Laxus groans, rolling awake to find Happy between his arms.
The room smells like the forest, and there's a box of supplies and books sprawled out all over him around the bed, along with a whole array of cat toys. Laxus peruses the cattail plant with confusion.
"...this isn't my house," he says.
"This is Porlyusica-san's house," says a voice he doesn't recognize, and he lifts his head to see a young man, decked out in thick clothing.
He's wrapped in woolen ponchos with colourful ribbon-work. He's facing away from Laxus, reaching for a war bonnet on the table before lifting it over his head, letting the mass of decorative feathers obscure what little of the cobalt blue hair he's seen.
When he turns around, Laxus is surprised to see he's also wearing a native mask that covers most of his face. This man really does not want to be seen.
"...I see," Laxus says. "Who are you?"
"I'm… Mystogan," he says. "Porlyusica-san told me to look after you and your cat."
That explains nothing.
Instead, Laxus just says, "his name is Happy. And he's not my cat." The aforementioned cat is drooling on his arm and cuddling around his elbow, it's not very convincing at all.
"Oh," Mystogan says, shuffling awkwardly. Then, he very obviously glances at the doorway. "She also told me to call her when you woke up, so I'm going now."
He leaves the room in a hurry, and Laxus frowns.
His fever is down and all this sweat is starting to feel disgusting. He's probably fine to go home now, right? Seriously it wasn't that bad, he didn't have to come all the way out here to—
"You gave me a whole load of trouble, young man," Porlyusica scowls at him and Laxus tenses. She tosses him a jar of powder and Laxus barely catches it before it drops on the ground. "There's your medicine. You know the drill, you take it till it's gone."
Laxus groans loudly. These things are very fucking bitter.
"You aren't a child anymore, you can take your damn medicine," she hisses. "Now gather your things and your cat and get out of here!"
Laxus scrambles before she throws him another jar of the poison.
"And don't take any detours! I don't want you relapsing from falling into the mud or some other stupid shit!"
"I'm not a child!"
Laxus groans, stepping into the little nameless run-down tavern in the outskirts of Magnolia, with Happy on his shoulder.
"He played with me while you were sleeping," Happy says, regarding the mysterious boy. He rubs his eyes sleepily, yawning. "He's a nice guy."
"Nice guy or not, have some wariness for strangers," Laxus mutters.
"But he gave me fish."
Laxus readies a retort, but it falls short and he stops before the door. Happy perks up as well when they start hearing loud conversation inside.
"Hey hey… are you sure it's Fairy Tail?"
"Look at the mark on her, it's for real."
" Dude , those guys really have no class. Absolutely unbelievable, they've really done it now… you think the council's going to take action?"
"By the Guild's Freedom of Association it's technically legal, so I don't think they can…"
"That poor girl."
"They've really gone too far now!"
Laxus' eyes meet Happy's, confused. What did the guild do now? Surely it wasn't about whatever Natsu was up to, was it? He looks in and sees the daytime drunkards crowded around the latest issue of Sorcerer's Weekly and the newspaper, and he frowns.
"Laxus…" Happy calls out weakly. Laxus turns and Happy drops something in his hands, sourced from the ground. It's a leaflet— no, a poster.
A missing person's poster.
"...Lucy Heartfilia," Laxus reads. The gossip feeds are filled with rumours on how her father is devastated about her disappearance. People suspect the girl, once a filial, obedient lady of nobility, has been Charmed and kidnapped to be endorsed for profit.
The current suspected perpetrators are…
"Hehe! Gya hahaa! Can you believe it? An official guild got their hands on illegal Charm! Now that's an investment us Dark Guilds can get behind. Look at the Fairies, finally showing their true colours!"
Laxus looks into the bar again. There's a large man, dark-skinned, monkey-faced, and a Dark Guild's mark in the forefront of his afro.
"I have a great idea! The Fairies have really gotten too cocky lately, don'cha think? I'd say we storm that dumpster! What'd you say, Big Brother Gato?"
"I agree, Big Brother Zato," the other monkey-faced bozo says. "I agree, Big Brother Zato."
