Chapter 26 - Reconciliation
"They're gone…" Mipha quietly noted as she looked at where the group of three had been before the blinding light had come, gently looking around with regained composure for any trace of where they could possibly be.
"What was that spell? By the sound of it, Wendy was the one who cast it…" Gray pondered aloud as he replayed the last few moments again in his head, trying to comprehend just what kind of magic they had been affected by. "But I thought that Wendy could only use her sky magic and enchantments…"
"Universe One." Erza suddenly chipped in with a firm voice. "She used a spell that Irene had created herself. Do you remember when we were fighting Alvazar?"
"The one that messed up the whole of Fiore? Wendy can do that now?!" Gray exclaimed as he remembered the whole troublesome event that had thrown everyone for a loop when it had first happened.
"I imagine that she copied the spell from then, but I doubt that was enough magic to replicate the effects on such a large scale…" Erza answered as she delved deeper into thought. "But it's still impressive that she's now grown enough to make use of the spell even if just enough to make an escape…"
"Then how much has she grown… and what about Nathan? Do you think that Zabost has been helping them train?" Gray continued.
"It's possible, but do remember that they were dragged into the future and then time travelled back, who knows what they have been though or for how long they have truly been gone… they could have gotten months to years of experience while to us they have only been gone for a matter of days…"
"But where's Carla?" Happy's voice broke through their thoughts as the exceed scanned over everything from above, desperately trying to find any trace of the white feline.
"I imagine that she left with Wendy and Nathan, it would be like her to stay with them no matter what," Erza answered with her words striking Happy through the heart knowing that his beloved had just got taken away with.
"Hey, come on buddy! I'm sure that she won't come to any harm at least while she's around with them!" Natsu said as he walked back over with a chipper smile for his little buddy before casting his gaze back over at Mipha. "But why did you attack them immediately without listening to them first? They would never do anything like this without a reason!"
"Because it is my role, and I had no way of confirming if that was even the case. They may have seen the future but you suggested it before that they could be being controlled, did you not?" Mipha calmly replied.
"I remember when they first came to this spring, they were wholly innocent people and I admit I took a liking to them…" She continued as the rest of the team listened to her. Her words did little to soothe the unset fairies, however, as they continued to look at her as they remembered the way that she didn't hesitate to attack the two teenagers despite that they were trying to give their reasons, refusing to listen to the moment that she thought she had heard the impossible.
"Either way, it does change the fact that they've managed to escape us and are likely out of our reach by now," Erza mentioned, taking the attention away from Mipha instead, awaiting the insight and direction of the S class mage. "The best thing that we can do now is notify the master of the events and changes so everyone else can be prepared, and it might be better when trying to work out what is going on with Nathan and Wendy…"
"Then what should we be aiming for now? Originally it was just bringing Zabost to justice and trying to get information on Nathan and Wendy, but since they were on his side…" Lucy started as she thought about the implications.
"At the least, we have to make sure that the magic council doesn't find out about this, if they do no doubt they'll immediately be flagged as dark mages and bounties will be placed on them for their arrest." Gray pointed out making Natsu and Erza scowl at the thought of the magic council.
"Luckily it's just Fairy Tail that is protecting the lakes…" Lucy mentioned with a slight sigh, "and I'm sure that they're not going to do anything that will draw them any attention with how hard to track Zabost was."
"Come, we're returning to the guild. I'll inform the master as we walk back with the communications lacrima." Erza said as she turned around to leave the forest, making her way toward the steam cave as the others slowly followed her from behind in conflicting emotions leaving Mipha alone by herself at the time-frozen lake…
"Come on, you did well at getting us a little bit of distance but this won't be enough," Zabost said as he continued to rush through the undergrowth of the woods while Nathan followed behind with an exhausted Wendy and worried Carla in his arms.
Neither Wendy nor Nathan responded as they remained in low spirits from the horrible events which had just transpired. The meeting of which they had with their friends, while not the absolute worst they could have imagined, still wasn't the best of meetings.
No doubt they had left quite the poor image on their friends after all the time they had been missing and then had to leave without having the chance to properly clear everything up. The one thing they had managed to say was something that, without context, was completely unbelievable and may as well have just said they were on Zabost's side now.
Despite the lack of strength she currently had, Wendy still found herself gripping onto Nathan while she wrapped an arm around Carla, bringing her into the hug. In response, Nathan just tightened his grip on Wendy in return while Carla hugged Wendy back, already able to read the mood of both of the teenagers.
"What do they all think of us now?" Wendy quietly asked under the sound of the wind that rushed by as they ran along.
"Honestly, I don't quite know what to think child, but I do know that you are doing this for good reason, whatever it may be. But I would like to hear it later if you don't mind." Carla replied with a strong gaze, looking Wendy right in the eyes without hesitation in the attempt to fill her with confidence. "And I'm sure that everyone else at the guild will be confused and worried, but they all trust you immensely, I don't think that they will make such rash judgements like Mipha did."
"I hope you're right…" Nathan mentioned as he ran along, doing his best to focus on what was ahead of them.
