Chapter 13: I Can't Be Hidden For Long

Sleep was a nice reset of the disastrous night. Or, at least, that was their idea.

Xavier, Mariam, and Serena couldn't sleep. After the close call run in with the two entities in the basement, their brains ran on adrenaline ever since. They were too hyper to even blink a few seconds of sleep, only allowing for indulgent yawns every few minutes.

Their brains couldn't let them think about anything except the mystery of the two entities. Who were they, why are they violent? Are they even a spirit? Are they something along the lines of something demonic?

Which also gave way to something else: Who the hell was E? From only one single letter, you could only find out so much. Mage, perhaps a guild master at one point? Maybe only someone non magical - which is a possibility Mariam insisted everyone confront, considering how only 5% of the population in the late x700's was magical - who helped them in a huge fight against a guild or another mage who might've betrayed them at one point, eliciting the strange reaction from Gray. And Mariam couldn't tell whether or not it was something of extreme negative or just agitated their name was mentioned. Either way, it was something to ponder.

And pondering was not something to do alone.

"That's it! I give up," Serena shouted, shooting out of bed. The hotel room was pitch black, but the ravenette could tell it was still alive. She stood up from her bed, turning on the light and watching her agitated teammates rise from their beds.

"What do you mean, Serena? It's 2am-" Mariam asked, shifting around the bed to meet her teammate's eyes. Her hands were behind her back, as if to hide something, and Serena could immediately tell she was most indefinitely writing in her notebook. "Yes, and? Please, you're both as awake as I am. Just admit." To her smug satisfaction, both friends turned red and looked away, embarrassed to be caught so early.

"I was. I don't know, something about that basement just gave me chills," Xavier spoke up from his bed. "Me too. I cant stop thinking about what could be down there. I mean, c'mon. We could've came in contact with something much much larger than some spirits and you expect me to sleep after that." Mariam rested her head on her hands, gaining a very apprehensive frown.

Gone silent, Serena nodded. That's the very thing that bothered her, as well. That, and attachments. She's had spirits that has followed her home before: a ghost from a Clover Town cemetery named Carrie N. Destrat, a dangerous spirit that had wrecked her apartment every time Serena passed through the threshold. She was a very unfortunate ghost, who was the wife of one of the mayor's who was tragically passed in 1045 during the Great War of Clovers. Only 400 years ago, a couple hundred years after the demise of Team Salamander. If that were to happen again, she wouldn't know what she'd do.

"-Before we have our next investigation, we need to figure out a hell whole lotta of stuff. So, Xavier, figuring out as we go isn't going to work. What do you think, Serena?" The two pairs of eyes were drawn to the silently quivering girl, both increasing their concern as milliseconds passed.

"Hmh? Oh, I think we should start investigating Gray and Lucy first, that may lead us to E or... them," She said, refusing to say the unspoken name of the basement dwellers. Her friends shared a look before nodding with her, humming in harmony. "I agree. So... back to Aran, I guess?" Xavier asked. This time, Mariam and Serena glanced at each other.

"Aran wasn't giving out any information on getting any information of Team Salamander, so why bother in the first place?" Mariam said. Serena piped up with her own idea. "Is there any other libraries in Magnolia that we could go to?" She said. Her friend thought for a moment then nodded. "Yes, but it's a little far. It's over on Haregon's waters, where we first came in. Maybe about a 45 minute walk," She nodded.

The ravenette smiled. "Then that's where we'll go. What time is it now?" Xavier checked the alarm clock quickly, with a sigh. "It's almost three," He said. The air became increasingly chillier to them as they pondered the news.

It's too late to get to bed; to get the full eight hour sleep, it would require them to sleep in late and miss half of the day. It wouldn't turn out well, either, because usually, they take two hours to get ready, set up equipment, and start planning out the day. And the last would take about 45 minutes at least. In total, hypothetically, the team would be ready by 2pm with only 8 hours of thinking and doing time. And, by Mariam's standards, this wasn't enough.

"Perhaps we should go to bed and save it for tomorrow- or rather, later on this morning," She said, tucking herself in. But the two didn't follow. "I think we should go to the library, and maybe find the person who works there. Then perhaps find their house...?" Serena offered. "That's a good idea, but maybe we can tone down the illegal?" Xavier said.

