gOD it was so hard writing this chapter, I really hope y'all enjoy it. Also, sorry for the delay. Oh, next chapt will prolly be the last one hohoho

Lucy tapped her foot on the hard concrete, watching as train comes and goes. Her scheduled train was supposed to come 10 minutes ago, but judging from her impatient behaviour, it was clear that the train had failed to come on time. She gritted her teeth begrudgingly and dropped her duffel bag to the ground, making a loud thud sound. As the trip, or rather, the mission that she was going to was decided on a whim, Lucy packed everything she could think of and stuff it all in her duffel bag. She didn't even know how many days she was going to stay and she regretted not thinking about asking Virgo for help.

One thing was set in stone: her annoyance towards Laxus. She was channeling all of her annoyance, frustrations, and anger towards the blonde dragon slayer. One fight and he stormed off? Just like that? She won't accept it. Never.

Lucy clicked her tongue as her scheduled train finally pulled up on her platform. Slightly stomping, she got into the train and looked for her seat. It was in the rightside, right on the middle. After setting her duffel bag in the compartment, Lucy plopped down to the red leather seat. With a sigh, she leaned towards the window and stare at the deserted platform. Not that she cared, but it seemed that she was the only one in her compartment. The rush hour had gone a long time ago, leaving very little passengers on board.

To be frank, Lucy was glad that there was no one in her compartment. The platform and train bustling with people was the last thing she wanted. Rather than distracting her, it would make her headache doubled instead. She felt like cussing out a string of curse words as the pain in her head kept bugging her like somebody was hitting a gong repeatedly. It was truly, torture. And she got no one else to blame but the blonde dragon slayer. Gone was her extreme guilt and desire to apologize. She just wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Physically.

She couldn't make sense any of it. Did Laxus really taken her words seriously? About the thing where she ended their relationship? Lucy just couldn't believe it. It didn't seem like Laxus at all. First of all, he's stubborn as a rock. Lucy has had the taste of his stubbornness many times before, she remembered how he refused to leave her apartment until she said yes to the date. Lucy bit her lips nervously. Remembering Laxus' stubbornness didn't calm her down at all.

The reason for that was there was a gnawing feeling inside her that made her reasonings not comforting at all. Despite their chemistry, and how happy she felt when she was with him, and vice versa, Lucy also couldn't shake off the worries and anxieties. They fit well as a couple, true, but they lack depth. And trust. As long as Lucy could remember, ever since they got together, not once had they sit down and have a talk. Talk, as in, talking about their personal things: like how Aquarius to Lucy, or how Laxus was doing, what did he go through after the battle of Fairy Tail incident. Heck, they haven't even talked about their own feelings and where would they take this relationship, how far would this go.

Because of it, Lucy strongly felt dejected. The reason was that she felt their bond wasn't strong enough, and she was scared. Scared that the weak ties were on the verge of severing because of her one mistake. She couldn't help but feel upset. At herself. At Laxus, too. For not ran after her, for leaving without notice. One might call her selfish, but she really wished he had gone after her after she stormed off. She wished he hadn't gave up on her.

The sound of slow tapping beside her woke Lucy up from her thoughts. Lucy glanced at the window and leaned her forehead gently against the blurred window. Light showers sprinkled on the train and the window, leaving drops of water on the windowpane. The soft, calming trickles gradually became louder, more demanding as the rain got heavier, drumming on the roof of the train.

Lucy observed the sky that had been post-card perfect changed as the train speeds through the scenery. Clouds were thickening as they were huddled together, tinting the sky grey and gloomy as if mimicking her mood. Lightning flashed so suddenly and Lucy flinched, squirming automatically in her seat as the thundering sound filled her ears. The flashing light came by again, but she no longer flinched over the suddenness. Lucy leaned her head back to the seat and closed her eyes. Another lightning flashed through, even with her closed eyes, she could feel the light illuminating her face. A sense of nostalgia washed over her. It reminded her of Laxus. She remembered how he teleported them on their first date to that wonderful café where they ate under the starry night.