"I didn't think you were one for worries, I thought that you would be confident that everything would work out…" Carla noted as she looked back up at him.
"There are some things that I don't want to lose you know," He replied, "I don't care about plenty of things but there are also things that are too much to possibly lose, alongside the other odd few things…"
"I guess, there was that other one time." Carla said as she let the topic go, "But maybe this should be one of the things you don't worry about too much, I'm sure that the guild will be willing to learn the whole story and then they will understand."
"Maybe, I can't be so confident about that with how little I have been at the guild before we vanished…"
"You shouldn't give them false hope kitten." Zabost suddenly called out from ahead of them. "And I hope you understand everything that you've now signed up for by coming with us…"
At this Carla could only scowl as she heard the words as she glared at the man ahead of them before scoffing. "I am no kitten, and I have a name you know! Carla." She said, her words mostly going over Zabost's head. "And care what you think but you should stop putting down their hopes like that! Fairy Tail is a much more caring guild that you would believe!"
"It's only the truth, and that's what people can't handle. You would rather have all their hopes crushed in the possibility that you are wrong than having a pleasant surprise in the off chance that you're correct." Zabost shot back with his ever serious, monotone voice while his words shocked Carla as she struggled to think of any retort for what she had just heard. But no matter just how true something was, it doesn't mean that it was ok to dampen the mood all the time!
"You really didn't get to live much of an enjoyable life did you…" Nathan quipped back.
"You saw that world, how could anyone live such a life, not to mention that the same applied to you before everything that you can remember." Zabost replied, "Now come on, just a little more before we take a break!"
While Nathan and Wendy remained unfazed at what they had heard, Carla was completely shocked once again as she thought about everything. "Wait, what does that mean? Are you talking about the future? What is it like there? And what do you mean that the same applies to Nathan?" Carla asked as she quickly shifted her gaze between all three of her accomplices waiting for one of them to give her an answer to all of her questions.
"It's a bit of a story… maybe it would be better when we're resting," Nathan suggested getting Carla to look at him while she thought about the suggestion before nodding agreement.
"I suppose that makes sense, even before hearing that I could guess that I lot has happened while you were taken away…" Carla replied as she hushed down, simply waiting for when she would get to hear about everything that the teenagers had gone through…
"And that is everything." Erza formally said as she finished off her report to the master whose image existed within a spherical lacrima that she held, still taking the odd glance ahead of herself as they walked along following Natsu who tried to keep the area lit with his fire.
"I see…" Makarov said as he lapsed back into thought at everything he had heard, doing his best to make sure that he hadn't misread the precarious situation. "The kids are now back in our time, but they have sided with Zabost claiming that he isn't the bad person…"
"Is there anything that you would like us to do for now?" Erza asked as she remained ready for whatever he could request of the team.
"No, we should assume that they are gone by now, and considering that we have other members stationed at the other lakes ready and waiting it would be best to try and leave whatever should be done to them," Makarov replied as he leaned back, taking a short break from thinking for a brief moment. "I'll be expecting you to return for now."
"Very well master," Erza responded before the light of the lacrima went out as the call ended.
The moment that Erza's face had faded from the screen Makarov simply released a hefty sigh before he looked down in deep thought again.
'They have returned, now claiming that Zabost is good, and we have no idea what they could have experienced in the future… Dimitri did take them away and didn't tell the whole truth about the time gears either, but Zabost still has managed to make time come to a standstill…'
'He's supposed to want time to come to a complete standstill, but why would he want to go about doing that? And if he is a good person why would he still be stealing the time gears and becoming the initial cause of time stopping?' Makarov continued to think while not paying any attention to the rest of the members of the guild that looked across at him, worrying over whatever news had managed to get their master in such a state.
As things currently stood, an easy answer would be that something had happened to Wendy and Nathan, causing them to stand in the defence of Zabost, but at the same time that hardly cleared up every question that there was…
"In the end, we still know very little about what is going on… but the council won't see it that way" Makarov muttered to himself while one member of the guild decided to walk up in the attempt to satisfy their curiosity and worries.
"Is something wrong Master, did something happen?" Levy asked as she stood beside the pondering tiny man.
"A time gear was taken… Zabost made it past Erza's team." Makarov answered, his complexion looking on better than before as the guild was quickly taken back in shock upon hearing the events.
"You mean that he managed to get past all of those guys!?" Max said across the room from where he was sitting. "Man, then just how good is this guy?"
"According to their report, not good enough to do it alone," Makarov answered, making the whole guild look at him again in their shock. "Wendy and Nathan… they were with him and assisting him."
"WHAT?!" The guild erupted at once at the revelation.
"But why would they do that?!" Levy exclaimed as the thought of the two appeared in her mind, Wendy was easily the most innocent of the whole guild and wouldn't have ever even thought of doing even the most minor of wrongdoings. And while they hadn't gotten to know Nathan for all that long, it still felt like enough to say that he was hardly a bad person either, especially with how well that he got along with Wendy…
"We don't know, because of Mipha's rash actions upon hearing that they were siding with Zabost she immediately went on the offensive, pushing things from there. All that that managed to hear was that Zabost isn't the bad person we all think him to be but never managed to give the reasoning why…" Makarov replied, making everyone look around and at one another with nothing but low murmurs as they thought about the situation and the sudden twist that no one had been expecting.
