"Hey now, don't be hasty," Bomber chuckles, when Natsu leaps up and snags him by the collar.
"If I fuck you up, this thing will disappear," Natsu says. "This isn't Rune Magic. This is something else with a similar form—"
"Yeah, you're right, but if you knock me out after I've activated it, it won't deactivate," Bomber smiles, "you'll explode."
Natsu freezes.
Bomber smiles wider. "The activating conditions are submission or defeat, begging for mercy counts too," he explains, so graciously. "So, let's play a guessing game," he raises his hands up to count, "how many people do you think I managed to defeat when Naked Mummy went on a rampage in Magnolia? How many of those do you think are members of your guild, and how many are civilians, who have done no wrong?"
("Please! Please no, why are you doing this! Stop, please!")
Natsu carefully, so carefully, releases his hold on Bomber's collar.
"Right," Bomber snarkily fixes his clothes. "That's a good boy. Thanks for understanding your situation, Salamander. You're smarter than people give you credit for."
And Natsu can once again do absolutely nothing.
This is how Naked Mummy has spread their influence this whole time— with fear, with threats— they're the mob boss of Fiore's underground, and Fairy Tail's picked just the worst opponent.
Naked Mummy doesn't flaunt their strength. They can slip under Fairy Tail's overwhelming power because they are weak, because they know the mindset of the weak and use it to employ the dirtiest tricks up their sleeves.
Bomber pats him on the head, mockingly, like a child.
"Don't worry, I just came here to play with ya! We're still setting up the stage for now, but just know that if you act out, I can blow it all up anytime."
Natsu cannot do anything.
"And when that happens, I'm sure you'll love to know," Bomber jeers, "their lives are in your hands, Salamander."
Natsu burns, but nothing catches on fire. "What the fuck do you want from me?!"
(Do they want him to turn against Fairy Tail? To work for them? To drag Laxus out and beat him up in front of an audience, what?!)
"Nothing!"
Bomber's answer makes Natsu's breath hold.
"We don't want anything from you anymore, Salamander," he cackles, and his smile is so wide. "We just want to torment you! You, the Salamander himself, being so helpless! Against someone so clearly weaker than him, too. Can you believe the look on your face right now? It's priceless!"
Natsu cannot say a thing, he cannot do a thing.
He has never felt so utterly worthless before.
They might call him the Salamander, the co-leader of the Thunder Legion, and all manner of boastful names… but he's just a child that's in over his head, isn't he?
With the mess of restoration and recuperation, some work-filled weeks pass by.
Natsu still hasn't been seen in town beyond that first day he brought Chico home. Happy's been upset, but the guild's too busy to worry about him. They simply trust Natsu will turn up soon, and life moves on.
Fairy Hills finds a great delivery of books.
Lucy's a little bashful about it, though Levy, Erza, and Evergreen are rather ecstatic.
"Levy's room doesn't have space, but we can keep some down in the sitting room, and we can get Laki to make you some shelves—" Evergreen stops herself. "Oh dear. Laki's in school. I forgot."
"Yeah," Levy chuckles, "guess we'll have to get shelves the old-fashioned way!"
"But this will certainly help with the research we were doing in the Council library," Erza says. "We found something rather interesting, didn't we? It's about time we truly broke that down."
"Right!" Levy says, "Look, Lucy, about that book! Apparently, it was written by Anna Heartfilia , as in your ancestor!"
"M- My ancestor?!" Lucy is rather surprised, "I mean… I heard that my family has a long history with Celestials, but I didn't think… huh? Where have I heard the name 'Anna' before?"
"You know what that means? We can call up Loke to ask!"
"Wait no! Let him rest!"
They scatter the books around the living room, reading and chattering about interesting old Celestial traditions lost to time. They found spells for Heavenly magic too, though most of them were too complicated to understand just with a read-through.
Lucy's removed the menial bandages around her, only to find unique scars around her palms and light ones trailing up to her face, cracks and spots somehow drawing uncharted constellations across her skin. It fascinated her deeply, that the consequences of abusing Celestial magic brought such unique beauty.
(But surviving it, she felt so much more connected to her spirits. So she wore the scars with pride.)
"And, did you know that the number 'seven' has a lot of significance in Celestial tradition?" Levy says, "and magnificently enough, the total number of constellations is a superlative, 'eighty-eight' stars, depicting that all of them, working together, can add up to something that surpasses Celestial magic itself."
"What's with that, that's so cool…" Lucy's completely entranced.
"But seven years ago, huh…" Erza hums, "if we're talking seven years ago from now, it'd be X777. That's quite a fascinating coincidence."
