"speaking"

"thinking"

On with the story

A few days later at Hixs town

The town was rebuilt in no time as things were back to normal after Hades attack

At Natsu's mansion, things there were the same, but the farm wasn't so much the same

Natsu and Atlas were out of town, they had to go to Corona Town to visit Mayaka and the others because of their call saying that there was a bit of trouble at the mountain

So now, the girls were in the mansion staying there till they get back


At the living room, Cana, Lucy, Éclair, Ultear with Meredy were around as things inside the mansion was calm and quiet with nothing happening

Erza, Kagura, Irene, and Mira were visiting the town, doing some shopping or something

Ikaruga with Minerva were visiting around the woods to the small lake where it was a peaceful and calm place. Kamika was who knows where.

"man, this is so boring~!" Cana groaned out while leaning back against the couch before drinking a bottle of beer "even drinking beer isn't making me fun"

"wow, Cana drinks beer and isn't having fun" Lucy said joking as she was in a chess game with Éclair while Ultear carried Meredy, the child was taking a nap at the moment and the Time Mage was humming her a lullaby "we must be in a different world, right now"

"joke all you want, Lucy" Cana said before she groans again "man, it's so boring that I can't even think of anything fun to do"

"why not watch Tv?" Éclair said while placing away her knight piece and taking away Lucy's pawn piece

"nothing fun on it" Cana replied before groaning in boredom even more

"magazine?" Lucy said while moving her rook piece forward to a new position

"already read all the ones here and the ones that came into the town" Cana replied "man, it's god damn boring if there's no action at all these days"

"why don't you just take a nap or something?" Ultear asked while patting Meredy's back, the child sucking on her thumb as she sleeps "you're bothering Meredy's nap"

"already took a nap, and it didn't help at all" Cana replied as she smooshed her face to the sofa and let out a long bored groan "thwings awe swo bowring~"

"bad for you" Lucy said before she placed down her queen to a position that checks Éclair's King "and that's checkmate, Éclair"

"is that so?" Éclair asked with a smile as she moved her rook piece and it was the reverse "I believe I turned the table around"

"wha?! I should've seen that move coming!" Lucy said in shock as Éclair just defeated her in chess

"don't Natsu have something fun in his house?" Cana asked turning her face to the side "there's not much fun here other than the games he have lying around"

Before long, everyone heard a racket from the second floor as this got their whole attention

"did you guys hear that?" Ultear asked as the others nodded

"sounds like someone is up there" Cana said, her boredom now gone

"but who?" Éclair asked "the others are out, right now"

"let's go and find out" Lucy said


The girls went upstairs as they went to the room that was directly above the living room

Lucy opened the door in as it was a closet room

"what do you see?" Éclair asked as Lucy peeks inside and comes out, shrugging her shoulders

Inside the closet room is nothing but boxes, mops, brooms, and more boxes

"there's nothing other than these stuffs" Lucy said as everyone peeks inside before backing off, the closet room was dusty after all

"then what do you think made that noise?" Cana asked before they heard a loud thump above them

"is it just me or did that sounded like it came from the attic?" Lucy asked as the others nodded

The group soon went near the stairs as Cana opened the attic door where stairs came down to the floor with lots of dust

"-cough- -cough- something tells me that Natsu forgot to clean the attic" Cana said waving off the dust while Ultear had backed away as she was still carrying Meredy with her

"so..who is going up there to check?" Lucy asked as they look at each other before back to the blonde mage who sweatdropped "you guys can't be serious"

Before long, Lucy started getting up the stairs with a flashlight in hand as she pops her head into the attic and then shines her flashlight around, sees dozens of boxes everywhere with the addition of some old furniture

"what do you see?" Cana called out as Lucy looks around

"boxes, old furniture" Lucy said before she sneezes "and lots of dust"

"what about that noise? What made it?" Ultear asked as Lucy looks around the place and sees nothing at all

"I don't know, I don't see anything out of the ordinary" Lucy said looking around while flashing her flashlight around to see anything before she went down the stairs "whatever was up there, I don't think its there anymore"

Thumping sounds soon came ranging as the girls look to the ceiling

"you were saying?" Cana said while placing her hands on her hips

"I think there's someone up there, trying to hide" Éclair said looking at the ceiling and hearing the noise

"an intruder?" Ultear said while protectively carrying Meredy

"whatever or whoever it is, let's get rid of it" Cana said


Lucy's head popped out in the ceiling as she climbed up before Cana came next

The girls got up while Meredy was downstairs still sleeping on the couch with Happy watching over her while Ultear and the others check upstairs

