Glass Hearts Chapter 9: Open Hearts, a fairy tail fanfic

Sorry that I haven't updated this story in over two months. At first it was exams, and then it was Summer School in Hull for a week. Nevertheless, all that is finally over, and I have free time. Although, I can't guarantee how much will be spent updating In progress stories since I'm currently also writing a new story; Destiny's Demise. I've almost finished it though, so keep an eye out. You can read the description on my profile. Anyway, for now, I hope you enjoy a long awaited chapter of Glass Hearts.

Glass Hearts
Chapter 9; Open Hearts

Steel chains wound around his hands, pinning his broad back against the stone pillar. A circle sea of angry mages stared down at him from an encompassing shroud of disgust. His red hair brushed against the stone, looking up with his emerald green eyes at the people amongst him. It had been a long while since he had been on the opposite side of those kind of stares, and yet, he couldn't seem to find the will to be relaxed. The mages around him were collectively strong, some more than others, but what else was there to expect from such a guild? It had been a long time since he had become interested in human affairs; all through his leisure time, he had heard stories of the famous Fairy Tail's feats and their more infamous exploits. If it wasn't for all of that, he wouldn't have even been sat in the centre of their guild floor.

"How's the blonde?" He grumbled, slightly curious. Sharp stares were sent back at him all conveying the same message. It was the only when the black haired mage stepped forwards that he was able to hear the message aloud.

"You have no right to ask!" The mage snapped. By the look of his glare, he could tell he was seriously irritated at the man just being sat there, but then again, weren't they all? He had only woken up about thirty minutes ago just as he was being chained up. The pink-haired boy he had fought with carried the blonde wizard up through a door on the second floor. According to the whispers, it was the guild's infirmary, which also told him where he had woken up.

"Calm down, Gray." An older man eased, setting a large hand on his shoulder. People parted ways, letting him squeeze past the mages, and out into the open area around the man. Deep black eyes set on him with an explosive glare; angered but controlled, much to the red-haired man's relief. That was because the second he saw him, he had instantly recognised him. There was one person Fairy Tail was extraordinarily famous for; Gildarts. From his ginger hair and roughed-up face, all the way down his black cloak and boots. If there was anyone more than suitable to be a part of Phoenix Phenomenon, it was him.

He was suddenly reminded of the fact he hadn't been to his guild in a while, and if he managed to escape out of Fairy Tail, he would have to pay his master a visit. Although, being away for long periods of a time wasn't unheard of since most of the mages there were constantly on SS or SSS class mission that would take decades at a time to accomplish, maybe even a century.

Unlike the guild he sat in now, his was cold and he barely knew anyone except from rumours within it. It was simply a guild where all the hardest jobs would be sent. It was lonely. Surrounded by all the people that cared for that girl, with their hearts set so openly on their face, a small pang of envy was sent through his body. All those people who had relationships with her were on the verge of vengeance upon him, despite her fate having already been decided. And it was him who had given her that fate. A long lost pain trapped inside of him, had been placed on the shoulders of such a young, and loved girl.

"What can you tell us about this power?" A second voice asked. Once again people parted ways, revealing a small man sat on a table towering above the chained man. Not only did he get to meet Gildarts, he got to see Makarov; one of the ten wizards saints. A small sigh came from the man's lips, suddenly feeling exhausted from all his shock. Perhaps telling them wouldn't be such a bad idea? From the aura's emanated form the rest of them, he could only assume being silent might lead to his demise.

"Not much," The man shrugged, jingling the chains behind his back.

"I know you are over fifty years old." Gildarts informed, pulling a chair up besides the man. Knuckles sat heavily on his knees, peering down over the man. "Magnus Octova"

"Fifty years old?" Small exclamations of whispers rushed over the crowd. "He only looks about thirty!"

A low chuckle came from the mouth's bruised lips, turning up into a smug grin. "So you found out my name, quite the research you've done. Being from Phoenix Phenomenon, it must have been a difficult name to find." Green eyes flashed up to the orange haired man who seemed unimpressed by his response. Snaps of irritation fluttered across the people's lips and faces.

"I have known about you for a long time, although only through rumours." Gildarts retorted with a calm tone. Underneath, he could sense the underlying threat piercing through his eyes. "Although your lineage precedes you."

"Your guild isn't of concern to us." Makarov intervened, stepping down from his table. Before the broad red-haired mage, he looked tiny and unpowerful, but looks could be deceiving as he knew well. "We want to know about the magic you put in one of our family members." Despite the calm voice he spoke with, his eyes were furious with anger and rage, that was under far better control than the orange haired mage sat beside him.

