The Lion's Sin of Pride:
Chapter Four (Farewell Fairy Tail)
November 29th, X784
Magnolia Town, Fiore
"How was it Lucy?" Kinana asked her, as she came to pick up the empty dishes.
The celestial mage looked up from her conversation with Levy, to see the purple-haired waitress standing at the end of the table.
"Delicious as always! My compliments to the chef!" she giggled, looking up with a happy face. She looked over to her companion spirit, Plue, sitting on the table, "What about you Plue? Did you enjoy your lolly?"
"Puu-Puun!" the little, white spirit smiled at them, his white paws waving in the air at his excitement, shaky smile on his face.
"I'm glad you both enjoyed it!" Kinana smiled, her round face lighting up as she locked her green eyes on the spirit. She then looked at the rest of the table's occupants, "Is there anything else I can get for you guys?"
"No thanks, Kinana. I'm okay," Levy smiled warmly at her, as she looked back at a book she was reading earlier.
"Yeah, get me a beer," Gajeel half-grunted out at the waitress.
"Another kiwi juice for me, please Kinana," Lily politely ordered, elbowing his partner in the side.
"And could I get another milkshake and a small glass of milk for Plue, please?" she smiled at her again.
"Okay, that'll be over in just a moment then," Kinana said, taking the tray of dishes back into the kitchen.
"Gajeel," Lily reprimanded the dragon slayer, "You mustn't be so rude to Kinana. She's a very nice young woman. And a member of this guild. You should show her some respect."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the iron dragon slayer said, barely paying attention to the exceed, "She knows what I mean."
"She really doesn't mind Lily," Levy explained to him, "Everyone knows Gajeel's a jerk, and they know not to take anything he says to them to heart."
"What d'ya mean 'jerk', Shrimp?" he popped an eye open to look at her.
"She means that you're a jerk," Lucy smirked at him, "Plain and simple."
"Watch it Bunny. Sometimes jerks bite," he smirked at her, flashing his sharp canines.
"Hey Lucy," the group looked over to see Gray walking over to them. The ice-make mage was wearing clothes for once. An open purple shirt, and black three-quarter length jeans.
"Hey Gray!" Lucy greeted her teammate. She was happy to see him, she wanted to spend as much of the day as she could with her team before she told them her plan.
Though wherever Gray was, another mage wouldn't be far. Especially when he's near Lucy.
"Love-Rival…" Lucy heard a soft voice whisper, as an aura of jealousy emanated from behind a pillar near them.
'Love-Rival', a title that Lucy never really understood. She and Gray were never a thing. Though that one time after the Galuna Island incident… Well, nothing happened afterwards. But as far as she knew, she never showed any interest in him, publically. However, none of that mattered in that warped fantasy of Juvia's.
Juvia Lockser. Formerly known as Juvia of the Great Sea, along with Gajeel she is a former S-Class mage of the Phantom Lord guild, the Rain Woman of the Element Four. She corresponded to the element of water, which matched her magic, known simply as Water.
The most primal form of Water Magic, Water not only allows the caster to conjure and manipulate water for various spells, but it also allows Juvia to turn her body into water. She can utilise her Water Body for various spells.
The blue-haired, young woman is a lethal and skilled mage, well deserving of her former s-class title. Something Lucy saw first-hand in the Tower of Heaven, when Vidaldus turned her into one of his groupies. Her butt still stung from that fight.
And she chose Lucy as her main rival. Great…
"How're you Lucy, after yesterday?" he asked her. Along with Erza, he also noticed that Lucy was feeling down about the mission that they were on.
"I'm better now. I had a good conversation with my spirits, and I thought it over. There wasn't anything more we could have done. Those kids are alive and they'll be healthy, so…" she shrugged her shoulder, smiling softly at him. She really was better now, but it was nice that he asked.
"Gray is asking that blonde bimbo about her feelings?" Juvia muttered to herself, not noticing Warren who was walking behind her.
Gray held his hand out to the celestial mage, who took it in hand. He pulled her up and close to him. His face only inches away from Lucy's.
"Come away with me Lucy," the ice-make mage whispered to his lover, "We can be happy together. I love you more than Juvia."
"Yes Gray. We can have a truly wonderful life together!" Lucy replied, her eyes shining with hearts.
Gray then got down on one knee, and held Lucy's left hand in his, "Lucy, will you marry me? I promise to always love you!"
