Charmed
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Chapter 13: The Ring
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The soft creaking of the wood floor slowly roused Natsu from his sleep, his eyelids fluttering softly. The familiar burn of slumber still lingered, the sunlight from his window adjacent to his bed aiding this. He stretched his arms up over his head languidly, Happy's fur softly brushing against his skin. As his brain booted up to begin processing the events of the day, the strong smell of hot coffee filled his nose, coaxing him closer to consciousness.
"Good morning."
His eyes opened then, focusing on the ceiling before turning his head to the right. Within the process of waking up, his brain also reminded him of his late night visitor. His eyes landed on Lucy, kneeling next to his bed and still clad in her night clothes. He blinked at her slowly, noticing a faint red mark on her cheek that one would only get by sleeping atop of crumpled sheets, sleep that was undisturbed. The dark circles that stained her under eyes were lighter, significantly improved from how they appeared only hours ago. He felt a twinge of warmth at her improved appearance, not for aesthetic but for her wellbeing. His eyes then caught a glimpse of a steaming mug in her hands, undoubtedly the source of the coffee he smelled.
She smiled at him softly, which only added to his warmth.
"You made coffee." he stated, his voice slightly deeper than usual thanks to sleep. He internally rolled his eyes, wondering why that was the first thing to come to his mind.
"Oh, I-well I found it in the pantry." Lucy told him, glancing down at the cup and back at Natsu before presenting it to him. "I hope that was okay."
Natsu sat up in his bed, yawning quietly as he felt Happy shift unconsciously in his spot on Natsu's pillow. He accepted the mug from her, their fingers brushing together softly as he took it. Neither of them seemed to react from the touch, they each blamed it on familiarity.
"Yeah, of course it's okay." he reassured her as she fiddled with her mussed up ponytail. "I just forgot I had any is all. Thanks."
She nodded. "It's the least I could do for letting me spend the night so…suddenly." she averted her eyes then, her smile digressing slowly. They fixated on the blanket slinking off of his bed, Natsu watching her carefully as she slipped into her own little world for just a moment.
"I haven't been sleeping well lately." she admitted to him slowly, crossing her arms and hugging herself softly. "Bad dreams. And finding that little girl yesterday was…"
He could finish the sentence on his own. Definitely not ideal for sleep.
As anyone would, he couldn't help but let his curiosity wander through his thoughts. He itched to ask her about these dreams; Nightmares seemed to be more fitting in this case; he wanted to know what her brain had shown her during her attempts to sleep. Most people he knew would just grab a glass of warm milk or something of that nature to lull them back to sleep. But if it was bad enough for her to venture out at night, surely it couldn't be a run of the mill nightmare series, could it?
Natsu sighed, her physical signs of fatigue corroborating her story with flying colors. "You know you're welcome here." he told her, bringing the mug up to his lips and taking a gulp of his coffee. It was still hot, but it didn't matter to him. "I'm at your place enough as it is."
"Remind me why we never have game nights at your place again?" she giggled quietly.
"Your fridge is always stocked." he replied back evenly, half joking and half serious. He took another swig of his drink."And I think this is the part where you tell me that, I too, am always welcome at your place." he joked, which prompted a more genuine reaction from Lucy. She shot him a sarcastic look, scoffing.
"You two are the reason why I can't keep strawberry milk pudding in stock." she replied back evenly, gesturing to Happy as she spoke.
"Tastes better when it's free." he shrugged back.
Lucy rolled her eyes and a soft smile crept back onto her lips. She glanced back down at her previous focal point on his bed. She looked almost sad, despite the curvature of her lips that indicated that her smile was still ever so present. This made Natsu think back to her face the previous night, a complete opposite of the Lucy that was presented before him who held his morning coffee. It was enough to solidify his will to cease his ignorance is bliss mantra with her behavior.
Natsu continued to study his friend. He knew that sad smile, he'd seen it on her when she found out that her father had passed away. She was fine, she had told him and Happy on the path after visiting Jude's gravesite. The crinkling of the plastic around the bouquet she had laid atop his tombstone wasn't shaky, her hands had been steady, just as she handed off the coffee mug to him without spilling a drop.
He knew better, he was done waiting for her to fill him in on her thoughts.
"There's more to it, isn't there?" Natsu slowly asked her, continuing to study her face. "This isn't just about what happened yesterday." he bravely accused, though without any mocking tone.
She continued to avert her eyes from his, and he patiently waited for her to decide if she wanted to fill him in. Her face was frozen, expression unchanging as he allowed the warmth of the mug in his hands to spread throughout his palms; he subconsciously worried that she would flee if he moved any amount of inches as if she were a startled deer.
Lucy finally brought herself to look at Natsu. Her smile all but vanished as she sighed softly. "I really can't put anything past you, can I?"
Natsu leaned closer to her, gingerly reaching out and touching a piece of her bangs that fell in front of her eyes. He brushed it away softly, tucking it behind her ear. He offered her a small nod of affirmation, his thumb poking her cheek affectionately. He remained silent, looking at her with concerned eyes.
"I…well, I don't really know how to say this without sounding crazy." she confessed, uncrossing her arms and balling her fists in her lap. He could feel her breath on his knuckle as it escaped her lips with her sigh.
"Crazy as in being frozen for seven years, or crazy as in meeting an alternate version of yourself in another universe?" Natsu sarcastically yet softly asked her, his eyebrow raising in question. To his relief, she immediately caught on to his rhetorical question as her eyes briefly flashed with amusement. It went unspoken that they all had gone through some pretty irrational events in their years together, as well as the others in the guild. Still, Natsu wondered what Lucy's definition of crazy was.
"I haven't been honest with you." she confessed, her eyes drifting to his hand against her cheek, softening as she slightly leaned into his touch. Her eyes were distant, lost somewhere. "I haven't been honest with anyone. Not even myself."