Angering one of the twelve wizard saints wasn't on his bucket list to do before he died. Green eyes narrowed on the small man, hesitant to speak. After all the years he had suffered with that power, he had never found a way to dispel it. The only thing he could expect was that after he had told them everything he knew, they would demand he take back the magic.

But at present, all his bones were bruised, his muscle too exhausted, and his mind fed up. Fighting with the dragon slayer, powered with so much emotion, lead him to be practically wound down to the basic controls over his body. Not to mention the temporary magic he had borrowed from an old silver fox friend of his from so long ago, had run out, leaving him with no way of escape. It also put him at a disadvantage to be so close to the blonde, sealing her connection with him through the vessel aspect of his emotions, drained his will down dramatically. There was nothing else to do, faced against two obviously dangerous wizards, than tell them the truth.

"What do you know so far?" The guy asked, give a lazy roll of his head as he looked among the members.

One stepped out of the crowd, shortly followed by a man and a cat. Long blue hair fell over her narrow, pale shoulders in waves, pushed away from her face with an orange headband matching her dress. From the looks of it, she seemed to be a script mage. There were always two types of mages he had learned, those who were obvious and those who were a mystery. Some magics you could just tell by looking at their user, others, were so well hidden; you would know what kind of magic they were harbouring inside of them until they chose to reveal it themselves. The guild before him was fairly obvious, leading him to measure the girl in front of him and correctly guess her magic on first glance, not to mention the book squeezed between her arms.

Behind her, was a tall man with dark spiky hair, nails for eyebrows and sharp dark eyes; dragon slayer. Of what kind he wasn't sure, but the eyebrows were definitely hinting towards some kind of metal; iron maybe? From the position of his body, he could also tell he was being protective over the little girl like some kind of fragile thing. Although from the looks of the girl, she might not have been all to conscious of his feelings as she marched right up to the green eyed villan.

There was also a black cat with a small sword strapped to his back, which was a bit abnormal thing for him to see. Although he had heard rumours of similar creatures appearing all over the world during his seclusion.

"We don't have time for this idle chit chat!" Gray exclaimed with even more antagonism. His angered face completely dismissed the red haired man, appealing to the guild master.

"There is nothing we can do until we find out more about this." Makarov replied, lifting a hand to calm the boy. Despite his obvious impatience, he turned away, stalking towards the other side of Gildarts.

Finally, the blue-haired girl talked. "We know that the magic is empathy magic. It had the ability to hear and absorb the feelings of those she touches and those in close proximity. We also know that you were the one that passed it to her."

"Not much, then?" The man shrugged, making an embarrassed and furious blush to burn on the girl's cheeks. Her glare was one of the sharpest he had felt as it almost burned into his face. He turned his head away, facing the white haired man stood at his feet.

"Does this magic freeze your time?" Makarov asked, trying to piece together the answer to the puzzle of the man's un-aged face. He was slightly offended that he didn't just assume he looked good for his age.

"No," Magnus sighed reluctantly, finally giving in. "It does not make us immortal, it just slows down our aging; prolonging the suffering." A small chuckle escaped his lips with a wisp of air, somehow finding his joke funny. Nobody else in the room laughed. Green eyes looks softly and nostalgically among the people around him. Nostalgia wasn't an emotion he had expected, having not known any of them before. Maybe it was the blonde haired girl's emotions leaking in to him. Through his stay, his connection to her had still been strong and he had managed to seal it all off until the present moment. Why, out of all the emotions, was it nostalgia that managed to sneak through? Not love, or pain, or anger. A glance stayed up to the closed door on the story above, thinking back to that blonde haired girl. 'What kind of trick are you trying to play?' He thought softly.

With one last finally sigh, he decided to tell his story. Whether it was her emotion or his, he felt a small tingle of hope inside of him. Something, despite his better sense telling him otherwise, told him maybe they could actually help her.

"I was on an job about thirty years ago. I was doing some kind of demon hunting on top of this snowy mountain when I came across a woman. She was an old crippled thing, collapsed in the snow. Honestly, I didn't know what to do with her when I first saw her. In the end I reached out and helped her. As it turned out, she was conscious. As soon as I touched her, I was suddenly blinded by I don't know what and there was this surge of emotion. She kissed me and the power was suddenly transferred onto me.

When I woke up the next day, I had been picked up by a couple of skiers travelling down from the mountain. I asked them about the woman but they hadn't seen her. I hadn't known about me or the powers until about a year later when they began to emerge.

