Natsu sat down in the guild beside Lucy and Gray, his feather pen scrawled across the page. He knew his writing was coming across messy, little more than chicken scratch, but he didn't care. The moment Mirajane had suggested the idea; he had ransacked the guild for parchment and a pen as well as some ink.
"Natsu... I don't think you should use that paper." Lucy advised, pointing to his parchment.
"Huh?" Natsu said, flipping the paper over. On the other side, it was a job request for searching for a family heirloom.
"Who cares, it was a stupid job anyway." He decided, flipping the paper back over and continuing his scrawling.
"Hey, do I get to put in my two bits?" Gray asked, leaning over.
"Get your own damn letter!" Natsu growled, holding the paper to his chest protectively.
"I think Dante might want to send a letter to Mason too," Gray snickered at Unicorn's are Mystical's empty table. "Except he's been hanging with Maryanna in town for days now."
"And... there!" Natsu finished his signature and made a dot on the paper climatically. Gray gave him string to tie it and he rolled it up, tying it shut.
"Great idea! Now how are we going to get it to him?" Gray huffed, sitting down in a chair. "Dimwit..."
"Oh..." Natsu put a finger to his chin, scratching it in thought. "I've got it! Happy can fly it to him!"
"Aye!" Happy saluted from the table.
"Another brilliant idea, but Happy doesn't know where Mason is either." Gray huffed.
"OH yeah..." Natsu's chin hit the table and he looked straight forward. "Aww, this is hard! Lucy!" He pointed to the blonde mage. "You're smart, figure something out!"
"Wow..." Lucy sweat-dropped. "That was almost a compliment, except you only said it so I would do something for you."
"Hey Luce, can one of your spirits get it to him?" Gray asked suddenly.
"I don't know Gray..." She poked the tips of her fingers together in thought. "I don't want to use them as servants just to get work done for me..."
"You're kind to your spirits Lucy, there your friends." Natsu shot in. "They'd be glad to do it as a favor. Plus if Mason saw one of us, he'd probably run off. He left the guild for a reason."
"And we need to find out why." Gray stated flatly.
"I guess..." Lucy said, although she still didn't like the idea. She reached for her belt and pulled out a golden key. "Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
Light gathered into a shimmering form, which slowly dissipated into the familiar form of Loke.
"Sup Luce?" He said idly, smiling while shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Loke, would you mind doing me a huge favor?" Lucy said, sticking out her bottom lip and fluttering her eyelashes.
"Anything for you, princess." He smirked, winking at her. A red heart floated over to Lucy from his wink, popping in front of her face. Several near female mages fainted at the action, although they didn't even see it.
"Do you think you could find Mason and give him a letter?" She asked, offering the parchment.
"That's it? No probs babe." He snatched the parchment from her and placed it inside of his black blazer.
"Are you sure?' She asked worriedly. "How will you find him? Do you have enough magic to survive that long?"
"I'm the leader of the Zodiac's Lucy, I can do things other spirits and humans can't." He smiled at her. "As far as the time, I managed three years; I'll be back by the end of the week."
"Yay!" She hugged the lion spirit. "Thanks Loke! You're the best!"
"I won't hug you Loke, but thanks too." Natsu grinned.
"I better get going." Loke stated, letting go of Lucy and turning around. He waved behind him to the Fairy Tail wizards, and set off.
000
"Again." Hislen commanded.
"I don't need to be told." Mason growled, but punched the hanging bag strongly. A small click resonated.
"You're wasting time. Again." Hislen state firmly. He spoke in a stiff, gruff voice that was so forced and jerky, it sounded like he had a bad accent. With this, it matched his character and appearance perfectly.
"Sebastian!" Mason cursed, slamming the same fist into the bag. The action was followed by a click, as was the next punch he threw.
"You can punch it without my command you know. You are wasting more time." Hislen reminded, waving the clicker he held. It kept track of clicks up to four places.