"Right now there is very little that we know for certain, especially with this recent development, however, the pair of them seemed eager to explain everything which is going on…" he continued, his voice clear enough that he could be sure that everyone could hear him while not disrupting everyone's thoughts.
"So it's possible to ask them everything that is going on then?" Levy enquired,
"It is quite likely, just so long as that no one in the moment acts too rashly and disturbs the peace then it sounds like there should be a good chance that they will be willing to explain everything."
"That's something at least…" Levy said with a sigh despite the sense of unease not leaving a single person in the guild, none of them still felt too positive about the thought of the two kids travelling with Zabost at all.
"But what if this is all something that Zabost has done to them to try and deceive us?" Someone in the guild suggested starting everyone's thoughts yet again.
"That is something that we should think about, we can't deny the possibility but it wouldn't be for him to try such things? Other things that we should keep in mind is that Nathan and Wendy have journeyed to the future, it is possible that while they were there they learned of things that we are clueless to…" Makarov pointed out, "Currently we simply don't know enough to continue trying to draw up conclusions…"
"But if we can prove that Wendy and Nathan aren't being controlled or influenced by anyone then doesn't that mean that Zabost is a good person then?" Levy added on, "And then why would Dimtiri be trying to stop him? Some things which he said were lies but they were also true…"
"I guess that there really isn't much that we can do right now, except wait for the next team to give us all a report about how things go for them… clearly everything is a lot deeper than we first thought it was…" Lissanna chipped in as she came out from the bar after having taken her sister's place while she was away on their assigned mission.
The only question for them would be who would be next…
"I don't believe it…" Carla gasped as Nathan and Wendy finished their story, explaining everything which had occurred in the future and that was currently taking place in the current era.
"Well, it is certainly easier when you've seen it all and experienced everything firsthand," Nathan said as he leaned back from where he was sitting.
"Naturally…" Carla snapped back immediately before softening up once again as she kept her gaze on the boy. "But how do you feel about everything then… you mentioned some worries about your past before even if you then brushed them off… and now…" Carla asked as she tried to find the words to convey everything that she was thinking before Nathan cut her off.
"It's just that," Nathan said with a sigh, "I know it's all true now but… at the same time there's the feeling that it just isn't real still… Besides, apparently, I was his partner and yet he still treats me so coldly. Detaching from it all suddenly becomes a lot easier then." Nathan explained, his words slightly contradicting the low thoughtful voice that he spoke with, indicating that despite his words some of the situation still hung on him, and he didn't know what to do or think about any of it…
"You're still the same Nathan that I've known to me," Wendy said as she looked at Nathan in the eyes with her sincere own unable to help herself leaning in slightly as she said it, a sense of desire hanging over her that pushed her wanting to help comfort him.
"Thanks," Nathan replied as he glanced back at her with a faint smile, a soft warmness beginning to emanate from Wendy's chest as she saw his relaxed smile making her lips naturally curve a smile of her own…
Carla just looked at the two silently and thoughtfully as she took in every little detail that transpired between the two. "Something has changed between you two," she noted aloud, quickly attracting their attention as they turned to face her.
"What do you mean? We're not acting any differently are we?" Wendy asked in confusion.
"I guess not, but the atmosphere has changed between you." Carla pointed out as she continued to ponder the thought while Nathan's eyes widened with slight shock.
'I thought we had been acting like normal but… she's able to sense things?!' Nathan internally thought to himself as he maintained a calm complexion as he looked at Carla, 'But then again, will she really be able to work anything from that alone?' he continued.
"Well, maybe it's because of more shared experiences or something then? It's not like anything which had transpired since we were separated was anything minor." Nathan suggested as he leaned back, throwing out another possibility for Carla to hopefully take.
"That would be a possible answer…" Carla pondered before shrugging her shoulders, "as long as it's nothing bad then there's nothing to worry about." she said, dropping the chain of thought to Nathan's slight sense of relief, the only one noticing anything being Zabost as he watched the three from the sight distance which he was sat at.
"You two," Zabost suddenly called out, getting to his feet as the team of three instantly turned to him at his sudden interruption that also served as a reminder to Carla that they weren't on their own. "We're doing training again." he briefly said as he walked over to a more open space, his words like usual being nothing but an order
"So that's how you've improved so much," Carla mentioned as she heard his words.
"It's rough, but it has results…" Nathan mentioned as he got to his feet with a sigh, "and besides, everything we've been through lately has been rough."
"And we need to get stronger if we're going to save everything," Wendy added on as she followed after Nathan.
"For certain, if you are going to have to combat a god of any kind then you would be foolish to not prepare as much as possible…" Carla replied as she moved over a little herself, helping her keep the whole area insight to better watch the sparring session out of both curiosity and not wanting to be left of her own.
