Why hello all. I think I know you people. You...you're the ones that keep asking for...what was it again? OH! Yeah, Natsu, The frigging Friendly Demon.
I'm sorry I took so long to update, guys. College sucks. If I'm not doing classwork, I'm doing homework, if I'm not doing that, I'm sleeping. I've tried chipping away at it, get a few words here, another few there. It didn't work so well.
Welp it's here now. Enjoy guys!
Death stung the air. It was thick feeling as if it had suddenly turned into a humid summer day on the mountain. The sky cracked, spider-webbing as if it were glass. Those cracks pulsed like a heartbeat. The air vibrated with it, a strange and foreboding pounding in the chest. The sky cleared of clouds, and the velvet blue glowed before fading. Black leeched from the crack, staining the sky. It looked like an infected wound, one that needed amputation.
The colors of the mountain faded, though there hadn't been much, to begin with. The soundless mountain looked soundless, like an old photograph, faded and blurred. The mist, having been mostly blasted away by Fairy Tail's fight up the mountain, returned, thicker than ever.
The mountain's magick was getting a boost. The black magick that had spawned there, the blood that had stained the earth only fed into it, black into black. The earth continued to shiver and shake as if trying to expel the dark that had been forced into it. Great cracks in the ground mirrored the ones in the sky. Wind ripped through the cracks and crags with a force that should've had it screaming but still no sound could be heard. Blood, old, brick red and near to black, bubbled up from the ground, coating rock and bone. Bone cracked and skulls smiled, their empty sockets staring at nothing.
Gray dragged in air, every breath a fight. It was like this place didn't wish to support life anymore, and so the oxygen in the air fought to escape their lungs. Sickness rolled his stomach, and he was pretty sure the hand he'd slammed against the wall to brace himself was now slicked in blood. Another heartbeat thrilled in his chest, slower, older. It was in the air, in the walls, and in the ground.
That combined with the voice that had spoken into his mind, made Gray feel a primal fear. Adrenaline crashed into his already shocked and unbalanced system and for a second he wanted nothing more than to run. Fight or flight instincts demanded he run. That he live. Whatever made that heartbeat was older, stronger. It was not something he could beat. Fear was like acid in his blood, sizzling along his nerves and sending his heart into a frantic tattoo. He could imagine it clearly-the curse and blessing of being able to create anything he wanted out of ice was having a very vivid imagination-see himself turn away from his friends, his family, his guild, and run like a coward down the mountain. Run into the warm forests and welcoming streams. Just leave. Live. Survive.
A hand gripped his free one, and he didn't even have to look to know it was Juvia. He linked his fingers with hers. It was mutual fear that had them reaching for each other. His hand left the wall and wrapped around her, their linked hands let go long enough to slid up each other's arms to complete the hug.
It was more than a hug, it was a reassurance. They lived and breathed. They were both flesh and blood and beating heart. The fear faded, and horrible need to run followed it. A hand slapped against his back, and the fingers dug into his shoulder just a tad too hard. But he could see the scarlet hair skimming over his shoulder and knew Erza was reassuring herself too. It made him feel a little better-he wasn't the only one with that horrid need to abandon them-but it shook him to realize that even the great Titania had felt that fear. He could see Jellal behind Juvia, mirroring Erza's gesture, his face pale but composed. Gray sent him a half smile. It was still a fight to breath, but knowing his guild was beside him makes it easier. Jellal smiled back, a bit more reserved, but it was more reassurance.
Not alone, not alone, not alone
He looked at Juvia, who was squished in the middle of the strange group hug. She grinned up at him, causing his heart to trip in his chest.
