Welcome to another chapter. This week was pretty busy but I still got in all the typing time I needed to get it out today. Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?" Lucy asked. She stood at the end of the table, tapping her foot in a quick motion. The blonde simply wanted to get her mind preoccupied on something else for a while, but clearly her attempt was useless. She and Loke came back inside a while ago. No one asked why she left so abruptly, Mirajane was the only one who offered her a small smile when they walked back inside.
Levy shook her head slowly, still trying to concentrate on what she was reading through. "Not right now. Freed's at the library with the Master, they might need you when they come back."
Despite the blue-haired girl's words, Lucy couldn't help but let a small sigh pass through her lips. She settled down on a seat and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "Are you guys any closer to figuring anything out?"
The script mage angled her head to the side, peering over at her through the thinly framed magic reading glasses. "The Master has a theory that the reason those people are after you is because you're a celestial wizard. That's why they're taking the time to look through a few books. I'm still trying to decode this mess. It must be really old magic, seeing as it's so complex."
Nodding her head, Lucy placed her finger below her lip, pressing it up in thought for a moment. "What about those people that were captured? Did you guys get anywhere with them?"
They already had them in custody for a few days now. The blonde figured that would have been more than enough time to wear at least one of them down. Being a target for kidnapping wasn't exactly the most settling thing. Lucy wasn't one to run from a fight, but she necessarily didn't like participating in them either. In fact, she hated the idea of getting everyone involved like this. The whole thing with Loke couldn't be helped, yet if the people she cared about were placed in danger another time on her account, she'd never be able to forgive herself if something happened to any of the Fairy Tail members.
Levy shrugged her shoulders prior to resting her elbows on the table. "I'm not sure. You should ask Erza when she comes out. She's talking to them with Mira right now. They've been down there for a while… that could either be a good or bad thing." Some nervous laughter came from the girl, even she knew how relentless those two could be if provoked.
The blonde quickly shook her head, glad to never being on the receiving end. "It's not like celestial magic is that rare. I'm pretty sure that a lot of wizards use Gate Keys. I really only know of my mother, Karen, Angel, Everlue and a few others though."
"Actually there's not as many as you would think," Levy replied. "A lot of guilds don't have more than one if they have any at all. There are only so many keys out there, so I'd presume it's hard to get your hands on the really strong spirits."
"That's true," Lucy said, drawing her head down until her cheek lay on her folded arms. "There are only twelve zodiac keys. Everyone's after them because the spirits are extremely powerful. I was like that too when I first started out."
The script mage shuffled her papers a few times before looking over at her friend. "How many gold ones do you have?"
Lucy took a second to go through them in her mind, pressing down a finger at each on as she counted. "Nine. I don't have Capricorn, Pisces, or Libra. I'm not sure if anyone has ever had all of them at the same time before."
"Maybe they want you because you own the majority of the gold keys," Levy suggested, tucking her loosely hanging sections of hair behind her ear.
"I don't know." Lucy let her words come out slowly, not really liking the whole concept. The blonde pushed herself into an upright position. Her nails suddenly dug inward, pressing small indents into the palm of her hands. She didn't want to think about it right now. Her spirits meant the world to her, so if she ever lost even one of them, she'd be devastated.
"Would you take all twelve keys if you had the chance?" the mage asked with curiosity. However, she was pretty sure she knew the answer already.
Lucy pursed her lips and took a moment to think about it. After gaining so many, some in the most unlikely ways, the answer was simple to give. "If they weren't already with another wizard or I received the keys on a job then yeah, but if they already had contracts, probably not."
"Even if the person offered?" Levy wondered out loud.
"My answer would remain the same," the blonde said with no hesitation. "The bond a wizard and spirit share is special and I would hate to be the one to separate that. I'd do anything for my spirits and even though not all mages are like that, I'd like to think that would be the same with the majority of them." That was purely wishful thinking on her part. She knew some mages were cruel and only used them as tools or shields but Lucy knew better. They have feelings and can feel pain, so how could others see them as anything less?
"You really care about them, don't you?" The script mage smiled and glanced over at Lucy, who dipped her head down in agreement. She didn't know any other celestial wizards, however Lucy has told her about how spirits were treated. Of course the original topic was about her novel, but the Heartfilia always tried to veer of that discussion as swiftly as she could.