A stinging pain erupted in her chest. She missed him already. Leaning closer to the window, Lucy listened intently to the sound of the rain beating violently against the window and on the roof. The irregular thump of the rain sounded like music to her ears as her breath gradually became steadier and she slowly dozed off into the dreamland.

Lucy almost missed her stop. She was sleeping so soundly that she didn't heard the announcement of her station. It took a lot of loud honk and an angry conductor to wake her up. Perhaps she really was the only passenger on the train, the conductor looked pissed as if cussing her with his eyes for prolonging his worktime. She gave him a guilty smile which he scoffed in replied. Lucy stood up groggily and reached out for her duffel bag. Still sluggish from the sudden loud yell courtesy of the conductor, Lucy stumbled out of the train. Once again giving a guilty smile, she bowed to the annoyed looking conductor and went on her way.

As she stepped out of the station, a gush of chilly wind breeze through, ruflling her hair and making the hairs on her neck stood. She rubbed her shoulder with the free hand that wasn't holding the duffel bag and hugged herself. The rain had long stopped, leaving behind chilly breeze and wet pavement. Lucy looked around before setting her duffel bag down and squatting to open the bag. She rummaged through her things and got out a warm looking jacket. It wasn't thick, but it was enough to warm her up. As she slipped her arm in, the soft cotton stroked her hand gently. After she zipped the jacket up, she reached for the duffel bag again and headed out towards the town.

Lucy kept glancing down the road and to the front as to carefully not stepping the puddles. Even though the rain was short, it was heavy enough to leave several puddles on the pavement. As she was entering the neighborhood, Lucy passed by the familiar houses. The visit to the town was brief, but Lucy could faintly remember the pathway that leads to the forest which stood the Guild Meeting Building. Lucy decided to stop by the local inn to check in and drop her stuff before asking townspeople of his whereabouts. Surely, someone would see a big and burly 6'2" man that travels around with lightning, right?

After paying a fairly cheap fare, Lucy set her stuff on the small, wooden table by the window of the medium sized room. The room was okay. It wasn't dirty, but it wasn't too clean either. The room only has a single bed with wooden table and a single chair. Everything looked worn, but it wasn't unkempt. A framed painting of flowers hung neatly over the headboard. Lucy settled down and laid on the bed for a while. She stared at the ceiling absentmindedly as the sound of the old clock on the wall filled the silence.

Tick

Tick

Tick

Lucy stood up abruptly. There was no time to waste. She shouldn't laze around, she has to find him and talk to him immediately.

As Lucy ascended the stairs hurriedly, she thought about stopping by the receptionist to try her luck by asking about Laxus. When she got in front of the long, wooden table, Lucy rested both of her palms on it, leaning forward towards the other person on the other side of the table. It was a middle-aged woman. She had a blonde hair that was much lighter than Lucy and wearing a green dress that supposedly similar to the color of the inn's logo. The woman receptionist looked up from the documents she was reading to look at Lucy, she smiled politely and removed the glasses she was wearing and perched it up on her head. Lucy could faintly see the creasings beneath her eyes as she slightly squinted.

'Can I help you?' the receptionist asked hospitably, still wearing the polite smile from earlier.

'Um, yes. I was wondering if you had seen a blonde guy? He has a huge build and is very tall…um' Lucy bit her lip, trying to think of how to describe Laxus comprehensively. So much for being a writer, Lucy sucked at finding words on the spot.

She tapped her right hand on the table suddenly, 'Oh! He has a lightning shaped scar across his eyes. Perhaps you've seen him about two or three hours ago?'

The receptionist scrunched her eyebrows and placed her hand on her chin, her face was concentrating to remember the faces that had gone in and out of the inn. Suddenly, the receptionist snapped her fingers. Her eyes were bright when she looked at Lucy, she smiled and nodded.

