I don't own Fairy Tail!
-UM
Master frowned, and Erza frowned with him.
That was a troubling dream. If what Lucy had envisioned was actually a memory, than she as the first Celestial Mage to recall her time in US M.G dimension.
"You said there was a face you recognized, but did know from where – can you describe it?" Erza tried to keep her voice soft; Lucy was looking pretty shaken up.
She hummed quietly and rubbed her chin. "He had a soft face, but not a kind one…he was older with wrinkles – he looked sad, tired even." She closed her eyes in recollection.
"He…his face was associated with a voice." Erza raised her brow; Lucy hadn't mentioned that before, that seemed like important information.
She opened her eyes and looked anywhere but the group, then she sighed and grimaced.
"Lucy –" Her eyes shot to Erza, "-It is important that you share everything you know."
She flushed and nodded, looking guilty.
"-I know…it's just, what he said left me with an unpleasant feeling…but it didn't feel foreign. It's like I had heard it before…"
"-Lucy." Master chimed in, encouraging her. Natsu scowled, Erza could tell he was curious too, but he didn't like the obvious discomfort Lucy was in by recalling the dream.
"He said I was to be 'acquisitioned'…" The air left Erza's lungs, and from the sounds of it, everyone else in the room.
She wasn't sure why she was surprised. That seemed like a logical thing to recall, but the single word was able to bring forth memories in Erza too. Guilt, shame and anger flashed through her hotly. That day Erza had failed the Guild, Master and Lucy, and she bore the dishonor on her heart.
"Did he say anything else?" Erza was proud of herself for choking that out without her voice cracking.
Lucy gave a curt nod.
"He said I should have stayed 'lost,' that 'they were coming for me,' and if I wished to live…I should find him…all of Earthland depended on it."
The chill in the room was stifling. This was a frightening development.
Master broke the ill quiet that settled in the room, " 'Stayed lost,' that seems to suggest you were intended to be sent to Sentao... Who are the 'they' he was referring too?" He gently mused, rubbing his chin.
Erza found her voice, "Most Mages who were taken were returned within the day, and no further than 100 miles away from where they were abducted. Your case was the only difference." Erza explained to Lucy, she nodded her head and furrowed her brows.
"Before they drained my magical energy…he had been the shadows, I didn't hear him…but on his lips he said '-Goddess Gate,' or something like that." Lucy's eyes bore into hers.
"Does that mean anything?"
Erza tried to keep her gaze neutral, her eyes sought out Masters – his eyes were closed, as though he was working out a puzzle.
She sighed, "Yes… The book you found on the Island of Caelum contained extensive information about The Goddess Gate."
"-My name was in that book." She gently mused.
Natsu looked at Lucy sharply and then turned to frown at Erza.
"What do those assholes want with Lucy?" The look on his face suggested that he wasn't going to drop it. Erza had wanted to work on gather more information on the book before disclosing it to anyone other than Master, but with this new development – that didn't seem likely.
Erza opened her mouth to regale the information.
"Lucy-" Master spoke up, "Porlyusica contacted me this morning. She has gathered all the necessary supplies and the other healers should be at her house by the afternoon – I think it's best if you depart shortly. We'll need you as yourself as soon as possible."
Lucy bit her lip, but nodded. Erza sighed, it looked like she'd be able to sit on the information a little bit longer, at least until they had a better idea of what was going on. No sense in worrying her comrades unnecessarily.
"That's all well and good – but what the fuck does 'The Goddess Gate' have to do with Lucy?" Natsu bit out.
Aggravation rose up in Erza – she should have known his one track mind wouldn't have let the matter drop.
She steeled herself and began explaining all she knew.
They were all worried. Flora could sense it.
Well, she could see it too. Erza coolly poked at her strawberry cake, Gray was chain smoking…hadn't he given that up three years ago?...Wait – how did she know that?
She shook her head. The random memories were tumbling out like a waterfall – finding Fairy Tail, rather finding Natsu had felt like a crack in the curse. Every second she spent around them – more facts slipped through it.
She frowned. Wendy, Lisanna and Levy looked concerned too. They talked amongst themselves but every once and awhile, they looked at her and stared, as if in disbelief that she was really there.
Was that how it felt for Lisanna when she came back from Edolas?
There it was again…another unknown-yet-known fact.
Flora was grateful that Happy, Bennie and Artur were outside playing. Artur was worked up enough this morning, he didn't need apprehensive mages adding to his unease.
Her eyes flicked over the small table – Elfman was boasting about 'being a man' to Mira, yet all the same flicking nervous glances Flora's way. It's like they all thought she was going to break…or be taken again.
The only one unperturbed was…
Natsu.
He was scarfing down some flaming dish. She winced.
"You ate breakfast at the apartment, how can you still be hungry?" Her voice broke everyone from their internal thought.
Natsu laughed, "We ate like an hour ago, the question is, how are you not hungry?" He wagged a flaming piece of meat at her. Flora scrunched her nose.
"You're worse than Artur." He just grinned and savagely bit into the meat.
Lisanna giggled, "Not much has changed with this one," She jutted a thumb at Natsu and turned to smile at her, "Speaking of Artur, how did you come by him?"
Flora flushed, "I didn't come by him, more like he came by me. He found me in a Vulcan cave. He and Bennie rescued me.."
"-Rescuing is man!"
"-How cute!"
"-That kid's story was real?"
Flora raised a brow at Natsu, "Well, yeah. Why would he tell a fake story?"
He paused his eating and gave her a deadpan stare, "If that's real, you mean to tell me…that you ate larvae, wrestled a crocodile, danced naked in the rain, and slept on the ground for a year?"
Flora could feel everyone's eyes on her, the blush traveled down her chest.
