"Lu-chan, I think we've got a lead!"
The blonde girl immediately shot up at her friend's words, rushing over to where Levy was poring over a book. Her hands were shaking a bit.
"What? Where?" Lucy rubbed her eyes furiously as she stared at the page, but her tired mind could not seem to process everything correctly. She hadn't gotten much sleep over the past week, and she usually fell asleep on the bar at the guild.
"There's an independent guild called Demon's Chronicles. They've been in action ever since the ages when Zeref was very active! A-and that's not all! They're rumored to be working on a project they claim to be the hope of humanity!"
Lucy was trying to process all of the new information, squinting her eyes at the page. It was obviously a very old book - pages yellowed and torn, splashes here and there, and it was giving off a strong smell of cats. The words were tiny and smudged together - if Lucy didn't read at all, she wouldn't have been able to read it.
"What about this hope of humanity?" She questioned the small bluenette, who adjusted her wind reading glasses, a look of grim seriousness on her face.
"It needs to have a lot of magic power...and they don't sound very nice...I don't think they would mind it if one or two people died for the sake of it…" Her voice quivered, and tears threatened to spill out. "And dragon slayers do have a very, very large amount of magical energy. I bet that's what they're using them for."
Gray suddenly slid up next to them, eyes narrowed as he slammed his fist down on the wooden table, making the two girls jump.
"Flame-brain's such an idiot," he snarled. "Letting himself get caught so easily...and becoming some guild's guinea pig. Same goes for Gajeel."
"It's not manly," Elfman supplied from the next table.
"Elf-nii, if it were a weak opponent, I doubt Natsu would've lost," Lisanna frowned, taking a sip from her mug.
"Then shall we go look for this guild?" Erza folded her arms across her chest as she swiveled around on her barstool.
Levy chuckled nervously. "Uh...we would need to find the traces of magic...then track that...and…"
"I'll help in any way I can," Lucy shot up immediately, suddenly fully awake and pumped to get going. "I'll work 'til I fall asleep!"
"You won't have to do that, Lucy!" Happy flew into the air, suddenly looking cheerful. "I'll work hard, too!" He looked exuberant at the idea of seeing his best friend again.
Levy smiled weakly. "Yeah...I hope to see Gajeel again. Not because I'm worried or anything!" She shouted, flustered, as several people smirked at her.
"I guess we'll start where the note said to go. We'll do this somehow!" Erza barked, and earned several "Aye, sir"s back. She stood up and began to march out of the guild, a steady stream of volunteers to search behind her.
Lucy knew that it would probably still be a while, but it was nice to think that she could see him again.
Very nice.
The chilly night breeze felt like a slap on his cheek, leaving the skin stinging. He clutched the gash, letting out a gasp of surprise, then continued to lug the two motionless figures forward.
He could see the distant, flickering lights of the town far ahead. I'm close, he reminded himself. I'm close, and when I get back, I'm eating everything in sight.
And maybe he could see her again. He tugged on their clothes, inching forward again.
And then he would kick those bastards' asses, send them crying and running, and his life would go back to normal again - missions, eat, sleep. Over and over. It was a pretty simple life, but he liked it.
He didn't remember where he came from though. It was something they did, he was sure, that erased all of his memories of that place. He could still remember the painful wristband that bit deeply into his skin, the tugging feeling in his gut.
Oh, how he wanted revenge for them disrupting his daily life cycle.
His vision was blurring - either from tears, sweat, or exhaustion, he couldn't tell. But he knew that he had to get closer. He was only a few lengths away from his home! He could do it, and he would see her again!
But his knees gave out under him. The last thing he saw was the beautiful, azure to a deep violet night sky that stretched above him, twinkling teasingly like the shine in her eyes.
Gajeel fell into the welcoming darkness.
"Um...um...I think I feel a trace here!"
Lucy was so caught up in her work that she almost didn't hear the blue cat's words. Whirling around, she crossed over to where he was standing, and sure enough, there was an ugly, dirty feel. It was hard to explain, but it felt as if something were crushing her heart.
"Levy-chan! Freed!" Lucy waved over to the two mages, and they ran over. "Happy's picked up a spot."
Freed formed a circle of runes around the spot, and he nodded. "I think I can convert this with Levy's help. We should be able to make something close to a teleporter to the location, if we can use the script…"
Levy had already set to work, eyes narrowed as she began to write on a notepad, letters tiny and neat. Her pen bled out freely, making smooth, straight lines on the paper. Freed crouched down beside her and pulled out his sword.
Lucy had a smile on her face as she and Happy watched the two work. She had a feeling that this would end wonderfully, and nothing could crush her feeling of happiness.
I'm not sure how the magic works, exactly, so...forgive if I make up some stuff.
Sorry for the late updates, I'll try to make chapters longer! I'll devour all reviews, faves, and follows! Thank you for reading!