Updated with minor edits and changes - 2/15/2019
-vVv-
Time seemed to fly by.
I was starting to get pretty good with my rune magic. Enough that the master cleared me to work with team Shadowgear on some of their jobs, provided that there was no combat involved. It was pretty interesting to see the variety of things that the noncombatants got involved in.
Put simply, they did everything. Repairing broken or damaged public property, message running, research, item recovery, tutoring, lawn care, forest restoration, or my personal favorite: Curse breaking.
Curses, like regular magic could come in various forms. The only real difference was they typically had a negative effect. Just like runes could be used to imbue objects with useful effects, they could be used to place curses.
To break a curse, you had to identify it, work out what it was intended to do and what it was actually doing, then work with the discrepancies to render the runic layout null and void. That, or you could fulfill the built in trigger that would lift the curse. Only the most powerful and dangerous curses didn't have something worked into them that could break them. You either had to experiment and try and guess what would lift it, or cut the curse off from its original power source.
I had gotten to the point with my Retrocognition that I could identify the exact wording of almost any written magical work with some examination and focus to read the story of how it had been created. Naturally, that sort of information made curse breaking much easier. Sometimes, I could even identify the original caster, which also went a long way. I let Team Shadowgear take all the credit and just received a stipend of the pay and lots of good experience with different styles of writing.
-vVv-
My ability to 'read' the stories of the world made me the go to place for gossip. Or it would have had it been made known exactly what I could do. Makarov had decided that this branch of my magic, while it would make me invaluable for criminal investigations and general detective work, wasn't something that should be common knowledge just yet.
"Once you take a guild mark and have your own reputation, it will be your prerogative on how to use your magic. Until then, Fae-chan, keep it to yourself. The guild members that know you either know better than to let word of your abilities slip, or have grown so accustomed to it that it doesn't occur to them to talk about it." I agreed with Makarov's judgement on keeping it quiet. I don't think he had even told the Rune Knights what my magic was, just that I had magic and was practicing and developing my abilities. There was an unspoken rule about when you could ask what kind of magic someone had and when you couldn't. Among the guild, there weren't very many secrets period and magic was no exception.
I felt that even once I took Fairy Tail's emblem and started working on my own, I wasn't going to flaunt this ability. Knowing things I shouldn't could easily get me into trouble.
-vVv-
I was now fluent in reading and writing my personal rune dialect. According to Freed, my style was very descriptive and deliberate. Much to my amusement, my Runes looked like the script from Tolkien's elves. There were some differences. The sentence structure was different and the writing was more meant to flow and meander instead of being read in straight lines. One page I'd written for practice was somehow meant to be read from the top and bottom at the same time. Levy and Freed had both said that it would be a... challenge for anyone trying to get a read on what I was doing.
I was currently studying how to access Archive Magic. I could really use some extra storage, and Archive magic was my most viable option.
Storing weapons and physical objects was not something I could do, at least not with the various methods my guildmates used. But Archive sounded like something I could tap into. And since I possessed Caster Magic, the ability to use magic without using a magical tool as a focus or crutch, as well as enough Holder Magic to make use of magic items, it seemed ideal. If I could have a private space to store runes, in databases that wouldn't get burned, smashed or ripped by my crazy guild, then I could vastly increase my versatility and ability. My overall Magic power would be drained significantly, having to utilize two types of magic at once, but it would save time when I finally started to take jobs.
According to the last visit to Porlescuya, I should be entering my adolescent growth within a few more years. Around then, I would also hit a final surge of power that would get me from a child's magic reserve up to an adults.
"With all the work you've put in, you're already a fair bit closer than most adult wizards who have been practicing for only three years. But that is always the case. The younger a wizard comes into themselves, the more practiced and powerful they tend to be in the long run."
That transition from childhood to an adult life would be the day when I could take a guildmark and start working!
And frankly that day couldn't come soon enough.
I was starting to get fidgety.
I had so many ideas and no real chance to use any of them without landing myself in huge trouble!
I had discovered a verbal aspect to my Story magic that intrigued me greatly...
-vVv-
It was a noisy evening and I was feeling moody. I would bet that this was the onset of puberty hormones starting to wake up in my preadolescent body. For understandable reasons, concluding this didn't make things any better.
What's more, I had writer's block! Or rather, a fogged up memory.
Since there was nothing here to define high fantasy and various sentient magical beings, I had taken it on myself to rewrite the Lord of the Rings. It was a classic that I could in no way do full justice, but I would do my best to try and reach the same level of depth, character and magic that Middle Earth brought to me. Even though magic was commonplace here, I still felt that Middle Earth's stories taught something that Fiore had to learn.
