Welcome to chapter 25! (Warning, feels, a lot of feels)
Lucy was exhausted, until 1 in the afternoon the day after the Halloween Festival, she had stayed int he guild hall helping cleaning up. Though everyone understood the sensitivity of the subject, it didn't exclude anyone from smiling and joking about another mage within the guild hall. Lucy was glad everyone had forgiven her, even if apparently they weren't mad in the first place. Deep down though, she felt that this whole thing was still her fault. So in the end, she cleaned the guild hall as much as she could as if it was her way of proving how sorry she truly was.
Once Kiarely and Zacky had used their nature magic to put everything back to normal, aside from the broken down wall, everyone got to work in sweeping and mopping. Lucy did her work as quick as she could, but she made sure that everything was as spotless as she knew she needed it to be. Though her eyes drooped occasionally, she drank coffee to stay awake. She wasn't going to go to sleep until she had done enough. When that was, she didn't know.
Lucy swept the entire guild hall, going over other people's sweeping that wasn't well executed. She then dusted the tables, chairs, bar, toilets, spare bedrooms and extra rooms to make sure. She polished everything wood and metal related, her arms burning as she was vigorously moving her arms. When Guildarts and Makarov finished mending the walls, Lucy made her way to paint the walls over again. Mira helped, but she wasn't as focused as Lucy was. Lucy was quite literally on fire, moving as fast as she could in painting the wall spotlessly, as she still had a lot of cleaning to do.
She next scrubbed and mopped the floors, polishing them afterwards, leaving her hands to be sore and aching by the time she had finished. It was when she was scrubbing the bars work top again that Makarov and Natsu had enough of her excessive working. Makarov touched her good shoulder, she turned to him a little surprised.
"Child, why don't you go home. You've done enough cleaning for on day." He smiled kindly to her.
Lucy sighed, her eyes feeling heavy. "I can't, I have to finish. I have to show how sorry I am to everyone, no matter how much this isn't my fault to you guys. It is to me, because I'm the one he wants. No one else, but me." She mumbled tiredly, she was still scrubbing the bar as she spoke.
Natsu looked worried, putting his hand over hers and smiling softly to her. "I think you should go home, Luce. Get some sleep. You have to leave some cleaning to the others, or they'll start slacking off." He joked lightly, grinning to his friend.
Lucy sniffed, tears stinging her eyes. She was overly exhausted, her body not being able to stand properly without her holding onto something. Her hands screamed for her to stop working with how sore they were. Her eyes were also red and stinging, mostly due to her crying silently for a couple of hours now. She realised that she was in no state to continue, she turned to her guild master and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry that my past has caused this guild such suffering," She sniffed again, tears slipping down her face. "This is the second time this has happened, my father, and now Isaac...Or Obadiah, whatever they call him." She looked up, her eyes to Makarov were almost lifeless, but held an inner sadness that was going to eat her up soon enough. "I wish I didn't have such a troubled beginning in life, maybe then this guild wouldn't have as much trouble from me as they haven been getting."
Makarov sighed deeply, "Child, the people in our past who decide to make the past still live, are the people who are wrong in this world. I have known you for a while now, and you have always lived each day like a new. You do not live in your past, mainly due to its pain. You have tried to live on, and forget it. The people who bring it all back, are the people this guild hates. People who cannot see the light, because they have forgotten how to find it." He smiled, "As sad as it can be, child, life is a journey. Each day is a new step to the finish line, and there are going to be some traps on the way. They will try to chain us, break up, encage us. But we will always prevail, because this guild will never allow its members to be caged in the dark. Not now, not ever."
Lucy did not cry in response to her guild master's words, she had run out of tears now. She had cried too much and too often. She nodded numbly, smiling softly towards Makarov and saying brokenly. "I'll go home."
She hugged her master softly, the old man chuckled lightly and hugged back. She pulled away, changed into the slacks she had brought before the festival yesterday, and walked stiffly home.
The blonde mage took a lot longer to get home than she would usually take. Her legs tired, almost dragged against the floor each time she tried to lift her legs up. Her thoughts were quite literally on mute, she couldn't think of anything she was that exhausted. Rubbing her eyes, she looked across the lake nearby her home. The men in the boats sailed past, waving to her again and warning her to not fall in. She managed to wave lightly back, nodding a little before heading towards the door of her home.
