Chapter Seven

Research

Her nose was deep in a book when Cana found her at the guildhall. The text was worn to the point of the leather binding peeling off in large bits and in general looked older than Master himself. Sitting beside the petite woman with an arm resting around her on the back of the bench was her ever-looming shadow, stuffing his face with scrap iron. And also never far away from either of them was the Exceed Pantherlily, sitting on the table with a basket of his beloved kiwi fruit.

She'd never gotten used to the way the metal would crunch and creek in Gajeel's jaws as he chewed. It additionally didn't help that his table manners were as bad as Natsu's. I don't think I'll ever understand how she can just sit there with him chomping in her ear like that. As she approached, Gajeel was the first to notice her and finished gnawing at a small sheet of something, which garnered Lily's attention as well. Though, that wasn't much of a compliment to his dragon nose as Levy was usually so engrossed in whatever book was in front of her, all of Magnolia could be at war and she'd take no notice.

"Oi." He seemed wary of her and subtly narrowed his eyes. He must still be mad about that. The Iron Dragon Slayer had not taken too kindly to the "wager" she made about whether or not he would surpass Natsu. She told him she consulted her cards and it was the Fire Dragon who would reign as the supreme slayer. Though she did fail to mention that it was all a bluff and if she remembered correctly, he went directly over to the Salamander and picked a fight with him right then and riled the whole guild up in a typical mêlée.

"Cana, what brings you to the guild so early?" Pantherlily always had better manners than his partner.

"What do you want?" He asked, leaning onto the table as much as he could while keeping an arm around Levy. Cana waved at the Exceed and returned her attention to the one she came to see.

"Came to see me old friend Levy of course." She ignored Gajeel and the frown he gave after being so obviously disregarded. "I have a question for you." A frown came over her own face though when it was her turn to be ignored. The man at the bluenette's side chuckled and scooted closer to his woman. Not in the mood for petty squabbling, she tried to get Levy's attention again, sitting down across the table from the bookish woman.

"I heard they're adding on a new wing to the guild's library."

"Really?" She snapped her head up from the book and blinked up at her from behind her glasses. "Eh? Cana?" Cana sat back and crossed her arms, smiling to herself when she finally gathered Levy's attention. Gajeel's slackened jaw added to her amusement.

"Just a rumor." She shrugged, leaning forward onto the table. "Anyway, I need a favor." The woman across from her pushed the red frames on her face upward to rest them on her head and rubbed at one eye.

"What kind of favor?" Gently, she closed the book and set it aside. Gajeel gave her an even more suspicious glance; trying so tactlessly to make sure Cana knew he was listening.

"I need to borrow some books. Or see if you know where I can find some information."

Levy noticed how much closer her boyfriend had become and furrowed her brows, giving him a puzzled look before scooting over. He wasn't fond of that at all.

"Sure. We can go back to my room and see what I have." They stood and as Gajeel was about to follow suit, Levy asked him to stay and wait for her since he wasn't allowed into the dorms. Though he continued to seem uncertain, he stayed and took a bite out of he metal scrap in still in his hand, grumbling while sitting down and brooding with Lily. He was chewing loudly just to grind on Cana's nerves. It worked, making her bristle and purposefully kick his shin when Levy had her back turned.

"Be right back!" She winked and hooked her arm in Levy's just to add some sting. He choked on his snack and waved his arms frantically. Erza, who happened by, helped Lily give him a firm "pat" on the back. It made her laugh more as they left the building.

As always when the door opened, it was as if seeing the room for the first time. Cana was no stranger to how the girls' rooms looked on the inside, but Levy's was always one that amazed her. There were shelves all along the walls and bookcases packed with countless books and papers. Whatever didn't fit there was stacked in corners, on her desk and even around the bed. It wouldn't have shocked her if the bed itself were made from stacks of books, too. Every time she walked in there, it felt as if the collection had gotten bigger.

"I don't think I have many books on card readings." Levy had already fearlessly climbed up a tall stool and was plucking out half a dozen texts.

"What about other methods?" She asked quietly. Her friend paused and looked down at her.

"Other methods?"

"Like divination." She bit down on her lower lip, chewing on it gently.

