it was virtually impossible for anyone not to notice the deadly daggers being thrown ferociously at a certain raven headed male.
At least impossible to all except said male who continued to remain ignorant, much more focus on the cake within his hands, the fork that sliced a piece and the direction in which that very same fork headed. Little Lucy Heartfillia never noticed a thing as she sealed the colored cake behind her tiny mouth and chewed and chewed like she was one of the happiest persons in the world.
And she was the happiest person in the world.
For Lucy had decided that this cake was heaven. If she wanted to be truly honest with herself, then this pwerdi little cake was almost as good as mommy's pwerdi's little cake.
Loads and loads of little pieces were crunched happily within her mouth.
Her tongue and gum tingled at the sugary sensation. Even her throat had responded to the taste with a tiny, little hum of its own. Unfortunately, said little hum hadn't lasted very long for already had her teeth silenced it, pressing firmly against the bottom of her lip. Soon her chin dropped and for the first time in a long time, Lucy finally realized just how terrible she truly was.
Humming was wrong. Lucy shouldn't hum. Not when she knew, as her father had said, that humming was a sign of bad table manners. Lucy knew she just shouldn't-couldn't hum, but…the cake.
It was…
Little Lucy gulped.
It tasted d-d-d-de.
She gulped again, this time nervously, hesitantly.
It tasted...
She swallowed.
Dericious! Lucy couldn't help but not to want more. In fact L-Lucy wanted more! Needed more!
Swallowing nervously, she opened her mouth again. Next thing she knew, the fork had entered her mouth, the cake had dropped and the silverware had left. In a melody that matched her chewing, Lucy begun to rock the chair in which she sat. Just like all the others surrounding the table, this chair was built in a light brown mahogany, and was way too big to facilitate her much smaller body.
However, it was absolutely perfect for the person who was feeding her. M-Mr. G-Grace…
No, thath sounded w-wrongth.
Hmm, G-Grim.
No, Lucy was pretty sure his name was a colorth. Stealing a glance up at him, Lucy continued to chew slowly as she watched him curiously. Brows furrowed shortly afterwards, trying to remember what he had said when he had introduced himself to her before offering to feed her after noticing how messy she was being with her pwerdi little cake.
Mr. Kind-san smiled at her and his name came rushing back to her in a furry once she took another chew of the soft, soft, cakesh!
Mr. Kind-san's name was G-Gray.
Suddenly, the rocking stopped. Soon another piece had entered. Back and forth her feet swung. Across from her, compliments of Mr. Gray, who had turned both their chairs so that they faced each other, was staring at her like how she stared at something that f-faswinated her. His face, she realized, was pwerdi; far pwerdier than hers, but he was very, very gentle and n-nice. Almost like N-Natsu.
Blonde brows furrowed. Where was N-Natsu? Did Natsu forget about Lucy?
The blonde plucked her lips and wrinkled her nose. D-Did N-Natsu… l-leave L-Lucy?
For some reason her chest felt tight. Like back then, at her home. M-Mommy.
M-Mommy's face appeared. Teary, bloody and dead.
Her lips felt dry. Her throat ached.
D-Daddy.
Daddy's aged face flashed. His beard was soaked. Too soaked and his frown was replaced by despair, and…and…and death.
Not even a sharp bite could stop the trembling of her lips.
A-Aunty M-Michelle.
By now, Lucy wanted to squeeze her eyes shut. Her heart, her chest was pounding furiously. Too furiously. T-Too rapidly.
It-It was scaring Lucy! Lucy's chest hurt. Lucy's heart hurt. Everything hurt.
S-She, L-Lucy needed to run! Lucy-No! No! No! Lucy would not run because Lucy's parents were happy!
They were happy and they wanted Lucy to be happy. N-Natsu would not lie to her. Natsu would not leave her.
N-Natsu was going to leave L-Lucy.
Dread rushed through her.
N-Natsu would leave Lucy.
Behind her eyes, something stung. They were beginning to water so she glanced up timidly, eyes large and blinking as they swept through the room until they became even larger when brown and charcoal collided.
A small gasp escaped and Lucy felt like she couldn't breathe anymore.