Lucy's face falls in surprise. "Oh… it's been exactly seven years since… huh? Now that I think about it, I didn't notice, but… I joined in July, didn't I?"
She turners toward the calendar hanging by the wall.
"What's strange about July, Lucy?"
"Ah, no… it's just…" Lucy chuckles, "it's a bit dumb, but July was my mom's death anniversary. So I think it's kind of a funny coincidence that I joined Fairy Tail exactly seven years after… you know…"
Levy and Erza's features soften at that.
"So it was on July, the year X777…" Erza says, "hold on, that's quite a baffling coincidence. Perhaps the Heartfilia really are magically connected to the Celestials…"
"I have a feeling something else happened in July that year though…" Levy frowns.
"Natsu joined that year, I remember," Erza says. "A year after me, and a year before Mira, I remember very well."
"Oh, I remember something else," Evergreen says, coming by with some drinks, "wasn't July the day of the Crocus meteor shower?"
"The Crocus… ah, that's right!" Levy says, beaming, "I remember that day! It was unscheduled and unpredicted too, so it was so magical!"
"It was a nice coincidence that we were all moon-viewing that night," Erza says, also reminiscing. "It surely was a beautiful sight, though it was a very short one."
Lucy didn't quite know what they were talking about. "The Crocus… meteor shower?" she asks.
"I wonder if we can find an old article about it," Evergreen says. "It happened on the seventh, too, I think! I always knew there was something magical about days where the numbers lined up."
"Seventh July, Year seven-seven-seven…" Lucy mumbles to herself.
Her mother died on the fourteenth, exactly a week after then. Another multiple of seven.
"It's really strange," Lucy says. But alas, some mysteries are truly lost to time.
(Huh?)
A thought, mildly terrifying, seizes her as she peruses the author's name on the book, and tries, as much as she can, to remember where she's heard the name 'Anna' before.
("Woah. You really do look like Anna-sensei.")
Seven years ago, her mother had told her about a duty Lucy couldn't understand fully, and now she no longer remembers well enough to make sense of it. Then Layla had fallen sick, severe Magic Deficiency, and most likely with her hands bursting with scars akin to the ones currently on Lucy's palms… she died peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her loved ones.
"Natsu joined something like a week after the meteor shower, I remember!" Levy chuckles, not thinking much of it. "I remember we were all out trying to catch stars, because Cana put it in our heads that we could."
"I mean, it did look very much like one of them landed in our direction," Erza says, a little bashful. She remembers spearheading the effort very much, she had been so enthusiastic about it and so upset when they found nothing.
"The only one that found anything of note that day was Master," Erza says, upset as if she'd lost a scavenger hunt.
When Lucy gives a confused raised brow, Levy snickers.
"He found Natsu!" she explains. "It was so surprising!"
He'd found Natsu, who he cites to have been sitting around the forest building a shelter, searching for something. And Master, of course, had taken him in.
(There's no way it's all correlated, right? There's no way the 'Anna-sensei' that Natsu mistook her for would be the same one. It's not an unusual name.)
(But one that looked like her, though…)
"We used to joke all the time that Natsu was our shooting star," Levy chuckles. "Gave him star-printed shirts, paraded him around town showing him off, and all that. He was too out of touch with modern society to reject it. Though, he bit us a lot."
Evergreen snorts at the memory, "I remember when I joined. It was Christmas Eve, and you guys tied him up to the pinnacle of the tree. He was so mad and burned it down."
"Laxus got so mad at us!" Levy cackled.
"Of course he did! Laxus was just managing to get Natsu to open up to us and you guys bullied him!" Erza chides.
"Ironically Natsu was super into it when we tied Gray to it tomorrow morning though," Levy says, "I'd say it was a win."
"Were all of you menaces when you were kids?!" Lucy finally blurts out in exasperation, "you're telling me the current state of the guild is the better version??"
The reminder sends uproarious laughter through the sitting room.
Lucy joins in the laughter, and unwillingly lets her new revelation slip her mind.
"You have a guest!"
Lucy opens the door and jerks back screaming. Levy looks out and also screams.
"Welcome, dear, don't mind them, it's like a greeting around here," Erza says. "I've heard from Laki that you would be coming! Thanks for walking her here, Gray."
"I walked her here because I knew that's the reception she'd get," Gray scowls, arms crossed. "And we had to get that Council guy off our backs somehow…"
"P- P- Pha???" Lucy is not taking this news well, "Phantom?! Phantom??"
Juvia Lockser fidgets around the strap of her luggage, uncomfortable. She can't meet anyone in the eyes.
