Chapter 10

Ahh, back at Earthland after all this drama and mystery on Earth. Isn't it wonderful?
Favorites are exactly on 50! Yaaaayyyyy~! ^_^

I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I feel like no one actually reads these, but either way, I'm still working on the case of getting the two stories though. I'm getting there, I believe…. Someday.

At Earthland~

Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she looked around with blurry sight. She wasn't lying on her bed, that was for sure. Groggily, she stated she'd been lying on the floor.

"Ah, she's awake now." She heard someone say. She knew it was familiar, but couldn't place it right at that moment, the drowsiness fogging her mind.

She blinked a few times, clearing her vision enough to could see again and sat up as she looked around, trying to find the one who had spoken. At the couch, Gray and Erza were sitting and had probably been in some sort of conversation, while Natsu was snoring loudly next to her with Happy lying on his stomach.

Gray smirked. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Lucy." He said. She wondered how long those guys had been waiting for her to return and wake up.

Erza smiled at her as well. "I'm glad to see you've returned." The redhead said as the blonde placed herself on one of the chairs, doing her best not to take notice of the Fire Dragon Slayer's loud sleeping.

Lucy rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Good morning you two, what's the clock?" She asked them, having lost all sense of time.

Gray looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's about 9 AM." He said and looked back at the blonde. "So, did you meat that old guy? Kozo Shirogame?" He asked her, remembering she'd told them that was what she was going to do if she got the chance the other day.

Erza looked sternly at Gray. "Kozo Shirogane, didn't you learn anything yesterday? Or shall we take another trip to the library?" She asked him. Seeing as the Ice Make mage rolled his eyes in exasperation, she turned her attention to the blonde, seeing she was sitting with her head bowed down. Erza furrowed her eyebrows and looked at said blonde with a worried gaze. "Lucy? What's wrong?" She asked her.

Lucy sighed and looked up. "Yeah, I did meet him and I did speak with him." She muttered. How should she tell them this? She knew they'd tell her to just stay away from Earth and never go back there. But it wasn't something she could control.

Now Gray was worried too. It was obvious it was something she had a hard time telling them, what could it be? "Just tell us, Lucy, we can take it, whatever it is." He promised her. What could be so bad she couldn't even tell them? Her best friends and team?

Lucy hesitated for a moment before making her decision. "We were right in our assumption that he was a Celestial mage just like me, and apparently he was from the guild Phoenix Grave, back when he was a part of this world." She said.

Erza quickly noticed the author's choice of words. "Back when he was part of this world?" She asked the blonde. "Lucy, what are you trying to tell us?" She asked the other girl.

Lucy cast her eyes down to her hands. She had already made her decision, now it was just to follow it. "He, Kozo, is stuck on Earth." She finally said. She couldn't lie to her friends, not even if she wanted to. She was such a bad liar, and she knew these guys knew her too well to not see when she was attempting to trick them. Before they could say anything, she continued her explanation. "He found a girl he loved there and…" She paused, suddenly realizing she was giving her friends the life-story of someone else. She hadn't even gotten the permission to tell others, it was his personal business he'd shared so graciously to her, and now she was so easily telling it to her friends. It felt wrong… But now she couldn't stop, she had to tell them the truth. "He wished he could stay there, with her, forever." She said, closing her eyes, as if her eyelids could protect her against showing all the guilt she felt from revealing Kozo's secrets.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out what Lucy's last sentence had meant. "What's so bad about that?" He asked. He knew there was something about what she'd said, she'd put it in a way that clearly showed it was the very point of the whole story.

Lucy sighed, but with a little smile. "That's exactly what I asked him." She admitted, looking up at the two of them with the saddest pair of eyes they had ever seen her wear. "His wish was fulfilled." She simply said.

Erza perked up at this. "Am I right in assuming that that was when he got stuck there?" The redhead asked the blonde. The blonde nodded affirmatively. The redhead sighed and cupped her chin between her thumb and index finger. "I see." She mumbled, thinking about what the blonde had told her.