N-Natsu was here, stwanding at the door way.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
N-Natsu didn't forget about L-Lucy!
Just a bit, despite being unable to help it, her lips curled a little more. And Natsu realized that he couldn't remain, to simply put, merely irritated for already had his gaze begun to soften. Though this wasn't exactly what he had expected to see after the discussion he had had in the library-he could still feel the dark, swizzly feeling still haunting him- it was enough to allow some wave of relief to flow throughout him.
With glowing eyes, slightly slanted lips, and dampening cheeks, almost immediately could he tell that Lucy-his Lucy was happy and he was…elated, he guessed.
Yet his jaw tightened.
But why did she have to give Gray of all people that sort of face when he himself had hardly ever witnessed it? The pinkette found it quite hard not to be a bit agitated. Not at her. Least of all to her. She hadn't done anything wrong. Instead the person who was to blame for all of this should be him.
At the sight of Gray, his gaze darkened again. However, for Lucy it was a whole different scenario because she had speared Gray a quick, bright look, like she had thought he was actually happy to see Gray before jumping back to him. Her lips parted just as she called, "N-Natsu! Y-You're back."
Immediately his stare flickered back to her.
Large chocolate orbs were illuminated by long, very long, thick eyelashes.
Amongst them was one of the many variations of Lucy. It wasn't pained Lucy or crying Lucy, but instead it was innocent Lucy. Child Lucy…happy Lucy. Natsu couldn't help but to smile softly, unaware of the surprised looks that sprung around him.
Too bad he was too caught up within her eyes for if he hadn't, he would have noticed that Erza Scarlet was now officially eying him even harder than that of before. In fact, she was gaping actually whereas Gajeel was just plain shocked.
Fascinated on the other hand was Levy and Juvia just like Gray hadn't noticed a thing.
How Gray hadn't managed to notice nevertheless hear all the complaints his mate was emitting was totally beyond her, but what she did know was that this little blondie was…
She was. Out loud, Levy almost squealed and the only thing that was restraining her from committing such an act was her hand. Around her mouth it cupped and she gasped softly from behind, literally ready to explode. This was impossible. This little baby human was absolutely too…too a-adorable!
"K-K-Kawai," she choked whereas Juvia let out a cry one final time, "Why is Gray-sama ignoring Juvia!"
All of this Natsu ignored as he closed the distance between himself and his mate. Per usual, Gray continued to ignore him and for a moment he wondered whether he was truly unaware of his presence or maybe he was intentionally playing the part of the ignorant jackass.
Preference be on the latter, at least for Natsu. He knew all too well what was happening here and to say he didn't like it was an understatement. Natsu crossed his arms against his chest. His face remained impassive, but his eyes were cold, so cold that Lucy had to blink to make sure that she was seeing correctly and to her surprise, when her eyes did reopen, she found that replacing his face was a much gentler expression.
Her heart swelled in joy as she realized that what she had seen was a lie and when he spoke, her heart exploded.
"I'm back." He paused before finishing in a tone reserved only for her. "I will never ever leave, Lucy."
He grinned and her eyes widened.
"I promise."
Across the flesh, mainly the cheeks, a hue of red stirred. N-Natsu's smile. Wide, wider, wider, more wide, more, more wide, wider, widest. Lucy's eyes couldn't widen any further! Lucy found her eyes bulging.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Lucy's eyes were going to pop if N-Natsu continued to s-smile like that.
Never had she seen a smile that could rival her mother and Aunty Michelle so p-prowerthly.
To say Lucy was shocked was an understatement. No, Lucy was...
N-Natsu was really, really, really pwerdi and his teeth was so white. It resembled the sun.
No! No! No! S-Staring was bad. L-Lucy shouldn't stare. Daddy wouldn't like Lucy to stare like that.
N-Natsu wouldn't like that either and she lowered her head, slightly ashamed as she started to swing her feet slowly. Blonde bangs fell right in front of her eyes and she muttered,
"T-Thank-you, N-Natsu."
Once again his heart jolted and Gray scowled. "Oi, Oi Lucy!" he exclaimed, obviously not liking the lack of attention. "You want another piece." But, before he could place the piece of cake into her mouth, Natsu had already snatched the plate away.