Usually the noise of the guild was comforting, the reassuring clamor always reminding me that my friends, my family, were just behind me.
But tonight it was just giving me a headache.
I glared at the evening's culprit, Elfman who was enthusiastically armwrestling Natsu. Neither of them was exactly quiet normally anyway, and now...
"Langlock maxima." I growled, wishing that they would just shut up for a moment. I shoved my hands over my ears as I tried to think through the details of what had transpired at Helm's Deep. I had images, but the story itself had more going on than that...
Annoyingly, things were just getting louder...
But there weren't any words spoken. Just laughter and...
I lifted my hands away. There was still noise, but no words. I turned around to see that the rowdiest bunch was attempting to work their jaws. Someone managed to pry their lips apart and let out a laugh.
"Looks like someone fell afoul of a little curse! Their tongue are glued to the roofs to their mouths!" My own mouth fell open in silent wonder and amazement.
'Langlock' was a curse from Harry Potter that did just that. 'Maxima' was an additive to verbal spells that expanded the range or potency of the paired word. And the curse was usually single target only, so...
I wracked my brain briefly, trying to come up with something that would remove the curse. If this followed the local rules, then there had to be a counter curse. It wasn't nearly sophisticated enough to not have a release word...
"Finite Incantatem." I ventured muttering the words under my breath, focusing on unravelling what I had done. There wasn't any apparent reaction. I screw up my forehead as I poured through the increasingly familiar vault of knowledge I had in my head...
Spells in Harry Potter were either direct Latin, or rough bastardizations that the magical folk had found worked better. 'Think...think...'Finite' would end something. Indicating it is finished or complete...Langlock is a curse, not an enchantment. So it would need a different modifier than 'incantatem'...What's the Latin word for curse?' Almost instantly, the word presented itself to me.
And it felt right. The same feeling I got upon hearing someone tell the truth shivered through me.
I inhaled, mentally checking my magical reserves and was amazed to find they were barely affected. I could likely do small spells like that for hours!
"Alright...Finite Maledictum." Roughly translated, it meant 'End Curse'. As I had hoped, all the Fairy Tail members suddenly had freedom to speak again. There was a tremendous uproar as people tried to determine who had used the temporary prank-curse. People were checking under tables for some kind of charm that had carried it into the hall.
I sat in contemplation as to what had just happened and didn't say anything.
-vVv-
After some deliberation and experimentation, I concluded that it lead back to my Story Magic. Perhaps an even closer aspect of it than even my storytelling illusions.
What I thought would happen when I said a certain thing, could then become reality because of the backstory, emotion and connection that I had attached to the words. In Harry Potter, I knew Langlock was a curse meant to glue the tongue to the roof of someone's mouth, rendering the target silent. I thought of how it had been used in the story, and how Harry had discovered it. In turn, my magic had taken that brief, almost inconsequential story, and made it come to life, quite literally.
It meant that spells, chants and other words that I attached a specific meaning to had the potential to become weapons of mass destruction. Because of all the things I had crammed into my head... Suddenly all that somewhat meaningless knowledge took on a whole new light.
Words could already change the world. My magic just made that concept a lot more literal.
I had reported my discovery to Makarov and made the old wizard have a magnificent spit take all down his front.
Needless to say, practicing this new aspect of my magic took up much of my time.
With some practice, I discovered that the more specific I made a verbal spell, the less energy it cost. While if I was relying on my intent to carry the effect out, it took more power.
Ties back nicely into the whole concept of life being a story. I mused. A one word story can exist, but the more description and color you add to it, the better it becomes in the long run.
-vVv-
For every one wizard in the world, there were nine regular civilians. And out of every two hundred wizards, there was always one that was just abso-flipping-lutely unbelievably powerful at an absurdly young age. IE: Gildarts or Erza. Both of whom were almost literal titans in their magical capacity.
A wizard's magical capacity grew as they practiced their powers, and as they got older. What's more, the studies I had forced myself to read indicated that it never quite stopped. People didn't have such a thing as a top limit, just a different learning curve and growth rate. The average between the two gave a rough idea of how strong a wizard could or would be.
Erza had a monumental growth rate, her power would always replenish itself in a blisteringly short amount of time. Same with Natsu's, and he could speed up his recovery even more by eating some form of fire. But their learning was restricted to their specific talents. Erza couldn't expand her range beyond weapons, armor and clothing, as opposed to Bisca who was able to stow food and all sorts of other supplies in her Requip space. And Natsu could no more cast an ice or water spell than Happy could swear off fish.
