Natsu reminded Lucy of a viper as his gaze lingered on her the following morning. He had a boot propped up on the side of the bed, his nimble fingers quickly lacing it as Lucy tied her hair out of her face and wound it into a pair of buns on either side of her head. She paused when she was done and gave a quick nod to signal that she was satisfied with it. Happy meandered between them, his tail waving high in the air with an air of smugness around him.
"Have you looked at what work's available lately?" Lucy asked as she glanced over her shoulder at him. Warmth curled in her belly, and she fought back a smile when he returned her love with a fierce, searing heat of his own.
"No," he grunted, rocking to his feet. "But not a lot of people have been taking work. Makarov's limited who gets to do what 'cause of the stuff with the Council."
Lucy grimaced at the reminder. "It's frustrating," she murmured, leading the way out of her temporary room. "That the man can't leave us alone. And please tell me you're not going to run off and burn his new place down, Natsu."
He looked a little disappointed. "Guess I won't," he muttered. Natsu snorted smoke as Lucy closed the door behind him. He ducked down to let Happy crawl onto his shoulder, and then said, "He deserves worse for what he did."
"Did we ever figure out where Cobra and Angel went?" Lucy asked as they started for the stairs.
Natsu shook his head. "They're gone. Guess it's okay since they kind of made up for what they did. Not sure Bisca would agree though. Don't tell her." When Lucy looked at him questioningly, Natsu explained, "Cobra went up to Asuka and stuff. It's how he knew where to find you. She got to pet his snake, and Bisca isn't happy about it."
"We'll keep quiet about it then," decided Lucy, wincing. Cobra was annoying as hell, but he couldn't be too bad after what she'd seen.
From the moment they entered the main portion of the guildhall, Mirajane's eyes were on them and there was a particularly nasty grin on her face that warned Lucy she would be subjected to interrogation later. Natsu, however, narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth at the other mythic, and Mirajane pouted before admitting defeat. Lucy sighed in relief and threw him a grateful look; Mirajane would leave her alone.
Lisanna, however, was another story.
"It's good to see you two acting like normal," commented Lisanna, leaning on the bar as they settled down. Lucy pretended not to feel the gazes of several others on her back. "It's been a big discussion in the guild, you know."
Lucy glared at her playful smile. "Not a word."
Lisanna shrugged. "Want something to eat?"
Natsu perked up a little, and Lucy fought back a hint of a smile as Lisanna went to get them something to eat. As she did so, Lucy waved Mirajane over, ignoring the hopeful glint in her eyes. "Hey, Mira," said Lucy, pleased by the defeat that soon replaced the look when she continued speaking. "Is there any smaller work that might be available for us to take in Magnolia or in the surrounding towns?"
"We're not leaving Magnolia," Natsu said immediately. "The pookas don't screw around with bargains. They'll try something if we go into their space."
Mirajane clicked her tongue, frowning. "Makarov told us about the pooka you spoke with, and the other pookas, too. I think it's definitely a smart idea to stay inside Magnolia, which works out. Yes, there's a few jobs here in Magnolia that need to be done." She tapped her lip thoughtfully, eyeing the pair. "There's a popular restaurant owner in town who's been complaining of noises in his basement, even when nothing's apparently there."
Lucy grimaced at the idea, but nodded. Natsu looked pleased with the job as they agreed to take it. Content that they were both in agreement, Lucy settled back. "We'll take a look after we're done eating."
Mirajane hummed, watching them for a moment before smiling warm. "It's good to see you two acting as you should - together, rather than separately." She held up her hands in surrender to show she'd not say another word Natsu threw her a nasty look, and walked away to go back to what she'd been doing.
Lucy watched her go, and then exchanged a look with Natsu. He said nothing about Mirajane's comment, but he could tell he thought similarly due to a small smile tugging at his lips.
From the moment Natsu set foot in the building, he had a good guess as to what they were dealing with. Partially because of the smell of souring milk, which only tended to happen with one type of mythic, but also because of the absolute disaster the restaurant had been turned into. It wasn't necessarily ruined, per se. But tables had been flipped, paper shredded, the likes. As if a poltergeist had thought it funny to tear the place apart. Not that it was a poltergeist. No, this was a different mythic that would be difficult to capture, but easy to deal with once they had it. Hopefully. They had to get their hands on it first.
