Chapter 29: You never touch my children...
or pay the price.
A/N: A question may be raised about this title, and it won't take long for you to figure it out, but who do you think the 'PoV' of the title is from? I must leave for now! Satan calls... \(-_-)/
The party rages on, and Natsu allows the youngest of the guild to stay up much later than last time. Rokem then walks up to the pinkette, breaking into his rather... Um, adult conversation which he's holding with Macao, Wakaba and Makarov, about a certain battles wager. And a girl who will soon be featured in 'Sorcerer Weekly'. I think you know where I'm getting at... Anyway, the boy comes up with his 'sister', in everything but name, in tow.
"Natsu, can Kelli and I go out and get some ice cream?" Rokem asked, geting a raised brow from his guild master.
"Why don't you stay in the bar and celebrate with your guild mates?"
"Oh, please Pappi? We want to, you know, catch up." Looking into his adopted daughters puppy face he sighs in submission before giving them a bag of jewels from his pocket dimension.
"Fine, but watch out for each other."
"Okay, Natsu!" He then pokes Rokem in the forehead with gloved fingers.
"You, protect her. And you," he lightly taps Kelli on the nose,"make sure he doesn't get into trouble."
"You have my word!" Kelli salutes, while Rokem rubs his forehead, glaring at the pinkette. His nose scrunched up and cheeks puffed out, the girls who see this coo at his adorable face, making a blush quickly spread across his cheeks. Taking pity on the embarrassed boy, Natsu pats him one last time on the head.
"Have fun." He waves as they race out of the Honey Bone Lodge.
"Wow, he's been getting more stressed lately, hasn't he." Sting whispers before he takes a sip from his drink. Rogue nodding from his side.
"Flame-brain? Stressed? That's unheard of." Gray gets into their conversation, losing his clothes simultaneously.
"Don't think like that, it has been seven years, and he's a guild master. Natsu could get stressed." Lucy wisely explains. Not freaking out over Gray's habit, having gotten used to it.
"He would not get conquered by something such as 'stress'. This is Natsu we're talking about." Erza speaks between bites of her cheesecake. At this comment, Proxi-who came from seemingly nowhere-scoffs. Earning him a glare from the scarlet mage.
"He's changed. You guys have probably never seen him stressed, so you don't know what to look out for. But right now, his brains cogs' are running a mile a minute." He says, keeping an eye on the oblivious guild master who is speaking with Makarov and Macao.
"He is?" Sting looks to Natsu is slight shock. He didn't even notice it, he just thought Natsu was getting near the edge.
"Oh yeah." Eavesdroppers Kasai and Fuyu drop by. "He's good at hiding it for months before people usually begin to figure out his inner peril." Fuyu stirs her drink for a moment before continuing. "But if you know what to look out for, you can notice it right away."
"And what do you look out for?" Levy comes up, Gajeel right on her tail, mumbling under his breath.
"That." And just as Kasai says it, they all turn to see Natsu who had finished his conversation. Sitting on a bar stool by himself. Moving his hand out in front of him, palm facing up. A dark magic circle appears on the surface of his hand and a small ways above it. Coming from his hand, they see a shine, and as the object is pulled out more they recognize it to be a chain. A stainless steel silver chain. And when it comes out, at the end it holds a silver pocket watch, covered by a casing engraved with elaborate and mystical designs.
"What is that?" Lucy whispers, eyeing the object that the pinkette runs his fingers over.
"That, my friend, is a mystery." Proxi, says, everyone turning their attention to him for a moment. But the movement of a white form catches their eyes and they all give a short gasp. Mavis was floating over towards Natsu, her face showing complete shock, and they look into each others eyes for a moment.
"I-is that..." She begins, and Natsu sighs before speaking up. But they all freeze at what he says. But it's not what he says that makes him freeze, it's how he says it.
"Tor fusain gollen lillican estaneo."
"Gollen lillican estaneo! Dedeo ho tara tocen yaro!?" Mavis responds in the same language, and people nearby begin to quiet down, listening to the conversation.
