AN: Hey everybody! Here's another update. Sorry this thing took so long. As always, please review, let me know what you think of my story, and of course, THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING.

Notice: I don't own Fairy Tail. Its characters, settings etc. all belong to Hiro Mashima. However, this fic has Oc's in it. These, and these alone, are mine.

Chapter 12: The Paladin of Light

Sic had never been happier. Now, that wasn't exactly saying much, since he hadn't learned how to be happy until very recently, but the statement was nevertheless true. Of course, he was still confused about what exactly happened last night and what he was feeling. Did he really love Lucy? How could he be sure he would always love Lucy? What did it even mean? Was he going to spend the rest of his life with her? A billion questions swirled in his mind, each vying for attention. Sic had no answers right now, so he decided to just focus on his surroundings and worry about that stuff later.

There he sat on the cliff overlooking the ocean next to his cottage, looking out over the sprawling sea and watching the sunrise. He felt as if he were truly appreciating this view for the first time. The first rays of sunlight glimmered on the water in the shapes of dancing waves. It was such a beautiful sight that Sic wondered how he had never noticed it before.

Of course, there was perhaps a more beautiful sight to the right. Sic turned his head and stared thoughtfully at Lucy, whose gaze still remained fixated on the horizon. He allowed his eyes to wander casually about her body before settling on her face. He noticed this was the first time he'd seen her with all her hair down, not put up in ribbons or anything. Sic wondered what she was thinking about right now. Wait. It looked like she was in pain.

"Are you okay?" Sic asked.

Lucy seemed startled, like she'd been lost in thought about something else. "No… no, I'm fine," she replied, grimacing. No, she wasn't. Sic noticed her eyes darting down to her right.

"What's down there?" Sic leaned over to see what was on her right. He gasped upon seeing Lucy's right hand.

Her hand was covered in burns. They were almost stark white, whiter than even her pale hand, but with a slight red tinge. They encircled Lucy's hand, to the point where you could barely even see Lucy's guild symbol anymore. That was incredibly sad- the symbol of Lucy's deepest bond with all her guild members was blocked off by marks of pain and anguish.

"What happened to your hand? How much does it hurt?"

Lucy looked down, avoiding Sic's eyes. "It happened when I reached into the white prison. The energy in there was so powerful that it burned me. I guess I'm lucky my hand's even still here."

Sic stared back down at the sea, which didn't seem so pretty anymore. Now the dancing waves were mocking him. So Lucy had been burned because of him. Because of him, she probably wouldn't be able to use her right hand at all anymore, and she would have to live the rest of her life with a painful mark of shame branded right over her mark of greatest pride.

Sic was still pretty bad at reading emotions, but he was sure that if anyone had done that to him, he'd hate them for the rest of his life.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know how I can ever repay you. You must hate me now," Sic murmured.

"What?" Lucy turned to him, astonished. "Why would I blame you? I chose to do it to save you, remember?" She took his hand with her good one. "Please, don't blame yourself."

Sic lowered his head and felt liquid start coming out of his eyes again. What had Erza called this? Crying. A mark of sadness or shame. The salty liquid streamed nonstop out his eyes and down his face, and Sic felt his shoulders being racked with uncontrollable sobs. "Why?" he gasped. "You should hate me. I did irreparable harm to you." He felt Lucy's arms wrapping around his shoulders, heard her voice whispering in his ear, attempting to soothe him that, no, it wasn't his fault.

But it is. If I'd just stayed away from Lucy, not gotten her mixed up in my past, then she'd still have both her hands intact. It's my fault. I manipulated her somehow into saving me. There's logically no way anyone could possibly hurt themself that much willingly for someone else. It has to be my fault.

Sic saw a pair of hands enter the view of his lap. They belonged to Lucy. Unable to contain his anguish, Sic gently grabbed Lucy's burned hand and pressed it against his chest, begging for some way to make things right.

Please, let her hand go back to normal. I'll give myself back to the prison. I'll stay in there for the rest of eternity if I have to. I don't care if it's not logical, it's what's right.