The teen's blonde hair swayed a few extra times after her head movement stopped. "Of course, they're my friends. I just don't get what would make my magic so special. It's not like I'm a dragon slayer or something uncommon like that."
"I think what makes celestial magic so distinct is because you're basically connecting two worlds together." The blue-haired girl used the tip of her finger to realign the pair of glasses freely hanging on the bridge of her nose. "If you think about it, spirits and humans wouldn't even be able to interact. I guess that's why your connection with them is so unique."
"When you put it that way it makes sense. But the question of what they would need me for still remains." Lucy tapped her chin lightly, pondering what could possibly be going on. As soon as Levy went back to reading, she picked up a book and started going through it. The blonde wasn't skilled in the scripting of spells but she wanted to spend her time at least trying to be of some use. Besides, if she didn't keep her mind on this, her brain would automatically attract back to the lion spirit and the whole situation with Loke wasn't something she couldn't handle thinking about right now.
Loke shifted against the wall, trying his hardest to listen to what Gray was saying, yet he was easily being distracted by a certain wizard. He was never going to be able to disregard Lucy effortlessly. The pretty smiles she normally sent him when they spoke or the way her light-colored hair bounced against the backs of her shoulders whenever she walked was absolutely impossible to ignore. Even after everything that just happened, she still pulled him in, the girl didn't even have to try.
He knew he shouldn't be watching her and he tried his best to ignore her very presence in the building, but inevitably his eyes would be drawn to the blonde sitting halfway across the room. Lucy had been captivating his attention since the second she entered the guild, but it had progressed beyond stealing glances at her whenever she passed by. Now there was much more to their relationship, and he couldn't stop himself watching her more often.
"Hey, Loke, did you even hear a word I just said to you?" Gray questioned, swaying his hand in front of his face. "You've been spacing and staring at Lucy the whole time." Crossing his arms over his chest, he let out a small exhale.
"Sorry, she's just been on my mind a lot," Loke replied sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck and faced the ice mage, making an effort to keep his gaze away from the direction she was in.
"I can tell," he replied knowingly. Taking a seat, he drummed his fingers on the table a few times. Gray knew the spirit for a while now, yet there was still so many things about him that remained a mystery. "You seemed a little off ever since the mission. Are you still holding up okay?"
"Yeah, I don't feel as strong as I normally do but I should have enough magic to wait the time out," Loke explained, leaning further back. "Even if I started fading again, it would take a while before I can no longer maintain my presence here." Besides, he knew the upcoming feelings all too well. If something was going to happen, he'd definitely know.
"The situation's different than before," Gray countered. "I'm not sure how all the stuff between you and Lucy went down the day you quit the guild but if I were you, I wouldn't push my luck with this kind of thing."
The orange-haired man shrugged his shoulders, coming off a bit carefree about the position he was in. "It's not like I'm being reckless with my magic or anything."
The two of them noticed the fire dragon slayer come in through the doors with his normal amount of excitement and grin on his face, despite the fact that he looked like he was just pulverized by Gildarts. His hair was messier than normal and there were a few noticeable markings on his skin.
"What are you smiling about?" Gray asked once Natsu was inside more.
"I was so close to beating Gildarts this time," he exclaimed, although in reality he was taken down in one or two hits. "I'm sure the next time we fight, I'll win without a doubt. I just need to train more." A snicker was heard and the fire dragon whirled his head around.
"You could train for one hundred years straight and you still wouldn't be able to beat that old geezer," Gajeel said, eyeing the mage. He stood a few feet away, chewing on some iron. "You'll never be that strong."
"Why don't you say that to my face?!" Natsu yelled out, pointing his finger at him, a moment later his hand tightened into a fist, ready to start another brawl if their bickering continued.
"I just did! I'm standing right in front of you," the iron dragon said back just as forcefully, tossing his leftover meal to the side. A small growl reverberated as he spoke do to the normal roughness present in his voice.
Natsu took a step in, banging foreheads together. "Well, then say it again!"
Loke sighed as the two dragon slayers raised fits and hit each other simultaneously before a battle started between them. Gray rolled his eyes, regardless of the fact that he and Natsu did the same thing almost on a regular basis. The spirit's eyes altered to Lucy for a moment. She and Levy paid no mind to the fight, a small glance in their direction was given by both girls when it began, but neither of them felt the need to watch it play out.