What followed next wasn't that surprising.
Gray's fist clenched. The tips of his fingers scraped against the palm of his hand and all Gray could do was to glare furiously. "Oi, Natsu, what the hell!"
When Gray stood up, the chair fell and the blonde, who had been sitting opposite to it, trembled slightly, utterly shocked. Her feet that were once swinging abruptly came to a halt. Again, her eyes couldn't get any bigger than this.
Natsu's face was cold when he said, "You're not allowed to feed her or touch her, Gray."
For some reason, he sounded disturbingly calm despite the given look. However, that wasn't enough for Gray to stop. "And why the hell not!"
"Cuz I said so."
Gray rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, Natsu, the kid likes me. Stop acting so over protective, baka."
"Gray-sama!" moaned Juvia.
Natsu's eyes narrowed. "Don't touch her, Gray," he warned one final time and took hold of the blonde.
"Asshole," the raven head muttered, but Natus ignored him, choosing to inhabit the chair the blonde had been sitting in before he placed her gently onto his lap.
"N-Natsu?" Lucy's voice was soft and inquisitive while his reply had been sharp and definitive.
"I'm fine." The pinkette leaned back into the chair. "You like sweet things?"
Lucy nodded her head timidly and he smiled. "Here," he murmured, doing just as Gray had done. Slicing a piece and directing it into her small mouth. He wished she could have this face all the time and not just with food. Operation M: Make Lucy smile was only sixty-six percent complete. The girl downright refused to give him a really big smile and he couldn't help but to wonder what the heck was he doing wrong.
Surely he wasn't that lame. Lame was Gray. Lame was Gajeel. He wasn't-couldn't be lame and yet here he was, struggling without results. Almost could this be added to one of his many failures and he sighed, loudly.
Erza, hand tucked beneath her chin, eyed the little girl darkly. "Natsu," she calmly said and a small step was then taken, proceeded by another and then another until she was basically strolling casually over to the two.
In unison, her long scarlet hair flickered with the movements of her body and her eyes were still attached onto the pink headed man.
Erza didn't even hear when Gray had exclaimed an 'Aye' in regards to her earlier statement nor did she acknowledge the pouting noise of Juvia's moaning, "She was not talking to you Gray-sama!"
Levy's mortified mutter of Gajeel didn't register either and if she had just taken the time to look, she wouldn't have missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Bad ass, serious face Gajeel had been completely frozen; all because of her voice.
Accomplishment would have been delicious, but right now there were more important matters at state here and that was Natsu's mate.
Erza's eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong with the child. There was no way a child should look so... Mentally, Erza sniffed. The child looked... Was it possible for human children to be so...so...
The red head swallowed thickly.
When she finally reached him, it was then Lucy peered up at her curiously, lips parting in apprehension and then it happened.
Erza Scarlet outstretched a hand. A small gesture with said hand was conducted and Natsu merely sighed, comprehending the nature of her intention. Erza moved her hand again, mentally shouting at Natsu to hand the child over and all Natsu could do was lower his head, ignoring the scarlet haired woman. "Erza, not now."
The woman gestured again.
Gray and Gajeel sweat dropped.
"Erza," Levy moaned.
"I did not ask for your cooperation, Natsu." She gestured again and Natsu sighed, causing for the blonde to blink repetitively before her stare swept towards the red headed beauty. Long lashes glistened with a hint of water and she muttered, "P-Please don't hurt N-Natsu… L-Lucy does not want N-Natsu to leave her."
Gajeel blinked
Levy blinked.
Juvia blinked.
Gray blinked and Erza blinked then before anyone else could blink, Lucy was suddenly locked in the woman's arms, squeezed tightly against her breasts.
"C-Cute. W-where ever did y-you get such a cute child, N-Natsu... She's-she's..." Erza was finally able to spill out what had been eating at her since her arrival into the dining room.
And Natsu panicked. "E-Erza, you're hurting her!"
But before he could do anything, a smooth voice had already interrupted, "Erza, you are frightening the little girl. Release her, please."
And she stilled, eyes growing slightly before trailing quickly onto the entrance of the room. "J-Jellal."