Lucy jumped a little where she sat, when she felt two arms land around her shoulders and the top of salmon hair she'd become so familiar with entering the edge of her vision. "You wouldn't ever do that." The low grumble of Natsu's drowsy voice said. "Right, Luce?" he asked for confirmation as Happy landed on her lap, rubbing his eyes with a yawn and a nod.

Lucy smiled and nodded, leaning a little back into Natsu. "Not if I have a say in it, I can promise you that much, Natsu." She promised him and looked at the other two. "And the two of you too." She said and gently stroke Happy's blue fur. "No matter what that basketball team will do to me, and although I feel mean for saying this, they will never be as important to me as you guys." She said with a soft smile and a hand on one of the Dragon Slayer's arms.

The team, at least the two out of four she could see, smiled at her with genuine love and care showing in their eyes, reflecting the feelings she was sending them right back at her, mixed with the gratitude they felt for her presence and words. They knew Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without her.

The blonde felt Natsu's arms slip off around her, as he fell to the floor in a snoring heap. Lucy giggled at him and shook her head. Guess he'd been half asleep, having only half woken up to get an answer to that single question.

Gray snorted. "Idiot. He even wakes up in a half-assed way." He said, got to his feet, and began nudging non-so gently to his rival and friend. "Wake up, moron." He grunted.

Erza sighed and shook her head, looking at the blonde. "Lucy." She said, drawing the other girl's attention. "Thank you for telling us this, it must not have been easy for you." She said with a little smile. She knew the girl felt horrible for revealing another person's life story, which was only confirmed when she cut it short in the end. "What about you go take your daily morning-bath and then, when you are ready, we'll go to Phoenix Grave, in Statis town, and ask around about Kozo there, find out more about the circumstances." She suggested. When Lucy made a face as if it irked her, digging into someone else's past, much less someone she'd begun to get to know. Erza smiled again. "Don't worry, we won't go into his personal business, just find out whether everything is as it is with you." She said.

Lucy nodded hesitantly. Maybe they could find an old friend of his, who could tell them something about it all from an outsider's point of view. She stood up and smiled at Erza. "Yeah, thank you. I'll take a quick bath, then I can make some breakfast for us before we leave." She suggested. The redhead gave her an affirmative nod and so the blonde entered her bathroom.

She quickly threw off her clothes, after turning on the water, as she had the other days, and began taking off her bandages, curious to see how much she had healed since she checked the other day. Faintly noting that it didn't hurt at all to remove them.

She looked up, at herself in the mirror, seeing that the skin of her stomach had straightened out almost completely now and just looked like an angry, red mark. She gingerly reached down and touched the sensitive skin. As she thought, it was nothing more than sensitive, although she would have to be a little bit careful with it. Nothing special though, it was like a new, really big, scrape, the ones you always got on your knees as a kid. Aristocrat or not.

Tomorrow she was probably healed enough for Gajeel to accept the start of her training. She smiled at the thought, finally she could get started. She had no idea what the black-haired Iron Slayer had in store for her. Even if it was going to get rough, which she was sure it would, she was looking forward to it.

But for now, she should just focus on the fact that maybe, she could meet one of Kozo's friends and maybe that friend could tell her what Kozo hadn't.

Later~

"Shall I knock him out?" Erza asked Lucy, referring to the pitiful creature gagging and sweating as he lay on the blonde's lap, making miserably sounds of pain.

Gray crossed his arms and scowled at the weakling, which was supposedly his rival. "Why do you even have to ask? He's a pain to listen to." The Ice Make mage grumbled exasperatedly.

Lucy sweat dropped when she felt Natsu's whole body tense before he gagged, only wheezing out air. "Maybe that would be best for him…" She admitted. The poor guy really seemed to be suffering right at that moment. She figured it was because he'd eaten so much this morning. Although he always did, usually there'd be a little time in between eating and going on the train. The fact that they didn't waste any time today only promoted his nausea it seemed.

Erza nodded once, standing up in her seat as she began cracking her knuckles. "All right then, I will relieve you of this burden, Lucy." She said, glaring down at Natsu through the shadows of her bangs. The surrounding area around her person turned a dark purple and death loomed in the air around her.