'Yes, if I'm not mistaken there was… let's see,' the receptionist—whose name was Marie, Lucy just noticed the iron tag pinned on the upper left side of Marie's chest. Marie plucked the glasses perched on her head and wore it as she grabbed the documents from earlier and swiped through the name of the inn's occupants.

Her slender index fingers stopped on the middle part of the list, 'Under the name Laxus Dreyar?' She inquired, staring at Lucy through her rimless glasses.

Lucy nodded but at the same time smacked herself internally for her foolishness. Of course! She could've just ask for his name instead.

'Um, could you tell me his room, perhaps?' Lucy tried asking even though the chances she would tell Lucy were close to none. And Lucy was right as Marie the receptionist gave an apologetic smile after her question.

'Sorry, we have a really strict privacy policy…' Marie trailed, and Lucy bit her lip anxiously. At least she tried.

Lucy nodded again, although not surprised but still a little bit disappointed.

'It's fine. But could you tell where he'd gone? And when? Please? I really need to find him,' Lucy's eyes were glimmering with hope as she stared Marie the receptionist in the eye.

Marie the receptionist looked at her for a long time and sighed. She nodded kindly and removed her glasses to place it back again on her head. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked at Lucy again.

'I can't tell you much, but about an hour ago he came up to me and asked for a man called Horace. Said it was about a mission or something, I don't really know, I didn't ask the details.' She explained.

'Ah, Horace is the mayor,' Marie pointed out after she saw the confusion on Lucy's face.

'Just walk north from here and eventually you'll see a big house at the end of the road. It's easy to spot, don't worry.' She continued, already sitting back to her seat and fiddling with the documents.

Lucy muttered words of gratitude and bolted out of the inn in seconds. Although she acted quickly on getting out of the inn, Lucy took her time walking. The town was quiet, there weren't many people to begin with. Maybe it was because of the rain, the only one outside was a couple of middle-aged ladies wringing their drenched laundry and storekeepers cleaning the stand and the products that toppled over because of the wind. As she walked further away from the inn, children's playful screams and laughter filled her ears. They were playing about on the puddles, kicking and jumping on it so that it splashed everywhere. A little splash got to her ankle, but Lucy paid no mind. Her mind was elsewhere and nowhere.

What was he doing? A mission? Was he that desperate to go that he took a random mission? Was it an urgent matter? What if it did, and he didn't tell her because it was, well, urgent? But then again, he was alone and not with his team, so, probably not. Chilly breeze passed through, blowing her hair everywhere as Lucy walked in zig zag trying to avoid the puddles. It was shallower and smaller compared to the one in the train station. The dark clouds had dispersed, but the air still damp with the occasional chilly breeze. Lucy's attention was focused on avoiding puddles.

Puddles…

Rain…

Water…

She gasped and stopped in her tracks suddenly. Lucy just thought about something highly possible, about why Laxus left. Gritting her teeth, Lucy could only hope her guess was wrong before took off on a full speed to the mayor's house.

XXXX

Laxus was walking out of the mayor's house when dark clouds began to gather together over him, the sky darkened into a gravel-grey shade in the process. And then came the raging wind, howling through the town, his cloak fluttering violently in every direction. He kept walking in the direction of the forest, not minding the rain that was threatening to fall. 10 minutes in, but the rain didn't come. Although the sky was still murky, hiding the sun and its shine.

Picking up his pace as to not wanting to get drenched if it suddenly really rained, the sound of leaf rustling becoming harsher and noisier as the sole of his feet kept connecting to fallen twigs, snapping them in half. Laxus scratched his chin anxiously and the rough stubbles scratched his fingertips back. Horace said it was just a simple job in the beginning. To transport some goods to another town in the other side of the forest, but as the first mage was taking a break in a nearby cave, they got ambushed instead, and the goods were stuck deep in the cave ever since. Horace was desperate for the goods as the man was literally begging Laxus to retrieve it. Poor guy. It was probably a huge sum of money, or diamonds, Laxus didn't really care. He had different goals anyway, the problem is the monster.

