Chapter 12

Lucy stepped into the master's office, taking a moment to examine all the different portraits and objects placed throughout the room. It was rather small—the walls being covered by shelves, and a lone desk with a few chairs around it sitting at the end. As she neared the desk, one of the pictures caught her eye—having been taken outside of the guild hall, it contained a younger looking Makarov with who she could only assume was Laxus.

Following her into the office, the master quickly shuffled over to his desk, plopping into the large seat behind it. He shuffled a few of the papers that lay on top of his desk before placing them off to the side. Lucy stood awkwardly on the opposite side of the desk, before he waved her over and folded his hands together in his lap, only looking on as she promptly took a seat in the chair directly opposite of him.

"Ms. Ashley, I'm glad we finally have a chance to speak," the master spoke. There was an edge to his voice that she had never heard before, making her nerves rise. "What is it that you wished to speak about?"

Lucy hesitated. In her heart, she knew that she should just come out and say it, but that would entail admitting that her entire story had been a lie. The last thing she wanted to do was risk her membership with the guild, or worse, her relationship with the other guild members. If they kicked her out, she didn't even know what she would do, but before she could even muster up a response, the master continued.

"Does this pertain to the truth about your father, perhaps?"

She swallowed, meekly nodding her head. The master said nothing but reached to one end of the desk to pick up a piece of paper. "D-Do you know?"

He shot her a deadpanned look, and she suddenly felt like a child being scolded by a parent. "Please, Ms. Heartfilia. The second your father noticed you were missing he sent word out to all the major cities and guilds. I don't think that there is another blond-haired, brown-eyed, girl running about with the ability to use Celestial Magic."

Lucy glanced at the ground as her cheeks burned from embarrassment. Of course he had known. The man sitting across from her was one of the most powerful men in all of Fiore. There was probably little that he didn't know. "H-How long have you known for?"

"Since I first met you," the master answered, although his tone had now lost the edge. "I don't know why you ran from your father—and you don't need to inform me of such details—but I would at least like to know exactly why you have hidden your identity. I have my own suspicions, but I would like to hear it from the culprit herself."

"I just didn't know how you would all react—" Lucy paused, feeling small under the master's intense gaze. "I didn't want to harm anyone. My father isn't exactly known for his kindness."

The master hummed softly, tapping his leg. "Yes, you are correct…but the purpose of this meeting. Does he know that you are here?"

Lucy nodded and the master was silent again. Neither of them said anything for a moment before the master finally questioned her again. "What do you think he'll do?"

"I…I'm not entirely sure," she replied timidly. "When my mother first went missing, he hired every possible guild and mercenary to look for her. He didn't care about their methods if it meant she was found."

The master nodded, jumping off the chair and hobbling over to her. He placed a hand on her leg, meeting her eyes. "I see. Thank you for informing me, my dear."

He pulled away, walking over to the wall where a few more picture frames were hanging. Pulling an item off the shelf, he walked back over and placed it in her hand. She stared down at it with wide eyes, turning the object around in her hand. It was a communication lacrima. They were extremely rare, and only a handful of people could claim to own one. Her father had one, but she had only seen him use it on a few occasions, let alone actually letting her use it.

"I want you to take that with you." The master pulled out another lacrima from his coat, and she found herself slightly gaping at him. He had two of them? "If anything happens, I want you to let me know immediately. We don't want to take any chances here. I can't risk anything happening to the guild."

Lucy nodded meekly, tucking the lacrima in one of her pockets. That's right, she couldn't let anything happen to the guild. She had dragged them into this mess, and she wouldn't let any of them get hurt because of her. If she needed too, then she would hand herself over to her father in a heartbeat.

"That includes you, Ms. Heartfilia," the master continued, interrupting her thoughts. When she turned back to him, he continued. "You have the Fairy Tail guild mark, do you not? That means you are one of us. We won't let anything happen to you, so don't you worry."

Her eyes watered, and she felt her hands begin to tremble in her lap. She had not wanted to risk harming anyone, but after being on the run for so long, this had been the only place she could think of to go. Fairy Tail had welcomed her with open arms, and she had made such great friends already. She may not have been here for long, but it was already her home.

"Thank you," Lucy muttered, receiving a nod from the old master. He gave her a light pat on the leg before taking a seat at his desk once again.

"Now, I'm sure you have some things that you need to get done. If I remember correctly, Levy said that she would be waiting for you. Don't leave her waiting for too long, or else she may be dragged away by Jet and Droy."

Lucy chuckled softly at the mention of the two boys. She had first encountered them a few days ago, and it had been easy to pick up on their affections for the blue-haired girl.

Pushing herself out of her seat, she offered the master one last teary smile. "Thank you."


"Natsu, settle down, would you?"

Natsu groaned and slumped down on the wooden bench at the older man's words. He was currently stuck inside of the carriage they had been riding in for the past week and a half. Much to his annoyance, the older man had explained that there was no other way of reaching their guild. Luckily the man had bought him a potion to aid with his motion sickness, otherwise he would have had more to worry about than just being bored.

"How much longer is it going to take? You said that we would be there by now."

Roubal leaned back against the wall of the carriage. He currently sat at the front, pumping his own magic into the carriage to keep them going. The older man let out a sigh, glancing down at the road ahead of them. "I told you that we would be there sometimetoday. I never specified when."

Natsu just huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, can you specify? When will we be there?"

The older man was quiet for a few moments as he continued watching the road in front of them. The carriage continued chugging down the road, swaying and jostling around every time they hit a bump.

"It will be soon," Roubal finally answered. He glanced back at Natsu, "Tell me, what happened on the day you lost your father."