Juvia wasn't told that Laki wouldn't be here! This is awkward, this is a nightmare, and Juvia just wants to go home instead. She regrets it all. She thought she'd be able to stay in her comfort zone talking to just Laki and Gray as they'd done over correspondence during her time in the holding cell, but suddenly she's been thrust into the company of so many other girls, two of which clearly hate her—
—Juvia wants to go home. Except, home doesn't exist anymore, and she can't run to Gaji because Element Four aren't allowed within three hundred miles of each other.
She's devastated. Very devastated. Poor Juvia. She will cry.
"C- Calm down, Lucy, look," Levy says, though she's clearly the more afraid of the two, still two steps behind everyone and slightly behind Lucy's figure as a safety wall, "she's wearing magic restraints."
In response, Juvia urgently holds up her hands, showing the thin but clear white shackles marked with the runic sequence and insignia of the Magic Council. Her ankle monitor also shines similarly.
"All of the Element Four have to wear them for their probationary period," Cana says, "Totomaru had them too! You're not allowed to work as magic mercenaries until your penance time is up, right? So they're mostly surviving on charity from the Council and nearby guilds now."
"Oh dear, better not let the civilians know what their taxes are being used for," Evergreen says. "And stop hounding her, all of you! You're making her uncomfortable!"
"Wait, so all the Element Four are currently scattered across Fiore?" Levy asks. "That's a little… how'd you say… sad, uhm. Do you know where they are now?"
"What about the other members?" Lucy wonders, "like, Ryos?"
Juvia falters. "Uhm… Juvia doesn't know. She suspects Gaji went home… if so, Little Ryos may be with him. They are not usually apart."
"Ah, I think Natsu mentioned that Ryos was sticking with him only until Gajeel was released," Gray offers. "Wait. How does that tie to Natsu being missing?"
"Mister Natsu is missing?" Juvia asks, surprised.
"Ah, sorry. Don't spread that around."
"Yes, Juvia will be silent. But that is worrying."
"But there's no point worrying about that now," Erza says. "He's a dragon slayer, he can handle himself. Let's get you settled, first."
Fairy Hills is, contrary to popular belief, not exclusively a dorm for Fairy Tail members. So today they welcome a new face. Easily, an arm is hooked into Juvia's, her luggage is taken, and the girls lead her right in.
"Come on in, Juvia! We'll have a party tonight, bake night!"
"Come on, it's been bake night for three days straight! We're wasting resources!"
"But we need to send something in the care package for Max and Laki, don't we?"
"Baked goods are just going to crumble."
"Juvia! Do you have any ideas what to bring, then?"
"Eh?" Juvia sputters, "uh… Juvia does not… know… She can crochet?"
"Crochet! That's a good idea!"
"You sure you don't want to just skip the whole formalities and join the guild, Juvia? We really won't mind. Even if anyone does, we'll teach them a lesson for ya!"
"N- no! Juvia would not. Should not."
It had only been a joke, an offhand comment, but she went through it with true consideration. She doesn't seem to understand much of things spoken in casual and jest.
"In truth… Juvia is fine as she is," she admits, holding her hands, bound by the magic shackles, close to her chest. "In the past weeks Juvia has finally been separated from the rain… Juvia has been happy. The sun is very beautiful, and Juvia has found comfort, wearing these."
To Juvia, her magic is not strength, and it is not home.
To her, magic has always been a tie to trouble and something she could never control.
So much that being literally shackled has improved her life so immensely, she has finally taken a step toward a healthy belonging and friendship.
Fairy Tail mages have always lived with magic as the heart and hope of everything they are. So it's a little difficult for them to understand it.
"You're not sure if you want to continue living as a mage?" Erza asks. Because that's what she seems to imply.
"Yes… but Juvia does not know how to live otherwise," she says, a little bashful, toying with her fingers as her cheeks flush. "She cannot live on kindness forever. Juvia understands when she will need to leave—"
"No, no, of course not, dear!" Levy jumps in. "You can join anytime, and stay as long as you want! No pressure!"
"And don't worry about not doing work either," Cana grins. "You don't have to be a mercenary like us. You can help Mira at the bar— or, you know, we won't blame you for doing nothing either. I spent my first year or so here not knowing any magic at all and I got free drinks each time I came by! It's fine, we promise."
Juvia hesitates, but her expressions are light with relief.
Gray sighs, forgotten at the door.
He supposes this is fine.
Alzack and Bisca went out to the continent after dropping Laki and Max at the Council School. They'll go around, searching signs of Gildarts being alive anywhere in Ishgar, before coming back in time to bring Laki and Max on their term break to Fantasia.
A little more than a month. That's how long Natsu has been missing, radio silence.