On the other hand, Levy and I had below average growth rates, but very steep learning curves, meaning we could do more with the comparative little that we had. Letter magic was already very versatile, so being smart and being a Script Mage of any kind gave you a way to keep up with the nonsense that some of the heavy hitters could pull off.
To clarify, being a Wizard identified your primary magic. The way your power preferred to interact with the ethernano in the world around you. Example: Laxus is a Lightning Wizard. Exact details of your power were what you were called a mage in. Example: Evergreen is a Fairy Mage. The exact definition had confused me something fierce until Mystogan clarified it for me.
So, I was a Rune Wizard, because I used runes and written text primarily, but I was a Story Mage. And since stories could be verbal, written or visual, it gave me a lot of room to play with.
My primary function in the guild hall whenever I wasn't working was on rune maintenance or helping Mira tend the bar was entertainment.
I had long since finished all the classic Disney movies that I could remember, but that was barely scratching the surface of the stories buried in my magic.
I was currently portraying the history of Hyrule and how it had begun. The first three sessions had been devoted to setting up Skyloft, to try and get across the sheer majesty of an world with no ground or ocean. Just floating islands and the sky...
It was really popular. Mirajane had started advertising whenever I was going to be storytelling, whether it was continuing a lengthy story or telling a few shorter ones, and turned it into a source of guild revenue. I had considered putting it into book form, but decided against it. A legend like this couldn't be portrayed in mere words. Or if it could, I couldn't do it yet.
It hadn't stopped me from publishing a book under a pen name only last month. Specifically, the first part of The Lord of the Rings, or at least the closest approximation of Tolkien's masterpiece that I could manage.
It had jumped to the top of the best seller list practially overnight. By the end of the first month, it had broken some records.
Another month later, it was still the #1 best seller in Fiore.
My guildmates were very proud, even if most of them weren't exactly academically inclined.
I had already gotten several requests from certain members, cough*Levy*cough, for me to read my book aloud and bring the characters to life with what I had imagined them looking like.
It was life.
A good life too.
Everything will change. A new chapter begins.
Aaaand that wasn't ominous at all...
-vVv-
"You told Natsu that a Fire Wizard calling himself Salamander was seen in Hargeon yesterday?" I asked Krov, feeling my face go blank.
"Yeah, I just said that!" I sat...then started to repeatedly and rhythmically slam my head against the wood of the table. "Wha-What's wrong Fae?"
"Krov...'Salamander' is what the papers are calling Natsu. And he, until recently, hasn't been down south for almost a month..." Save me from the lacking mental capacity of my guildmates... There came a round of laughter from a few people who had been listening in.
"Oh boy, Natsu's gonna be pissed when he gets back!"
"Duck and cover!"
"Better start running now, Krov."
"Can I get a refill?" I pushed myself up from the bar behind which I was sitting.
"Accio!" I imbued the word with magic, whisking the customer's empty mug out of his hand with and went to refill it from the tap.
Mirajane was out at a photoshoot, so I was doing the bar tending. If I had tried to work by hand, I would have been overwhelmed, even at slow times, but since I had magic that was versatile enough to help out, I managed well enough.
I eyed a stubborn stain on the bar where someone had decided to spill their drink, I sighed.
"Scourgify." I muttered rubbing a cloth over it. The stain lifted away bit by bit with some magical encouragement. I was standing on a pull out lip behind the bar that let me reach across the wooden space without much strain. My hand flicked out with a short gesture.
"Aculeus!" The Stinging Jinx flashed across the space and into the hand of a patron that was making to take a job off the request board. "Please leave the guild's job requests alone." I called out to him, noting his guild mark. Orochi's Fin. Lamia Scale's less than upright rival. The wizard sent me a scowl, but didn't contest my warning or the minor stinging sensation his hand was currently experiencing. I hadn't put a lot of power into it so he didn't even have any swelling for his trouble.
The first few times that I had needed to intervene, there had been some fuss about a kid doing so. I may or may not have broken the floor a little in smacking down one rowdy customer. It's less damage than what the others would have caused! Makarov hadn't been happy about the damage, but had conceded the point after listening to the angry visitor swear that he would 'teach the upstart little brat a lesson'. Not an exact quote, but the original statement contained more than a few swear words. Loke had very calmly kicked the drunk to the curb and judging by the loud thump I heard from outside, had knocked him unconscious to sleep off the alcohol for good measure.