"I think I might have one on that." Levy gave no signs of suspicions and returned to her search, pulling one book from a high corner then climbing down to hand it to her. Her heart pulsed a little harder. It wasn't an unknown subject, but it was known that divinations were not to be taken lightly as they dealt with more powerful things. Lives had been lost because of certain methods and practices. Most of the deaths that occurred from it were due to grave readings a person received and could not handle the truths they'd learned. Others, from darker things like sacrifices and rituals. The thought sent a chill down her back. Now wasn't the time to think of such cases. She continued to watch as Levy gathered a more than hefty pile of books. The last one she recovered was similar to the one she'd had in the guildhall, though it looked much older and just as fragile as it was dusty.

"I think this is all I have here. I used to have a few more, but I needed the space so I gave them to the library. You might find some there." The ten books she already had were daunting enough that the thought of even one more made her question why she was bothering to put in this kind of effort to begin with.

"No thanks. I think I've got more than enough."

"Why are you researching this anyway?" Her thoughts were interrupted as she snapped her attention back to Levy.

"Just trying to brush up on my skills. Thought maybe I'd learn a new trick or two to help me out." She gave her most sincere smile. It seemed to work as Levy didn't ask any further questions, making her thankful for her friend's naivety.

"Well I'd better get going. I'll give these books back as soon as I'm done." Her arms felt tired already from the weight. "Thanks again Levy!" She backed out of the room slowly and down the hall. Wendy had passed her by and luckily offered to let her borrow a bag to help carry her research material in.

When she was back home, the hours seemed to melt away as she skimmed through the pages. Surprisingly, there were a few passages that had some interesting material and helpful information. One being palm reading, which coincidentally originated in Yi Kai. That made her snicker to herself. Giving a Yikani palm mage a Yikani palm reading. But after looking more into the dynamics, found that her cards were likely to be more accurate than looking at the changing lines on a person's hand.

Then there was the last book that Levy had given her; the old, dusty one. She'd left it aside, thinking it was too old and outdated to have any useful information as she'd found in a few of the other books.

In an almost desperate attempt to make sure she really did do all the research she could, Cana opened the final book, waving away the dust that puffed up from every turn of the page. It was a book of divinations and enchantments clearly and some of the practices seemed simple enough and without the need to sacrifice, such as enchanting a stick to be like a compass to find which direction one could find water, which reassured her. Then she discovered the others stronger in their magic and powers that she bookmarked.

It seemed like a lighter source of this magic until she read further on. There were dark things in it that made her shiver once more. More than a few required a sort of sacrifice, usually a pig or rooster or some animal hairs, and then there were the ones that detailed the forbidden practices of human sacrifice. After those, there were pages that even covered how to dissect the animal corpses correctly and preserve bones meant for throwing and reading. The thought of having to do such a thing to even animals sickened her and she flipped ahead more pages, hoping it would get better.

"This is going nowhere." She complained to no one and lay back on her bed. Why am I bothering to do this in the first place? It's not like I can do much even with a more accurate reading. Things like this just need to go their course. Deciding it was time for a break, she set the books aside and went downstairs to find something to eat.

She passed through the room still cluttered with the mess Bacchus had unintentionally made and left without cleaning. She snorted, walking over to the broken furniture and inspected them. It seemed as if he only attacked each item once and with a single strike. By the way the table and couch looked, she deemed him more than capable of deadly force. Though she was no stranger to witnessing his magic and his use of alcohol to amplify it, she could tell this was done without it and simply with his bare hands. The two pieces were cheap finds at least, which helped to keep her from getting too upset about the damage. They had been from the dorm, however and for that she felt a tinge of grief. She traced a hand over the countless scratches and dents and dings from years of abuse from her and the other girls. Nostalgia caught on and she ran her hand down what was once the top of the coffee table. Before she could get too sentimental, her stomach growled, reminding her why she was down there to start with.

As she stood, she noticed something against the wall and on the floor a few feet away. Curiously she went to pick it up and held the fragile thing in her hand. It was old, almost antique, but well taken care of. The gold's reflection of the natural afternoon light coming in from the window made it shine and shimmer with every new angle she tilted it. The pearls in the red flowers also gleamed in their own way as she turned it over a few times. Why would he have a comb like this? She tried to imagine such a masculine man like him using the delicate item and shook her head, chuckling. Or maybe it was a gift from some woman in Yi Kai. Finding herself pursing her lips, she emptied the thought out and huffed.

