Title: How Will You Know
Pairings: Lucy/Natsu, some Mirajane/Freed, some Levy/Gajeel, some Gray/Juvia, some Elfman/Evergreen.
Rating: I'm gonna stick with M just in case of later chapters.
Plot: Lucy has had a rough time since coming back from Tenrou Island. To make matters worse, her and Natsu seem to have crossed over the line of friends. Confused and hurt, Lucy goes on a quest to clear her mind, with Natsu hot on her trail. (Bad Summary) R/R NaLu.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good thanksgiving. And hopefully a good black Friday? ::shrug:: thankfully I didn't have to work it ^^; Anyways, another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I just love it to death XD
Chapter 8: Miles Away
"The walls are closing in again. Fading the distant light. Too much thinking going on… Miles away there's a whole different view. Only rain is what you see now. Get away cuz this isn't the truth. Who would you be if you couldn't feel the pain? It wouldn't be the same, miles away. Time to put your questions down And live outside the lines. It's okay to make mistakes though it feels like a crime" Miles Away by BECCA
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"Wait, aren't you Angel's spirit? Why are you helping me? Wait, where are we going?" Lucy kept panicking.
"Please calm down, I will explain." The spirit replied and brought her out of the water, setting Lucy down on a long and smooth rock.
Lucy groaned as she was set down, feeling a stabbing pain in her side. Letting out a sigh, Lucy looked up at the woman with curious eyes. She looked very humanoid for a spirit, much like Loke or Virgo. She had very long black hair, her clothing was very basic and almost tribal like. Her strapless bikini top was a dark purple with tints of blue in it. A sarong of the same color was hugging her hips and Lucy noticed bangles on her ankles and wrists as she pushed some hair behind her ear. A hibiscus like flower was tucked behind her other ear matching the color of light pink lips.
"Wow you're really pretty…" Lucy mumbled, somewhat in awe. "Sorry…I'm still kinda out of it…"
A tint of red touched the spirit's cheeks and she gave a smile. "Thanks. It's been so long since somewhat has talked to me like that. Hehe. But I don't think you want to just compliment you. I'll explain things…"
"That would be appreciated. I still feel like I'm in shock, disbelief. Feels…surreal. I'm neither cold nor hot, not even warm. Its like time is completely stopped here…or something." Lucy tried to explain her impression of the place.
"I don't even know how long I've been here…" Andromeda mused and sat down beside Lucy, resting her chin in her hand.
"Have you always been Angel's spirit? Why did you save me?" Lucy asked again, trying to sit up.
"Please don't sit up!" Andromeda quickly pleaded and pushed the blonde back down onto the rock gently. "It took a lot of work to heal you just this far, if I had to guess I'd say you've been out for about a week. Maybe more. Its hard to judge time here. I think your wounds would have been worse, but I think something you wore helped deflect some of it. Maybe that scarf, it was rather odd looking…"
Lucy let out a sigh and gave up on trying to sit up. She wanted a better look at her surroundings and possibly confirm if she was actually wearing clothes. A tint of red made its way to her cheeks as she pondered it. The only spirit to see her in the nude was Virgo.
"Natsu's scarf…I know it protects him. A dragon named Igneel gave it to him." Lucy explained.
"I see…I've been meaning to ask. What is your name?" Andromeda asked.
"Lucy…Lucy Heartfilia." She replied.
"Lucy…" Andromeda said slowly with an accent, "It's a pretty name. As I said before, my name is Andromeda. I was originally a human from an island tribe but Cetus, a spirit, begged the Spirit King to save me by making me a spirit."
"Made you a spirit…? Didn't know it was possible…although on Tenrou Island I know there was human subordination magic used. Don't think that's this though…" Lucy pondered.
"If possible, it might make it easier if I just told you my story from the beginning. If you will permit. I promise to answer all your questions…" Andromeda fiddled with the bangles on her wrist nervously.
"Well, I don't have much of a choice. Heh. I'm stuck here. But I am curious as to why you saved me."
"Well to start with…I was a chiefitan's daughter to an island tribe." Andromeda started, smiling sadly. "It was a very pretty and peaceful place when I was a child, I was mostly left to my own devices. However, we started to have severe storms and we had a ship crew wash ashore. Cetus, a spirit was also stuck at the island."
"Did Cetus cause the storms?" Lucy asked.
"No…Ce-Cetus was a friend whom I had made when I was nineteen. I found him when I was swimming in the ocean. He was quiet but understanding, he seemed lost. At the time I didn't know he was a spirit."