"Oh Gray…" Lucy blushed, a small smile on her face, "Of course I'll marry you! We'll get married and have a house full of kids!"
Gray jumped back up to his feet, and moved close to her again. He rested his forehead against hers.
"Say it again Gray. For me?"
"I love you so much more than Juvia!" he said before kissing her on the mouth.
Juvia gasped at the scene in her mind. The hand she had clutching the pillar, cracking it in her despair, which shocked Warren who could see the delusion she created within her mind.
"Gray loves Lucy!" she cried out, tears flowing from her eyes, as she began to flood the area she was in.
"What's her problem?" Gray asked Lucy, looking to the side at the water mage.
"What's usually her problem?" she asked in return, "She thinks we're together."
"She knows that we're not together, I don't get why she still acts like this," he said, not understanding Juvia's problem with Lucy, "I mean, we decided that nothing would happen after-"
Lucy slammed her hand over his mouth, as she hissed at him, "Shut up Gray! We said that we would never talk about that. Especially around Juvia."
Gray narrowed his eyes at his teammate, before they widened at something behind her. Lucy then felt a dark aura coming from behind, waves of possessiveness radiated out hitting her back.
"Uh…" Lucy's face froze in fear.
"How dare you touch my beloved's lips!" the enraged bluenette screamed, "Water Cane!"
The whip of water, which Juvia sent at Lucy, cracked her on her ass and sent her flying towards the door. And more importantly, to Juvia anyway, away from Gray.
"AHHH!" the celestial mage screamed, Why does this always happen to me?
Her journey to the door was cut short, as she was caught by gauntleted arms. Opening her eyes, she saw the steel, chest-plate with the symbol for Heart Kreuz; Fiore's number one manufacturer of apparel for female mages.
"Good morning Lucy," the scarlet-haired mage greeted her friend.
"Hey Erza. How're you?" she asked the closest she ever had to an elder sister.
"I'm feeling rather well," Erza paused, looking down into Lucy's eyes, "But how are you? You seemed off yesterday."
"Yeah. I was upset that I couldn't do more for those kids in Shirotsume Town. But Aquarius and I had a talk and I'm feeling a lot better," Lucy said, a smile lighting up her face, "Do you mind letting me down?"
Erza was staring intently at her, remembering the way she acted yesterday before going home. Maybe she is feeling better. I hope so…
"Of course Lucy," the requip mage let her down onto her feet, "I'm glad that you're feeling well. I was worried when you went home instead of coming to the guild with the rest of us."
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to worry you. I just needed to process what happened. And I have a new plan now."
"Oh?" Erza arched an eyebrow at the younger mage.
"I'm gonna get stronger. I'm not sure how yet, but I've got Grandpa Crux looking for any books on celestial magic. I'm really excited about this!" she ended with a grin.
Erza smiled at Lucy, happy to see such enthusiasm for training. Then an idea struck her, and she got an intense gleam in her eye.
"I have an excellent idea! I'll train you!" the elder mage said, determination filling her entire face.
"Uh…" Lucy was a little intimidated by the intensity that Erza was giving off.
Erza didn't notice any of this, thinking that Lucy would agree with her, as she pictured their training plan, "We'll of course work on your stamina, and then your physical strength. And your speed could do with some training. We'll do some exercises for your magical energy, and you already have a lot of balance and flexibility…"
Lucy sweat-dropped as Erza continued describing what they would do on their training trip. Wow, how do I explain to her that I'll actually be leaving Magnolia?
Despite how determined she was to leave and get stronger for her training, she was incredibly nervous to tell her team. While she knew that they would be happy for her to get stronger, they wouldn't like the fact that she was leaving the guild – no matter how temporary that would be – and being away from them.
"Good morning Lucy," She heard a voice greet her from behind Erza.
Lucy looked around the requip mage, who was too busy planning to notice, and saw Wendy standing there. He midnight-blue hair was tied up in two, high pigtails along with her red blazer and black skirt.
She looks so grown up, Lucy thought to herself. While she had always known that Wendy was 12, she had drastically changed in maturity since the Nirvana incident. Gone was the little girl, in her yellow and blue dress too shy to speak her mind and in her place stood a skilled young mage, coming into her great power.
"Good morning, Wendy," Lucy greeted the younger mage, before looking at her feline companion, "Hey Carla. How are you girls today?"