Not only did Natsu's sweating get worse, the blonde also feared for her life. She couldn't remember having this Erza pointed towards her before, now she understood why Gray and Natsu were so obedient with her. Maybe she should develop her own demon side a little more…

Happy saw the redheaded knight's killer intent and quickly jumped up on top of Natsu, spreading his paws out to each side. "No! Don't kill Natsu, Erza!" He told her, his legs trembling in fear at the demon facing him. "Who else will give me my fish?" He asked her, tears building up in his eyes already. If he couldn't get fish… Then what reason was there for him to live?

Lucy smiled and patted the cat's head. "Don't worry, Happy. I'll always have fish for you." She promised him. Since joining Fairy Tail, there wasn't a moment in time she could remember, in which she didn't have a fish in her fridge waiting for the blue cat.

Happy turned and beamed at the blonde. "Promise?" He asked her, tears once again brimming at his eyes, this time of joy though. The blonde nodded at the cat, her smile never wavering. "Lushy.." He muttered and turned to the demon, folding his wings out, shrugging. "You can do what you want, demon." He said and flew back to the back of the seat, giving Erza permission to do whatever she liked with Natsu.

"Tr… Trait… Traitor…!" Natsu barely managed to mutter out between waves of nausea.

Gray snorted at him. "Tough being useless, huh?" He taunted the dying Fire Dragon Slayer, having and immense amount of amusement watching him suffer like that, while at the same time being annoyed with it.

Meanwhile, Erza's demon turned on full power again, her teeth sharpening to fangs. "Well then…" She muttered, before rocketing her armored fist down on Natsu, knocking him out instantly. She roughly pulled him up and threw him to the other side of his and Lucy's seat, making him fly into the wall and then fall down. She brushed her hands ostentatiously in front of her, having finished her task, and placed herself back on the seat.

Lucy sweat dropped and smiled nervously at the knight. "Thank you, Erza." She thanked the S-Class, not sure the last part had been necessary.

Erza shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "It is my pleasure to be able to help you, Lucy."

In Statis town~

The train screeched to a stop and the speakers announced their arrival at Arum town. It was a little one, at the size of Oshibana town, maybe a little smaller, lying a little away from Clover town, the train-ride took a few hours in all.

The team stood up and quickly made it out of the train, picking up their luggage and beginning to walk towards town, when Gray broke the silence which had been reining between all of them. "Say, guys… Isn't it kind of silent here?" He asked them, getting a nod from each of them, while they all looked expectantly at him to hear what else he had in mind. "I don't know about you, but I kinda feel like I forgot something…" He said and scratched his head in thought.

They all delved into their thoughts and wondered where this feeling of having forgotten something came from. That's when Happy's eyes widened and he sped off back towards the train station, the distant sound of his disappearing voice reaching them. "NAAAAATSUUUUUUUU!"

Oh, so it was Natsu they'd forgotten… Wait what?! They all began running like crazy to reach the station before the train took off again. Running like the wind, they reached train station just in time to see the train starting and rolling out of the station. They could just barely see a blob of a human hanging out of the train's window with one arm, looking like he was in serious pain.

Lucy put a hand up on her forehead, shadowing for the sun so she could see. "Huh? Isn't that Natsu? It's so far away I can't tell." She said, squinting her eyes for better sight.

Gray crossed his arms and snort-grunted. A mix of laughing and trying to hold it in. "Oh, what a shame, we didn't make it." He said and turned around, walking back where they'd come from. "Guess we'll just have to continue on without him." He said almost happily.

Erza stopped him effectively, grabbing the chain of the necklace he was always wearing, even if he stripped completely bare, as he had now, stopping and stealing the air away from him effectively. "I appreciate the blissful silence as well, Gray." She reassured him, sounding fairly normal. Then she turned her head and glared at the Ice Make mage. "But Fairy Tail never leaves their Nakama behind, you know that." She growled at him, almost making him pee in the pants he weren't wearing.

