The steady stream of water droplets flowing out of the shower head was the only thing Lucy could hear and feel. The water was hot, almost scalding, burning her skin as steam wrapped her in misty veils. It should be painful by all means, yet she felt pretty comfortable with the temperature of the water. She wouldn't even mind if it was a bit hotter, but she had already hit the maximum of what was possible. She couldn't help a small giggle leaving her mouth. Seemingly, having a Fire Dragon Slayer as her best friend affected her entire being in ways one wouldn't expect. The man's natural resistance to any form of heat must have rubbed off on her at some point. She was certain it would come in handy from time to time.

However, right now she wished for the water to be too hot to endure, hoping it would distract her mind from the flicker of magic she had sensed earlier this day. At first, she had brushed it off as a spiel of her imagination, but it came back soon enough, gnawing at her insides, poking her consciousness during every waking moment. Luckily, she had been in her hotel room already when the unwanted sensation became too much to endure. Thus, Lucy had hopped under the shower, hoping it would be the distraction she needed. Unfortunately, it wasn't and she could only sigh at that.

Being a mage had countless advantages because magic opened so many doors into the unknown, but sometimes it had its downsides too. Her senses were sharper and more sensitive to her environment, especially to sudden changes. Of course, she couldn't compare with Natsu, Wendy or Gajeel, their Dragon Slayer senses were in a league of their own after all, but Lucy was still confident with what she had. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to pick up the spark of magic.

She sighed again and made a mental note to stop by the reception desk in order to check if any other mages aside from her friends and her were currently at the resort. Due to regulations ushered by the Magic Council mages had to check in as such wherever they went, no matter if it was a restaurant or a hotel. It could be annoying from time to time, but Lucy understood where the Council was coming from. The existence of many dark guilds across the world was a prime example of how dangerous magic could be and how much responsibility the usage of magic required. Therefore, asking the receptionist would be the fastest solution to her current troubles. However, if they were the only mages... well, that would increase her problems tenfold because in that case she would be forced to investigate the issue and when she was honest with herself, she had no desire to do that since their holidays were supposed to refill all of their energy, not exhaust it even more.

Having enough of the shower, she turned the water off and dried herself with one of the large towels. When she was finished she wrapped another one around her frame. They had booked single rooms for each team member, so there was no need to wear any decent clothes. A sudden knock on her door changed her opinion on that instantly.

"Lucy! It's us, Wendy and Erza. Are you there?" The celestial spirit mage had no trouble connecting the loud voice to Erza. The youngest member of their group was too gentle by nature to shout loud enough that Lucy could have heard it through two closed doors. Poor girl would have probably knocked softly against the door for minutes, patiently waiting for any kind of response from Lucy. Therefore, Lucy was happy that the scarlet-haired woman was with her.

"Yes, I'm here! Just finished my shower!" Lucy shouted back. "Gimme a second. I will open the door for you." If it would have been Gray, Natsu or Happy, the blond maiden had thrown the first clothes on she could find. But it was a different story with Wendy and Erza. All of them were women and there was nothing to hide, countless shared baths in their guild's own sauna area had assured that a long time ago.

"Come in," Lucy said when she opened the door and greeted her friends. Erza wore her usual black boots, blue skirt and her white blouse and Wendy was much the same. In her case black knee-highs and a black skirt alongside her favourite red top with a yellow ribbon at the front.

"Looks like you are almost ready to go. That is perfect because Wendy and I wanted to visit one of the restaurants here. We came here to ask if you want to join us," Erza explained as she took a seat on Lucy's bed.

"We heard that the restaurant has a really good reputation and offers lots of delicious food," Wendy added with a smile. Lucy beamed at the prospect of going out with her friends. Maybe that would also distract her from the feeling still nagging at her. Before she could answer though, her belly chose that very moment to rumble, so loud that it could have been mistaken for one of Natsu's battle cries amidst an intense fight. Lucy's face flushed faster than Laxus's lighting.

"Uhm..."

Erza laughed wholeheartedly. "Looks like we got our answer. We will wait until you're ready, but you should hurry. We don't want to keep this beast staving for too long."