Zabost didn't waste any time, instantly advancing forward while signalling the start of the training session while Nathan and Wendy once against started doing their best to keep him at a distance…
Carla was once again in shock and amazement as the sparring session came to a close, once again being another victory to Zabost as Nathan and Wendy was once again little compared to his power and fighting process.
"Yet again…" Nathan said with a sigh as he picked himself off the ground while Zabost sat down by the premade fire.
"But you are getting better, you're fighting smarter, have more in your arsenal and are becoming more powerful. I can't say when but you are definitely closing the gap between us." Zabost said with a few heavy breaths that Carla took note of.
"It's more than that! Before they were taken away they couldn't fight anything like that!" Carla exclaimed, "I assume that you were in the future for a long time, but how long?"
"We don't know, time is frozen there after all…" Wendy mentioned as she joined the exceed by the fire. "But it felt like a few days at least." she finished as she did her best to think about the span of time that they had been missing.
"So you've likely been gone for around a week and this is how much you have grown…" Carla said slowly as she thought about the rapid growth of the two.
"It was hardly anything leisurely," Nathan added on.
"Of course, it couldn't be anything else and I just witnessed it all." Carla snapped in response before settling down again. "While I do understand the need to get strong as much as possible and soon as possible, is it really necessary to push them this hard?" she then asked as she turned to Zabost.
"You said it yourself didn't you?" Zabost curtly responded.
"He is still kind and lenient about some things Carla." Wendy mentioned, "including that he is giving me some time to work on a way of helping Nathan! Also, after saying that-"
"You want to do it again?" Nathan finished for her as he shifted up alongside her, "You did say that it would take a while before you felt like you would perfect anything, didn't you?"
"Mm," Wendy happily hummed in response before she placed her hands on his back before slightly jolting at the touch of him.
"Wendy?" Nathan asked as he felt the jolt from her.
"It's nothing, I'm fine." Wendy quickly denied with a shake of her head while a slight blush remained out of sight as she sat behind him. "I'll get started now," she said before putting her hands back on his back.
She had to calm herself with a quick breath before she began making use of her magic but it only made her wonder more. The moment she had touched him he had felt warm to her as it quickly began to permeate throughout her body despite how light of a touch it was.
It was something strange to Wendy as she pushed back an instinctive sense to draw back her hand as she had done last time. 'It was never like this before... ' she thought to herself as she continued to work her enchantment.
It was now how Nathan had always felt whenever she came in contact with him, and every time that he was also holding her back it came coupled with a sense of security that she couldn't help but enjoy. 'It isn't even like whenever I've touched Natsu… he's naturally warm from his magic but this is something different.' she continued to think, going death to the world as she remained consumed in her thoughts.
"Wendy? Wendy?" Carla called out as the sky dragon continued to gradually become more and more absorbed into her thoughts while her face clearly showed her zoning out despite her continuing her work.
"Wendy is something wrong?" Nathan asked, shifting slightly to try and look back at the girl with worry from her lack of response.
"Oh! Um, everything's fine!" Wendy quickly replied as she finally snapped out of her thoughts from the sensation of Nathan's movement.
"Are you sure, child? You usually never space out like that, what were you thinking about?" Carla inquired as she hopped up beside the girl.
"Nothing," Wendy answered, doing her best to suppress the wave of heat that was taking over her at the thought of openly admitting to what had been floating through her head, and all while she had been treating Nathan at the same time.
However, Carla wasn't someone to take such an open lie from the girl. She had known Wendy her whole life and that experience wasn't something that was going to waste, but even then it wasn't like that it was necessary for her at all. Wendy was, after all, a naturally bad liar…
Even now the blush on her cheeks was something so clearly evident that whatever Wendy had been thinking, it certainly wasn't 'nothing'.
"Are you sure?" Nathan asked as he tried to turn around only to be stopped by Wendy.
"I haven't finished for today yet! Please stay still!" She frantically pressured him as she pushed him back around making his back was once again facing her, saving her from having him see her current state. "And I'm fine, I really am!" she hurriedly added on making sure that he went answered.
"Alright…" Nathan slowly responded in a low voice, before delving into his own thoughts at whatever would be causing the flustered reactions from Wendy as she clearly was trying to hide something. 'Something embarrassing that she wouldn't want to share… and she just thought about it now?' he thought to himself trying to piece together whatever it could be. 'But knowing Wendy, she finds a lot more things embarrassing than I do…'.
"Well," Carla started, getting Wendy's attention again. "That is something I also want to know, just why are you giving Nathan treatment? What did he do this time?"
"This time? What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked with a bored voice.
"You know exactly what! You've never cared for your own health before!" Carla immediately snapped before calming down again. "So what was it this time? Are you ill again or is this some kind of reckless stunt?"
Both Wendy and Nathan went silent at the question as they tried to glance at one another before coming to their decision before Nathan then soundlessly reached for his lips as he turned to face the exceed, simply lifting them back to expose his teeth, including the unnaturally sharp canine teeth he had.