He wouldn't want posters strung up. He wouldn't want fanfare, no one would, not after what happened with Lucy. The turmoil and controversy has long quietened, and the town's up and ready for preparations for the Harvest Festival.
(And yet…)
Gray sighs, making his way back down the hill. He picks up his jacket on the way, not knowing when it'd come off. He rests it over his shoulder and looks toward the sky.
"Things just aren't the same when Natsu's not around…"
Erza's losing herself in trying to entertain Juvia, and Lucy can't help but feel as if Erza's overcompensating, somehow. Erza's hounding Juvia left and right, citing it's her job as dorm matron to ensure Juvia is a guest and not a new help, and Juvia is definitely getting from comfortable to uncomfortable very quickly because apparently that girl has never learned how to not be in the way before.
"I think they're all worried," Lucy figures. She decides to escape the scuffle of the dorms to head out for a walk, and she finds Bickslow near the toy store.
Bickslow picks up the dragon-shaped plush toy. "About Natsu? Of course we are! But honestly, sometimes, I'm not sure if we're worried for Natsu, or for whatever poor sod or town is going to be destroyed before he comes back."
Lucy chuckles at that. "That's terrible!"
"But you know, it's nice we finally get to meet face to face, Lucy-chan," he sings, "I'm Bickslow, by the way. Last we saw each other I duked Loke for a kiss from you and lost."
Lucy's cheeks blow red, "that wasn't what happened! And I didn't agree to, nor give, that kiss in the end!"
"Awh, why not? Don't you looo~ve Loke? Is he not handsome enough for you? Oh maybe playboys aren't your type?"
Lucy flushes madly at each question. "It's none of your business!"
"Oh come on, you gotta admit Loke's hot. Okay. I pitch you Cana."
"Cana?!" Lucy wheezes.
"Okay. So you can have Cana, give me Loke. We can switch on Thursdays."
"Oh sweet that's a steal! Wait, what conversation are you turning this into?!" her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm before rationality seizes her once again and she pathetically sputters to regain herself. "Don't lead me on like this! What did I just agree to?!"
"The cardinal sin of lust. My favourite."
"Don't do this to me!"
Lucy lets out an unholy shriek, burying her face into the lion plushie in her hands. The old lady shopkeeper chuckles fondly at the sight of them, and honestly, Lucy's quite endeared by that. People here must really have known Bickslow for a long time, to allow them to mess around loudly in the shop and handle merchandise like this with no particular care.
"Bickslow for fuck's sake! Stop corrupting the damn newbie!"
"What?"
"What?"
Both heads lift to see Laxus Dreyar walk in, a multitude of wallpaper rolls under one arm, Mirajane walking by on his other side with a basket of flowers.
Laxus scowls. "I thought we made it clear you're not allowed thirty feet of the newbie."
"Yeah, Bickslow," Mirajane adds, teasingly, "I heard you tried to flirt with her over a card call. You're a lecher! Pervert boy bad, you get the thirty feet ban." She says, with all the smile of an angel and the tone to match, but the demeanor of a devil that's just joining in because she thinks teasing Bickslow is fun.
"Seriously? You're holding that against me even now??" Bickslow gawks. "What about you two? Walking side by side? On a date?"
"We're running errands for Gramps," Laxus says.
"So, a date," Bickslow concludes.
"We're running errands for Master," Mirajane says.
"So a date?" Lucy exclaims, genuinely surprised by this development.
"...you're lucky you're the golden newbie of the guild," Laxus sighs longsufferingly. He hates these guys so much, but thank the gods above, he could not give less of a crap what these motherfuckers think.
"Laxus is such a softie," Mirajane teases.
"Let's go back to the guild," he prompts instead, and this immediately turns into a scurry of everyone making him buy them one obnoxious plush toy each. "Yes I will buy the damn biggest thing in the store just shut up and let me out of here!"
"You see, Lucy, when Laxus is here, it's tradition to make him buy you something," Mirajane says, clutching a gigantic purple rabbit doll. "It's the job of the younger siblings to be spoiled by the oldest."
Lucy hugs her lion toy to her chest as she takes that in. Bickslow is floating a pink dragon, a green fairy, and a yellow sheep around in giggling circles around his head.
"B- But I just joined?"
"All the more so!" Bickslow says. "Ah, age doesn't matter by the way. It's about rankings. The guild's four S-class mages are contractually obligated to give up their wallets every time they enter this guild."
"The four…" Lucy sputters, looking around her.
"Contractually?" Laxus questions. Then, with an increasingly baffled emphasis, "what contract?"
"The guild mark, I'm guessing. I mean, before we had insignias we signed documents like normal businesses, so technically now the stamp is the contract," Mirajane says, "come on, don't be so upset, Laxus. You love us."