Leaning casually against its frame, hair messier than normal and eyes heavily lidded, Jedye gave his mate a slight scowl of disappointment. His lips parted. "Erza, you are frightening the little girl. Release her, please," he repeated. This time slower than before.
"B-But she's…"
Sighing softly, a callous hand slipped tiredly into blue spikes. "She's cute, very cute, Erza. But she's not a pet," he stated firmly, lazily taking a seat opposite a very pissed off Natsu.
Then the red head frowned, finally realizing the horror of her actions. "You are right." Placing the girl gently onto the table, Erza bowed her head. "My apologies, Lucy. Please hit me, punch me, do anything to me."
And Lucy, who was still frightened out of her wits, shook furiously, at a loss for words, eyes nearly shedding tears.
"Geez, thanks a lot, Erza," Natsu muttered darkly before wrapping his hands around his mate and placing her back onto his lap. "Sorry about that, Lucy. Unfortunately, she is my friend. She's good, just a bit crazy," he whispered soothingly, drying her tears with the back of his fingers and she nodded, lowering her head.
Erza's frowned deepened. "My apologies, Lucy. Please hit me, you can even kill me."
The blonde gasped and Natsu growled again. "Erza," he warned and she berated herself in understanding. "My apologies."
Jellal drowsily muttered, "I'm sorry about that, Lucy. Please accept her as well as my apology."
In response, Lucy merely nodded her head, cheering up a bit when Natsu decided to feed her more cake and Jellal watched the scene before smiling gently.
"He's really taken a liking to her, huh?" the blue head muttered just as Erza had taken a seat beside him followed by the others; Gajeel, Levy, Gray and Juvia.
"So it seems," the red answered, watching the scene, face neutral yet something gentle twinkled behind those brown eyes and then she smiled. "I am very happy for Natsu."
"We are all happy for him. Finally, he doesn't have to be alone," Levy whispered, inhaling the sight in glee, eyes large.
"Finally, he can be happy," Erza whispered, smiling broadly and then Lissanna, Wendy and Mirajane had appeared, garnishing the table with bowls, grins, greetings, smiles and plates, retreating back into the kitchen before reappearing once again, filling the object once more with even more goodies.
It didn't take very long for everyone to come down from the stairs. In fact, on entering, they had all abruptly began to crowd the poor little child. Everyone wanted to see her, squeezing through each other to get first glances, squealing when they saw her, yelling shouts of kawai and one; mainly Freed fainted at the sight of the blonde.
Eventually, an argument soon broke out on who should be the one to play with the girl. Laxus was the only one whom hadn't joined in, choosing to inhabit a sit on the table in the far off left and eye the girl with interest from a distance instead.
Little Lucy, on the other hand, had been very, very shy at the sight of so many people all gathered around her so she quickly hid her eyes, somehow hoping they wouldn't see her. It was the first time she had ever had so much attention. Never had anyone besides her parents showered her with such fwasination a-ansh…v-vigorth!
People were crowding her from all angles. There was a green hairsh guy with a-a-a m-mouse, no, m-mole below his eye, who had fainted! Sugoi! A b-brown hairsh beauty with a b-brown bwottle! And…and lots, lots more people.
She couldn't face t-them. T-They w-were b-beautifulth!
But, with a little help from the others; mostly him, N-Natsu, she had finally opened up, greeting everyone politely and then hell had really broken lose, as almost everyone tried to hug her, starting with Evergreen and even Elfman, yelling something about being incredibly manly only to receive a glare from his mate.
Happy was startled out of his boots when Lucy grabbed hold of his tail and Natsu's wish had finally been granted. His Lucy had released a laugh and even though it was caused by Happy's reaction towards her, it still didn't change the fact that she had giggled and he smiled, answering her question on the nature of Happy's existence with glee much to the despair of the blue haired cat and laughing Charla.
It was strange, but in that moment Natsu felt something he had never felt before. It was a realization and he smiled softly, watching Lucy gaze down shyly at the ground while swinging her feet helplessly.
Everything was going according to fate.
All of his friends, even Laxus(who merely stared at the little girl in approval) seemed to like his mate and for once, since that incident two hundred years ago, Natsu finally felt at peace with himself.
