Erza's taking a mission at Crime Sorciere, going after the man she thought she always wanted. Is she leaving behind the man she thought she'd always have?
Natsu has friend-zoned himself, leaving Lucy and Lisanna in the lurch. He'd rather avoid them both than risk being a two-timer like Gray.
Gray (not actually a two-timer) just can't seem to catch a break. Maybe he just wasn't meant for romantic happiness. Or maybe it's time for a new direction.
Mira's stuck in the past, unable to accept that Laxus has his sights set elsewhere. Freed's never, never giving up on her, even if that means a broken heart.
Juvia's having second thoughts about Gray, but Lyon's ready to call it quits. Can she get her feelings sorted out in time, or will she be left with nothing?
And Toby's dating Jenny Realight. The Jenny Realight. Wait, what?!
Something's gotta give.
This is the Mazeverse series, a post-Tenrou AU where we put your ships in a blender and beat 'til smooth. Lyvia, Gruvia, Jerza, Grayza, Nalu, Nali, Lolu, Graylu, Bixanna, Gale, ElfEver, Miraxus, Laxana, MiraFreed as well as a handful of crackships and rare-pairs as we try to pair the spares. This is the Mazeverse. No ship is safe ;)
Happy Friday!
You guys ready for some fun? I've been sort of noncommittal about my whump, so I figured I'd delve in and write an actual sickfic. And my victim of choice? The undersung Lyon. He's a favorite of mine, but he doesn't get a lot of love from the fandom, probably because he's hard to deal with. (I'm hard to deal with, so I empathize. XD)
If you're looking at the entire Mazeverse timeline, this fic falls right after Blurred Lines and at the same time as Someday in the Rain. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's okay. Those fics aren't really related to this one. Well, Blurred Lines might be. (If you like this fic, then the last couple one-shots in that collection may be worth your time.)
The only thing you really need to know is that Juvia's come to the sudden realization that she's a taker in her friendship with Lyon. That, and they ended up getting caught in the rain together. (Therefore, by anime logic, Lyon getting sick was inevitable... It's like a law. Just add water for a cheap whumpy premise.) XD
Responses to guest reviews on last week's chapter of Someday in the Rainbelow. Feel free to skip below the break and dive into the story.
guest: Great to hear from you again, my friend! You really made me smile. Part of me hates to admit how validated that makes me feel; the other part of me is shameless and totally eating it up. XD Trollolol, guilty as charged! - Glad I'm forgiven, though. ;) I could very well flip the tables again once mistreating Gray no longer amuses me. Or I could continue to be a troll, because why not? I think Gray is one of these unfortunate people who could spend their life in denial... that is, denial of their own heart's desires for the sake of others. I, too, would like to pummel him, and then send him off to do it right. He reminds me of a friend, so this hits pretty close to home for me. I'm glad I've managed to amuse you to some degree; that's all I can really ask for. Don't worry too much about reviewing. Take care of yourself; that's what's really important. :) I don't know exactly what's going on with you, but know that I'm wishing you the very best. :) Thanks for stopping by!
WonkyBookshelf: Wow, I'm floored - you really know how to make a writer feel special. Hmm, you like to read about Gray's suffering... and I like to write about Gray's suffering... You know, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship! XD I think you're right on the money about Erza. Let's do a quick analysis just for fun-sies. I don't know that Erza really understands her own feelings. She's still fixated on Jellal - the unresolved thread from her past. Snowbound proved that she's also got softer feelings for Gray, which could be platonic love, familial love, romantic love - she hasn't got a clue. The archery story played on that, but was probably detrimental to a romantic Grayza. It sort of put out there this idea that she could potentially like him back. There was definitely some level of attraction (let's face it; Gray's physically attractive) and some admiration that she didn't know how to handle. In her realignment, she sort of wrote off that attraction and sort of friend-zoned him. I didn't draw too much attention to that since Gray didn't actually ask, and Erza didn't actually reject him. But now... I see an Erza who suddenly realized that leaving home means leaving home. She was so excited at the prospect of Jellal that she failed to think it through. I wonder what else she didn't think through. As for what that means for Gray... well, we'll have to see. :)
The bias question is an interesting one. I see myself as a storyteller - a reporter of sorts. I want to be able to get the best angles and perspectives for a story, regardless of how I feel about the characters (my bias). If you look at my profile, you'll see a whole mix of ships, and I can tell you that I absolutely hate several of them. Hopefully, you won't be able to tell which, since I should have put them in a positive light. Another aspect where this matters is when my view on relationships, chivalry, strong females, and best practices comes into play. If you look closely, you'll notice that certain behaviors make me uncomfortable, others just feel wrong to me. Sometimes I worry that my stories tend to paint these behaviors in a more negative light while I reward or celebrate actions that I personally find acceptable. The problem with this is that some things won't work in certain cultures, some actions are hard for certain personality types to pull off, and every relationship is different. I'd hate to mislead anybody (even subliminally). That would suck.
