Chapter 9

Freed caught Gajeels attention from the second floor, as Bickslow was walking into the guild.

"Looks like the books here short stack. You go ahead while I give Lily a call." Levy smacked him in the chest lightly for the nickname then headed to the stairs. Gajeel couldn't help but watch her hips swing when she walked away from him as he pulled out his phone.

When Levy walked in to Makarovs office she saw the elderly librarian she had grown close to when she was in the council. "Mr. Roth, I didn't realize they would be sending you."

"Miss McGarden, it's good to be working with you again. I've been the keeper of the council books for a long time, and this particular book I won't have it leave my sight. You know an idiot has replaced you? It has made the job rather painful after getting used to your incredible work ethic and intelligence." His compliment caused a large smile to form on Levy's face. "Is this everyone?" He finished with a look toward the master who was sitting cross legged on his desk.

"Almost, due to my status will I be able to sign for people who can't be present, but need to know this information. For the investigation of course?"

"Technically no, but I won't say anything if you don't." The old man gave a sly smile and a wink at Levy. Pulling an old scroll out of his satchel and rolling it onto the desk next to Makarov.

Gajeel entered the office as Levy was signing her name after reading the details with her gale-force reading glasses.

"Lily will be here soon, he's finally calmed down from his traumatic experience." Gajeel had taken Lily home through the shadows earlier that day; the cat's bedroom had special sound proofing that helped when thunderstorms hit. Gajeel had only returned to the guild after the cat fell asleep cuddling him.

"Good, I didn't find anything that could be used against us or that you would be uncomfortable with, but you can check if you want." Levy turned to him holding out her glasses.

Shaking his head Gajeel leaned over to sign his name. Levy knew him better than anyone and if she said it was okay to sign it that was all he needed. Noticing that the master had also signed for Laxus and the thunder legion members who weren't present, the only other name that he could decipher on the old scroll, besides Levy's, was a Uriah Krane. His name glowed as he finished the signature, binding him to the contract.

"All right then here you are," The old librarian set a small thick book on the desk with sevaral pairs of white gloves next to the scroll; causing the master to hop down. "As you can imagine this is very old, please be careful. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." He moved it sit in an overstuffed wing back chair in the corner, pulling out yet another book to read.

Levy and Freed pulled chairs to the desk, pulled the gloves on and began examining the book. The title had been worn away over time and the leather was old and cracking in some spots. Both mages put on their gale-force glasses and began reading while Gajeel and Makarov got comfortable.

Forty minutes later Levy and Freed sat back in silence trying to wrap their minds around what they had just read. Lily, who had come through the window about twenty minutes before, looked between the two. "Well what did you learn?"

Ignoring the cat Levy turned to the man still reading in the corner a look of shock and anger cut across her features. "This is the history and origins of all magic in Earthland. How can this NOT be accessible to the public?" As a person who loved and valued knowledge, the idea that one of the greatest questions ever asked had an answer that was concealed made her feel ill.

The librarian put down his book giving the angry woman a scrutinizing gaze as Gajeel moved behind her resting a calming hand on her shoulder. "You know magic and mages used to be persecuted against. With our small numbers magic should have been wiped out, fortunately mages can be born from non-mage parents. It wasn't until the last couple centuries that we started to be accepted by the general populace. There are many who still hate magic and those who wield it. If people knew that the magic in Earthland was actually unnatural, that lacrima used to not exist; how long do you think it would take for the ones who still hold that hate to sway the masses and start the executions again?" His explanation left a heavy weight on the mages in the room.

"What did it say Lev? Gajeel broke the silence it didn't matter what it was, they needed to know.

Levy took a deep breath trying to calm her racing mind. "Magic came to Earthland by a meteorite it originally landed in what would become the country of Stella. It consisted of a completely unknown metal." Levy began flipping back through the book as Freed took over.

"From where it landed Stellanium crystals began to form; though the Stellanium is a made of a completely different elemental property than the meteor. This growing of crystals branched from this original site all over Earthland, but the crystals mutated depending on the resources where they grew. These mutations gave birth to lacrima; it's why certain lacrima can be found only in specific areas. The creation of lacrimas is what caused Ethernano to form in our atmosphere; the crystals secrete it. Consequently this is what allowed magic beings into Earthland; dragons, celestial spirits, and even demons couldn't exist in our world before Ethernano was here to help sustain them. Even though dragons died out in this world it doesn't mean there aren't more else…"

"Freed what about the hammer?" Makarov knew the man could get excited and ramble with new knowledge; losing site of the main focus.

