chapter eight: the darkness inside

"Wow, you guys sure know how to party," Sting said. He was laying flat on his back on the floor.

"Sting! You drank too much!" Lector said, standing over him. Rogue and Frosch were sitting at the end of a table beside him.

"Are you sure he's going to be okay?" Lucy asked Rogue.

"He'll be fine."

"Who's next? Come at me!" Natsu said. "I'm all fired up now!"

Lucy looked back at Master Makarov, who was sitting on the bar drinking. She stood up and headed over to him. "Master?"

"Yes?"

"I went into the guild's library on my way up here, hoping to find something that would help me with what happened to me, and I ran into First Master Mavis."

Master Makarov looked at her. "And?"

"She said that whatever happened to me was dark magic, and it could only have been Zeref's doing," Lucy said. She hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"Hold your head high, child, and look around you. These people around you will help you fight the darkness. And if you stray from the path, you can guarantee that you can always find your way home, back to Fairy Tail."

Lucy's lip trembled. She turned and saw everyone looking at her with big smiles. Frosch came up to her and she kneeled.

"I'll always be there for you, Lucy," Frosch told her.

She hugged Frosch. "Thank you Frosch."

"Sabertooth has your back, for sure!" Lector said.

"Aw, Lector," Lucy hugged him as well.

Natsu grinned. "See? You don't have anything to worry about, Lucy. We're all here for you."

She nodded and wiped a tear from her eyes. She couldn't believe that she even doubted herself for a minute when she was surrounded by so many friends.

"So Sting, when are we gonna do what we originally came here to do?" Lector called down to Sting.

"Tomorrow. Too much traveling today. But after we have a good night's rest, we'll be able to do a good job," Sting told him.

"You're right," Lector said. "After all, who wants a sick dragon slayer carrying their food around?"

"Oh yes. You guys came to help out Mr. Yajima at his restaurant, didn't you?" Erza asked them.

Rogue nodded. "Yes, but we were a little late on arriving back due to the incident with the trains," he said.

"Mr. Yajima understands."

Lucy stood up and walked over to Master Makarov. "Master, is it okay if I look around in the guild's library for more information?"

"Of course."

Lucy looked over at Rogue. "You will come help me, right?"

"Of course," Rogue said.

"I will too!" Frosch said.

"Seems like we all have a bit of reading ahead of us," Erza said.

"I'll help out too," Levy spoke up. "The more people that look the better chance we have of finding something out."

"That's true," Sting said. He stood up. "We should start immediately."

"Yeah. Let's go," Lucy said.

She began to go down into the guild's library, but stopped suddenly. She put her hand up to her head. Gray, who was in front of her, turned back to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I think it's just a headache. I'll be fine," she told him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

Down in the guild library, everyone gathered around the table. Erza turned to look at Lucy, who was the last to enter. "Where should we start?"

"Any book that you think would have a mention of Zeref, get it down," Lucy said. "Happy, Lector, Frosch, can you three help out by bringing us books that are up high?"

"Of course," Happy said.

"Don't worry, we got it," Lector said.

"Okay you guys, let's do this!" Lucy said. "Let's start by breaking up into three groups, and each group will have a cat."

"Excellent idea, Lucy," Erza said.

"Hey, guys," Wendy said, coming down the steps. She was followed by Gajeel and their Exceeds, Carla and Pantherlily.

"Oh, hey Wendy. And- Gajeel?" Lucy said.

"Sting, Rogue, Master Makarov said you were down here with Natsu, Lucy, and the others, so he asked me to bring your friends down here too." Wendy stepped aside and Yukino, Rufus, and Orga stepped into the room.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sting asked. "What about the train station."

"We checked it out, but it's almost as if nothing happened," Rufus said. "There were people everywhere, and we arrived shortly after you guys were there."

"This doesn't sound good," Erza said. "We must find out everything we can and soon." She turned around. "We now have five Exceeds. It may be a lot easier if we all go to that place."

"Wait are you talking about the Library of Sorcery?" Lucy asked.

"That's a long ride from here, and i don't think Natsu, Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue could all handle it," Levy said.

"But still, the guild's library might not have the information we need," Erza said.

"I can cast a Troia spell on them so they don't get sick!" Wendy said. "And we need this information for Lucy."

"We still came here to do a job, so we have to do that before anything else," Sting said, standing up. "We have to help Mr. Yajima out for two days, but then we will be available."

"Okay everyone. We leave in two days for the Library of Sorcery," Erza said. "Be sure you're ready."

"Don't forget, you guys are helping us out at Mr. Yajima's," Sting reminded Natsu.

"Like I'd forget that!" Natsu yelled.

"Anyways, we'll see you guys tomorrow. We're tired." Sting waved at them as him and Rogue followed Yukino, Rufus, and Orga out.

"Sting, Rogue, wait up!" Natsu called, racing after them.

Lucy sat down at the wooden table and put her head in her hands.

"Is your head still hurting?" Erza asked.

"Just a little," she answered truthfully. "How'd you know?"

"Gray told me. He seemed a bit worried, and so was Natsu." Erza sat down beside her.

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"Honestly, everyone is worried about you. Even our friends from Sabertooth are worried about you."

"I'll be okay. I'm just about to head home. Maybe a bit of sleep will help my headache." Lucy smiled at Erza as she stood up. "Goodnight!"

Erza stood up as well. "I'll head back into the guild with you."

They walked back up the stairs together. Once they reached the guild hall, Lucy waved goodbye at Erza and left with her things. Erza walked over to Master Makarov, who was sitting at the bar. He looked at her and sighed.

"Lucy's having headaches, Master," Erza said.

"It's as I feared. She still has darkness inside her. We must keep a close eye on her," he said. "She has went home for the night, I presume?"

"Yes. And knowing Natsu, he'll be there along with some friends."

Lucy walked along the sidewalk toward her apartment. She thought over the events of the day and sighed. My headache is still hanging around. I need a warm bath and a good long rest.

She walked up the steps leading to her apartment. "I think I'll do a bit of writing before I lay down. We had too much happen for me to not write down!"

She opened the door to her apartment and saw Sting, Rogue, and Natsu all inside. Lector, Frosch, and Happy were jumping up and down on her bed. "My room!" she cried out.

"I told you guys she wouldn't be too pleased," Rogue said.

"I said so too!" Frosch agreed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lucy asked.

"We wanted to make sure you were alright before we headed to our inn for the night," Sting told her.

"Yeah, you've definitely been out of it all day. We want to make sure you're okay," Gray said, coming out of her bathroom in his underwear.

"Put on your clothes!" Lucy yelled, throwing a chair at him.

"Dammit!"

"Well it seems like she's okay," Happy said. "Can we leave?"

"Hey, Lucy, you can't write a story and leave us hanging. When are you going to write more?" Sting asked. He held up the story that Lucy had been writing on.

"Hey, let me read it," Rogue said.

"That's mine!" she said, yanking it away from Sting.

"Alright, spill it. What's up?" Natsu said, speaking up.

Lucy began to cry. "My head has been hurting since I woke up today. I don't know what it is. But I'm afraid that something's wrong."

"Even if something is wrong, we'll make sure it doesn't hurt you," Sting said.

"Yeah. Anyone that tries to hurt you will pay for it." Natsu said.

"Yeah!" Happy said.

Lucy smiled. She knew she could count on Natsu to make her feel better.