Artur!
"Yes!" She hissed. Gray fell over and the rest of them dropped their jaws in shock. "When you know nothing, anything seems normal!" She huffed and crossed her arms.
Silence.
It was making her nervous. The words came tumbling out.
"Artur's parents died when he was a baby, Master Rupert and Bennie found him and raised him. He taught him how to survive and passed down the Dragon slaying magic that he learned from his earth dragon Bipin…Master Rupert died from…from well, loving." Flora gasped for lack of a better description; her embarrassment was still rattling her nerves.
"-That left Artur all alone, so he stole a quest to join a guild, but ending up finding me…" Her eyes darted around the room, landing on her right hand. "I wanted to find Fairy Tail, and they agreed to help me. They taught me how to live along the way…"
She swallowed hard and exhaled harshly.
"So yeah…I ate some bugs, took showers in the warm rain, wrestled a crocodile with Bennie for a lost artifact, and slept on the ground among other things…because that was all I knew. I wasn't 'Lucy,' I was 'Flora,' and to be honest – it was a lot simpler then, because trying to be both is confusing."
Natsu snorted.
"Who said you had to be both?" Flora rolled her eyes; she opened her mouth to rebut.
"-Look, you're you. No matter what anyone calls you. How many times do I have to tell you?" Natsu gave her a hard stare, she gulped.
"-Maybe Porlyusica will be able to fix your memory, maybe she won't. We'll deal with it when it happens."
Flora afforded him a small smile.
"-We'll deal with everything when it happens." He flicked his eyes over his friends, "US M.G., the Goddess Gate – whatever it is, we're Fairy Tail and we never give up. They may have gotten us last time with a surprise attack, but they won't again. Our greatest strength is our Nakama, we can't fail, no matter what...and no matter what you call yourself, you're one of us." His eyes rested on Flora and her heart pounded with excitement.
He wasn't the most eloquent speaker, but he didn't have to be. He knew what to say to put his comrades at ease.
A beam evolved on her face.
"FLORA!"
She ripped her eyes away from Natsu to the guild door. Artur came running in with Happy and Bennie at his heels.
Oh no.
"Flora! I found a pet!"
She swallowed…it looked green. That was promising wasn't it? There weren't green spiders that big were there?
He arrived at the table and held up the prize.
A giant swamp toad.
Flora smiled through her wince.
How was he even able to carry this monstrous thing?
He grinned behind it, "Since you and Natsu haven't made any babies-" She heard someone choke and sputter behind her. "-I thought we should get a pet before you get your memories back."
"Oooh…it's lovely." Flora reached out and tapped the toad on the head. It blinked slowly at her.
Creepy.
Its sticky tongue suddenly shot out and stuck to her cheek.
"Gaaah!" She tried to calm herself from totally freaking out. It would break Artur's heart. She slowly brought her hand up to detach the tongue.
"I named her 'Flora'!"
Her slow pace forgotten, she yanked the tongue off, "What?!"
She heard snickers behind her.
Artur grinned even wider, "Yeah! Because she's as pretty as you are!"
Full blown laughter erupted behind her, she jerked around to glare. Natsu, Gray and Happy were shamelessly and hysterically laughing, the others had the good graces to try and hold it in.
"Is something wrong, Flora?"
Her eyebrow twitched, "You mean me or the toad?" She asked dryly. She turned to look back at him, he was confused.
She sighed and shook it off with a smile.
"No, Artur. Nothing's wrong – Flora is pretty." He beamed again, "-But I don't know if we can keep her."
He frowned, "Why not?" He whined.
"Well, we're staying in a house now…and I don't know if the toad is…house broken."
He cocked his head to the side. "How can we tell?"
Flora put a finger to her chin and looked up, "Well, if you can teach her a trick, then we'll know if she can be house broken." His grin returned and he nodded vigorously. The toad croaked in displeasure at the movement.
"Right! What trick?" He looked so eager, Flora had to bite back her giggle.
"How about 'sit'?
Artur scoffed, "Easy." He set the toad on the ground beside the table and stood back.
"SIT!"
The toad remained motionless; Artur looked up at Flora pleased.
The toad croaked loudly from the ground and leapt. Artur's face erupted in horror as 'Flora' landed on Erza's strawberry cake.
Flora's stomach dropped, sweat beaded on her forehead and time slowed down.
She wasn't sure why she knew this was such a bad thing, but the impending doom was undeniable.
She had to protect Artur.
Time was speeding up and Erza's face grew dark as the toad leapt out of her cake and across the table splattering bit of the dessert everywhere.
Natsu and Gray clung to each other as laughter continued to rip through them.
Erza stood abruptly and turned to Artur, he looked up her with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry Miss. Erza…" An ominous cloud seemed to be forming around Erza.
"-Natsu and Gray are fighting!" Flora screeched and cringed, looking over at them. They stopped laughing and looked at her horrified.
Well, better them than Artur.
Erza about faced and swung on both of them, "STOP FIGHTING!"
Flora reached forward and grabbed Artur and ran toward the exit, she turned just in time to see both Natsu and Gray go flying.
She giggled and started toward her apartment.
She had to pack for Porlyusica's anyway, they would leave within the hour.
A.N.:
I wanted to do a lot more with this chapter, but better to get something out than sit on it forever. Fairly certain that the next Lucy/Flora chapter will be post Porlyusicas, so expect Natsu next!
Sorry for beating to death the whole 'who am I? Lucy or Flora?' bit. It felt appropriate for the story, having never lost my memory - I can only speculate that it is a very confusing thing finding out who you are. :P
Thanks again to all who follow my story, and especially a HUGE thanks to those who review. It helps inspire me to finish this story :)
-UM