He caught Jellal's smirk before they all pulled apart. Looking around, he saw they weren't the only ones that had used physical contact to alleviate the fear. Elfman, his magick drained, had been sent back to Fairy Tail. Porlyusica was holding down the fort. His sister's hands clung to each other for comfort. The Thunder Legion was unashamedly hugging each other. They let go as Gray watched, and Bixlow tugged Lisanna to his side. She was much smaller than he was and nearly vanished into Bixlow's height. Mira smiled, but was distracted when Laxus-Laxus-bent down and touched his forehead to hers. It lasted only a moment, but it spoke of easy intimacy. Alzack and Bisca's hands were linked. From what Gray could see everyone was accounted for.
It was a moment of light when they were surrounded by dark.
The fear still skittered just out of reach, whispering, mumbling, and tugging on insecurities.
"Does anyone know what the hell that is?" Bixlow asked. But Gray couldn't quite hear him. He could see his lips moving, but it was like the sound was sucked into the rocks or had a hard time moving through the thickened air. It was like Bixlow spoke through vibrations, much like the female voice had earlier.
It was just a little unsettling.
"I don't know," Freed answered, his voice projecting the same way. Freed grimaced. Clearly, he didn't like this form of talking either. "But it's not good."
"Something caused this," Mira spoke now. "That was the result of a spell. A sizable one, too." Through the holes in the castle, which they had only begun to infiltrate, they could see the wounded sky.
They could see the color draining from the landscape. Even the castle, which didn't have much color, to begin with, was duller.
"What did they do?" Lisanna asked and even with the voice distortion Gray could hear-feel?-the worry and despair in her voice. Whatever is was, whatever Ivan and Jose had done, it wasn't even close to natural.
"They have an advantage now." Laxus's deep baritone carried well through the vibrations. "This is feeding their magick. Jose especially will have an advantage. His shade magick will thrive like this. Ivan's creatures will feed off this too. Watch yourself, Fairy Tail."
"Well, we aren't going to let that stop us," Evergreen said and the smirk in her voice was evident. "That spell doesn't look complete. A crack in the sky is hardly a weapon. I think something's trying to come through."
"You don't have to sound so damn cheery about it," Gray grumbled.
"Evergreen's right," Mira said before Evergreen could retort. "It's like a warped portal. Our goal is to shut down the spell that activated it. I don't know what's coming through but it can't be good."
"I don't wanna meet it, whatever it is," Alzack said.
Everyone made some noise of assent. Gray hoped Natsu and his group were okay.
"Let's go get Ivan and shut this spell down!" Laxus roared. The guild cheered in approval.
They felt fear. They could feel their insecurities whispering close to the surface. But they were together.
They would not be defeated.
At the epicenter of the spell, it was chaos. The walls had imploded outward several long seconds after the key had shattered, after the voice had spoken so loudly in her head it could've been her voice speaking.
Grief saturated her bones.
Anger burned in her blood.
The air choked her. Fear crashed into her system, slammed against anger, was fueled by grief. Everything felt thick around her, disorienting and wrong. Her ears buzzed and she couldn't get her balance. Dust strangled her already taxed lungs, dried her mouth. She blinked her heavy eyelids, saw double, but was able to lock onto Loke's prone form.
She stumbled forward, her knees weak, sly tongues of nausea curled in her stomach. She fell to her knees next to Loke, shaking, praying, crying.
She groped for a pulse, trying to discern a beat from the slow, horrible one that beat through the air. His skin was warm-that was a good sign, right?
Right?
"Loke," Was that her voice? Thin, high, on the edge of hysteria? She couldn't quite hear herself. It was more the suggestion of a voice. "Loke, please." Finally, her fingers found a pulse, and her relief was just as potent as her fear.
What had Jose done? Something was horribly wrong. This place had felt wrong to begin with, but now the air seemed to scorch her lungs. This place was rejecting life.
Loke stirred, and she gently pulled his head onto her lap. She didn't know Jose was. His arm was bent at an odd angle, and she saw that his leg was trapped under rubble. But he breathed.
"Lucy." She barely heard-felt?-it. It was a low sound. His eyes were blurred, she noted, but he recognized her. Still shaking, she bent her head to rest on his forehead. "'M okay. Give me a sec...and I'll kick 'Soe's ass."