"Well?" asked Lucy, feeling bad for the desperate, exhausted restaurant owner beside her. "Any clue yet?"
"Boggart," declared Natsu, rubbing the back of his head. "It's a boggart. There's different kinds, but this doesn't look like the one that will kidnap children and devour them." He smirked when Lucy gawked at him, horrified. "This one's probably the lesser kind. They just move in and cause a bunch of problems."
Understanding lit the restaurant owner's eyes. "The sour milk. It sours all the milk and turns the eggs rotten. I can't cook anything without the food going bad."
Natsu nodded, confirming that. The boggart would have ruined the food in the building at every chance. "Just gotta find its nest, and we'll be good to go. You got a basement?"
The restaurant owner took them to the basement without hesitation, explaining that they needed to be careful. Apparently, the boggart had been slicking the stairs with oils and such to try and make people slip. Natsu believed him, and was grateful for the warning. It was as if the boggart had smeared butter all over the already slick wooden steps; Lucy nearly went flying down the stairs when she wasn't careful enough. Natsu caught her arm, waiting until she was righted, and then continued down.
"Alright, Happy, get hunting," said Natsu as Happy looked at him hopefully. The feline sprang lithely from his shoulder and vanished into the basement with an excited yowl. Lucy frowned, and Natsu told her, "They don't like cats."
It was nice working normal cases with Lucy again, Natsu found as he instructed Lucy on what she needed to do to capture a boggart. She followed his instructions closely, listening intently to make sure she didn't miss anything. It made him all the happier, because he knew that people like Gray or Mirajane wouldn't have. She'd always done that though; she'd always trusted he was smarter than he looked.
Eventually, Happy yowled a warning, and Natsu grinned impishly when a little creature came sprinting out of the dark, screaming. Lucy jolted in surprise at its piercing cry; Natsu's lips twitched when the fresh milk he'd sent her up to fetch caught the creature's attention.
A boggart could never ignore milk.
It sprang for the cup, and sealed its fate. Even as it soured the milk, Natsu encircled it in high-reaching flames, careful not to burn the creature. Boggarts all came from the same family, which was led by a very smart, very cruel boggart. To insult it would be as bad as upsetting a very angry ghost; you'd never have a moment's peace ever again.
Once it was caught, Natsu neatly picked it up by the feet, and let Lucy peer closely at it, curious. It was a tiny little thing, no bigger than his hand. Its beady black eyes glared at them, and it didn't try to fight. It knew what would happen. At least, it thought it did. Little strands of wispy hair stuck up from a near bald head, and it looked relatively humanoid outside of it possessing only two fingers on each hand.
"Come on," he said to Lucy, urging her upstairs. The boggart wailed its protest, flailing in Natsu's hand as Happy sprang back onto his shoulder. He ignored its cries as they finished up with the restaurant owner, showing him the boggart. Before long, they were walking swiftly through the streets, heading for the outskirts of town.
"I thought you said not to leave town," Lucy said warily when they entered the forest, ensuring she didn't misstep. Even now, she could hear an odd chittering among the trees above their heads. Natsu shot a nasty glare at the trees, silencing it.
Rather than answering her, Natsu purposefully selected the place in which he'd heard the most pookas. He crouched, waving her back a few steps and sending Happy to join her. Carefully, keeping a grip on the boggart's ratty clothes, he lowered its feet to the earth and narrowed his eyes at it. "Don't come back into town."
"Yes, sir," it squeaked in fear, staring up at him nervously. He nearly snorted. Boggarts weren't malevolent like other creatures, like the pookas watching them. They didn't torment humans for fun; they were simply doing as they knew. They couldn't live without doing so. He was sure the creature would find a new town to live in. He didn't care about those ones though; this was the town he liked.
He released the boggart; it sprinted away, vanishing into the trees.
When Natsu stood, he found Lucy watching him with a hint of a smile on her face. "What?"
"Nothing," she answered, waving him over. "Come on, let's head back." It had been a very quick and easy job, just the kind she'd wanted, and he could tell she was exceptionally pleased with not only the result, but him, too. Natsu nearly purred when she wound around his pride and gently added her own into it.
