Sorry for the late update! This chapter is rather long though to make up for the lack of updating. Life got pretty busy for me, and between homework, family business, and the stress of life it took me longer than I thought it would to get this chapter up.
Although 52 followers! Just wow! Thank you! The same to the 16 favorites! I get this really big smile and then I cackle in glee. It makes my mom look at me weird when I do that.
kurahieiritr Jio- Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I honestly laughed my butt off for that mistake, and I'm not offended. I honestly appreciate that I was told so I could fix it. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Loved your latest chapter for Taming Lightning by the way! :D
Arouraleona- Thank you for your review it made my day! Love your story Down Stairs and Dead!
Nina Heart- Thank you for your review. I can't wait to write how they come together either! It's been circling through my head since I first started writing this story and I don't think anyone is going to guess how they do meet up or what happens.
Ok, without further adieu Chapter 5!
Chapter 5- Town Life Part l
She couldn't believe it. She probably heard wrong, that had to be it. There was no way Aquarius was telling her to break one of her golden keys. Aquarius wouldn't do that. She knew how much Lucy cared about spirits. There had to be another way. Any other way! Lucy would gladly sacrifice her own life if only to spare her spirits from doing so. To save her friends, her family, Lucy would do almost anything. But she wouldn't sacrifice another family member to do so.
"I can't do… something like that! NO! They are all important, I don't want to lose any of.."
"Break my key."
Lucy's brain skidded to an instantaneous stop. She had to have been hallucinating this. Out of all her spirits, even more so than Loke and Virgo, Lucy was closest to Aquarius. It may not have seemed like it most of the time, but Aquarius was there for her in her own way when she was a child. Even when she complained and attempted to drown her for summoning her, Aquarius would always, always, try to cheer her up or distract her from her loneliness. It was why Aquarius would always get so… vicious when summoned. After so many years of having the same routine it just became normal for them to argue and yell at each other. Aquarius let her be herself during their time together in the manor.
Aquarius was Lucy's first friend. Aquarius was Lucy's only true friend when she lived at the manor. Especially after her mom died, and her father and the servants would tip toe around her or outright ignore her.
Sacrificing… sacrificing anyone, even if they were a stranger, was inconceivable to Lucy. It went against everything Lucy was taught, everything she believed in.
What made it worse though was the fact that this was Aquarius.
Lucy had no choice though. If she wanted to save her friends than she was going to have to break a vow she made to herself a long time ago, a vow that she constantly put her life on the line to uphold. To never use the Celestial Spirits as tools. It was what Aquarius was asking her to do. To use her as a tool to summon the Celestial Spirit King. To take away her freedom.
To take away the ability to ever see her again.
Lucy couldn't do that.
Not to anyone.
"I'm not sure about trust, but we've been together for a long time, it will work."
"What… are you saying?"
"It's to save your friends."
"You're one of my friends too! I can't sacrifice someone to save the others! There must be another way! I'm not giving up!"
"I wouldn't suggest you do this if there was another way."
"I can't."
"This is the only way."
Lucy shook her head repetitively. She couldn't, wouldn't do this. "I can't..." Lucy threw her head back and yelled in refusal. "There's absolutely no way!"
Aquarius began to sweat and cringe from the deep wound in her right shoulder. It was excruciating and it hadn't stopped bleeding. It wasn't the worst injury she's ever had in her immortal life, but it still hurt like a bitch. "Lucy, we're running out of time... my power... won't hold him off much longer..."
Lucy's head was bowed in defeat. Her vision was beginning to get blurry from tears. Her voice was weak and it trembled as she spoke. "I can't..."
"Even if you destroy my key, that doesn't mean that I'm going to die. We simply won't be able to enjoy each other's company ever again."
Tears were starting to stream down Lucy's face and she began to tremble. "I don't want that..."
"I, for one, am quite relieved... I was originally your mother Layla's Celestial Spirit. When Layla died and passed my key on to you, I was disappointed. You're so quick to cry, you're so childish. You're naive to the world... and you didn't have a hint of Layla's grace. But because you were Layla's daughter, I've put up with you all this time and endured it. All this time... I've always hated everything about you."
Lucy was sobbing into her hands now, and she persistently tried to wipe away her tears. "I don't care if you hate me... I love you Aquarius... I love you... you were my very first friend...my..."
"HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO ACT LIKE A SPOILED, NAIVE LITTLE BRAT?! RIGHT NOW YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN SAVE YOUR FRIENDS! WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING RIGHT NOW? MEMORIES? KEYS? GUILT?! NO! IT'S THE POWER TO SAVE YOUR FRIENDS! THE POWER OF A CELESTIAL SPIRIT MAGE! NOW DO IT! DESTROY MY KEY! THIS IS SOMETHING THAT NO ONE ELSE BUT YOU CAN DO!"
"I love you Aquarius..."
"DO IT! LUUUCYYY!
Holding Aquarius's key in front of her, Lucy used her other hand to keep her arm steady. She couldn't stop shaking. She couldn't stop crying.
Lucy had no choice though. It was either do this or Fairy Tail, her friends, her family, died. Fairy Tail were the only ones stopping Tartarus from succeeding in banishing away all magic in the continent. That would end with everyone dying.
Lucy had to do this. Even if...even if it felt like she was betraying Aquarius.
Lucy poured as much magic into the key as possible. This had to work. It had to, otherwise they were all dead.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Aquarius could feel Lucy's emotions through their contract and bond. She could feel the sorrow. She could feel her determination. She could feel the absolute grief. She could feel her... her loneliness. Loneliness that had disappeared after so long. That was the one thing Aquarius never wanted Lucy to feel forever. Lucy had spent most of her life feeling that way, and now Aquarius was making her feel lonely again. Just after that feeling had finally disappeared.
My heart...it's burning up...even though...I hated that little brat...
"OPEN..."
'A mermaid! A mermaid!'
Even though...I hated her...
"THE GATE TO..."
I can't just stop... these feelings...never seeing you again...is going to be so lonely Lucy...
"THE CELESTIAL SPIRIT KING!"
Aquarius felt tears fall down her face as she looked at Lucy for the last time.
Thank you...for everything.
And the key broke.
Lucy's eyes snapped open. It was the same dream she had been having for weeks. Tears streamed continuously down her face and snot dripped out her nose. Lucy vigorously wiped her face but it didn't stop. She knew she needed to stop crying. It wasn't going to get her anywhere, and this enormous lack of sleep wasn't helping her either.
But she couldn't! It just hurt so much! Lucy didn't really know what to do. She felt... lost. After that battle, when she lost Aquarius, she saw her family alive and fighting. She also saw them lose people as well. Natsu's father being murdered by Acnologia right before his very eyes. Gray fighting Silver, who they had heard from Keith, one of the Nine Demon Gates, a necromancer, was Gray's deceased father. Juvia killing Keith which killed Silver as well. Gajeel and Wendy both losing their parents, Metalicana and Grandeeney. So many people lost others and were grieving for them. Many of them in those two weeks before the guild disbanded confided in her and she comforted them except for Gajeel. Although she suspected Levy did that.
Lucy couldn't bring herself to tell them what she had to sacrifice to save them. She couldn't add to their grief. She also didn't want their pity or awe at what she had done. This battle where she was able to summon the ruler of the stars was not something to be awed by. She may have succeeded in saving her family, but at what cost, the destruction of a Celestial Key. A key that is impossible to break unless it is destroyed in a substitution summoning. One of only twelve including the black key in the entire world. Keys that were older than written history, and she destroyed it.
She destroyed Aquarius's ability to come to this world, and while she knew it was what Aquarius asked her to do it felt so wrong. The worst thing though was that if she could go back and change it, she wouldn't. She wouldn't because Lucy didn't think there was any other way for that situation to play out.
The enemy had outmaneuvered them. The enemy had incapacitated them in one blow. If Lucy had never summoned Aquarius when she did, if she had never summoned The Celestial Spirit King, if she had never missed Natsu's hand when he reached out to grab her before the Alegria spell was activated, they would all be dead and all the magic in Ishgar would be gone. Fiore would have died. The only thing that had tipped the battle in their favor was Lucy's sacrifice of Aquarius's Key. It was the only reason why the battle continued.
It was for that reason Lucy wouldn't change it if she could.