"Sastien... Ai mont hajit." Now, almost everyone is turning to hear the conversation, shocked at what's going on. Makarov narrowing his eyes upon hearing slightly familiar words.
"Hin, iki uta tara... hinnano. Jiji misako."
"I will be." Natsu ends the conversation, and with a final glance, the spirit drifts away from the pinkette. He clicks open the case of the watch, eyes narrowing at whatever it is he's seeing. Staring at it he takes a sip from his drink, oblivious to his spectators. Shutting the object, he puts it back in his pocket dimension, deciding to check it out later.
"W...what was that?" Lucy whispers, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"Hey, don't look at me." Proxi raises a hand. "He rarely speaks like that. No one here knows."
"I do." All eyes turn to Levy. "I discovered it a while back...
Flashback (Levy PoV)
Upon seeing the thick, oak wood door, curiosity gets the better of me and i push it open slightly. Then just enough to squeeze my body through the crack. As soon as I step into the dark room, lacrimas-which float on small, bronze platters-illuminate the room with their soft blue glow.
And I see that it's not just any room; it's a library. Separate from the guilds and I'm soon walking along the shelves, running my fingers along the books spines. Feeling the soft, worn leather beneath my finger. I stop when I feel a newer binding. Slowly, I slip the book from the shelf, and as it falls I catch it. Stumbling slightly, unprepared for its sheer size and weight. I must hold it with both hands, and I take a few moments to analyze the peculiar cover.
No author name. No title. Just an odd symbol in the middle of the dark brown leather. A circle rimmed with a design that looks like golden runes. But nothing I had ever seen before. The circle itself is odd, inside the image of fire, curling inwards, and in the center a small, black gem. Unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Turning the book to its side, I see there are some small gaps between the pages, and go to the first one. Freezing as soon as I begin to try to read it. The language isn't fiorien, that much I am sure of. It's nothing I have ever read before. The odd dashes and curves are not something I am accustomed to. In the middle of the left page, kept onto it by a small, black magic circle behind it, is a small object that gives off a frightening aura.
It seems to be a small piece of something much larger. A dusty gold, rough, triangle shaped thing. A horrid, dark magic emitting from it, the slightest touch sending shivers down my spine, and I slam the book shut.
"Something like... this, should not be in the guild..." I mumble under my breath. But, as curiosity courses through my veins, I flip to the second gap. The object much the same as the last in terms of aura and how it's kept on the page. It is a small, gray dagger. Covered in ruinic engravings which make the handle feel rough to the touch. Along the blade are words much like the ones covering the page around it. Foreign to me.
Skimming the pages to the next gap, I'm aiming to just skip to it, but pause as I pass by a page that looks... odd. Going back a few pages, I see why it had looked different. And although I cannot read, I can vaguely understand it.
The words are much sloppier, but that hardly catches my eye, as I see splotches of what I can only guess to be tears. This page is written more like a journal, and I can see smeared ink at some spots where the author tried to wipe away the watery substance only to spread it even more. I wonder what this page actually says.
As I go to flip to the next gap, the books slams shut on my fingers.
"EEK!" I squeal, flinging my hands away and squeezing my eyes shut. But I don't hear the crash of it hitting the floor, rather it being softly laid on something else. Opening my eyes I meet the stoic yet serious face of an old friend. "Oh, Natsu." I release the breath I was holding, but he doesn't look too happy.
"What are you doing in here?" He interrogates. And I tell him I was just curious about the door. He nods in approval, understanding me to that extent.
"So... There's another library?" He sees the excitement in my eyes, I know it as I see a smirk cross his lips.
"Ah, yes." He slips the book back onto the shelf.
"Why are there two?" He turns to me before we both looks down the row of shelves.
"This is one I am still slowly expanding." He begins,"It's about Zeref and his demons." I feel my eyes sparkle at this new information. He looks out of the corner of his eyes and sees it, his smirk forming into a smile. "You're welcome to come and read whenever you like."
"R-really!?" I jump in glee, about to run around and add onto my knowledge about Zeref. But he grabs onto my arm for a moment and looks me dead in the eye.
