Hello everyone! Time for a new chapter! I wrote the end of the story but it was so big that I ended up splitting it, so the final amount of chapters will be 25!
Thank you all for your support, this story went over 3K reads, that's insane for a crackship! I wrote and uploaded a new Mescana oneshot too, that takes place after Scarred Pasts ^^ and of course thank you Chrissy, for always proofreading
Cana stepped out of the train and took a deep breath of the salty air. She looked down at the city before her. The busy streets meandered down until they reached the harbor and its many piers. It had been a while since she'd been in a place this busy. She was used to the quiet alleys of the outskirts of Magnolia. Hargeon was an ever-growing city, driven by trade and dealers. The sounds in the busiest parts were almost deafening. Seagulls, salesmen, and rioting youth all rivaled each other in loudness. Aimlessly she looked around the various buildings and markets; she didn't know where to look first. What would be the first thing her father would visit?
It only took her a second to find out when she looked up and saw the many signboards with beer mugs on them. The pubs, of course.
After hours of uncomfortable visits to various pubs, she started to lose hope. Maybe he had already left? She gathered up all the energy she had left and walked into the next pub.
This pub was different from the rest. It was quite quiet and dark with just a few windows letting the sun in from the outside. The pungent smell of incense almost made her lightheaded.
''This is no place for a young girl like you,'' the bartender said as he shook his head.
''Let her in,'' she suddenly heard a deep voice say, ''she's with my guild.''
She turned around, and she saw him. He sat slumped in a chair next to a window. She lifted her shirt to reveal her guild mark to the bartender.
''I'm sorry, miss,'' he apologized, ''please be my guest.''
''Cana!'' Gildarts let out a little too loud; he was obviously tipsy. ''What brings you to Hargeon?''
''It's about Mest..'' she quietly said, not taking a seat.
He lifted an eyebrow. ''Our strong, sassy Cana, all timid like this? What did that boy do to ya? Did he break your heart?'' He balled his fist. ''Do I need to beat him up for ya?''
''He went... missing.'' she said, ''we were supposed to go on a date a few days ago, but he never showed up.''
''I see,'' he said as he rubbed his chin, ''that's unfortunate, but," he sat up straight, "why did you come all this way to tell me this?''
Suddenly she saw something from the corner of her eye. It was just a fragment of a second, just someone passing by the window. She shook her head. She had been so focussed on finding him, that even every person with black hair made her look twice. But there was something that stirred her guts, something was off, and she didn't trust it.
''I'll be right back,'' she said and paced out of the pub, heading for the other side of the window, only to find no one there. Cana sighed out loud, letting her shoulders hang down. I'm going crazy, she thought to herself. With lead in her shoes, she headed back to the pub.
''I'm sorry about that, my mind was playing tricks on me.'' she said as she walked in and sat down at Gildarts' table, ''so, about Mest-''
All of a sudden Gildarts burst out in laughter. ''Who on earth has such a ridiculous name?!''
It was as if all the air in her lungs was sucked out. It couldn't be.
She turned to the bartender, who was busy drying glasses. ''Did by any chance someone walk in here while I was gone?''
He calmly looked up. ''Some weird, hooded guy just walked in here, started talking to that wizard, and left in a hurry. Nothing unusual, though. You never know what the youth here is up to these days.''
Cana ran towards the door, almost tripping over the doorstep. With her heart pounding in her throat, she looked around. Trying to spot someone running away, but it was no use. The street was too busy to make anyone out. And besides, if he wanted to disappear quickly, he would just teleport in an alley.
He had been so close. She hit her fist on the wall next to her. ''Damnit!''
What was she supposed to do now? Heading back to the guild already would cause suspicion. She reached her hand down one of her pockets and fished out the wrinkled job request. What if he had forgotten to wipe out a trace in his path?
She headed back to the train station and looked at the board with departure times.
5 pm - Clover Central Station
Panting, Mest held on to the wall he just teleported against. That was a close call.
As he wiped himself out of Gildarts' memory, she had been outside the window. Just as he suspected, she had gone looking for her father. She was even smarter than he had kept in mind. He let the hood of his cape fall off and ruffled his hand through his hair.
