Hey everyone! Thank you for coming by for another installment of Golem! I know you all are eager to get started, so I'll just address a few questions we've seen pop up more than once! It was also a question that popped up when Kytrin and I were posting Parallels, so I'll go ahead and talk about it now.
Yes, Golem is totally finished. We've written the whole fic out and it's ready to be posted. However please don't ask us to increase our updates or post it all at once.
I'll be honest, your reviews are our reward and we sorta don't want to skimp out on them. If we post more frequently, that gives people less of an opportunity to read the story and follow along with it. We're only human and we like to hear from everyone. :)
The second reason, which is actually more important than the first, is that we both have lives. Full time jobs that are demanding and sometimes a little random. We can easily burn out on a story if we aren't careful, and not many people realize how much time is spent combing over a chapter a second time. It can easily eat an hour we don't have into our days, and we take those two days between updates as a sort of reprieve.
I'm sure a lot of you would just like the story to read all at once, but for our sanity, please have mercy.
Without further babbling, here's our next update into Golem!
THIS FIC UPDATES ONCE EVERY THREE DAYS: Post, break, break, Post
CHAPTER 13
Sylph
Sylph (also called sylphid) is a mythological creature in the Western tradition. The term originates in Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as invisible beings of the air, his elementals of air.
When Lucy woke up the next morning, all she could see was pink.
Natsu, with all his wild hair was crouched down next to her bed and watching her sleep with such an intensity she thought her head was going to explode.
To her credit, she didn't scream.
"Natsu what are you doing so close to my face at-" she stole a quick glance at her clock, "six in the morning?"
His smile only widened on her, his eyes obscured by the long fringe of his hair that fell in untamed locks around his face. He really needed a haircut soon.
"You said we were going to do fun things today. I've been waiting for you to get up!" He breathed in an energetic rush.
Lucy raised an eyebrow as she took that meaning and turned it over in her head.
"...Have you been awake the whole night?" She grumbled, trying to squint around the exuberant joy he practically radiated.
Natsu nodded eagerly.
"You know... if it weren't for the fact I've seen you sleep I'd wonder if you ever did." Lucy mumbled as she collapsed back onto her pillow and longingly contemplated smashing her face into it and going back to sleep.
She was most definitely not a morning person by most definitions.
Unfortunately, she was awake now, she had an excited Natsu watching her, and the odds of getting back to sleep were slim to none.
She heaved a sigh and flung her blanket back before she could change her mind, "Okay, I'm up." She yawned, shooing him out of the way as she sat up, "But there will be caffeine, food, and a bath first."
There was absolutely no mistaking her tone as anything other than an order with heavily implied, if unspecific, threat if it was not obeyed.
Fortunately for Natsu's continued existence he was more than happy to obey her order since that meant she was up and moving.
Though it didn't hurt any that he vividly recalled the muttered swearing and growling he'd seen on the occasions she'd been up early before. He loved his mistress, but she was scarier than him before her first cup.
Lucy paid no attention as she stumbled out of bed and shuffled towards the kitchen. She wasn't awake enough to care about his inner thought processes anyway.
As such she didn't notice him loping off to prepare her bath until she was dragging her half awake carcass over to the bathroom.
The cup of coffee she had prepared was clutched in her hands, and had she been more awake she would have been more surprised over his use of time.
It seemed he paid attention to her morning routine. She managed to crack a smile at Natsu before she shooed him from the bathroom. He was an insufferable brat, but she liked him all the same when he did things like this. Lucy got undressed and sank happily into the waters.
As time ticked on, she felt increasingly more alive with each passing moment. Soon she was able to face Natsu once again, even if it meant venturing out into the godforsaken early morning.
But she had promised she was going to show Natsu what it was like to be a person...
So she damn well was going to finish what she started. Although for the future ponderings, she hoped Natsu would keep their excursions to the hours people could function at.
The thought carried her as she finished getting ready and stepped out of the bathroom feeling much better. She hadn't eaten yet, but it was early enough the bakeries would probably just be getting their things out of the oven, and there was little that was more heavenly than fresh baked food.
"Okay Natsu." She said as she slid her keys onto her belt and fastened her belt around her waist, "Let's go. I'll start with introducing you to a bakery."
She was aware that he could probably eat an entire bakery on his own, and internally winced a little at the amount of money that would cost, but it wasn't like she couldn't afford it.