When he faced back around, his gaze swept pass Juvia as she was peeking out from behind one of the wooden pillars. Her fixation was obviously on the ice mage, Loke could only guess she was there for a while. The element wizard's affection towards Gray was apparent to just about everyone in the guild.
Even though Juvia was a bit eccentric when it came to expressing her feelings, at least they could be together if he felt the same towards her, which was hard to know because of how aloof he always acted when it came to the rain woman. Deciding it was best not to question his friend, the spirit lowered his gaze and focused on the wooden floor.
Gray hung his head back, feeling quite bored sitting around for the majority of the day. Normally he'd take a small job just to give him something to do, but after finishing one earlier he wasn't in the mood. "Where did all those girls you were talking to before disappear to?"
"I think Cana scared them away," he replied after some thought. "When Lucy and I came back inside, I heard her mumbling something about their how their complaining was annoying and how she couldn't enjoy a drink while listening to it."
"You've been gone for a few months and you still have them following you around." Gray lightly sighed at this fact. It was hard to talk to him before he returned to the Spirit World because of them, on the other hand Loke had his reasons for keeping those girls near. At least they still managed to hang out every now and again.
"I can't really do anything about it though. I broke up with them a while ago, but I guess I can't get myself to tell them to stop." Inside he knew it bothered Lucy, especially now. He hated the feeling of jealousy, so he didn't want to make her go through that when she was already dealing with so much. Although she'd never admit to having that emotion, he could just tell whenever she glanced over.
"Once they realize you're not interested, I'm sure they'll back off eventually," Gray said while shrugging his shoulders. "You'll be going back to your world soon anyway so there's really no point for them to give their hopes up. When you were gone, they were acting like you're planning on staying."
"The only girl I would be willing to stay for is Lucy," Loke mumbled out, catching another sight of the blonde from the corner of his eyes.
The ice mage glimpsed at the celestial mage before turning his attention back on the spirit. His head hung downward while his hazel orbs were attentively glued to the floor. A small frown took over the rest of his features. "Did I miss something? Whenever you talked about Lucy in the past, you never had that look on your face before."
"Am I really that easy to read?" Loke questioned, slouching further down. A small exhale escaped a moment later. "It's nothing that I want to talk about right now."
"You sure?" Gray normally wasn't the type of guy who spoke about girls all the time or the feelings felt towards one. However, the offer was still made. He couldn't consider himself a good friend if he wasn't willing to listen and try to help.
The lion absently nodded his head prior to Gray trying to change the topic of discussion.
Lucy extended her arms out all the way while holding a book, trying to figure out what the text she was reading meant. Her brown eyes scanned a few lines for the third time before she opened her mouth and let out a sigh. "I don't know how you make sense of any of this stuff."
"I didn't just learn it overnight. It took a lot of time and studying," Levy informed her friend. A pen was held loosely between her fingers just in case something of importance was found and needed to be written down.
The blonde placed the hardcover on the table, running her nails down the paper. "I wish this wasn't so difficult," she expressed through a slight pout.
"What's hard?" Natsu suddenly asked, swinging his arm over Lucy's shoulder. He took a look at what she was reading through. The dragon slayer tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the odd text. "Are those even words?"
"Don't do that, you're all sweaty and gross," the celestial mage said, pushing him away some. "I thought you were busy fighting Gajeel. Did you guys finally figure out that battling each other is pointless?"
"No, I beat him before and I'll do it again." Natsu crossed his arms, letting a small scowl come to his lips. "This time I'm a lot stronger and if I didn't just have a contest with Gildarts. I'm sure he'd be begging for mercy right now!"
"I think it's more like the opposite," the iron dragon slayer said, taking a seat next to Levy. "You don't stand a chance against me."
The two of them stared at one another and the blue-haired girl exhaled and looked over at Lucy. "Why do we have to be stuck between them?"
"I have no idea," the mage muttered back while shaking her head. She combed her fingers through her hair a few time as they started arguing again about who was tougher. Her elbows were placed on the table and her cheeks rested on each hand. From the direction she faced, Bisca and Alzack could be seen. A tiny smile came to her lips. It was clear that they liked each other, just lacked the conviction to say it.