He let his back slide down the wall and sat down on the floor with a big sigh. She would track down every flaw of his plan now until she would find him. This was bad, really bad. All that he had planned, all that he had done to make this mission a success, was falling apart. She hadn't contacted Makarov to avoid suspicion and was now acting on her own.
As long as someone beside Makarov knew about this mission, his cover could be blown.
There was just one way out now, and he knew that very well. The next time he faced her, he had to do it. She had to forget him.
It was already getting dark when Cana finally managed to walk all the way from the station, through the forest to her final destination for today. On a lonely open place in the endless forests of Clover stood the familiar inn. Tears started to well up in her eyes. This place held so many memories of the past few months. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
Footsteps could be heard from the other side before the door opened, and the owner stood before her with wide-open arms. ''Welcome to the Woodlog inn!''
''Doranbolt, it's me, Cana,'' she said in confusion. ''I've worked for you.''
''You must be mistaken, young lady,'' he said with a wide smile, ''that's not my name.''
Her jaw almost dropped. Did he go as far as letting someone forget their own name? She wanted to ask more, but she was simply too tired to ask. She just threw her bags aside and sat down at the bar.
''Can you pour me something that'll make me... you know... forget if I drink enough?'' She groaned.
''You're a wizard, aren't you?'' he said as he took his place behind the bar and handed her a shot of whiskey. ''They are requesting wizards a few towns from here, they've been terrorized by bandits lately just like we used to do.''
She looked up with wide-open eyes. That's where Mest left a hole open. She still had the request. The bandits in the next town must be new ones. The quest they did here in Clover still happened in everyone's mind.
''No, thank you,'' she said as she chugged the entire glass in one go.
''Lovely people were they, the people who took care of those bandits in Clover,'' the inn owner went on, ''they even took on jobs here at my inn.''
There it was; a lead. ''Were they with Fairy Tail?''
''Yes!'' he said in surprise. ''Yes they were, but for some reason, I don't quite remember their faces nor their names, strange, isn't it?''
He has been thorough here too, she thought. ''Have you had some unusual guests somewhere in the last few days?''
He rubbed his chin. ''It's never very busy, just travelers passing by, but about a week ago, someone stayed here for three entire nights.''
''Let me guess; you can't remember them?''
''Sorry 'bout that,'' he apologized, ''can't help you any further.''
''It's okay,'' she said. The alcohol started to kick in, and she found it harder to keep her eyelids open. ''I think I'm calling it a day.'' She stood up to get her bags.
''I never told you my name.'' the inn owner told her as she walked away, ''it's Mest.''
She practically swayed up the stairs. ''Yes,'' she murmured, ''it's Mest I need to find.''
It was late in the afternoon the next day when Cana arrived back in Magnolia. She spent her way back home thinking about everything that had happened since she left. Her brain felt like bursting with all this new information raging through it. She was glad she finally arrived at the guild; she was starving.
As she almost reached out to open the door, it suddenly flung open as Natsu burst through, bumping her aside. He didn't even notice it.
He turned around to the entrance, where Mirajane stood, motionless.
''You're lying!'' he roared to her.
''Why would we lie?! It was an accident!'' Mirajane yelled, shaking with her fists clenched, ''I know it's hard, but please, believe me!''
'''No!'' Natsu screamed and turned around to run away.
''She's gone!'' she tried to let out hard enough for him to realize.
Cana watched the whole scene quietly. She could feel the sweat on her back turn cold. Something was very wrong. ''Just what is going on here?'' she said, her throat was almost too dry to talk.
Mirajane, only now noticing her standing next to the door, immediately came running to her. Cana was shocked to see her face red and stained with tears and smeared eyeliner. Mira flung her arms around her neck and started sobbing against her shoulder.
''She-''
''It's Lisanna,'' she said, shaking, ''Elfman lost control over his magic on our quest and he-'' She looked up to Cana with bloodshot eyes, ''-he killed her!''
I actually cried when I wrote this chapter. Sticking to the canonverse meant Lisanna had to die somewhere around this time, it really broke my heart.
Writing this chapter made me relive some pieces of series and movies that had similar memory wipe incidents. Like Hermoine with her parents in Harry Potter and a certain scene in Code Geass. I find it a very interesting, yet very sad thing and it's very inspiring to write about it.