"Gyaha! You're repeating yourself!"
"They're unforgivable, Big Brother Zato," Gato says, "kidnapping a girl into their guild, what are they doing to her? They're unforgivable, Big Brother Zato."
"Hey, they've got the right idea with that!" Zato laughs, "if we want some chicks, pay 'em to get in, right? Now it's got me thinking. What was ol' Makarov doing with so many children in his guild, anyways? You don't think he—"
Laxus pushes the doors of the bar open, and the entire bar falls silent.
Immediately, the recognition flashes through every person in the bar, and the gossipers bolt , throwing aside drinks and items and scrambling out the other exit, throwing money at the bartender to hopefully settle their bill.
The bartender looks near tears. "Oh no…"
Gato and Zato notice Laxus immediately, scoffing in his face as Laxus leveled them with a glare. The bartender gives Happy a strange glance.
"Oh, speak of the devil!" Zato snorts. "Makarov's grandkid! I'm sure you'd know best. So, tell us all the dirty secrets, kiddo! We're all ears!" And then he bursts into laughter again.
Gato's laughing too, choked up and droopy. "All ears," he giggles, "ears! Get it? All ears."
"Z- Zato," the bartender says, "could you not pick a fight… please?"
Zato laughs. "Don't worry, Dallas! People who have nothing to hide have nothing to get angry about!" he leans back on his chair, smirk curling on his face. "Unless I'm right?"
Laxus' hands spark with lightning.
"It seems you want to die today," Laxus says, a wry smile growing on his face. "Would you like some help with that?"
The bartender panics. "P- Please, sir! I really wouldn't try to face down Zato, he's–"
"I know that mark! That mark's from Naked Mummy," Happy says, raising his hand like an enthusiastic child answering the nonexistent teacher's question.
"Y- Yeah," the bartender says. "Naked Mummy is the local ruling around here—"
"Happy," Laxus interrupts, and the man squeaks, shutting up immediately.
Happy raises a hand, "aye! Happy here."
"Sit there and drink some milk or whatever cats do."
"Aye, sir! I like my milk unnecessarily hot, like it's almost charcoal! Microwaves are fine."
Happy stacks books on the seat so he can comfortably sit at the counter, and the bartender stares at him in complete bewilderment before meekly fetching a glass.
"Now, you piece of shit," Laxus' face pulls immediately flat and he turns to Zato, eyes burning with fury. "Step outside."
Lucy hums as she makes her way to the guild, Plue by her side.
Cana and Levy don't go out of town for missions when Mira isn't home, so Lucy goes on a mission with Elfman instead.
"Sure is nice having a big brawly guy that can punch through problems," Lucy chuckles, walking on the ledge of the riverside as they made their way home.
Elfman grins, smug. "Of course! There's no problem that can't be solved when I'm around," he says.
"Oh, and who was the one that actually solved the clues to the treasure today?" Lucy teases, standing up straight and feigning pretentiousness. " And who was the one that had to make a story up on the spot when the townsfolk complained about the damage to their historical ruins?"
Elfman crumbles, "you, Milady Lucy. Please forgive me."
Lucy chortles, playing along. "I accept strawberry milkshakes from Cremoco's as compensation."
"Oh monster, no," Elfman says, "anything but that overpriced excuse of a store. I can make you a better one straight from the guild bar. Please don't drink from that unmanly place ever again."
"Wait, for real?"
"I'm a man that keeps my word."
"Yay—Oh, oh wait aaccck!" Lucy cheers, nearly tripping off the ledge before Elfman (and Plue) squawks in surprise, easily grabbing her right back by the waist and setting her back down on the road.
Everyone collectively breathes a sigh of relief.
"Thanks," Lucy says, straightening her clothes again. "You've got quick reflexes."
Elfman's smile curls in mild conflict, and he turns away. "I've had practice," he says, "hasn't anyone ever told you that's dangerous?"
"Usually there are…" Lucy looks toward the river. The older men are by the boat today as well, but instead of calling out to her, staring almost warily. "Huh?"