I sent the refilled mug back to it's original owner with a mutter of 'Depulso!'. Then I went to a bartender's customary and somewhat iconic pastime: polishing glasses. I probably could have scrounged up some words to do it all with magic, but it at least gave me something to do.
-vVv-
Natsu came back to the guild about two days later with a blonde girl in tow.
Lucy Heartfilia. Summoning Wizard. Celestial Spirit Mage. I read that off of her, but forced my magic away from looking any further. She just introduced herself as 'Lucy' though...Doesn't want to have her last name known. When they arrived, I saw Krov make a break for the back door. He was just a touch too slow, though. Natsu leapt after him as Happy flew over to me.
"I told Natsu he should have checked the story with you first, but he didn't listen." The flying cat said with a sigh.
"Well it doesn't seem to have ended too badly." I said mildly. "Master got the report this morning. He only wrecked half the of the port this time."
"Half? This time!?" Lucy squawked.
"Natsu has an intense dislike of boats." I reported to her. "One time, someone managed to get a curse on him when he was in Hargeon. Pretty incompetent criminal to not read between the lines. He thought it would bring out Natsu's inner darkness and get him an ally to protect him from the Rune Knights. Instead it just ended up with Natsu's most brutally honest desires to come out, and removed all impulse control."
"I heard about that. Now that I've met him, it doesn't surprise me that it turned out to be him." I propped my chin in my hand as I appraised the newcomer.
Lucy wasn't that tall, but she was busty, enough so that I noticed even though I was a kid. Her bright blonde hair fell about to her shoulders with her bangs gathered to one side, out of her friendly brown eyes. Her key ring with half a dozen silver and gold Celestial Spirit keys was sitting comfortably at her belt along with a coiled whip.
"Natsu's never brought anyone back before... Are you looking to join the guild?" I asked bluntly, noting with a touch of curious interest that there was a split second's worth of a blush on her face.
"I want to, yeah..."
"New members are only let in with another member's endorsement or some other way to determine if they would work in the guild." I explained, watching as Natsu managed to catch Krov. I slid from my bench, taking my food with me and sat under the table.
"Um, what are you doing?" I touched the rune that I had set up underneath the table.
"Taking cover." I said, taking another bite of my food. "I've noticed that whenever we get a new member, everyone finds some excuse to start a fight to see how the newbie reacts." Lucy hastily ducked as a blazing piece of wood that used to be a chair sailed over her head.
"Is this some kinda test!?"
"I guess some people want to think that it is." A piece of rubble came at my lair and vaporized against a magical rune barrier. "Personally, I think they just want an excuse to brawl."
I'd have given Lucy some shelter if she asked for it. Happy had taken refuge with me and was happily eating some fish that he had pulled from his pouch.
"How are the preservation runes holding up?" I asked him as he devoured his snack.
"Mmmmhmhmm, mph!"
"That's good to hear."
"In your bunker again Fae?" Mira asked, bending down to peer at me with a smile that had become staple for her.
"You know how often I've lost a good meal to this kind of thing."
-vVv-
Lucy was starting to think that she was losing her mind.
Fairy Tail had a rambunctious reputation but this was taking it a little further than she had originally thought! Natsu just attacked one of his own guildmates out of the blue! And then everyone had started fighting.
She crouched by the table that the little girl had retreated under, seeing lines and lines of runes marching across the underside of the table.
"Someone made you a bunker?" The bright, pale blue eyes of the girl looked back at her with a smile.
"Yep! I'm not strong enough a wizard to take these kinds of fights directly. So I've got my little hidey hole for when things go crazy!"
Lucy swallowed.
"You're a member of Fairy Tail? But you're just a kid!"
"She's technically a ward, not a full member." Commented a lovely, white haired young woman. Lucy flushed. Holy Crap it's Mirajane in the flesh!
"A ward?"
"I'm an orphan, so the guild was put in charge of financing my childhood and education. But the thing was, I had active magic that made me ill suited to the normal foster care system. So I hang out here all the time because the guildmaster is my legal guardian." The aqua haired girl explained. "You'd better pay attention. People can get sucked into these fights pretty easily if they don't stay on their guard."
"No one does anything to stop them?" She had always thought that barroom brawls were the worst kind of fights and had to be ended quickly for the safety of all those involved. But neither the younger nor the older of the girls seemed that concerned.