"How many people have teeth like this?" Nathan asked.
"Well, Wendy, Natsu, Gajeel… but why does that matter?" Carla answered, her mind still remaining perplexed at the seemingly random question. "Wait…" She suddenly said as her head lowered in thought as she thought over the people she had listed. "You mean you have a seed developing?!" she exclaimed as she finally caught on, eyes wide with panic as she thought about the emergency.
"Nathan had been hiding since Crystal Cove, he's been like that ever since and it's only gotten worse," Wendy explained, furthering the state of shock of the exceed as the revelation stuck her.
"What were you doing hiding something like that?!" Carla yelled out as she fumed at the thought. "You understand that I will become a dragon at this rate right?! Why would you hide something like that?!" she shouted out with a voice that was clearly angry, hiding the genuine panic that remained underneath.
"I didn't want to worry you both…" Nathan tried to explain in a defeated voice, "And I thought that if Wendy was already thinking of a way to help cure my possible seed then it would be best that I didn't give her something to worry about…"
"But I would have worked faster!" Wendy pointed out, "If I knew that you were already developing at such a rate then maybe I would have worked something out already!" she continued to cry out, seemingly on the verge of tears as she spoke. "Not that I was deliberately being slower but…"
"Wendy, I get it… please don't worry about that…'' Nathan said as he turned around fully, quickly grabbing her shoulders to hold her steady as he spoke to her, looking straight into her tearing eyes that threatened to overflow from the sheer bubbling emotions that were building inside her.
"But…" Wendy tried to talk again before Nathan quickly stopped her, covering her lips with his finger.
"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner… I genuinely didn't want you to worry for me but… maybe it would have been better if I told you sooner… I didn't want to have you panic and worry for me like I thought you would, not cause it to build up like this." Nathan said, Wendy, remaining silent even after Nathan removed his fingers as she intently listened to his apology while her emotions failed to get any better.
"And I'm sorry for not keeping my promises…" Nathan added on as his head dropped lower in guilt as his actions, his face tensing up in frustration, aggravations and guilt from everything he had done and caused all while unable to look upon the crowing consequence that he disliked the most out of anything else…
"I said that I would tell you if anything was wrong, to not be reckless… and yet…" he continued before he was stopped by Wendy falling into his chest, burying her face into him with faint sobs. For a few moments, Nathan simply remained in shock at the sudden action from her before he found himself slowly wrapping his arms around her.
While Carla silently watched the pair before closing the distance between them and joining in the embrace, quickly being drawn in by Wendy who hugged her close to help relieve her overflowing emotions.
"I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about right? I trust that you can do it…" Nathan quietly mentioned.
"Mmm…" Wendy quietly hummed as she nodded in response. "You won't hide things like this again?" She quietly asked under her breath.
"Never again…" Nathan replied in an equally hushed voice.
Meanwhile, the one onlooker to the three simply frowned as he looked at them before looking away with a sad sigh. 'It's all going to be pointless in the end…' Zabost thought to himself with a frown as he thought about them.
'Before it wasn't a problem when we made that promise, we all agreed… but things have changed now… but telling them most likely isn't an option.' he thought to himself before stealing himself up, casting aside his emotions about the heartwarming sight that was before him. They had promised to do it, and they wouldn't go against it...
"I'm sorry that I'm not anything like Natsu though…" Nathan mumbled to himself, making Wendy pull apart from him in confusion as she looked at him.
"What do you mean? Why did you say that?" Wendy asked as she wiped away the rest of her tears.
"Because…" Nathan started, "He's someone who just walks in with a smile and says one quick line and suddenly everyone feels better…I hardly have any kind of effect on people like he does."
"That's not true…" Wendy instantly replied, making Nathan snap back to her. "Natsu does cheer me up but… you help me calm down more." she quietly mentioned as she looked away from him before her cheeks quickly became a brilliant crimson as the full force of her words came crashing back down on her, soon pushing her to take flight into the forest much to Nathan's shock.
"Wendy?!" Nathan exclaimed before she completely left his view, leaving him with nothing but to ponder over just what she had told him.
"You should wait here," Carla said from beside him as she sprouted her wings. "I'll go see what's wrong with her."
"Alright…" Nathan said as he did his best to calm down again, allowing Carla to leave by herself as she flew in the direction that Wendy had fled in leaving him and Zabost behind by themselves…
"Wendy! Wendy!" Carla continued to call out as she scanned the forest around her while taking the occasional glance back at where the camp was. "Just where has she gotten too…" she said to herself with a sigh, growing a little tired with the immature behaviour that Wendy was demonstrating.
But perhaps it was something normal at the same time, considering her innocent and kind nature now experiencing love for the first time that Carla was aware of…
"Carla?" A familiar voice called out to her slowly as a single figure poked their head out from behind a tree.
"There you are!" Carla called out as soon as she caught sight of the bluenette as she rushed over as quickly rushed over to the girl. "Are you alright child? You shouldn't run off like that!"
