Author's Note: Hello again! I hope everyone had a good 4th of July for those that celebrate it. For those that didn't , I hope y'all are having a good week so far. Now we are back to the present in this chapter and i can't wait what y'all think of the story so far and how it is developing. I also promise, there will be lemons, I just haven't gotten to them yet.
Without further ado, here's what's next:
Disclaimer: Fairytail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. (On a side note, I have no idea where the manga is heading and it worries me).
Present Day
"The Great Wizard Hirom took the stone into safe keeping for years until his death. It was found among his possessions and named 'Mirror of Malicious Thought' by those that discovered its properties. Try as they might, no one has successfully been able to free the poor soul trapped in stone. No one, until now," the Master finished, glancing at the golden stone. It had a warm glow emitting from it and he could almost feel Lucy's presence in the room.
"I wonder why Zeref wanted Sera's power so badly? Yes, she was a powerful mage with a unique power, however, that hasn't fazed him now. What changed?" Mira asked, her pretty brow drawn in confusion.
"Only those who were there know. All I know were the legends I was told. I never imagined them to be true."
"Gramps? How can we help them? I am still angry at her for taking Lucy's body and forcing her into the stone, but I don't wish her to go back to the stone again," Natsu said. The Master thought for a moment before walking over to a small bookshelf in the corner. It had a large lock in front of it and was humming with the amount of protection spells and ancient magic. He quickly unlocked the shelf and selected a small, blue book before safely locking the rest again. He brought it back over to the desk and leafed through a couple of pages before finding the one he was searching for.
"This journal belonged to the Great Wizard Hirom Klin. He vaguely references the stone in some of his research," the Master said, handing the book to Mira.
"He was looking to free her as well…" Mira commented. She read the rest of the page before looking sadly at the Master. "He couldn't find anything."
"There has to be something! I will not let someone walk around taking Lucy's life!" Natsu yelled, fire fizzling at his fingertips.
"I will get Levy to look up more information on Hirom and to look further into his journal. He may have cast a spell to hide what he truly wrote in it. Meanwhile, Lucy will stay safely locked in the safe up here. The less people around her, the better. Natsu, I want you and Gajeel to split up and see if you two can locate Sera. She couldn't have gone far. Keep me updated on your progress through the lacrima," the Master directed, covering the golden stone. Mira nodded and went to retrieve Levy. Natsu gazed at the covered stone with a pained expression. Lucy's scent would still pop up faintly, but it wasn't right. Shaking his head he looked to the Master.
"I promise that I will save Lucy," he said before running out to yell at Gajeel. The Master heard the Iron Dragon Slayer grunt in response. He gently picked up the covered stone and placed it back into the safe.
"Hold on, Lucy."
Several weeks flew by with no sign of the Lucy impostor. Natsu was beyond frustrated and he took it out on Grey on a daily basis. Grey, understanding what Natsu was doing, let him start fights with him all the time. They didn't last very long before Natsu would run out of steam and run out of the guild to search a new place. Levy had made little headway with Hirom's journal.
"I feel like I'm missing something. Like, there is a film over my brain that I can't see through no matter how hard I try," she said, laying her head on the table she was working at.
"When does Freed get back with the Thunder Tribe?" Gajeel asked, munching on a screw. He was taking a day's rest before he set out again.
"Not for another couple of weeks. Though, honestly, I doubt he would be able to make much sense of this either," she sighed. The journal wasn't long and really only had detailed notes of Hirom's experiments over plants. Levy studied each experiment carefully to find any clue as to what can extract a soul from the stone, but she only came up with seven different ways to cure a cold. Some Great Wizard.
"Maybe you should broaden your search? Try some of the libraries in the other guilds?" Erza asked, coming up behind the bluenette with a large slice of strawberry cake.
"I have sent word to the various guilds. Most wrote back that they didn't have anything of Hirom's. Hibiki from Blue Pegasus thought he could use his magic to find out more about the wizard, but I haven't heard back from him."
"Did you try any Dark guilds?" Both Erza and Levy turned to Gajeel. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just sayin', when I was a part of Phantom Lord, we had a bunch of banned texts. We also had a lot of stolen volumes from various guilds we had overcome."
"That is a great idea, Gajeel, but, how can we know if they have some. Then there is the whole question of how we get it," Levy said, turning back to the small journal.
"I can ask Jellal. He should know which guild has what and be able to retrieve it," Erza stated, finishing her cake. Levy looked up and smiled at the red-head.
"Thanks, Erza. This might actually shine some light on what's missing."
"I shall go contact him right away then," the Requip Mage stated as she stood up to give Mira her dirty plate. Levy closed the journal and rubbed her tired eyes. She might as well take a break since she wasn't getting anywhere with what she had. Gajeel patted her head roughly.
"Go take a nap, Shrimp. Bunny-Girl would want you to take care of yourself. She isn't going anywhere," he said as he walked out of the guild with Lily to search another area. Levy smiled fondly at the Iron Dragon Slayer. He was right. Lucy wouldn't want her to exhaust herself. She wouldn't be much help this tired anyways. With a deep groan, Levy stretched and walked to the back of the guild to take a small nap in one of the infirmary cots.
Levy was woken up by Erza a few hours later. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and noticed Jellal standing next to the red-head.
"Oh! Jellal, have you been here long?" she asked, immediately awake. He smiled softly and shook his head.
"I only just arrived, not to worry. I heard you required my assistance in retrieving some of the Great Wizard's texts?"
"Yes, we need them to hopefully shine some more light on how to release a soul from the stone," she said, getting up and smoothing the wrinkles from her dress.
"Erza told me about Lucy. I hope to help with as much as I can. I actually had one of the Great Wizard's field journals in my personal possession. I came to give it to you before I went in search of more," he said, handing a worn notebook to Levy. She smiled gratefully at him and quickly went back to her work station. Erza rested her hand on his broad shoulder.
"Thank you for coming. I know that it isn't easy to infiltrate the dark guilds, but we are getting desperate," she sighed. Jellal took her hand and lightly brushed his lips over her knuckles. The Requip mage turned the shade of her hair and he smiled.
"Think nothing of it. I consider this guild the closest thing to family and I don't like when my family gets hurt. I must be off, but I will try to return soon." He bowed once and quickly swept out the doors. Erza held her hand as a soft smile crossed her lips.
Natsu was beyond agitated. It had been about three weeks and he had yet to find even a trace of the Lucy imposter. He was currently in a small port town that he had found on his year of training. The sea breeze ruffled his pink hair and he breathed deeply. I should bring Lucy here sometime. She would like it. He missed the celestial mage terribly. Not only was she his best friend, the one with whom he could share anything with, she was also becoming something more to him. His heart hurt when he thought of her golden waves of hair or her bright smile. He hated that he couldn't really do anything besides look for the impostor. Sighing, he stretched before turning to head back to his campsite. Happy would be awake and hungry for some fish. However, he stopped in his tracks when he was met with a pair of very familiar eyes.
"What…?"
"Shh, I don't have much time. Listen to me, Natsu Dragoneel. I know how you can save your friend. You have to follow me, but quickly. He knows that I am free from the stone," Sera said, taking a hold of the Fire Dragon Slayer's arm. Before he could protest, she transported them to a small room in what appeared to be a cargo ship. Natsu immediately fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.