Chapter 12

March

April

May

June

July

August

September: 7 Months Later

"Come on Liv, just once."

Said mage doesn't even bother sitting up to answer. In fact, she turns over to her stomach, blocking Alex from view.

We sit in a semi-circle in the center of Alex and I's mat, currently taking a much needed break. Liv and Zach spent the whole morning locked in a magic fight that both refused to lose, while Alex and I had spent the morning on weights.

"Liiiiiiiv, come on, you can't leave me with just Lucy again."

I glare. "Wow Alex, thanks; guess I know who I'm not hanging out with tonight."

Tonight is yet another one of Zach's party, that of which Alex seems utterly determined to get Liv to go to. We had been going together each month while Liv stayed home, and it seemed that frankly Alex was done with only being a duo.

"Oliviandra, as one of your best friends, I am demanding that you get your ass off of your sofa and be social for once in your life."

This time Liv does sit up, her glare burning hole through Alex's head. "Alexandra, as one of your best friends, I'm advising you to stop talking before I kick your ass across the mat."

Alex narrows her eyes. "Is that a threat?"

"Oh defiantly not. No, it's a promise."

I swipe my hand in the air between them, cutting off the conversation. "Guys, calm down; there's only one possible solution to this." Both girls turn to me in question. It always happens like this when two of us are fighting; the third always solves it. "And that solution is…Liv has to come to the party."

"HA!" Alex yells, smacking Liv on the shoulder. "Now you have to go. Nice job." We high five while Liv crosses her arms.

"Whatever; it was rigged. Lucy's obviously on your side.

I shrug. "It's about time you came to one. It's been boring without you."

"Thanks Luce; that makes me feel awesome."

"Says the one that ditched me to hang out with that guy at the bar last time!" I shoot back.

She sputters. "Only after you were surrounded by the entourage!" She yells, referring to the group of guys that seems to follow Damien everywhere. Whenever we hang out at the parties, they seem to always be around us.

Despite how much Liv and Alex disapprove of and want me to end our relationship, I refuse to stop seeing him. He makes me happy, so why would I? They may be my best friends, but I'm not dropping one of the best things that has happened to me because they have suspicions over his ex.

"Girls!" Liv slices her hand in the air between us, a stern look on her face. "Chill out! There will be no ditching anyone tonight, got it?" She leans close to us. "Because if either of you ditches me after forcing me to go, you're going to wish you never got me to go. Deal?" Alex and I roll our eyes, grumbling "deal". She nods, satisfied by our answers.

"Liv!"

We all turn in the direction of the voice to find Zach striding over, a helmet tucked under his arm. Alex immediately turns to Liv, raising her eyebrow and giving Liv "the look". Said girl smacks her on the shoulder before turning to Zach.

"Is break over already?"

He nods, extending a hand to her. She accepts it, only to have Zach pull her up and against his chest. She remains there for several seconds, her hands on his chest, before blushing and backing off. "C-come on, I have to kick your ass and catch up!" She yells a half-hearted insult, referring to the internal scoreboard the two had been keeping for their fights. As far as I knew Zach was winning, but not by much.

Alex and I exchange a glance as Zach follows her. "When is she going to admit it to herself?" I ask, watching as Liv begins stretching and steals a not-so-subtle glance at her partner. "It's obvious they like each other." Recently, the pair had been far less threatening to one another. Alex is part of a pool around the guild on when they're going to start dating; her bet is that they're already together and hiding it.

"I don't know, but if it doesn't happen soon I'll be forced to help."

I follow her to the center of the mat. "Alex, please don't intervene. If you do and Liv finds out, it won't be pretty."

She stretches her arms above her. "Nah, I can handle her."

I raise an eyebrow. "What if she decides to, oh, I don't know, lock you out of every house and bedroom within a five mile radius?

She sucks air through her teeth. "Yea, I forgot about that; ok, never mind. That sucked enough last time."

"You totally deserved it though."

She scoffs. "uh, no. I had to sleep in the guildhall for weeks! Do you even know how uncomfortable those pool tables are?"

"Alex."

