The last section of this chapter makes me wonder if I should change the rating of this story to M. While I ponder about that, I'll give you guys an additional warning. Better have some tissues ready when you dive into the last scene of this chapter.
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Lucy had hoped the restaurant they were going to would be a little bit fancy, but it was safe to say that her expectations have positively been shattered into countless tiny pieces. So much that her jaw dropped open and that she was forced to count her money. The restaurant itself had a lower and an upper section.
The lower section was dominated by the large counter taking in an entire wall for itself, lighted by the soft glow of lacrimas. The shelves behind the counter crafted from dark mahogany housed countless types of alcohol. From fine wine to cheap beer they had everything one's heart could desire, served in either nice glasses or roughed mugs. Lucy even spied a bottle of champagne among the many bottles, immediately cringing at the thought of how it would taste, courtesy of her past when she was still Lady Heartfilia.
Rows of round tables dominated the area in front of the counter, each of them offering enough space for six people at the same time. Royal red, golden-trimmed carpets covered most of the floor and in the places they did not, the same dark mahogany from the counter was shining through. At the sides, multi-layered staircases, the platforms in between housing even more tables to sit at, lead to the upper portion of the restaurant. It mimicked the interior of the lower part, offering enough space for many families at the same time.
From the massive pillars supporting the ceiling, following the path of the staircases, hung curtains that were kept in the same colours as the carpets. Candleholders lined the walls and pillars, the small flames of the innumerable candles flickering from side to side, their shadows dancing across the walls and floor alike.
Lucy was speechless by the sight the restaurant offered and she knew from the sounds Erza and Wendy produced that her fellow guild members were just awestruck as she was. And that wasn't even all, for the restaurant had more surprises in store.
In the middle, a small pond had been placed. Natural stones separated it from the rest of the building, the clean waters steadily following the currents inside. It stretched across the upper and lower sections alike, a channel on each side serving as a connection. In the right one, the water flowed upwards and in the left channel, it returned to the lower portion.
Lucy saw at first glance how much effort the owners had put into its construction because its ground was not covered by glass or other artificial materials. It was real sand with many sealants growing from the ground. Between them, fishes of many different kinds swam eagerly, happy when one of the customers threw some of their specialised food into the waters. There were countless bags of it, assuring that they would never know hunger. The blond maiden also adored the fact that she could see a small channel at the end of the pond in the lower part of the restaurant. It must be a connection to the ocean, so the fish were free to go whenever they wanted, something she liked and appreciated a lot. No creature should be caged against their free will.
One portion of the ceiling was replaced by glass, flooding the building with the natural light of the late evening sun. The jewel of the restaurant was the large sakura blossom in the middle of the pond. It grew on a large rock, its petals shining in the flicker of the candles and the shine from the sun. It was such a beautiful sight to behold that Lucy could stay for hours and not grow tired. She wondered what the sight would be like if it was late at night with a full moon hanging low in the sky. The interior of the restaurant must look absolutely breathtaking. But even without this image in her mind, Lucy found the atmosphere welcoming and cosy. She would definitely come here again.
"Honoured guests, welcome to our fine establishment. May I help you?" a waiter gently said, ripping Lucy, Wendy and Erza out of their stupor. The redhead of their group nodded.
"Yes, we would like a table for five," she said, neither Wendy nor Lucy questioning why it was for five and not three people. There was a good chance that Natsu and Gray could find them here, so it was better to be prepared. "I must say I'm pretty impressed by the interior. Is there perhaps a table free at the lower part near the pond?" Erza asked the waiter while giving Wendy a pat on the head. It looked like she was trying to imply that she asked for this specific location for Wendy's sake, but the excitement in the cake lover betrayed her all too easily.
"Thank you very much for your nice word. I will check and be right back," the waiter responded before he hurried away, following the stairs. A minute later he was already back, a wide smile on his lips. "Please follow me. Your table is already set," he said while gesturing to the stairs.
The three women from Fairy Tail followed the man and soon enough found themselves at their table, the one closest to the pond. Lucy was positively beaming about the wide array of menus they offered here. There were dishes for everyone, local dishes from around the area and also some rather exotic experiments for those who liked little adventures. It was intriguing to take one of them because many of them sounded really good, but in the end, Lucy chose something she was familiar with.
After a few minutes, the waiter returned and took their orders. Lucy had picked fried chicken with rice and cream sauce while Wendy settled on the same with an additional fruit salad. Erza, of course, ordered a strawberry cake, making Wendy and Lucy chuckle simultaneously.
The three women were embraced by a comfortable silence, allowing Lucy to forget about the magical sensation she had noticed a few times today even though she was back to wondering whether her mind was playing tricks on her or not. Shortly before they arrived at the restaurant, it had overwhelmed her once more but disappeared as fast as it had come, leaving behind a confused Lucy who had no idea what she should make out of it. All of that was long forgotten at the moment though because the ambience of the restaurant had captivated her soul.