She didn't notice the way Natsu had stopped to stare at her in shocked surprise until she noticed he wasn't following her.
"Natsu?" She asked, looking over her shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"You look weird!" Natsu blurted, and then flushed a little at the look on her face, "I mean... your clothes... they're all different."
Understanding dawned and Lucy smiled as she turned to let him have a good look, "You might not remember, but this is how I dress for a day out when I'm off duty." She grimaced, "We only had a couple of those and you were still pretty blank then."
And the rest of the time she pretty much dove straight for her pajamas when the day was over. That was probably what he remembered best.
Natsu crept forward to inspect this change, and decided it was a nice one. She didn't look anything like a Knight like this, or a weird mimic of Mira. It was all her. And it suited her as much as the house did.
Lucy rolled her eyes and tugged at a lock of hair a bit, "C'mon. I'm getting hungry."
Natsu licked his lips, Lucy watching the motion in clear amusement. His tongue nicked across his fangs and at the offended look on Natsu's face over his traitorous fangs hurting himself, she snorted.
Of course the thought of food would make him careless. She pulled the whining Natsu with her as they headed out to get some food. Lucy had a feeling they were going to have a very long day ahead of them.
-::-
Sure enough as the day progressed, and Natsu almost made the baker have to close shop for the day, Lucy managed to dragon him off to find a clothing vendor.
Clothes had a tendency of being expensive and weren't always easy to come by. Natsu had already burned the sleeves off more than half of the clothes he had worn so far.
They were going to have to find something a tad bit more on the durable side for him. Which meant something magically imbued.
His tapered ears wiggled under his shaggy hair as Natsu tried to take in all the sights and smells around him. Lucy sighed and grasped his hand.
"Stay close, and try not to look like such a tourist," She mumbled, "Try to blend in."
"But Luuuucy!" Natsu whined excitedly, "There's so much cool stuff to see!"
Lucy rolled her eyes, though her lips twitched a little in amusement, "Yeah, but you don't need to gawk at it." She scolded lightly, "That attracts attention."
Natsu shot her a small pout. He could tell she wasn't really mad at him, yet, but she had a point about blending in. They were both still wanted by the Knights after all. So he sighed and tried not to look around at all the fascinating things all around them.
"C'mon you..." Lucy sighed, shaking her head a little as she dragged him into a magic shop that specialized in clothing.
She hadn't been to it before, though she'd heard about it from Juvia as she and Gray also needed clothes that would work with their magic, and smiled at the clerk behind the counter, "Hi. We need some clothes that would suit a strong fire type wizard."
The old man smiled, "Ah yes. I heard one might be coming through soon. Right this way. Don't worry, I've got all the latest styles."
Lucy blinked as he led them to a small area where Natsu could change on one side, and they could get a good look from several mirrors. This was the first time she'd ever been shopping for magical clothes, and she was mildly surprised how much it reminded her of upscale shopping.
"So... how does this work?" She asked curiously as Natsu looked around at the various pieces on display.
"It's simple really." The man replied, "My clothes are woven from special magically sensitive cloth. Once you pick out what you want I'll attune it to the wearer. That will guarantee their magic works with it and not against it. Of course, it doesn't cover external damage unless you specifically purchase self repairing armor."
Lucy blinked again, and shrugged. She was fairly new to this idea, and her magic didn't require anything special like Natsu's did. Though the self repair idea sounded pretty good.
"Alright then, let's get started." She grinned at Natsu, privately enjoying that her new friend was going to get his very first experience with this, "So Natsu... do you see any colors you like?"
Natsu's eyes flickered uncertainly towards her, and then again back at the colors he was supposed to pick. All of a sudden he felt a bit cornered, making a decision like this by himself seemed overwhelming.
Lucy drew in close, looking over his shoulder and set a hand on the back of his arm. He looked over at her helplessly, not quite sure what he was supposed to do.
"Which ones pop out to you first?" Lucy asked helpfully.
Relaxing a bit, Natsu grinned at the easy way she worked around the phrasing, and he pointed out a couple of colors that jumped out at him. Black was striking against gold, and dark reds and blues caught his eye quickly.
"Those are some good colors, let's see if we can come up with something with them," Lucy smiled at the man, who jotted them down and directed Natsu to the center of the room.