"man, this is a lot of dust" Cana said coughing as she fans her hand to her side, blowing away some dust

"and lots of spiderwebs too" Éclair added in as she sees many spiderwebs with their spiders crawling around

Everyone looks around as they check every corner of the place to find the source of the thumping sound

"got anything?" Ultear asked the others who shook their head

"it's weird that there was thumping here but nothing is making that thumping noise at all" Éclair said as they look around but couldn't find anything that was making the noise

Lucy was looking around before she spotted a dusty hand mirror just laying on a box

"hey, look at this thing" Lucy called out as she grabs the hand mirror and picks it up "a hand mirror, I haven't seen one of this when I was just a little girl"

"why would Natsu have a hand mirror and keep it in the attic?" Éclair asked as Lucy blows off the dust on the hand mirror revealing its body that was shining in silver

"-cough- -cough- you could've done that after we get down from here" Ultear said as she and the others were coughing from the dust blow

"-cough- -cough- sorry!" Lucy said coughing


An hour later, the girls were back in the living room with Meredy who was awake

They all look at the silver hand mirror laying upon the table as they just look at it

"so, anyone want to bet that Natsu once used this?" Cana asked as Lucy sighs

"do you have to bet sometimes?" Ultear asked with a raised eyebrow

"what? I'm bored" Cana replied

"this is a nice hand mirror" Lucy said picking it up and looks at her reflection before she sees a horrifying face in the mirror that caused her to scream surprise while throwing away the hand mirror

"hey, watch it" Cana said as she caught the hand mirror before it fell to the floor "you could've break it"

"t-there was a face there! A horrifying face!" Lucy stuttered out while pointing at the hand mirror

Cana looks at Lucy confused before to the mirror as she just sees her own reflection

"what face? Other than the one that you see in a mirror" Cana said as Lucy got near and looks at the mirror, only seeing her and Cana's reflection "Lucy, I think you played too much Chess"

DING DONG!

"I'll go and get it" Éclair said standing up from her seat and went to answer the door "probably Erza and the others coming back"

"I could've sworn that there was a face suddenly appearing in the mirror" Lucy said grabbing hold of the hand mirror and looks at her reflection

"sounds like you are having delusions, Lucy" Ultear said as Meredy climbed up and sat on her lap

"no, I'm not. I swear that I saw it" Lucy said looking at her reflection intensely

Éclair soon came back as so did the other girls who went out

As they went in, Irene saw the hand Mirror; Lucy was holding, and her eyes widen

"don't look at the mirror!" Irene shouted, surprising everyone

"eh? Why?" Lucy asked looking at Irene before back to the hand mirror and a monster face appeared, causing her to scream

A claw like hand suddenly came out of the mirror and grabs Lucy's face, the blonde mage instantly screams

"what is that thing!?" Mira exclaimed

"get it off of her quick!" Irene exclaimed as Erza and Kagura ran to Lucy and started helping her in pulling away the monster hand that was pulling her face in "get it off of her before it sucks her in!"

"we're trying!" Erza exclaimed while pulling the monster hand off from Lucy

"it's too strong!" Kagura exclaimed before Mira came in and she transforms into her Satan Soul

"move!" Mira exclaimed as her hands were coated in electricity

Kagura and Erza backed away as Mira grabs hold of the monster hand and grips it tight

"Evil Spark!" Mira exclaimed as she electrocuted the monster hand and Lucy at the same time

The monster hand lets go of Lucy's face as the Blonde mage was freed

Mira throws away the monster hand as the hand mirror slams to a wall but the monster hand started crawling around the floor

"that is just messed up!" Cana exclaimed standing on the couch as the monster hand crawls around before it crawls towards Ultear and Meredy

"it's going after Ultear and Meredy!" Minerva exclaimed as Irene stepped forward and waved her hands forward

The monster hand floated up as it was in the grasp of Irene's magic

"light up the fireplace! Now!" Irene exclaimed as Mira nodded before firing a magic blast into the fireplace and ignites it

Irene waved her hand to the side as the hand mirror flies into the fire, with the monster hand that instantly burns it around

The monster hand soon disappeared back into the mirror as its mirror blackened

"what was that thing?" Lucy said getting back up while holding a hand to her face as it got a bit scratched up

"that was a Barbo" Irene said as the flames died down and she takes out the blackened hand mirror that looks to be fine state but not the mirror