He had finally found something to live for again.
He was…
His heart warmed.
He was…
His heart sped up.
He was…
And he smiled.
He was finally happy.
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Wide.
Her eyes had grown incredibly wide as she stared up at the wealth of books cascading all over the place. Pink lips opened before abruptly snapping shut. She was in awe. There were so many books. Lots and lots of books.
Squealthle! Yes, that's what she wanted to do! She wanted to squealthle in excitement at the dericious treat greeting right back at her. It was like a candy world of bookths, lying restlessly on humongous bookshelves, patiently waiting to be read, to be swept into her tiny hands, stretched into the air and engulfed with nothing but her hearty gibbles before she landed it right back in front of her, opened and ready to c-consume.
And she realized that her imavination was hyperventilating again- if that was even a wordth, at least she wondered briefly before once again tweaking her little mouth opened. However, seconds later, it came crashing closed.
Would N-Natsu allow her to take one of the bookths? Honestly, Lucy had never seen so many bookths in all the course of her life. Not even her father's study room had this many bookths and she beamed, exceedingly happy to have ever come across such a treasure. But-But her imavination wasn't enough. She wanted, no, she needed to readth one of those bookths.
Just one bookth. Just one bookth.
One bookth. Her eyes sealed tightly.
One bookth, please.
For a moment, her tiny hand reached out then she froze.
Her hair shook to the side when her gaze met with Natsu's and her hand crashed right back to where they rightfully belonged; at her sides.
She really wanted to choose a book, but N-Natsu…wouldn't Natsu mind if she just took the book without his permission?
A soft sigh escaped her lips and Natsu frowned, not liking the sudden change in attitude. He was leaning idly against one of the shelves, hands folded across his naked chest as he eyed the girl curiously. Maybe she didn't like books and he scowled, realizing that he should have asked her before bringing her here.
How much horrible could he get? How could he have assumed that she was tired of the dining room? How… He sighed, slipping his hand into his hair. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I guess you don't like books, right?" he asked softly and the blonde shook her head, face once again flushing. She bit nervously into her bottom lip, causing Natsu's face to contort slightly in alarm at the gesture. Brows arched significantly before he spoke. "What's wrong? Do you want to leave?"
Instead of nodding like he had thought she would, she merely lowered her head-an action he was accustomed seeing when she was shy- hand coming close to her mouth and she murmured, so incredibly soft that if he hadn't been paying attention he would have missed it. "N-No…"
She paused, eyes darting viciously around, unable to meet his stare. "P-pwease don't leave N-Natsu… L-Lucy w-wants…" Again, she paused then she shook her head, chewing pink lips.
"Hm?" Natsu's head tilted, not fully comprehending what she was trying to say. "Speak louder, Lucy. I won't bite, promise."
With her eyes closed, Lucy took a deep breath, puffing her cheeks out. "L-Lucy wants to r-readth…but L-Lucy's afraid…"
"Hm? Afraid of what?"
"N-Natsu might get mad at Lucy."
He frowned. "Why would I do that?"
She pouted. "I-I don't know…"
And he smiled gently. "It's all yours, Lucy."
"EH?" Lucy blinked, thoroughly confuse.
"This place here. I own it and if I own it then Lucy owns it."
"Eh?" Another blink was conducted and her head nudged to the side.
He chuckled lightly. "Choose any book you want. In fact do you want me to give you a tour around the place?"
Her eyes brightened and she nodded rapidly. "Yes, pwease, but N-Natsu's l-library's so bigantic!" She made a gesture with her arms, spreading them wide opened, and he couldn't help but to grin at her fascination.
At least he found another thing she liked, but seriously who would have thought that she would have really fancied stuff like that instead of toys. Books of all things. Now, that was slightly unexpected even though he had a slight feeling that she may have had an interest in the given object. Yet still, were children, human children always like this? So fascinated by such things or was it just her.
'I think it's just her,' and he smiled, silently nodding his head in agreement before conducting the child's orientation across his library. She trailed behind him closely, listening intently to every word he uttered as he explained each category labeled to each self; heeding caution to make sure he avoided Erza's perverted section of the library.
