The smoke cleared away revealing Ryan kneeling down. His eyes were open this time but his expression was blank. Tears were pouring out of his eyes.
"Ryan!" Lucy called out his name. Ryan made no indication of hearing anything. Lucy clicked her tongue and made her way to him.
She reached out to touch him but was stopped by a barrier. "No way…" Lucy stared at in shock. She pounded on the barrier desperately causing ripples but it was no use.
Lucy could feel Ryan's magic depleting slowly, if this continued he would die. Lucy summoned her sword and swung at the barrier with all her might. The barrier flickered for a little bit before it hardened again. "Damn it!" Lucy cursed.
She kept slashing at the barrier, "Wait for me, Ryan!" Lucy stepped back to catch her breath, it was no good. The barrier wasn't budging. Lucy took out her key holder and summoned Loke.
"Hello Lucy, it's been a long time." Loke said bowing down to her. Lucy smiled fondly at him, "Can you break this barrier?"
Loke raised his head and inspected the barrier, "Probably. But it would need a lot magic."
"Ok then, we have to save the boy who's inside the barrier," Lucy explained.
Loke nodded to show that he understood, "On my count." Lucy gripped her sword and mustered all of her magic.
"Now!" Loke raised his fist, "O, Regulus… Grant me your strength!"
Their powers clashed against the barrier together causing the barrier to ripple violently.
For a second nothing happened and Lucy lost hope. But suddenly the barrier broke like glass, scattering pieces of it all over the ground. Loke stood in front of Lucy, covering her.
"Thank you." Lucy whispered. Loke smiled and shook his head; a warm light embraced him as he disappeared.
Lucy ran over to Ryan's side. He was still breathing, Lucy sighed with relief. She put his head gently on her lap.
Ryan stirred and opened his eyes slowly, "What happened?" His eyes widened when he saw Lucy's state. Lucy's arms and legs were bruised and her clothes were in tatters.
"Luce? What happened to you?" Ryan asked. He reached out and caressed her face gently. "You're hurt."
Lucy said nothing and looked at Ryan sadly. He stopped abruptly and widened his eyes, "I- did I do this?"
"Ryan?" Lucy called out his name uncertainly.
Ryan looked at Lucy, his eyes wide with fear, "Luce, help me. I think I'm going mad." He started to panic.
Lucy grabbed his face with both of her hands, "Listen to me, you are not going mad. When we get home I'll explain everything to you."
Just then, Rogue appeared with Frosch by his side. "Are you okay?"
Lucy nodded and got up but was stopped by Ryan. He grabbed her hand to get her attention.
"You don't need to explain anything…" Ryan blurted.
Lucy narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean?"
"I think… I know. I'm a mage aren't I?"
Lucy looked at Rogue in surprise, he shrugged and said nothing.
"How do you know that?" Lucy asked Ryan.
"I sometimes dream of myself. I dream of forests and… monsters." Ryan confessed. "And then when I wake up, I find myself in the forest I dreamt of."
Lucy fell silent at this, then without any warning Ryan started to cry.
"I'm sorry! I think I hurt you. I didn't mean to do any of this stuff. I –" Lucy pursed her lip and hugged Ryan tightly.
"It's okay, I will protect you." Lucy whispered in his ear assuring Ryan. "No matter what happens, I promise that I will be beside you."
Ryan nodded and sniffed. Frosch who was standing beside Rogue started to cry too.
"Rogue? Why is that boy crying?" Frosch's eyes started to water. Rogue bent down and scooped Frosch in a hug.
"See? You made that cat cry. Now stop crying and smile." Lucy told Ryan, she pat his head softly.
"Lucille?" Ryan said her name timidly.
"Yes?" Lucy replied.
"When you leave… can you take me with you?"
Ryan felt horrible, especially since this morning. When Ryan told Genzou that he would be leaving with them, Genzou had said nothing.
He just sat down on his chair with a desolate look on his face. "Why? Don't you know what they might do to you?"
Ryan just stood there, saying nothing. Genzou looked at Ryan pleadingly, "Please, don't go…"
"I… have to go." Ryan whispered. "Genzou, I killed those people. I destroyed a town. This is the least thing I can do."
Genzou closed his mouth, a crease formed between his eyebrows. "I understand."
Ryan clenched his fists and wiped his eyes. "Take care of yourself."
"You too…"
Lucy glanced at Ryan who was sleeping against the window. "When are we going to reach?" Rogue groaned. He was clutching his stomach and looked really green.
"Are you okay, Rogue?" Frosch asked in concern. Rogue nodded weakly and slumped over his seat.
Lucy sighed and stared outside the window. As she looked at the moving scenery, she thought about Ryan. The magic council would have a lot of things to consider about. He was still young and he didn't kill those people on purpose.
Lucy wished to protect Ryan. But what could she do? All she could do was to hope that the Magic Council wouldn't make a half-assed decision. The trained rocked on, trapping Lucy in her thoughts.