"Sorry, I'm fine…" Wendy apologised as she came out of her hiding place completely, "but I don't really know why I did that… I just got really embarrassed…"
Carla paused for a few moments as she heard the words leave Wendy's lips before releasing yet another hefty sigh as she thought about what the things that she could do were. "Wendy…" Carla said getting the girl's attention while she still thought about the best way to walk to her. "Have you ever wondered why you feel that way?" Carla asked.
"Um, a few times… but I don't know why…" Wendy replied as once again she found herself thinking about the same thought that had been plaguing her for the last few days, more intensely than any other time before. "I've never felt like this before, it's similar but different to other feelings that I've felt before…"
"What else is there to say about it? When did it start?" Carla continued to ask as she landed on the ground while Wendy sunk down the side of a tree to sit on the ground.
"It's like when I'm enjoying myself with everyone at the guild and spending time with them all, but it's warmer than that… and it's a different kind of heat than anything else as well…" Wendy went on to explain, not even sparing a glance at the feline who sat beside her as she held a hand up to her chest.
"And… my heart starts beating really loudly and I start wondering if anyone else can hear it" Wendy continued while Carla remained quiet, allowing her to say everything that came to her mind. "It started happening a while back, it was faint but… it started while we were in the desert…"
"It comes and goes, but only when I'm around Nathan…" Wendy murmured more to herself than to Carla.
"Do you really not have any idea what it is Wendy?" Carla asked as she sat back, knowing the answer full well for herself. It had been obvious to her for so long after all, but it was never something that it was in her place to tell her…
"No…" Wendy mumbled in response.
"Do you really not have a clue?" Carla returned.
Wendy didn't answer, instead opting to stay silent as she once again directed her thoughts to the burning heat in her chest that only grew the more she thought about it, the heat that appeared whenever Nathan was around…
"I think that you already do, as airheaded that you can be at times I wouldn't peg you so dense to your own emotions…" Carla added on, her words managing to probe a small nod out of Carla in agreement. After all, there was only one kind of emotion that made people feel like she currently did right now after all, right?
"Do I… really love him?" Wendy whispered aloud, a soft smile forming on Carla's lips as she heard the words.
"They're your feelings..." Carla answered, "But you might be hiding behind your embarrassment a little."
Wendy twitched slightly in response as she brought her knees up to her face to hide herself from the world. Her face turning to whole new hues of red as the statement rang through her mind. "Mmmm…" Wendy hummed as she tried to contain her embarrassment with steam rising from her head as her emotions came out at full force.
"It's about time that you decided to recognize your feelings, after this long it's been getting a little worrying…" Carla said with a satisfied sigh as she smiled herself.
"Huh!" Wendy exclaimed as she suddenly turned to the exceed in shock. "What do you mean!? When did you…" Wendy frantically said, quickly becoming less and less capable of containing her raging embarrassment.
"It was obvious, child, why did you think that I tried setting the two of you up for a date before?" Carla mentioned amusement.
"CARLA!" Wendy exclaimed again as she lost all semblance of control over herself, everything finally becoming far too much for her to hope to control.
"I guess Carla found her," Nathan noted to himself aloud while Zabost merely grunted back in response.
"She was just too embarrassed with herself." He added on, earning Nathan's attention as he looked back at him in curiosity.
"What do you mean? And why would you know anything?" Nathan asked, perplexed with the way that Zabost seemingly knew everything that was going on around him, even if it had little to nothing to do with him personally in any way.
"It's obvious to many, there is only one reason that I could guess is why you can't tell why…" Zabost said with a sigh, "But not that i'm going to tell you, it would be wrong to do so." he quickly added on before Nathan could say anything, making him sink back down in his place with a hefty sigh.
'And he won't say anything no matter how I try will he…' Nathan thought to himself. 'But something obvious that I should work out myself… he loves making it sound like it's about me somehow huh?'
"You should drop those thoughts for now however, there is something that I wish to know," Zabost said, snapping Nathan out of his thoughts once again.
"Despite just telling me to work something out myself?" Nathan returned with a raised brow.
"Fair point, but this is serious," Zabost responded. "It's about your guildmates."
"What about them?" Nathan asked, quickly getting reeled in from the question, intrigued at just what Zabost was after.
"They were helping protect Fogbound Forest's time gear, which then likely means that they will be helping the other two sisters as well." Zabost started, his head lowered as he gave the subject his ever serious thought. "I want to know what are the people most likely to be sent to help guard the remaining two, and what are their abilities? We managed this time but it would always be better to know what we are going to be up against."
"Well…" Nathan said as he lapsed into thought about whatever he could remember about the people of the guild in what was all too brief of a time for him. "I can't tell you much, especially compared to Wendy but I'm certain that they would at least send Laxus out."
"Laxus?" Zabost repeated.
"Yeah, he's supposed to be the guilds second strongest member behind a man called Gildarts, or at least that's what Wendy has told me. But there should be any need to worry about Gildarts since he's apparently kept going on these trips that last for years."
"But Laxus is someone that I fought before with Wendy, even if he wasn't going all out…"
"And how did you fare against him then?"