He'd missed such things. Such simple things. He still had flickers of anger and distress and betrayal. He had a bout on the way back to the guildhall, and she grew quiet when it happened, leaving him to sort it out. When he had, she was there with a gentle smile that soothed it all the more. He didn't miss the way she eyed his hands nervously, however, as if she was nervous of the flames that briefly made an appearance. Natsu tucked his hands behind his back when he noticed. He had a long ways to go before Lucy would trust his fire without hesitation. Even so, he could work with that. So long as Lucy was there, he could work on anything.
Natsu hoped such simple things as her company never left him again.
Jellal was restless. He knew it was driving Erza up the wall, but he couldn't help it. Ever since Lucy and Natsu had returned to Magnolia and become the Guardian and Keeper of the Celestial spirits two and a half months ago, maybe even since before then, he'd had the same vision again and again. He'd seen someone important to them perish. He couldn't tell Erza who it was, but he knew that face well, and it scared him more than he could say. Such a thing shouldn't have been stuck in his head. It was important, but to hear that sound, smell the heavy metallic stench of blood, time after time…
The Fates were truly testing his sanity, Jellal thought.
He began pacing again, following the same path around the courtyard he'd been stalking for days. His goblin companion was watching uncertainly nearby, waiting for some kind of order. Erza was probably watching from some window high above. Even a dire wolf was watching from where she was stretched out, her newborn pups crawling over her. He ensured to keep well away from the wolf, even in his frustration and fear.
Another hour rolled along, and Jellal jerked to a stop, his head snapping to the side when he felt it. He narrowed his eyes warily. "Fetch Erza," he ordered the goblin, a bad feeling roiling in his gut. He threw the dire wolf a sharp look. The intelligent creature threw her head back and howled as she rocked to her feet, the sound exploding from her in a sound that made Jella's ears ache. She herded her pups into the den the wolves had built in the wall of the courtyard. Other wolves echoed her baleful call with their own cries, signaling danger and announcing that they were on the prowl.
Jellal settled himself into a calm stance in the center of the courtyard, his breath coming and going in quick gasps that he stifled. A magic older than Natsu's was creeping into the air, creating a deafening silence that unnerved him, even when Erza came to stand silently beside him, an ancient sword clutched in her hand. "What is it?" she breathed.
"I can't see," he admitted, worried by it.
It took some time for the creature to make itself known, and when it did, Jellal had to fight back the shudder that ran down his spine.
"Acnologia," he said icily, recognizing the dragon of chaos. He stalked from the thick, snowy trees like a silent shadow in a humanoid form, the forests only giving him a wilder, more dangerous appearance. "Leave this place. There is nothing you can ruin here save myself, and the magic of the Fates will take its revenge for anything you do to us."
Acnologia's lips curved into an equally as cold grin, and a bark of laughter escaping him. "I don't come to kill you, little Keeper, though you tempt me with the idea." He stopped a few feet away, and Jellal stopped Erza with a sharp look when she scowled and went to step forward.
"Then what is it that you require?" asked Jellal, forcing himself to remain at least somewhat polite. The last thing they needed was to upset this dragon. He'd seen the aftermath of what happened when Acnolgia was upset. Vision after vision raced through his mind even now, as he stared at him.
"The Keeper of Visions sees all, and I wish to know where Anna's grave is."
The statement was not what Jellal expected of the dragon. He'd expected him to demand something that had to do with Lucy, or with Natsu, who Acnologia seemed to hold a particular dislike for. "Anna has no grave. She was honored like the villagers she protected, if I remember correctly. But then my memory is not the best for events that took place well over seven hundred years ago."
Acnologia's growl thundered in his ears. "You know. The winds have told me as such. Where is it?"
"Why seek the grave now, after so long?" demanded Erza against her better judgement, and Acnologia bared his teeth furiously at her threatening tone. "Seven hundred years is a long time to avoid seeing the grave of your Marked One."
Acnologia stared her down for a long moment, furious that she'd challenge him when he intended to speak with the Keeper of Visions and no one else. But he grinned after a long moment. "I don't see how that's your business, little Guardian, but I seek something she held the day she died. It holds great meaning to me."
They'd likely be better off getting whatever it was before Acnologia did, but Jellal got the feeling they'd not win in that battle. "I don't know," Jellal said again, and Acnologia's playful, cold grin vanished.
"I will give you one final chance," he warned, and Jellal wondered why he was giving them chances at all. "Should you not tell me, I will find the closest village or town and kill every living thing in it. Where is Anna's grave?"