"Here," Levy seemed to have found the page she was looking for. "The meteorite seemed to rest unmoving for a long time, not that many didn't try it just seemed impossible; until it came in contact with four people. This happened over a period of several decades but each time a portion of the meteor would break away forming a weapon. These weapons could only be used by the specific individual and they became the first mages." Levy looked up from the book meeting Gajeel's shocked expression. "All holder mages developed from these original four, and caster mages evolved as more Ethernano built in the atmosphere." Looking back down she continued, "The four weapons where extremely powerful and are known to go dormant upon their holders death, only reawakening when a new holder is found. It's because of this it is believed that the weapons have some form of sentient thought." Turning the book to face them she began pointing at different pictures. "The weapons are The Wind fans," Pointing to the image of two fans that looked similar to Evergreens. "The Fire Fists," turning the page to show what Gajeel recognized as a meteor hammer "The Slicer Shield, it says that it can produce blades around the edges and when thrown can cut an ox in half." The simple round shield didn't look that impressive to any of them. Levy turned another page "And finally The Thunder Hammer."

"Fuck" Gajeel couldn't help himself; the image he was looking at was an exact replica of the hammer that they had examined earlier.

"While all that is very interesting; is there any information that might explain why those Zeref worshipers would want it?" The master had a point and Levy immediately began flipping through the pages as Freed shrugged his shoulders.

"Here this might be it." Levy once again held up the book to show where several pages had been torn out in a hurry; a portion of a page that was still barely attached in her hand. "This refers to the weapons as keys. The pages that would explain more are obviously missing and they aren't mentioned as keys anywhere else in the book."

"They could be trying to open something, and if it takes four items that powerful; then I'm betting we don't want that to happen" Gajeel was starting to think the original quoted compensation was too low. "Fortunately as long as we keep that girl out of their hands it shouldn't be a problem."

"Have you found her yet?" The old man who had once again sat quietly until that point was now leaning forward with interest.

The master responded before anyone else. "No, but we have informed our mages to keep an eye out while they're on jobs." The council had been rebuilt, but the reputation of making people disappear had yet to be confirmed or denied with the reformation.

"Well please keep us updated. I'll take the book back now; you can inform the others what you learned." The old man began putting the items back into his satchel. He seemed to be in more of a hurry than when he had first arrived.

"Levy and I will reactivate the transport runes." Freed began moving the chairs, freeing the center of the room.

"Meet you down stairs Lev." Gajeel headed out the door with Lily on his shoulder both deep in thought.

Levy found him once again at his table, Lily had gone back home after commenting how the day had been overly stressful, and to her surprise Freed sat across from her motioning for the other members of the Thunder Legion to join them.

"Boss man's still out with hammer girl. Please tell me we have more info the suspense is killing me." Bickslow dropped into the chair at the head of the table as Evergreen sat next to Freed.

Freed and Levy filled them in as quickly as possible, while Gajeel kept an eye on the front door.

"So that hammer is part of the origins of magic," Ever sounded as shocked as all of them had felt. "And the woman wielding that power is maybe a year older than me."

"The hammer wouldn't have chosen her if she couldn't handle it, and we know she's had it since she was at least seventeen." Levy shifted nervously she couldn't imagine having something so powerful in her possession.

"Makarov says that this new information doesn't change anything. As long as she's here the worshipers can't get her or the hammer." Gajeel added nodding in the direction of the door.

"So keep acting friendly, which it looks like boss man is finally excelling at." Bickslow swung his head with a tongue waging grin toward the front where Laxus and Ivy just walked in, both wearing smiles.

Ivy had learned Laxus favorite music was rock, and she had spent the duration of their return interrogating him on his favorite songs from a multitude of artist. "Okay I've been saving this one; AC/DC and if you don't say Thunderstruck I'm going to be disappointed." Ivy walked under his arm into the guild hall as he held open the large door.

"Why would you be disappointed?" Laxus tried to sound irritated but he couldn't pull off his usual attitude; even though he knew people in the guild hall would be watching them. The only person he had ever been able to really talk about music with was Tim; him friends just didn't find it that interesting.