"In short, when doing the very best that we could then, we could hold our own but we were losing overall…" Nathan replied as he remembered the beating that they had received at the hands of the lightning mage. "In short, he's a really powerful and skilled lightning mage about to do things like even turn his whole body into a bolt of lightning to move about the place and even counts as a dragon slayer."
"How many dragon slayers does your guild even have?" Zabost asked as he sat up.
"Only one more, I think? His name's Gajeel and he's an iron dragon slayer." Nathan quickly answered. "I would also expect to see him somewhere, alongside someone called Mira, but I don't know exactly what her magic is… I should have spent a little more time getting to know everyone…"
"Spent all your time with her then?" Zabost asked.
"Pretty much... " Nathan replied with diverted attention as he tried to hide the blush that quickly found its way onto his face while he struggled to suppress a small smile at the times they had been together.
"Then I would be better off waiting for the girls to come back instead, considering just how much they would know about everyone," he grunted.
"Why would you want to know about the guild?" Wendy's voice suddenly cut through the area getting Zabost to turn in her direction while Nathan quickly shook off his embarrassment, making sure that Wendy wouldn't catch him acting like that.
"In the likely event that there are more of your guildmates protecting the time gears, I want to be more prepared for whoever we happen to face." Zabost quickly responded.
"Does it really matter all that much? You're already far stronger and more skilled than anyone in the guild, not to mention that you can copy all of their magic." Carla pointed out from Wendy's arms.
"While I can copy people's magic, it only lasts so long and the more magic that I copy the shorter I can make use of the magic." Zabost briefly explained, "and even then, there is still the need to plan how to best deal with the upcoming situation."
"What about them do you wish to know then? Their magic?" Wendy asked as she moved to sit down beside Nathan, allowing the crackling fire to warm her up.
"Ideally, what groups of people would you expect your master to send out, and what would they be like in a fight?" Zabost continued.
"I've already mentioned Laxus and Gajeel to him as well." Nathan quickly added on,
"Ah, right!" Wendy quickly responded as her body jolted in surprise as heat began to well up in her yet again. 'It's gotten worse now…' she silently thought to herself.
"Um, I'm sure that they would send Mira as she's the last S-Class member of the guild. I haven't seen her fight all that much, however, but she does make use of Take Over magic, however." Wendy quickly went on to explain all in the attempt to hide her quickly rising embarrassment, doing her best to avoid showing Nathan her beat red face.
"Then that is a pain, I can't copy her magic…" Zabost mumbled, his words piquing the curiosity of his three companions.
"What do you mean? What about it makes it something that you can't copy?" Nathan asked.
"Take over magic is something that requires you to collect souls before you can make use of it, I could copy the magic but I would have no souls of my own to use. Much like requip magic, I wouldn't be able to use it unless I had weapons or armour of my own. For your information, the same goes with things like your dragon force as well." He explained with a sigh at the end, loosely looking up at them with a tired expression. "But what others would he likely send with this Mira woman?"
"Um… maybe the master would send her with her siblings, which they all use take over magic." Wendy continued, "He might also try sending Juvia or Cana as well considering that they were selected for the S-Class trials."
"And what magic would they use?" Zabost enquired.
"Um, Cana makes use of card magic while Juvia is a water mage," Wendy answered before noticing the clearly displeased Zabost the moment that she mentioned Cana's card magic. "But Cana has also been trying to learn a certain spell called Fairy Glitter!" She hastily added on.
"Fairy Glitter? That's the first that I've heard of such a spell." Zabost noted as he sat upright, his curiosity fully grasped at the idea of a whole new spell.
"It's a spell that our first guild master created, and it's a really powerful attack spell that I'm sure that even you would struggle against." Wendy continued to explain. "The first master did mention that it was a spell that required great concentration though..."
"It sounds like it would be exhausting on her then…" Nathan noted as he listened to the description.
"Then it's something to remain aware of but not to worry completely about." Zabost finished, "As long as you don't give her the chance to land the spell then it should be useless, all spells that require a great amount of concentration are like that."
"But I have to admit, if your master has sent all those mages to the same place then there will be little for me to work with besides your magic," Zabost admitted with a mix between a sigh and a grumble of irritation. "It's not like there are any choices, however…"
"Won't it just turn out being another fight like before?" Nathan asked as he thought about the possible matchups that they could possibly find themselves facing.
"At the very least keep in mind that this time we are fighting in a cave, a confined space that is dimly lit, and even then you should be able to figure out who we are going to be dealing with just before they manage to find us." Zabost finished as he began to lay back from where he was sat.
"I recommend sleeping now, you're going to have a busy morning tomorrow as well you know…" he finished with closing eyes as he allowed his drowsiness to claim his body, almost instantly falling asleep on the spot…
"I wonder how he does that… it usually takes me a little bit of time before I fall asleep." Nathan thought aloud as he looked at Zabost, "but Wendy, are you alright from before?" he continued to ask as he turned back to Wendy with worry.