For a moment he paused, mentally reminding himself to let Erza move the items to another section of the house, perhaps to her room sometime later. However, his thoughts were instantly interrupted before he could come to a suitable conclusion as he saw Lucy walking ahead of him, head raised, eyes curious as they soaked in everything and he wondered how much larger could those eyes become.
Then she decided. Little Lucy Heartfillia had decided that she would read every bookth in here. Each and everyone she would read and she pumped her fist into the air before searching through a line of books, ignorant to the intense stare of the pinkette.
Really, Natsu had never seen someone so excited over something as trivial as books. Except Levy and on occasions Erza- that is, but with the way she jogged, heading into another aisle, he honestly couldn't help but to smile. Lucy was happy. His smile matured just a bit as he watched her drop to her knees, reaching out tiny hands.
Seconds later a book emerged. It was flipped opened and then. His eyes widened as he watched something gold tumble down onto the ground. It clanked loudly. Natsu's eyes widened a bit and his lips parted while he stared at it. Not a moment too soon, after blinking consecutively, Lucy outstretched an index finger. With curiosity, she trailed it all over the object and his brows furrowed.
Upon further inspection, he realized the golden item wasn't just, well, an item. It was…A celestial spirit key. Odd, celestial wizards were rare. Not only were they rare, but none of the people in their group could conduct such a magic. Weirder yet was why something of this caliber was doing in his-their library and hiding in a book no less?
Strange…
Lazily, he tucked his hands into his pockets and walked over to a very busy Lucy, who was busy staring at the thing as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. She moved it this way and that way, this way and that way, this way, that way, this way until finally she blinked. Brown eyes then peeked upwards at Natsu and she twirled it again. "N-Natsu…w-what's this? Is this a k-keysh?"
The pinkette merely tilted his head, examining it yet another time. He didn't know much about celestial wizards-it was the only magic none of their kind were capable of doing- neither was he too sure on the mechanics of how it worked, but if there was one thing he was sure of it was the fact that this golden key was a zodiac or something along those lines.
"Dunno. Looks like a key," he muttered thoughtfully, stooping down besides Lucy, who bit her lip and took a deep breath. When she lowered her chin, Natsu felt himself beginning to panic. Crap, had he done something wrong again?
"Lucy?" His tone was warm, so warm that Little Lucy couldn't help but to smile. N-Natsu was warm, rweally, rweally warm and she tightened her grip around the golden key, pushing it tightly against her chest as she said, "L-Lucy thinks it's really, really pwerdi."
His head tilted. "You do?"
And she nodded, vigorously. "Yes." Her chin jerked up and charcoal and chocolate met all over again, "Like N-Natsu's hair!"
Natsu's lip curled slightly at the bright look being directed towards him. For a moment, he thought he had upset her and he released a mental breath he didn't know he was holding.
"But…"
Shit. Her chin fell again. Not good.
"It feels…sad." Pressing it tightly against her cheek, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, grasping the object tighter in her tiny, little hands. "It reminds Lucy of Lucy."
Natsu frowned, resting a hand on top of her head. "Lucy…"
Her hands trembled. "It's l-lonely… rweally, rweally l-lonely…"
And a tear rolled down her cheek.
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...To be continued...
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The wind blew, but it was only for a second before it settled back into a strange pattern of secrecy, just like the streets of Algoria, where no man, woman or child could be seen roaming the streets except for an elderly gentleman by the name of Makarov Dreyer. He wasn't roaming the streets per say, but he was sitting on top of a very tall building, legs crossed and arms folded. His hair was grey, same as the beard, and his eyes were closed. Only once did the wind hit him. After that, it didn't blow again.
From the distance, a lamp flickered, then just as the clouds hid the gleam of the moon, a long cape whirled behind said elderly man.
Out of nowhere someone had just appeared. His hair was orange and his eyes were narrowed.
Up there, no one could hear their conversation and one had to wonder whether it was of intention or rather mere coincidence.
Taking a seat besides the old man, the orange head greeted, "Makarov." And the older man returned a greeting of his own, voice hard,
"Gildarts." His head tilted, but he didn't reopen his eyes. "I assume you went there for the same purpose as me."
Gildarts merely nodded, crossing his arms, face darkening.