At first I was only unconsciously more instinctive on people's emotions, but as it began to get more intense, I was able to sense the emotions of those around me, but that was only after another four years. Ten years later and I could read the emotions of those I touched. Another decade after that and the amount of people I could sense and read had expanded to those within a one yard radius of me. Although my powers never advanced more than that, the proximity of my radius grew and grew until it could cover almost half of this town.

I had spent the years while my power was festering, trying to search for that woman. By the time I had reached her, she had already died. I heard she had gone crazy, despite losing her power. They say she died of some kind of depression and guilt, wishing the power had died with her.

After that, I resolved to let the power die with me, sealing myself into seclusion so I could not hear the magic, but the longer I had it, the more noticeable it became that I was barely aging. In the past fifty years, I had only aged by five and my suffering only grew worse. Soon it came to a point where I could not spread myself far enough from a city without having another one fall into my proximity.

It took its toll on my body and despite my agelessness; I still looked like an old man. It drove me crazy, to the brink of insanity trying to hold it in.

On my attempt to escape somewhere, I sensed the same thing I had sensed with that woman long ago. I knew by then, that the power I sense was one with a potential vessel and before I knew it, I was already travelling down there. The sensation of her power was the same all over the city so I couldn't trap her down. When I saw her face in that magazine, Sorcerer's weekly I think it was called, I recognised her in an instant.

I tracked her down and found so much salvation in her eyes that I just couldn't bear to keep the power with me anymore. I wanted rid of it, and despite my resolve, I caved in to weakness.

I blinded her, just like my predecessor did. I kissed her and transferred all the power to her. In that moment, when I was holding her by the hand over that water, knowing she couldn't move, I thought I could bring an end to this power."

A cold moment of silence took over the guild, staring down at the man in utter disbelief. It was only when Gray spoke once again, that everyone could truly believe what he had just said.

"You dropped her into that water...knowing she couldn't move...knowing she would drown." Gray growled, his dark eyes consumed with such anger, that Makarov immediately turned to Laxus. The lightening slayer caught his message, and moved towards the ice mage. By the look in his eyes, even Makarov couldn't be sure whether Laxus would actually restrain him, or let him beat the guy to death.

Even Gildarts didn't move, restraining himself with what little will he had left to stay in his chair. Makarov just turned to the man bound to the pillar and waited. Magnus caught his gaze and turned towards him, catching his glare, as if waiting for him to justify himself in some way. So he decided to be honest, no matter what kind of man it made him. No matter how harsh they were, to him, the words were still the truth. "It would be better... if the power died with that girl." He said.

Anger rose in a flash across the room, and it immediately passed over Makarov's face that he wouldn't be able to restrain his mages at all. But it was only one person that took the liberty of funnelling that anger, and it was the most unexpected of them all.

The echoing smack of knuckles on his face echoed through the room. Everyone stared in shock at the scene before them. Magnus stared down at the wood next to his feet, the hot throbbing rushing through his cheek. Throughout his entire career, he couldn't be sure he had ever been punched so hard in his life. Blood bled into his mouth from the cut along the inside of his cheek, and he could feel it already beginning to swell.

Nobody in the room moved, turning towards the assailant. Hot angered breaths growled through her snarling teeth. Black eyes glaring at him with such intense fury. "YOU MONSTER!" Levy screamed, drawing back her split fist again.

A hand quickly clasped around him, stopping it mid-flight. Big strong hands restrained her, not allowing the anger to fly again. Levy's angered eyes quickly snapped on him, and despite her feelings, whatever they were, the anger still prevailed against him.

"LET ME GO, GAJEEL!" She hissed, trying to tear her arm free. Another hand wrapped around the other girl's arm, pinning it to her waist. Arms scooped her up against him, dragging her struggling, screaming body out the door. It all fell silent in the guild as the doors shut closed behind them.

Green eyes watched them go, feeling the same shock at the girl as the rest of the guild had done. Everyone had heard and seen the force of her fists, and all were utterly surprised. But the matter of hand rose over the surprise in a glance. They all turned back to the man on the floor.

Erza stepped through the crowd, emerging suddenly from behind. All through the rest of it, she had remained quiet and at the back.

From Magnus' point of view, he could immediately see that she was an equip mage, but then again, he knew that without having to ask. He knew a lot about team Natsu from his journey and visit to the red light district. Although there were some stories he heard more about than others. He had known about Erza even before she had begun to be associated with the dragon slayer. And from the glare in her eyes, she wasn't afraid to exploit her reputation if need be. Her sword still sat in its sheathe, but the itching hands at her side told the man that there would be no hesitation to draw it if she didn't like what she heard.

