Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT III: Crossroad - Where demons roam
Approximately X793
Chapter 9: Answers
A couple of hours passed by, before the next events would unfold...
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Wendy and Happy was fast asleep when Lucy started to feel her body again. The cat was sprawled out on her chest and Wendy was leaning against the bed, her head resting on top of her arms.
At first she got a shock, because it felt really weird getting the feeling back in her body. It was like her soul entered something extremely heavy and warm.
All though it was unpleasant it wasn't that bad once she got used to it. Of course that took a while, since the silence and nothingness had been so dominant for a long period.
For some reason she felt weak. Like all of her muscles was exhausted after exercising too much. Her heart was the weirdest though. Sometimes it would feel like it would skip a beat or just hurt like someone was squeezing it. She suspected it was because it was in the process of starting up again, so it took some time before it got back to it's usual rhythm.
Ohh and another thing Lucy noticed, was that her eyes was shut! That was freakishly weird, because she could clearly see everything, when she was in suspended animation.
A moan escaped her lips before she opened her eyes. It took a lot of effort, because her eyelids felt so extremely heavy.
"Mmm..." blinking she took in the room, that looked a lot different than it had before. Well for one thing it was slightly dark, but it was also like the colours were more dim.
Weird huh?
Lucy forced her arm to move which took a lot of effort, but eventually she managed to place her hand on top of Happy's head.
"Mmm..." the cat blinked slowly as he turned his head to glare up at Lucy "... I'm tired... I don't wanna..." his eyes bulged in surprise.
"Ey..." her voice was low and raspy, from not being used in a while.
"Lu... Lucy!" the cat screamed, with tears shooting out of his eyes.
"Wha-wha-what?!" the healer woke up startled, only to find that Happy was hugging Lucy's neck and rubbing his face against hers.
"You... you're awake!" Wendy started crying too before she started hugging the blonde's torso "I.. I'm so happy"
"... me too..." Lucy whispered and hoped that her vocal chords would soon be warm enough to talk effortlessly.
"I... I have to tell master" Wendy removed her tears before she rushed out of the room.
"I..." Happy sniffled "I missed you"
"... missed you too..." she smiled wholeheartedly.
"Natsu..." the cat started but evidently he couldn't finish the sentence.
"... I know..." Lucy whispered "... I was there..."
"... yeah..."
They didn't say anything as they waited for the healer and Makarov to return.
"But why?" they heard Gray's voice coming closer to the room "Honestly I'm not in the mood for this right now"
"Shut up brat and come" Makarov said impatiently, as he opened the door and entered.
"Seriously I swear you're becoming more morbid..." Gray grumbled as he scratched the back of his neck, turning his head reluctantly to glare at Lucy.
Who was still being facehugged by Happy.
The ice mage's jaw dropped in surprise, when his eyes locked with Lucy's.
"... ey" the celestial mage whispered in a fragile voice.
"But... how?" shocked he shook his head, before going over and enveloped the girl in a tight hug "Damn it girl, I thought you were dead"
"... sorry..." Lucy smiled to herself, wanting to return the hug, but unable to move her muscles.
After a minute Gray removed himself from her, his eyes glistening from unheat tears.
"So how are you feeling?" Makarov asked and avoided looking in her direction.
"... fine... weak..." her eyes narrowed and the aura around her, become dark instantly "... yooou..."
"I didn't do anything I swear!" the master looked at the ceiling, clearly embarrassed.
"... pervert..." Lucy muttered, glaring with killing intent at the master.
"What did he do?" Gray narrowed his eyes suspiciously towards the tiny man.
"Never mind" Makarov faked a cough "The reason I brought you here, is that Lucy is too weak to walk on her own. In a moment I will make an announcement and I want you to carry her into the guild hall. Understood?"
"Pretty much, yeah" Gray nodded.
"Good..." the master turned around "... wait for my signal"
"Sure thing" the ice mage said and sat down on the bed.