"Oh, don't forget the fact that Master said I had to find another place to stay after that one time. How was I supposed to know that I get destructive when I sleep walk!?"

"Alex."

"Not even to mention that everyone practically applauded Liv for doing it; I'm sure she got a medal for that."

"Alex!"

She halts her tirade and glances up. "What?"

"You dyed the poor girl's hair pink."

I shudder, remembering the shriek that rang throughout the house and the resulting look of pure horror that befell Liv's face the moment she looked in the mirror after her shower. That, and the evil aura that practically glowed around her when she dried it and realized that her head had resembled cotton candy. Honestly, I still have no idea how Alex was able to find dye strong enough to change jet black hair to light pink; I guess for her, April fool's meant "go big or go home".

What was weird though was the sense of déjà vu I had gotten whenever I saw Liv and her light pink hair running around the guild, cursing everyone in sight and fighting with every able bodied person until she'd found out who'd done it. I never figured out why it kept happening, but it thankfully went away the day Liv was able to wash away the pink with some kind of magic concoction.

"Oh please, I was doing the girl a favor. She wears it in a bun every day, it was time for something different."

"Yea, I don't think that's how that works."

She shrugs. "It worked for me; I'm now officially the April fool's queen."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, I know, we all remember your "ceremony"." I recall the passing of the "crown" (a black, metal contraption with jewels welded to the sides) from Angela, the barmaid, to Alex.

She flashes me a smirk before pulling the helmet over her head. I do the same, threading my ponytail through the back. "You ready?"

She nods, holding her arms in front of her. I mimic her movements.

Over that past few months, I've learned how Alex fights and have even been able to beat her about half the time. Lately that hasn't been happening, but hopefully today is the day I turn that around.

In a blink, she throws her fist out. I sidestep her, narrowly missing what would have been a painful punch to the stomach. She's thrown off balance for half a second, during which I return her punch with one of my own. Unfortunately she must have been anticipating it, because she steps back just before I land it. We continue like this for several minutes.

Black starts to suddenly dot my vision as I feel a headache come on. My movements become slow and sloppy, allowing Alex to land a swift kick to my side.

I gasp at the sudden flair of pain. What the hell? No matter how many times she's done that move before, it's never felt like this. In fact, I've never gotten tired this quickly. I've fought with her much longer than this before, and even then I hadn't gotten this tired.

Before I realize what's happening my legs have buckled beneath me. I fall to the ground, but not before Alex gives me a hard kick to the side of my head, one that was obviously meant for elsewhere. My head slams against the mat, and for probably the first time ever I'm grateful for the helmet I'm wearing.

"Wow, that must be record; you're off your game, blondie." I don't respond. "Lucy….you ok?" I don't move. "Holy shit, Lucy are you ok?" Alex immediately drops to the floor, bringing her head down so that she's at eyelevel with me. "What happened?"

I blink a few times, trying to focus my blurry vision. What did happen? "I don't know." I'm breathing heavy. "My legs just gave out or something."

"Did you twist your ankle?" She asks, pulling me into a sitting position.

I shake my head, the headache already receding. "No…they just gave out. I must have been worn out, I guess."

Unease shows clearly on her face, but she quickly covers it up. "Yea…I gue- oh shit, did I get your nose?"

My hand flies up to my nose, but it doesn't feel broken. "No, why?" She kicked me in the side of the head, not the front. When I pull my hand away, red liquid coats the tips of my fingers. Is my nose bleeding?

I barely manage to get out a "hold on" before I'm sprinting across the room to where the bathrooms are. I look in one of the mirrors, cringing at the sight of blood above my lip. Ooh, that's not pretty.

I grab tissue from a stall and place it over my nose, tilting my head back. I think this is what you're supposed to do…I've never actually had a nosebleed before.

"Lucy, you ok?" Alex appears behind me. Worry and something I can't place flash across her face. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to kick your nose; I didn't break it did I?"

That's it; Alex must've kicked me. That HAS to be why I'm bleeding. "No, it's fine." My voice comes out nasally. "It's not broken, thank god; that would've put a damper on the party mood, right?" I joke, attempting to lighten the mood.