The atmosphere grew tenser.
Makarov continued, "This is the second time Magnolia has been destroyed. The first was under special circumstances. This time, however..." One narrowed eye peeked opened. "I do not like this, Gildarts."
The red head lowered his head. "Special circumstances, huh." He sighed deeply. "I hate it just as much as you do, old man."
Makarov massaged his white beard tenderly. "Why are you here?" A long pause. "Passing through Algoria?"
The man shrugged. "I was on my way to Natsu's place. Ran into a gorgeous blonde."
"Gorgeous?"
"I couldn't see her face. She had on a cloak, but I had glimpsed some of her hair. She's an angel." He had said the last part dreamily despite the seriousness of the situation and Makarov merely chuckled. Gildarts really hadn't changed. With that, the tense atmosphere seemed to diminish almost instantaneously, being replaced with something calmer. Unfortunately, his shoulders hunched tiredly when he thought of the city all over again
"I see. She requested you find out what happened to the city, I assume?"
Gildarts nodded. "No, she was more concerned with whether or not anyone survived."
"Were there any survivors?"
"No."
"What's the woman's name?"
"Dunno. She didn't wanna say."
For a moment, Makarov looked thoughtful. "Hm. There's been no survivors on my end either, but I did smell Natsu's team down there."
Gildart's eyes widened a bit. "Natsu's team. What were they doing down there?"
"Don't know. Haven't had any contact with them for about a few months now."
"I guess they might know something."
"Perhaps. I am heading back to Fiore, where are you heading, Gildarts?"
"Gonna meet up with the mystery woman again. She's gonna request something of me or something." Taking a deep breath, his shoulders slouched and he rested an arm across his lap while his hand rested against his face.
"What kind of request?"
"Dunno, old man."
"Hmmm..."
"Master, I have a rough idea of the circumstances surrounding the city's first destruction. It occurred four years ago; X777, July 1st. A day when both a blessing and a curse was born," He paused, remembrance marked all over his face, "but this second one..."
His eyes narrowed. "I don't want to believe it, Master."
Finally, Makarov opened both eyes. They were extremely serious, especially when he spoke, "I'm sorry, Gildarts, but it is true. Humans were not responsible for the city's demise. I had hoped they would have never found out. I had hoped they would have never ventured into the Human World."
Taking a deep breath, he massaged his beard again, becoming calm.
Gildarts frowned. "Natsu will not like this."
Makarov sighed, nodding his head slightly.
And the wind blew.
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A/N So as stated on my profile, I've manage to shoot in a little update. Hooray! Once more, thank you so much for all the fantastic support. Honestly, if I didn't have so much support for this fic I wouldn't have even bothered updating it, at least not until next year; the least.
The persons-you know who you are, my angels- who recently reviewed, favored and followed this story, I thank you guys because your support really struck a core. I had totally forgotten about fan fiction, but thanks to those recent supporters I managed to ask myself why won't I continue this fic, which has lead to this?
Also, please note that different parts of the chapter were written at different times, which is why some may be a bit different in terms of writing than the others and to rewrite everything into one type of writing would be too time consuming. Like for instance, the library part was written with chapter two and three. The beginning part was written some time in July, 2013, the end with Gildarts was written in November, 2013 and I just edited up them here and there and added and changed a few things.
Chapter 4 really had me confused since there were so many ways I could have started it, hence all the different time intervals, thus I just merged some with some and voila, we have this chapter, baby.
For me personally, chapter 6 is what I'm really waiting for, hopefully, if all goes according to plan in chapter 5 we are going to have a grown up Lucy! *winks, winks, winks*
As I said, I am not promising updates. They can happen any time. It all depends on my mood plus the fact I'm on vacation until August. YAY!
*coughs*
*Clears throat*
Now, if you would be so kind to leave a review or perhaps follow or even favor my fic to show you appreciate (or hate), I would try to update even faster. No promises thoughXD
I appreciate flames also, so if you think there's something that doesn't make sense, grammatical errors, inconsistency and etc. please don't hesitate to tell zodious-senpai!
Zodious-senpai really hopes you enjoyed this chapter because the adventure has only just begun.
Till we meet again!
Have a great night. Take care.