"Idiot." She said. "I'm getting these cuffs off you, and you're going back to the Spirit Realm. Oh god, Loke." He tugged on her hair and she took her forehead off his.
"'S'okay." He grinned at her. "Tough as a lion."
She laughed, but it was mixed with tears. Pushing her hair back, she got the cuffs off him, and she felt more than heard him sigh with relief. His body glowed, he was much too injured to force himself to stay, as much as he would want to.
"Don't you dare summon yourself until you're healed." She ordered but he only winked. The rock that had been on his leg shifted and fell to the ground without a sound. She stood, her knees solid under her. She was still shaking, but she told herself it was rage.
"Tell me, Miss Heartfilia, do you still think you and you're pathetic guild can win this?" Jose formed out of the shadows, obviously a trick he'd used to protect himself from the blast. She didn't know what Natsu and the others were. She had to trust that they were okay. She had to trust that the rest of the guild was fine as well. She had a target to focus on and Jose was in the crosshairs.
She didn't bother to answer Jose, she saw the rest of her keys dangling from his belt. He'd abused her spirits for long enough.
She cracked her whip, though she couldn't hear it, and aimed for her keys. It didn't matter what happened to her, what mattered was getting her keys away from Jose.
"Lucy!" Natsu's voice barely registered but relief took some of the pressure off her heart. "Catch!"
The practice with the guild members paid off, she caught whatever Natsu had tossed her while keeping an eye one Jose, who'd dodged her whip. The moment she closed her hands around it, she knew what it was. The familiar energy of a key warmed her chilled fingers. She looked at it and wouldn't have recognized the key if it weren't for the impossibly focused eyes carved into it.
"Open! Gate of the Guardian Wolf! Lupus!" She didn't know where the word "guardian" had come from. It just felt right. She'd learned not to doubt her instincts. The wolf formed, just as she remembered it. She wondered why some Spirits had humanoid forms and others, like Plue and the Wolf, were animals. Although Plue didn't look anything like the Little Dog constellation, the Wolf looked strangely real. She'd gotten used to Spirits being different even compared to other Mythics. Something about them just seemed...unreal. Like they lived by different rules and the world knew it.
The only thing odd about this wolf was it's impossibly green eyes. Like emeralds glowing.
The Wolf shifted its gaze onto her for only a moment, then snarled at Jose. The sound wasn't dampened like everything else was. Real sound shocked Lucy for a moment. Without prompting, the Wolf went after Jose, who looked truly afraid for a moment. Lucy's whip cracked out again, the sound still muffled, and had Jose dodging back towards the Wolf. Shadows exploded from his hands and sent Lucy and the Wolf tumbling.
She would get her keys back.
Fire crashed into Jose's shadows and gave Lucy the opening she needed. The end of whip slipped around her key ring and ripped it from Jose's belt. He reached for it, but the Wolf body slammed him and sent Jose crashing to the ground. The second her hand closed around her keys she swore she felt them warm, and a gentle heartbeat trill against her hand. She put them on her belt and focused totally on taking Jose down.
The Wolf let out a yip and was sent flying from Jose's prone form. Shadows erupted and Jose stood, his face furious. Lucy charged, sliding and jumping away from his shades. Fire blasted around her. She and Natsu knew each other's moves well enough that they could fight together without worrying about hitting the other. She grabbed another key from her belt, summoning Sagittarius. His barrage protected her from the shades Natsu couldn't get. She felt wind crash around her, saw metal slam into rocks, words form mid-air, and knew the others fought to keep Jose's shades busy while she took him on herself.
Their faith warmed her.
The Wolf was at her side when she abandoned the whip for the moment and sent a punch into Jose's face. It was a lucky shot to be sure, but it didn't make her feel any less proud of herself. Or viciously happy.
"You're going to pay for what you did to my friends!" Lucy threatened, her voice though muffled and strange, rang with violent promise.