Jellal considered, knowing that Acnologia would go through with his threat. He'd be there before Jellal had any hope of getting into contact with someone. "I took Anna's body from the wreckage and burned it. Even dead, a fallen star is useful to some." Vicious fury darted over Acnologia's face, but he said nothing. "There were some items that would not burn, so I kept them as a reminder of my fellow fallen star." He turned, pretending the idea of turning his back on Acnologia didn't concern him so deeply. The goblin was there, waiting. "Fetch the box."
The goblin bolted, and Acnoliga hungrily watched after it. Erza opened her mouth to speak; Jellal silenced her with a sharp look. Don't try to talk. Don't speak with him. Leave him be. He hated the dragon, as did everyone else he knew, but they would not win against him, and Jellal couldn't let him destroy the people nearby.
When the goblin returned, Jellal took the small box. Once again, Erza stared at it. Jellal hated that it had been brought out before Acnologia, especially once he opened it. For Acnologia inhaled sharply, breathing in the ancient, black magic that seemed to creep from the box. "You keep very interesting possessions, Keeper of Visions. Does the Demon King know you hold that book?"
Jellal clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to snap the box shut as he retrieved the items he'd stored in it, kept from when Anna had perished. He'd not even told Erza he had them, and she peered curiously at them as he handed them to the goblin. Ignoring the question about the Demon King, which Jellal knew would draw curious demands from Erza at a later time, he waved the goblin forward. The goblin nervously crept forward. The dragon watched him with cold, lethal eyes. The goblin bowed its head respectfully to the old dragon, and then put the items at Acnologia's feet.
Jellal saw the change and shot forward, but it was too late.
Acnologia grinned and seized the goblin by a leg in one swift movement. The goblin shrieked, flailing its limbs, but Acnologia merely dropped his lower jaw and unleashed a massive amount of magic that he somehow compressed into a very small blow. It struck the goblin through the head, and by the time he'd dropped it, the goblin lay still, unmoving.
Dead.
Jellal felt a shocking amount of grief slam through him as he stared at its body, yet found he couldn't be surprised. He should have known better; another name to add to the list of mythics and humans who had died at Acnologia's hands.
Erza shook in her rage as Acnologia retrieved the items he'd been given, his gaze hungrily scanning each one. Finally, they lingered on a locket, heavy and old on its gold chain. Jellal could have sworn his gaze softened as he opened it, peering at the contents inside. He snapped it shut swiftly a moment later and tucked it away, smug.
And without another word, deciding he'd gotten what he wanted, Acnologia left, abandoning the remaining items and the goblin's body. When she was sure he was gone, Erza hurried forward to gently inspect the goblin. She came up empty-handed. She'd hoped for Jellal's sake there was a way of helping the little creature, who'd been oh, so loyal to him. No such luck. The goblin was dead.
Quiet and grim, Jellal ordered, "Scry Gajeel and Levy, and inform them of what's happened. Order them to scry and tell the other guildmasters and the Council. And then inform the other Keepers and Guardians. I don't know what he intends to do with the locket he took, but it can't be good."
His eyes never left the goblin's body, an image snapping through his mind.
Almost as violently as the solid thud of a body striking the ground in the vision that refused to leave him be.
CLARIFICATION JUST IN CASE: I tried to make it as evident as possible, but Jellal's portion of this chapter takes place two and a half months AFTER the pieces with Natsu, Lucy, and the boggart! :)
RIP little goblin. Told you guys the fun was starting. The comments on the matter in the reviews cracked me up.
SisterschoOk, regarding mature content...nope! I'm not comfortable writing such content nor am I confident in my skills to do so, so it doesn't tend to make an appearance in my writing. For those of you who were hopeful about this, sorry! Maybe someday in the future.
Thanks to reviewers (XxCelestialAssassinxX, TigerArrowgirl, stranger1999, Sele de la Luna, Bookwork129, AthomeinFairytail, Guest #1, rao hyuga 18, Jcat007, Guest #2, FT-NXL, BeautifulSamurai, Guest #3, Guest #4, Guest #5, slovelysoul, valerioiux, Lissuin, Uchida Akira, SisterschoOk, Kaisha00, madaraswife, kkurtenbach5, FairyTailxFanGirl, Guest #6, itsxoi, BTL lover, lcr0718, Kisa7221, zizi08!) as well as those who favorited and followed!