Pocketing the ornate piece, she went to get the snack and water she had originally come downstairs for and returned to her studies. It didn't take long for her eyes to get heavy and for her focus to strain. This definitely isn't my sort of thing. She closed the dusty tome and shut her eyes, hoping they wouldn't be as heavy if she let them rest for a moment. When she felt herself lean over a little too much, she jerked awake and shook her head to recalibrate.

"Why is this so difficult?" Cana again complained to no one and fell backward onto her bed. The plush of her bedding did little to help keep her from slipping into a doze. She didn't bother to fight it any longer. As her mind fell into the depths, she tried to stay concentrated on the information she had learned, hoping she could maybe figure out some new alternative sub-consciously. But her nap was dreamless and she awoke several hours later in her dark room surrounded by books and a cool breeze drifting in through the open balcony doors. With a yawn she rose and went to shut them and touched the lacrima at her bedside to better illuminate the room. Finding herself in need of more water, she made her way downstairs once more, checking the clock in the hall for the time. It was nearly midnight already, which made her grumble. The bar would still be lively, but it left her little time to enjoy her drinks before it closed. She resolved that she would have to drink at home in solitude. At least I can dress comfortably.

The bottles of wine clanked together as she pulled them from the shelf. It was as she was deciding if she wanted to bother with using a glass or drinking from the bottle that a knock came from her front door. She tried to pull her still disheveled hair back into a hair tie and make sure she was at least decent enough before answering it. Her pulse quickened as she almost hoped it might be Bacchus, though she couldn't have been more wrong when she opened it and saw Gajeel and Pantherlily there instead. Her mood went sour before he could even speak.

"Hey Lily, what brings you to this side of town?" She squatted down, getting as close to the Exceed's eye level as she could. Gajeel visibly bristled behind him.

"We were sent to bring you a book from Levy." He pointed upward at his partner who produced a palm-size booklet from his pocket. "She said she remembered having it after you left."

Cana stood, taking the book and looked it over then back to the pair in her doorway.

"I left Levy's hours ago." She said after flipping through a few of the pages. Both Gajeel and Lily suddenly avoided looking directly at her then, making her smirk. "Did we get a little lost?" The frown on the Iron Dragon Slayer's face only deepened.

"Tch. We were here earlier, but the lights were off and you didn't answer the door so we checked all the bars and alleys." He shrugged. She wanted to chastise him, but the color of his eyes flickered and for a moment she saw someone else standing there. Unsure of what to make of the brief vision, she tried to think of something to say.

"Would you like to come in?" She ended up asking in a monotone, hoping they would see through her pretend courtesy and decline.

"It's late, we wouldn't want to force your entertainment." Lily spoke for them, letting Cana internally sigh thankfully.

"Alright then, tell Levy thanks for me." Her smile was more for the relief of being left alone as she bid them off. At this rate I'm going to end up like Porlyusica. An image of her wearing the old hermit woman's garb made her skin crawl.

Once back upstairs, she opened up her wine and thumbed through the newest addition to her research material. Much to her disappointment, it didn't offer up any more information than she'd already found in the other larger texts. Taking another drink, she skimmed through it once more. Still nothing. It felt useless at this point trying to find out how else to solve Bacchus' night terrors. After seeing what she had the night before, it was amazing how he slept at all. No wonder he looked so tired the other day. Must've been why he didn't want to stay the first or even last night. She almost felt guilty, as if she had made him stay over when he had not wanted to. It's not like he couldn't have said no if he really didn't want to.

The stack of books on her nightstand grew by one when she placed the little one on top of them all. She would bring them back to Levy in the morning. I wonder if she would know where in the library I could find the ones she donated. Cana mused to herself and finished off her first bottle. Thankfully, it was enough to make her eyes heavy again and allowed her to return to sleep.

It was the next morning as she was leaving that she found him on her doorstep, leaning against the side of the house, asleep where he stood.


A/N: An ACTUALLY FRIDAY upload for you guys today! And a bit of a longer one at that! With finals week next week, I'm not certain if I'll have the next chapter completely ready for you all, but I will try my best! In the meantime, enjoy and until (hopefully) next week, Betty B.

P.S. GaLe for LYFE!