"We're very well. We had a good night's sleep, I hope you did too. It's very important for young women to get sufficient rest." the white exceed informed them from where she stood next to Wendy.
To an outsider, Carla would appear to be as cold and detached as she was when she first met the Fairy Tail Guild. But since their adventures in Edolas, the exceed began to take things less seriously, learning to let others in along with Wendy. Lucy thought it might have something to do with the former queen of Extalia, who privately tutored Carla in their shared gift of Clairvoyance, and had an uncanny similarity to the younger exceed.
"Agreed. So are you both just gonna relax around the guild?"
"Yes, a day of relaxation is just what we need after our last mission."
Wendy jumped in then, looking up at the celestial mage, "Yeah, Levy found a book on enchantment magic that I want to look at. I might be able to use some of those spells for my support enchantments."
"That's great Wendy! You guys go on in and get settled," Lucy said, before she picked up her new silver key, "I think I'll join you guys after I make a contract with this new key I got."
"Oh wow, Lucy! Can I watch you make the contract?"
"Yes, I too would like to see this. I've never seen you officially make a contract, outside of battle, before." Erza said, coming out of her trance.
"Okay, it's not really that exciting, but sure," Lucy said, "Let's go to the training field outside. I doubt that Pyxis will be too big, but's it's better to be safe than sorry."
As the female mages made their way over to the training field, they discussed with each other what they thought Pyxis would look like.
Erza thought that the compass spirit would be exactly as described. A compass. Carla agreed, remembering the chisel spirit, Caelum.
Wendy wasn't sure, considering the wacky appearances of Lucy's other spirits. Though for some reason she had the image of a giant Plue stomping around the place, with a compass in his paws.
The sky mage sweat-dropped, the image disturbing her. She then looked up at the celestial mage, "What about you, Lucy?"
The blonde looked thoughtful, "Hmm. I'm not sure. I don't really mind, actually. Thinking about my other spirits, Pyxis could be anything, though I think he could be like Horologium. A sapient compass, with his own… unique personality."
Erza chuckled thinking of the spirits that she has met, "You're probably right Lucy."
They reached the training field and noticed it was empty of any mages practicing their powers. It really was the best place to summon an unfamiliar spirit. In contrast to the rest of the guild, the training field was relatively simple. It was a large field behind the guild hall, with some stands surrounding it for watching any sparring matches.
There was a door that connected to the guild's gym, located at the back of the main building connected to the pool area.
Master really spared no expense on the new building.
Lucy walked to the middle of the field, as the other members moved to sit on the benches at the side of the field. She took a deep breath and then began to gather the magical energy needed to forge the connection.
The first summoning was always the most taxing in terms of energy and concentration. Not only did she have to open the gate, but she had to find it and then form the magical connection with Pyxis.
A gold magic circle appeared where she stood, with a star symbol in its centre. Lucy then visualised the key hole in front of her, placing her key there.
"I am the one who connects the roads to the Celestial Realm. Thou shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate."
She sent her magic through the key and into the Celestial Realm. Her mind soared past the other gates there, reaching past the Argo Navis gates and reaching the correct one.
Pyxis, she thought, seeing the compass symbol on the gate. She reached out with her magical energy and-
Knock.
She felt the stirrings behind the gate, her new spirit sensing the connection.
She opened her eyes then, "Open Gate of the Compass, Pyxis!"
A magic circle appeared at the tip of her key, with the symbol for the compass on it. The echo of a doorbell rung throughout the field along with a blinding flash of light. All four of the mages looked on eagerly, wondering what kind of spirit was just summoned.
"Pikoo!" an excited voice shouted out. As the light faded, the girls saw what appeared to be a bird-like creature, with a compass on its head. It had red feathers, with some of the feathers being blue on its wings, and lilac triangle patches on its chest. The small orange beak was open in a big smile at its new master.
The three watching the summoning were… underwhelmed. While they had been unsure about what to expect with the spirit, they certainly hadn't expected this. A bird. With a compass on its head.
While their reactions were quite lacklustre, Lucy's reaction to seeing Pyxis was the total opposite. She launched herself at her new spirit, wrapping her arms around him.
"Ohhh!" the blonde mage squealed, so loud, Wendy flinched, "You're so cute! Yes you are!"