Happy stopped hugging Lucy and sat down next to Gray.
"So..." he sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose "... I'm sorry I have to tell you this, but when we go out there you might notice that there's a person missing"
"She knows" Happy said in a sad tone "She was there"
"What?" the ice mage questioned "How?"
"... I'll... explain later" Lucy smiled sadly and could see that Gray felt relieved, that he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news.
They could her Makarov shouting something in the guild hall and not that long after they distinctly heard him roaring "Gray come out here!"
"Guess it's time" the ice mage said as he got into a standing position and gently scooped Lucy up into his arms.
"Ye-yeah" she blushed feeling somewhat uncomfortable, yet excited about seeing her friends again.
Trying to soothe herself, she managed to nuzzle her chin against the scarf that was still around her neck.
Wendy who had been silently crying in the corner, quickly opened the door so that the duo could exit the room.
So bright... Lucy blinked as the light of the guild hall hit her eyes, making everything a blur for the first moments.
The silence was almost deafening as she gained her sight and stared at the guild members, who staring at her with huge surprised eyes.
"Lucy!" Erza was in front of her all of a sudden "But how is this possible?!"
"Luuuu-chan!" Levy screamed and the next minute she was hugging the blonde "Waaaah!"
"It's a long story" Makarov said "And I'll fill you all in later, but for now..." he raised a keg "Let's celebrate!"
"Come on shrimp, give her some space" Gajeel said and smirked towards Lucy "Good to see ya manages to survive kid"
"... thanks..." Lucy smiled and watched as the iron Dragon Slayer dragged Levy away.
After that all of them roared and cheered before taking turns, to go up to greet Lucy and tell her how glad they were that she was still alive. Some in a more sober tone than others of course.
Eventually they left the blonde, giving her room to relax. After all she had just come back from the dead, so it was only natural to give her some space. Besides they knew, that the blonde had to talk privately with her team, to get some answers.
It didn't take long before everyone had been around her, making Lucy turn her head to look up at Gray who had been carrying her the whole time without complaining and just enduring it.
If it had been Natsu, he would have said it was like carrying a whale...
The thought made Lucy slightly sad for some reason.
".Let's go find a table and talk, kay?" Gray asked while turning his head, evidently searching for something.
"Mmm-hm" she nodded and soon they found themselves seated at a table, together with Erza, Happy, Carla and Wendy.
"I'm so glad to see you're among the living" Erza smiled before she grabbed Lucy's head and slammed it against her armoured chest "But as you might have noticed already, we are missing someone"
"... yeah..." Lucy smiled sadly "I know..."
"What?" the armoured mage said in astonishment.
"I'll explain" Wendy looked at Lucy who nodded towards the healer.
It didn't take long for her to explain the situation to the others, who nodded and waited patiently for the healer to finish her explanation.
"I see" Erza rubbed her chin in thought "That explains everything"
"Yeah.." Gray sighed "It must have been hard laying there, not being able to do anything"
Lucy nodded "But what happened..." she coughed to clear her throat "... with your fight?"
"Right you couldn't see that" the ice mage placed his arm on the table and rested his head in his hand "Well we fought against... him... when he stopped the fight all of a sudden"
"Huh?" Lucy tilted her head to the side, feeling confused.
"He trapped us in a cage of black fire, making it impossible for us to continue the fight" Erza elaborated.
"Ohh..." the celestial mage's mouth formed a circle.
So that was what had happened. But why didn't he kill them then and there? Lucy wondered because according to her knowledge END was supposed to be the most evil and dangerous demon of them all.
"We've been talking about bringing him back" Erza stated "We want to form a group and find Tartaros, because we're confident that he might have gone back to his guild"
"Yeah and do it silently to prevent attention" Gray said while glaring at the armoured mage.
"A strong but small group... one that can provide fire power, but who can work together as well" the armoured mage said.