Happy looked up at Erza with eyes full of tears. "Erzaaaaa~" He called the team leader. "What do we do?" He whined, sniffing cutely.

Erza pointed determinedly at the leaving train. "Happy!" She called the blue cat, stopping his sniffing. "Fly to Natsu and haul him out of the window!" She demanded and knelt down to him, putting a heavy hand on his tiny shoulder, looking straight into his big eyes. "You're the only one who can do this Happy. Do it for Natsu's sake." She told the cat.

Happy nodded with a determined expression. "Aye sir!" He said and spread his wings out once again. "I will get him back, I swear!" He reassured them and took off, flying much faster than the train as he tried to catch up to it.

Lucy sighed and face-palmed, closing her eyes. "What have I done to deserve this? Why did I get the eccentrics of eccentrics?" She asked herself in a mutter.

Gray smirked at her. "Oh come on now, Lucy. You know you love us." He said and threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning widely.

Lucy smiled and laughed. "Of course I do, how could I not?" She asked them. Just within these last few days, they'd shown kindness the likes of which, if you asked her year ago, she had never thought possible for her to experience or others to give.

Gray laughed. "Damn straight." He said and nudged her a little. "And ditto from our side as well." He told her with a genuine smile, before he looked up to see the cat having finally brought the pink-haired blob of a mage. "Oi shithead, tell us next time. This shit's annoying!" He told Natsu.

This made the Fire Dragon Slayer perk up, and he immediately raised a fist covered in flames. "Tryin' to pick a fight, Popsicle?" He asked him with an excited glare. Even the fire seemed like it was dancing around his fist eagerly, way past ready to beat the Ice Make mage up.

Gray grunted and lowered his stance, slamming his hands together in the usual Ice Make way. "Sure as hell am, Fire Breath." He promised his rival.

Erza turned around and began walking, not paying any mind to the two boys' usual bantering. "Let's go, we need to get to Phoenix Grave." She said. And while Lucy and Happy followed her, the two boys hadn't heard her at all, having engaged in a very 'mature' name-calling contest.

The three didn't have to walk - or fly - for long, before they saw the big building, although not as extravagant as their own guild building, which was the guild they'd been looking for. A red insignia looking like that of a bird with big wings circling around it sat on the wall above the big doors.

They stopped up in front of the entrance. "So… This is it?" Lucy asked slowly. It was kind of like it hadn't seeped into her head that she was probably going to actually meet someone who could maybe give her some answers. As so many other things had been the past few days, it was surreal.

They didn't get any further when two pairs of footsteps came running towards them. Both girls and cat turned around and looked at their two teammates. "What the heck, guys? You could've at least told us you went off!" Gray scowled at them, trying not to show how exhausted he really was.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Natsu raged, fire sprouting out of his mouth, his eyes having whitened and transformed to sharp triangles.

Gray play-gagged next to the pink-haired Slayer. "Me? The same opinion as you?" He asked the guy, who was looking back at him confusedly. "Argh, that's disgusting!" He said, play-gagging again.

This just made Natsu rage even further, as he and his rival went into another bout of fighting. Lucy turned and looked at Erza with a worried gaze. "Shouldn't we stop them?" She asked. There were several reasons for this, the first being she didn't want the two of them to beat each other up, the other being they already had minor wounds and bruises all over. The last one was that it was embarrassing they always were so immature and always got into fights, it wasn't the ideal first impression to give another guild. They needed to be more professional, at least as much as possible, especially since they were the strongest guild on the continent.

Erza sighed and nodded, catching on to what Lucy was indirectly saying. She marched up next to the boys, who were angrily butting heads. Without a word, she grabbed each of their hair, pulled back, only to smash their heads together violently, making the fall to the ground instantly. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FIGHTING?!" She yelled at them.

The two, despite having just been knocked unconscious, shot straight up, doing a salute, throwing the other arm around each other's shoulders. "WE'LL NEVER FIGHT AGAIN! AYE SIR!" They replied loudly.

Lucy sighed in defeat when the doors to the guild opened up, revealing an annoyed-looking young man with auburn hair pulled roughly back. His eyes were a burning amber, quite beautiful if Lucy had to say anything.