A few more seconds passed before her faraway eyes came back to their present. "I've been having the same dream every other night." she told Natsu finally. "Everything about it is the same. The place, the sounds, the smell…every time it's the same nightmare, like I'm stuck in a time loop."
Natsu felt Lucy bite down on the inside of her cheek as she spoke, her teeth chattering gingerly as she described her dream in detail to him. He listened as she set the scene for him, how each night she watched a strange woman kill a child in front of her while she was powerless and weak. How a feeling of what could be described as fire burned through her veins, blood pouring out of a deep gash on her arm. How she wasn't even herself in the dreams, but a male who's little sister's head was bashed open in front of him. The sickening scent of roses and blazing green eyes filling her senses before her throat was finally slit.
"How long has this been going on?" Natsu asked her carefully, lowering his hand from her cheek. A pit of nausea filled his stomach, settling in as he learned that she was silently enduring this.
"Since the morning of the game." she admitted.
"That long?" he asked her incredulously, leaning forward in his spot on the bed as he searched through his memories of their time together the past week. She hadn't given any indication that she was dealing with recurring nightmares, then again maybe she was good at hiding it. After all, their friendship had been on an extreme high and the serotonin was flowing; the happy chemical often had a talent for creating a blind eye for all things melancholy.
He did, however, suddenly remember the night of the game in the guildhall. He silently cursed at himself for forgetting that he had sensed that something was off about Lucy's scent, and asking her if something was awry. She had denied it at first of course, but he could have sworn that she was going to tell him something before Cana had interrupted them with their drinks.
"It was unlike any nightmare I've ever had." Lucy continued then, breaking Natsu out of his own thoughts. "I can't stop thinking about it. I get violent reminders of it even when I'm awake."
"Well that's not unusual, is it?" Natsu offered her, shifting his weight and swinging his legs over the side of his bed, his bare feet hitting the floor. "Plenty of people have bad dreams that can take a while to forget, right?"
"Most people I know don't have a physical reaction to nightmares, Natsu." she said hoarsely, though not to put any blame on him for asking a simple question. She stood up then, bringing her fingers up to her face and dragged them across her cheeks, exhaling tiredly. She walked over to the window adjacent to his bed, her blonde ponytail trailing lazily down her back. She crossed her arms as she stared out at a tree in front of his house. The wind blew against the branches, making them swing lazily.
"Physical?" Natsu caught on quickly, standing up and adjusting his t-shirt which had ridden up his abdomen.
"More like some sick form of PTSD." Lucy shivered, her fingers making indents in her arms. "I could be doing something as innocent as walking down the street and boom, I'm back in that God-forsaken field bleeding and hearing those screams."
Her back was still to him, he was unable to see her face, which was bothering him to no end. He wanted to break the distance between them as easily as she had hours ago, but for some reason he couldn't move. It was almost as if he were being punished by some invisible being for not being there for his partner. Several deafening voices were booming violently in his head.
You should have known something was wrong.
How could you have known?
You should have looked harder.
She hid it well, you know she's a good liar.
"I have unexplained fits of anger. I get dizzy spells too, mostly after using a lot of magic. I figure it's from my lack of sleep." she shook her head slowly.
"I thought it would go away, I thought that it was just a weird one-off thing that wasn't worth bringing up." Lucy continued, still facing away from him. "But then-"
She stopped herself, and finally turned to face Natsu. The morning light created a sort of shadow around her body, hugging her silhouette perfectly. She gave Natsu a doubtful look, digging her fingernails deeper into her skin. She looked almost ethereal.
"But then yesterday happened." Natsu finished for her, his demeanor serious. When her eyes grew somber, he knew he was headed in the right direction, if not completely hitting the target with near perfect accuracy.
She had described witnessing a young girl die in her dream; it was satanically poetic that Lucy happened to be the one to find the body of another young girl in almost the same environment, minus the flowers anyway. It was all still fresh and new, traumatizing for anyone in Lucy's position.
Somehow, his body finally gave him permission to move. He approached Lucy calmly, registering her changing scent as he glanced down at her bare arms. Faint purplish marks began to show themselves beneath her fingernails digging at her skin. With a calm expression, he grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled firmly, separating her crossed arms and freeing them from her bruise inducing fingernails.
"They both had blue eyes."
Natsu froze, his hands still clasped around Lucy's wrists. He looked at her gloomily as she fixed her gaze on his hands. "The bluest eyes I've ever seen in my life." she continued softly, slightly drifting off into a momentary state of dissociation. "She even had a name. Yui. Cute for a girl, don't you think so?"
"Lucy…" Natsu said her name softly, deep sympathy for his friend melting his saddened gaze.
She chuckled softly. "They even had the same color dress on, how insane is that?" she asked him sarcastically, her eyes slowly coming back into focus. "Yellow, just like the pansies growing right next to her."
Her last line was enough for Natsu to pull her into his chest, squeezing onto her wrists even tighter but not enough to inflict pain. He felt her breath warm his skin through the thin fabric of his shirt. It was steady, strange enough, but he was grateful for it. She smelled warm, like his bed; the scents of her anxiety slowly faded away as he kept her close.
After five minutes of silence, she moved her hands under his touch and he promptly released her. They met each other's gaze, and she smiled up at him softly. "Thanks."
He nodded, daring to return her smile. "See? You're not so crazy."
She playfully slapped his arm, rolling her eyes as she left her post by the window. The floor creaked softly as she approached Natsu's table near the front door. He noticed another cup of coffee perched atop the wood, the steam still fresh and flowing. As she reached for the cup, he turned his back to her and made his way to his bed.
"Oi, Happy, get up buddy." he reached out to his other partner, still curled up on his pillow, scratching behind his blue ears. The exceed's nose twitched; he rolled over on the pillow emitting a small grunt of what closely resembled I'm tired. "We gotta get going soon."