"I'm reconsidering that."
"You're not allowed to."
"What do you mean I'm not allowed to, that's not how it works!"
Laxus sighs, and Mirajane smiles proudly, her gait straightening with pride as Lucy looks at them with shine in her eyes.
"Ah but Lucy-chan, Wait till you realize you hang out daily with the most prominent S-class prospects," Bickslow grins.
"For real?" Lucy balks. "Wait, how exactly does the hierarchy of this guild work? Like… I mean, Master is the strongest, no contending, right? Then I suppose it'll be one of the S-class…?"
"Gildarts," Laxus points out.
"Oh, Gildarts. Definitely Gildarts," Mirajane says. "But him and Master are like, way above our league…"
"It wouldn't even be a contest," Laxus scowls.
"Gildarts… as in Gildarts of the West?" Lucy asks. "I thought he was an urban legend!"
To which Bickslow bursts out laughing. "You thought he wasn't real?!"
"They say his snores destroy walls and he splits the earth with each step! He's like some superstitious story parents tell kids to make them behave, do you blame me?"
"It's… not an exaggeration though…"
"Lucy, dear, you've seen the Gildarts Shift."
"I thought it was called the Gildarts Shift as in like, the emergency shift! Like, a codename! Not that it was named after an actual person!"
"Oh, Lucy, sweet summer," Bickslow wheezes in laughter. "Dear, you are a treasure, never change."
"Can I slap you like, right now?"
"Alright, alright," Mirajane changes the subject once more. "But in truth. I wouldn't know who would be the strongest after that. I'm quite confident I won't lose to Erza."
"I'd beat you both easy," Laxus says.
"Nuh-uh!" Mirajane retorts immediately, a surprising amount of competitiveness rising in her. "I'd mop the guild floors with you!"
"Hey, don't sell the rest of everyone short," Bickslow says. "I'm sure if the situation's right, Freed and Cana could give you a run for your money."
"Ugh," Laxus grimaces. "I'm more concerned about where Levy would be in that equation."
"Oh you're worried about the wrong thing," Mirajane pales, "have you already forgotten the absolute hell Gray unleashed on the guild during Thanksgiving last year? I don't want to see him try to use that in an actual battling strategy."
"Nah, in this situation he'd be more occupied with Natsu," Laxus murmurs.
"Well, co-leader of the Thunder Legion and all," Bickslow relents. "I'd say, Natsu and Freed don't usually go all out on each other, eh? Cause Freed's a pacifist and Natsu doesn't like confronting us."
"Wait, he doesn't?" Mirajane raises a brow. "He's still got that thing where he doesn't see it as a real fight if it's not fighting for territory or prestige?"
"You're the only one that interprets it that way, Mirajane," Laxus sighs.
"Well I haven't fought him in a long time…"
"It's because Natsu loves us," Bickslow chuckles, "he playfights. But that's about it. He never takes it seriously with any of us, unless Laxus pretends to want to kick him out the team."
"Ah right. The notorious 'I swear Natsu didn't beat me' incident," Mirajane side-eyes Laxus.
"He didn't," Laxus sneers. "He just caught me off guard. It wasn't fair."
"Okay, Co-leader sir," Bickslow rubs it in just to be obnoxious.
Lucy has been listening, from the sidelines of that overwhelming conversation— so she feels it, so palpably, when it occurs.
She's always been good at it. Gauging reactions and moods from the sidelines. She's learned it when she was with her father, to avoid enraging him after that disastrous birthday— then later, she learned it to survive alone as a lone girl in the dangers of a rapidly advancing urban economy.
And now, it's coming in handy to tell her the exact moment the mood in the streets plummet.
The townspeople have been listening, too, to the debate happening around Lucy. And they had been listening fondly, smiling gently, and completely unperturbed by the noise rising around them. Just like it had been in the toy store.
They have known these children forever, and some even seemed eager to debate about the topic among themselves. Lucy hears someone mention Cana and chuckle almost sympathetically.
(But the moment 'Natsu' was brought up…)
(The town averted their eyes, and chatter ceased.)
(Bickslow, Laxus, and Mirajane didn't seem to notice, too preoccupied by their conversation.)
(But Lucy notices, and mirthfully, she realizes that the town's atmosphere hasn't improved from the Phantom debacle at all.)
(Instead, it's changed, from one target to the other, and Lucy can't help but feel responsible for this. She's the one that made a hole in this tight-knit township, and now, the chain of hatred has passed down until it's Natsu that has to deal with the consequences.)
"Lucy! Lucy!"
Lucy jumps.