"I know! Time, time, time, time! Everything's about time!" Mason yelled in frustration, slamming his fist into the punching bag every time he said the four letter word. Of course, each punch was followed by the infuriating click. He spared a glance at his current trainer.
Hislen reminded him of Macao actually. He was about the same build and had the same comb over haircut, but he was taller and had paler skin, as well as a clean shaven face. Everything about him was stiff, especially his posture. Even his movements were jerky and ragged. He wore a long crimson overcoat over basic black pants and shirt.
"What kind of magic do you use?" Mason asked idly, shoving his fists into the bag.
"I don't see why I need to share that information." He said blandly, clicking away on the damned clicker.
"Where's Paro?" Mason continued, punching differently. His wrists were so sore he was using his elbows to throw his punches and keeping his wrists stiff.
"Out back with Crystal." He said with a hint of irritation.
"Mad he's with your sister?" Mason asked with a smirk of satisfaction.
"Again..." Hislen growled simply.
"What am I at?" Mason asked, taming a moment to rest against the heavy bag.
"Just over 800." Hislen said, a weak look of surprise flashing across his face when he checked the clicker.
"No good. I'm barely a tenth there." Mason growled, getting up and punching at the bag again.
"What an understatement of an achievement for someone like you." Hislen commented.
"Like me?' Mason pointed out, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
"I meant your age. You're surprisingly determined for a mage of three months. This is only your first day."
"I'll get it done today." Mason vowed, punching a little higher. The cool leather of the untouched place gave his knuckles a brief cool feeling before it too heated up. "I need to become adept, just like you said," Mason turned his head so he could see Hislen fully. "Or do I have to give your own speech to you?"
Before he could answer, Mason spoke. He never stopped his flurry of punches, though.
"Studies show thumf that the average person has to thumf perform an action about 10,000 times thumf thumf before they can be considered THUMF adept." Mason stopped momentarily, looking at his own hands. "Now I'm here wearing my wrists to stubs."
"I've done the math Hislen. 86,400 seconds in a day thumf. 26,400 seconds a day to thumf thumf thumf sleep. 10,000 seconds a day to eat thumf and rest thumf. 50,000 seconds a day to TRAIN/thumf." Mason stopped, falling to one knee and wasting more precious time. "If I punch once every five seconds all day... I'll do it." He looked up and saw Hislen's doubtful glare.
"I can do it Hislen! I really can!" He yelled in promise.
"You're wasting time." He commented his favorite phrase.
"I'll get better, I promise! This is only my first day; I'll start at simple things like this and keep becoming adept. I don't need entertainment or to socialize, just give me a punching bag, a bed, and some food every once in a little while. I'll get back to Fairy Tail stronger than before! Every punch here's another punch at the frontlines defending my friends!" Mason yelled.
"Strange." Hislen muttered. "You think you can do it ten thousand times by today, albeit nobody ever has." Hislen laughed at his promise.
"Be with him a little while and he'll redefine impossible. You wouldn't believe the stuff I've seen this kid go through." Paro commented, approaching Hislen from behind. He was followed by a short, pretty girl.
"He's proving quite the trainee." Hislen turned to face his friend. "Hello Crystal."
"Hello brother." She sang, smiling so her high cheekbones rose even higher.
"I hope he isn't giving you too much trouble?" Paro joked.
"He's doing just fine. How's your magic coming?"
"Progress. It's at a frustrating pace, but its progress." Paro placed a hand on Crystal's bony shoulder. "The fine Crystal has helped me along more than you could imagine."
"Oh shut up." Hislen shook his head, knowing Paro was only bugging him. Crystal giggled; her slim mouth in a smile. As she chuckled, her raven hair bounced slightly... as well as other things. She was quite short, the top of her head below Paro's armpits. Her body was skinny and fragile; she walked as if made of glass.
Mason did his best to ignore the large amounts of distraction, thumping the bag heavily. He started to make a permanent dent in the one side and quickly scurried over to its opposite.
"Mason." Paro breathed suddenly, motioning towards the trail leading into Hislen's forest cottage.