"Y- Yeah," the blond maiden stammered as she stumbled back into the bathroom, still embarrassed about the loud noise her belly had created. Seemingly Natsu was rubbing off on her in more ways than just his heat resistance. Moments after the door had fallen shut behind her, Lucy cursed under her breath since she had forgotten to take any clothes with her!

Stepping out again she rushed to the drawers and grabbed the first things available, a simple black shirt from Heartcross, a pink skirt and simple flip-flops. She counted mentally if she had everything she needed or if there was anything else. She felt two rather amused stares on her back and she desperately wanted to prevent any more slip-ups. At least, they didn't say anything and that had to count for something. She was certain though that Wendy and Erza would never let her hear the end of it. She rushed back into the bathroom and ten minutes later she was ready to go.

"Well, let us head out then," Erza commanded as she lifted herself from Lucy's comfortable bed. She was the first to step out of the hotel room. Wendy followed closely behind and when it was Lucy's turn, she locked the door before she sprinted after her two friends.

"Could we stop by the reception desk before we go to the restaurant?" Lucy asked when they waited for the elevator to show up on their floor. At her question, Erza turned around and for a moment had a serious expression on her face. Lucy stiffened immediately, trying to think if she had done anything wrong because this kind of expression Erza only put on when she would teach manners to her latest unfortunate victim who had managed to enrage her. However, it only lasted for a second before her face returned to a neutral state.

"Something you want to ask?"

"Yes," Lucy answered. "Since we have still a few days left, I was wondering if they offer special services or activities we haven't seen yet. I was hoping they could answer my questions at the reception." It was a complete lie since Lucy was really interested in the Akane resort and had some surprises left for them. That she would ask about other mages she didn't mention, of course.

Taking in Lucy's words, Erza looked at Wendy, silently asking for the young girl's opinion. "I don't see why this should be a problem. It's best to ask the workers here after all. Besides, we would bypass the reception on our way to the restaurant anyway," the blue-haired girl said with another smile on her face.

"Alright, first reception, then strawbe- I mean the restaurant." Lucy's eyes narrowed at the scarlet-haired woman's slip-up. 'So this is from where the wind is blowing, Erza,' Lucy mused. If Lucy was honest with herself, she really wanted to address the issue she just witnessed, wishing to see how flushed Erza would most likely become if her obsession with strawberry cake would be pointed out. But she swallowed the back itching her tongue back. After all, she would be able to go to the reception now. Also, the elevator announced its arrival with a loud bing-like sound, so there was no time for teasing Erza anyway.

Stepping into their ride, Lucy pressed the button for the bottom floor. Another bing sounded around them as the doors closed again. Not even thirty seconds later they arrived at their destination. Stepping out, they found themselves at the entrance of the hotel they were staying at. Lucy was lucky because at the moment the workers at the reception were free.

"Guys, the reception desk is free, so I'll go real quick and ask them." Erza and Wendy nodded at that and took seats on a nearby couch, chatting about the restaurant that was next on their agenda.

"Good afternoon," the front desk staff said when the woman saw Lucy walking towards her. "Hello," Lucy responded in kind. "This might be a bit of an odd question, but have any other mages aside from us from Fairy Tail checked in?" Lifting her right hand, Lucy confirmed that she was indeed a member of Fairy Tail and not just some suspicious individual.

"Unfortunately, this kind of data is under closure. We are not allowed to share such sensitive information with our guests, mages or not."

Lucy should be surprised, but she wasn't. She had already figured that something like this would happen. She looked around herself if anyone was in earshot. It was not her intention to frighten anyone with her next words. Seeing that she was safe, she returned her attention back to the woman standing in front of her. "I understand, but can't you make an exception? As you have seen, I'm a mage and I sensed something earlier this day that, in all honesty, has me worried a bit. I wanted to make sure whether another mage currently staying at the resort was responsible for this by accident or if something else is the reason for my distress, something that might affect the security of the guests." Lucy spoke the blank truth since she believed it was her best shot at getting the information she wanted from the front desk staff.