The little pink dragon doll talks, floating to her side and bumping into her side.
She yelps, not really expecting that to happen, though the way Bickslow bursts out laughing at her flabbergasted expression really annoys her.
"Tour, tour! Fun! Fun!"
"Oh? Pappa, you want to show Lucy around Magnolia's secret fun spots?" Bickslow chuckles as he translates the doll's little patchy communication, turning from his conversation to Lucy. "Pippi, go on. You two be good escorts now!"
And the lion doll in Lucy's hands giggles.
"Race! Race!"
As the dolls hover away from her and Lucy chases, she forgets about the grim air settling over the town. She forgets it all, because this is fun, this is mysterious, and this is magical. And this is freedom , and she wants to indulge in it all just a little longer.
(She doesn't see the way Laxus and Mira quietly watch her go.)
(And then, Bickslow is first to turn toward the town.)
(She doesn't see the deeply-burning glare that burns through their gazes.)
(She doesn't see the way the townsfolk cower and escape as quickly as they can, not wanting to face the ire of some of the strongest links their local guild has to offer.)
("It's almost time for Fantasia," Mirajane says. "So let's not spoil the mood, alright?")
(She smiles, like an angel, with the tone to match.)
(But she burns, with the anger of a devil, and it reminds the world that the two sides of the she-devil are of the same coin, and they're vividly aware of the purple fire that burns in her, that has burned houses down before, and can burn again if one threatens her beloved ones again.)
"Chico! Chico!"
"Oh? Oh, ooh, it's Pappa and Pippi," the girl turns around. "What are you here for, today? Bicks let you go? Let you go, did he… you can join me…?"
"No! No!"
"Nuh-uh! Nuh-uh!"
"But I lost my legend," she pouts, "I am defenseless… you won't help me? I have to find more spirits… but it's always hard when Bicks is around, they're all scared of him."
"Safe! Safe!"
"Guard! Guard!"
"Awww, you'll guard me? You're so nice, but it's okayyy," she hums, "I have to gather my legend before Fantasia, a bit… you will scare them away."
Lucy thinks it's very strange for someone to just so easily converse with those disembodied voices, but she supposes Fairy Tail is just weird like this.
"Hi Luuuucy, one boy on each arm today, huh?"
Chico C. Hammitt, the daughter of the owner of Fairy Hills. Lucy isn't too close to her, though they're well-acquainted due to living in the same space. She goes to her for any questions about their accommodations.
(Apparently, Chico doesn't leave the city at all, something about her magic being reset if she does. But it seems she left the other day by accident, which puts her out of active duty at least for another month.)
But this might be the first time they've interacted outside the dorm and guild, and for a situation unrelated to errands and favours.
Lucy looks around her.
They're in quite an isolated clearing, little specks of grass and flowers planted around to the view of a gorgeous sunset. There's a grave before an old straw hut, and Chico had been placing flowers at the tombstone.
There's also a small frosted cupcake by the grave as well. She recognizes it as one of the pastries Elfman had been distributing through town and in the guild.
"Ah, right. I don't know if you've met properly yet… this is Happy," Chico extends a hand to the entrance of the hut, and a small cat, blue and winged, peeks out of it holding a dusty dragon toy. "He's kind of our guild's mascot. He's our pride and joy, our baby. Baby boy, precious. Very cute. Happy."
"Aye?" Happy asks, not having heard half of it.
Pappa and Pippi have comes down to him to pester him and he's scowling at them, holding his dragon toy protectively at the sight of Pappa masquerading as a cleaner version of a similar toy.
"You can't have it!" he insists. "This belongs to Lisanna!"
"Dragon! Dragon!" Pappa chants.
"Roar! Roar!" Pippi adds happily.
Lucy is enamoured. She's seen him from afar when they came home, and she still can't believe he's real. Happy the blue cat with wings! He's real! He's not just a rumour on the gossip mags! The wings are real and functional!
"Hi, Happy! I'm Lucy!" she gets on her knees immediately to greet him.
Happy smiles. "Hi, Lucy!" he says, then pointing toward the gravestone, "this is Lisanna. Come over this way a little, she loves the sunset."
"Oh! Of course."
Lucy steps out of the way immediately, not even questioning it the slightest. She stands behind the gravestone to marvel at the view— and dear, is it a marvel.
She realizes now why Pappa and Pippi had brought her here. This view, in addition to the clear sentimentality this place held for Fairy Tail— it's definitely a wonderful secret spot that only a local would know. And she's been allowed to see such a magical sight? She's so flattered.
And Happy's smile widens.
"You're nice, Lucy!" he deems.