Enjoy your holiday! I'm jealous. I don't get to go anywhere this year. Have a drink for me! (That's what I normally tell my friends. If you're below your country's drinking age, I'm obviously not advocating that you drink. :) Feel free to make that a milkshake or a coffee or a good dessert or something.)
Sam: Thanks! Grayza was my first ship, so it'll always have a special place in my fangirl heart. I appreciate the review! :)
- K. Chandler
It looked like Lyon had blown her off.
Their sparring practices were a weekly occurrence, and Lyon insisted on punctuality. But after waiting for him for nearly twenty minutes, Chelia was beginning to wonder if Lyon was planning to show up at all.
Not that Chelia was about to complain. It had been rainy all week, so the lawn was soaked. Wet grass was never fun to train in, but with his ice magic, Lyon always leveraged that to his advantage.
Tired of waiting, she went back inside the guild hall, sitting down across from Sherry, who was working through breakfast.
"Have you seen Lyon?" asked Chelia, helping herself to a pastry off her cousin's plate.
"He hasn't been in this morning," said Sherry. "Didn't he come to practice?"
Chelia shook her head. "It's super weird, 'cause he's usually pretty strict about it," she said with her mouth full.
Sherry gave a sympathetic hum, putting her fork down primly. "That cold of his must have finally caught up with him. Poor thing. That's so not love."
"Cold? You mean he's sick?" asked Chelia, making a face. That wasn't even possible. Lyon was ridiculously strong and inhumanly talented. There was no way he'd get wiped out by a little cold.
"Didn't you hear how awful he's been sounding?" asked Sherry, frowning. "Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't hit him sooner."
"He must be feeling pretty bad if he's skipping today," said Chelia. She couldn't remember the last time Lyon had cancelled practice. Of course, if he really was sick, that would explain why he hadn't bothered to call and cancel on her.
"Would you mind checking on him for me? Just to make sure he's all right," said Sherry. "That would be love."
"Sure thing!" said Chelia. "But don't you want to see him?"
"I would, but I have plans with Ren this afternoon," said Sherry. "I can stop by after though. Maybe bring him one of my special casseroles."
"I'm sure he'd like that," said Chelia. The one thing her cousin could cook reliably was her casseroles.
"See if he needs anything else—groceries or cough drops or whatever. I can pick something up on my way over," Sherry offered, still trying to make up for not stopping by right away.
"I'm sure it's fine," said Chelia, finishing the last of the pastry and licking the icing off her fingers. "It is Lyon, after all."
The walk to Lyon's wasn't long, though the damp weather didn't help. Chelia knocked twice, unsurprised when Lyon didn't come to the door. Chelia let herself in, glad that she had thought to ask Sherry for the spare key to Lyon's apartment.
"Hello? Lyon? Are you in there?"
A muffled cough was the only response.
Chelia looked around carefully, tiptoeing towards the bedroom. She poked her head in cautiously. As she expected, Lyon was in bed. He tossed fitfully under his mountain of blankets, dead to the world, but not exactly sleeping.
Chelia brushed the back of her hand over his forehead, careful not to disturb him. She noted his elevated temperature with clinical detachment. If it had been Sherry or one of the others, Chelia might have been concerned, but she had been the team's medic long enough to know that Lyon ran warm, as Ice Mages tended to. This was nothing, for him. Just a low-grade fever.
Of course, anyone who didn't know that would likely have found Lyon's temperature more than a bit alarming. And Chelia could hear what might have been a rattle behind that hacking cough.
It would make Sherry fuss and worry, and Lyon might go a little crazy between sheer boredom and Sherry's near-constant nagging. But in Chelia's opinion, there was really nothing to be done here.
Lyon would probably be feeling pretty miserable, but it wasn't serious. He'd just have to wait it out and let his cold run its course. Besides, how bad could it be to curl up with a bowl of soup, watch movies and take a few days off? Chelia turned away, satisfied that her mentor wasn't at risk of keeling over and dying any time soon.
Pulling out her lacrima, she gave Sherry a quick call.
"Hey, Sherry. Yeah, I'm still at Lyon's. It's like we thought. He just has a cold. No big deal."
"Oh, I'm glad it's nothing too serious," said Sherry. "Does he need me to bring anything over?"
Chelia padded over to the kitchen, taking a peek in the refrigerator. "I don't think so," she said. "He seems to have stocked up pretty good. He's got plenty of food…" Then she wandered over to check Lyon's first aid supplies. "And plenty of medicine… No, I think if you just make your casserole like we talked about, we should be good."
"That would be love. Oh, can you check to make sure he's got something canned or boxed just in case he doesn't feel like making himself anything else," said Sherry. "One casserole isn't going to last more than a couple of meals and he'll be in the mood for something different afterwards anyways."
Chelia dug through Lyon's cupboards, shifting around cans and boxes of dry food. "I think we're okay. He's got cans of soup and boxed-mix stuff."