The apartment was warm, she realised how chilled she had been. Sleet had been falling on her the entire journey home, and not once did she feel it. Now the heat had hit her body, she shivered realising she needed to bathe in a hot bath with something hot to drink. She paid no mind as she stripped, bathing for an hour and drinking three cups of tea before she dressed in her thickest pajamas.
She sat on her bed, feeling utterly depressed. Her mind was still numb and mute, she found no reason to stay awake for much longer. Getting under the covers and sighing deeply to herself. Closing her eyes, she attempted to fall asleep. Suddenly her mind had awoken the moment she hit the pillow, thoughts cascaded through her brain. Thoughts that went from how she hadn't eaten today, to how sore her hands were. Her brain delved into everything, causing her to mumble curse words to herself.
Her brain didn't let up for a couple of hours, it got to the point where it was recalling the events of the Halloween Festival. How it went from something amazing happy, to something heartbreaking and stressful. Finding out about love like no tomorrow, Natsu and Lisanna, the high possibility of Macao and Kiarely dating. She didn't know how to handle it.
Her brain then went to how she had kissed Loke in that cupboard, her eyes opened at that thought. She didn't cry like she had wanted to, instead she felt her throat swell in the substitute sadness.
She loved the man. Goddamn it Lucy, you love him. She rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling, and he would risk his own life for you, that's how much he loves you in return.
She sat up a little kneeling she looked outside her window, it was getting dark again. Another day had passed, each day nearing to the possible conclusion as to when she could possibly get captured by Obadiah's men. By the man who hurt her so much. The man who couldn't take no as an answer. Who possibly knew whenever she was becoming too happy, and would always interfere.
Resting her head on her hands, she gazed to the water below. Her eyes reflected the water ripples, her eyes soon filling up with their own ripples. Tears spread down her cheeks, she didn't sob, they just slid down her cheeks silently. She closed her eyes for a second to clear her view. She sniffed and said to herself softly, "Mother always used to tell you, Lucy. If the happiness you seek is being threatened by the darkness surrounding you, then you should fight for that happiness, even if you hit the darkness first." She whispered, the tears falling from her face to the windowsill beneath her. "Because we have a heart of a lion, and we shall always seek the happiness at the end of the tunnel of darkness. No matter what."
Closing her eyes, she imagined life again. It seemed much brighter than she had imagined it when she thought of it with Loke beforehand. She imagined finding ways of possibly having his children, marrying him, living with him. They would be happy together, because they would fight, love, and live the same life together. When she died, she wouldn't be mad if he moved on. He was immortal, it happens. She would just be a star watching over him.
Smiling, she opened her eyes again. Feeling uplifted, she wiped her eyes and snuggled back down into bed. She fell asleep smiling to herself, her dreams were full of meadows of happiness that the future she craved brought to her.
She moved swiftly in the darkness, her figure was scarcely seen by anyone she passed. Her speed was impressive, her legs seemingly invisible to the sight of anyone. Whilst her body was adjusting and speeding along the town of Magnolia, that's population was slowly dying down to sleep. She thought to herself about what she was about to do, she was about to do something she had been ordered not to do. An order that had been scrutinized by herself for the past few months. She had to though, she had to see them.
What they had done to the Fairy Tail guild was unforgivable. It was a painstakingly obvious statement that they did not trust her judgement of the matter at hand. They were playing with her emotions. She promised she would wait till the day she could see her daughter again, she promised to follow orders. But now they have broken a rule in return, meaning that she had to get even somehow.
The hooded mage had gotten the outskirts of Magnolia, jumping on the rooftops above her, she stopped for a moment and looked around. Her breath had hardly labored the entire time she had run, her stamina had improved somewhat since she had started training with Erza a few weeks back. Her eyes adjusted to almost every movement around her, people were going into their homes for the night. Some venturing to the open bars that were sleazily placed in alleyways. She rolled her eyes in disgust, jumping gracefully to a higher rooftop she held onto the chimney for support.
Kiarely closed her eyes, she listened to the sounds around her. Finding her inner peace to find the noises, the voices that she needed to find. She sensed immense magical energy that she knew belonged to one person in particular. But she couldn't place as to where he was hiding. She frowned to herself, shaking her head before opening her eyes again.
If I cannot find them, then I must give them a message to find me instead. She thought harshly to herself, putting her arm into the air she blasted magic energy into the sky. The flare type light stayed there for a moment, before finally fading into the sky. She sighed to herself, jumping from the roof to the floor, landing softly to the concrete.