"Huh? From what?" She returned with genuine confusion in her voice as she tilted her head slightly making for another cute sight that challenged Nathan's control over his emotions.
"When you ran off just before…" Nathan replied, making a blush return to her face.
"O-oh! I'm fine! i-I just…" Wendy immediately began stuttering as she thought of a decent reply. "I just… Um… felt like I had a little bit of energy!" she finally answered with a strained smile.
A moment of silence hung between the two as Nathan blankly stared at Wendy who slowly let her forced smile go as she returned back to looking down at the ground feeling even more embarrassed from how horrible of an excuse she had used.
"I guess you're fine then… despite whatever it was…" Nathan eventually spoke as he looked away, breaking the awkward silence between them.
"Hmm…" Wendy hummed in response, neither of them knowing what to do amidst the awkwardness that drowned them.
"Honestly, the pair of you… and you said that the only thing that has changed between you was just some experiences…" Carla said with a sigh, immediately breaking the tension in the air.
"Carla?!" The two teenagers exclaimed in shock, instinctively backing away from the exceed.
"The pair of you forgot that I was still here?" Carla asked again, seemingly upset at first before she quickly lightened up and released a heavy sigh. "The pair of you are worse than I thought…"
'What's that supposed to mean?' Nathan thought to himself as he heard Carla's comment. "Um, how long have you been here?" he asked.
"I've been here the whole time! Did you really forget that I was here?!" Carla immediately snapped back at the question, completely fuming at what she had been asked.
"Apparently…" he slowly answered, inching away from Carla as she only grew more infuriated at the received answer as she continued to encroach on his space while Wendy watched them in a slight daze, a smile forming as she admired the scene.
"Wendy?" Nathan asked as he looked past Carla in curiosity and confusion, quickly prompting Carla to turn around as well.
"What is it, child?" Carla asked.
"It's that I get to see you again… it's been so long…" Wendy answered with her eyes quickly turning watery as they threatened to turn to tears. "And nothing has changed…"
"Wendy…" Carla softly called out as she walked back over to the bluenette, her current image serving as a perfect example to how everything had been weighing down on her so much yet again. Not another word was said between the two as they moved into a hug, Wendy picking up Carla and bringing her into her chest as Carla hugged back, the two once again basking in each other's presence after having been separated for what had felt like so long.
With a slight peak up, it became Wendy's turn to see the soft smile that Nathan bore as he watched the two girls from his short distance away. With a slight blush, she looked down at the ground, little of her focus left on Carla before she quickly steeled her resolve, shifting over to Nathan.
The subtle action had Nathan shocked as he remained without clue on how to react to Wendy's actions, his embarrassment quickly flaring up as she completely closed the gap between them before reaching out with one arm and dragging him in for a hug as well.
Still half in shock, Nathan simply remained still while Wendy held onto him with Carla between the pair of them with his cheeks getting every redder, something he was thankful that now neither Wendy nor Carla could see.
Slowly and awkwardly, however, he came out of his slight daze as he turned the gesture, giving in to the sense of desire that was pulling at him to hug the girl back and enjoy the embrace. Wendy jolted at the touch of him hugging her back before easing up once again with a smile adorning her face from the enjoyment that she derived from both his touch and Carla's presence.
For a short while, none of the three moved in the slightest as they basked in each other's warmth, smiling as they enjoyed the moment, relishing the fact that they were once again all together as a team once again…
Hello everyone, and once again I hope that you like this chapter as much as the rest. This chapter doesn't have much going on in it but I felt that this was something important to go on and then when I reached a point that could be a good ending point I did think at my much slower time updating lately. Thinking that maybe it would be best to get this out now while continuing to get the rest of what is about to go down as soon as possible yet not forcing anything out either... When it does come to uploads, plenty of my writing is based on my mood and what I have going on but I will say this with certainty that I will make sure that this story goes complete! And if you were a little disappointed by this chapter then I'll be making sure that the next makes up for everything! Reviews: When it comes to things like racing against the clock and confessions there is actually a very particular moment that I am wanting to wait for but I wonder at this rate just how long is it possible to drag out without making too forced? And I didn't actually know that fact about the name Nathan, neat!
I should also do my best to not take shortcuts while also not making sure that there is nothing too repetitive either... what do you all think of the training fight moments? Are you all still wanting me to continue those in some detail, doing my best to make them different as possible yet all still training? Or maybe I should just have other different training moments?
Odd-Eyes-Omega-dragon: When it comes to those special chapters I will certainly think about them, there were already some things that I was thinking of doing in bonus to this story when it was done, but those would also be certainly quite interesting to do especially the last of them. There are however 2 that I am not sure about how I would do them and one would seem quite like something unrelated to the main story. Maybe I'll just make a separate story for them all!
Thanks for the concern on health, and I'm wondering what pun comes next?
Ammany: They get some relief being back together as a team again despite all the other massive shocks that everyone got, as for the enchantment, Wendy may be applying it on the regular but just how much does she know what she is doing? Also, I must say, thank you very much for being yet another long-time reader and reviewer! It really makes me happy with every review that I get!