"Oh, my dear, you think I'm the one you have to worry about right now?" Jose smirked. His lip was bleeding and a black eye was brewing. He wasn't looking his best. "How silly. But if you want to waste your time, then be my guest."
Lucy whipped out another key, sending Sagittarius home. Virgo formed at Lucy's summons, using the abundant rocks to create a kind of maze to keep Jose constantly at risk from Lucy's attacks. The Wolf seemed to be able to disappear at will, making it nearly impossible for Jose to keep an eye on it. Virgo was at home in the rubble and while Jose was very adept at dodging and countering, between Virgo and the rocks, it gave Lucy openings. She was very afraid, however, that Jose was just messing with her to buy time. He was, after all, the man that brought Gajeel to his knees and Gajeel was well out of her league.
All the more reason to give it everything she had. If she could weaken Jose or keep him distracted long enough then one of the others could take him down.
The problem was she didn't want anyone else to take him down. She knew everyone else had their own reason for wanting to take Jose down themselves. They'd been fighting him longer than she had and it was just as personal for them as it was for her.
But she wanted this win. She wanted to punch his lights out.
Man, she really was hanging out with Natsu and the rest of the guild too much. She was becoming as crazy as they were.
She didn't care.
"Jose!" She screamed it. That damned smirk still lingered on his face. Dammit, he was playing with her. He knew she couldn't beat him.
Bullshit. Just bullshit.
The Wolf circled Jose and Virgo was attacking with rocks and pitfalls.
She refused to lose to him. It was bullshit that she couldn't win.
Magick rose around her, in her, through her. It carved into the ground, forming a magick circle and clearing rocks and debris. Virgo and the Wolf slipped gracefully out of the blast zone.
"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens…" The words poured from her heart, from the deepest recesses of her mind. "All the stars, far and wide...Show me thy appearance. With such shine." They were her words now, not words someone-something?-else whispered in her mind and she knew even then she'd remember this time. She knew this was the spell she'd used before that had left everyone so awed. "Oh, Tetrabiblos...I am the ruler of the stars...Aspect become complete...Open thy malevolent gate." The roof-what was left-blasted off and Jose was surrounded by blinding light. It was much too bright for his shade magick to form anything to protect himself. Beyond that, this magick holy and negated his dark magick. She saw him mouth "no!" "O, 88 Stars of the heaven...Shine!
"Urano Metria!"
It was stronger than before because she was stronger. Because the words had come from her. Because she had more faith in herself, her spirits, her friends. The spell shot a beat of light into the sky where it crashed into the dark that was trying to escape.
Below the thunder of the spell, something screamed.
It might've been Jose. It might've been something else. Or both.
She saw her spirits shimmer away, all her magick tied up in the spell.
The light crescendoed and it seemed like Jose vanished under its brilliance. As quickly as it started it was over. Lucy fell to her knees while Jose crashed limply onto the ground.
"Lucy!" Natsu's arms wrapped around her and his ecstatic face came into her line of sight. Her knees stung from where they hit the ground and her head seemed to roar. Her magick was drained and she felt hulled out. It didn't matter. Natsu was a warm comfort to her. She knew, she just knew, that he'd also be there to catch her when she fell.
She hoped he knew she'd do the same.
"Holy shit, Bunny Girl." Gajeel's rough voice pierced the roaring in her ears.
"Lucy." Natsu's breath danced across her face.
"Are you okay?" Wendy asked. Wendy kneeled beside her, looking windblown and flushed from exertion. Lucy was sure she'd had better days, but she'd also had worse.
"I'm fine, Wendy. You?"
"I'm okay," Wendy said.
"Levy?" Lucy asked having not heard from her friend.
"I'm good, Lu." She and Gajeel stood together, hands linked as if reassuring the other that they were okay.
"My keys." Lucy panic lasted only a moment before she remembered that she'd ripped the keys away from Jose's grasp. She held them close, feeling the difference in the weight of them, knowing that one was missing.