She walked to a park bench, sitting under a lit street lamp. Crossing a leg over another, she waited patiently for a couple of minutes. She closed her eyes once more, finding peace, she scouted for the needed voices she craved to hear.
It has been months, she thought peacefully to herself. I haven't seen them since that day of leaving the last guild, they haven't made a movement to interfere since then either. They have always followed to the rules, until now. I want to know why, I want to know why he suddenly doesn't trust my judgement of what is happening with the plan. I haven't made a move to deceive him, not yet anyway.
Hearing different footsteps that were a lot stealthier than the villagers nearing towards her, Kiarely opened her eyes and looked to her left. The blue eyes of the purple haired mage, adjusted to the lack of light amongst the alleyways of Magnolia. She saw figures within the darkness, she gritted her teeth and waited for them to walk towards her. Come, you assholes. Come if you don't want me to make a scene about this. She thought in a hiss.
One of the figures came out from the shadows, a lanky shadow that was tall. She knew who it was before he sat down next to her on the bench. Caleb's scent always was one you could remember. For a man of a Dark Magic guild, he always had kept up his appearance of scent. He smelt like expensive cologne, and tonight he wore an expensive new robe. Kiarely didn't look at him, she instead just spoke in a blank voice.
"Thank you for coming." She said to him, he made a noise in acknowledging her courtesies. "I just needed to talk, I wouldn't dream of breaking the rules in this manner, but you left no choice after you attacked the hall."
Caleb shrugged, "We didn't mean anything by it, but doing out jobs." He looked to her, those darks eyes were full of hatred to the mage beside him. "All we wanted was to move things along, like the leader wished us too."
Kiarely winced, "Ah yes," her voice was cool. "Obadiah, how is the former love of my life?"
"Getting exasperated by your lack of haste in the matter at hand." Caleb said just as cooly, "He wanted us to get it over with, he did mention to killing anyone who got in our way. We unfortunately did neither of the needed things on the list of 'to dos'" He smirked, it wasn't pleasant. "So many times have we tried to lure that girl out, but those little mages in that stinking guild...well they are strong willed, I give them that."
Kiarely took her turn to unpleasantly smile, "That's Fairy Tail for you, I told you that they weren't as soft as you all thought. You didn't listen, as usual."
Caleb was silent for a moment, he then said with a graceful tone. "How much has your little boy grown, Kia." He looked to her, a menacing smile on his lips. "Grown to be a lot like the two of you, like Obadiah and you." He chuckled, "I thought it only possible for a child to inherit one parent's personality and strength, but sure enough, he's surprised me."
"He's stronger than Isaac ever gave Luca credit for." Kia growled, not looking at him. "Every day, he strengthens. Never does he wilt." She swallowed heavily, "He reminds me a lot like his father was before he showed his true colours, it haunts me, knowing that one day he may turn out like him."
"Un-doubtingly he will try not too," The insane looking mage replied, almost sincerely. "Luca may have one eye of his father, but he still has strong genes from you Pixies. Never shall the Pixie's allow him to prevail to 'the darkness.'" Caleb waved his hand in the air, as if the darkness was a person. "As disgusting I find you Pixies, you sure put a fight."
Kia glared to him, "Erving tried to kill my child, I will not stand for that to happen again. Do not try to harm my child again, you have one of them. I will not allow the other one to get tarnished by your hands as well." Her voice was harsh, but it was full of truth all the same.
Caleb chuckled, "We do not follow your orders. Luca is the least loved son of Obadiah, he doesn't care for the pest. If he orders for Luca's demise, I will have to follow suit. You know the rules, once that man has a thought in his head, he won't allow you to come back until it follows through."
"Then I will kill whomever tries to kill him, if it's you, don't count of me letting you live to go back to Isaac and plead for your life. I would be doing you a justice, I would be almost merciful in comparison to his wrath." Leaves blew past them, as if they were showing Caleb the seriousness of the situation.
Caleb all but smiled, resting his head against his hand almost gracefully. "Good to know where we stand, my little lover."
"You disgust me," She whispered.
"I wasn't the one who came into my tent, seducing me, as innocent as I was back then." He touched his chest, as if offended. "Only to find out, you wanted the maps within my room to be able to escape. Drugging me was a last resort, of course." He chuckled harshly, "Didn't work though did it? I found you, I punished you." He looked to her evilly, "I did you a justice, if I had told Obadiah then about this...indiscretion, you would've died by his wrath for sure. You were his mistress, no one was allowed to so much as look at you." He winked, "You were good, but not that good, sweetheart."