"Loke." Mason recognized with confusion. "Hislen, do I have time for a break?"
"It wouldn't help."
"LOKE!" Mason called him, waving him over. He turned back to his bag hanging from a thick branch and punched it furiously.
"I can't exactly sneak up on you." Loke joked once he was in earshot.
"If you're trying to bring me back Loke, it's not happening." Mason stated. He had rested slightly, and his fists were a blur, punching with reserved vigor. He didn't dare use magic to aid him though; he needed to learn the tough way. Plus, added fatigue wouldn't help his training.
"I came alone, that's not why I'm here." Loke began, standing on the opposite side of the bag.
"Be a dear and hold it for me." Mason asked, and Loke obliged. He held it in two places and leaned his body weight against it. "Privacy please." Mason said, turning to everyone else.
"Long thumf time thumf no thumf see thumf Loke." Mason commented, thrusting his numb knuckles forward.
"Mason, why did you leave?" Loke asked in a worried tone. He twitched every time Mason punched the bag, because he could still feel the force of the punches.
"You guys thumf deserved more thumf of an explanation, at thumf least a good bye." Mason held up his fist, which he had all but lost feeling in. He shook his head and started on his bad hand, his left.
"You have no idea Mason, everyone's worried sick." Loke caught his doubtful gaze and frowned. "The guild is silent. I'm serious, silent. The night you left everyone scoured Magnolia for you. I was one of them, we looked for hours."
Mason's fist stopped against the bag, thoughts concerning exhilaration and ferocity gone.
"Loke-"
"I know you had your reasons."
"Loke-!"
"But we deserve some sort of answer."
"I know Loke." Mason muttered, frustration allowing him to start punching again. "If I spoke to you guys I wouldn't have been able to leave, and trust me. This is for the better."
"I trust you Mason." Loke stated. "I haven't seen you too often, but I've seen enough. I know your honest and you care about Fairy Tail, you wouldn't leave for fun."
"I'm just getting STRONGER!" Mason yelled the last word, inspired enough to jump in the air and boot the bag. The force knocked Loke onto his arse, so it was followed by a hasty apology.
"I'm doing Fairy Tail a favor." Mason explained. "I'm getting stronger."
The Lion pursed his lips, taking in the situation. It was in some ways an honourable cause, but he had hell of a timing.
"They wrote you a letter." Loke remembered, reaching into his jacket for it.
"Loke, do me a favor and don't tell anyone where I am. I need this." Mason said, taking the letter.
"I'll take your word for it. Nobody will know."
"Just say nothing." Mason continued, looking down in what looked like shame. "I just... I hated leaving Loke. Let me tell them. I know I'm all over the place and probably not making sense, but just let me speak to them."
Loke nodded at him slowly. "I've done my job; I'm going to close my gate Mason. I hope you come back, I really do. Mirajane is worried sick about you." Leo pushed up his glasses with two fingers, but his face lacked his usual smirk. His form shimmered, his body rippling before it slowly faded. After a bright flash, the spirit was gone.
"But I haven't left Fairy Tail..." Mason muttered, although his thoughts were much more focused on his Mirajane comment.
"You're wasting time!" Hislen commented.
000
Mason,
I hope this letter gets to you. Oh year, this is Natsu, but Lucy and Gray are here too. Anyway, why did you leave man? The guild is quiet after you left. Everyone is really worried, we don't know where you are, what happened, or even if you're okay. Erza flew out for almost five hours, but even she didn't find you. Some people are saying you left Fairy Tail, but that can't be. You wouldn't leave Fairy Tail, were in this together. Gramps has kept real quite too; he doesn't even break up our brawls anymore. Erza's barely broke up me and Gray too, she's kept quite like Gramps. Dante and your friends have been... gone lately, so I don't know about them. We need you back. The threats from Ragnarok increase every day, and we miss you. We care about you, we're your friends. You need to know that, and I really hope that wasn't why you left. I think we deserve at least answers Mason. You should come back, your family misses you.
-Natsu Dragneel