One was shattered.
The triumph of the moment faded into grief. She'd failed them. Loke was injured and had been tortured, and Aquarius….
Aquarius was gone.
"Luce…" Natsu's arms gripped tighter. His mouth worked, but it was like he couldn't find the words he wanted to say. Instead, he tilted his head down and pressed his forehead to hers. "It's not your fault."
"Then who's fault is it, Natsu?" Lucy's voiced cracked. "I failed-"
"Jose's." He said, a hint of heat in his tone. "It was Jose's fault. You didn't fail them, Lucy. You saved them, gave them a purpose again. Jose hurt them, not you. Without you, we never would've seen Loke again. They never would've been loved again."
"But she's gone...she's gone."
"I know." Natsu pulled her head into his shoulder. "I know."
Lucy sobbed, knowing she could trust him to keep her safe even in the middle of a warzone. The fingers of one hand dug into his ruined shirt while the other gripped her keys hard enough to bruise. The others left them alone, save for one Gajeel gently touched her back.
"Here," He said when Lucy looked up at him through her tears. He gently unclasped the hand she had gripped on Natsu and slid something into the open palm.
The cool metal touched her skin and Lucy trembled at the touch. She knew what it had been. It wasn't supposed to be cold. Her keys always held a certain warmth even if they weren't touching her skin or in the sun. She didn't know if it was the magick in them or if it was the heat of the souls connected to them.
All she knew was that Aquarius's key would never hum in her hand again.
"T-thank," She drew in a shaky breath. "Thank you." Her throat felt like barbs had scraped down it. Gajeel simply nodded. Her hand closed on the key, heedless of the jagged end.
It was silent for several moments until Levy broke the silence.
"Lucy." Levy's voice broke through her grief. Lucy couldn't tell what it was about the way Levy said her name, all she knew was she never wanted her name called like that again. Without any further words, Lucy knew their situation had gone from bad to worse. She looked up at Natsu's face, trying to gain a clue as to what was going on.
Natsu's body was still, and Lucy could've sworn she'd seen fear in his eyes.
It was Wendy that spoke next, her voice young and shaky.
"Oh, no."
Gray was having the time of his life. After the whole raw-terror-and-blood-boiling -from-the-ground thing, they'd run into a bunch of Ivan's cronies. They were blowing up walls, crashing in doorways, and causing so much destruction that Gray felt like laughing.
Finally, a building they could destroy and not have to pay to fix afterward.
He wasn't the only one enjoying themselves. Bixlow had ditched the helmet-it was dented and covered in things that Gray didn't want to think about-and was causing general terror in Ivan's troops. Apparently, they had quickly figured out what Bixlow's eyes were capable of and trying to fight while not looking in your opponent's eyes was harder than it sounded. Gray could hear his cackles even from the floor up. The sound was still freaky, but Bixlow's deeper voice traveled well over it. Laxus was practically overflowing with lightning, so much so that every time he stepped he sent out sparks. No one could get within five feet of him without either getting a shock equivalent to touching a metal door handle after running around a carpeted floor in socks or one equivalent to Holy-Shit-I've-Shoved-My-Entire-Hand-Into-A-Light-Socket.
Even the Thunder Legion, whom Gray had long suspected to being pretty immune to electricity had to watch themselves.
Now that he thought about it, part of Bixlow's scariness was probably caused by the fact that he looked like he'd shoved his hand into a light socket, what with the way his hair was frizzed out.
Somehow Evergreen's hair was perfect. Freed's however….
Best not mention it.
Gray dodged under some Mythic's excuse for fire magick, grinning all the while. Erza was ahead of him (of course) flinging enemies out of her way. Jellal was…
Where was Jellal?
Speaking of missing guildmates, where the hell was Gildarts?
"But Cannnnnaaa, sweetie, daddy wants to watch you fight. You're so good!"
"STOP SITTING AROUND LIKE A BUM AND GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR, OLD MAN."