She chuckles, but I still see that other emotion evident.

I now realize it's suspicion.

"Are you sure you're ok Lucy? We weren't fighting for that long; you've lasted longer before."

I don't like the way she's questioning or looking at me, so I shrug it off. "I guess you're getting better then." I pull the bloody tissue away to reveal that my nose is no longer bleeding. "See? Better already. I'm ready to go back on the mat."

Alex laughs. "Ha, no; Liv will kill me if you pass out a second time because I started fighting you after you almost passed out the first time. No, we're done for the day."

"But-"

"Nope. You can stay if you want, but we're not fighting anymore today."

I sigh, accepting that I'm not going to win this. "Fine. No more fighting today. But I'm going to at least do my cool down laps."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine. But if you kill yourself in the process, please come back as a ghost to convince Liv it wasn't my fault."

We leave the bathroom. We make the trek up the stairs, during which I realize that I really don't feel like running laps, but it's too late to back out now. I refuse to admit that Alex was right.

"You're positive you can jog these?" She asks once we've reached the top. Instead of answering I start jogging, holding back a laugh when I hear her groan and speed up to reach me.

After nine laps of no incident, we round the curve on the final lap. "Race you!" I yell at Alex before speeding up and sprinting the last curve and straightaway. The room becomes a blur as I run, my ponytail swinging wildly behind me.

Just as I'm several yards from the finish, the black dots return. This time it doesn't take long for them to overtake me, and within half a second I'm falling through the air. I put out a hand to catch myself before I face plant, but a loud crack sounds as I land on the extended limb.

"GODDAMMIT LUCY!" is the last think I hear before the world goes dark.

.

.

What feels like hours later but must have been only seconds I peel my eyes open to find a very anxious Alex staring down at me. I slowly process the fact that I'm laying on my back with half of my face on fire and my wrist throbbing. I jerk and make a move to sit up, but she places a hand on my shoulder and practically slams me back to the ground. "Oh hell no, you're staying down for a few minutes."

"W-what happened?" I'm breathing heavy. Why am I breathing heavy again?

"I told you to chill out, and you decide to go and sprint our last lap. You blacked out and went down. You must have scraped your head when you hit the ground; it's really red."

I touch my cheek with the tip of my finger and wince at both the rough skin and the spike of pain. "Ow..."

Alex grimaces. "That doesn't look good; I should probably bring you to Angela."

"Angela the barmaid?" My mind is slow to process what she's saying. "Why?"

"She knows what to do about this kind of stuff."

Not in the mood to question her, I groan. "Ok, just…give me a second." I take a deep breath and try to slow my rapidly beating heart. What's wrong with me? I can't be this worn out with just running a lap; I do it all the time.

After a few minutes I push off the floor while Alex helps me stand up. We make our way down to the main floor and then up to the guildhall, all while I cradle my hand against my chest. From the angle it's hanging, I can safely assume my wrist is broken.

The guildhall is brimming with people, but thankfully no one pays us any attention as we settle ourselves at the bar. Seeing new customers, Angela walks quickly over to our side, pink pigtails swinging and a smile on her face.

"Alex, Lucy, what brings you over- oh shit Lucy what happened?" The smile drops from her face as she leans over the counter to get a better look at me.

"We were on the track and she fell and scraped her face and I think probably broke her wrist." Alex answers for me as Angela gently grasps my chin and turns my head to the side.

"Let me see your wrist." She gingerly takes my arm, noting the bent angle. "How'd you fall?"

"That's the thing; she's been doing fine all day and suddenly she gets a nosebleed and just passes out on the track. We do the same thing each time we're down there and it's never happened before."

I give Alex a look; I'm perfectly fine answering for myself.

Angela nods. "Can you turn or bend it at all?"

I attempt to, but decide that's a "no" when pain shoots up my arm.

"You know…this all seems pretty familiar." Alex says when Angela pulls a first aid kit out from beneath the bar. She digs around in it, finally pulling a roll of bandage out.

"How so?" She asks while wrapping my hand up in the white gauze. I can tell she's only half paying attention to Alex.