"I'll meet you two at the guild." Lucy's voice caught his ears, followed by the sound of her softly swallowing a gulp of coffee from her cup.
"You're leaving?" Natsu asked her with a frown, meeting her now surprised eyes, mouth hidden by her mug.
"I can't show up wearing this." she told him plainly, glancing down at her oversized t-shirt and fuzzy slippers. "I'm just gonna stop at home really quick and change."
"Don't bother." Natsu told her then, Lucy shooting him a questioning look as he sauntered over to a dresser drawer that stood proudly next to his window. He pulled open the top drawer, the iron hinges emitting a small creak as he did so. After rummaging through it for a grand total of five seconds, his nose and fingers confirmed that he'd found what he was looking for. He pulled out a babydoll style dress, the color a few shades lighter than Happy's fur. In a flash, he threw it in Lucy's direction, who caught it easily. She stared at the dress in her right hand thoughtfully before her eyes widened in recognition.
"I've been looking for this dress!" she exclaimed "I-Why do you have my dress in your drawer?" she caught on suddenly, confusion growing on her features.
"You left it here." Natsu replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
Lucy blinked slowly. "What? When?"
"A few months ago, don't you remember?" he asked her, closing the drawer smoothly. "After that job in Hargeon? It started pouring on our way back and we got soaked. I gave you one of my jackets to wear when we got back here. The black one?"
Lucy took a few seconds to go over the details in her head before a look of remembrance dawned on her face. "Oh yeah, that's right."
"He likes it when you wear blue." a sleepy voice chirped in the room, prompting the two mages to immediately glance in the direction of Natsu's bed. Happy was now sitting up on the pillow, rubbing his eye with his paw. Despite his sleepy demeanor, a sly sleepy smile was stamped on his furry face.
Neither of them bothered to look at each other's now flushed faces.
"I-I'm gonna get changed." Lucy announced suddenly, breezing past a frozen Natsu who nodded tensely.
"Sure." he replied tersely as he felt the slight breeze of her gait past him towards the bathroom. Once she had slipped past the door and closed it shut, Natsu glared at Happy and grabbed onto the pillow, pulling it forward and out from under the exceed. A surprised squeak escaped from him as he lost his support.
"I'm going to smother you with this pillow." he told him dryly.
Now that he thought about it, that shade of blue did always suit her.
When Natsu and Lucy had arrived at the guild twenty minutes later, it was everything that they had expected it to be, minus a few details.
The regular cheery atmosphere was suffocated into a stiff and callus aura. The drinks on tap were not flowing, the bar shut down for the morning, or perhaps even the whole day. Cana sat on the bartop, legs crossed with a grim neutral any other day, it would have been a devastating blow to their resident alcohol enthusiast. However, just by looking at the brunette Lucy could tell she was in no mood to drink. A true rarity, however not surprising given the agenda of the day.
The others were standing in a hushed circle adjacent to the bar. Lucy's eyes washed over each of her friends and took note of their demeanors. All their faces were the same, neutral with an undertone of seriousness. Taking note of the slight shadows under Wendy's eyes, Lucy walked over to her friend and ruffled her hair affectionately.
"It's them again?" Lucy heard Natsu ask aloud, and she followed the direction of his voice.
Three strangers stood twenty feet away from their group, two men and one woman. Lucy recognized the two men from the other day, examining them closely as they chatted with Makarov intently. Similar to their attire yesterday, both were clad in plain pants and leather shoes. One man, blond with icy blue eyes, wore a brown leather jacket with a purple button up shirt. His hair was tied neatly in a low, small bun at the nape of his neck. The other male looked more serious in appearance, his hair almost resembling Gray's to a T. Thick muscles hid under a white button down, arms crossed over his chest. This man was blocking Lucy's field of vision to the woman who was with them, a petite build with a long black ponytail hitched high on the crown of her head.
A reflection of light caught Lucy's eye as the man adjusted his stance, stemming from a gold pin that was placed on his chest above his heart, a sort of wreath design that she couldn't quite make out from her distance. Upon further investigation, she noticed that the blonde man also wore the same pin in the same spot on his chest. Had they been wearing these yesterday? She couldn't remember.
"Who're they?" Gray's voice added a layer to Natsu's question as Lucy's attention was brought back to her friends. Gray was watching the strangers carefully, as were the rest of them. "From the council?"
"They were at the field with Makarov yesterday." Lucy commented slowly, going back to studying the two men. "They interviewed me about…it." she finished awkwardly, a bad taste forming in her mouth.
"That's what they confirmed anyway." Natsu replied to Gray's observation, crossing his arms as Happy adjusted himself on his shoulder. "They mentioned that they'd be sticking around for a few days. Something about a special crime wing." Lucy felt Natsu move slightly closer next to her, his body heat comforting.
"What are those pins on their chests?" Erza asked curiously, joining Lucy in studying their guests. "Some sort of wreath?"
"Real gold. I can smell it from here." Wendy joined in, resting her chin atop Charle's head right between her white ears. "They're pretty."
Lucy felt a soft nudge against her right arm, turning to meet Levy's questioning eyes. The script mage's eyes flitted down to the ground at their feet, and back up to Lucy's gaze with a questioning look. Lucy glanced down at her feet, suddenly realizing that she was still wearing her slippers from the night trip to Natsu's.
"Don't ask." Lucy told her friend with a tired voice, sighing in defeat. Levy complied to Lucy's request easily.
She silently cursed to herself, curling her toes under the protective fluff at forgetting her proper footwear. So much for being productive and efficient, she should've gone back to her apartment as she had intended. Even if she did remember, it's highly unlikely that she had also left a pair of shoes at Natsu's along with her dress. Not like she could've borrowed any of his unless she wanted to walk around like a seal due to their size difference.