Kia glared in return, after a few moments she spat out a sentence or two. "I'm here because I want to see Elanie, if I get to speak to her once before I ensure my side of duty, then I promise I will make sure the plan goes ahead." She sighed, "I wouldn't do this if it wasn't urgent. I haven't seen in her in months, I missed her Birthday for gods sake."
Caleb smirked, as much as he didn't like the women in front of him, he always did have a small soft spot for how much a mother she was at heart. He never had a mother, but he'd always dreamed of his mother being a lot like Kiarely. He sighed, flicking his hand in front of him. "Maambukizi, picha uchawi." He then added the name of the person he needed to see, "Elanie-Louise Mandragora."
Kiarely felt tears burn her eyes, she fought them back as the image of her three year old daughter came in front of her. The video was showing Elanie in a tent, the little girl was wearing a robe, and a nightdress. Her hair was cut short, a small fringe swept over her forehead. Her hair was the same colour as her fathers, but her eyes were the exactly the same as Kiarely's grandmother. Clear gray, with a darker gray ring around the iris. Her skin was tanned like Kiarely's heritage, causing her to overall look strikingly beautiful for a child. Kiarely smiled, seeing the child had kept a mid thickness of hair to curve her right cheek. The hair had been braided within silk and string in different colours. It hovered just below her chin.
She's kept it, she remembers that I did that for her before I left... Kiarely couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Kiarely smiled through the tears, "She's grown." Was all she managed to say, "At least a few centimeters." She choked.
Caleb felt sadness within himself, closing his eyes he held back a sigh. "She continues to grow daily," He looked to Kiarely's crying form. "She has your fight, his intelligence, both of your magical energies. She is the strongest little girl the guild has probably ever seen."
Kiarely sobbed and nodded, "Such a strong little duckling," She closed her eyes, letting the tears run down her cheeks. "My little duckling. Mama misses you, so much."
Caleb grimaced and looked away, "She never speaks."
"Still?" Kiarely asked, suddenly shocked.
"She speaks with telepathy. She shows images of what she wants from us sometimes, if she is too lazy to speak the same way." He smirked, "So we never know what she is thinking." He looked to the screen, Elanie was playing with a straw doll that she had made herself. "The step-siblings always treat her equally to each other, they love her. Iga and Hinata. I can assure you, that at least the older sisters look after her well. Lloyd, Mikio and Norio love her dearly, but her scared that if you fail the guild she will die by Obadiah's hands, therefore risking them too."
Kiarely froze, "He wouldn't kill her, not after all the trouble he went through to make her possible." She whispered, "He wouldn't kill his own daughter, especially Elanie."
"He killed Zenko," Caleb said quickly.
"His eldest son?" Kiarely widened her eyes, "Why?"
Caleb sighed, "Zenko wanted to follow you when you left, he wanted to lure you into the fathomable plot to deceive Obadiah." He looked to her, "Obadiah had me track him, trap him, and bring him to him." He sighed, "He did allow Zenko to explain...but he still killed him. A very quick shot to the head off his Lightning magic, which he only uses for executions these days." He closed his eyes in disgust, "A quick death, is a clean one."
Kiarely's eyes were wide in horror, she breathed heavily, looking to Elanie's image again. "He wouldn't..."
"He would, if she proved no use." Caleb interrupted, "Why do you think all of his children fight daily to do as he pleases? They can take punishments, but death, well, that scares those fools than anything else." He chuckled nastily.
Kiarely gritted her teeth, "How dare you laugh, especially when you know that one day, Elanie and Luca will have to take those punishments just to stay alive as well." She stood, looking down on him. "You love my children, I know you do. You have killed children in the past, that I know. But you've had chances to kill Luca and Elanie, and never did. You love them like your own, because you've always wanted to love a child."
Caleb glared up at her, "Playing the no family card, huh?" He chuckled darkly, "I can assure you, I didn't kill them back then plainly because Obadiah did not order it." He smirked, "But now? There's no need to keep at least one of them alive." He stood too, "I was kind enough to show you Elanie, now do as you promised. Liven up this plan, or I will tell Obadiah that you have deceived him. He won't allow you to live if you don't do it." He smirked, pulling her close to him, sniffing her scent. "You smell as sweet as the night you made love to my naive soul." He growled, "If you beg like you did that night, I might just allow you live by the end of this."