But she couldn't stop feeling so utterly weak, so... powerless. Like after every battle she went through before this she felt like she could have done more. To have been better, stronger. But her magic wasn't like Natsu and Gray's magic which was easily flashy and destructive. Lucy's magic was based on multiple abilities that stemmed from intelligence and vast quantities of magic, but it wasn't obvious. When Lucy summons a spirit it requires creating a type of magical pathway and door using her magic to create a hole between dimensions to allow the Celestial Spirit to enter this world, and then projecting her will out to the spirit to beckon them out of their domain to her world but only if they accept the summons. Once the spirit is summoned they usually have to give their consent to when they leave the human world even though it is excruciatingly painful for them to be in this realm and it will eventually kill them. Their lifeforce is sucked away slowly or quickly depending on the strength of the spirit. It is mentally taxing and painful to hold a gate open as well as supply the Celestial Spirit with all the magic they require to stay in this world. It wasn't a commonly used magic because of that as well as the cost of the summoning leaving the mage defenseless. This type of magic relied heavily on tactics and strategy, and the ability to form close bonds with others. Memorizing the contract and conditions between each Celestial Spirit the mage has is also rather important otherwise the mage can violate the contract making it void. However that has not stopped many mages from abusing the Celestial Spirits or forcing them to horrible acts upon others against their will.
Lucy was hyperventilating. Her mind couldn't stay on one topic and was jumping all over the place. What didn't help with that was the enormous residual emotions left over from that memory... nightmare. She needed to calm down. To stop thinking.
She took a deep breath through her nose and slowly released that breath through her mouth. She pulled her hands away from her face and rested them in front of her face where she laid on her side. She could feel the soft cotton fabric and smell the scent of freshly washed linen. It was relaxing and she focused on that. The smell and feel of the sheets, the softness of the mattress, and the calming darkness of her eyelids.
Lucy felt her breath evening out, her mind slowing down. Opening her eyes again after she had closed then to calm down, Lucy realized she had never seen this room before.
Not allowing herself another panic after just calming down, Lucy slowly sat up and looked around. It was a good sized room maybe thirty feet by thirty feet. The walls were painted white and the ceiling was an arctic blue with white swirls and ribbon like lines. There was an old oak door right in front of the bed that was open showing a shadow filled bathroom. On the wall to her left was an old oak armoire and a vanity with a mirror that extended all the way to the ceiling. Numerous crystal perfume bottles and a porcelain hand washing bowl was on the vanity all beautifully crafted. Silver wall sconces with gold accents and hanging crystals were on either side of the vanity and the doors holding white dim light lacrimas. Looking to her right Lucy saw another door, but this time it was closed. To the right of the door in the corner was a silvery blue arm chair with a small one legged oak side table with a small round top. Finally Lucy looked down to see a silvery blue comforter with white sheets draped over her and a large queen sized bed.
Throwing the sheets off her and swinging her legs to the side of the bed, Lucy stood up. Looking down she felt relief flood through her when she was wearing the same clothes she last remembered putting on.
It was a simple brown sleeveless collared button up top and a pair of light blue jean shorts that stopped mid calf. A pair of black ankle socks were still on her feet as well, protecting her from the cold hardwood floor.
Reaching up with her hand Lucy realized whoever put her in this mysterious bed had also taken her hair out of the side braid her hair had been in.
Turning to look at the bed she could see that it was on a cast iron frame. Two old oak side tables stood on either side in front of curtain covered windows.
Reaching out with a hand Lucy pulled back the curtains to reveal the visage of town buildings in the light of early morning. The buildings looked vaguely familiar to the town Wendy, Carla, and she had walked into after walking nonstop for hours.
Lucy realized she must have fallen asleep when they had walked into a cafe or something. She couldn't remember clearly, her memory was fuzzy from the exhaustion. Wendy and Carla must have found some place to stay and had taken care of her while she was asleep. Lucy felt guilt well up in her. Wendy wasn't supposed to be the person to take care of her, she was supposed to be taking care of Wendy.
"Oh! You're awake!"
Spinning around in alarm Lucy's hands automatically went to her hip where her keys were supposed to be only to feel nothing. Her keys were gone.
Forgetting about the woman in the room Lucy began to frantically search the room around her starting on the bed, but before she could get much farther the woman talked again.
"They're on the bedside table missy."
