Chapter 3: Tenebre

" Lucy."

The blond groaned, turning to the side, but her eyes remained shut.

" Lucy, wake up."

" I don't think she hears you, Master, should i try waking her up?" A deep male voice said, the person kneeling down beside the unconscious blond.

" Please do, Serpe. And how many times have i said-"

" To not call you Master." The green haired man finished her sentence, rolling his slitted yellow-green eyes, " Hai hai, Tenebre-sama, anything else ya wanna add?"

" Be gentle, and stop poking her!"

Serpe quickly retracted his hands, grinning innocently, " Just trying to irritate her to conciousness?"

" Serpe." The female voice deadpanned, with a hint of annoyance.

" Okay okay," Serpe raised his hand up, " I'll try something different then."

He cleared his throat, and inhaled deeply, and shouted into her ear, " OI BLONDIE!"

Lucy's eyes snapped open, jolting upright in fright, " Wha- Ow!", her hand flew to her temple, pressing down at the throbbing pain there, wincing sharply as she did so.

"Whoa there blondie!" Serpe caught her before her head fell back down, " Sorry 'bout that, but poking didn't wake you up."

" What?" She spluttered incredulously, quickly backing away from him, looking at him with a guarded look, " Who are you?"

The man grinned, Lucy looking at his pointy fangs warily, puffing out his chest boastfully, " I am the great Serpe-sama, leader of the mighty Chinese Zodiac!"

Lucy's eyes almost popped out her sockets, mouth gaping open in shock, " Chinese Zodiac?!"

" Ignore the idiot, the current leader of the Chinese Zodiacs."

Serpe grimaced, clutching his chest in mock hurt, " Ouch, Tenebre-sama, must you place such emphasis?"

" Yes." The impassive female voice said.

Lucy looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but she saw nothing but more snow and ice, " Who is this ' Tenebre' you are talking about? And where is that voice coming from?"

He simply pointed a finger up, " Look up."

Her dark brown eyes followed the direction he was pointing at, her head tilting up to look at one of the thicker ice pillars, she first doubted what she saw. Squinting, she took a closer look, and her jaw dropped onto the icy cold floor.

As if reading her thoughts, the voice sighed, slightly amused, " Yes, it's not everyday you see someone frozen in crystal ice. Now stop gaping would ya?"

Lucy's mouth snapped shut, her face twisted in bewilderment and slight amazement.

" Wondering how i got in here in the first place?"

" How...?"

" I ain't reading your thoughts, your face just says it all."

" Can you stop reading my face or thoughts?!" Lucy wailed, hugging herself as if to protect herself from the woman in ice.

" Sorry Lucy," The voice said sheepishly, " It's just been too long since i've talked to someone else other than my spirits."

Lucy's eyes brightened as if remembering something, and her eyes sparkled, " Oh yeah, spirits! Are you a Celestial Spirit mage? Are you the one with the Chinese Zodiac keys? May i see them? How did you get them? How many? Wait, how are you talking to me? How did you get in there? Hold up, how do you know my name? Who are you? Why-"

" Whoa whoa, chill lax there blondie, too many questions." Serpe interjected sleepily, yawing loudly, slumping down at the base of the woman's ice pillar, his head nodding drowsily, " Tenebre-sama's amplifying her thoughts out, so you're technically hearing her thoughts out loud."

He yawned once again, and waved sleepily at her, " Nice seeing ya again by the way, just saying, nights...", he murmured, promptly falling asleep after that.

" Again?" Lucy tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Serpe's body morphed, as if growing another layer of skin, another thick layer of skin.

" Mr Aser?!" Lucy gasped, looking at the familiar chubby old geezer that supposedly her client.

With his eyes still closed, the snake zodiac mumbled, " This's just another one of my disguises, i'm a snake, deception is sorta in my job description. And i'm just that good at it, even the strongest of mages can't see through my disguises."

And he started snoring again, drooling slightly, his 'second' skin melting away.

" Don't mind him, snakes tend to sleep in cold climates."

" Ah." Lucy nodded numbly, slowly coming to an understanding, and when it hit she exclaimed, grabbing at her hair,

" Wait, so does that mean this entire mission's a fake?!"

" Not entirely."

A splotch of blue light lighted up beside Lucy, and a crystal appeared, softly emitting a bluish-purple light.

" There is indeed a Vindrew Aser that needs this ore, but he is currently in the hospital, he was the one who posted the request, but we simply altered it a little."

Lucy frowned disapprovingly, " Now why would you do that?"

" Because you are Layls's daughter."

" How do you know my mother? And who are you?!" The blond said sharply, flinching back slightly when the woman said her mother's name.

The woman said, her voice laced with grief and remorse, " She was both a friend and a mother to me, the only one who looked past my blood to see what i really am. She treated me as one of her own, but..."

The woman hesitated for a second, before continuing," But it was because of her involvement with me that eventually..."