More members began to arrive, adding increased waves of chatter among the hall. The voices bounced and vibrated off of the wooden walls, allowing Lucy to give herself more time in her little bubble. She stared at a distant crack in the floorboard just near the steps to the second level of the building, letting herself relive the events of the past evening and morning. She hadn't expected to end up in her current situation, spilling out her momentary trauma to her partner with a side of morning coffee.
And she definitely didn't plan on kissing him again, it just sort of happened.
She felt almost guilty, dumping something as silly as a series of bad dreams on him, cluing him in on some troubles that he had no ability to fix for her. She knew this of course, after all there wasn't really a cure for nightmares. Perhaps just knowing that someone else was in on her current state of mind was enough for the moment.
In all the time that she mulled this over, she held onto the presence of Natsu's body close to her. It was oddly comforting, enough to bring her back to the present should she fall too deep into her own thoughts.
Or maybe, it wasn't just him that could bring her back. Perhaps she only wanted it to be him.
"Miss Heartfilia."
Her personal bubble popping, she was brought back into the moment and turned to her left, the source of the unfamiliar voice that called her name. She was met with a pair of big cocoa brown eyes, confident and assertive. She had on a purple sleeveless jumpsuit, cinching in at her petite waist and giving just enough modesty to her whole appearance. Lucy recognized the jet black ponytail secured on her head, her long bangs sitting neatly against her cheeks. The natural light inside of the guildhall almost made her skin glow; her tone was a few shades darker than Natsu's. The top of her head was level to Lucy's nose, her ponytail adding a little extra height.
A quick glance at the gold pin fastened to her chest gave Lucy confirmation that this was the third visitor, the woman who accompanied the two other men.
"Yes?" Lucy replied questioningly, frowning at the woman. She watched as the woman extended her right hand towards Lucy, offering her a greeting.
"Charlotte Castiel. 3rd degree council of The Ring." she introduced herself professionally, her red lips offering her the smallest of smiles.
The Ring?
Blinking slowly, Lucy accepted Charlotte's hand in her own. It was warm and steady. "Lucy Heartfilia, but I guess you knew that already."
The others watched the exchange with curiosity. Lucy didn't notice that Natsu's eyes were practically glued onto their handshake.
"I was hoping I could discuss something with you, if you wouldn't mind?" Charlotte motioned towards the open doorway near the base of the stairs; it led to the same hallway that she had so forcefully grabbed onto Natsu's scarf in, where they had their argument the morning after they had slept together.
Lucy looked towards the doorway with uncertainty, then back towards Charlotte. "Is this about yesterday?" Lucy asked her, looking for any sign of recognition in her questioner's face. Charlotte's face remained unchanged, business first and foremost.
"To that degree. As a courtesy for your own privacy, I won't elaborate on it just yet. It shouldn't take long, I promise."
Lucy gulped softly, feeling a nervous pit grow in her stomach.
"Lucy had nothing to do with that girl's death." Natsu told Charlotte, stepping even closer to his partner. Lucy glanced over at him as he put some space between her and Charlotte, feeling his fingertips lightly brush against her wrist. He was staring Charlotte down, and in usual Natsu fashion, not backing down.
"I never said she did." Charlotte replied plainly, keeping her eye contact with the dragon slayer. "I can assure you that she's in no trouble. Mister Dragneel, is it?"
"M-Mister?" Natsu repeated incredulously.
"It's alright Lucy."
The familiar male voice directed everyone's attention away from Natsu and Charlotte. They all watched as Makarov made his appearance known, stepping into sight and settling in next to Charlotte. He was calm and stoic, nodding to Lucy with a knowing look in his eyes.
"I already gave the council permission to question any Fairy Tail members they feel can assist with resolving this whole debacle. Charlotte doesn't bite, I can assure you that much."
"Not on duty, anyway." Charlotte confirmed confidently, her eyes breezing over everyone around them and stopping on Gray's for a brief moment. The corners of her mouth offered up a brief smile of confidence, causing Gray to huff in amusement.
Across the room, a spark shot straight up Juvia's spine.
Lucy took a few seconds to digest the situation, feeling her nerves calm as Makarov nodded to her. Sighing, she reached out and softly touched Natsu's bicep, as if to draw on some of his energy . She felt his eyes sweep down to look at her, but she didn't glance in his direction. She only looked at Charlotte, this council member with a special title who took interest in her. It's not like she found the situation completely unwarranted, she was the one who found the poor girl. She was, however, under the impression that any further questioning she was inclined to had ceased yesterday.
"Okay. Let's go." Lucy finally replied.
Charlotte nodded in approval and spun on her heel."You can follow me."
Lucy complied, leaving her friends behind and following the sound of Charlotte's heels clicking against the ground. She could feel everyone's eyes glued to her back. Nonetheless, she continued forward, hands balled into tight fists.
They went through the hallway, past the doors that led to the kitchen and turned right. Lucy could already smell the difference of their atmosphere, it had more must and stuffiness compared to the main hall. Nobody ever really bothered to come back here, all there was in the remote hall was an indoor potted plant in dire need of water, and some framed news articles relating to Fairy Tail. Lucy assumed that Charlotte had most likely scoped out the guild's floor plan prior to requesting her cooperation.
"I assume we won't be bothered back here?" she asked Lucy.
Lucy shook her head, regardless that Charlotte's back was to hers and couldn't see. "Nobody comes back here really."
Then again, maybe she was just adept at this kind of thing.
"I apologize for dragging you away without any notice." she told Lucy, turning around to address her then. She reached up towards her face and swiped away a piece of her bangs. "These kinds of scenarios are never easy." Her face was still all business and no play, Lucy wasn't sure if she offered Gray that playful smile to break the ice, or if that was a slip of character.