He looked around at all five of them. "What the hell's all the ruckus out here?" He asked, his voice cutting through the air as sharply as Erza's did most of the time.

Erza turned and looked at the man. She stared at him for a moment, before she began marching towards him, for a moment making him flinch at the air she was giving off. She extended her armored hand towards him in a greeting. "Hello, I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail and this is my team." She introduced herself and gestured to the rest of Team Natsu. "Am I correct in assuming I reached Phoenix Grave?" She asked him.

He paused for a moment, before he took her hand. "Fairy Tail, eh?" He asked rhetorically, adopting a scowl. "Tch, you don't look so tough after all." He said and pulled his hand out of hers, 'discretely' wiping it in his pants.

Lucy gasped. "No! Don't-"

She was cut off when Erza picked the guy up by the collar, lifting him up from the ground easily. "I said." She snarled calmly. "Have we reached Phoenix Grave?" She asked him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, what do you think? Are you stupid or something?" He asked her spitefully. "I guess you 'top dogs' just don't care about us, the underdogs, but-" Now he was the one to cut off, when he suddenly passed out with a flash of stinging pain erupting from his forehead.

Erza threw the guy over her shoulder, towards the two other guys of their team. "Pick him up and follow me." She ordered and marched towards the doors.

The blonde looked over to the two boys as all three exchanged gazes, while Happy was staring off into space. Probably dreaming about fish. In the end, Natsu ended up picking the auburn-haired guy up and dragging him after him towards the guild doors. The three others quickly followed after them, wondering how the guild would react to seeing their unconscious teammate. If it had been Fairy Tail… Well, certain death.

Erza opened the door up, a little bit roughly, but still considerably civilized, compared to what they could sometimes do back at their own guild. Their sudden and loud arrival drew a lot of attention, as intended.

One member shot up from his seat, seeing the unconscious mage hanging from Natsu's shoulders. He was around Macao and Wakaba's age, had dark brown hair with strands of gray and light brown eyes. "What happened here?" He asked, eyeing the mages. That's when he recognized the faces and insignias. He sighed deeply. "Ah, I see." He simply said and approached Natsu. "Let me take him." He offered and let the guy hang from his shoulder, just as he had Natsu's a moment ago. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience he brought you." He said with a long sigh.

Erza was about to say something, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and the smiling face of her blonde teammate entered her peripheral. "It's no problem at all!" She promised him. "Although it would be nice to know why he attacked us like that." She told him, tilting her head innocently.

The man's eyes widened. "He attacked you?" He asked alarmed.

"Verbally." Erza confirmed for him with a nod, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She was curious about this boy's apparent hatred towards them as well. It was unusual for light guilds to attack - to use Lucy's words - each other like that.

The man visibly relaxed in relief. "Right, I'm sorry again." He said and gestured with his hand to follow him. "Please, follow me." He told the mages and began walking towards one of the tables.

Lucy had noticed all the stares the five of them had gotten since entering the building and the whispers. Although it was first now she could hear them. "Look! It's Fairy Tail! That's Titania, and that's the Salamader! Oh, and that's that awesome Ice Make mage, Gray!" Some said excitedly. Lucy smiled. Fairy Tail really was widely known, it seemed every single guild knew of them. "Who's that blonde chick?" One asked, making Lucy's happiness drop instantly. "And that blue cat too? Just tagalongs?" They kept asking.

The blonde barely managed to catch happy, who came flying right into her with tears flying in every direction. "Lushy! They don't know us!" The cat whined desperately.

Lucy remained calm and collected, on the outside anyway. On the inside, she was crying as much, if not more than the cat currently was. "I know, Happy. I know." She muttered. Just another sign she didn't shine as brightly as her team, wasn't known at all, it seemed. At least she weren't alone.

"Idiot! That cat is the Salamander's best friend and partner!" One commented. With these words, the waterworks were broken down inside of Lucy and they flowed in rivers down her cheeks. She was all alone after all.