He let her go, she staggered backwards. He looked to her, his hair covering half of his face. "See you around, Kia."
"Goodbye, you disgusting man."
He chuckled, transporting himself and the rest of them who were still in the alleyway away from her. She fell to the floor and looked up, no longer seeing her daughter's face. She imagined her little face, that braid falling just under her chin. Those eyes, as clear as storm clouds. That little face...Kiarely's little duckling.
"My daughter...Elanie-oh god-let me know you're okay. Mama misses you." She sobbed, her hands to her face. "I won't let him kill you, I will save you my little one."
Lucy woke up late the next morning, her body was a lot better than it had been. She felt a lot better now she had slept properly for the first time in a few days. She sat up in her bed, sighing in relief that the outside world was bright with sunlight behind her curtains. She kneeled and looked outside and gasped. It was snowing. Grinning, she watched the snowflakes slowly cover the floor below her.
She laid back in bed and smiled to herself, feeling this way was a refreshing symptom. She was used to worrying, used to not sleeping well, and used to feeling miserable about everything. Today was a good day, she felt like celebrating it to its full advantage.
Getting up from her bed, she changed the sheets. Putting the dirty sheets into the laundry basket in the corner of the room. She swept the main room, dusting lightly around her desk area before doing the dishes. She had left them for too long, meaning she had to scrub double hard to get the grease off some pans. Once they were all put away, she treated herself to another bath. Pampering herself in muscle relaxant bubble bath, using a face mask and shaving everywhere below her neck. Once she had finished in the tub, she towel dried her hair and used lotion on her body.
She dressed into a pair of jeans and a thick shirt, putting her hair into pigtails she found herself to look presentable. She sighed in relief, feeling like her old self again. She decided to forget about what had happened in the guild, fretting over that matter would only put her in a forever state of depression. It would mean that she would never move on with life, and to move on she had to focus on going through the rest of the darkness that Obadiah held for her.
Putting on a jacket, she decided to spend the day shopping. She needed to get some new things for apartment, a new oven and fridge. Also some new around the house things that would cheer her up a little. She grabbed her spirit keys and whip, locking up her apartment before heading to the town of Magnolia.
The markets were showing their different delicacies now that the weather has changed, fruits that were once fresh differed due to the season. Dates and oranges were the usual thing to be seen, Lucy bought some for a pie recipe she had thought up the other night. She brought some other food ingredients too, soon summoning Horologium to help her carry her stuff.
She went into the home store, looking at different ovens she thought of to buy. All looked amazing, some though were a little expensive. She decided to buy a reasonable priced oven, deciding that her fridge would do until she got another well paying job. Having the oven ordered, she went off and looked around many other stores.
Inside the clothes store, she brought herself some winter clothes and a new bikini for the summer. Once that was done, she decided it best to walk home. On the way, she realised that all the Christmas sales were coming on. She smiled as she looked at all of the presents she could buy for her teammates.
A token of gratitude. I should buy some for the Spirits too, they've helped a lot recently. She then blushed, I should buy Loke something nice too.
She made a note in her notebook when she went home to buy some gifts a month before Christmas. Putting her food away, and then trying on her new clothes again. She was in a slim fitting red sweater, and a pair of skinny fit jeans when she had a sudden thought. "I haven't spoken to Loke since he was injured..." She trailed and winced, "I should probably leave him to heal, and cool off by what I remember." She sighed, sitting on her bed in thought. "He really was being stupid that night, he should never get himself hurt like that on the account of me. And then to refuse going back into the Spirit World? How silly." She laid back on her bed, she was in deep in thought.
"He deserves to know, that I love him." She said to herself, blushing at the thought. "He has been so patient." She then grinned, "I'll buy him something, something as a token alongside me confessing, how much I appreciate his help for the past few weeks..."
She dressed for bed again, she got into bed and fell asleep quickly. It was then when the person in a hood watching her house smirked to themselves, "Goodnight, princess." Lloyd turned around and walked back into the alleyway, "Iga failed last time, I for sure will not allow that to happen."
Well… I warned you that there will be feels! Poor Kiarely, I feel so sorry for her. Caleb is like my least favourite character, but my favourite to write… weird huh? Oh Lucy, you finally realise you idiot. REVIEW! :D See you guys next time x