Turning to the bedside table she could see her keys like the mystery woman said. How in the world she had missed that when she first woke up was beyond her. Clipping her keys onto her brown leather belt with her Fleuve d'Etoiles that had been next to her keys Lucy sighed in relief. Lucy turned back to the woman as she fingered her keys with loving care.
"Who are you?"
Giggling behind her hand the woman began to walk out of the entry way down the hall. "I'm Mary Ann. I must say it is a great honor to meet you. Your cute little friend Wendy speaks quite fondly of you. I can tell you two are rather close. When she talked about you she had this look in her eyes that most younger siblings have for an older brother or sister."
Lucy's heart fluttered at the description of how the woman thought Wendy saw her as an older sister. She found herself blushing as she followed the woman. Never in a million years did she think Wendy would see her as a sibling. The only person she has ever considered to be like a sibling to her was Michelle or like when she was younger Gomez, but she is a doll. It's not the same as having a real flesh and blood person to call a sibling. She wouldn't mind having Wendy be her younger sister.
"Um.. thank you I think. Where are we exactly?" Lucy spoke her next question sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck in guilt. "I fell asleep yesterday and well... I'm guessing Wendy found this place to stay for the night."
Following Mary Ann out into the the hallway Lucy could see that the house had a similar design as the bedroom except with pale greens instead of silvery blues. There was a large grand staircase to her right painted white that was parallel to a staircase across the room. Many portraits and different types of furniture holding vases and flowers were on the walls, and instead of sconces lighting up the room a massive crystal chandelier hung from the middle of the room.
"Mhmm... actually Klaus brought you three here since you were asleep missy. You've been asleep since yesterday, and my was I surprised when you didn't even stir when he was carrying you like a sack of potatoes! Why the nerve of that man! Doesn't even know how to carry a noble lady such as yourself properly!"
Lucy was startled yet amused by Mary Ann. "No, no. It's entirely fine. I'm just grateful you were willing to take us in. I'm sorry if my blunder has troubled you at all and if so I am willing to repay the debt of keeping us while I was asleep."
"Debt! Why that's absurd! This be a free place for travelers or visitors to this small town. Besides I don't own this house. I am only the housekeeper."
Lucy stared incredulously at the tall, maybe 5"11, thin woman's back as she turned and started making her way down the stairs. Her hair was a hazelnut brown with light red highlights that was held back in a high ponytail. She had a light tan with dark but few freckles on her face that made her lime green eyes pop off her face. Mary had a slender build with narrow hips and no curves in either chest, waist, or butt. She did have exceedingly shapely thin legs that seemed to make her look even taller though.
Mary's clothes consisted of a simple white cotton dress that had short bell sleeves with frills that stopped at tea length, a dark brown apron that was buttoned to the dress at the top and stopped around the knees, and a simple pair of black not polished leather slip on shoes.
"Wouldn't making guests pay for their stay make more revenue for the town?"
Mary looked back over her shoulder and smiled with pride. "My Pa be the mayor of this small town, and it be his policy to be kind to all people, even strangers. There be no need to have there be a tax on this fine house. We may not look like much, but our town's crops yield quite a hefty price all around Ishgar."
The feeling of surprise washed over Lucy again. She had not expected to find such a wealthy small town when Wendy, Carla, and her were traveling. "I didn't assume this was a poor town. I honestly was more in an exhausted daze when we arrived so I haven't met this man Klaus or have had a good look at the town yet."
Turning her head around to look at Lucy as she stepped off the stairs and turned right towards a towering set of heavy thick dark oak doors. "Well, that irritating man should be coming by later to see you and your companions."
Lucy felt curiosity and a slight hesitance to meet this man. "Why do you keep referring to him as annoying?"
Pushing the door open to see a large ornate dining room about forty feet long and about twenty-five feet wide with a table almost the same length as the room that was bare of all the dishes it would have at a formal dinner, Mary walked through a pair of swinging doors at the back of the room.
The swinging doors led to an enormous kitchen with state of the art appliances and large brick cooking fireplace. The counters were a stainless steel and the floor was a dark old oak like the rest of the house.
"When that man has played as many childish and downright annoying pranks on you that he has done to me, strangling him on sight doesn't sound half bad."
Ignoring the extreme amount of anger and sadistic joy in Mary's voice, Lucy followed Mary through another door. When Lucy walked through the door she was suddenly knocked off her feet to the floor with an echoing thud in the doorway.