"No it's okay, really." Lucy reassured her quickly, only half believing in her own words as Charlotte watched her carefully, eyes calm. Lucy couldn't be sure if she would believe her words, but then that really didn't matter. "I'm happy to help."
"I'm glad to hear that." Charlotte nodded, letting herself drop her serious demeanor for a brief moment to grace Lucy with a small smile of sympathy. In a blink of an eye, the smile was gone. "I'm sure you're confused about us being here, me and my colleagues I mean. I'm one for transparency, so you can ask me anything you'd like."
Lucy was surprised at the sudden turnaround of secrecy. Nonetheless, she hopped on the opportunity. "You said that you're a member of something called The Ring?"
Charlotte nodded tersely. "It's not surprising that you've never heard of us. It's been quite a while since we've been needed for an investigation."
Lucy crossed her arms, eyes wandering back to the pin on Charlotte's chest. "So you're part of the Council then?"
"A special division of it. Each of us are handpicked directly by members of the Magic Council; We like to think of ourselves as their right hand people, an official outer layer of the law as is enforced by them. Hence the name." she told Lucy cooly, taking notice of Lucy's stare. Her fingers lightly tapped the gold pin secured to her clothing. "There are three divisions of our organization, each one has their own purpose. I'm afraid I can't quite go into explicit details in that department, but I promise your guild will be briefed on all that you need to know."
Lucy listened as she examined the pin carefully; a gold wreath made of wrapped vines and the tiniest oval shaped leaves. The piece of jewelry was intricately made, it almost looked like real vines. The top of the wreath was adorned with small spiky thorns nestled into a small bush of more condensed leaves. Peeking out from the thorns were three small flowers. Lucy couldn't be sure, but she'd read enough books and other literature to guess that they were panda lilies, flowers that held symbolism for justice.
"We wear the pins over our hearts." she told Lucy, who tore her attention away from the pin and back to its wearer.
"I see. Is there a reason for a pin as opposed to a guild mark?" Lucy inquired.
"We're not a guild, Miss Heartfilia." Charlotte replied.
"Please, call me Lucy."
At this Charlotte offered Lucy another small smile. "Alright then. Shall we get started?"
Lucy registered that she was slowly growing calmer at the shift of address. She nodded at Charlotte, allowing her tense muscles to relax.
"Like I said, I'm for transparency, so I do want to let you know that I have to put you under oath when I interview you." Charlotte told her, shifting back to her business as usual persona. "Don't be offended, it's not that I don't trust that you'll be honest with me. It's just protocol."
"I have no plans to lie to you." Lucy replied honestly, still wondering why she was being interviewed for a second time. A small bell of alarm went off in the back of her head when Charlotte's expression changed.
"And I appreciate that. However, it's not like you'll have the chance to lie anyway." she told Lucy confidently. "That's where my magic comes in."
Lucy felt herself take a step backwards, her legs moving on their own. She caught herself, and stopped her movement. She wasn't scared, and yet her body still reacted in a miniscule attempt to flee. "Your magic?" she asked aloud.
Charlotte placed a hand on her hip."I practice Candor magic. Anyone under my influence will not be able to tell a single lie even if they tried." she confirmed.
Lucy frowned at hearing this, Candor magic? She'd never heard of it before. But then, she never heard about any organization under the Magic Council either. It seemed that it was a day of firsts. Convenient for someone investigating a murder.
"Isn't it?" Charlotte huffed in amusement, to which Lucy's face began to glow red, realizing that she had spoken that aloud and not in her head. The Ring member quickly read Lucy's expression, and sighed softly. "Don't worry. It's completely painless, I promise it won't take long."
Lucy watched Charlotte carefully, internally weighing her options before closing her hands into fists for the umpteenth time that day.. A few thoughts drummed in her head, sparking some realizations to the surface which caused Lucy's view of the woman in front of her to change. She was reminded of their reality, and why Charlotte and the other Ring members were at the guild.
There was more to the story.
Charlotte waited for Lucy to reply to her, her calm eyes unmoving.
"Okay." Lucy consented, uncurling her fists and nodding her head. "Do it."
In an instant, Lucy felt a strong pulse shoot through the base of her throat. The sensation wasn't painful, but it wasn't exactly soothing either. Strong warmth vibrated up from the base of her throat and permeated her tongue. When she tried to speak, she was unable to form words, as if she had swallowed cotton.
Her eyes widened as she watched Charlotte's brown irises melt into a vibrant green. They glowed in a mesmerizing light, and Lucy watched them in amazement. As the glow in her eyes intensified, she felt the buzz in her throat grow stronger.
"State your name and guild affiliation." Charlotte commanded her calmly.
"Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail. " Lucy answered straightaway, as if she were programmed to do so. She continued to stare into her questioner's enchanting eyes.
"Tell me about the events of your day prior to finding the victim."
The words came easily once more. "I went out to lunch with friends. We witnessed a robbery and pursued the thief towards the center of town next to the field where I found her." Lucy vaguely noticed how the vibrations in her throat dulled as she spoke. The sensation would dull even further if she went into deeper detail for her answer. "Some jewelry had been stolen. They were caught but soon escaped, using some form of teleportation magic. If it weren't for me noticing a little girl catch sight of something out in the field, I would never have known that someone was out there."
"And the names of the people who accompanied you on this chase?" Charlotte continued.
"Levy McGarden, another member of Fairy Tail." Lucy confirmed. "And someone else, a mage named Stella Demarva. She's not a member of Fairy Tail."
Charlotte's eyes flashed with recognition at the mention of Stella, which Lucy immediately caught onto.
Just where was this going?
"How do you know this Stella?" The Ring member inquired further. Lucy immediately obliged.
"We met in town a while back. She seemed really friendly, super easy to talk to. We found a table outside a cafe and just started talking."