The ravenette blushed with embarrassment. "Right," She breathed a sigh. Mariam looked on with an increasing agitated, incredulous look on her face. "Tone down? Guys, uh, maybe stop thinking about the plan in general. We're here on business with an out breaking case that we shouldn't want to lose. I say we just go to sleep now and maybe in like four hours, go check out the library and ask around for the address. That way, they'll maybe be up to not disturb them and have them call the police on us," She said.

Once she finished her mini rant, she aggressively turned off the lamp and with a thud, tucked herself in with the same agression as before. The other teammates shared a look and Serena bit her lip, eyeing the sleeping form of one of her closest friends.

"I think we should go, Mar. I mean, we were so unprepared last time we went, and learning about Gray and Lucy would help so much," Serena said, her voice a slim whisper. The bed creaked and the light went on once again, revealing the not-so-happy face of Mariam.

"At 3am?"

"No! I mean we should go with my plan-"

"And risk getting arrested because of suspicious activity? And lose one of the best paying, coolest jobs we've had since Hades Hill?"

"Well... no-"

"Ladies!"

Xavier stepped in front of the two women, his arms outstretched to block his two teammates' faces. "Ok, look, I know we're all stressed from last night, but we gotta focus! C'mon, guys, were the Spirit Seekers! We've dealt with worser stuff before! Like when, at the Lamia Scale guild, we ran into that angry ghost that almost started a fire? We managed to calm down a pyromaniac ghost from burning down a 900 year old building! If we managed to do that, I'm sure we can do this job," He finished, crossing his arms as he grinned.

The two remained silent until Mariam sighed. "That's true. I think we can create a plan we all agree on," She said. "True. Maybe it's better to think about this in the morning," Serena nodded.

Xavier looked to the alarm clock and chuckled. "I don't think we have to wait. It's almost 4 already and the sun's coming up in about in an hour. We could try to wait it out," He shrugged. "Why don't we go out now?"

The ladies shared a look. "Did you not hear what we just said?" Mariam asked. "Wait till the morning to make a decision and that's final," Serena backed up. "But isn't it morning already? Besides, work gets done faster if we do something earlier," He explained.

Serena huffed and bit her lip, looking away off to the side to not let the group see her cry. "Look, I understand where you're coming from. But we've already agreed to it-"

"Well, it's stupid. I've almost slept fine after waking up at 1am from a nightmare," He proudly said, a tumor of a smile growing on his face. But Serena shot back, her eyes wide in surprise. "Wait, nightmare? What kind was it?" She asked. Serena's earlier frustration transferred to him.

"What? No, I didn't say that," He said, a defensive tone edging his words. "Yes, you did-"

"Ok! Ok, that's enough. Let's not argue and wake up the other guests, ok? I don't want to be kicked out. As for this... "plan", to not have any more fights, I say we just go," Mariam said. Serena looked back with an incredulous glare. "But- I- weren't you just on my side, Mariam?! What about waiting it out till morning?" Serena asked, hysteria from not being listened to.

"Weren't you just on Xavier's side about going out now, but then switching to my side to make up for your earlier behavior?" Mariam said, her own smirk sprouting. When she received a dirty look from Serena, she knew she won.

"Good, then. Besides, if you both desperately want to go search for this library, - and as long as it won't cause any more fights - then let's just go," Mariam said.

The three quickly threw on clothes, Mariam nodded to Xavier and Serena, and opened the door.

The rising sun served as natural light for the tense group on the journey to the library.

Mariam leading the pack, hovering close to her friends to spy on them. The friends themselves, were spread out away from each other. The formation made the trio look like a triangle.

The trio had been walking for two hours, to find a small library on the docks of Haregon, that was fortunately open. Well, at least, that's what it looked like; the small library had its lights on, and a car was parked in the front.

Serena quickened her pace once it was in view, leaving the formation to be a stretched out diagonal. Mariam followed her closely behind, only within a two inch gap was there room for another. She filled in the gap once they were only a feet behind, surging forwards to knock on the door.

The other two caught up and waited at the door, when a middle aged librarian answered.