Ah, mystery solved. Well, one mystery. Gray wondered if Jellal was further ahead, or had gotten tied up with something in the floors below. Erza didn't seem concerned, and Jellal was more than capable of handling himself.
Still, Gray made a mental note to keep an eye out for him. If he vanished for too long, Gray was going after him.
Charging toward an enemy, Gray grinned as his attack knocked the guy out and knocked down another wall.
Oh, this was a good day.
"Gray!" Juvia's scream had him whipping around just in time to see a blast of concentrated magickal energy arrow towards him. He brought his arms up, wondering what would be faster, his Ice Make magick or the magickal equivalent of a speeding bullet.
The ground beneath him shifted, a wall that had been busted reformed in time to stop the projectile.
"I thought I told you to call me when you went after Ivan." Ultear scolded. She glided through the haze of battle, not a single dark hair out of place. Half-formed ice clung to Gray's arms, Ultear tutted and flicked it off. She raised an eyebrow at the destruction around them, sending him a smirk. "Did you do this for me? You know I'm quite capable of bringing down the house without your help." From the direction the beam came from came a rumbling sound. The roof crashed and mechanical groaning filtered its way through the vibrations.
Gray grinned. "Sorry, sis. We got caught up." Ultear did not seem amused.
She sighed, eyeing the soldiers Ivan had sent. Mere cannon fodder.
"I dare say you kept all the fun things to yourself."
"What can I say? I gotta one-up you somehow."
"Little brother, you could never one-up me."
"Hey!" Alzack called over. "If you two are done with your heartwarming family reunion, you mind helping us with the war we're fighting?"
"Coming, coming," Gray called rolling his eyes at his sister.
Suddenly magick exploded from other side of the castle. Golden light beamed up, spearing towards the sky. The light made the air ripple and Gray felt his ears pop. Something roared. Or someone screamed. Color seeped back into the rocks, but Gray couldn't tell if they were back to the way they were before the whole blood-and-fear-moment thing. Some walls seemed to dissolve at the epicenter of the spell, while others burst outwards. Gray drew in air sweetened with….something. It was like he should know what the scent was, but his brain couldn't identify it. It was suddenly easier to breathe and the streams of magick in the air seemed to hug those around him.
Well, the ones wearing the Fairy Tail symbol, anyway.
Their enemies stumbled, obviously not feeling what Gray was feeling. While it wasn't enough to defeat them, Gray was amazed it affected them at all. The castle wasn't small and they were a good distance away from the spell's epicenter.
The light faded slowly, but Gray would never forget its brilliance.
"Holy shit Lucy," Bixlow muttered and Gray started when he realized the sound was back to normal.
"Heartfillia did that?" Ultear sounded impressed. Gray felt pride bloom in his chest. He'd helped Lucy realize her magick potential. He'd watched her grow from an unsure and overwhelmed young woman into a confident badass.
His sorta little sister was amazing. Someone let out a low whistle.
Their enemies retreated for a moment. Fairy Tail regrouped, bandaging wounds and sending magickally exhausted members to Porlyusica.
"There is no way Jose's still able to fight after that." Gray heard someone say from the crowd of Mythics. His hearing wasn't acute enough for him to tell who it was.
"No doubt. He'd be lucky to survive." Another Mythic agreed.
"Sweet, now we just have to tackle Ivan."
Something cold swept through the air. A flash of gold crashed into the ground, and Gray recognized Jellal's instantly. He stood, his usually immaculate clothing tattered and blood-stained, his hair streaked with-well, the same lovely things that had coated Bixlow's helmet-and appeared to be exhausted. Erza was by his side in an instant.
"I tried to stop it."
No one had time to ask: Stop what?
Gray's eyes tracked over to the crack in the sky. Only now it was more of a hole. Its edges were ragged and the sky around it shuddered and jerked as if trying to stitch itself closed again.
But it was impossible at the moment, for something large was blocking it.
While they had been fighting on the ground, all hell had broken loose in the sky.
