Two days later-The Councils Public Trial Hall:
Natsu sat chained to a chair in the center of the room. It seemed the council, who were all looking down at him with disgusted expressions, were taking no chances with the fire mage. This wasn't the small private room where Erza had once stood trial. After the grand magic games Lucy, and Natsu himself, had become insanely popular; therefor the council had decided to hold a public trial.
High above him the council sat in a panel. Behind him were rows and rows of spectators, including all the official guild masters.
He turned around and looked at them all. Many were friends or enemies, some he'd never seen before in his life. The most annoying was the reporter Jason from Sorcerer Weekly. He was currently scribbling in his note pad and occasionally whispering to his photographer to get a picture. Natsu had to suppress a growl when he remembered the reporters face lit up with excitement as he hounded Natsu with questions when they brought him out. It was as if the sick bastard was enjoying every minute of the horrible spectacle.
Natsu's gaze caught sight of a blond head in the crowd and his heart stopped. He caught himself just in time before shouting out her name. The owner of the blond hair turned around so he could see her face and he felt a crushing disappointment. It was an automatic reaction, and he knew better. Lucy was dead. It was a fact he had sorrowfully accepted. The only thing that kept him going was his driving need to understand why she had been taken from him, and who was responsible.
Movement caught his eye, directing it to the section where Fairy Tail sat. Lisanna was waving at him, a determined smile of encouragement on her face. The corner of Natsu's mouth tipped up as he thought about her and the others. Not one of them believed he had killed Lucy. When Gray had heard what all happened, he'd almost stormed the jail where Natsu was being held determined to break him out. Only Juvia was able to calm him down enough that he would listen to logic. They were both sitting next to Lisanna, pained looks of anticipation on their faces. Besides those three, Markarov, Mirajane, Wendy, Carla, Levy and Happy were also there. Happy had taken the news particularly hard and had actually managed to slip past all the guards and get to Natsu, who had held him all night as the little blue cat sobbed inconsolably. The rest of the guild had been ordered to stay home and continue investigating from there.
Natsu looked around, for the first time noticing Erza was not also there. He'd thought she would want to be there….
"Erza's gone to find Jellal." Said a light voice right by his ear, reading his mind. Natsu nearly jumped out of his skin. Fairy Tails first master Mavis Vermillion was there, and even though he was siting and she was standing they were eye to eye.
"First Master!" he said stunned, glancing over at the guards who were supposed to be making sure that no one got close to him. She giggled at his silly expression, before realizing that the situation was still serious.
"Don't worry, only people with the mark of Fairy Tail can see me." She said. "And Erza went to find Jellal to see if he could help you with your memory loss."
Natsu nodded and was about to ask more questions when a member of the Council brought out a large gavel and banged it loudly, causing a hushed quiet to spread throughout the room. When Natsu turned back, Mavis had disappeared.
"The council calls forth the Mind Examiner: Veryl Tyberion." Said a small frog woman with a squeaky voice. Natsu knew her to be Abra Totha, the councils official scribe/secretary. At the sound of his name, an extremely tall man in long black robes with slicked back blue hair stood and bowed humbly to the council.
"Examiner Veryl, please explain to the court how your magic works" Abra said.
The man touched a long boney finger to his own head, and an image of himself appeared as a projection.
"My magic allows one person's memories to be seen by all. No human can trick or deceive my magic; therefore what you will see from the witnesses will be nothing but the truth. When a witness is called; all I have to do is ask them about a specific memory and it will be projected to the whole court exactly as they saw it."
When the man took his hand away from his forehead, the projection disappeared.
"Very well, then we shall begin" Abra's squeaky voice announced.
"Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail, first son of Igneel; by way of public trial you are charged with the murder of Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail, first daughter of Layla and Jude Heartfilia (deceased). How do you respond to this charge?"
He looked her in the eyes and gave the answer his master had instructed him to.
"Not Guilty." There was a slight murmur from the crowd behind, but the little woman cleared her throat and they instantly went silent.
"The record marks the accused plea." She announced, then turned and took a small piece of paper that was passed down from the council's bench.
"The Court call its first witness; Levy McGarden of Fairy Tail." The frog woman read.
Poor Levy looked as if she might faint from shock, and looked around to her guild mates to make sure she had heard right. They seemed as confused as she was, but after and encouraging nod from the Master she stood and made her way through the crowd. Natsu watched her curiously as Veryl directed her to a chair beside him and she took a seat.
"Miss McGarden, please think about the last time you spoke with the victim, Miss Heartfillia." Commanded Abra.
"Oh, okay." Levy said "I…."
"There is no need to speak" Interrupted the squeaky voice "Just think about it."
Levy turned slightly pink in the cheeks, but closed her eyes and did as she was asked while one of Veryls long fingers gently poked her forehead.
Everyone in the room gasped as Fairy Tails guild hall suddenly materialized before them and they saw Levy sitting quietly at a table reading. In the back ground Natsu and Gray were having an argument about if the week began on Sunday or Monday, and it looked like it could turn to blows at any second. Mira was at the bar talking to Cana and providing her with a drink. Gajeel and Lily were off in a corner quietly chuckling together about something. Levy was positioned so that she could discreetly glance over her book at them periodically.
"Hey Levy!" called a familiar voice.
Natsu's heart felt like it was choking him from the inside as her voice filled the court room.
Lucy sat down beside Levy, unluckily catching her while she was glancing over at Gajeel. Lucy giggled at her friends growing blush.
"You know if you like him, you could just ask him out" She teased the blue headed mage while nudging her in the ribs.