"Well, uh, good morning. What brings you here?" The librarian asked. It was Mariam who answered. "We're ghost hunters and we have a case we don't have that much information on. Could you please help us?" She asked. The librarian hummed with thought. "Perhaps. However, that depends on who or what you're researching. But please, get in first. It's such a chilly morning," The librarian said.

They were ushered in quickly, thrust into a dark, musty room full of books. It was a mini column of books, stretching as high as the sky. Which was a feat, considering how small the library was. The librarian's desk was set in the middle, accompanied by more books; thousands upon thousands of them messily placed around the desk. It looked mystical.

"Come, I'll make you some tea," The librarian hurried off into a closet and running back out only a few seconds after with tea. Three beautiful porcelain cups were given to them, warm to the touch.

They were sat down in chairs across from the librarian, and that's when the group finally got a closer look.

The librarian seemed extremely mousy personality-wise, but the looks were 100. Green eyes, dark brown hair, beautiful tan complexion - she looked like those models in the magazines Mariam reads. She wore an ivory cardigan, that was over a burgundy blouse. That was matched with jeans and burgundy flats. She looked nervous to be talking with strangers.

"I'm Rin, very nice to meet you."

"Mariam Ester."

Serena King."

"Xavier Thomas."

"So, what's your problem?" She asked, sipping the tea. She peered over the teacup, her eyes flicking from the three at them with light speed. "Like I said earlier, we are ghost hunters and we need help with a case. It's from the Fairy Tail guild," Mariam said, carefully eyeing the librarian.

Rin spit out the tea, turning back to the group with wild eyes. "Go on," She said, said like a commandment. "It's about the Fairy Tail team Team Salamander-"

Don't ask the team how she did it, but she managed to spit out more tea, turning back again with her mouth inhumanly agape. When she realized she looked insane, Rin composed herself and faced the group, dabbing her mouth.

"I'm sorry. But... I'm not allowed to tell you about this," She said, sending a apologetic look. "What do you mean! We met this other librarian, Aran, and he told us about them," Serena piped up.

Rin put down her drink, and Serena was convinced she'd spit out more tea. There was a dangerous gleam in her eye. "How much? Considering you're here right now, probably not much. But he could get a fine for this," She said, pouring more tea in her cup.

"A fine?! For telling a few people about Team Salamander?!" Serena asked, her voice almost tripping the line of hysterical. "Yes, and could you please lower your voice. This is a library," She said, nodding to Serena.

Rin disappeared into the closet again and came out with a leather bound, giant book. She dropped it onto the table, creating a large dust cloud around the table. Waving away the smoke, she flipped through the pages before landing on the right page. Rin pushed it forward for the others to see.

Rule 34: One Will Not Say A Word About the Deaths of Team Salamander.

"Seriously?" Mariam said. "Yes, seriously," Rin replied. "I don't understand though, why?" Serena asked, her voice leveling back down to a normal tone. "Then I'll tell you."

"So, after Wendy Marvel died, the guild mourned profusely. As expected, because the guild's strongest and best team had died. Along with the "nakama" they loved so dearly. As funeral processions were made, the guild master at the time - Markarov Dreyar - decided to do something. So, he went to the Magnolian Historical Society, which is right off the street where the guild is located. He asked the head historian there - Ella Miller - to never speak a word about their deaths. Only their victories, missions, and their happy memories. The historian asked why, of course, and he responded that he doesn't want people to mourn Team Salamander. He wants them to recognize them as legendary mages, not the victims of tragic events. And Ella agreed, signing off for Rule 34 that we know today," She finished.

The group sat in silence, trying to take in the information. Xavier broke it.

"Was their deaths that bad? I mean, they're mages, they probably get hurt in battle a lot. Why with only this team?" He asked, cautiously. Rin pondered over his words, and nodded. "Well, yes. Many mages get hurt in battle a lot, but... Team Salamander is different. Some of the deaths are effects of battle injuries, but that's all I can say. If you want to learn more, I say maybe talk to the Guild Master. But I honestly doubt a guild master would go against the legendary Makarov's wishes," She nodded.

"However, I can tell you about their own personal relationships. It's interesting to learn about their own personal business and lives," She smiled. "But, before we start, could you please tell me about what you know so far?" Mariam nodded and uncovered her infamous notebook.