"I seem to recall a certain person getting hurt like Lucy. And the nose bleeds."

Satisfied with the bandage, Angela pulls out a bottle of some kind of gel. "I have no idea what you're talking about, nor do I want to." She says as she puts the gel on her finger and starts spreading it across my cheek.

Alex sighs loudly. "I'm talking about Cass."

Angela's hand stills. "Alex, that was a long time ago; I wish you would let it go, god knows you should have a while ago." She resumes her movements.

"But you have to admit it's practically the same thing!"

Angela finishes with the gel and caps the bottle. "I don't have a bandage big enough for the scrape, so I'm just going to leave this on there. Don't touch that side of your face, ok? As for your wrist, try not to put any pressure on it. That's not as good as a cast, but it should hold it together enough for it to heal."

I nod; I can do that. At least it was my right wrist and the right side of my face.

"As for you." Angela slams the first aid kit shut and turns to Alex. "I know that you, Liv, and Cass were close and I know that you miss her, but you have to let this drop. She left the guild, and that was her decision; you can't change that, no matter how many people you accuse."

"No, but Angela look! Look at her!" Alex gestures wildly at me. In fact, next to Angela's cool demeanor, Alex looks almost crazy. "It's the exact. Same. Thing. She's doing fine, fighting great, when all of a sudden BOOM" She smacks her hands together for effect. "She hits a wall and falls to rock bottom. Look at her, it's already starting."

"Wait what?" I turn to her. "What's already starting?'

"Alex, you're scaring the poor girl."

"It's the truth!"

Angela raises an eyebrow. "And have you told Liv about this theory?"

"Yes, and she agrees with me."

"Whoa, wait, everyone stop." I interrupt. It burns slightly when I move my mouth to talk, but I ignore it. "What are you guys talking about?"

"I'd tell you, but you wouldn't believe me anyways." Alex grumbles.

I take a deep breath, trying to stop myself from yelling. Her and Liv have been doing this secret thig for way too long; having conversations that stop when I walk in the room, giving me questioning looks when they think I don't see. "At least tell me what it is."

"Just tell her; she deserves to at least know why you and Liv are no doubt acting weird around her."

I look expectantly at Alex, who sighs loudly. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. You remember Cass? About how she left after Damien did something to her?"

"He didn-"

She holds up a hand. "Just hear me out. Please."

I'm shocked into silence, my argument dying in my throat.

Did Alex just say please?

She points at me. "Don't get used to it. Anyways-

"Wait!" Angela disappears for several seconds before reappearing back in front of us, now with a mug in her hand. "Ok continue."

"Really. A drink." Alex makes a point of turning her body to fully face me and away from Angela. "As I was saying…Cass disappeared after five months here. While surprising, that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was the fact that in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, she had broken two bones, passed out and got a nosebleed in pretty much every work out, and went into a "coma"."

"…What? What happened, why did she go into a coma?"

"Cass used a type of air magic, right? Well during one of the magic fights she had around month four, she lost control of it and was thrown onto a part of the floor that didn't have a mat. She didn't wake up for three days."

"Oh my god, that's terrible."

"Yep. Considering how strong she was when she got here in the first place, I don't think it's a stretch to say that something was happening to her. Not only was she suddenly practically made of glass, but her magic basically…went…poof."

Behind us, Angela snorts. "Poof?"

She nods. "Poof. When she first got here, she could conjure up a tornado by snapping her fingers if she wanted to. Next thing I know, it's five months later and she can't even make a breeze. Now what does that tell you?"

I shrug. "I don't know, maybe she was losing her edge or something."

"Lucy. Come on. Lose her edge? Falling that far down in that amount of time is more than just "losing her edge."

"What are you implying?"

"Think about it. Magic like that doesn't just disappear."

"Ok…that means…"

"Someone was taking it from her."

"What?!" I say at the same time that Angela practically chokes on her drink. "Alex, that's a serious accusation, you can't just throw that around." She says once she's calmed down. "How long have you been sitting on this?"

"Awhile."