"Disgusting." Happy said, releasing himself from Lucy's hold, beginning to brush himself off. "Being touched by a nobody like you, eww~" He sang teasingly.

The blonde growled at the cat. "So were you just a second ago!" She reminded the cat, who just shrugged at her and landed on Natsu's shoulder, leaving Lucy to herself.

Lucy cut the tears off and steeled her determination. All this did was show her just how much she actually needed that Iron Dragon's training and guidance. Without it, she would always remain a 'nobody' like she was now.

The group made it to a table, where the man put the guy down on one seat and placed himself on the one next to it. He gestured for the Fairy Tail mages to sit down, and they quickly did, sitting around the table and drawing all the attention.

When the man remained silent, Gray gestured to the unconscious mage. "Okay, so why the heck was that guy so rude back there?" He finally asked, his patience having finally run out. Not that he was a very patient person to begin with, really.

The older man sighed for the umpteenth time since they met him and looked at the younger man. "He, Phoenik Kasai, has a very strong sense of justice." He said and looked back at them. "And is quite arrogant and has a hot temper on top of that too." He said and made the rest of them sweat drop at the contrast. "He's always… I wouldn't say hated, but you get the picture, the big guilds; Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus… Fairy Tail most of all. He feels you stronger guilds are unworthy of your titles, says you haven't proven yourself." He said. He suddenly jolted up and quickly started shaking his head. "Of course, this is only his meaning! The general-"

Erza cut him off with a shake of her head. "No, your friend is quite right, mr.…?" She trailed off, realizing she hadn't gotten his name yet.

"I'm Aydahar Kasai, Phoenik's father." He introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." He said, bowing his head, as that was all he could do in his seat.

The redhead smiled and nodded. "The pleasure is all ours." She told him. "As I was saying, your son is completely right." She said, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her knuckles. "We have done nothing to earn the title, we only keep it through our affinity with destruction." She said, making most in the room sweat drop. "I will talk to master about this, it is only fair that we prove ourselves and you get a chance as well." She said and nodded her head.

Aydahar smiled a teary-eyed smile and was probably about to say something, when Phoenix slammed his hand down on the table. "About damn time!" He growled loudly. That was when his father hit him in the back of his head. "OW!" He snapped, glaring at his father.

The father glared right back at him. "Try being a bit grateful for once in your life!" He replied to his son, before turning to the Fairy Tail mages, who was sitting kind of awkwardly at the sidelines. "Anyway, this is not the reason you came here, I'm sure?" He asked the four young people.

Natsu grinned and shook his head. "That's right, old man!" He said, making the man a little confused at first, wondering whether that was an insult or what it was. "We're here searching for a friend of this guy who was once one of your nakama!" He said, sounding overly excited about the whole thing. Although, he weren't the only one, a certain blonde was feeling her anxiety rise as well.

Aydahar furrowed his eyebrows at the words, feeling his interest and confusion grow. "Hmm, maybe I can help, I've been in this guild my whole life after all." He said, his pride shining through in his voice. "What is the name of this guy, whose friend you're looking for?" He asked.

Lucy smiled, feeling it was her turn to say something. "His name is Kozo Shirogane. Do you know him?" She asked Aydahar.

The older man tapped his chin in wonder. "Hmm… No, it doesn't make any bells ring, I'm afraid." He said and shot them an apologetic gaze.

Just as they were about to let the disappointment at their failure at finding a clue about the whole thing overwhelm them, a chair scraped against the floor. "Was it Kozo Shirogane you said?" An elder man asked from the table a few rows away from them.

Lucy turned around and faced the man, who seemed to be around the eighties, with stark white hair and dark, black eyes. She smiled nodded. "Yes, Kozo Alteria Shirogane, do you know him?" She asked, remembering the name they'd probably remember him by was his middle one.

The old man stood stunned and stared at the mages for a moment, before he slowly nodded. "Yes… Yes I do." He said and began walking towards their table, the eyes of everyone present in the guild on him. He sat down at the last free seat at the table and looked at the blonde. "He was my good friend back in the day." He said and looked around at all of them. "If you don't mind me asking, lasses and lads, where did you find out about him?" The old man asked.