The next three words made Lucy's world screech to a stop, as it echoed through her skull,

"caused her death..."

Lucy took a second to compose herself, for a moment she felt light headed and her blood freeze up, taking several deep breadths, she begun to speak, very slowly, enunciating her every word carefully,

" What do you mean?"

"I was hoping to break it to you in a gentler manner, but -"

" Just explain yourself!" Lucy screamed, finally feeling her patience nap, her echoing voice causing several icicles to drop from the ceiling.

Serpe shot up from his position, shifting in front of the crystal protectively in a instant, his slitted eyes narrowing at her warningly, hissing through bared fangs.

" Serpe, back down." The woman barked.

He looked up sharply, " But-"

" I said BACK DOWN."

Rather reluctantly, he backed away, but not entirely, his eyes still fixed onto Lucy.

" Lucy, touch my crystal."

Lucy scoffed, folding her arms, but rather than looking threatening like she expected herself to look, she looked rather fragile, as if she was trying to hide herself from the world, to just fold into herself and cry her heart out, her voice trembling slightly, " W-Why? So you can kill me too? Like you did to my mother?"

" No! I would rather kill myself than to hurt you! I promised your mother i'd be your shield." The woman said rather frantically, sounding rather hurt, " I thought, rather than explaining it to you in words, i figured it'll be much easier and faster to just show you."

Lucy didn't look convinced.

" Meaning, i'd show you my memories, so you can see it with your own eyes and determine for yourself after that whether to trust me or not, i'd show you everything from the moment i met Layla to now. Sometimes, words just can't convey enough information."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the woman in ice, seriously considering her proposition, " Will i get to know more about you as well?"

" If you want to, then yes." The woman simply replied.

Although part of her was screaming at her to vent all her pent up frustration and anger at the woman, Lucy's inquisitive side eventually took over. She wanted to know more about this strange, mysterious woman before making any more assumptions, especially curious about how she sounds so old and ancient even though she barely look any older than herself.

" Fine," Lucy relented, placing her hands on her hip, " So what do i do?"

" Just place your hand on my crystal, and think about what you want to know, my magic will settle the rest."

Lucy walked straight towards the crystal, her hands just shy from touching it before the woman said,

" But be warned, by knowing my background, you might be pulled in the exact same situation as your mother, you might end up like her as well. Are you sure you want to take that risk? I did not call you here just to put you in danger."

The blond celestial mage scoffed, almost laughing out loud," Please, i'm in Fairy Tail, being there is already an occupational hazard on it's own, how bad can it possibly get? "

" I mean," She started ranting, pacing around," You'd get a flying table or stool to the face as a morning greeting, then a half naked ice-make mage might come flying past you, followed by a blast of who knows what, normally fire though, along with oter flying projectiles like mugs, bar stoold, heck, even people!

" I've encounterd dark guilds, angry Magic Council members, cults, crazy dragonslayers, even crazier nakama, even had dreams of burning cities..."

As Lucy raved on, the snake zodiac looked up at at woman worriedly, talking to her via telepathy,

" Dreams of burning cities? Tenebre-sama, you don't think...?"

" But i do. I know she inherited Layls's gift, but for signs of the seals breaking now..."

" And one more thing."

" Yeah, her friends are here. I felt them activate my sensors. "

" The usual greetings or the slow one?"

" The really slow one."

" Ya got it." Serpe said out loud, his sudden activeness startling Lucy and cutting her rant short as he shot up into a standing position, stretching and cracking his knuckles.

" Ah, i forgot you were here as well." Lucy realised, so immersed in her rant that she forgot all about the green haired man.

" Ouch." Serpe deadpanned, making Lucy look away a tad guiltily.

" Well, i'll leave the both of you to settle yer 'stuff', " He gestured to the both of them and waved his arms around them, " I'm just gonna go find some other place to nap."

And he disappeared into a puff of copper sparks.

Lucy stared at the spot he vacated in slight fascination, wondering why the sparks were copper instead of gold like her own spirits, then her thoughts screeched to a stop when she realised how far her mind had strays from the more important matter in front of her.

She took a deep calming breadth, then said, " So what i'm saying is, it's a risk i'm willing to take. If my mother had enough trust in you to put herself in a risk for you, i don't see why i should not."

" Even if it means putting myself in danger like her. Plus, a good friend of mine always told me to follow my guts, and my guts are telling me that i can trust you."

" Alright then, whenever you're ready."

This time, Lucy placed her hand confidently on the cold, hard surface of the crystal, and looked up, finally taking a good look at the woman she's been talking to the entire time, and wondered, how such an innocent looking girl that looked barely any older than her could sound so old and wise, as if she were a few thousand years old at least.

With that, she focused her thoughts and her vision onto the frozen, sleeping platinum and black haired lady, willing the crystal to show her exactly what she sought to know.

The crystal glowed a pale white light beneath her hand, and her vision dimmed.

Slowly fading into darkness.

" This way!" Natsu led the way, sniffing out the blond's scent. " We're close!"