"On one condition." We share a moment of silence before he tells me it, his heated stare boring into my eyes, I can practically feel the air growing tense. "You don't read that book." He says, pointing at the one he had just put away.
E.N.D. (A/N: See what I did there :3)
"The language is called Demonic Tongue." Levy explains, pulling out a small notebook.
"What's that." Gajeel leans over her, poking at its word covered pages.
"When Natsu welcomed me into the library, I got this to write down anything I learned." She says, flipping through the pages as she lands on one titles; Demonic Tongue(?).
"Do you know what he said?" Lucy leans over to look at the words on the notebook, baffled by their odd shapes.
"Well... I know fusain means 'clock' and lillican means 'demons'. Also, jiji misako means 'be careful'. So, I'm guessing they're talking about some dangerous demonic clock of some kind."
"Next time you go to the library, try to figure it out." Erza asks-*cough* demands *cough*-Levy.
"I will-"
"NATSU!" The doors slam open, and the cry of pure terror does not fall on deaf ears. The fear filling the voice makes Lucy's stomach drop as she loathes what will happen next. Natsu looks up, and is soon racing through the crowding guild members, eyes wide in confusion and fear, not bothering to hide it. Forcing them apart, he sees someone in a state which makes a growl form in his throat.
"Rokem..." He gets on one knee, and the small group at the table break through the crowd, all of them gasping at the sight. The young boy carries a bruised Kelli, her eyes closed, breathing shallow and unsteady. Natsu's brows pull together in worry as he takes in both of their states. Rokem hardly any better than Kelli, but enough to have carried her the entire way from where ever they had come.
Natsu isn't hesitant in taking the young girl from the tired boys arms. And he examines Rokem's battered state as well. Although he's not as bad as Kelli, that doesn't make the situation any better. Taking him into his other arm, and pressing Kelli against his chest, he steals them from the room. But before leaving fully, he shouts out one firm command.
"Wendy, Porlyusica, Aki! Come here!" He takes a moment to pause, his back facing towards them, and turn his head slightly so they can see his eye, stoic yet having so much anger in them that makes shivers run down everyone's spines. "I will not take any arguing." Racing upstairs, Aki gets Laxus to carry her, following Wendy and Porlyusica who were already on their way.
Everyone is silent, shocked beyond reason at what had just happened, no one truly coming to terms with it. Kasai is the first to speak up, his face red in rage.
"How dare they! To my sister..." He hisses out, clenching his fist, water dripping from his knuckles. This makes everyone else get heated up, anger erupting in the room like a volcano, the poor people who work their ducking under the bar counter in fear for their lives.
"Their blood will stain my blade..." Erza says darkly.
"I'll freeze even their soul!" Gray grits out in anger.
"Everyone!" Proxi screams above the crowd, effectively silencing everyone by quickly flaring his magic.
"We have to wait for Natsu's orders..." Fuyu speaks up, her voice eerily calm, but it's slight waver giving her emotions away.
"W-we know! But still..."
"I'm sure he'll send us out to murder their asses!" Gray screams out, creating an ice sword, gripping its handle tightly. Prepared to go out and avenge the child. The air remains tense after everyone's outburst, the only conversation being made is in small amounts, such as 'hi', or maybe even just grunts in acknowledgement. Nothing too big. All thoughts going back to how Kelli and Rokem looked, and how Natsu was going to deal with it.
A/N: That's why at the beginning I put: Satan calls... \(-_-)/. Because of what I did to Kelli and Rokem. I couldn't help it, I'm sorry! Now about the Demonic Tongue, that won't be the last time I'll use it, but bellow this authors note I'll show what Mavis and Natsu were saying. I thought about doing Japanese for it, but decided against it because that's obviously not Demonic Tongue and so I made up the words. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Til next time, see ya!
"Tor fusain gollen lillican estaneo."= The clock of demons slumber
"Gollen lillican estaneo! Dedeo ho tara tocen yaro!?"= Of demons slumber! Why do you have that!?
"Sastien... Ai mont hajit."= It's... a long story.
"Hin, iki uta tara... hinnano. Jiji misako."= Well, I trust you... enough. Be careful.