Elfman looks around, concerned. Suddenly they notice the multitudes of eyes around them, people whispering among themselves, keeping their distance.
"Hey, isn't that…?"
"It's her, right?"
"Isn't it suspicious that Elfman's with her? They usually won't put a newbie like her around someone so hard to control. They've got nothing in common, it's weird that they're working together."
"It's an unusual combination, for sure."
"Yeah, where's Gray? Or Cana?"
"Isn't it suspicious that we never see Lucy going on missions alone?"
"Yeah, that's weird. Fairy Tail mages, they're always in teams when they go out. I heard they're not allowed out without partners. You think it's a watch system?"
"What? That's freaky."
Elfman scowls at the crowd, eyes narrowing. Lucy notices the unwanted attention as well, and instinctively, she hides behind the largest shield in her vicinity, Elfman himself.
Elfman, sensing her discomfort, sets a hand on her shoulder. "I think we should go back to the guild."
"Y-yes…" Lucy's very unsettled, "we should."
As they run through the streets, Lucy scooping up Plue in her hands, the crowd only gets excited, seeing their urgency. Something's very wrong in town.
"Did you see that?"
"He ordered her! Did you see how afraid she was when she answered him?"
"He even makes sure she's so close to him, like he's afraid we'd take her away! They're definitely hiding something!"
"It's strange! They've never been that close before! Something is clearly wrong."
"Before that, too. Did you hear him restricting her from going to a store?"
"Poor her, I can't believe—"
What in the actual hell is going on?
They find the answer when they run into the guild hall, and the sight of it makes Lucy lose her breath.
The inside is completely vandalized. Tables and chairs being thrown about, wooden floorboards broken— those are normal things. What wasn't normal was the mud and paint, and raw eggs and rotten food.
All across the hall were missing persons posters— Lucy's face is on all of them, the name of the meek and dearly beloved daughter of the Heartfilias advertised for all to see. Spray painted in red across the bar are the words, 'LET HER GO HOME'.
Lucy's hand reaches up to her mouth in horror.
"Elfman! Lucy!" the guild notices them. Everyone trying to clean up immediately stops, turning to them in surprise. There is anger in their eyes, surprised that they returned.
"Lu-chan!" Levy comes up first, reaching for Lucy, taking her by the upper arm and shoulder. "Lu-chan, what's going on?"
Lucy doesn't know how to speak.
Why? Why now?
"We were all surprised," Jet has a newspaper in hand. There's an article about the Heartfilia Konzern, where Jude Heartfilia is depicted crying on camera as he reveals his daughter's disappearance.
"...what is this?" Lucy whispers, disbelieving.
Droy hands her the Sorcerer's— and for the first time in her life, Lucy hated that her face was on a wide feature. She's smiling on it, but all of those pictures were paparazzi shots. The gossip magazine went on theories and speculations, speaking of the similarities between Lucy and the missing Heartfilia heiress. There were even pictures of her mother's portrait in the Heartfilia Konzern, just to sell the similarities.
And then the article went on. Why would a genteel lady of nobility walk willingly into a rambunctious, troublemaking guild? Why is she dressed like a tomboy, going around being brutish and immodest? Having penniless plights?
There's only one explanation, and there are signs, dating back to many years ago…
"They suspect us of using Charm to keep her here?" Elfman reads, "what on earth is this? They're cooking up some ridiculous accusations here!"
"What the hell are they, conspiracy theorists?!"
"We can sue them for defamation!"
"Exactly!" Levy throws her hands into the air, "Laki and Cana already went to complain. Sorcerer's always like this. They always milk us for all the news is worth— but they should know when they've gone too far!"
"Don't worry! None of us here care about any of that bull, Lucy," Jet assures. "This is a problem for our reputation, but our reputation's always been rock bottom anyways. So it's no big deal."
"This was done by kids and tourists, so it's no big deal," Reedus says, gesturing at the guild walls, "the citizens of Magnolia are on our side, at least in the city center. They'll realize it's all rumours and come around soon, it's happened before."