"What're we doing?" Natsu asked as he tamely went along with the man, but his eyes were narrowed with confusion.
"He's going to take your measurements Natsu, how else will your clothes fit you?" Lucy asked, clearly amused by his shift in attitude and the way he seemed to be sulking.
"Magic?" Natsu grumbled as the man pushed his arms out to each side of him.
Lucy laughed a little and grinned as the measuring began, "Natsu, this is what we call tailoring your clothes. By the time he's done your clothes will be the best fitting you've ever had, and I promise he'll make them look good."
She patted his shoulder and started browsing through the various styles on display. They were all uniformly white at the moment, unless there was an image on it, but that wasn't a problem. Color change magic for clothes had been around for centuries. They could change anything to Natsu's desired colors without any problem.
"Since you're a brawler type, we'll need something tough enough to stand up in your average fight." She mused as she pulled various shirts, vests, and pants off the rack for Natsu to try.
"A fighter eh?" The man replied, "That's another customization I can add easy. I get requests for stuff like that even from non-mages. Folks like having durable clothing they won't have to replace in a year or less."
"I can believe that." Lucy smiled as she made her way back over to where Natsu was sulking as the man flitted around him.
She held up a pair of pants and a sleeveless shirt, "I'm thinking something like this?" She told him, "Or something similar. You'll want stuff that's comfortable, but easy to move in."
Natsu wasn't sure. He was having a hard time telling the difference between some of the strange things Lucy had picked out. It just didn't look interesting all in white.
In the end, it took Lucy shoving a combination in his hands and ordering him to change into it before he understood. When he came out he was immediately hit with the colors magic and his eyes widened in awe at the amazing difference it made.
He turned around to look at himself, his eyes widening as he held his arms out at his side.
"Whoa, this is neat!" He gasped, impressed despite himself. Clothes didn't particularly appeal to him, but even he had to admit there was something ridiculously neat about being able to see everything laid out on him like this.
He stretched out and flexed at the waist, testing out how the clothes would fall when he needed to jump into a complicated fight.
"But Lucy, what about my-" He lifted his arms up, the odd tattoos curling around his biceps to taper down at his forearms on display. A flicker of worry flashed over his face and he cocked his head at her.
"It's okay Natsu," Lucy cleared her throat, "No one will mind a little ink. There are plenty of people who have tattoos on their arms like this, and it might even help you blend in with a different kind of crowd." She smiled.
Natsu nodded in understanding, secretly pleased not to have anything covering his arms anyway. He rather liked having them exposed. It would be easier to conjure his fire better.
And that meant protecting Lucy was ideal.
They went through a few more sets like that before settling on four different complete outfits that Natsu could mix and match. Though Lucy thought she would save that concept for later. Working out color and style preferences had been difficult enough.
The end result was worth it though.
Watching Natsu move around the store in one of his new outfits, a vest and pants combination that he'd insisted on as soon as he saw it, she was pretty sure she hadn't seen him look more pleased with himself.
She was feeling pretty pleased with herself too despite the difficulties. It had taken far less time than she'd thought for Natsu to start to get the idea that he was in control of his clothes, and if he saw something he liked he could say so.
Admittedly, he'd still deferred to her opinion ultimately, but the fact he'd shown such an eager interest in even one thing was a huge step for him.
"You look good Natsu." She praised with a smile, not even bothering to try and haggle the price down as she paid. The elderly tailor had done really good work, and had dealt with walking Natsu through buying clothes with a dignity and calm that deserved reward.
She smiled at the man, "Thanks again. I can promise we'll be back."
"It was my pleasure." The man replied as Lucy grabbed the bags and tugged Natsu, who was still admiring his new sandals, out the door.
"How about some ice cream as a treat?" She asked as they stepped out into the afternoon heat, "I think we've earned it."
"Why?" Natsu raised an eyebrow as he unloaded the bags from Lucy automatically and slung them over his shoulder. He shadowed behind her, his eyes falling over the set of her shoulders and her elegant strides.
He couldn't help but notice how small she was. Especially the way her hand slipped around his wrist, delicate against his sturdy arm. He blinked curiously and followed her arm up to her face, and she puffed her cheeks out. There was a tint of pink to them, and Natsu thought she looked a bit like a weird fish like that.
"This was something new for you right? So we should celebrate it! Come on Natsu, I know you like fire, but I'm sure ice cream will sit just right with you too," Lucy winked and dragged him over to a vendor.