"It's always like this around here." Mirajane said with a light laugh even as a large white haired man came flying at her and knocked her flat. "It's kinda fun, don't you think?" She then went limp in unconsciousness.
"Aaaaah!" Lucy shrieked, darting over to try and heave the senseless man off of her idol. "Don't die Mirajane!"
-vVv-
It was probably wrong to be so amused by the newbie's antics. But I couldn't help but stifle a snicker. For all that Mira hadn't actually fought anyone for over two years, she still had a lot of dormant magic power inside her that would absorb the worst of any physical damage that was inflicted on her.
"Gray, your clothes?"
"I don't have time for that!"
If Erza were here, she'd have smacked everyone senseless before it came to this point. I thought with a sigh. She was particular about portraying a positive image of the guild to newcomers or visitors. You know, a good impression vs an honest impression. Natsu was more in favor of the honest impression.
Gray joined the fight. I sighed, flicking my finger towards where he had been sitting.
"Accio." Gray's clothes flew over to near my table and I started to fold them. If I didn't retrieve Gray's clothes relatively quickly after he discarded them, they tended to disappear. And I knew exactly where to. Happy took advantage of the fact that there were some girls out there willing to buy Gray's cast offs simply because they had once been on his body. It was where he got his primary fish-fund whenever Natsu was too busy to go fishing and catch some for him.
"Give me back my underwear, jerk!"
I sighed and closed my eyes and spoke aloud with magical intent.
"Censor my vision." When I dared open my eyes again, a pair of sunglasses had formed over my eyes, placing a blurred bar area over Gray's privates.
"Gray! No flashing the kid!" A voice called in scolding.
"Crap!" Gray looked around frantically before spotting Lucy. "Excuse me miss, could I borrow your underwear?"
"As if!" Lucy shrieked in anger. She surprised many people by clocking Gray across the face with a board without hesitation. He went an impressive distance. Nice air time...Wait, where did the board come from?... As I glanced over everyone, I concluded that she had also earned a hefty amount of respect for that. Natsu had seen it and was grinning, with great satisfaction. I read the general opinion. It usually takes a rookie at least ten minutes of watching the Welcoming Brawl before they'll start fighting. It hadn't been going even for five minutes before Lucy sent Gray into a wall with a swing that would have been at home in a baseball diamond. She'll fit right in. And she'd actually sent him flying with good velocity and arc. For all that she looked like a Barbie, Lucy seemed to have some decent upper body strength.
That or the Righteous Indignation of the situation let her exert more physical power than she should actually have been able to. One or the other.
Either way, for all that the master would soon be intervening, Lucy had already made a good start with her introduction to Fairy Tail life.
-vVv-
Once Lucy managed to restart her heart after the brief scare she had gotten (How could a man be so massive and scary and then so tiny!?) she finally did it.
I did it Mom... I'm a member of Fairy Tail! She gazed at the guild mark on the back of her hand, where she could always see it and remind herself that she was a practicing wizard. And no one could take that away from her...
The Celestial Spirit Mage only then realized that she didn't know anybody in the guild except Natsu and he was stuffing his face from the fireplace. I've seen him do it with Bora's magic and it still doesn't make any sense...
"Hey, Fae? Can you clean this up?" The little aqua-blue haired girl emerged from under the table where she had been hiding, hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.
"When you went this far overboard? Not a chance! I barely have enough magic power to fix the floor, let alone the furniture and walls too." There came a chorus of groans.
"Ah well. We'll just call in the next rotation of furniture. Pack it up people, let's get it ready for the repairmen!" Lucy was then witness to a bewildering sight as the former brawlers began to pick the furniture out of the rubble they had created and stack it together.
"What's going on?" Mirajane provided Lucy her answer as the girl, Fae, the one wizard had called her, held her hands over the gaps in the walls and began to murmur, causing the broken pieces to fly back together and the holes to mend themselves.
"The guild breaks a lot of stuff all the time, so we have a working relationship with a few local Craftsmen guilds. We've got several different sets of furniture that we rotate out whenever we break something. There's usually enough that's already been fixed or replaced to keep the seating and furniture in the hall up."
"That's..." Pragmatic, practical and somewhat unbelievable that it is even necessary...! "-smart." Lucy finished lamely, wondering what she had gotten herself into...
"Excuse me." Fae addressed her politely, bowing slightly. "You're standing in a crater." Lucy yelped and jumped back. But her surprise developed into great interest as Fae held out her hands and began to speak. Her soft child's voice seemed to be grave, wise and much older. It was the surety with which she spoke that elevated her.