"Pikoo?" the spirit looked at his master, a question in his eyes.
"My name is Lucy. Would you like to make a contract with me?" the celestial mage asked, locking eyes with the compass spirit.
Pyxis' eyes lit up, and he grinned at her in excitement, "Pikoo!"
"Awesome," she beamed, taking that as a positive answer. She took out her little notebook in which she wrote the rules of her various contracts. Some of the rules had lines through them from when she had adjusted the terms of a contract.
"Do Mondays work for you?" the bird spirit nodded.
"Tuesday?" Nod.
"Wednesday?" Shake.
"Thursday?"
"Pikoo." Pyxis answered.
"Wow, Friday as well?" Lucy asked excited.
"What about the weekend? Saturday and Sunday?"
Pyxis thought about it, then nodded and shook his head afterwards.
"So yes to Saturday and no to Sunday?"
"Pikoo!" he said, nodding his head at her.
"Awesome!" she said, writing the rules down in her notebook, "And that's our contract!"
"Who's that bird-thing?"
The voice came suddenly from behind her startling her as well as Pyxis. Both mage and spirit screamed as they held each other, turning around to see who it was.
Lucy saw a pair of black shorts attached to a pale, muscular torso with the Fairy Tail emblem on the right pec. Looking down at them was Gray. Who had lost his clothes. Yet again.
"Gods Gray! You scared the crap out of us!"
"Sorry. But seriously, who's this?"
"This is Pyxis, my newest spirit. Pyxis this is Gray he's one of the mages on my team."
"Pikoo!" the bird-like spirit greeted the mage.
"Hey."
Lucy smiled at both of them before gesturing over at her fellow female mages, "Pyxis this is Erza, Wendy and Carla. They're other mages on my team."
Erza, recovering from her reaction, smiled down at the spirit, "It's a pleasure to meet you Pyxis. I look forward to working with you."
"Pikoo!"
Wendy and Carla both greeted the spirit politely, and after a round of greetings the spirit returned to the Celestial Spirit World.
"So, what do you guys feel like doing now?" Lucy asked her teammates.
"I think we should relax by the pool. A nice, calm day is just what we need. What do you all think?" Erza asked, looking around at them.
"Sounds good." Gray said in answer.
THELIONSSINOFPRIDE
Lying next to the pool in one of the lounge chairs and clad in her turquoise- star patterned bikini, Lucy looked around at her guild mates. They were all having a good time, enjoying the peaceful day and it finally hit her, that she might not see this for a while.
She might not see Macao and Wakaba shamelessly stare at Mirajane as she serves the guild members their drinks. Wakaba forgetting his own wife, before he got a shocking reminder from the transformation specialist.
She might not see Romeo running around the pool, excitement rolling off of him, as he pestered the mages relaxing there. Or Reedus painting a picture of their Fairy Tail family enjoying the day.
Lucy felt increasingly sad about this, her eyes trying to take in every detail around her. Movement from above the pool caught her eye, and she looked up to the window that faced the pool area.
Looking down at his children, a proud look on his face, was the master of the Fairy Tail Guild. One of the Ten Wizard Saints, the ten most powerful mages in Ishgar, Makarov Dreyer was a force of nature.
In contrast to his small body, his signature magic was called Giant. Which gave him the ability to increase his size along with the size of others, allowing him to elongate his limbs and strength.
He is also a master of Light Magic, the antithesis to his former enemy and rival Jose Porla, the master of the disbanded Phantom Lord Guild.
I suppose I should speak to him, Lucy thought as she watched him gazing at his children like the loving grandfather they thought him as.
She stood up from the lounge chair, and turned to exit the pool area into the main guild hall, when Erza noticed her leaving.
"Where are you going Lucy?"
The blonde stopped and turned around to face her team by the pool. Erza was lying on the chair next to her, in her black bikini, looking up at her friend. Wendy and Carla were swimming in the pool, Wendy in her navy bathing suit and the exceed resting in her inner tube. Gray was lying in the lounge chair on the other side of Erza, though she was shocked to see him fully naked. Yet again.
"I'm going to see Master about something. I'll be back in a bit, okay?" she looked at each member of her team, before focusing on Gray, "And Gray, your clothes."
As she walked away from the pool, she heard Gray frantically search for his shorts, wondering when he removed them. Unnoticed by the mages, a certain blue haired mage held them close to her chest as she gazed lovingly at her beloved.