Nobody knows what kind of monster living in that cave. It could even be a human. The only testimony from the survivors was only to 'always watch your back because it will attack you where you least expected'. Even with his capabilities, Laxus was still cautious. Not knowing what you'll face is truly a disadvantage, but Laxus has no doubt that he would beat it.

He passed by the Guild Meeting Building. There wasn't any trace left of the chaotic battle of lullaby years ago as the big, old building still stood tall, though cracks and moss could be seen everywhere. He wasn't there when the big battle emerged, it was that one time he didn't accompany gramps to the meeting, and he missed all the fun and Lucy kicked ass. Suddenly, Laxus felt a chill on his neck. He sneezed and got taken aback. What was that? He felt chilly all of a sudden, it was like someone was cursing him or something.

Laxus passed through the narrow wooden bridge when his cheek suddenly felt wet. When he looked up, he was ambushed by the rain.

'Motherfuc—' he wiped his face furiously as the rain got harder and some dropped in his eyes—well, more like pierced his eyes you'd think the rain has grudges on him.

Quickening his pace again, Laxus could see from the distance the entrance of the cave in the far east. Seeing as his destination was right upon his eyes, Laxus couldn't care less about taking cover as the clouds decided to spat more of its beads of water, making it heavier each second passed. The heavy rain blurred his vision, resulting the constant wipe on his face, albeit frustratingly, Laxus didn't stop. He was close, he could feel it.

And finally, after ten minutes that heavily seemed like thirty, Laxus was free of the raging rain as he got to the entrance and took cover inside. The cave was damp and stifling hot, maybe because the cave had no airway beside the entrance, Laxus felt so stuffed in there. Not to mention, it strongly reeked blood. The deeper Laxus went, the stronger the smell was, it almost made him gag. A faint, yellow light flickered in the dark and he could see the path that led towards a large clearing. As he got deeper into the cave, the furious sound of the rain weakened until just a soft drumming was heard. The inside of the cave itself looked void of any living being. It was dark with only a dim fire on the corner of each path and eerie. In the wide clearing, there was a medium sized pond right in the corner of the dome shaped cave—maybe it was a pond, or even a lake, Laxus couldn't see clearly. And right beside the pond was a cart. He couldn't see what's inside as all of it looked the same inside the sacs, but it must've been the goods that Horace talked about. But that's second priority. His main goal was to find the key, but so far, he didn't see shiny key anywhere. It also didn't help how empty the place looked.

The place was barren, the ground was stone, the wall was also lined with stone irregularly. Despite the strong smell of the blood, he couldn't see corpses anywhere. Everything inside just screamed suspicious and weird.

Suddenly, Laxus ears perked up. He automatically tensed his shoulder, changing into a cautious stance—a more cautious stance as he doubled his sensitivity, because for the record, Laxus is always cautious. He heard a splash, but the water in the pond was as still as a statue. Not even small ripples seen.

With his heightened senses, he could barely feel a presence. However, Laxus had trouble pinpointing its location for the sound was resonating across the whole cave. He turned around towards the path where he came in and a shadow moved past in the corner of his eye. He whipped his head quickly towards the shadow, but nothing was there. Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood and he unclenched his fist, palm facing backward and sent a bolt of lightning. Soon, smoke emerged and Laxus turned back around. Although the view was slightly blocked, he could visibly see what seemed to be a large squid-like creature, with its tentacle slithering around it. It had one large eye right on the center of its triangle shaped head. The giant squid let out a loud croaking sound, but oddly, Laxus didn't see its mouth anywhere but the sound was coming from everywhere.

Laxus was taken aback, 'It could survive outside the water…?' he muttered while distancing himself from the whipping tentacles. He couldn't make out how many tentacles it has, perhaps this what made other mage met their demise. The tentacles were long and slippery as it whipped around, trying to attack Laxus, some of its clear liquid from the ends of its tentacles spluttered everywhere.

