Hello dear readers! Thank you so much for your feedback so far. I'm really glad you're all so curious about the rest of the story because there is much more I yet have to write!
Thanks for proofreading CJ!
Lucy looked at the text message she had gotten from Levy and back to the front porch right before her. There was no doubt this was her house. Mirajane had offered to stay with Cana as long as needed and so Lucy would spend her evening at Levy's place.
She stepped up the stairs and rang the digital doorbell. It didn't take long before heavy footsteps resounded from the hallway. A lock unlocked and the door flung open. A giant man with thick, black hair up tied up in a long, thick ponytail stood before her. He was an intimidating sight to see. His arms and face were littered with implanted stud piercings and he had scars all over his skin. His narrowing eyes seemed to radiate a red tone.
''I- ehmr, " Lucy stammered, overwhelmed by his presence, "I think I got the wrong address, sorry."
"Lev!" The man suddenly let out. His voice was raspy, like a revving engine. "Ya got a guest!"
Lucy looked at him in awe. Was this truly her friend's husband?
It didn't take long before Levy appeared from behind him. ''Lucy!'' she chided, ''please come in!''
She gave her husband a menacing look. ''You almost scared her away, you bonehead!''
Lucy gulped. It was downright intimidating to see her tiny friend correct her almost beast-like husband like that.
He did not flinch nor retaliated. He let his shoulders hang and turned back to Lucy.
''Sorry about that,'' he said as he stretched out his hand towards her, though not making eye-contact, ''I'm Gajeel, nice to meet you.''
She carefully shook his hand, a little creeped out by his fierce grip and the fact that even his knuckles were studded. ''I'm Lucy, nice to meet you too.''
''Would you like some tea?'' Levy asked with the brightest smile as she made her way to the living room.
Lucy hung her jacket on the coat rack and followed her. ''Yes, please!''
When Lucy reached the kitchen, Levy gestured her to come closer.
''Don't mind Gajeel too much, he spent a big part of his life with criminals,'' she almost whispered while leaning in to her, ''he's a sweetheart, really, but he's not that good with other people.''
''Ah, I see,'' she replied, not sure how she could stay so casual while basically announcing her husband was an ex-prisoner.
Levy boiled and poured the tea in royal-sized mugs and gave one of them to Lucy.
''You can take it upstairs,'' she said, showing Lucy her way, ''I figured you would like to go to the library right away.''
Lucy's eyes lit up in excitement. ''Definitely!''
She followed her up the first stairs and before they turned towards the second stairs to the attic, a room with an opened door caught her eye. Lucy stood still and peeked around the corner. The room was painted a soft green colour and all furniture was made from cast iron. Even the mobile dangling from the ceiling was made out of iron figures of animals and fantasy figures. One wall was decorated with a giant, silver dragon.
''Isn't it cute?'' Levy squealed.
Lucy was startled. ''Oh, I-I'm sorry, I was just curious.''
''It's okay!'' Levy said as she walked into the room, ''I'm so happy we finished it before the babies arrive.''
Lucy looked at her in shock. ''Babies? You mean you're going to have twins?!''
Levy laid her hand on her ever-growing belly, wearing a bright blush on her face. ''Unbelievable, right?''
Lucy nodded.
Levy turned around and let Lucy silently follow. They went up a spiraling staircase in the middle of the hallway which seemed to go up forever. Lucy almost had to catch her breath when she reached the end of it and was surprised to see Levy did it all seemingly without any extra effort. Lucy poked her head through the hole in the ceiling, only to find herself entering a room twice as high as the previous level. Levy pressed a lightswitch and Lucy pulled herself up.
Lucy didn't know where to look first. The entire level of the house was one big room with shelves on every wall and lined up parallelly all over the room. Her jaw dropped. Levy hadn't exaggerated when she said she owned a library.
''Welcome to my book space!'' Levy said in a presenting stance, ''Gajeel built it all by himself, isn't it amazing?''
''It is..'' Lucy sighed in awe.
Mirajane blinked, overwhelmed by everything Cana just shared with her. From her mom's tragic death when Cana was just a toddler, her search for her father, and the lingering alcohol addiction that already started in her early teens. ''So, Lucy doesn't know about anything about what happened three weeks ago?''
Cana shook her head. ''I already have caused her enough trouble the last few years,'' she quietly said, ''she doesn't deserve to be burdened by my problems even more. She has enough of her own right now.''
Mirajane smiled kindly. ''You're a good friend, but don't forget she will care enough to help you.''