"Alex, I don't know why you think that, but-"

"Magic doesn't just disappear; not like that. No, it went somewhere. Someone took it, and I have a pretty good idea of who it was."

I stand up so fast that my stool falls backward. "You have no right to accuse him of that and I suggest you stop."

Alex stands too. "She was going on jobs Lucy, so it can't be from not using it. She trained with me, so it wasn't because she didn't practice. And they always completed the job, so she didn't get hexed or anything. The only other option is if someone was continually taking it over a period of time."

"That doesn't mean it's Damien." I don't care how much evidence she has; there's no way that he would do something like that.

"Have you used your magic at all since you got here?"

The question throws me off, momentarily derailing my anger. "Of course not, I don't use my keys."

She leans back, a satisfied look on her face, as if she caught me. "Then how do you know he's not doing the exact same thing to your magic?"

"I…" I don't. I trust him though, and I trust that he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. "I don't, but I know if that is happening to me, which it isn't, because your theories are ridiculous, Damien's not the one doing it. He would never hurt me and he would never want to."

"And how could you possibly know that? You've been dating for god knows how long, but do you even know anything about him?"

"It doesn't matter!"

"Yes it does! He knows everything about you, yet you know nothing about him. You're smarter than this! Can't you see he's just using you to get what he wants?"

"And what does he want, Alex? Since it seems you know everything about us?"

Her red eyes practically glow as I see her visibly trying to hold back her anger. "I don't know what he wants, but whatever it is it isn't good, and I'm just trying to get you to see that before everything goes to shit."

"Goes to shit?" Maybe going the logical route will fix this. "The only reason that you're suspecting he's doing something is because I got a nose bleed during practice and fell and broke my wrist. That could've happened to anyone!"

"So you're telling me you've had tons of nosebleeds before? Because we've been practicing for a long time, and I have never seen you out of it like that."

"Oh so you're an expert on my relationship and my life now?"

I hadn't realized Angela had left the bar until she was standing between us. Suddenly a hand is on my chest and I'm pushed back a few steps. "Cut it out!" Alex looks like she's about to respond, but one look silences her. "You both need to take a step back and calm down. Not only are you scaring everyone off that's tried to get a drink, but you're drawing an audience."

I look around the room, realizing that she's right. Almost everyone in the guildhall was staring at us, most looking as if we were the daily entertainment.

"Do you need something?!" Alex snaps.

Everyone immediately turns away, but not before a few of the guys around us chuckle. "You trying to bring Lucy into your little club?" One of them says.

"Oh piss off." Alex stomps away in the direction of the exit while they roar with laughter.

I watch her go, conflicted over whether or not I should go after her. I'm mad that she's accusing Damien of all that and that she seems to think she knows better than me, but she is still one of my best friends.

The latter wins, but as I start to walk away, a hand grabs my wrist and pulls me back. "Don't. She needs some time to cool off."

I turn to Angela. "I know, but she's my friend; I don't want her mad at me."

"She's not mad; just frustrated. She's just trying to look out for you."

"So you believe her?"

She groans. "I don't even know anymore. Some of it makes sense, but then why would he even do that in the first place? If he was taking magic, which I'm not saying he is, what's he doing with it? He wouldn't be taking it for himself, because he hasn't gotten strong all of a sudden."

"He's not. Damien might not be the nicest person, but he would never steal someone's magic, let alone mine. He wouldn't hurt me."

Angela's silent, and when I turn to look at her she's staring at me. "Do you…love him?"

My face burns. "Does it matter?"

"So you do."

"I didn't say that. Plus, no offense, but why do you care?"

She shrugs. "Just curious. But, word of advice? Don't put so much blind faith into that kid. I've known Damien a long time, and he's not worth that much trust."

I'm about to retort that it isn't blind and that yes, he is worth it, but just as I open my mouth, I feel my heart squeeze. It momentarily takes my breath away, and a look to the side shows why. Damien walks past the bar, a piece of paper in his hand.

I immediately dart after him, walking fast to catch up. Once I do I clasp his hand with my good one and lean against his side. My heart beats faster, but I feel my whole body physically calm from just being next to him.

"You're up early." I note.