"a what?" the others said in unison

"a Barbo, it's a creature that appears in mirrors or anywhere that has a reflection" Irene explained as she takes out a napkin and covers the mirror with it "it's a vile and a very aggressive creature"

"how come we don't know what this Barbo thing and you do?" Minerva asked having a skeptical look

"I know because this Barbo is what slaughtered an entire battalion during the magia war decades back" Irene stated as everyone had a surprised look "it's elusive and very dangerous. No one was able to kill it but Igneel managed to seal it away into this hand mirror"

"so, this Barbo thing. What does it look like?" Mira asked a bit curious

"you do not want to know" Irene replied as she placed the covered hand mirror away "for our sake, do not clean the mirror of this hand mirror. The Barbo can only come out if it's near a mirror of a large size, not a small one. Igneel only managed to capture it into this with a suicidal plan. I don't know how we are going to catch it if it accidently come out"

"good thing that you guys came back on time" Cana said before sighing "who knows what would've happened if you guys didn't come back"

"so that thing must've caused the noise, huh?" Lucy said as Éclair and Ultear nodded

"what noise?" Kamika asked before everyone heard the loud thumping noise again and it was coming from above as this made Cana groan

"what is making that noise?" Cana said looking annoyed

"sounds like its upstairs" Erza noted hearing it

"wait a minute" Irene said as she looks at the covered hand mirror before to Lucy and the others "where is the other hand mirror?"

"the other hand mirror? You mean there's two hand mirrors?" Lucy said with her jaw drop

"the Barbo always attack in pair, a male and the female. This mirror has the female" Irene explained as Lucy, Cana, Éclair, and Ultear looks at each other and gulped nervously


The girls were on the second floor as Irene climbed up the stairs to the attic

She peeked around and saw something crawling away very fast as it was not a rat because of how big it was and how fast it was

"it's in there, alright" Irene said coming down the stairs "something must've blown the dust from its mirror, giving it a chance to slip out its hand"

"I think we know what blew its dust away" Cana said crossing her arms as she, Éclair, and Ultear looks at Lucy who laughs nervously

"so what do we do now? just put it there till Natsu and Atlas-san gets back?" Mira asked

"no, we have to get its hand back into the mirror, the Barbo is an intelligent creature. It'll be a matter of time for it to learn how to get out of the house by other means" Irene said as everyone soon hears a loud crawling sound coming from the attic "or worse, it could find the other handmirror and release its partner out"

"what are the chances of that happening?" Kagura asked before they heard something crashing up in the attic as it was loud "never mind"

"alright, everyone. We need to cover up anything that has a reflection" Irene stated "smudge it up, cover it up with a towel, anything that can be used to cover up a reflection"

The girls nodded before they all started to cover up, every mirror, windows, anything that can create a reflection

After 20 minutes, they gathered back to the attic's stairs

"alright, Erza and i will go upstairs and try to catch it before it can escape" Irene said as she started climbing up the attic stairs with Erza "all of you stay here, in case it comes jumping out, alright?"

The others nodded before Irene and Erza started climbing up the stairs and into the attic

Lucy and the others just stay and watch as they had their magic readied in case the Barbo came jumping down

After a few seconds, things were quiet before they heard large crashing sounds coming from the attic and some shouting here and there

"sounds like a war inside," Mira said as Ikaruga nodded in agreement

Before long, Erza came crashing down the attic door with some sort of blueish imp-like creature that let out a screech at the others

"Kyaaa!" the girls let out a scream as the blueish imp ran away

"someone! catch that thing!" Irene shouted out, her head popping out of the attic door

"we're on it!" Mira exclaimed as she, Minerva, and Kamika chased after it

"are you alright?" Éclair asked as she helps up Erza

"yeah…that thing is strong" Erza replied while rubbing a hand to her head

"why didn't any of you catch it when it came down?!" Irene said while coming down the attic door

"uh, let's see. It might be because you didn't tell us that it looks so horrifying!" Cana stated with a terrified look

"and why is it so small? The female had giant hands while that thing…is well.. puny" Lucy asked

"Male Barbo is smaller in size than that of the female" Irene explained before they heard an explosion coming from the downstairs "and they're a lot faster and stronger than the females!"

Irene and the others went to the stairs where they find Mira crashing to the wall while in her Satan Soul

They look to the side and sees Minerva and Kamika trying to catch the small Barbo creature but whatever they tried to do, the small imp creature was too fast and agile

"I'm starting to wish that I didn't take that hand mirror" Lucy said as Cana nodded in agreement


That's a wrap!

Bye bye