"No, no," Lucy chuckles, cheeks flushing slightly. Even her father put her mother's grave by the most gorgeous view of their land, and right where he could always see her from his window. She understood the desire to give the dead wonderful things, if only because not enough of it was given in life.
Lisanna Strauss.
She had passed away two years ago, but she would be about Lucy's age if she had lived. And that hurts her heart, so much, just realizing how young she had been.
(Strauss… Lucy's seen it, numerous times. At least three years ago, Mirajane used to advertise her last name around, and they were promoted as a 'trio of siblings', 'the three Take Over siblings', and they popularized that dying magic form so vividly one could not discuss it without their names being raised.)
(But at some point, Mirajane fell out of attention with Sorcerer, and when she came back, it was full force as an exclusive model.)
(And because they no longer fit into a nice set theme, or even in the same magazine section, Elfman expanded his notoriety toward his own name, going just by 'Elfman' to sell a unique impression in the direction of hypermasculinity.)
The pieces were all here. Lucy just had to put them together and figure out the story.
But maybe it's not her right to, and thus, she left the pieces be, and decided she didn't need to know the story.
She doesn't need the history, and she's already plenty blessed and loved in this new family of hers. That's enough.
"Alright, Lucy, you're coming with me," Chico says, hooking an arm around Lucy's elbows. "Pappa and Pippi, too. You two don't know how to show a girl around… let's go to the evening market. We're going on a shopping date!"
"Eh?!" Lucy flusters. "But I— my finances are—"
"It's okay," Chico sings. "I am your sugar mommy today. But you are my bodyguard too because I don't have a legend yet."
"Huh??"
"Onward, my sugar baby!"
"HUH?"
"Are you sure, Master?"
Enno wipes down the glass behind the bar, arranging them on the counter mats upside down.
Makarov hums, dismissively. He doesn't touch the alcohol Enno sets down for him, and he doesn't really do much at all today. It's not unusual, but he hadn't joined any conversations either, which had been off-putting for some.
The guild's throwing themselves into preparations for Fantasia.
Natsu is still nowhere to be found.
"He wouldn't go without a reason, and he knows better than to leave too far," Makarov says. "We cannot do anything until he shows himself. He is stubborn like that—"
"He is stubborn like that because that's the kind of place he was raised in," Enno insists. "Master, do something."
Natsu would hate that they went to save him, as if he were a child. It would hurt his pride. (Did pride really matter, did it ever? They all know it's just an excuse. They're all children, and what kind of parent doesn't embarrass their child every now and then?)
"He doesn't want to be found," Makarov says. "Don't act recklessly. He's not the type to leave— If it's bad enough he's hiding, something must be putting us at stake."
Enno scoffs.
"A bit too late for that advice, Master," she pouts. "Cana's making her rounds. Nothing can stop her now."
Makarov sighs.
Chico told them what happened that day. Wakana hasn't come out of her room much since, and it's stressing Wakaba out. Macao's similarly concerned, if not worse, and this pressure spreads easily to all of the younger generation.
Everyone wants revenge.
But they know, so vividly, that they can't afford to do that right now. Fantasia is just barely back on the horizon, the town barely put together for it— they can't risk this balance they've achieved. What if this shatters it all completely?
(They know, frustratingly enough, that Natsu stays hidden because he wants to give everyone a reason to delay action.)
(At least, until Fantasia is over.)
(Let the town be happy. Let Fairy Tail be the symbol of pride and joy for Magnolia, rather than repeated trouble, problems, grief, and danger, one after another.)
(The town deserves this.)
(Let the town have this.)
Fairy Tail, however, is slowly, surely, cracking under the tension.
Cana drops by Blue Pegasus with a bottle of expensive wine.
"A fairy always repays the favour," she winks. She's even dressed up today with a nice coat over her usual bikini top, though primarily it was for the dusty travel here.
She'd tied her hair up for the occasion.
If one only saw her from behind, they'd see the mark of Fairy Tail in the center of her back, framed by additional wings leading into her shoulders, trailing down her sleeves like wisps of magic, enrapturing her figure.
"Oh, won't you go on a date with me?" Hibiki swoons.
Cana winks, "are you sure you're old enough for that, sweetie?"
"I've never been more offended and flattered at the same time, and the implications toward either your or my age horrifies me," Hibiki says. "So… wine, eh? It looks so expensive that I'm terrified of the implications."
Cana hums, setting down her cards as Kathy the Nicola serves her up a whiskey on the rocks without prompting.
She shuffles her cards and arranges three neatly before her, and Master Bob smiles.
"Thank you, Cana dear," he says. "The protection of the fairies is an incredible honour. We will treasure these spells well. Same rules as last time?"