She was getting it for him?
Natsu blinked as he tried to wrap his mind around that one, holding the bags dumbly as she asked for sample spoons for the different flavors and had him taste the different ones.
He was startled over the frostiness of it, and the strange flavor confused him, but gradually he warmed up to the cooling treat.
Lucy laughed as Natsu tried various flavors, and generally made a mess as he raced to eat it before his natural heat melted it. It looked like he was having fun though, even if he didn't realize it as he battled his treat. She wondered if he'd even noticed he'd gone through four different scoops and a banana split?
Probably not.
She didn't mind though. She got to relax and enjoy one of her favorite treats and laugh at his efforts; despite the pouts he occasionally shot her.
Once they were done, and Natsu had conceded defeat with his latest bowl, she stretched and stood up, "C'mon." She smiled, "Why don't we go show everyone your new things?"
At Natsu's uncomprehending expression she shrugged, "I promised we would show up to today, and it's already afternoon. We'll need to get a move on if we're going to get there today."
She didn't mention the fact that she would not willingly break a promise if she could help it. It was extremely bad form for a celestial wizard.
She wasn't sure if he knew that or not, but it didn't matter since that was their next destination anyway.
Natsu perked up at the idea of visiting Fairy Tail. He was pretty sure Lucy hadn't been lying that they would go back, but he was happy to hear that she was really making an effort. He knew her prejudice ran deep, but Fairy Tail had given her enough reason to take a leap of faith, and maybe now things would be better.
"Yeah!" He grinned, "Let's go!"
As they two disappeared back into the crowd, eyes followed them from a distance.
It wasn't enough to draw Natsu's attention in earnest, although he looked up curiously as a familiar sensation he couldn't quite place ran down his spine.
Shrugging it off, they took a turn, leaving the plaza, and the eyes.
The one who had been watching them was a girl with short hair and strange ears hidden by a cloak. She scurried through the streets and when she found a private place, withdrew a beaten up lacrima from her bag.
"Lord Mard Geer," She breathed into the magical object, eyes alight with glee, "It's as you said. I found the golem. It's here in Magnolia, bound to an ugly mortal hussy."
"Is that so Lamy?" The answering voice of her master echoed through the lacrima, "and how did it look?"
"Really hot," Lamy sighed dutifully. But at the uncomfortable silence which greeted her at the other end, she cleared her throat, cheeks flushing, "Oh, ah, his markings looked different from the archive pictures, and he was actually interacting with his mistress."
"Interesting..." Mard Geer purred, "Was the mortal insect giving it orders, or was it reacting of it's own free will?"
Lamy frowned for a moment as she thought, "It was hard to tell over the noise, but it looked like the golem was interacting on his own."
"Then Master Zeref's creation may not have been one of his few failures after all." Mard Geer mused, "Further, it seems our dear master may have left us a clue to his whereabouts by the golem's tattoos."
There was a long moment of silence as Mard Geer considered his options, "Contact our friends in Phantom Lord and monitor the situation Lamy." He ordered, "Have them find out who this mortal is and how she was able to awaken the golem. If possible have them attempt an extraction from its current location."
"Yes sir!" Lamy responded, "And if they can't extract the golem?"
Mard Geer shrugged, "Then we will provide suitable incentive for the Golem to leave the city on its own."
The lacrima went dark, and Lamy slipped it back into her cloak. There was work to do, and she was thrilled at the prospect of seeing their master again. Maybe this time she would be allowed to play with the golem for a while? He really was incredibly hot…
Please make sure you read the authors note at the top!
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Cana crowed in laughter as she spread out a flush of cards on the table. A chorus of groans followed her.
"Read 'em and weep boys! Off with your shirts!" She cried in victory.
Natsu slid his vest off, "I think you're cheating."
Poker was a strange game, and he found he had quite the competitive streak in him.
But Cana was a card shark if he had ever seen one. Which he hadn't, but Lucy called her that...
"How is it that you started off wearing less than us but we're the ones suffering?" Gray grouched.
"Gray, the lady said to ditch the shirt, not the pants," Gajeel snorted.
There was a round of laughter as Gray flipped out over having stripped his pants as well without realizing it, and Lucy shook her head from where she was sitting with Juvia.
"It's nice to know some things don't change anyway." She commented as she sipped at her drink.