"Area Reparo." She intoned, and when she did, an elegant amber script winked into existence, written across the floor. Shattered boards flew back into their original place, mending themselves without a mar or crack to indicate where they had been ruined.
"You're a Rune Wizard?" Lucy asked in surprise once Fae had completed her spell and moved to go to another broken area. Once again, ice blue eyes met hers as the girl looked up at her with a wise, considering appraisal that made Lucy wonder just how smart this girl was...
"Yep!"
"C'mon Fae-chan, don't go selling yourself short." A curvy brunette drawled, face slightly flushed and half staggering as she slung an arm over the younger girls' shoulder. "Our cute little Fairy Princess here is the only known Story Mage in the world!"
"Cana!" Fae complained, scowling and blushing, face crinkling in what appeared to be disgust as the older woman's alcohol soaked breath wafted into her face. The gesture made her seem a lot more like a child than...something that Lucy couldn't name.
"Story Mage? I've never heard of that kind of magic. What does it do?" Fae glared at Cana, her striking, powerful eyes not having any effect. She placed her palm against the woman's forehead.
"Esuna." Cana just laughed as she released the girl.
"Whatever Fae thinks words should do, they do! Thanks for the detox, Fae!" She then sauntered back to the bar, perfectly sure and steady on her feet. Lucy gaped. The faint flush on her face was gone, her balance had been restored, even the smell of liquor had vanished!
"She's sober!?" Lucy demanded. Fae sighed and frowned.
"Yeah. Esuna is an anti-toxin spell that I made up. My Story Magic means that if I can imagine a spell, the way it works, how it's used, who uses it, the works...then I can use it just the way I imagine it." But then...she could make up just about anything off of the top of her head! This was the kind of person that would be joining Fairy Tail in the future! Suddenly Lucy felt very small and simple in her powers...
Fae looked thoughtful.
"The real downside is I have to have read or thought up some kind of story in which the spell is used. And even then, it's not guaranteed that it will work. I haven't tested it on any venoms or plant poisons, just being drunk cause alcohol counts as a toxin..." Oh...I get it. Lucy's mind unwound as she saw the slight tension and concern in Fae's shoulders and a heaviness in her eyes that looked out of place in a child.
Fae essentially has to discover a whole new branch of spells for her magic. It's ground breaking at every turn which means it's really hard work. She has to find her limits without hurting anyone or herself. While it had the potential to be incredible, it was also a lot of strain to put on a girl who didn't look as if she could be more than nine or ten years old. No wonder Fairy Tail took her on. I can't imagine a regular orphanage would have had the support she needs.
-vVv-
It had been maybe two days since Lucy had joined the guild.
During that time, she had been introduced to everyone who was there at the moment and been given a crash course in guild life.
I tilted my head as I felt an update in Macao's story.
Cold, dark, snow. Frustration. Anger. The warring of two minds struggling for dominance and control.
I trotted over to Makarov.
"Master, I think something happened to Macao." The small man opened his eyes, serious and alert. After almost two years of this happening every now and then, he had come to acknowledge that my Story Magic kept tabs on the people I cared about.
"Does he need help?" I frowned, considering the impression I had received...
"I think so. Whatever happened to him, he's starting to lose his grip on himself. Didn't he take a job hunting that nest of mountain Vulcans?"
"That he did..." Makarov mused, arms folded. "It may be that one of the beasts got the better of Macao and used Takeover on him."
Makarov quietly asked around for someone who could go and check on Macao. Natsu volunteered instantly. Shortly afterward, Romeo entered the guild hall and made a beeline for Makarov. He's worried, too...
I scooped him up as I walked by.
"We've already got someone on the case, Romeo. Don't worry about it. Natsu'll get your dad back." His face went slack with relief and he relaxed into my hold.
"Yeah...Natsu always keeps his promises." I read a strong sense of guilt coming from Romeo. Apparently his parting with his father a few days back hadn't been smooth. He had been feeling somewhat pressured by other children in the city who were mocking him because Macau was a member of Fairy Tail. Romeo had wanted to find some self actualization and had angrily demanded that his father get up and do some work.
And now he was late in returning from a job that Romeo had told his father to take. Guilt City. I ruffled Romeo's hair as Natsu raced out of the building, dragging Lucy along with him.
NaLu has set sail! This voice wasn't like the other times I had heard it. When Lisanna had died, or when it had told me that Loke was actually Leo, it was a bland grey statement of fact. This was pink and glittering and...giggly.
...I get live updates on ships!?