He glances down at me. "Yea, I wanted to take this job before anyone else got to it. What are you doing up here?"

"Just talking to Alex. She's giving me her daily speech about why we shouldn't be together."

He chuckles and squeezes my hand. "What was it today?"

"She's claiming that you stole Cass's magic and now you're stealing mine." I roll my eyes at the absurdity. "Her usual talk."

If I hadn't been leaning so heavily on him, I would have missed Damien's body tensing ever so slightly. In the next second it's gone, but not before I catch a dark look cross across his face. "She's really pulling them out of air now, isn't she?"

His sentence falls flat, which is enough to give me a clue that something's up. I quickly place myself fin front of him, forcing him to a stop. "What's wrong?"

He gives me a questioning look. "Why do you think something's wrong?"

Somehow, his response makes me feel stupid for asking. "You tensed up; it seemed like something's wrong."

"I'm just anxious about this job, is all."

That's it? "Oh, really? What is it? Maybe I could go with you and help. We could be partners." I smile at the thought and reach out to the paper, but he shoves it in his pocket before I can grab it.

"It's nothing I can't handle."

"Oh…are you sure? I've been practicing and I could handle myself-"

"I said I can handle it." He interrupts.

I practically deflate. "Oh…ok. Do you have to leave right now? Maybe you could stay for a few hours and we can get lunch-"

"Sorry, I have to leave now if I'm going to catch the train. I'll see you when I get back though, right?"

My eyes burn, but I fight against the urge to cry. "Yea, sure. Good luck." I step back to let him leave, not wanting to apparently inconvenience him anymore. I look down at my feet.

A hand on my chin forces me to look up. Damien's gaze captures mine. I flinch as his thumb rubs slightly on the edge of my cheek, but he doesn't notice. In fact, he doesn't seem to notice the fact that I scraped it.

"Sweetheart, please don't cry. I'm sorry, I just want to get this job done fast. I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back, ok? We can go to town and get food from that weird restaurant you like."

"It's not weird." I mumble. "You just refuse to eat food that actually tastes good."

He rolls his eyes. "Well I'll pretend to like it, just for you."

I fake gasp and place a hand over my heart. "Just for me!?"

He leans in, stopping right before my lips. "Just for you, weirdo." I laugh; for some reason, the nickname makes me feel immensely happy. He presses a hard and demanding kiss against me, one that brings butterflies to my stomach.

Within a blink he backs away and gives me a wink before walking out of the guildhall. The loss of his warmth makes me shiver. The slam of the door behind me feels like a punch to the stomach, where it feels like a pile of rocks is sitting. I don't want him to go…I already miss him. I wonder how long he'll be gone; I hope he takes care of it soon.

I sigh and turn around, not wanting to block the exit. Across the room, Angela catches my eye as she wipes down the bar. She shakes her head sadly before turning her back to me and walking away.

What is everyone's problem today? That's the third person this morning that I've somehow upset. Am I doing something wrong? Is it me?

I sigh and head outside, in the direction of my house. I might as well head home before I ruin anyone else's morning.

Whoops that ended on a depressing note. Sorry guys, I just couldn't find a place to end the chapter. This chapter is coming later than I usually post, but I blame that 100% on Sense8 (It's on Netflix, I totally recommend it)

Magna News:

-Well, obviously I'm a sucker for "person A gets hurt and person B flips their shit and practically kills everyone in response", so I am crossing my fingers that Natsu gets pissed off and beats this guy for Lucy (Erza too, but come on he jumped for her first and she slipped through his fingers {which killed me by the way}) Also the reunion between them….because the reunion is almost as good as the fight.

-On the girl, I've read a lot of theories that she's related to Juvia. I personally don't see it, maybe slightly in the eyes and the way she was introduced, but I doubt it, though it would be pretty cool.

-Oh and Mest, please don't give people reason to think you're a perv (because that's how the majority of people took it apparently), even if it was adorable how they helped the kid find their parents.

Dang, it's nearly 3 AM. I should probably end this author's note…

See you next week guys!

Liked what you read? Review, Follow, or Favorite for more!