"And since we know most of members from that guild is... well taken care off, it shouldn't be too hard if we go in a small group. Especially since we've all gotten a lot stronger in a year" the ice mage said, confident in their plan.
"Okay..." Lucy nodded.
"We'll set the plan in motion once you've recovered" Erza placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder, trying to assure her everything would be fine.
"Mmm!" the celestial mage nodded and felt how tears was threatening to escape her eyes.
No matter what they would get him back. Even if they had to fight with tooth and claws.
"I sincerely hope you're not making any sneaky plans behind my back..." Makarov said, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he took a seat by the table.
"Of course not master" Erza said stoically, but started to squirm and feel uncomfortable, when she felt the the tiny man glare intensely in her direction.
"Now that you're here, there's something I've been meaning to ask you" Gray said and turned to look at the old man.
"I suspect I know what you want to ask, but go on" Makarov nodded.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but ever since we rescued you from Albaras, I have suspected that you've been ignoring Natsu to some degree. Is this observation correct?"
"I wouldn't call it ignoring him" the tiny mage sighed loudly "all I did was try to observe him"
"Observe him?" Erza asked feeling confused "What would your motivations be for doing that?"
"Mmm..." Makarov grumbled "I guess it would be easier for you to understand, if I explain everything"
The group sat in anticipation and look at the master, as he started his story.
"You see it was back in the year X777, when Mavis approached me and said that there was a bunch of kids that needed my help and guidance. I didn't understand what she meant, but that was all she wanted to share with me. So without knowing why, I found myself wandering around searching in the woods and before I knew it I stumbled across Natsu"
"You found him?" Erza asked in surprise.
"Well yes" Makarov confirmed "But he was all alone. I asked him if he wanted to tag along and help me search for the other children, which he said yes to. But unfortunately we came out empty handed, because they were already too far gone"
"When you say the other children... could it be the other Dragon Slayers?" Gray wondered and rubbed his chin.
"I suppose so" the master answered "After that I asked the kid to go home, but he told me that his dad was missing so he didn't have a home. I must admit that the idea of such a small child wandering around all alone saddened me, so I said to him that if he didn't have anywhere else to go, he was more than welcome to join our family"
"Ahh..." Gray's eyes widened "... I remember that day you brought him in and showed him the guild"
"Of course you do..." Makarov smiled as he recalled that day in his memory.
"But I don't understand how this relates to these current events" Erza said and twisted in her seat to sit more comfortable.
Lucy couldn't either so she shook her head in confusion.
"I'm getting to that" Makarov said and waved his hand "Seven years after that incidence Mavis approached me again, this time however she was carrying bad news. Evidently Zeref had told her everything regarding the Dragon Slayer's origin, but also about a certain celestial mage that died in X777"
"... my... mom?" Lucy asked and coughed into her hand.
"I don't know for certain, but I suspect it might have been" Makarov said and looked rather sad.
"According to Zeref it sounded like he had a connection to her, so I think it's safe to assume it was your mother" Erza stated and smiled in sympathy.
"... yeah..." Lucy whispered to herself.
"Mavis didn't give me the specifics about it all, but she did tell me to keep an eye out for Natsu, because she knew that one day he would summon a certain key and if things turned wrong, then he would use it to summon the demon END. I asked what this key might look like, but she only shook her head and said I would know when I saw it"
"So you were also questioning why he suddenly was wearing that bandage?" Gray crocked his eyebrow.
"Yes I suspected it, but since I couldn't know for sure, I tried to keep my distance and watch. I mean what father would I be if I make wild accusations without solid proof" Makarov massaged the bridge of his nose "Or maybe... it was because I didn't want to believe that he was capable of summoning the demon ... maybe that was a mistake"
"You did what you thought was right in your heart" Erza smiled towards the guild master "No one can blame you for doing that"
"I wouldn't have believed it either, if you told me what you know" Gray stretched arms above his head "I mean sure can be an idiot, but he would never do something so reckless"
"Mm-hm!" Wendy nodded eagerly.