Her words had an immediate effect on her opposite as the staff member grew visibly nervous by her words. The woman looked deep into Lucy's eyes to which the blond maiden only nodded ever so slightly. A second later a Lacrima began to glow on top of the desk the woman was working at.

"I hate to inform you, that no other mages have checked in at our establishment." Lucy breathed a heavy sigh. "Was worth the shot, I guess." To calm down the staff member, Lucy put on the best smile she could muster at the moment. "There's no need to worry about anything. We members from Fairy Tail will deal with whatever the reason for this magical feeling is." The woman only nodded and bowed her head in gratitude.

It may be not what Lucy was hoping to hear, but the silent trust and faith the staff member put into Fairy Tail without a second's hesitation eased the small feelings of dread that had captured her heart at the new developments. Lucy had still not given up the hope that her mind was simply playing tricks on her, but this hope was crushed a moment later. She had just turned around when the sensation from earlier returned. Waves of magic washed over her body, causing her to go almost numb from the sudden invasion of powerful magic. It was much clearer than before, closer and stronger, more violent, more intensive and more than anything so much sadder. Lucy felt as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss that had never been the light of the day, of all the wonderful thing life had to offer. There was only one thing in this pitch-black hell – unending sorrow.

XXX

"Zeref, Zeref! There's a big bad monster in my room!" a young Natsu screamed as he jumped up and down in front of his older brother's barely awake frame. It was in the middle of the night when Natsu had stormed into Zeref's room, shouting him out of his peaceful slumber. The older Dragneel brother could only groan at first, not knowing what was happening around him, barely able to make out the difference between left and right.

It took Zeref a few moments before he had blinked the sleep out of his eyes, still unable to see his brother's form due to the darkness of the clouded night outside."There's no monster-"

"Yes, there is! I saw it with my own eyes!" Natsu interrupted, sounding even more frightened than before. Zeref was unsure what his brother had seen, most likely only a shadow. Zeref had to agree with his little brother that there were monsters in this world, but he had never been afraid of them, never felt the need to do so. Any monster dumb enough to come too close would be run through the wringer by their dad Natherious and once the tall Dragneel man was finished, their mother Luna would take over and stomp the remains into the ground until nothing but dust remained of the monsters.

Zeref had seldom been afraid in his life so far, their parents had made sure of that to block any distress long before it reached him. Seemingly, his little brother had yet to realise that though. The black-haired boy knew that it was pointless to argue with his little brother. Besides, he was way too sleepy for that. Therefore, he lifted his comforter.

"Come here." It took Natsu less than a second to accept the invitation, basically jumping into his older brother's protective embrace waiting for him. The youngest member snuggled up as close as possible as Zeref embraced Natsu, chasing away any monsters that were haunting the pink-haired boy's mind.

"There, no monsters will come to you now.," Zeref murmured, already half-asleep again, breathing in the scent of life Natsu gave of, the endless summer he was named after by their father.

"You're the best, Zeref," Natsu mumbled groggily before he fell fast asleep already. "Your big brother will always protect you, Natsu. Now and forever."

Zeref's last words before joining his brother were a promise that echoed throughout his chamber, reaching the ears of the two figures standing in the doorway, silently observing the entire scene. It cast smiles on their faces as they saw how close their sons were. On tiptoes, they returned to their own room since their oldest had already taken care of the monster problem.

The older Dragneel brother would repeat his words from this night many times in the future, a promise made over and over again until eventually, it became a vow, not only for Zeref but for Natsu as well, to protect each other in times of need. It was the beautiful epitome of an unbreakable love between two brothers, birthed by the loving care their parents raised them with.

It was a vow that was meant to last forever, but life can be a wicked, even devilish creature. One day it pounced on the brothers' vow, drilled its blood-thirsty teeth into it and shredded the bond with morbid delight, drenching the vow Zeref and Natsu had made with the younger brother's blood in crimson red.

Outside of his dream, the black mage began to cry rivers of endless tears about what he had lost on that one day. His magic cried alongside him and spread his never-ending sorrow across the world. He may be a cursed immortal now and many will call him a hideous monster, but inside his chest still beats a human heart, a heart that once only knew what love was.