Natsu froze at the man's question, before crossing his arms over his chest. It was never easy talking about Igneel, more so when it was someone he wasn't entirely familiar with. But if he was asking for the dragon slayer in his guild, then it could help him find Igneel. So, if answering persuaded the man to share more about the dragon slayer, he supposed that it couldn't hurt.

"It was years ago," Natsu began. "I just woke up outside of the cave that Igneel and I used to live in. I had thought that he was just going out to get breakfast, but when he didn't return by midday, I began to worry."

Natsu reached up and idly grasped the scarf that was wrapped around his neck. Roubal had taken notice of his action but hadn't commented on it. "I searched for weeks straight, stopping in every house and town that I passed. Eventually, Gramps found me wandering in the forest outside of Magnolia. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have continued searching for Igneel forever. At the time, I didn't exactly realize how dangerous it was to be exploring alone."

Roubal nodded at his words. "It must have been a very trying time for you. Luckily, young Wendy doesn't remember much about that time. From what she tells me, she only has memories of an old companion she used to travel with."

The older man looked out at the road again for a few moments before humming softly. "Looks like we are almost there."

Natsu hurriedly pushed himself out of his seat, leaning out of the carriage to get a better look. For the first time, Natsu was able to spot a few signs of life. The path they were traveling on began to look worn down, and the plant-life seemed to be slightly displaced. In the distance, he could make out what looked to be the tops of a few tents sticking up through the trees. Tilting his head, he swore that he even heard a few different voices chatting away.

"I can hear a few of your guild members," Natsu spoke, earning a look of surprise from the older man. In the distance, Natsu could see a low wooden barricade marking the edge of their camp. "Although it doesn't look like you guys have much in the way of defenses."

Roubal grunted, turning the carriage off the main path and towards an opening in the palisade. "Unlike your guild, Cait Shelter doesn't stay in one spot for very long. In fact, the two months we've been here has been the longest we've stayed in one spot for years."

It seemed that someone had finally noticed them from within the camp, as a few people began shouting and hollering in the direction of their guild master. They were all dressed in similar attire to Roubal, with some even wearing a similar headdress.

"If you move so often, how is Wendy supposed to find you when she returns?"

Roubal fell silent, still looking out at the road ahead of them. Natsu didn't know what to think at the older man's lack of reply, but he eventually just shrugged it off. He would handle that problem later.

The cart eventually made their way into the palisade, and many of the Cait Shelter guild members ran over to greet them. Roubal was showered with warm welcomes and praises, while Natsu was only given a few terse nods or handshakes. It didn't surprise him too much. From the looks of it, they didn't look like the type of group to be super welcoming to outsiders.

Stepping out of the carriage and breathing in the forest air, Natsu sighed in relief. After being cooped up in the same place for so long, he had been itching to get out and move around. And now that he was here, he was rearing to go. Just as he had taken a step away from the carriage, Roubal's voice halted his movement.

"I know you are wanting to move about and explore, Natsu, but at least get settled in first. Plus, I want to introduce you to Wendy."

Natsu smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Right. Sorry."

The small guild was made up of a bunch of tents that were placed sporadically throughout the clearing. There were a couple of campfires placed in between, and even some clothes and blankets hanging out to dry. A couple of guards wearing armor roamed about, chatting with some of the other members and scouting the forest outside the wall.

On the outside, it didn't remind him of the guild hall back home at all, but he could make out the Cait Shelter guild marks on ever since person there. With the way they all conversed, and laughed, and moved about, he could see that they were just as much a family as the rest of Fairy Tail was. It had been so long since he had seen another friendly guild…

"Natsu, my boy, let's go."

Roubal's voice called out to him, and he shook his head before quickly moving over to the man. He was led to the biggest tent in the camp, which had two guards standing outside of the front door, or…flap.

"Good morning, Roubal. Glad to see you back," the first guard called out as they approached.

Roubal grunted, coming to a stop in front of them. "Is Wendy in there?"

The second guard answered this time. "Yes. She has been waiting for a few hours. Charla is with her too, and from the chiding I've been hearing from her, it seems that Wendy's a bit nervous about the meeting."

Roubal chuckled, and Natsu gave him a surprised look. For the entire journey, he hadn't heard a single bit of laughter from the old man. "I would suppose so. She's been awaiting this day for a long time."

With a nod of his head, and a wave of his hand, Roubal pushed aside the flap of the tent and stepped inside. Glancing back at Natsu, he motioned for him to follow. "Let's go."

There was a fluttering in his stomach, and Natsu swallowed. For the first time, he realized that he was a bit nervous to meet his fellow dragon slayer. He had heard of others, like Black Steel, but had never met any personally. He would obviously have to challenge her to a fight to see how strong she was, but that wasn't at the top of his priorities. Most importantly, would she be able to help him find Igneel?

"Natsu!" Roubal called, making him jump. "Let's go!"

Natsu jumped before rubbing the back of his head as he muttered an apology. Stepping up beside the master, he took a breath before finally entering the tent, not knowing what to expect.


Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

Admittedly, this chapter took a bit longer than expected. For some reason, I found it hard to get it flowing, and I tried my best during the editing, so hopefully things look good.

To answer Lord Jaric's question: Members of the guild are still allowed of out town, but only at select times and at the discretion of the master. Only S-Class have the ability to leave as they wish, and A ranked mages get a bit more leeway. S-Class mages also often take lower ranked mages out often. Sorry if I didn't make that clear, I'll be sure to clear that up in the future.

Thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews(Awareness Bringer, Lord Jaric, SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, FireShifter, CrusaderJerome). I appreciate the feedback, and you can be sure I take it all into consideration!