3 A Well Kept Secret

A yellow glow illuminated the table they were sitting at, books all over the table while the rest of the room was bathed in darkness. Lucy had called out Loke to help them while they explored the secret library. It was nothing more than an old cave with a stone floor. Rows of books were placed in old shelves. The cave itself was just about the same size as the current Fairy Tail building. Lucy scanned through the books quickly with her glasses.

"They're ancient history texts," she said. "They talk about Earth Land's deep past."

"I'll go get some more books," Tuwa said, running off into the shadows. She had insisted that she didn't need Loke to follow her around.

"I was right about her," Loke said. Lucy looked up at him. "She's a spirit like me."

"Do you think she could be a Celestial Spirit?"

He shook his head. "She's more like a spirit incarnate. I'd still like to-" He furrowed his brows at something on the book.

"Loke?"

"Look at that." He pointed to a section and she read it softly.

"The forgotten islands south of Earth Land are said to be legendary, made by the separation of a peninsula from the mainland. The separation was caused by what the elders in the town claim to be called 'the Avatar', a mythical spirit. They named the island Kyoshi Island, after their Avatar. Although no concrete evidence exists, among the artifacts found in the island are a statue dedicated to such a figure."

The illustration in the corner depicted a statue made of wood, weathered down by the elements and paint long ago faded. It was of a woman dressed in layered robes with a headdress resembling a fan. Her face was set in a stern expression.

"I've heard of this myth," Loke mused quietly. "There have been legends of powerful spirits that lived long ago, coming back each life cycle to bring peace to the world."

"But that's just a myth, isn't it? I mean, the book even claims that the elders are said to be two hundred years old. You really don't think-"

"She hasn't returned," he interrupted, turning towards the direction Tuwa had gone. "Something's wrong."

Both of them walked over, with Loke lighting the way. He walked in front, holding a protective arm out for Lucy.

"Tuwa?" The Celestial Mage called out. "Are you alright?"

They heard footsteps and soon Tuwa came into view with her arms full.

"Aren't these cool? I found them…well tripped over actually. They must be ancient."

The three carried the scrolls over to the table now cluttered with books. There were small, the pages yellowed by time and frayed at the edges. But when Lucy opened one of them up, the ink was still legible, if not faded a bit.

There were no words, just illustrations on the scrolls. Various arm gestures and stances each in a given order. There were only scarce words written on the parchment.

"These look like training scrolls for martial arts moves."

Tuwa was more interested in opening up the rest of the scrolls to see what they contained. Most of them were the same, with various martial arts techniques she wasn't quite interested in. She rifled through more when something fell out of one. It was a white envelope, clearly too crisp to be hundreds of years old.

She picked it up and turned it over, her eyes suddenly bulging. It was addressed to her parents. She flipped over the seal that held it closed and pulled out the letter inside.

"What's that?" Lucy asked when she noticed.

"A letter to my parents," she said. Her eyes scanned the writing, progressively narrowing as they read further until she suddenly gasped out loud and shoved the paper away at arm's length.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, getting closer to the girl.

"I can't believe them!" Tuwa cried out. Her mind was completely focused on her current tirade to pay any attention to anyone else. "How dare they call themselves parents when they're keeping something like this from me?"

Loke snatched the letter away from her and read it himself. After a moment he put it down. "I was right."

"Would someone please fill me in on what's going on?" Lucy asked, clearly annoyed at her ignorance of the situation.

Both Loke and Tuwa turned around at the same time to give her the same answer.

"I'm the Avatar."

"She's the Avatar."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "Y-you mean…?" She sunk down to the floor, holding her palm to her head. The revelation that old myths and two hundred year old people existed was too much for her to swallow all at once.

Loke nodded. "The supposed myth is true, or at least it seems that way from that letter. It could be a clever hoax for all we know."

"No, these scrolls and the letter were all hidden in this library we didn't even know existed. They obviously wanted to keep this from me."

"But why would they go through all this trouble to keep this from you?" Lucy asked.

"To keep me locked inside this mansion until I'm 80!" Tuwa shouted through gritted teeth. "I knew those dreams I kept having meant something."

Lucy cocked her head to the side. "Dreams?"

"More like flashes actually. Sometimes they come while I'm asleep or when I'm doing something. "I saw people traveling, doing things and even some controlling the elements."

"Perhaps your past lives were trying to tell you something," Loke suggested. "They were trying to inform you that you were the Avatar."

"What are we going to do?" Lucy asked. "If they know we found out…"

"Keep it under wraps for now. Who knows what they'd do to keep you quiet," Loke suggested. He pointed to Tuwa. "Things will only get worse for you if you tell your parents anything."

Tuwa sighed. "I know, I'll keep quiet. But they're going to have to answer to me sometime."

"We should head back for now before anyone begins to suspect anything."

"Wait! Just let me get some more books. I want to be prepared for this Avatar st-" Loke's hand suddenly clamped against her mouth and he put a finger to his lips, signaling for both girls to hush.

Through the thick silence, they could hear the sound of voices echoing against the vast rock walls of the cave. All eyes turned towards the source. It was coming from the mouth of the tunnel. They were plunged into darkness as Loke deactivated his ring. In the dark, he felt for Lucy and moved both her and Tuwa as quietly as he could further from the voices.

"Are you sure they're in here? The entrance wasn't disturbed, Miwa," Cheng said to his wife.

"There were books on the table, Cheng." There was a momentary pause before she spoke again. "See, they were in here."

Lucy smacked her palm to her forehead, remembering the mess they've left on the table.

"Tuwa, come here!" Miwa called. "I know you and the Fairy Tail mage are here."

"We just want to talk with you dear," Cheng said. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Tuwa pushed Loke's hand away. "What do we do?"

"Let's see if they leave," he whispered back.

They edged along the wall, travelling further from the light ahead. There were various shelves to block them from her parents' view. The light slowly closed in through every isle, searching for them.

"Maybe they left already," Cheng suggested. "We should go back to the manor."

"We can't have our daughter snooping around where she shouldn't be," Miwa said. "I knew we should've destroyed these things when we had the chance."

"Perhaps it wasn't Tuwa. The most she's ever done is gone into town without permission. If we're going to question anyone it should be that Lucy girl."

Miwa sighed. "Alright, it seems they- or she – isn't here anymore. Let's go."

"Maybe we should just seal up this library and bury everything for good." Cheng said.

"I can't take that chance."

"What are you going to do?"

No one spoke as the sounds of their footsteps began to fade away. It wasn't until Tuwa's parents reached the mouth of the tunnel that they heard Miwa's answer. "I'm going to destroy this library."