"Lucy! I'm so glad you're awake! I thought you were going to sleep forever!"
Ignoring the sting of pain along her back to her the back of her head, Lucy hugged Wendy back as she sat up. "Forever is a pretty long time to sleep, Wendy. I just needed a little rest is all."
"A little rest! Why you have been asleep for more that twelve hours you stupid girl! Wendy and I had to find a place to stay and there are no inns in this town! You are lucky we had met Klaus! Have you not been getting a lot of sleep lately? That was the first time I've seen you sleep since you took us in."
Turning her head to the side to avoid Carla's glare and Wendy's concerned face, Lucy gently pried Wendy off her. "I have gotten sleep."
Carla glared at Lucy even more and narrowed her eyes. "How much?"
Lucy felt a spark of anger well up in her chest. Standing up and brushing off her butt for dirt, Lucy glared right back at Carla. "How is that relevant?"
Surprised and a little thrown off by Lucy's reaction, Carla couldn't predict how this conversation would turn out. She didn't let her emotions show. "It's relevant if it affects Wendy's safety. What if we were attacked? Hmm. What would we do then huh? She's still a child no matter how strong she is, and if you're asleep she could get hurt. So your lack of being awake is relevant. Your lack of sleep is relevant."
Lucy felt her anger evaporate and guilt condense to take it's place. Was she just doing nothing right lately? Was everything she did always cause others to get hurt? It's not like Lucy could just go say 'Hey subconscious! Can you stop giving me nightmares so I can actually sleep? You can? Well thanks that's a great help!'
"Carla I can take care of myself! I'm not a little girl!"
"I'm not saying you can't Wendy, and you aren't a little girl but you are a girl nonetheless."
Wendy felt frustration and hurt drive her anger towards Carla. Why is she acting this way?! Everything turned out okay! She doesn't need to go snapping at Lucy! "I defeated one of the nine demon gates by myself! One of Tartarus's strongest members! If we were attacked we would have been fine! There is no need to be mad at Lucy! She did nothing wrong! There's nothing wrong with sleeping!"
Putting her hand on Wendy's shoulder, who had stood up while she was yelling, Lucy got her attention. "She's right Wendy. It's not about the fact everything turned out fine, but the possibility something might happen. Don't be mad at Carla she's only worried about you." Turning to Carla, Lucy gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Carla. I hadn't meant to cause Wendy and you so much trouble. It won't happen again."
Carla nodded her head in acceptance, but she felt guilty. She had only meant to use that as an excuse to find out why Lucy had been so tired. Her plan had backfired. "Luc-"
"Well I should probably go make breakfast. It should take only a few minutes."
Seeing a way out of the situation, Lucy quickly stepped forward. "Can I help you with that?"
Mary smiled at Lucy in understanding. "I'd be delighted to have help. Follow me."
Lucy followed Mary into the kitchen.
Wendy glared at Carla. Lucy may have asked her not to be mad, but she was furious! She was complaining about something that never happened, a possibility Lucy said. Why there is a possibility the world might just explode, but you don't see people being angry over it or yelling at others. "Carla!"
"I'm sorry Wendy."
Wendy felt herself seething in anger. So much so that she hissed as she spoke. "Sorry! Sorry!I'm not the person you should be apologizing to! There was no reason for you to yell at her! What made you jump down her throat?! If she needed the sleep let her sleep! There's nothing wrong with that!"
This made Carla feel even more guilty. "I had only meant to use that as an excuse to ask her why she was so tired. I haven't actually seen her sleep since she took us in besides yesterday and I know you haven't either. Not only that but there is this sorrowful presence about her whenever she thinks we aren't around. I've tried using my ability to see why, but all I see is water and the night sky. It doesn't make any sense."
...oo00~°.°~00oo...
It was around the end of breakfast in the room behind the kitchen, the servants dining room, when the door was suddenly slammed open and hit the wall with a wall shuddering boom.
"Ah! There you ladies be! Good mornin' little Wendy and Carla! Oh Ms. Heartfilia I see you're awake! Haha! It's nice to meet you and good mornin' to you!"
Wendy and Carla smiled up at Klaus as he walked in and sat down on the wooden bench for the table next to Mary Ann.