They would make a great couple if one of them could just say something. Still, the nonchalant glimpses at one another were a bit cute to see. It wouldn't even be weird to see them dating, considering that they're always together. Some gossip would spread throughout Fairy Tail, but that was a given. After all, the whole guild was like a family.
The second Natsu's fist slammed down on the table, Lucy was brought back to what was happening right next to her. "Careful, you're going to knock something over," Lucy said, able to steady the cup before it spilled onto Levy's work. The fire dragon quarrelling with Gajeel was just as bad or maybe even worse than when it's with Gray. Either way, it always gets out of hand. "Why don't you guys take this outside or something?"
"There's no one to see me win if we do that," Natsu complained. "The whole guild should be able to witness my victory. That way everyone will know how strong I've really gotten."
The clanking of heels could be heard. No one even needed to turn around to know who was coming. The dragon slayers stopped talking and Natsu even stiffened up a little. "I suggest you don't fight at all. In fact, it would be best if you two separated." Erza's scarlet hair swayed freely past her hips until she came to a stop and her long locks settled in one place.
Gajeel started walking away and Lucy's eyebrow's rose upon seeing this. "You're actually listening to Erza?"
He paused and turned his head back, giving her a fleeting look. "Like I really want to cross her, I'm not that stupid." He knew better than to go against Titania, he'd lose a battle with her easily and he preferred not doing unnecessary things.
Levy watched as Gajeel left and headed over to Juvia before focusing her attention on the S-class mages standing at the other end of the table. "So, did you find anything out?"
"After a lot of meaningless talking, Mira and I were able to get something from them. I just don't have a very good feeling about it." Erza crossed her arms as her expression became serious in an instant, which didn't sit very well with the others.
"What did they say?" Gray asked, walking up with Loke not too far behind him.
Mirajane placed her hands behind her back and folded her fingers together "At first, nothing. A few mumbling was heard but after we separated and interrogated them one by one, the last guy mentioned something about the full moon, how that night is important."
"That's a little over a week away," Loke mentioned. In retrospect that didn't give them enough time to prepare. He wished that Levy could decode the spell quicker. If something ended up happening, he wanted to have his full strength so he could protect the blonde. Right now he pretty much felt useless. Simply using combat was fine, however, he needed magic to enhance his power. "What does that have to do with Lucy?"
"We're still trying to figure that out. The only thing we can do is keep researching and trying to get those guys to talk." Erza shifted her gaze to the Heartfilia and continued. "They're probably trying to bring you back to the island before then."
Natsu pounded his fists together. "So all we have to do is keep Lucy safe until that night's over and they won't need her anymore, right?"
"We can only hope it's as simple as that," the barmaid told him with a quick nod. "Finding out why is important though. That way we at least know what we're attempting to stop. Hopefully Freed and the Master got somewhere. Any amount of information would be useful now that we know some more details." Certain aspects were still missing though.
Lucy took a few steps away, going through the information in her head. She didn't like how any of it sounded. The tips of her fingers brushed past the keys hanging on her belt, causing them to softly chime. A heavy breath emptied from her lungs.
"Are you alright?" Loke quietly asked from behind her.
"I don't know… it's a lot to take in at once." Lucy faced him but let her gaze sink to the floor. "I'm getting a strange feeling about all of this. The Master said it seems like they let themselves get caught, so what if this was part of their plan too?"
"There's really no way for us to know for sure," he stated, although she had a very good point. "Whether it's true or not, we won't let anything happen to you. Everyone here would do anything to keep you safe and it's the same when it comes to your spirits, that's what we're here for, right? Even Aquarius, who seems unlikely to, seeing how she treats you, but she don't want to lose another master."
"I know and I really shouldn't be so worried knowing I have all of you." Lucy lifted her brown orbs and managed to smile a little. If her friends were there for her, then she had no reason to doubt. She and Loke went back to the conversation just as Mirajane left to inform Makarov of what they discovered.
Some more information about the plan to kidnap Lucy was given in this chapter and I will go a bit further in the next. Like I said previously, I don't want to just give it all away in one shot. I still have a few more things I need to get in before the whole thing is figured out. Please leave a review.