Lucy nervously fidgeted with her hands under the table, feeling all eyes on her, wondering if this really had been the right decision after all.

The Knight put an armored hand on her shoulder and nodded, signifying for the blonde it was okay. Lucy nodded back and gave the old man a weak smile, pretty sure what she was about to tell him would affect him one way or another. "I… I know it sounds crazy, but…" She trailed off, before convincing herself it was really all right and something she needed to do. She determinedly met the old man's dark eyes. "I met him." She finally said, her fidgeting having completely stopped.

The old man's eyes widened widely, so much the others worried if they would pop out of their sockets if he continued widening them. "W-wh… You met him, you say?" He asked again for clarification. Lucy nodded. "That's impossible." The man whispered under his breath, tears gathering in his eyes. So that old fool was still alive and well? "Please, child, tell me he is okay." He pleaded with her.

Lucy nodded and smiled widely. "Of course he is!" She told him matter-of-factly. At least… That was the impression she got from him, he didn't seem like he was feeling bad, if you didn't count the fact he was so sad when his memories were brought up. And she didn't count that. "He's in his fifties now, I think. Is married and probably has children too, that's where 'Shirogane' comes from."

She smiled softly when she saw the emotions displayed on the old man's wrinkly face, first there was a little confused, then that was quickly replaced by relief and happiness. He looked way, way beyond 'just' relieved and happy to hear his old friend was still going strong, even in another world. While Lucy didn't know how old Kozo had been when he got stuck there, she could imagine he was somewhat young. She just kind of got that impression when he spoke and explained.

After a short moment, the old man had himself calmed down a little, although he couldn't not let his relief shine through. He looked at the blonde girl. "I take it you're the one, who has met him?" He asked her. She was the one talking presently, the others, even the red-haired who seemed like the leader of the five, let her do the speaking.

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Yeah." She confirmed for him. "I was thinking… Maybe you know something about it all? Like, when he… Well, you know… travelled between Earth and Earthland and such?" She asked.

The old man nodded with a smile, happy to meet someone who he could talk to and help. "Yes, of course, dear. I would love to help you any way I can." He reassured her. He wouldn't say he was an expert on the area, not at all, but he knew what Kozo had told him back in the day and some on top of that. The real test was whether he could pull it out from his aged memory, it wasn't unlikely he had lost at least some parts of it. Hopefully they weren't the most important parts.

Before Lucy could begin questioning the man, Phoenik slammed his hand down on the table - again - and glared at them all. "Someone better explain this conversation to me, Jiji! Right now!" He told them, getting more annoyed by the second at being left out. "OW!" He snapped - again - when his father hit the back of his head - again.

Aydahar gave his boy a fatherly scolding look, then turned to the others around the table again. "Although my son said it in a rude manner - and I apologize for that - it really would be nice if you would please explain the situation to us." He told them, also feeling out of the loop, just like his son.

Lucy smiled at the two and nodded. "Of course-" She said and began her explanation.

Ehm… So… I would have liked to actually end this conversation and day here so we could go on to Earth directly next chapter, but… You know.. That didn't happen, obviously ._."

Honestly, and I have a reason, it was because I, as usual, write a few chapter in advance, so while I was writing this, chapter 7 was the newest, puplished one. So.. Yeah. And this chapter should have been done before that, so I apologize if it seems a bit rushed, but that's the reason. ^_^ All hail the laziness…?

OKAY, I'm sorry for not getting it right, go ahead and hunt me down with pitchforks and torches, I'll take what I deserve. Goddamn sadists, all of you.

Anyway, hoped you liked it all, and although absolutely nothing happened this chapter, I hope you'll all be stayin' around for the next one! It'd be much appreciated if you do, by the way!

Oh yeah! The name of the city, Statis, is not random. Statis is a flower which symbolizes remembrance most of all, but also sympathy and success. The perfect flower considering everything, isn't it?

So, as usual, thank you to all of you who read, reviewed, followed and favorited, I love all of you!

~Line464d