There was no answer from the heavens.

Disheartened, Sic closed his eyes, and tried to come to terms with what he'd done. He had to get a grip on himself.

Lucy's cry of shock snapped him out of his trance. Sic stared in amazement at his own two hands, enclosed gently around Lucy's right hand. They were glowing with the same white light that made up the prison.

Sic felt like he should take his hands off of Lucy- what if the white light burned her more? But he was too shocked to move, because the light felt like it was coming from him.

It was magic.

But that's impossible. I lost my magic when I was a little kid, right?

Slowly the light began to die down. When it finally disappeared, Sic looked down and realized Lucy's right hand was back to normal. He raised his head and gaped at Lcuy in shock. "I… used magic," he said. "I healed you. How…"

His words were cut off by Lucy's lips, pressed firmly to his own. Sic was still in shock, so much that he didn't return the kiss at all. Lucy quickly pulled away.

"You saved me," she gasped. Sic noticed her cheeks were turning a little red. What did that mean again?

"Are you… embarrassed?" he inquired.

"Wh-what? No, I just wanted to say thank you…" she paused. "Did you not like it?"

Now Sic felt his own cheeks growing warm. What the hell was wrong with him? "I-uh…"

He was saved from having to answer by the voice of an old man emerging from the bushes.

"Pardon the interruption, but it's important that I have a word with you."

Sic and Lucy both gasped and turned around to find Makarov, the master of the Fairy Tail guild.

"Master! H-how much did you see?" Lucy asked quickly.

"More than enough," the master replied. "That's not important, though. What's important is that you've begun to unlock the magic inside of you."

Sic realized the old man was talking to him. "Wait. How do you know about my magic?"

Makarov sat down cross-legged on a smooth rock. "Long ago, there was told an ancient legend that prophesized the coming of an extremely powerful wizard, one who would be needed to save the world from a great evil. This wizard, named the Paladin of Light, would possess the ability to use the lost white magic."

Sic nodded thoughtfully. "And you think I'm this chosen wizard."

"What's white magic?" Lucy interrupted.

"White magic is the counterpart to black magic, which is of course the specialty of none other than Zeref," Makarov explained. "White magic is the opposite of black magic. It's lost because Zeref killed every wizard who once practiced it long ago. Whereas black magic is good for evil deeds- killing, resurrecting the dead, creating demons- white magic is used for pure-minded purposes- healing and protecting, for example. However, it is also much more versatile than black magic. While perhaps not as strong, it is still quite formidable in combat. In fact, white magic can be sculpted to form numerous different styles of magic. For example, the Heavenly Body Magic used by your brother Jellal is a variant of white magic, as is the Regulus Magic used by the Celestial Spirit Leo."

"So are you saying I can learn all different forms of white magic?"

"Very good, Sic. That's exactly correct. But then again, you already knew that, didn't you?"

Sic was confused. How did he know that already?

Lucy spoke up. "Of course! You said 'take me to the stars,' right? You must have meant Loki!"

The master looked impressed. "Very good, Lucy. I hope you don't mind letting the Paladin of Light borrow Leo for lessons."

Sic interrupted: "So what does this mean? Is the world going to be destroyed soon unless I save it? Why are you only telling me this now?"

"Whoa, too many questions, boy," the old man replied. "I don't know the answers to the first two, but I held off on telling you until I was sure you were the one. Now, there's one more thing I need to tell you." He took a deep breath. "There's one other wizard in the world who can use white magic. His name is Zeref."

Sic gaped at the old guildmaster. Zeref, the legendary black wizard, could also use white magic?

Lucy voiced his exact thoughts, telling Makarov that it was impossible. But Makarov simply shook his head and said, "It has been locked away deep inside him ever since he was born. And the important thing to realize, Sic, is that you have the power of black magic locked away inside of you as well."

And with that, the short old man turned around and calmly walked back into the bushes.

Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear feedback! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you all have a nice day.