The train from Clover station travelled at a moderate speed, allowing the passengers to view the beauty of the mountains, fields and river through the windows. It was around 3'o-clock in the afternoon, which provided just the right amount of light for the people to appreciate the scenery better.
Meredy glanced at the window, staring off the distance, and recalled how she ended up going to a place which she didn't even intend to go to in the first place.
Neither of them said anything else as they walked back to Clover Town. Meredy was still bothered by the fact that the Magic Council would be coming over to Magnolia, increasing the chances of her being caught. She felt that she should avoid that as much as possible, at least until the information about Jellal had been passed on to Fairy Tail. Briefly, she looked over at her companion, who appeared to be in deep thought. In truth, she was grateful for everything that he has done for her in a short span of time, but she also felt guilty that the more he was involved with her affairs, the more he's putting himself at risk.
When they finally reached the town, Meredy chose to break the silence.
"Now that we're here," she started saying, "I guess I should buy my own coat so we could finally go our separate ways." She looked over at the buildings and spotted a clothing store. "Oh, there's a shop! Wait here while I buy. I won't be long!" She began walking away when she felt someone tugging her arm.
"Wait," Lyon remarked, loosening his grip on her arm. She noticed how serious he appeared. "There's no need to do that."
Meredy gave him a puzzled look, blinking several times. "Eh?"
The expression on his face remained unchanged. "Because you're coming back with me to Lamia Scale."
Meredy's thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps coming closer. She turned her head and saw Lyon, who then sat across from her on the train's couch. He was holding some sort of flyer. He started speaking. "Apparently, this Fairy Tail festival is a three-day event. Today's the first day, so we should probably go there tomorrow."
She lowered her head, choosing to look at her lap instead of him. "Why?"
"Fairy Tail is probably very busy this first day since it's the kick-off of the event, after all." Lyon handed her the paper, which she automatically took from his hand. "They would've already adjusted by the second day, and I figured it'll be better if we inform them beforehand that we'll be coming over. I already sent a letter to Gray."
She gazed at the colourful paper before her, noticing the big text saying: 'Come and Join the Magical Festival of Fiore's Strongest Guild, FAIRY TAIL!' The background had a beautiful drawing of Magnolia, with various colours of confetti drawn on the edge. She subconsciously gripped the paper tighter. "No, I mean, why are you doing this?"
Lyon leaned his trunk closer to her, holding his hands together. "Well," he paused, as if he didn't really know the answer to it, "I owe you for helping me out on the job. I'm not saying that I could not have done it by myself, but you made it easier."
"You do remember that I was the one who owed you since you saved my life in the first place," she countered. The paper on her hand was starting to crumple.
He chuckled. "Looks like you caught me." His laughter faded when he noticed that Meredy wasn't making any move. "Look, if I were in your shoes, I would just be thankful for the help I'm receiving, especially during the times when I really need it."
"But you won't understand!" She retorted back in a higher volume, causing some of the people around them to look at their spot. Meredy saw Lyon nodding his head at the passengers, as if telling them that everything's under control. The passengers resumed whatever it was they were doing. Meredy then continued, softly and more careful this time. "You won't understand, because I'm a wanted person, and you aren't. You should not be even helping me."
After making sure that no one else was hearing their conversation, he leaned his head closer to her. "You may be a wanted person," he whispered, not looking away from her, "but I don't think you're a bad person. If you ask me, there are lots of other people deserving to be in jail than you."
Eyes glassy, she finally looked at him in the eyes, but she couldn't say anything in response.
"You know, I've also done some things which I regret in my life." He shifted his eyes to his hands. "There was a time wherein I wanted to revive a demon for my own selfish reasons. Looking back, I didn't really think of the other consequences of that action since I was too much engulfed in hatred. Perhaps I was just lucky that the demon was apparently dead, and a bunch of good people gave me a chance to redeem myself."
Meredy noted the rueful tone of his voice, but still could not find herself to respond.
"All I'm saying is, I didn't know what I was doing back then, and thanks to the people who opened my eyes, I was able to live a better life." He turned his eyes towards her. "You're the same too, right? I know you were in Grimoire Heart as a kid, and I assume you didn't know what you were doing too. Why don't I give you a chance as well?"