"But I do wonder," Droy brings up, "why didn't you tell us?"
"Yeah, Lu-chan," Levy says, taking her hands gently, "it's not like any of us would have minded if you're actually rich. We're not going to take advantage of you or anything…" she trails off when she sees Lucy's face.
Lucy's completely pale.
The guild hall falls silent, and no one misses the way Lucy's fingers shake, her lips tremble, and she insistently looks at the magazine, praying for it to be her imagination.
"It's not… I'm sor— I…" she chokes up, looking up desperately, frazzled. She's panicking, and she doesn't realize no one in the room genuinely blames her. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I didn't think…"
I didn't think this would happen.
"Just… it's," Lucy keeps her hands down, like a chastised child, "it's been a year, and he hasn't ever said anything. He barely even noticed when I left. I didn't even take anything out of the house that I didn't have the right to, so I don't understand why— he didn't care until now. Why would he…"
She's rambling, her words coming a mile a minute as she looks around, discomposed, trying her hardest to justify herself.
She doesn't dare look up. She knows everyone's staring at her, but she doesn't have the courage to look up, to see the accusation, surprise, and confusion on their faces.
Sure they don't mind , but this isn't something that can be laughed off. The rumours are only going to get worse if she doesn't go home, and once their reputation takes further nosedives, their jobs… their livelihoods are at stake.
She can't bear the idea that she would be what causes Fairy Tail to crumble. She can't.
(She needs to go home.)
But the thought of going back to that cold place after she's found warmth here— it seizes her with terror. She'll have to go back there, to that prison of a room, dolled up for posterity, smiling for favour, faking her way up to the highest throne she can find.
(She can't go home. She won't.)
Finally, she bites down on her bottom lip and clenches a hand around her guild mark.
"I… please don't make me go back there."
She's ready for backlash. She's ready to be told she's selfish, and that she has to go home and not inconvenience all these nice people. Maybe, if Fairy Tail scolded her, she could finally break the glass wall of her stubbornness and bring up the strength to go back to that place.
But none of that comes.
The temperature in the guild hall goes completely cold, and Lucy looks up in surprise to see every member's eyes narrowed into a frown. They're standing stoic, and Wakaba takes a long drag of smoke.
Levy's eyes are shadowed over her bangs, but she brushes them aside and smiles, tight but genuine.
When she reaches up to Lucy's face to wipe away the tears— Lucy jumps, not realizing she'd even been crying— Levy leans in closer, wrapping her arms around Lucy, cradling her head to her chest.
"Okay," Levy says. Just like that, just so easy, without a single doubt in her words.
Lucy sees the emotions flicker as one in every set of eyes in the guild, and she breaks into pieces. She buries her face into Levy's shoulder and cries.
"I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble."
"Stay here," Levy says, bringing a hand up to her head. "None of us will make you go where you don't want to. You're one of us, after all. If you want to hide, we'll hide you."
"...I see, that's what happened," Makarov sighs.
He'd gotten egged on the way home from the guild masters' meeting. Bisca and Alzack got hit, too, and while Alzack desperately tried to scrub their shawls clean in the laundry room, Bisca was trying to get the raw egg smell out of her hair. A shower didn't help.
"I– I'm sorry…" Lucy is interrupted by a hand coming up to her mouth.
"That's enough apologies from you, Lu-chan," Levy says. "No one blames you. It's the fault of whatever immature prick wrote that ridiculous article!"
"And her dad?" Elfman suggests.
"And her dad, I guess," Jet nods in agreement.
"Well, this isn't really good," Bisca says, "Cana and Laki won't be back until tomorrow. Erza's held up at the border because of her luggage, and…"
"Thunder legion?"
"No news. Knowing them, they won't move until Laxus does."
"And Natsu, Mira, and Gray aren't back yet and we don't know if they'll be soon," Levy nods. "Anyone know where Laxus went?"
"Last I heard he blew up a bar in Kingprotea Town," Makarov says, opening a wad of papers in his pocket. "I just got the bill for half a wall, a roof, three tables, four chairs, and a glass of hot milk. He's not coming home any time soon if he doesn't want a piece of my wrath."