"About?"
"Trivial things, things about ourselves." Lucy's eyes softened then. "We told each other how we lost our mothers when we were young. She showed me her mother's gate key that she wears around her neck.
"She also showed me her magic. She grew flowers in the field, lilacs and pansies of all different colors."
Charlotte's eyebrows raised as she leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. "She's a Spring Caster?" surprise coated her voice, and yet her face gave Lucy a hint that she'd given Charlotte a missing piece of information. Lucy nodded then, confirming the question. She wondered about the sudden interest in her new friend, attempting to push away any negative thoughts of what could be. But still, the thought couldn't escape her thoughts.
Was Stella a suspect? She had been so kind and authentic, it would be a hard fact to swallow should this be confirmed. Lucy sorted through her memories of the spring mage, finding no red flags or any sort of sign that could have told her that she had malicious intent. After all, nobody would be as dumb as to go back to a crime scene that they had created right?
Then again, Lucy was given a grim reminder that the girl was a stranger. And while they had confided in each other, anyone was capable of lying; They all had far too much experience with that matter.
"I see." Charlotte said after a pregnant pause. She closed her eyes. "Thank you for your honesty."
Almost immediately, the foriegn sensation in Lucy's throat melted away. She brought her fingers up to her throat and rested them against her skin gently. She wasn't in any pain, just as Charlotte had promised her.
"That's all I need from you for now." Charlotte confirmed, opening her eyes to reveal her classic brown irises, the green having vanished as if it were never there to begin with. She straightened up from her slouch and began to make her way back towards the main guild hall.
"Wait!" Lucy inquired quickly as she immediately followed suit. "Is Stella involved in this?" Lucy asked, her stomach sinking in anticipation. She quickly fell into step next to Charlotte in the hall.
"Not likely, unless something else down the road comes through that would have me suspect otherwise." Charlotte continued to face ahead. "Actually, you just corroborated our timeline."
Lucy frowned. "So you spoke with her?"
"My colleagues did some magic tracing in the field after you gave your initial statement." Charlotte told her steadily. "We were able to detect several magic signatures, one of them belonging to your friend it seems."
"Magic signature…" Lucy repeated back slowly.
"Everyone has a magic signature, Miss Heartfilia." Charlotte then turned towards Lucy in acknowledgement, seemingly forgetting that Lucy had given her permission to call her by her first name. "Think of it as a fingerprint of sorts. The council has files on every mage who practices magic in Fiore, the registered ones anyway. Your friend left a pretty strong fingerprint so-to-speak; Now that you've confirmed she was the one who created the flowers, our findings add up."
Lucy nodded in understanding, it made sense. She was grateful for the not guilty verdict at that moment. She did have to admit that finding a magic signature directly near a deceased victim was pretty incriminating if a proper alibi couldn't be provided.
"But again, that's not to say she didn't have any involvement." a warning tone met Lucy's ears. "To answer your question, no, I haven't spoken with her. But I have every intention of doing so to lessen our suspect list."
"Couldn't you have just asked Stella about the flowers in the first place? Use your magic on her, I mean?" Lucy asked as Charlotte directed her attention back ahead of her. They could see into the main hall of the guild, everyone's chatter getting louder and louder. "Why bother to interview me again? Seems like extra work, doesn't it?" Lucy questioned further.
The two women halted their steps, Lucy following in Charlotte's example. Her black ponytail halted its swinging, settling down in a sleek waterfall down her back. Charlotte glanced at Lucy for a final time, and studied her face before giving her answer.
"Something told me that I needed to meet you." she replied, her eyes igniting with something Lucy couldn't name.
The creaking of the wood in the main hall broke the two out of their moment, both turning towards the sound to catch the sight of a male standing in the doorway. It was one of Charlotte's partners, Lucy confirmed to herself straightaway; The blonde one with his hair in a bun. He studied the two of them carefully, as if to assess the environment.
"Simon." Charlotte acknowledged her partner, her voice piqued in interest.
"We're ready to begin." he confirmed then, eyes flitting to Lucy's for just a millisecond before returning his gaze to Charlotte. Lucy watched carefully as the two exchanged a silent message, taking this as her cue to excuse herself. She continued on ahead, leaving Charlotte behind her in the hall. As she did so, the man named Simon began his brief journey in her direction. They passed each other smoothly, neither of them glancing in the other's direction. Lucy could smell his cedar and pine cologne.
Her fingertips brushed against the wall as she reached the entrance to the main guild, a tickling sensation spreading up through her fingers as she traced the smooth wood. While her back was turned towards the two behind her in the hall, she put on her trained neutral face as her ears picked up on a faint yet urgent message conveyed to Charlotte in her absence. With a forced gait, she took her final steps into the main hall, Simon's words pounding in her head.
"They found another body."
The members of the Fairy Tail guild watched grimly as their master stood before them and spoke the somber truth of their situation. They weren't strangers to a major speech, after all they've been through more disasters than they could count. Natsu could digest a serious issue as well as the rest of his team, the difficult part was relinquishing part of his control, if it were even his to begin with.
The three council members-Ring members- had introduced themselves with Makarov's introduction. Natsu knew their master well enough to see deep into his expression, he certainly had power being the guildmaster of one of the most powerful guilds in Fiore, though there was only so far that his power could serve him. Simply put, this was out of his hands and thoroughly in the claws of the council.
The Ring members were specially trained and hand picked by direct members of the council. They were founded years before any of the people currently in the guild hall were born, only utilized in dire and qualifying situations regarding dark mages or even malicious magic. It wasn't a secret that the council sometimes needed to step in on happenings, but of course Council members weren't always able to step away and do their research on a threat, henceforth, The Ring was born.