Lucy stuck out a hand and the man, who she was assuming was Klaus, grabbed it with a large hand. He gave a firm handshake and fully grasped her hand. Lucy remembered from her training as an heiress that that type of handshake meant that he trusted people easily, was very friendly, and the calluses on his hand meant he was used to hard physical labor, likely a farmer. "Good morning to you too. I'm assuming you're Klaus. Thank you for helping us when I um... fell asleep."
Klaus smiled widely. Ms. Heartfilia seemed to be a nice girl, if only a tad sad looking. "Klaus Walkerman to be precise, but you can call me Klaus. It be no trouble to help the little ladies and you out!"
Lucy felt her sour mood lifting at Klaus's upbeat attitude. He reminded her of Natsu somewhat with all his loudness and all the large gesticulation. "Well then I insist you call me Lucy. Ms. Heartfilia makes me sound old."
A booming laugh left Klaus's mouth. Lucy is an amusing girl! "I think the same thing! But Ms. Sourpuss Mary Ann says it be improper! Hah! We all be friends here, no?"
Mary, who had clearly ignored Klaus the entire time he was here, turned red in the face. "Sourpuss! Why you-"
Grabbing her hand and patting it in mock sympathy and understanding, Klaus cut her off mid sentence. "Now, now. There's no need to hide it dear. We all know it to be true."
Ripping her hand out of his warm hands, Mary felt her blood boil. How dare he make fun of her! "Don't touch me! And don't call me dear either! I am not a four legged animal!"
A teasing gleam sparked to life in Klaus's eyes. "Are you sure? Maybe you're hiding that tail under your dress, or do use a magic enchantment to change your appearance?"
Balling her hands into fists and slamming them onto the table, Mary felt steam come out of her ears. "Oh you are an annoying bastard!"
"It all be in good fun, dear."
"I thought I told you not to call me that!"
"Eh, but it makes you blush everytime time I say that. You're very pretty when you blush."
Mary felt her ears and neck burn. She wasn't blushing out of anger anymore. "I'm blushing out of anger! Not because I like it!"
Klaus grabbed a grape from the wooden bowl in the center of the table and tossed it in his mouth and bit down with an audible squishing crunch. "Hmm... if you're sure about that, dear."
Running her hands down her face in frustration and to help hide her blush, Mary gave up. "Do you never listen?"
Lucy, Wendy, and Carla all began to laugh. Mary and Klaus fought like a married couple.
"Are you two together?"
Klaus and Mary froze at Wendy's question. Mary didn't understand where that came from. If anything she despised that man with her entire being! It didn't matter that her heart fluttered every time he would smile at her, or that she blushed and her heart raced when he complimented her. It didn't matter that she may be in denial about actually liking him in any way, shape, or form. Nope! Why would that matter at all?! Mary didn't like him one bit! Not even if he was the last living thing in existence!
Klaus on the other hand, didn't think he was that obvious. Less than ten minutes of these two girls seeing them interact and they already knew that he really liked Mary, and not in I want to be your friend way. It honestly astounded him! Everyone in the town knew! Her father, the mayor, knew too! How in the world is Mary so oblivious to the fact that he's interested in her romantically? Looking back on that, he probably shouldn't play so many pranks on her.
"HAHAHAHA! You three are so funny! Why would I be together with this irritating oaf?!"
Klaus felt a little hurt by that, but he wasn't surprised. If someone were to ask her opinion about him she would spend hours just explaining why he was horrible and annoying. He had heard that one time someone asked her if she actually liked him. Apparently that ended with Mary fainting from shock. Which is weird, but he took it as a good sign. Maybe she liked him back and was just super, extremely dense at admitting it to herself, so he would keep trying. Trying was taking three years though. "Why not?"
Mary looked back to Klaus and gestured to all of him as she spoke. "Because of this."
"You just gestured to all of me."
"Not all of you, your personality is larger than this house. So it's only the annoyance that is the physical form that I am gesturing too."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"It doesn't have to because I said so." Mary crossed her arms, deeming herself the winner of their little tiff. "Now that you three have finished your meal, what do you plan to do after today?"
The three ex-fairies blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic, they had expected the two adults to continue their lover's quarrel. Lucy recovered quicker than the other two girls. "Well, we were originally planning on training and travelling around the country, maybe the world. I don't think we should leave this town yet, but if we do stay I'm not comfortable with living off the town's generosity. If we do stay longer than a few days is there anything I can do to repay the debt of staying here?"