The guild gives him a synchronous, "dammit, Laxus," and Makarov nods sagely.
"Oh, so that's where Happy is," Bisca says, very dryly.
"In that case," Levy takes charge. Since all the S-class are out, the authority's on membership seniority now, adults not included. She holds a light pen in hand and draws a table in the air. "For now we'll take shifts escorting Lucy and guarding the guild. Then when any of the others get back, we figure out if we can do anything about the article and our general reputation, maybe with a public announcement from the Master. Is that alright with everyone?"
"Yeah," comes the collective reply from the guild. "Give me a shift on sentry duty," a few immediately volunteer. "And everyone be careful when taking jobs."
"Erza's not home now, so Fairy Hills might need more protection, too."
"I think we can leave the boys dorm to the wolves, so can half of you camp in ours?"
Lucy watches as they collectively organize themselves, in a united way she's never seen before. They're always picking fights and causing chaos due to terrible teamwork, and yet, when they're facing a common goal, they come together like a banquet.
"Let her go home, they said?" Makarov laughs at the graffiti that's stained the wall. "What a joke. Clearly, this is her home now."
Lucy feels her heart lift with such unspeakable joy, she strains to hold back the tears. She brings her hands up to her mouth and tries her best to breathe.
Makarov tolerates.
Cana and Laki come home with bad news. Sorcerer's Weekly has refused to take down the article. Even if they did, it's far too circulated to be recalled, and a court case would just be a waste of time. But Makarov tolerates.
Jude Heartfilia sends a request for his daughter to come home, and Makarov burns it. He doesn't take action, though, he simply tolerates.
When the Council calls them up and places the guild's activities on probationary halt for investigations— Makarov tolerates.
When the citizens of Magnolia sneer at them, only half believing them, refusing them service in order to protect their own reputations— Makarov tolerates.
Erza comes home and half her things are irreparably damaged. Apparently, some civilians set fire to her luggage, and she couldn't save it, nor could she retaliate when her opponents were civilians. But she smiles it off after hearing of the situation.
Makarov tolerates.
The Dark Guilds are getting cheeky now. Fairy Tail's half a step away from their rights, so any trouble they cause might just be the final straw. Every one of them's eager to be the one that drags Fairy down from the light. But Makarov tolerates.
One of Loke's girlfriends is assaulted in the night. Apparently, she shouldn't have associated with a member of Fairy Tail, especially one as obnoxious as the playboy everyone despises. They all break up with him, with some necessary dramatics, and Loke nurses a few broken ribs when he finally makes it home. He raises a thumbs up on his condition, though he doesn't protest when Cana offers him a lap pillow.
Even then, Makarov tolerates.
Lucy doesn't smile. She hides, and shrinks into herself. Cana is always by her side, assuring her that no one bears a grudge against her. They have to go out of town for work, but mercenaries will always be hired and their livelihoods aren't in danger.
Makarov tolerates.
…And then Makarov doesn't.
"The guild!" Macao gasps, being one of the first to make it to the guild, Cana and Wakaba by his side. "What happened?!"
It's speared full of holes, iron pillars impaling it through segments, creating a horrific art piece out of the once proud building.
"What could even…" Wakaba gapes. The building's still standing, they didn't intend to crush it. They just wanted to make a show of it. "This is a lot of metal for such an insufficient amount of damage. What magic even is this?"
"Wait…" Cana's breath holds. "Who was on guard duty last night?"
The realization sinks in. It was Team Shadow Gear.
Cana runs into the guild, throwing open the barely intact doors.
The hall is a mess, of course. The bar is shattered to smithereens, the walls caved in, hopelessly covered in debris. And across the entire hall, burned in with what could only be soldered iron in the shape of letters— " RETURN LUCY HEARTFILIA" .
"Cana!" Alzack yells. Cana runs back out of the door immediately. "Everyone, we— you need to get here. Now. To the town square!"
Bisca is right behind him, breathing harshly.
"Levy and Jet and Droy are—!!"