'Gross,' Laxus gritted his teeth while wiping the excess liquid off his clothes. He sent another bolt of lightning toward the head of the giant squid. Its body was slick with liquid and water. Instead of getting electrocuted, as soon as the lightning made contact to its body, the water on its body turned into vapor, leaving the giant squid unharmed still.

Keeping a good distance from it, he tried striking it again, each bolt more powerful than the previous, but everything proved to be useless. The giant squid was still standing unfazed. Laxus began to sweat, he cracked his knuckles nervously. Then, he raised both of his hands in the air at his side, palm facing upwards enveloping them with lightning. He roared and the lightning became brighter and larger, each turned into a massive spear form. With a grunt, the lightning spear shoot across the cave and onto the head, producing a loud boom and a blinding light. The squelching sound of tentacles stopped as smoke once again filled the cave. Burnt smell wafted across the cave.

He let out a sigh, that took a lot of magical power. Beads of sweat started to trickle more down his temple and nape. He still had much magic reserves, but something felt odd somehow. His stomach kept churning and his instincts were screaming as if he had missed an important bit. The smoke gradually cleared, and a figure was seen amidst the smoke, the giant squid was still, its tentacles limp on the ground. Laxus was about to approach it a screech stopped him. The tentacles flinched and began to move around, its head was still limp, but he could see that the giant squid didn't take any damage.

The skin was still slick and spotless. It let out another screech, tentacles whipping furiously, elongating them towards Laxus. A single tentacle almost got to him, slashing passed his eye in an inch. Even though he dodged in a flash, Laxus could see the tentacle clearly. His heart almost fell out of his chest. That was so close. At the ends of the tentacle was teeth. Small, sharp teeth. The tentacle was like a small, gaping mouth. The clear liquid from before, Laxus assumed was the drool. It was gross and Laxus couldn't help but wonder how strange it was for the mouth located on the tentacle. Just then, another tentacle slashed in front of his face. There was another mouth on it, baring its sharp teeth, ready to bite.

By now Laxus was puzzled. Nothing made sense, everything was as clear as mud. A squid outside water, not to mention giant squid. And why was it fine everytime he struck it with his lightning?

If long range didn't work, maybe a good knockout punch would. Laxus figured he would strike the giant squid right on its head while it still dormant. He glanced towards his left, then right. There were ten. The tentacles were ten in total. Five on the left and five on the right, all were trying to trap him in the middle.

'Fine. If you want to play it that way, then—' lightning burst from where he stood, it was yellow and blinding. Soon, the lightning engulfed his body. The sparks were becoming larger as Laxus transformed his body into course of electricity, producing a rapid chirping sound. His breath got heavy as he felt the magical power got sucked off his body in a large amount.

He shot a powerful jolt of lightning and boosted himself towards the giant squid, spearing across the cave, like a fast-moving spark of lightning. He lunged straight at the head, the chirping sound got louder as he zoomed in a lightning speed, leaving trails of sparks behind each way. The tentacles whipping around furiously, some slithered around the leftover sparks, as if it were trying to eat them. The rest tried to whip the lightning bolt that was Laxus, but he paid no mind. Nothing could touch him as long as he was in that form, either it would get electrocuted or just plainly died.

As soon as the tentacles came in contact with his sparks, it screeched. Laxus wasn't paying attention, but the giant squid screeched in delight. One of it slithered onto his leg and wrapped itself around his ankle. Still, Laxus attention was already on the target, which was the eye of the giant squid, he failed to realize that the magical power surrounding him had lessened. Laxus clenched his right fist and channeled a large amount of lightning around his fist and put his strength into punching the daylight out of the giant squid.

He roared as his fist came in contact with its eye, generating a burst of blinding lightning. The giant squid screeched, and a loud thump was heard. Laxus was on the ground, looking more worn out than he should and the giant squid flailing its tentacles, screeching in delight.

Fuck.

Was the only thing on his mind as tentacles with sharp teeth slithered towards his limp body, stalking him as if he was the prey.