Running into another section of the icy cave, the team skidded to a stop when they saw a man flat on the ground in front of them, mouth wide open, drooling and snoring, reaching into his pants to scratch his behind.

The team looked at his, bewildered, " What is another human being doing here?"

" Jeez, can i never find a quiet spot just to sleep..." The man mumbled, sitting up cross legged, rubbing his eyes.

" Have you seen-" Erza started to say, but was interrupted by a particularly loud yawn from the man,

" Busty blond lady, Celestial Mage?"

" Yes." Erza confirmed, a bit ticked off that she was interrupted before, " Do you know where she is?"

" Sure," The man jerked his thumb behind him at the hole in the ground, " she's down there."

" But, " He shifted into a combat stance, his sleepy demeanour instantly replaced with a slightly more serious one, " I ain't letting ya all through."

" My master ain't done with her yet."

Sensing that he was dead serious about it, the Fairy Tail mages all charged at him, determined to get past him to their friend.

Natsu stormed forward from the rest, executing the first blow,

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Serpe sidestepped the flaming fist, feeling the heat graze the surface of his skin when Natsu ran past him. Natsu spun around, fire leaking from his mouth,

" Fire Dragon's Roar!"

A torrent of flame enveloped the area Serpe stood at, and the area was instantly engulfed in a dense screen of smoke and steam from the rapidly meting snow and ice.

Just when they thought he was defeated, Serpe sprang forth from the smoke, and appeared in front of Natsu in an instant, his right leg shot out, kicking Natsu's face up, then snapping it down, smashing the pinkette downwards, and just before his face touched the sodden floor, Serpe backflipped, kicking his head upwards once more, sending Natsu flyinf and leaping backwards in the progress, about to land back at his original spot.

" Ice Make : Lance!"

But before he got the time to recover, he was assaulted by a barrage of icy lances, slicing through his clothes and cutting flesh. Serpe twisted his body in mid air, avoiding a couple of them, but not all, lines of crimson appearing on his body when both his feet landed on land.

His shirt long forgotten, Gray smashed his hands together, glowing blue and leaking cold air, and roared,

" Ice Make : Hammer!"

A large hammer formed above Serpe, and dropped down with a crash. Like a snake, Serpe slithered away swiftly form the crash site, but still maintained his spot in front of the hole in the ground.

" Ice Make : Floor!"

Gray froze Serpe in his spot, thinking, " If he wants to stay in that spot so badly, so be it!", just as Erza sprang forward, re-quipping into her ' Heaven's Wheel Armour' at the same time, a ring of swords appearing behind her.

"Blumenblatt!"

Rushing past him, the scarlet knight slashed at him with both her swords, and the ring of swords flashed forward as a secondary attack.

But once again, Serpe came out from the carnage, looking rather bashed up but still going strong, blocking Erza just as she was about to fly down the hole.

" I said," the snake zodiac hissed, " you shall not pass!"

Claws sprang forth from his hand, making Erza jump back when he slashed at her, and she continued to be pushed back when he continuously executed a whirlwind of slashes and kicks at her, jumping back only after he successfully pushed her away a certain distance.

" Well," Natsu replied, grinning darkly, " We just have to bash the helluva out of you then!"

He bashed his flaming fists together, his eyes gleaming almost eagerly, " We'll get past you pretty easily then!"

At the last word, he stepped back, coming back to back with Wendy, and the both of them inhaled, their cheeks puffing out, and roared,

" Roar of the Fire/ Sky Dragon!"

Opening her eyes, Lucy found herself standing on top of a hill of daisies, dressed in a ice blue knee length chiffon dress. Looking around, feeling the prickly green grass beneath her bare feet, seeing nothing but daisies and grass, the line of daisies only ending by the line of tress in the distance.

She turned her back around, and saw the woman she's been talking too the entire time in the flesh.

"Did you know, in the language of flowers, daisies means 'innocence' ?"

The woman stood there, her black and platinum coloured hair swaying in the wind, dressed in a similar dress to Lucy's, only white in colour, and she too was barefooted.

She turned to look at Lucy, her black and gold flecked silver eyes staring straight into her hazel coloured ones, clouded with sadness and guilt.

"Innocence, who knew that angels and demons had that side to them, when my parents met each other on this very field, they found their exactly that, an innocent love.

"Despite knowing their differences, they fell in love, and a child was born, half angel, half demon. "

" So," Lucy looked at the woman, " What was this child's name?"

The woman looked back at her, smiling softly, " Her name's Tenebre, Tenebre Akarusa."

She then looked into the distance, Lucy following her gaze, looking at the line of trees in anticipation for what's to come.

AN : And yay! Chapter 3 is unveiled! Love it? Hate it? It had its moments? Do leave me a review by clicking on that awesome review button below!

Please?

Pwetty please?

Just one small review won't hurt right?

Till next time then!

Ja Ne!

~KanaeHitomi~