There were three divisions, or counsels, of rankings for Ring members. The outer layer, or the third degree as they called it, were the ones who were sent out in public for their work. The way Natsu saw it, they were the ones who handled the direct dirty work. Looking over the three members one by one, he didn't receive any sort of indication that these people meant carefree business or could handle themselves in a physical endeavor, though they surely could handle a verbal one; The short female who took Lucy away had a business stare down pat. Their scents weren't sour or malicious, Natsu doubted that the three strangers were of bad intent or purpose. He knew that they were on their side, but that didn't stop him from calling them what they were; Strangers in his home and stepping in on their land.
Everyone was more or less seated as they spoke, those who were left without a seat leaned against the walls in the back. Natsu felt his friends all seated around him, each listening with intent as they were briefed on their recent discovery. He sat in between Lucy and Gray atop of their chosen picnic table, arms crossed stiffly. Next to him on his right, Gray sat with his left leg propped up on the top of the table, left elbow balancing above his knee as his hand supported his cheek. Juvia sat directly against his right leg, frowning with concern as she nervously fiddled with the hem seam of his pants. Lucy sat on his left, her entire body stiff. Natsu snuck glances at her frequently, assessing her for any signs of further distress.
Her demeanor hadn't changed when she returned to her friends in the hall. She was stoic, calm even. He listened to her reassure all of them that everything was fine and in order, that they had just wanted to confirm a few facts of their findings with the celestial mage. Levy and Juvia had even stolen Lucy for a brief moment to share concerned frowns and offerings of solace if needed. In return, she offered each of her friends a small smile as a reply. The two bluenettes had exchanged worried glances with one another before deciding to accept Lucy's promise of an adequate mental state and return to their respective original spots.
As everyone around them had begun to find their seats and settle down, Natsu felt a familiar arm brush against his softly. He turned towards the touch and met Lucy's eyes, hers softening at their skin contact. She was in the opposite direction from Natsu's facing, her front towards the main entrance of the guild. He watched as she tucked her hair behind her left ear, immediately noticing the subtle double tap of her fingers below her tragus. If it had been anyone else, they most likely would have dismissed the action as an itch or tickle. Taking her cue, his trained ears scanned the room until he heard what he was searching for. An unfamiliar male voice, off in the direction of where Lucy had only recently emerged from.
"They found him near the border of Almafa, amongst other findings. Their family has already been contacted."
Natsu's eyes widened in understanding. They had found another body.
He had mulled over this in the entirety of the meeting, only barely soaking in what the blond man in front was preaching. The fact was that there were a few things that bothered him.
First, was the presence of Ring members. This was obvious, as they had stated their intentions confidently. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the girl they found wasn't just a commoner, otherwise the council wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. She was important, or rather, something else about the whole situation was.
Second, was the way the news was presented to the woman who interviewed Lucy, as if it were an additional thing to worry about. While finding two victims was obviously something to not brush aside, something felt off.
And third, that Makarov was keeping his mouth shut about it all.
Said man stepped to the front as the blond man took a step backwards, surrendering the floor back to the guildmaster. "I know this is not ideal, kids." he finally spoke, bringing Natsu back into the moment. "I wish I could send them home myself. But this is out of my hands. "
He felt Lucy shift her weight next to him, listening to her dejected sigh as he placed his hand on her thigh as if to steady her. Natsu watched as the Ring members eyed Makarov as he addressed the guild. They didn't seem to mind that he was openly confirming his displeasure regarding their presence, the woman even looked amused. They were probably used to it anyway.
"We performed a magic trace on the area upon our arrival." the woman declared then, appearing next to Makarov as her ponytail swished melodically behind her back, eyes scraping over the crowd before her fiercely. She was clutching onto a thin black clipboard of sorts, though as she swiped her manicured finger across the surface, a faint vibration pulsed throughout the front of the room. Faint and small squares of light sprung to life on the clipboard's surface, seen through transparently from a few feet away. It must be a sort of lacrima, Natsu deduced. "Several sources have been alibied and ruled out, others too faint to be considered significant."
"That's what they asked me about." Lucy muttered softly under her breath. "Stella's magic was all over that field."
Natsu turned to his partner in question, lips parting to ask who Lucy was referring to until a memory flashed in his head from the previous day. She must have been referring to the girl he met in the alley prior to his arrival to the scene. He still hadn't gotten the chance to ask Lucy how they met.
"You don't think she was involved, do you?" Levy's voice chirped quietly behind the blonde. The table creaked softly as Lucy leaned back and turned her head slightly to her right, hair spilling over her shoulder. From this angle, Natsu could see the slightest shadow still stamped under her eyes.
"No, I don't think so." Lucy whispered confidently. "I can fill you in on the details later on."
"One signature, however, did come back as on record relating to criminal activity." The woman in front continued. She tapped the lacrima in her hands with her pointer finger, and made a swiping motion towards the crowd in front of her. A soft flash of pixels burst upwards from her hold and scattered in the air, connecting to each other like a giant puzzle. The shimmer dimmed to create a projection of what seemed to be a personnel file, Fiore National Criminal Profile Registration glowing in purple font on the top. Several separate squares were stamped on the profile, most of the text too small to make out from far away; Natsu was able to pick out some sections of the text, catching height and weight among it. He traced the projection fully, noticing that a photo was also stamped on the document, though in the manner that the image was displayed in the air, the image was mostly cropped except for a pair of bare shoulders and shoulder length blonde hair. The photo was then overlapped by a box of text that was located directly below the supposed mugshot.
Plasma Infusion Magic - Danger Level: Beta
"The profile now displayed before you is from a collective library kept by the council regarding any mage with potentially heinous magic practices. This select group has either been successfully detained and kept in an undisclosed location, or currently at large and under investigation. Regarding this file, the mage was at one point in the council's custody, but has since escaped."