"Because you're the lightning dragon slayer; and if you don't take that opportunity my respect for you might fall, but only maybe a little bit." She held up her hand with her thump and pointer finger about an inch apart, while she pouted at him. "Like this much."

Laxus blew out a breath trying not to laugh and dropped his voice "Okay, yes it is but I have never told anyone because of how cliché it is."

Dropping her hand Ivy's face once again lit into a large smile. "Oh thank goodness I was really worried for a second."

"Well what's yours?"

"Uh, Thunderstruck…" Ivy rested her hand on her hammer about to say something else when she was stopped in the middle of the hall by a man with pink hair.

His nostrils flared as he leaned into her personal space only to drop to her right hip.

"Natsu! Stop smelling her!" Lucy quickly moved across the hall trying to come to her rescue.

"What the hell is that?" Natsu continued to lean towards the hammer. "It's weird."

"Back off Natsu." Laxus' low growl didn't seem to be noticed by the pink haired fool.

"Please stop. It's just a hammer." Ivy tried to back away, but Natsu was determined to figure out why it smelled so strange.

"No it's not." Natsu head snapped up to scrutinize her. "It has a lot more magic than any normal hammer, and I don't have to be Gajeel to know that isn't any metal I've smelled."

Ivy didn't like pushy people she had put up with it before, but she refused to do so again. Her hand dropped to the handle at her thigh angling the head at Natsu's chest, and pushed magic into the weapon.

Laxus was getting pissed. Natsu really needed to learn boundaries, and he felt the urge to give him another lesson on the subjest. Just as he was about to knock the other dragon slayer out with a lightning fist he saw neon blue out of the corner of his eye.

He could only watch in amazement as the head of the hammer slammed into Natsu sending him flying backward, knocking him unconscious as he crashed through a table. It crackled with the bright blue electricity extending over six feet long with a large face and a pointed curved claw. Barely a second passes before it had shrunk back down and was resting against the woman's thigh as if nothing had happened.

Ivy turned to Lucy, "I asked him to stop." Not quite sure how to apologize for hitting the man the blonde, in her own words, loved.

Lucy's bright laugh brought her some relief. "It's fine next time he bugs me I'll ask for your help."

Ivy felt a smile pull at her mouth amazed she wasn't being yelled at. "I'm pretty sure you're going to have to learn to deal with that." She arched her brow at Lucy, giving her a quick wink causing the blonde to turn pink.

"Well thanks again." With a quick wave Lucy scurried to check on Natsu.

Laxus moved his hand to Ivy's back deciding that moving from the center of attention would be a good idea. The hammer had made its appearance and left with such speed that most of the people in the hall had missed it. That didn't mean that everyone wasn't now looking at the woman with interest. Laxus couldn't help the wave of possessiveness that swept over him as the other men began to sweep their eyes over her, causing his hand to stay resting against her as he guided her to the table with his team.

Ivy took the hint and let him push her in the right direction. She felt the eyes on her, and when it first started she felt a powerful need to leave. The only thing that had stopped her was feeling Laxus' large hand on her back. It instantly calmed her and caused that spark to burn a little warmer.

"Shouldn't we be helping him?" Laxus could feel her leaning slightly back into his hand as she looked to where the pinkette lay.

"He's fine I've knocked him out more times than I can count, and don't worry about the table he breaks them all the time.

As they approached Levy flashed Ivy a bright smile scooting closer to Gajeel while patting the bench next to her, he had reminded them not to pry as Laxus steered the tall woman over.

Laxus had to give her another nudge before she moved to the seat, feeling her tense again. Bickslow slid around the table to sit next to Freed after he received a small shock, letting Laxus take his seat.

Levy turned to the much taller woman suddenly feeling like the middle of a sandwich. She's about the same height as Gajeel. "Don't worry about Natsu. I can't tell you how often I wish I could do what you just did."

"I get the idea everyone feels that way." Ivy started to calm with the small woman's words, Maybe these people are just nice to be nice.


My crazy need to perfect things has been bugging me so I will be going through and doing more Editing to previous chapters.(Even though I do almost two hours on each chapter I still miss things!) Some of these edits are because I figured out exactly how and where I want to take this story, and I realized some details had to be omitted or changed.

Thanks for waiting while I took a few days as a break. I had a nasty bought of insomnia and didn't really sleep for a little over two days, and my truck decided to stop working in that time.

Another chapter should be posted soon.

-P.P.V