Her tranquillity was broken the moment Erza suddenly addressed her though. "Say Lucy, did you get any good proposals from the reception?" Lucy's head whirled around in a manner of second, eyes wide with no idea how she should respond to Erza's question. 'Lies have short legs, Lucy Heartfilia,' she berated herself.
The blond maiden tried to fumble something together real quick, but one look in Erza's eyes told her everything she need to know. The redhead had already looked through her scheme from the very beginning. Lucy was sure of that. "I'm sorry," she admitted while averting her eyes, unable to meet her friends. The response from Erza surprised her though.
"So am I." At that Lucy looked back to the redhead, seeing how the strong woman heaved a heavy sigh. For some reason, Wendy also had an apologetic look on her face. Before Lucy had the chance to ask about this unexpected development, Erza interrupted her.
"You have felt it too, didn't you? The sudden spark of an unknown source of magic before it vanishes a moment later?" Lucy gasped at that. "I take this as a yes," Erza mused about her friend's reaction.
"I picked it up too, but I was uncertain whether I was only imaging things or not," Wendy revealed with a quiet voice a moment later, drawing in the attention of the two older females. "So you as well, Wendy?" Said girl only nodded before she continued. "I didn't say a thing because I wanted all of you to rest properly because there has been so much trouble lately."
Erza and Lucy shared a surprised look with each other before the redhead began to chuckle under her breath. "Looks like we all had the same idea about not wanting to alarm the others." This time it was Wendy and Lucy who looked surprised at Erza, telling her that she had to elaborate.
"I sensed this weird magic several times today. I have already patrolled the beach and some parts of the nearby forest, but I couldn't find something out of the ordinary. The way you are looking tells me, that you were doing something similar, right?" Lucy and Wendy nodded. Erza laughed at that.
Before any of the women could say something else though, there was suddenly a commotion outside the restaurant, loud and boisterous. They shared a suspicious look with each other before turning their head to the doors, not surprised at all when they burst open and two males came running in.
"There they are!" Natsu shouted while pointing in their direction, sounding like he was out of breath. "Fucking finally," Gray growled, sounding just as exhausted as Natsu did before the two men began sprinting towards them. Immediately the three women went on high alert, ready to face whatever threat Natsu and Gray had encountered, but what came next hit them unprepared.
Both males jumped down from the upper part, landing safely on their feet. Natsu wore a tight, sleeveless red shirt with flames decorating the front, leaving very little to the imagination of what was beneath the fabric. He had matched it with red shorts and red sneakers with white laces and stripes on each side. It was kinda strange to see him not with his black sandals. Gray wore a similar outfit, only that he had picked a mixture of ice and dark blue, colours that were matching his preferred element a lot better.
When they had found their footing again, they jumped again, this time on the ground before they slid across the floor directly beneath the safety of the tablecloth. Wendy and Lucy yelped at the sudden move of their friends, but their synchronized plead forced their thoughts to an abrupt halt. "Help us!" they basically begged from beneath the table and Erza, Wendy and Lucy understood the meaning of their plead a moment later.
"Gray-sama, Natsu-sama," girly screeches echoed from the upper part of the restaurant. "Please give us your babies!" one of the girls all but screamed throughout the entire restaurant. 'Oh dear,' Erza, Wendy and Lucy thought simultaneously. Suddenly Natsu's and Gray's desperation was very clear to them. Luckily a few waiters took charge and asked the intruders kindly to leave the restaurant. Heated arguments followed from the girls, but eventually, they were convinced that their Gray-sama and Natsu-sama wouldn't be in such a third-rate food stand as they called it.
Long minutes of silence passed around the table occupied by the Fairy Tail mages. "Are the crazy chicks gone?" Gray eventually asked in a hushed manner. Lucy decided she would release her poor friends from suffering. "You guys can come out," she said. "You won't become fathers tonight," she teased a second later, the united groan from Natsu and Gray making her and Erza laugh.
Groggily, the two males crawled out from beneath the table before they slumped into the chairs Erza had wisely ordered. Both of them looked extremely tired, meaning the chase must have lasted for quite a while. "Mind telling us how you two ended up in this situation?" Erza asked, a glint of amusement sparkling in her eyes.
There was a pause, Gray and Natsu somehow communicating with their eyes alone, before it was the fire mage who explained how the ordeal came to be. "Seriously, we have no idea. One moment, Gray and I were just strolling leisurely through the mall they have here, buying and eating stuff. In the next moment, there's suddenly this loud screech and the bunch of girls was running after us, asking us to fuck their pussies and so on." the fire mage explained, huffing in what had to be disgust.
Lucy, having expected that Natsu wouldn't watch what he was saying while Wendy was around, had blocked the poor girl's ears with her hands, making sure that she could keep her innocence for the time being.
