Chapter EIGHTEEN

Lucy and Jellal's journey back to Lucy's apartment mostly went undisturbed. Since it was well into evening, there were many people and families walking around the stores, no exact destination in mind.

Lucy wondered if the streets were usually this crowded, or if something special was going on today. Beside her, Jellal was grumbling about the crowd and the heat. Lucy snickered. Of course, who wouldn't be hot with that ridiculous outfit? Since there were many people, no one seemed to notice Jellal.

They gently pushed through the crowd until Lucy lost count on the amount of times she had apologized.

'Should I blast them out of the way?'

Lucy sighed. "It's fine." She turned to Jellal as he squeezed out of the crowd. He placed his hands onto his knees and leaned over, catching his breath. She giggled and Jellal shot her a glare, though there was also amusement.

Once they left the market area, the crowds began to thin, and by the time they two mages had reached Strawberry street, barley any people were in sight. Lucy stepped up to her apartment door and unlocked it, hoping that it was still intact.

She pushed the door open and stepped into the living room, where Midnight was sleeping on the couch. Cobra was nowhere in sight. Lucy heard some footsteps and Cobra appeared from the kitchen. He glanced at Lucy, then at Jellal who had been standing behind her, then smirked.

"You're back." He said.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah." She stretched, then moved to her bedroom to dump her bags onto her bed. She stretched, not realizing how stiff her shouldered were until now. She turned to Jellal, who had placed his bags onto the floor.

"We need to go to the guild to report to Master." Lucy said.

Jellal nodded. "I'm going to use the bathroom first."

Lucy nodded and headed back to the living room as the bathroom door closed behind Jellal.

Midnight was sitting on the crouch, still looking half asleep. He glaced up at Lucy and offered her a small. "Hello."

Lucy smiled at him. "I left enough food in the fridge to last for a few days and there were a few canned food as well." Lucy said. "Was it enough?"

Cobra nodded. "Yeah. But we just around have enough for two people tonight, so someone'll have to go buy food."

Lucy was about to suggest that Cobra could go, until she remembered that he couldn't, as he was a wanted criminal. Lucy waited for Cobra to comment but remembered that Darque served as some sort of mind barrier.

Lucy sighed, and was surprised when a familiar black mist streamed out of her key pouch.

Darque stood there, not looking any better from when they had faced Lite. Her eyes were lifeless and what frightened Lucy the most was the way Darque glanced at her, as if she had forgotten who Lucy was for a moment.

"I need to go sort out the guild problem, and the wanted criminal problem. I suggest that you rest until tomorrow, because I will be back by then." She paused. "Ask Virgo to bring you food." The spirit clenched her fists. "By tomorrow, I will make sure you can walk freely on the streets." Her legs began to swirl with mist and soon, her whole body turned into mist. The mist flew to the door and slipped out through the gap at the bottom of the door.

Midnight blinked at the spot Darque had slipped out. "Did something happen?" He asked. Lucy looked at him. "She seemed...different."

Lucy tensed, wondering whether or not she should tell them about their encounter with Lite, then decided that she should, as they were on the same side.

On cue, Jellal came out, wearing a fresh set of clothes. He must have heard part of their conversation, because he joined them and nodded.

"During our mission, we met Lite." Jellal began.

Cobra raised an eyebrow.

"He..." Lucy trailed off. "Hang on." She hesitantly raised her hand and concentrated. She imagined Lite, and took a deep breath. The air in front of her swirled and shimmered. An perfect replica of Lite appeared.

Midnight yawned. "You know Illusion magic?" He asked.

Lucy opened her mouth to answer, but decided against it as she felt her concentration fading. Jellal answered in her place. He explained how Darque could teach her candidates a number of magic, and how Illusion magic was one of the basics.

Lucy released the illusion and like something had snapped, told Cobra and Midnight everything that had happened on the missions. The townspeople and the monster, then Lite plan to draw out Darque and his seeming addiction for her.

By the time she had finished, she was out of breath and she barley noticed that Jellal was filling in the tiny details she had missed, like how he had manipulated the kinetic energy of the marble to kill the boy.

Cobra looked uncharacteristically excited. "So we're up against this guy who can control kinetic energy." He said. "And since I can't read your minds, I'm guessing this Lite dude can also stop me from reading his candidates mind."

Midnight glanced at his hand. "I can reflect anything, as long as it's not anything living." He muttered, so quiet that Lucy just about managed to catch it.

"Anyways. Now, what we can do is wait for Rogue's response and Darque's news on whether or not she has managed to convince the council." Lucy said. "Tomorrow, we'll go talk to the Master after Darque has returned." Lucy paused, trying to remember anything she had left out. "I will call out Virgo and get her to make us dinner."

Jellal nodded. "I'm starving." He said. He turned to Cobra and asked him something about his magic which Lucy failed to catch. She smiled and made her way to the kitchen, where she summoned Virgo and told her about their dinner problem. Virgo nodded and poofed back tot he spirit world. She came back a few minutes later and set up the table in three seconds flat.

Lucy called out to the three mages in the living room and they appeared, Jellal and Cobra locked in some sort of debate. Midnight followed them in, grumbling about the noise.

They settled down and Lucy thanked Virgo before dismissing her. Cobra had already began eating. Midnight sighed, before he began eating. Jellal had started off by picking at his food, before biving in to the hunger.

Lucy smiled. She remembered the time where she had wondered if becoming friends with them was a right thing. She had been afraid of the feeling that told her that they were the people she belonged with. She decided that it didn't matter. Just because she was going to leave Fairy tail did not mean that she couldn't be friends with them.

New chapter!

Don't forget to Review and tell us what you think~ XD

We put a poll up in order to decide Lite's candidates.

Poll results:

Angel 6

OC 4

Natsu 6

Yukino 4

Rustyrose 1

Rufus

Please give us more ideas. We'll add it onto the list. Votes through PMs and Reviews are also accepted.

Ideas and suggestions are welcome.