"You guys..." Makarov sniffled his eyes glistening.
Lucy nodded as well, before she rubbed her chin against the scarf, seeking comfort from the fabric.
Happy noticed her movement and sulked visibly.
"What is it Happy-san?" the healer asked.
"I was just wondering..." he pointed his paw towards the blondes neck "Why he left that behind?"
"... dunno..." Lucy whispered and narrowed her eyes, feeling really sad.
"There might be a connection... Happy you once told me that his scarf once absorbed an attack from Zeref turning it black correct?"
"Aye" the cat nodded.
"Well we know Zeref uses dark magic" the scarlet haired woman rubbed her chin and closed her eyes "If his demonic powers originates from the darkness, then perhaps he left it behind because he was scared of destroying it"
"But why would he care about that?" Gray wondered.
"Mmm, let's see..." Makarov furrowed his eyebrows in thought "... since he's a demon he uses curses. There isn't that much knowledge about curses but we know they are based on negative emotions"
"I see..." Erza nodded "... and since he wasn't consumed with his emotions back then, he still had enough rationality to leave the scarf behind"
The scarlet haired woman turned her head to exchange a look with Lucy.
"When he left..." the blonde narrowed her eyes recalling the memory "... he hugged me... goodbye"
"He did?" Wendy blinked in surprise.
"... uh-huh..."
"This is getting more and more weird if you ask me" Gray shook his head and exhaled loudly "END is supposed to be the most evil demon out there, so what he is doing is totally contradicting everything we know"
None of them had an answer to that, so they all sat in silence trying to consume all of the information that they had gathered.
"If you'll excuse me, I think that's all we'll gather from the things we've discussed" Makarov said and got into a standing position "But before I leave there is one thing I want to make clear"
"Yes?" Erza blinked towards the small man.
"Under NO circumstances are you allowed to sneak out and search for him alone!" his voice boomed as he pointed at each of them in turn "You hear me!"
"Understood" the scarlet haired mage nodded.
"Good!" the tiny man narrowed his eyes in suspicion, before he stomped away from them.
"Erza..." the ice mage smirked knowingly.
"Gray, you know I would never go against the master's wishes" Erza proudly raised her chin and smiled "However if we by any chance happened to have a mission or something in that direction..."
"... ohh..." Lucy chuckled understanding where this was going on.
"What...?" Happy blinked and felt excluded from the conversation "I don't get it?"
"I'll explain it when we get to Lucy's apartment" Gray said to the cat and got into a standing position.
"... my apartment?" the blonde blinked in confusion.
"Well yeah, where else? Are you ready yo go?" the ice mage asked.
"Uhm yeah sure, why?" Lucy asked.
"Isn't that obvious?" the ice mage smirked "I mean unless you healed during our conversation, I suspect someone needs to help you home"
"Ahh... yeah..." the blonde giggled ".. thank you"
"You're welcome, I guess I'll see you guys later then" Gray nodded towards the assembled members and a second later he had managed to get the blonde into his arms. .
So with that Lucy found herself being carried home, with a lot of new unanswered questions in her mind.
A/N: Juvia is out on a mission... I mean if she wasn't the events in this chapter might have killed her O.o – and no it ain't romantic, he's just being nice.
Anyhow I've currently run into a wall in my mind.
Which is bad... really bad...
You see I got an idea from a review and in some aspects it's brilliant. In others... "sigh" it would mean that I have a lot more editing and typing to do. Also there's a lot material that I've already written, that I might have to scratch (which I don't mind, it's part of the process).
Mmm... I honestly don't know what to do, because if I go along with this new plan, then this story will get an additional arc that revolves around stuff I didn't want to include: the fight between the three fractions: humanity, an immortal and dragons.
But ohh boy... there would be so much more work I need to do... like wow... I honestly don't know what to do... I'll figure it out soon... I hope, lol - I'm so tired lately XD
Have a nice day y'all!