Gray had only seen something like this once in his entire life, even for as old as he was. But it didn't take anyone a lot of brains to figure out exactly what was shoving its way free.
Teeth. Claws. Eyes.
Teeth sharper than blades, claws longer than even Elfman, eyes burning yellow.
Even as they watched, its head broke through, revealing a long, long snout and flared nostrils.
Its mouth opened and Gray knew there was no point in running.
The dragon roared.
*rubs hands together* I just LOVE cliffhangers, don't you?
Okay, a couple announcements! One: My lovely waifu Lonestorm (Ya'll may know her as the author of The Keys of Fire) has given me several ideas for cute one-shots (THEY WILL BE ONE-SHOTS. I WILL FIGHT THEM TO BE ONE-SHOTS) for this story. I have NO IDEA when I'll write them, but rest assured they will be written.
Speaking of Lonestorm! She's got a surprise for you! She's been working on a story for some time now (It was supposed to be a one-shot. The two of us are horrible at keeping things at one-shots) and she's finally ready to show you. She's uploading it tomorrow on FF and POSSIBLY AO3. We shall see.
And guess what? It's an Inuyasha fanfic. Now some of you probably just groaned. That's fine. Go read her FT stuff. You'll feel better. The rest of you probably either screeched in happiness or fell into nostalgia. Excellent. You'll LOVE what she's done. Keep a look out tomorrow for: The Inugami!
So a few updates on my life, since some of you are interested in it. I joined the rugby team. My nickname is "Momma Bear." These ladies are awesome and if your school has a rugby team I HIGHLY suggest joining. It's a ton of fun and the team will become like your family. Just play safe!
I also want to thank you all for your support about my dog's death. It's been many months but sometimes it's still strange not to have her around. Her sister, however, is doing fine. :) You all are awesome.
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spent many, many hours in my tree stand. The only blight was my mother informing me that the Bisexual Pride T-Shirt on my Christmas list was "Inappropriate." We...disagreed on that front. But minor details.
One Last time before I go to guest reviews. I love you guys, I really do. I love that you read my things and comment! It really makes my day. But reviews that say "UPDATE" or "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MONTHS, UPDATE ALREADY." DO NOT make me update faster. Sorry guys, that's just how it goes. I will not reply to reviews that say this. That being said, I don't mind if you ASK me if it might be updated in the future, or if I'm okay since I haven't updated in a few months. I have a life beyond this site guys. Please remember that.
Onto the Guest Reviews!
Guest4: You're welcome, friend. No need to hid in the closet, lol. Aww, thank you. That quote is lovely. Yeahhhhh. FT just LOVES beating us up, huh? And yes, I try to get the titles to match what's going on in the chapter. Honestly, the hardest part is picking out the title.
TigerArrowGirl: Don't I always? Lucy is pissed. And she proved it in this chapter. I haven't been keeping up with the Manga very well, but I do know what's going on, vaguely. It's insanity.
Miri: I LIVE YET AGAIN. I hope you enjoy! Things are going pretty smoothly, but I think we can all agree that 2016 just needs to end. I'm DONE with this year. :)
Guest: Thank you! I will. :)
HappyDragneel: I see all. I read all. I take forever to update and reply. Y-you think I'm humorous. HAH. SOMEONE APPRECIATES MY HUMOR. Yeah, even after so many months, it's still a little odd not to have her there. But I thank you for your concern. I'm sure Sheeba appreciates you making her as comfortable as possible. It's never easy to let go of a pet. She's lucky to have you. Of course, she hasn't cried. She's got you to take care of her. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish you a very merry holiday season!
Kaito1412: I guess something good can come out of most anything. Thank you.
Guest: I would scold you for staying up so late but I do the same thing. Thank you! Those are the reactions I like to hear!
Renee: I'm evil, what can I say? NOW you know what happened next. :P But LOOK, another cliffhanger. I promise I love you guys, lol.
