p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Cia slammed the large dusty decrepit book on the table where the thunder legion sat. Zephyr put a hand on the small girl's shoulder, if he pushed down he was pretty sure he could break her, she was that fragile in this form. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""W-what's that?" Freed's eyes widened in fear and excitement./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""A book." Cia said plainly. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Well obviously, but what's in it?" Freed raised a brow./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" Cia huffed, and looked up to Zephyr for support, he looked at her nodding. She then ran away from the table. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""That's not what I meant!" Zephyr shouted chasing after her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Uhhhhhhh okay then?" Freed chuckled./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Man, Cia's probably scared of everything, basically anything could crush and kill her." Bickslow added shoving more chips into his mouth./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""She's said before that she's lasted centuries, so shes clearly managed." Laxus said grabbing a chip for himself before Bickslow ate them all./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Freed slowly moved a hand over the book cover moving the dust from it revealing a golden dragon, his eyes widened, "No way..."./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Evergreen scooted closer to look at the book with Freed, "Its certainly old..."./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""This is something I fantasize about often... finding old textbooks and journals... this..." Freed flips to the end of the book, "The author stopped writing around 390 years ago. So it clearly holds some importance to the old civilizations and their downfall." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Why would the small cursed girl and the tiger man have it then?" Bickslow asked resting his chin on his hands./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""How old is Zephyr anyway? There's no way he'd be over thirty." Evergreen pondered. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Don't know, don't care. He seems like he's prideful and ignorant too similar to Natsu." Laxus huffed./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Freed's eyes darted around the first few pages of the book, excitement fueling him after every period. This was a big deal. Something that could lead him to becoming a better wizard, something to make him stronger and more useful to Laxus. It appeared to be written in 1st person point of view, they clearly lived in the floating empire in a position of power. Why would Cia have this? But then the pieces began to fall into place the more and more he read, he finished the 4th page and softly closed the book. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""What's wrong?" Evergreen asked./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""I think I need to be alone to be able to experience this book properly." he pulled out a bag of jewel from his coat, "Eat what you want here's the money, I'll be home no later than 11." Freed stood up book held tightly to his chest as he practically ran out of the guild hall./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Damn, must've been some real spicy shit." Bickslow snickered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Laxus watched the doors for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Margaret who was gently sleeping in his arms, "Guess the book is just better than we thought."./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Weird he left Margaret with you though, I'd think he'd be afraid you'd crush her." Evergreen added./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Laxus shrugged, "Guess he think's i'm a decent parent."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Bickslow sticks his tongue out, "More diapers and pukey fun times for you then." his babies chanting "Gross" over and over./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Shut up will ya? She's asleep and their babbling is gonna wake her." Laxus grumbled./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;""Fine. Fine." Bickslow whined./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Laxus knew how Freed got with his books. But his shift in emotions worried him a bit, he decided he'd ask him about it later./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Meanwhile.../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Freed had found a secluded spot at the park under a tree and aside the lake, it was calming, and suitable for a heavy read like the one he figured he was holding on to. Freed once again glanced over at the book, the leather was worn... it was clearly older than him by a long-shot. Freed took a deep breath in and opened the book back up where he left off. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Freed's mind went wild the more and more he read, it was much much worse than he thought originally, the pages were stained sometimes with dried blood and wine, the smell added to the experience, he imagined it was how the empire always smelled during times of war. The words written in the book painted a good enough picture to understand why Cia handed the book to him, it wasn't just for him to acquire more knowledge on ruins, the knowledge he now held opened a whole new world in his head, the possibilities that he now knew that were in reach, if only he could find a way to the sky, beyond the heavy clouds that not even the exceeds could fly up into. Freed laid back and stared at the sky, "You hide so many more secrets than I thought..."./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"He now had a goal, a goal other than protecting Laxus and Fairy Tail, something he wanted to accomplish for nobody but himself. It was selfish, but he was letting himself be selfish, this had been his dream for years... something new to see./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #222222;"Freed stared out into the horizon the book held to his chest close to his heart, "Mount Zonia is my first stop."./p