"Yes," Cana hums, taking a sip of her whiskey. "Single-use protection spell; applicable for all members with your guild's insignia; and it's not to be used against each other."
It's not unusual for Cana to wander around Fiore.
'Repaying favours' is a chore usually done by the most recognizable faces in the guild. Even the Pegasi have a standard way of expressing their gratitude with their staple service, but the Fairies always do it personally. Cana's been doing it ever since Enno got pregnant, and thus, other guilds know what to expect from her presence.
And a bottle of wine is a rare gift in addition to protection and prosperity charms.
"Macky and I go way back," Master Bob says, "we will always be here to help, if only you'd ask."
Cana nods. Because shaking her head would be rude.
"Fairy Tail won't ask for help… instead, see this as a favour," Cana says. They don't want to burden the Pegasi with their problems, but there are other ways to use the friends on your side. "Or, a warning, from a fellow of the light."
Hibiki listens.
Master Bob sets down his glass.
And Cana speaks. "The fairies declare an enemy of Naked Mummy for eternity," her eyes burn with an anger no one has seen before. "It will not matter who or where they find solace. Be careful not to get devoured along with those we hunger for."
Hibiki's finger trembles, unwilling to look up. Kathy has hidden herself under the counter, and Master Bob's expressions are firm, unreadable.
(The fairies never leave their debts unpaid.)
"Oh, and!" Cana suddenly brightens up, her sudden surge of cheer flabbergasting everyone as she winks and pulls out a flyer from inside her pocket. "Of course, Fairy Tail would be overjoyed to have Blue Pegasus at our Harvest Festival. Do come!"
"It's strange that the strongest guild in Fiore is 'Fairy Tail'," Lyon says. "It doesn't exactly strike fear. I think that's important, to give a good impression."
Hearing that, Jura chuckles.
"It is because you are new here, Lyon," he says. "Fairy Tail eludes all of us. The world does not think much of them, or of Fiore at all. But they always struggle to believe that the renowned Gildarts of the West hails from our lands."
Lyon grimaces, along with Yuka.
"Honestly, the sentence 'Gildarts of the West is a member of a guild called Fairy Tail' is… you know, ironic," Yuka makes a vague hand gesture of disbelief, "do you blame us for thinking he's not real?"
"We used to think 'Fairy Tail' wasn't real either," Toby agrees.
Jura laughs.
"Do you blame us though…" Sherry sulks. "It's such a misleading name."
Lamia Scale's guild hall is not as rambunctious or party-prone as Fairy Tail's. If Lyon had to be honest, this was the picture of what a 'guild' stereotypically looked like, the first floor filled only with necessities like reception counters, the job board, and places to lounge and sit for visitors to either socialize or request a worker for counsel. There are drinks, but nothing too fancy.
And while Lamia Scale loved brawls as much as Fairy Tail apparently did, fighting in the main hall isn't tolerated because there are plenty of designated fields in the back and upstairs for that.
It's organized. It's a bunch of battle junkies, but they're organized.
If Lamia Scale was the picture of fantasy-novel typicality, Fairy Tail never quite cared about what they were supposed to be. They just came together, and did what they loved all at once.
Maybe that's what sets them apart as the definitive most prominent name in Fiore.
(And honestly, Lyon couldn't even feel too envious. While everyone coveted the title of strongest, no one quite wanted to be associated with the same incredulity as Fairy Tail .)
"But you know, Lyon," Jura peruses the bottle of wine in his hands. It's wrapped elegantly with a fresh Magnolia bloom, bound with a red and gold ribbon that shimmered against the light. "Fairy Tail is a name often looked down upon in first impressions. The Dark Guilds scorn them, and the public look down on them as troublemakers."
Everyone had been here to witness Cana coming in for a visit. They spoke, cheerfully, about Laxus causing trouble and she apologized so sweetly and sincerely, Master Obaba even sent her off with a sloppy kiss to the cheek and a grandma-worthy hug.
(And then… and then, she had said something, so low and threatening—)
"It's ironic, isn't it?" Jura says. "In Fiore, it is the Light Guilds that are most aware of how much you shouldn't antagonize the fairies."
(Lyon could still feel the way his entire being shook in fear, when she had glanced their way, with promise of no mercy. It didn't matter who they were, and how much debt was owed— the Fairies have issued their warning, and if the Lamias don't want to be consumed by the fae like piranhas to bleeding flesh, they best heed the advice.)
"In a way, Cana Alberona is the best representative the guild could ask for," Jura says. "Unsuspecting, commonly looked down upon… but it is us, of the older generation of mages, that know best not to underestimate her even a second."