The guild members muttered to each other grimly, dozens of eyes glued to the profile and reading over grim details as the text grew larger and more prominent.
"They are ranked based on their apparent threat level: Alpha down to Beta, Gamma, and Delta. With the respective order, Alpha is the highest possible danger level. As this individual is marked Beta and in our records, the council has immediate jurisdiction over any crime or action taken by said mage." the Ring member confirmed grimly.
"Beta…second from the top." Gray muttered under his breath, crossing his arms as a slight chill permeated his space. Juvia leaned closer to Gray's leg, and in response he placed a sturdy palm atop her head and gently traced her temple. "Who in the hell is this person?"
Natsu's eyes narrowed, fixated on the beta ranking stamped on record, next to Plasma Infusion Magic. He had never seen it firsthand, however the magic practice rang a small bell in his head. He'd only ever heard of the practice being used by surgeons and doctors, a sort of healing method that gave the patient nutrients they were lacking or provided a quicker turnaround time for medicine to circulate throughout the bloodstream. If he was correct, and this was the same technique that this criminal practiced, he didn't want to further pursue knowledge on how they were abusing this power. Though, in a section titled Offenses, he was sure it was all laid out.
"The body found at the crime scene was undoubtedly in this mage's possession, however further blood testing will have to be done to determine just how involved the child was with the magic practice, or if anything was done to her prior or post mortem."
Realizing that Natsu still had his hand atop of Lucy's thigh, he felt her muscles stiffen at the woman's words. In response, he kept his gaze ahead at the presentation and tightened his grip on her leg only ever so slightly. The woman, whose name he then was able to recollect as being Charlotte, continued to brief everyone on the offender's profile. While he took everything in, he could help but also tune in on Lucy's heartbeat, a sad beat pouding softly in her chest. He felt her hand gently touch the top of his atop her thigh, drawing small circles with her thumb. She exhaled slowly, her heartbeat steadying at the action.
"We'll be leaving a copy of this profile with Makarov for anyone to view. If you run into this mage, you are not to engage unless your life is endangered, and report in immediately." The second man of the group stepped forward and announced. Natsu vaguely noted that his hair almost looked like Gray's, though their facial features were completely different.
Charlotte's nail once more tapped on the lacrima, and with a swift swipe, another pixelated flash burst forward and overlapped the digital text. When the pieces finished their dance and joined together, a photo of a blonde woman was displayed before them.
She didn't look any special at first glance, Natsu commented to himself as he examined the woman's face. Slim cheekbones and a small button nose, she wasn't ugly per say, but he wouldn't categorize her as insanely attractive either. He noted that her hair was curled in the photo, neat and tidy as if there was no struggle to arrest her in the first place. In fact, there wasn't a scratch on her skin, she even had a faint flush to her cheeks. She stared straight into the camera for the photo, a neutral and bored stare. It wasn't until Natsu gazed into the eyes of the woman in the photo that a chill went up his spine, piercing green that had undoubtedly seen and created chaos and evil. A name was scribbled in someone's handwriting above the photo, he couldn't quite make out the letters due to the hastiness of the writer.
A few seconds later, all of Natsu's focus from the photo was stolen and abandoned as he felt an intense pressure and jab of pain spread through his hand. His eyes immediately flew towards the source of the sensation, catching sight of his partner's now iron grip around his hand. Her fingernails were digging into his skin, squeezing his hand with an unsteady shaky pressure. He then brought himself to address Lucy, worried that something had happened that he wasn't aware of.
His eyes widened as he watched her fixated stare at the photo. Her brown eyes were milky as if she were daydreaming and faraway, more in sync with a nightmare if anything. If Natsu didn't know any better, he would think that she was watching a murder happen in front of her eyes. With a sour taste in his mouth, he matched her expression with one that he'd seen on her face once before, when she watched her future self sacrifice her life for her past. Tears budded in the corners of her eyes as her mouth gaped open only slightly.
"No…" she whispered shakily, increasing her grip on Natsu's hand "That's not possible…"
The scent of iron and salt filled his nose, and his eyes flashed down towards her other hand, clenched atop her other thigh in a similar fashion to her left hand. Small dots of red began budding under her fingertips, her pressure now beginning to draw blood.
"Hey!" Natsu whispered worriedly as he used his free hand to cup her cheek and attempt to bring her face to look him in the eye. At this, he watched as the brown of her eyes darkened back to their usual hue slowly, her heartbeat picking up pace as she began to realize who she was staring at. She glanced down at her hand atop of Natsu's and immediately withdrew it at realizing that she was squeezing the living daylight out of it. When she refused to release her other thigh from her vice grip, Natsu urgently grabbed her wrist and brought both of her arms together in front of her chest, refusing to let go of her.
"What in the hell is going on?" he asked her insistently, worry plastered all over his face as her tears began to fall down her cheeks. He quickly glanced back at the photo of the woman displayed in front of them, however realizing that it was now gone from sight. In the next second, he realized that the presentation had ended and everyone was now scattering amongst the guild at being dismissed. He had been too caught up in Lucy's reaction to notice.
"Do you know that woman?" he asked her urgently, attempting to decipher her triggered behavior, his stomach sinking with every tremor he felt travel through her body.
She looked faraway once more, her eyes glued to the floor as the chatter around them picked up once more. "Yui…" she whispered softly as she brought her forehead down to meet her wrists. Natsu felt her hot forehead softly bump against his knuckles.
"Yui?" Natsu blinked slowly. "Who's Y-"
Natsu voluntarily cut himself off as he was taken back to his bedroom just a few hours prior to their current moment, the memory still fresh in his mind.
"She even had a name. Yui. Cute for a girl, don't you think so?"
He felt Lucy's tears make contact with his skin as he replayed the scene in his mind. She whispered softly against his knuckles.
"She killed Yui."