"Perfect!" said Sherry. "I'll see you when I get back, okay?"
"Sounds good!" chirped Chelia, ending the call.
As she put the dry goods back into the cupboard, Chelia realized what a golden opportunity she had been presented with. No-Lyon didn't just mean No-Sparring-Practice. It also meant there'd be no one to get in the way of her schemes.
Chelia didn't usually snoop. No, that would be an awful thing to do. But she had already poked around his kitchen. What would be the harm of investigating, say, his desk? This was the perfect opportunity to find some blackmail material. And just what sort of dirt would she be able to dig up on dear, old, Lyon?
Grinning to herself, Chelia made a beeline for Lyon's desk. She flipped through his mail (all bills and junk), combed through his expenses (boring) and perused the towering stack of guild paperwork that he had taken home to finish.
But what caught her eye was the copy of Sorcerer Weekly that Lyon had left lying out. She was surprised to see it. Lyon hated Sorcerer Weekly, calling it a trashy gossip rag. Of course, he had an interesting relationship with the magazine. Because he typically avoided talking to them, there was always a lot of buzz whenever he relented to an interview. Of course, Sorcerer Weekly tended to portray Lyon in a negative light in retaliation. So, he'd decline their interviews. It was sort of a vicious cycle.
Thankfully, Chelia had no such reputation with the media. She was a total sweetheart and Sorcerer Weekly loved her for it, even if they didn't give her the front page this week.
The headline article was on the Junior Miss Guild Wizard talent competition that she had participated in last weekend. Though Chelia was proud of winning first place for the third year running, and pleased that Lyon was saving this article, she had a feeling that wasn't why he was keeping it.
The article itself was nothing special, just a dramatized account of the event, glamour shots of all the entrants and their final scores by category. But the photo gallery was another matter entirely.
"Ooh, pictures!" crooned Chelia.
The main photo was one of the Fairy Tail wizards, with their arms slung around each other's shoulders, grinning into the camera. She had posed for a similar picture with Sherry and Lyon. Chelia read the caption beneath it out loud. "'Newcomer Wendy Marvel steals the silver medal and our hearts! Fairy Tail rallies as their littlest Dragon Slayer makes the finals. From left to right: Juvia Lockser, Natsu Dragneel, Wendy Marvel, Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia.' So that's Juvia, huh?" Chelia frowned, scrunching up her nose. "I guess she's kind of cute, at least."
It was no coincidence that the girl in this photo was the same one Lyon had gotten caught in the rain with. The one he was watching with that dopey-looking grin when he'd come back to their box…
Fighting a mischievous grin, Chelia slipped back into Lyon's room. She picked up his communication lacrima, pouting when she saw that it was locked.
No matter. Lyon was predictable and so was his password. It couldn't be that hard to guess.
Was it… his birthday? No, that wasn't right.
The date he joined Lamia Scale? Wrong again.
He wouldn't be using Chelia's birthday, would he? Nope. Wishful thinking.
On a whim, Chelia entered the date that the Fairy Tail guild had been recovered on Tenrou Island.
The lacrima flashed briefly as Chelia gained entry.
"You should really choose a better password for this thing, Lyon," she said. "That only took me, what, like four tries?"
She wondered if the date he chose was significant because of his reunion with his old friend Gray. Or maybe it was because it was the day he had met one Juvia Lockser? Lyon would never tell, but Chelia was allowed to have her suspicions.
"Now let's see. Is there anything good here?"
Chelia flipped through Lyon's call history, noting the number of calls he'd had with this Juvia Lockser person.
"Definitely no coincidence."
Lyon stirred, coughing harshly. Chelia froze, praying that he wasn't about to wake up and catch her snooping. He would not appreciate that and would definitely get payback during their sparring session next week.
"Chelia?" he croaked.
"Chelia is not here right now," she intoned. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she'd seen this in an old movie. Hopefully it would work!
"Chelia'snot here now?" Lyon mumbled.
"No. You never saw her," Chelia insisted.
"Never saw…" he slurred, breaking off with another cough.
"You're going to go back to sleep now. Everything's fine," said Cheila. "Sleep… Sleep…" Her shoulders slumped in relief when Lyon rolled over and went back to sleep. "It worked! Score!"
But that cough really did sound awful. And with a fever like that one…
Ooh, the possibilities! Chelia couldn't help but grin.
Wasting no time, she copied down Juvia's contact information before carefully replacing Lyon's lacrima on his desk. Then, as quietly as she could, she made her way towards the front door, practically skipping. She let herself out and locked it behind her. Then, Chelia lifted up the corner of the doormat and kicked Sherry's key underneath.
"You'll thank me for this later, Lyon," she said.
What do you suppose our little troublemaker Chelia is going to do?
Next time, in [Mazeverse] Under the Weather, Chelia plays matchmaker. "Maybe you could come check on him, just to be sure?" wheedled Chelia.
Stop back next Friday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.