"Well, we already had an encounter with Gray, Lucy, and Wendy. Gray and Lucy are very friendly and kind, though they did scare us to death," She said. Rin laughed, and leaned over. "What did they do?!" The strawberry blonde said, "Well, they moved broken shards of glass across the floor to spell their name. Oh, and Lucy visited me the first night we were there. Gray saw Serena and suffocated her," Mariam finished.

Rin nodded vigorously. "Really? Anything else?" She asked, sounding like a child. "No, not really. Oh wait, yes, we do. Wendy stays up in the infirmary and it didn't feel right last time we went in there." At this point, Rin took out a notebook - almost the carbon copy of Mariam's - and began to write in it. She then tagged it with a hot pink sticker and went back to the closet again, returning with a textbook-thick book - even larger than the earlier one.

This, too, produced a thick dust cloud but again, Rin waved it off and dove into the book. "Ah! Here we go!" She shouted. She shoved away the last of the cloud and sat down. Rin grabbed gloves, white lab coats like what doctors wear, and face masks and distributed to the group. She took off into the void and grabbed necessary equipment. Once each one had them on, and she turned on everything, she urged them closer.

"Sorry for all the equipment, it's just protocol. Now, let's take a look...," Rin said, letting them see a heavily wrapped, laminated page. It looked like an interview by a company or newspaper by something called Sorcerer Weekly, titled "The Two Aces of Fairy Tail: Gray Fullbuster and Lucy-" but Lucy's last name was incredibly rubbed away. Honestly, the rest of the text was just as hard to make out, but - with keen senses, and the fact that they do now know Lucy's last name - the group was able to make out the title.

"So, this is an interview done by a newspaper company called Sorcerer Weekly, in the year x794. I'm sure you recognize the names but Gray and Lucy were, at this point, called the two aces because after the deaths of Titana and Salamander, trained incredibly hard and worked up to S-Class - which they achieved in x793. They had nicknames but weren't called them as profusely as Titana and Salamander," She said, moving a complicated-looking lamp with thousands of switches. Rin saw Xavier looking at the lamp and reprimanded him.

"Oh, please don't look at that! The lamp's used as a kinda preservation laser, and if that goes into your eye, you're blinded for life," She warned. Rin started again. "This was done after the Grand Magic Games - which I'm sure you've heard of, no?" She asked, her eyes flicking from each.

Mariam nodded. She duly remembered being taken to a giant arena when she was younger with her parents, and seeing al kinda of beautiful magic used. As did the others two. They nodded.

"Ok, good. As expected, Fairy Tail came up on top. But Gray and Lucy had truly stolen the show, beating five mages in a One-For-All and pulling the win out of their ass. Wendy, the other one on their team, beat old guild mate, Lyon Vastia, in a harrowing battle but, in the end, she pummeled him down to the ground in a Sky Dragon Roar. She beat many more and managed to win against seven people in total, Gray with eight, and Lucy with seven and a half. The three were considered Fairy Tail's finest, and, especially with GMG's win, grew to be considered highly powerful and regarded people," Rin explained.

"Ok, but like, where's the interesting stuff?" Xavier huffed, tugging at his coat. Rin scowled. "This is interesting, isn't it? It's history, after T and S died. What's boring about that?" She said. The boy gave her a look and said, "It's all facts. Gray did this, Lucy did that, Wendy accomplished this - where's the juicy stuff, where's the drama?" He said.

"Fine, hold on," She said. Rin dragged her finger through the old newspaper, eyes squinting. She seemed to be looking for something, perhaps a section. Or, in Xavier's case, a juicy part of drama.

"Ok, got it!" She shouted. Finger hovering over a small paragraph, she began to speak again. "So, this was the last question in the interview, question number 10. It was an odd question, as Lucy commented, but continued to answer," She smiled.

"And the question is: Is Gray and Lucy married? Why do you behave like a family?" Serena looked at the book and furrowed eyebrows. "That's drama?"

"Why, yes! It's interesting, right?"

"Well, kinda. But is it really considered drama?"

"Well, how about this?"