"And they were so damn fast on top of that. Seriously, compared to them Jet looks like he's moving as fast as a snail." Natsu continued to share the experience before Gray joined in. "Yeah. Compared to them Juvia looks like an angel straight from heaven."
Lucy and Erza alike raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, but they didn't say anything about it. The blond maiden could partly understand why the girls had gone crazy though. Natsu and Gray were handsome and eye candies through and through. Even blind people would be able to tell that much and neither of them was doing a great job of hiding it.
With such traitorous thoughts roaming her mind, Lucy looked at Natsu and observed him as he shared more details of the chase with the team. At some point, he raised his right arm and brushed through his pink locks, his biceps rippling from the simple motion. Lucy suddenly felt very hot and it only became worse when she noticed that onyx eyes were staring at her as well, a huge and fanged smirk on Natsu's lips. He even had the audacity to wink at her, making Lucy feel even hotter than before.
Soon enough, the story of the chase was over though and another story was told. Somewhere along the tales, their food and drinks were served as the team lost itself in the pleasant atmosphere of the restaurant. All thoughts about the mysterious magic were long forgotten.
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There was crackling fire all around him, the heat burning on his skin as blood dripped from his bruised body. Not a single drop was his though, but the tears streaming down his face were. How had it come this far? A question a young Zeref was asking himself over and over again as he bore witness to how the flames destroyed everything he had loved. All the while holding his dead brother in his arms whose blood was drenching Zeref's robes in crimson scarlet, showing the ebony-haired boy how worthless their vow to protect had been all this time.
Minutes ago Zeref's world had been okay and full of love as always. The laughter of his family still echoed in his ears as they sat at the dining table. But everything changed the moment their dad Natherious collapsed suddenly, vomiting gallons of blood from his mouth.
"Natherious!" The panicked scream of his mother Luna was still echoing in Zeref's ears as she hurried to her husband's side in less than a second. "Daddy!" Natsu and he had shouted a moment later, also rushing to their idol's side. However, he who should be most frightened only had a look of confusion on his face. Zeref could only guess what was going through his dad's mind at that moment, but he knew that it was neither panic nor fright.
His mother had then sent him to the well to collect water. If Zeref had known what would happen next he would have stayed behind so that he could still be with his family. The moment he left the house, there was a deafening roar before night turned into day. A moment later pillars of fire rained down from the heavenly tent, burning as hot as the sun itself. Each house was obliterated in less than a second, only his home somehow managed to prevail a little longer against the hellish onslaught.
However, the shockwaves knocked Zeref out as his small body was tossed around like a rag doll, Before his eyes closed entirely, he was overcome by a warm sensation only the protective embrace of the arms of his father could create. The ebony-haired child knew it had to be an illusion though because his dad was still in the house. With the last fragments of his consciousness, Zeref saw a gargantuan shadow of a dragon looming in the skies before his world became dark.
When he awoke again, day had turned back into night, but Zeref could have very well awoken in another world as well. Everything he knew was not more and when he looked back to the burning thing that he once called home, his new world was already shattered. In front of his former house lay his younger brother Natsu in a pool of blood, dirt and soot covering his entire body. Zeref screamed as he ran to his brother, shaking him and pleading with him to open his onyx eyes again, but there was no response, only a deadly silence.
Their vow was broken and-
Midnight pools shot wide open, burning tears forming endless rivers on his cheeks as Zeref gasped for air. His breaths were ragged and irregular, just like his heartbeat. He turned around so that he was no longer laying on his back, but it did little to improve his condition. Instinctively, his hand reached for the necklace dangling from his neck, his fingers clutching his most important possession.
However, it was not enough as the day he lost his happiness repeated in his mind over and over again like a broken recorder. The invasion of long-suppressed emotions and memories overwhelmed the black mage and his body began vomiting whatever he had last eaten. Gurgles, retching noises and coughs filled the air as Zeref Dragneel lost the battle against his human heart and soul which were unable to deal with all the pain the ebony-haired male was carrying inside him.
His magic burst forward, but it was not the cursed power Ankhseram had bestowed upon him. It was the power that originated from his own blood, the gift he received from his parents, his father in particular, upon his first day in this world. Black flames roared to life with violent force and devoured the world around him. Nothing touched by his flames was spared and banished into the abyss of magic from where Zeref Dragneel's magic originated. Not even his curse dared to get in the way of those flames.
At some point, Zeref found his footing again and began stumbling forwards, the soft sounds of waves hitting the shore in the distance drawing him in like a moth to a flame. Zeref's tears never stopped, falling and falling from his chin to the ground. "Mom, dad, Natsu. How much longer must I exist in this world when the only thing I want is to be with all of you again?" the black mage cried in desperation, weeping about his loss from more than four hundred years ago and still that haunted him to this day.