Her eyes were starting to water with his words. Bringing one hand to her mouth, she could only utter, "Lyon…"
He added, "And I'm not saying that you should forget about your sins."
Meredy then thought that his words sounded familiar. Ultear.
"In my own experience, those mistakes served as a reminder for me not to turn into that person again—a reminder that I should continue to live my life fully, and not to throw it away in hatred," the ice mage slowly said the next words, "In your case, I'm not entirely sure, but…"
She heard him pause, causing her to look at him curiously.
"…there's that look in your eyes," he pointed one finger towards her green orbs, which made her slightly move away. "I saw fear. I'm not sure of what, but basing from your decision earlier," he said, pertaining to her hesitance in walking through the big forest by herself, "I assume it has something to do with being alone."
Stunned that he could read her so well, she could only lightly nod, avoiding his gaze.
"I see," he nodded marginally, shutting his eyes, "you have friends in Fairy Tail, right? And later on, you'll meet the members of Lamia Scale." He opened his eyes, and saw that she still wasn't looking at him. "They're a weird bunch, but they're really nice once you get to know them," he then said the next statement with a smile, "So don't ever think that you're alone."
Meredy simply stared at him.
For a moment, Lyon tried to recall what he had said to check if he mentioned something wrong.
Meredy finally decided to say something, noticing that his smile was fading. She bowed her head. "Thank you."
"Eh?" Lyon gave her a puzzled look, blinking several times.
"I know we've only known each other for a short while, but," she raised her head. Teardrops were at the edge of her eyes, but she was smiling. "Thank you for being here too."
He didn't really expect that reaction from her, so he found himself blushing at the comment. He moved his trunk backwards, sat straight, crossed his arms and looked away from her. "Don't mention it."
"But will your guild master be okay with it?" she asked innocently, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Oh shit, he thought. Ooba Babasaama. He suddenly imagined himself being spun around by the angry granny. He grimaced at the thought.
"Um, are you okay?" She waved her hands in front of him, a worried look on her face.
Lyon flinched as he got back to reality. "I'm fine." He coughed uneasily. "To be honest, I haven't thought of that. But I'll be able to handle it. Leave her to me."
Meredy stared at him for a few seconds and found herself muffling a giggle, which then erupted into laughter.
Lyon creased his brow. "What's so funny?"
Meredy covered her mouth for decency, still giggling. "It's nothing. You're really not the type to plan ahead, are you?" She laughed heartily again. "I guess you really are a reckless old man!"
Lyon huffed irritatingly. "Shut up, I'm not an old man!"
Meredy quietly noted that he didn't say anything to refute being reckless. She beamed happily at him.
On the other hand, while Lyon felt a tinge of annoyance at the girl before him, it was then when he realized that a genuine smile like that suited her the best. He felt that maybe, it was a pleasing sight that he would never get tired of seeing.
Meanwhile, in Magnolia, a rowdy crowd was heard in the streets. The program for the first day was over, and various members from Fairy Tail started cleaning the debris by the stage. The jollity of the place didn't diminish however since different stalls selling various merchandises as well as game stalls still remained by the streets.
"That's a wrap, guys! That was a great first day," Erza said proudly, as she used her Requip magic to change her dress into a sweeper's overalls. She proceeded to briskly sweep the floor with a broom, happily humming a tune.
"I agree, everyone did a great job," Mirajane added sweetly, smiling as she removed the decorations on the stage.
"It sucks that we have to do this cleaning job, though." Natsu slowly picked up the discarded confetti on the ground, clearly bored with what he was doing.
"What's the matter, Flame Brain?" Gray retorted in a cocky voice. He was also picking the confetti on the ground near the Fire Dragon Slayer, but instead of his bare hands, he was using an ice stick. "Can't handle such a simple job?"
"At least I have my clothes on, Ice Stripper!" A shriek was heard from Gray, and the next thing they knew, the two were battling on the stage.
"Here we go again," Lucy commented exasperatingly, scrubbing the table on the stage.