Brown boots creased as she dropped into a crouch beside the man, staring at him face to face. "For some reason, Lucy's magic power is increasing the speed of her empathy powers. You said it took you decades to get to the point where she was." Erza spoke, examining his bruised face with a small smothered hint of satisfaction.

"I never even got to her point, despite the fifty years I had it. Absorbing other's emotions? That was a stage I was never even close to. As it seems, she can even share emotions, although it's only very slight to the more aware ones." Magnus explained.

"But it took you three decades to advance to at least half her power right?" Erza responded, but obviously didn't expect an answer as she continued. "If you take back her power, we will create enough time to find a way to destroy this magic?"

"You can't destroy this magic. It's hopeless." The man scoffed back. His earlier expectation was right; they really wanted him to take back that magic. Even if he did want to, he couldn't be sure he would be able to, with the raw memories of all the suffering he went through hanging over him.

When he looked back up, surprise captured him as he stared into her eyes. Despite her anger at him, and the sadness, he could also see a mirror. It was as if she was looking right inside of him. It shocked him so much, he found himself speechless. "Even if it's hopeless." She said, not looking away, or moving, staring at him with such an open heart that his emotional awareness could read her like a poster in his face. "We will destroy that magic so no one suffers anymore." In his heart, he could feel everything she had suffered. Not only the blonde mage, but the red haired mage, looking and watching the man with such determination to follow her words, that he felt he couldn't possibly refuse.

Before he realised it, hope had flooded in through the vessel gateway, but no other emotion had. His lips were already mouthing the words, when he noticed Lucy shut the gate, letting the hope linger in his heart. "Okay..." he finally said.

Meanwhile outside the guild...

"Why did you stop me Gajeel?" Levy snapped, twisting free of the iron dragon slayer's arms. Her big dark eyes were full of frustration that happened to be directly pointing towards the unfortunate Gajeel. "That guy was a monster!"

"I know." Gajeel replied sourly, his gaze falling heavily back on Levy.

"Then why did you stop me?" She retorted, placing her hands stiffly on her hips, determined not to fall under his dark eyes.

"If you had hit him again, I was sure he would have passed out." Gajeel returned.

"That's fine by me. He can reflect back on his actions in his unconscious!" Levy snapped. A small, surprising chuckle came from the iron slayer's lips as he looked down softly on the girl. Levy was so surprised that she hadn't realised how quiet she was. It must have been obvious on her face, since Gajeel almost immediately blushed and turned his gaze back to the quiet Magnolian streets.

"Look," Gajeel continued, rubbing a hand back through his hair. "I'm sure Natsu got your point across to him, but knocking him unconscious when we need him might not be smart." Levy looked up at him with the same surprised look. It wasn't often Gajeel gave advice, and it wasn't always right when he did. But it seemed he had given the right one to her. Levy couldn't help but giggle, letting her anger and frustration settle back down. Gajeel's blush reddened with Levy's smitten look towards his hard, tsundere face.

"What's so funny?" Gajeel growled defensively, his eyes trailing back to her face.

"Nothing." Levy sighed softly, with a gentle grin. "Thank you."

"For what?" Gajeel grumbled.

"For stopping me." Levy replied, setting a hand on his large biceps.

"Well, it was…nothing." Gajeel answered quietly, his face fully red. "It was just weird seeing you angry."

"Gajeel…" Levy muttered. She hadn't realised she had upset him, and then again, she seemed to have surprised everyone in the guild. Maybe she should think a little more before she acted; she didn't want to upset anyone else.

"Anyway, let's go find some ice." Gajeel announced, picking up the girl and slinging her effortlessly over his shoulder. Levy let out a squeal of surprise as the dragon slayer went around the guild towards the back door of the kitchen.

"Wha- What are you doing?" Levy exclaimed, a hot blush burning like fire on her cheeks with Gajeel's large arms wrapped around her thighs.

"You're hand stings right? Gajeel accused, marching unhesitant and hastily forwards. Levy lifted her hand, and saw her palm and fingers were a bright red. As she pressed his fingers on her skin, she felt the harsh prickle deep in her hand where a bruise would probably form later. Even she hadn't noticed. But Gajeel had. She couldn't help but fall silent, feeling Gajeel's hot skin against hers.

As the history of the Red-haired Magnus Octova is revealed, it is found that there is no cure. But with Erza's vow, and the guild's determination to save their friend, will they be able to accomplish the task? Will they really be able to save Lucy in time? Or will the Glass Hearts finally crack?