She leaned closer - almost to the point where she was fogging up the book's lamination. "Oo, ok so, there's a part in this interviews here Gray and Lucy say they're holding out for someone else to come along. They're only friends and don't consider each other anything else," Rin said, wiggling her eyebrows. Serena brightened.

"Wait! Does it say anything else about their crushes?"

"Nope. You never find out, they truly took that secret to the grave. After Gray and Lucy died, they touched upon it again with Wendy - mostly because Wendy had said that she considers them to be her parents, and everyone thought they had spoken to her about them - but she refused to even speak of it."

"Wow."

Mariam held up a hand. "Hold on, you said that Wendy considered Lucy and Gray to basically be her parents? Guys, remember when they wouldn't let us do a session on Wendy?" Mariam said to the other two. Xavier slowly nodded. "They're protective. That makes sense," He said. Serena turned to Rin, who was watching their conversation carefully.

"I have a question? Did Gray, Lucy, and Wendy have... trauma after T and S's deaths?" She asked. Without a second though, Rin nodded. "Hell yes, of course. Actually, Gray and Lucy were the ones to find them dead- Shit, oh shit, I shouldn't have said that," Rin exclaimed, tears bubbling. She began to shake her head, mumbling to herself about losing her job.

"Uh, Rin? You ok?" Mariam asked. The group shared a look and crowded over Rin, comforting her the best they could, but she pushed them away, heading into the corner. She began rambling even louder, her breaths starting to turn unpredictable - the true signs of a panic attack.

"Ms. Rin?" Xavier shouted, stepping closer. But Serena and Mariam pulled him back, shaking their heads.

But then, Rin picked up her head. Her pace looked pale and her mascara ran down her face, kinda giving her the impression of a generic horror movie character. "It's- It's better if you- you leave. I need fo pack," Rin rambled. She attempted to shoo away her guests, but Rin couldn't and looked more like shaking off a dirt stain sleepily.

"You don't know if you're going to get fired-"

"Yes! Yes, I do! One word from your mouth and it's all over for me. It specifically says in Rule 34 that no one can speak about T and S's deaths and I gave you a clue about it: they were found somewhere."

"But that doesn't give away a lot! Gray and Lucy could've find T and S after they committed suicide and had trauma from that!"

"No- I mean, GAH! I'M GOING TO GET FIRED-"

Rin collapsed into a pile of tears, her loud sobs echoing off the walls of the library. Serena stepped closer and bent down, crouching before Rin. Interrupted in her crying when she notices Serena, she scowls but notices Serena's kindly face.

"You're not going to. I promise. And we're not going to say anything at all, I promise. Our lips are sealed," She comforted, her voice like soft silk. "Are you sure? I can't trust you, you probably go to tons of historians and librarians. What if you spill that I said something?" She asked. Serena only laughed.

"Yeah, but we're not. If you're that concerned with us going to different libraries, then how about we just make a promise to just go to you. If that works," She smiled. Rin slowly nodded. "Y-yes, I'd like that. Oh, thank you, Serena. Thank you so very much!"

Rin leaped into Serena's arms, hugging the poor girl to death. But, with a slight grimace, she welcomed Rin into her arms happily. She came out with a big smile.

"You must be running along now, it's almost 7am. Oh, and thank you again!" She said, hurriedly. The group journeyed out the door, waving goodbye and leaning behind Rin.

"Well, that was insane. What do you want to do now?" Xavier asked. The girls shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. That was a very... interesting meeting," Serena said. "And what did we learn? Nothing!" Mariam said, stomping on the ground.

"Tell me about it. Well, at least, we know to be cautious with Wendy; we don't want to upset Gray and Lucy, now do we?" Xavier said. The rest of the group hummed in response. And fell into a symphony of silence.

But that was before Mariam got an idea.

Hey, hey! Long time no see, folks! It's been a bit, lol. I'm so sorry for the long wait; I had a lot going on and finishing a chapter was the least of my worries.

Now, the chapter... interesting, Hmh? And it's at 4K! I've never written that much when I've been writing for over a year. Some stuff about Titana and Salamander, hmh? And yes, good old GrayLu BROTP and Wendy's interesting by herself.

Alright! Have a nice day/night, stay healthy, and safe! I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye~!