"Guys, don't destroy the stage!" Wendy squeaked, attempting to stop the fight between the two. "We still need the stage for tomorrow!" But a bucket somehow flew out of Natsu's and Gray's fight, hitting Wendy on the head, which then knocked her unconscious.
Somehow, the other members from Fairy Tail just got involved in the brawl.
"Only a man would not refuse a challenge such as this!" Elfman punched Natsu in the face, causing him to fly towards Erza. The broom that Erza was holding then flew its way towards Max, who was running away from the scene. In the end, the broom somehow ended shoved up in his rear.
Cana, who was passing by while holding lots of barrels of wine, accidentally tripped out of drunkenness, causing one of the barrels to hit Gray hard on the head. Juvia, who was watching the scene from afar, then crawled quickly towards Gray's limp body. "Gray-sama is still very handsome even if he is beaten up and unconscious!"
"Aye! What's happening here?" Happy asked to no one in particular, just flying back towards the stage. He was holding a fried fish on a stick. He hovered over towards another cat. "Would you like some, Charle?"
The female Exceed merely puffed in annoyance and crossed her arms, soaring away from the disappointed Happy.
Just then, amidst the ruckus, a dark beam from the sky hit an area somewhere far from the festival grounds, but still within Magnolia. A deafening sound was heard momentarily, but disappeared when the beam vanished as well. Not many people detected the sound, as they were too preoccupied with the merriment (and riot) of the festival grounds.
"Did anybody hear that?" Lucy asked, bothered with what she heard. She pushed back her blonde hair behind her ear, as if attempting to hear whatever she heard even better. She then realized that nobody was listening to what she was saying as the scuffle further intensified, causing the stage to break and fall down.
It was another normal day for Fairy Tail.
In another place in Fiore, a similar dark beam emerged, which emitted an ear-splitting sound, but rapidly dissipated into thin air. The common townsfolk quickly dismissed it as lightning striking the ground. It was not unheard inside the building of the strongest guild of that town, Lamia Scale.
Inside the guild house, a certain girl with dark pink hair tripped on her foot. "Kyaaah~! That hurts!"
"That's what you get for constantly walking around, Chelia!" Another mage who resembled a canine screamed angrily at the girl, causing her to cover her ears defensively.
"Waaah! Sorry, Toby!" the girl Chelia cried back. She ruffled her pigtails with uneasiness. "I just can't help myself! Why isn't Lyon back yet?"
A guy with extremely bushy eyebrows approached the two of them. "Quiet, guys, did you hear that noise?"
"Whaaat?" The dog ears on Toby's head then wiggled. "I didn't hear anything! Are you sure, Yuka?"
Yuka scratched one of his large eyebrows. "I'm sure I did."
"I heard it too," a woman with hair colour similar to Chelia interjected, "but maybe it's just lightning."
"Sherrrrryyy~!" Chelia hugged the said person, greatly clinging on to her waist. "Where is Lyon? I thought the job he took was pretty easy? Shouldn't he be back by now?"
"I'm sure Lyon's fine," a tall man with a bald head and long beard said, approaching their group. "He's a strong mage, Chelia. Just believe in him."
"But Jura-san," the girl said back, a worried look remaining on her face.
"Also," Jura uttered, turning his head to Yuka and Sherry, "I heard the noise too. I'm going to check it out."
The group nodded, and the bald wizard saint headed towards the exit of the guild house.
"I'm going to watch Lyon by the window! That's what soul mates do, right?" Chelia exclaimed, sparkles coming out of her eyes.
Sherry clapped her hands together, slightly tilting her head sideways. "That's my cousin!" she said proudly, gazing at the younger girl.
"Is that even something to be proud of?!" Yuka annoyingly asked. No one answered him.
On her way to the window, Chelia tripped on her foot again.
A fuming "Ooooooon!" was heard, followed by the mention of the name of the girl who tripped.
It was another normal day for Lamia Scale.
A/N: A relatively short chapter this time! The other characters are finally introduced, and it was pretty fun writing them. I'll try to update as soon as I can. And after doing some research, I realized that Walrod was more used than Warrod, so I edited his name in the previous chapter. Thank you for pointing that out, princessforeveralone! Again, thank you all the reviews so far, everyone! I also appreciate the people who view the story. You know who you are. :3