"Ha! And who said I like him?" Levy defensively whined. Lucy giggled again.
"Oh, no one. Just something I noticed." She assured her friend.
The Levy that sat in the court room had turned redder than Erza's hair.
"You sure are in a good mood today." Levy observed. Lucy grinned big and then leaned in so that only the blue haired mage could hear her.
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?" Lucy whispered "And I mean anyone!"
"Of course Lucy!" Levy said, slightly hurt that her best friend would doubt her "I would never betray your trust."
Lucy blushed happily. "Well….." She started, but was stopped by a sudden flash of white light.
"Loki!" She exclaimed surprised. The celestial spirit, looking tired and annoyed, appeared interrupting their conversation and sat down on the other side of the table.
"Hello Lucy, Levy" Loki greeted them both with a nod in their directions. Levy waved in a confused but friendly greeting. "Lucy, do you have a minute?" He asked
"Of course! What's wrong?" Lucy questioned her spirit, obviously concerned.
"Oh, it's nothing serious." He brushed her concern away with a flick of his hand. "It's just that the Spirit Kings youngest son has escaped, again and all the spirits have been asked to help find him, so we probably won't be able to help you much in the next week or so."
"Escaped? Why was he locked up?" Levy asked.
"Because he's an annoying little brat, that's why." Loki spat viciously, then explained "Every thousand years or so he gets it into his head that He should be king of the spirits and tries to usurp his father and older brothers. He usually doesn't cause too much damage, so no one really takes him seriously, but while he's gone the king and queen worry about him and everyone has to go out looking for him. It's really just an annoyance by this point."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Lucy asked.
"No we can handle it, thanks." Loki said smiling at her sincerity "but you know if you really need us, don't hesitate to call!"
Lucy nodded and smiled at him in agreement.
"Loki!" Natsu called out across the hall "Fight me! We haven't fought in a long time!"
"I better go now." Loki said rolling his eyes at Natsu. Then with another flash he was gone.
Natsu looked crest fallen and turned back to his fight with Gray disappointed.
Lucy and Levy both smiled at the boys antics, before Levy remember Lucy had been about to tell her something and questioned her on it.
"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, suddenly remembering. "Well….." She grinned mischievously and the blush was back. Then it all came out in fast words
"I kind of, sort of, maybe have a date tonight!"
"A date!" Levy gawked at her "with who?"
"His name is Azazel." She whispered excitedly "And I accidentally bumped into him on my way here today. Oh Levy, he was soooo cute!" She gushed.
"What time is he picking you up?" Levy giggled, excited for her friend.
"We are going to meet at the cathedral at 6 o'clock, and go to dinner from there." Lucy seamed so proud that she was actually going on her first date. Then something dawned on her.
"Oh my god" She said, gripping her friends arm. "Levy, what if he tries to kiss me at the end of the date!"
"Well, if you want to, you kiss him back" Levy told her, laughing at the girls' innocence. Lucy looked up at her irritated.
"Have you ever kissed a boy?" Levy turned bright red and unconsciously glanced at Gajeel.
"Of course you haven't, so there's no room to make fun of me." Lucy said, and Levy seemed grateful she hadn't been questioned further.
"Oh! Is that the time!" Lucy exclaimed, glancing at her watch. "I've got to go figure out what to wear! Bye Levy!"
"Bye, tell me all about it tomorrow!" Levy called after her friend as she watch the blond head bounce out of the guild.
The memory ended and the whole room erupted in whispers, trying to understand the significance of what they had just seen. It hadn't been very damning to Natsu, but it hadn't had anything to do with his innocence either.
Levy stood and walked back to her seat, wiping tears away from her eyes. The other members of fairy tail also seemed to have been crying and Natsu felt warm drops on his own face.
He didn't know if he could survive this trial. Seeing her smile, her laugh again, even if it was only in Levy's memories, was killing him. He hadn't wanted the memory to end, and wanted desperately for them to call Levy back and let them see it again.
Another part of him was as curious as the crowd as to the significance of Levy and Lucy's conversation. Why had they seen that?
Natsu was puzzled to learn Lucy had had a date, but he wasn't surprised she hadn't told him about it. They didn't really talk about that sort of thing and she probably knew that if she told him, he would have teased her about it.
A council member banged the gavel again for quiet from the crowd, and passed the squeaky voiced woman another piece of paper.
"Next, the council calls Azazel Celestios of Crime Sorcière." Natsu blinked and felt the confusion of many others in the room. Crime Sorcière? Jellal's guild? But they were independent (and mostly made up of wanted criminals). Why was the council calling him?
A thin young man around Natsus age with long white hair pulled back in an elegant braid walked through the crowd. As the man passed by Natsu, he shot him a look of pure hatred.
Natsu was surprised to find that the stranger's feelings were mutual and couldn't help the small growl that escaped his throat.
"Mr. Celestios, would you mind stating your relationship to the victim for the court" The woman asked when he sat in the chair next to Veryl.
"Of course" The man said. Natsu found he hated this man's voice more than the squeaky woman's. "Lucy is… I mean Lucy was…." He started, then caught himself. He dramatically sighed and threw his hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry, this is just so difficult."
"Please, take your time" The frog woman cooed sympathetically. Natsu wanted to punch her. However what the man said next stopped every thought he had.
"Lucy Heartfilia was the love of my life, my princess and my fiancé."
(Author note: Sorry this chapter was a little boring. Had to get some set-up stuff done. Trust me, it gets more exciting after this next one.)
(SPOILER: yes Lucy is dead, kind of. Let's just say I have a very Moffet like philosophy about killing characters. :)