Lucy walked into the hall, and saw that it was just as busy as earlier with more of the 'regular' members being present in the hall. Looking over to where Levy, Gajeel and Lily were, she noticed that the rest of Team Shadow Gear, Jet and Droy, were there.
Jet, a tall ginger haired young man with a high fur-lined hat on his head, is a user of High Speed magic which allows him to increase his speed to an astonishing degree. While Droy, a young man with dark hair shaped like a plant's stem, uses a form of magic called Plant that lets him use special seeds that rapidly grow for his spells.
Not only were they members of Team Shadow Gear, they were also Levy's official cheerleaders, supporting her in every one of her shining moments. And of course, they had their not-so-subtle crushes on her. Though Lucy suspected Levy would rather have a certain Iron Dragon Slayer to crush on her than her teammates.
Walking further into the hall and on her way to the stairs leading to the upper floor, she also noticed that the other Strauss siblings were at the bar. Elfman was drinking with Cana, while Lisanna was trying to get Mirajane and Kinana to let her help them serve the other members of the guild.
Elfman Strauss was a tall and muscular young man and like his sisters he shares the same white-silver hair colour, who believed that the 'manliness' in others was a great attribute to have. After all, his sister Mirajane is one of the "manliest men" he has ever known. Though a bit ridiculous, even by Fairy Tail's standards, Elfman was one of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail with his signature Take-Over magic; Beast Soul.
Known Beast Arm Elfman, he is a great protector of the guild, and even fiercer when protecting his sisters. Though he may be the middle child, he firmly takes the role of the 'man of the house' for the family, holding his sisters even closer since Lisanna's return.
Lisanna Strauss, the youngest of the Strauss siblings, is a kind young mage who partners with her siblings on jobs and occasionally helps Mirajane around the guild. A returning member of Fairy Tail, Lisanna had been thought to have died on a job two years ago with Mirajane and Elfman, but really had travelled to the parallel world Edolas.
She took the place of the recently deceased Edolas version of herself, and joined the 'dark' guild Fairy Tail there. She recently returned to Earth Land along with the Exceeds and the Fairy Tail mages that fought against the royal army.
Like her siblings Lisanna uses a form of Take-Over magic that allows her to take on the form of various animals. Her Animal Soul magic, while not as powerful as Elfman's Beast Soul or Mirajane's Satan Soul, is very versatile in the forms she can take, giving her the ability to adapt to many situations.
"Hey Lucy!" the Animal Soul mage greeted her, spotting her walking towards the stairs.
"Hi Lisanna!" she greeted in return, "How are you?"
"Really good. Elf and I just got back from a job today. It was an escort mission for some duke and Elf kept insulting him about not being manly. The duke's face went so red!" she giggled looking over at her brother.
"Sounds like fun. I'm gonna go talk to the Master for a bit, I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye."
The celestial mage finally made her way up the stairs, and crossed the upper landing of the guild hall to the back offices reserved for the S-Class mages and the master. Walking past the doors she noticed that they had the various mages' names on them.
Erza, Mira, Mystogan, Gildarts, she paused at the last door before the master's, Laxus. Even though he was excommunicated, Master still has his office?
Knowing it wasn't her place to question this, she shook her head to dispel the thoughts and knocked on the door that read; '3rd Master Makarov Dreyer'.
"Come in." the voice on the other side said.
Lucy opened the door and poked her head around the door to look into the office. Though it is large, the layout seemed to be standard for an office that size, with various shelves filled with files and books, as well as some cabinets surrounding the room.
On the large, ornate desk was a communication lacrima as well as a few piles of paper. Probably complaint letters about us.
"Ah Lucy. Come on in, child." Master Makarov said, beckoning her in with a kind smile and wave of his hand. The blonde mage walked into the office and sat down on the chair opposite his.
"Hi Master."
"Erza told me about the Manticore Sting mission. Are you feeling better child?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better now. I had a talk with my spirits and I've decided to go and train to get stronger with my magic."
The tiny mage grinned at her, proud at her resolve to develop her magic, "What a wonderful idea. Celestial Spirit Magic is quite unknown to me, but perhaps I could speak with Master Bob in Blue Pegasus, they know a lot about celestial mages."
"Yeah. But I was thinking of travelling around to train, and maybe – temporarily – leave the guild for a bit. Just a couple of weeks."