''Would you get involved by the shitty life choices your friends make?''
She wavered her arms out. ''Am I not doing that right now?''
Cana felt a new wave of tears prick behind her eyes, but this time not from sadness.
''Why do you care so much?'' She sobbed, hiding her face in her hands.
''Let's just say we people of the Fairy Tail might be more than just a community home,'' Mirajane said and stood up to lock Cana in an embrace, ''but you'll learn more about that one day.''
Cana was too mentally exhausted to think about her words. She just let herself relax to her touch while inhaling the scent of her hair.
''I'm heading back to work on some paperwork,'' Mirajane said when she leaned back and let her hands rest on Cana's shoulders, ''I'll give you my number so you can call me whenever you feel like it.''
Cana would never get used to the unusual, icy colour of Mira's eyes. Combined with the sunlight partly shining through her thin, milky-white hair, she was convinced she was sent down to her as a guardian angel.
''Oh, and by the way,'' she said after she wrote down her number on a notebook, ''who was visiting you before I got here? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it.''
Cana looked at her in bewilderment. ''You're the only one who has visited me after Lucy left this morning.''
Mirajane's cheerful smile changed to a serious grimace. ''I could have sworn a man in a long raincoat was leaving
Cana immediately thought back about the silhouette she had spotted earlier and gasped. ''Do you think it was a burglar?''
Mirajane reached for her phone. ''I'm calling my brother, I can't let you stay here all alone.''
For the first time today, Cana smiled. ''Thank you, for everything.''
Lucy wouldn't even be able to guess what time it was. She had lost all sense of time while leafing through the pile of books she had chosen from the shelves. Some about astrology, a few fantasy novels, and a few encyclopedias about flora.
Her eyelids started to grow heavy from absorbing all the information and she barely noticed Levy heading downstairs again to get their third cup of tea for today. She was about to let her head rest on the biggest book in front of her when she noticed the back of one of the books she had picked. In golden letters, it said: ASTROLOGY THROUGH THE AGES
It was the title that made the book stand out and let her choose it, but her heart skipped a beat when she read the writer's name that was scribbled in a smaller font beneath the title. Anna Heartfillia.
She pulled the book from the power of books, careful not to make the rest tumble.
As soon as she had it in her hands, it felt oddly heavy and Lucy quickly realised the hard back cover was thicker than the front one. Curiously, she leafed to the last page. A handwritten afterword was written in a handwriting that felt familiar. It was framed by drawings of the zodiac signs.
This book contains an encrypted message to any heir of my family. May they learn from this book and its hidden gift and put it to good use.
Lucy felt her heartbeat speed up. How was this possible? There was no doubt Anna Heartfilla was a distant relative of hers, as her family of high status was the only one left with this name. A million questions crossed her mind. Did the book contain a code? A hidden letter? It was all just too vague. How would only a member of her family be able to solve it?
She turned the book around, knocked on its cover, and noticed the back was not only thicker, but it also sounded different as well. She leafed through the pages, comparing the first letters of sentences and chapters to each other, paying extra attention to the illustrations to see if anything stood out. It was hard for her to grasp all the thoughts that raced through her brain.
She closed the book and felt if there was some relief to the pages and let out a hiss in sudden pain. The book dropped to the table. Lucy brought her finger to her mouth in a reflex to the papercut, but it was too late; some blood had dropped down on the book's cover.
''Shit!'' she let out and tried to wipe it off with her sleeve.
Instead of wiping it away, the blood only smeared into the reliefs of zodiacs that were engraved in the leather cover. Panic struck her, afraid it was ruined forever. Just when she was about to run downstairs to ask Levy for a tissue, something happened that made her wonder just how much blood she had lost. The reliefs started to light up and emitted a soft, golden light. Lucy was almost convinced she had actually fallen asleep earlier. This was just impossible.
All zodiac signs were glowing now and a soft click could be heard from within the book after which the book returned to its previous, ordinary state.
Lucy was starstruck. Just what just happened? She wondered where the sound came from and carefully opened the book again. When she reached the last page, she noticed the afterword had come loose from the back, now forming a little door. She pried it open with her thumb and was left stunned by what was behind it.
Lucy almost stormed down the last stairs. ''Levy, can I borrow this-''
Her breath got stuck in her throat when she entered the living room and her eyes met those of another guest of the soon to be family.
''...book..'' she silently finished her sentence. She almost lost grip on the book she was desperately holding onto. The eyes she met belonged to a face she had wanted to see again for almost a month now.
''Natsu?!''