Sting yawned and scratched his head, he pulled an all-nighter finishing writing documents to send to the Magic Council. Rogue had contacted him through the Communication Lacrima. He told him everything about what happened.
Sting frowned and stroked his chin. "What to do…"
"Sting! They're back!" Lector announced with a bang. He was keeping a lookout for them; Lector had been feeling lonely without Frosch by his side although he wouldn't admit it.
Sting grinned and jumped down from his window to greet them. He landed in front of Lucy who jumped back in surprise.
"Sting!" Lucy reproached Sting. Ryan hid behind Lucy and looked at Sting in curiosity.
"Who's the brat hiding behind Lucy?" Sting smirked and peered at him.
"Lucy?" Ryan echoed in confusion. Lucy slapped her forehead in realization. "You heard it wrong, he said Lucille."
"You said Lucille, right? Sting?" Lucy put an emphasis on her fake name and on his name. Sting's eyes widened slightly and he nodded understandingly. Thank goodness he wasn't so dense.
"That's right. I arranged a hearing with the Magic Council. It should be next week." Sting said. Ryan stiffened when he heard the word 'hearing'. Sting smiled and patted his head assuring Ryan, "Don't worry. It will be fine." Lucy glanced at Sting gratefully.
"Come on, let's go in." Sting said, taking one of Ryan's hands. He then turned and regarded Lucy, "You too, Lucille." He smirked when he said her name.
Lucy said nothing and followed them but when she got close enough to Sting, Lucy kicked him hard in the shin earning her a chuckle from Rogue.
Sting howled from the pain, he glared at Lucy who was laughing with Ryan. "I'm going to get back at you someday."
"Try me." Lucy muttered, grinning. Sting pouted and went upstairs back to his office with Ryan beside him.
"You got your guild mark?" Lucy asked. Ryan nodded cheerfully and showed her his guildmark proudly.
It was in turquoise color and it was located on his forearm. Lucy gazed at it for a moment.
"Luce? Thanks for everything." Ryan blushed and thanked her. Lucy smiled at him, "You're welcome."
Rogue appeared next to her carrying a duffel. "What's that?" asked Lucy.
"Ryan's stuff." Rogue replied. "Genzou-san gave it to me before we left," said Rogue, handing Ryan the duffel.
Ryan hugged the duffel and smiled sadly. Lucy patted Ryan's head gently.
"You're staying with us." Rogue said, looking at Sting. Sting was looking down at them from the second floor; Lucy instantly knew that it was Sting who let Ryan stay with them.
Lucy locked eyes with Sting and she smiled gratefully at him. Sting was quite surprised from her reaction that he started.
Lucy rolled her eyes slightly and turned around and tapped Rogue on the shoulder, "Hey, I'm going back first. I'll prepare dinner today."
Rogue nodded, "Thank you. But why are you going back early?" He added as an afterthought.
"I have to buy a book." Lucy replied it wasn't exactly a lie, she was going to research. Besides she received a generous amount of money by selling the monster's head.
Lucy adjusted her cloak and left the guild. She summoned Plue so that he could accompany her. The walk to the bookstore was a bit lonely and quiet. She stopped by an old bookstore; the windows were covered with newspapers.
She entered the bookstore and looked around. She had no idea where to search when she saw an old man looking at her from behind the counter.
"What are you looking for, young lady?" The old owner peered at her through his spectacles.
"Er... I'm just looking around." Lucy replied hesitantly. The owner raised his eyebrow ever so slightly but said nothing. "New releases are in the back."
Lucy nodded her head gratefully and made her way to the dustiest part of the store. She did her best not to inhale any of the dust.
Lucy scanned the book titles; she thought about what she wanted to find. She wanted to know more about the Alvarez Empire but she wanted to know more about the dark arts too.
As for the reason why she wanted to know about the dark arts was... because of Zeref. As she was looking her eyes fell upon a book which was tightly bound with a leather strap. Lucy reached for it and opened it. It had no title on the cover.
Lucy's heart almost jumped out of her mouth when she saw a cockroach crawl out of it. Calming herself down, she touched one of the pages gently and turned it over.
There were no sentences; instead there were pictures with a caption beneath them. On closer inspection, Lucy found the pictures to be gruesome.
The picture she was looking at depicted a man surrounded by dead bodies. The man was holding his head and looked as if he were screaming.
This looked oddly familiar to Lucy, she looked down and read the caption. 'Ankhseram Black Magic.' What did that even mean?
Lucy frowned and flipped to the next page. The next page depicted a young girl holding a severed head. Lucy widened her eyes in horror and closed it shut.
Lucy shuddered and looked at the book; it was no doubt a book about dark arts. She was about to put the book back on the shelf but found herself hesitating for some reason.
If this really contained the names of the dark arts it would be a really big help to her. Lucy sighed in defeat and made her way to the counter holding the book cautiously as if it might burn her.