"Are you sure Lucy? You could train right here at the guild if you want. There's no need to leave the guild just to travel."
Lucy sighed, before a steely glint appeared in her eyes, "I need to do this Master!" she shouted before composing herself, "I will come back. I'm not gonna leave forever. I just want to return as a mage that finally owns her power. Like Erza or Mira."
Makarov stared at her for a moment, taking in every part of her and sensing her determination to do this. It always saddened him to lose any of his children, even if for only a time.
"Alright Lucy. If that is your wish. You have my permission to leave for your training," Lucy smiled at him, "But! You must promise to return once you've reached this goal."
"I promise."
"And you must follow the rules that all those that leave Fairy Tail keep."
"Okay, Master. I will."
"You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live. You must never use former contacts met through your being in the guild for personal gain. And though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live."
As he recited the three rules given to departing fairies, his eyes began to glisten over as he looked at her. He might not have understood why she might want to leave to get stronger away from her family, but he would respect it. And he would make sure his guild did so as well.
"Now, if you'll give me your hand and I will erase your guild emblem." He said gravely, removing a guild marking is no light thing.
Lucy hesitated, realising that this would be it. She would officially have resigned from Fairy Tail. The guild she loves so much. But, then it hit her, I'll be back.
I'll be back and stronger for it.
The blonde extended her right hand towards the elder mage. He placed his left hand over the pink Fairy Tail emblem on her hand and a flash of gold light appeared, and he then removed his hand.
Lucy looked down at her hand and saw the pink emblem fade away in segments before all she could see was the back of her hand bare, with no mark.
Without realising it, Lucy shed a tear at the loss of her place in Fairy Tail. It may have been her choice, but the sting was still quite real.
"Are you alright?" Makarov asked her, watching the tear trail down her face.
Fairy Tail's former celestial mage smiled at him, "Of course. I'm going on an adventure."
"Alright my dear. Off you go." Lucy stood up and went to leave the office, "Wait. Have you told your team yet?"
Her smile dimming, Lucy turned back to him, "No. I'm waiting on Natsu getting here."
Fairy Tail's third master froze in horror, his mind conjuring the potential reaction of Team Natsu's most destructive members. Gray's ice covering the walls and floor of the guild, various members frozen statues, Erza slashing in her Heaven's Wheel armour, her blades slashing the supporting pillars of the guild hall, some of them attacking other members of the guild. While Natsu roars and lets loose with his fire burning the entire guild down.
"Master. Are you okay?"
"Yes. You run along then and prepare for your travels. I'm sure you have much to do."
"Alright. And thank you for everything you've done for me."
Makarov only smiled at her in response and she left the office, closing the door behind her. She leaned back against the door and took in a shuddering breath. She did it. And now the real task. She had to tell her very protective team about this.
She walked over to the banister and looked down to the main hall. She saw her team sitting at a table, having moved from the pool to get something to eat. She smiled taking a second to watch them before she picked one of the keys at her waist.
"Open Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" she held the gold key to her side and she felt the gate open.
"You summoned me, Princess?" the pink haired spirit inquired her mistress.
In the spirit's hands were Lucy's clothes from earlier. Putting them on quickly she faced the maiden spirit again.
"Thanks Virgo. I'm going to leave tomorrow to go train. Do you mind if I summon you later to pack my stuff up in my apartment and store it in the Celestial World?"
"Of course Princess. I would be more than happy to do so. Summon me whenever you wish for me to get started." She then faded away in a flash of golden light.
She was about to walk down the stairs when she felt a tug on her magic and felt another gate open next to her. The golden magic seal opened along with the customary door-bell chime.
"Hello Beautiful." Her spirit's greeting came to her from behind.
Turning around Lucy looked at her lion spirit. He was wearing his 'human' Loke appearance for a change, in a simple pair of jeans and a green t-shirt with the symbol for Leo on the bottom. Even his hair was shorter and more tamed that his usual style, his cat ears missing.
"Hey Loke. I was going to summon you so you could spend some time here as well."
"I know. I'm gonna go speak to Master to remove my guild emblem before we leave later." The lion spirit moved to walk down to the office when he was halted by a hand on his arm.
He looked over at his mistress and saw the misty-eyed look she had. He was very proud of the strength that she was showing, he knew that it wasn't easy for her to get her guild emblem removed.