"From the way you speak of him…I was under the impression you were his master?" Lucy now had a confused look on her place.
"I will get there in time…" Andromeda explained. "At nineteen my life on the island was not so peaceful. The ship crew never left and the storms had gotten even worse. They were fighting all the time, my uncle and Masato, the leader of the shipwrecked crew both wanted me to marry them."
"I take it you didn't love either of them"
Andromeda nodded, "I had no interest in any of them, their culture had started to root intself into ours. Normally it was the woman's right to choose. Soon other men in our tribe were insisting on picking their partners, most of them insisted on me. They only wanted me to be chieftian."
Andromeda paused and looked out across the dark waters. "Cetus was the only person I could confide into about my fears. I eventually learned that he had become seperated from his master."
"Did he have his own key? How was he able to stay in the human world for a long time?"
"I don't know about how he stayed there but No…We had looked underwater for the keys together on many occasions. By chance one night in Masato's hut when I was trying to tell him I wouldn't marry him, I saw a key ring. They were old looking, with weird symbols engraved on them. They looked like the ones Cetus had described."
"Masato was a spirit mage?" Lucy eyes widened.
"Yes, It was a magic that was rather foreign to us. Later I went and told Cetus what I had seen and he told me that Masato was in fact his master. I told him I would steal his keys so he could be set free but Cetus was worried I would get caught. He didn't want Masato to be his master anymore, said he was cruel." A slight tint of red began to appear in Andromeda's cheeks. "I went to run back to the village but Cetus pulled me back into the water. He…kissed me."
"Mmm…I knew you loved each other." Lucy smiled softly at the young woman. "I could tell from the way you say his name."
"We do…did love each other." The dark haired woman looked away. "At that moment, Masato saw us from ashore. He was angry, demanding to know why I was in love with a monster and not him. 'Spirits are just tools for us mages' he shouted. With a wave of his key, Cetus was gone and he dragged me back to the village."
"I hate mages who treat their spirits like that." Lucy slowly managed to reach out her hand to touch the Spirits.
"A lot of the men in the village were also angry I was in love with a spirit instead of one of them, if anything, I think the crew had truly warped my people over the years. They agreed almost immediately when Masato called for a duel to win my hand." Andromeda rested a hand on the girl's arm gently, enjoying the comfort. "The night before, I grabbed Masato's keys and tried to sneak out of the village."
"You were caught?" Lucy asked.
"I was, by Masato himself and he had me locked up. The next day for the duels they decided to do it on the beach because there were so many men. As punishment I was chained to a large rock on the beach, forced to watch them fight for me. My mother and father were even boasting about the number of men. I felt so sick to my stomach."
"That's horrible…"
"As Masato and my uncle started to duel, a storm started to roll in. It was raining heavily and the wind was howling but Masato insisted the duel continued. He kept exclaiming "I only have one man left to defeat!" . Before I knew it, big waves were pounding the shore, and I saw Cetus appear in the water suddenly, calling out to me."
"I wonder if he forced his gate open. Some of my spirits have done that in the past." Lucy pondered.
"Perhaps, I admit I am not as familiar with spirits despite being one now."
"So you are a spirit now?" Lucy asked.
"Yes. The waves were coming even harder, and soon even the rock I was chained to was being washed away. As I went under the water Cetus came and grabbed me, as I thought I was drowning I was suddenly in this place."
"And Cetus…?"
"I haven't seen him since, I don't even know how long that's been. When I came to here a large looking spirit calling himself the Sprit King told me at Cetus' request I was taken into the Spirit World. He said I would not last long here but if I were to become a Spirit, he could have a key for me made and put next to Cetus'."
"The Spirit King?" Lucy's eyes widened. "He actually made a human into a spirit? Did he decide what kind of magic you would have?"
"I don't think so. Some of the magic I have is from when I was human. But when Angel asked me to kill you, I just couldn't. I used to have magic thats like teleporation, however I had only just learned it, I was not very good at it. I tried to use that on you and now you are just stuck here with me, I don't think my spell will work again. I tried when you were still sleeping." Andromeda started to become visibly upset, tears forming.
"How did Angel get your keys…?"
"A man calling himself an 'archeologist' found Masato's keyring. He was an aspiring spirit mage but he told me he didn't have much power. I was the only spirit he could summon. He tried to summon Cetus but couldn't… He happened to find some kind of paper inviting spirit mages to learn more so he sought Angel out."