Mary frowned. Usually the people who stayed here were more than happy to not have to pay any fee for staying here, yet here was this girl insisting that she should repay them. It baffled her. She had heard many things about Ms. Heartfilia, but she did not believe that she would be like this. "There's no need for you to have to try and repay us, Ms. Heartfilia. Our generosity is one of the principles our town is built upon."
Lucy felt herself beginning to get irritated with Mary. "While I understand that it is a custom of this town, I do not feel comfortable accepting this town's generosity when I have not earned it."
"Ms. Hearti-"
"How about you work at my little shop or help me in the fields if I need it?" Klaus quickly cut off Mary, as he began to notice both the women were beginning to lose their patience with the other. Besides Lucy has impressed him, there aren't many people who refuse to be given something especially when there are no strings attached.
Lucy seemed rather hesitant, but determined. "Are you sure about helping you with field work? To be honest, I haven't done much in that area, other than taking care of a small herb garden. Otherwise I accept your offer."
Klaus smiled in success, he had avoided an argument without them really saying anything against him for interrupting them. "I take it you be a quick learner. Adapting to guild life after being in high society must not have been easy."
Lucy was surprised. Not many people she knew understood the difficulty she had adapting to the completely different way of life everyone in Fiore lived compared to the life of deception that awaits people in the life of an aristocrat. It was something she truly enjoyed about her life now. Yes, people still lied and deceived, but they also told the truth and didn't have ulterior motives most of the time. They had the option to not have to be that way.
The life of the aristocrat involves understanding that there is no one you can really trust, no one that will ever truly be your friend, and that unless you happen to be the head of your family than you do not have a say in your life. She's heard many people make jokes at her about her family being rich. That she was spoiled and had no right to complain about that life. That she's never experienced the pains of going hungry because of lack of food. That she's never been penniless. That she never had to experience true loss.
She never corrected them on the fact that most of the 'supposed' truths are wrong. Being in that branch of society is a fancy expensive cage. A cage that you are born and raised in. A cage that there are only a few ways to escape.
Your family going bankrupt.
You destroy your worth.
You run away.
Death.
It is such a hush-hush society that there are even domestic crimes that are committed, but because they are the upper class no one says anything. People just let it happen. The nobles have their hands in so many lives that no one is willing to do anything about it out of fear.
Lucy was ashamed to say she was among the group that feared the repercussions if she were to speak out. She didn't fear for herself, she feared for her friends. She used to speak out, but when she joined Fairy Tail she stopped. She couldn't risk them getting hurt. It didn't matter that they can take care of themselves, there is always some way they can be crossed off if the nobility felt the need to keep her quiet. They wouldn't kill her as she still is technically a part of the nobility even if she denounced that part of her life. They wouldn't let her go.
They still occasionally contacted her in hopes she would come back.
"You're right it wasn't the easiest thing, but I've managed so far. I wouldn't say I am a quick learner though."
Klaus narrowed his eyes slightly. He could see the gears turning in her head after he spoke. He wondered what she had been thinking about. "So little Wendy what are you and your companion Carla going to be doing?"
Wendy blinked at the sudden attention that shifted towards her. She had been watching them interact and it had been rather interesting, but now that the conversation had shifted to her she felt nervousness creep up on her. "Well...I was going to train since there is a technique in my magic that I recently unlocked that I want to master. Other than that I don't really know."
Going with the flow of the conversation Mary spoke next. "Since Ms. Heartfilia is helping around the town with Klaus, how about you help me?"
"What is it you do exactly? I mean you told us you're a housekeeper, but what is that exactly?"
Mary smiled at the interest she could see in Wendy's face. "I mostly clean the house and do the cooking, but once a week a group of maids from an agency comes and cleans the whole house. On the side I help run a small bakery down the road. The owner of the bakery is an elderly woman in her early seventies. She'll love you."
Wendy smiled brightly when Mary started to talk about the bakery. She loved to bake! Honestly, she didn't think she was very good, but she really wanted to learn. "I'd absolutely love to help you! I really like to bake even though I don't think I'm that good, but I'd like to learn!"
Mary's face seemed to light up at Wendy's enthusiasm. "It's a deal then!"