"No. Don't. It's not right to make you get rid of yours as well. Fairy Tail has been your home for over three years."
"But Lucy-"
"No Leo," that stopped him cold, Lucy never used his real name outside of her summoning spell, "I want you to keep the emblem. For both of us. Please."
"Okay. I won't." he said watching her.
"Let's just enjoy today. I want to relax before we leave tomorrow."
The golden lion smiled at her, all too willing to spend the day with her. He too was sad to leave Fairy Tail, but he made a promise to both Lucy and the Celestial Spirit King to follow her and her descendants to the ends of EarthLand.
He didn't answer her, just took her hand and folded his arm with hers to escort her down the stairs to her team. They walked in a comfortable silence, not needing to say anything to each other. Neither were disturbed by their guild mates as they crossed the hall, as if they were in their own bubble.
The mages at the table looked up as the pair walked over to them. Lucy could see that they all wanted to know why she wanted to speak to the master. She really wanted to tell them, but knew that Natsu and Happy needed to be there as well. Lucy and Loke sat down at the table next to her team and she smiled at them.
"What did you need to talk to Gramps about?" Gray asked her.
Brown eyes met blue, "I'll tell you whe-"
She was cut off with the guild doors burst open, the doors slamming against the walls with a loud, echoing bang.
"HEY GUYS!" a loud voice shouted into the hall.
The pink haired mage stomped in through the open doors his usual large grin stamped across his face. His wild, black eyes scanned the guild before landing on his team sat together near the back.
Grinning he raced over to the table they were sitting at, excitement rolling off of him. Lucy grinned in return, Natsu's mood was infectious as always.
"Lushy!" another voice cried out in greeting as a blue blur flew through the door, following Natsu.
The blonde turned toward the door just in time for the blue ball of energy to crash into her chest. Looking down in surprise, she saw the blue exceed nuzzling her, and humming.
She smiled gently down at him and rubbed her hand down his back, combing her fingers through his fur.
Big, black eyes looked up at her, "Are you feeling better Lucy? Carla said not to bother you, but I missed your bed," the blue cat stuck his paws in his pack and rummaged around in it, "Here, you want a fish?"
In his little paws was a silver fish, and Lucy smiled at the innocent exceed. His naïve belief that every problem could be solved with a fish, always brought a smile to her face.
"Why don't you eat it? I'm sure you're really hungry."
"Okay." Happy needed to hear nothing else, as he began to chew on his lunch, humming away in contentment.
"Hey. Let's go a job! I wanna fight some monsters!" Natsu shouted at his team in his excitement.
While most of the team seemed to agree with Natsu, that they should take on a new job, Lucy was quiet. She realised that she would need to talk to them all now, before they made plans and she chickened out.
"I agree, Natsu. Why don't you go and find an appropriate job for us." Erza told the dragon slayer.
As the pink haired mage was turning to leave, Lucy spoke up, "Actually guys. Can we talk first?"
The table's occupants all froze in their various movements, their eyes locking onto her down-turned head.
"Is everything alright Lucy?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah, it's just… we need to talk about something," Lucy stood up then, and looked at them all, "Let's go into the resting room. We'll have some privacy there."
As she turned away to walk towards the room, Natsu grabbed her right hand, "Hey. Where's your guild emblem?"
The rest of Team Natsu looked at the hand as well, in shock. What happened to her guild mark?
The blonde smiled sadly at them, "I'll tell you guys in the resting room. Let's go."
The celestial mage led the, unusually, quiet mages towards the resting room behind the bar. Though they weren't hindered in there short journey, the rest of the guild hall noticed the change to usually loud and rambunctious fairies.
When they all got situated, either on the beds or leaning against the wall, Lucy turned to face them all. She took a deep breath, before she locked eyes with Natsu.
"I'm leaving the team. And Fairy Tail."
Hey Guys!
So... It's been two months!
I'm so very sorry! I didn't mean for it to be this long. I'm in university and am writing my dissertation at the moment, and so have little time to write anything other than essays. I'm so sorry - again - and I hope you like the chapter.
It's another low-action chapter. And she still hasn't left the guild! I know! This bloody story is getting away from me, I swear.
Read and Review, I love to hear back from you guys! You rock!
-Beartic Baseborn
PS. Thank you guys so much for your support! It's what keeps me going!