"Where is he…now…?" Lucy started but saw tears rolling down the spirit's cheeks now.
"He's gone…it's my fault. It's my fault everyone is gone. First Cetus, then him, now I've managed to trap you here… He only went to her to learn how to summon Cetus. He did it for me. He was nothing but kind to me…"
Tears started to threaten Lucy's eyes as she listened, forcing herself up into a sitting position. She let out a yelp of pain as some wounds on her abdomen opened. The spirit's eyes opened and she tried to speak only to feel the blonde mage wrap her arms around her tightly.
"It's not your fault…it's not your fault…" Lucy sobbed into her shoulder.
"Lucy your wounds…your wounds…" Andromeda sobbed back.
"These wounds are…nothing compared to the ones you have." Lucy replied tearfully.
"Angel murdered him…with that spell. She told me he was bad, trying to use me, that she could find a way to summon Cetus and I at the same time. But she wanted to kill you, I could tell you weren't bad. I had slowly built up doubts about her, and then you showed up. I knew, I felt it…you had to be saved."
"Thank you…for saving me…" Lucy spoke softly, her grip loosening on the young woman.
"Lucy…?" Andromed asked back confused, seeing the spirit mage fall back onto the rock, passing out. "Lucy!"
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The doors to the Blue Pegasus guild hall burst open in a flash, nearly knocking them off their hinges. Several members of the guild looked up in surprise, no one ever entered the guld in such a manner.
"Oi Hibiki!" a voice shouted from the doorway. "HIBIKIIIII!"
A young mage glanced up from his drink upon hearing his name, recognizing the voice instantly. It was Natsu, the Salamander from Fairy Tail. Setting his drink down on the table, he ran a hand through his hair, leaving behind a table full of women from his guild.
"I like you Fairy Tail guys but do you ever learn manners?" he sighed from the top of the staircase.
"Hibiki!" Natsu yelled again and ran up the stairs to him, shoving Lucy's keys into his hands.
"Eh? Aren't these Lucy-san's?" Hibiki arched his eyebrow.
"Angel…that Oracion Seis witch. Did something to Lucy. I thought she was dead, but Loke came to me worried and said he couldn't find her, but that his contract was still in place. That means shes alive right?" Natsu spoke quickly, out of breathe from all the running.
"Angel…?" Hibiki asked slowly, memories from finding Nirvana flashing back to him. "The woman that killed my Karen…"
"Help me find Lucy! Levy-chan and Freed couldn't find anything. You have a database in your head right?" Natsu continued and punched the mage in the head
"Ouch! Natsu!" Hibiki yelped, crouching on the ground with his hands over his head.
"That's not the way to ask for a favor Natsu." Natsu heard a familiar voice and looked behind him to see Erza, Gray, Wendy and Juvia at the doorway.
"But Lucy…it's been a month already! I need to find her, what if…" Natsu started but stopped, feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand…leave it to Ren, Eve and I." Hibiki gave the dragon slayer a small smile.
"Thank you Hibiki-san" Erza replied with a small smile, "Lucy means a lot to us."
"And Angel…?" Ren asked from the table he was sitting at, an arm wrapped around a blushing Sherry Blendi.
"I…beat her to a bloody pulp. In the end she was still quiet. It was the first time I almost killed someone…" Natsu replied, the front of his hair covering his eyes.
"I stopped him. Don't blame him though." Gray sighed and ran a hand through the back of his hair.
"Here…" Natsu continued and placed Lucy's keys in Hibiki's hands again. "Also these…All I know is a spirit of Angel's made Lucy vanish…" Natsu then placed Angel's keyring into his hands before walking away.
"Natsu has really changed." Eve noted.
Hibiki just nodded, "He lost the woman he loves…I understand the feeling."
The rest of the Fairy Tail gang just stood there in silence, absorbing Hibiki's words.
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Tada! Another chapter done. I hope you guys liked it! I had part of this chapter written out well before the last two chapters. So hopefully it still made sense, I had to go back and edit stuff here and there. Couldn't resist putting Ren/Sherry together. They were blushing as they parted ways in the Nirvana Arc, plus when Lyon sees Juvia after the 7 years haha. Love at first sight for him. Maybe Sherry lost all hope in a romance with him. XD Tried to work Ichiya into the chapter but I worried an Ichiya/Erza interaction but ruin the mood. Maybe another time. Anyways As always, please R/R. Thanks for taking the time to read and I'll see you next chapter.