Hey everyone! I am ALIVE! I am sooooo sorry for the long wait! I have been busy. School, you see. Sumimasen minna! Here's a chapter after such a long wait! Hope it is worth the wait. I would post the next chapter till... tomorrow? If i get time. Then i would be busy all over again.
Thanks for the reviews till yet. For any questions/corrections in d story/just a chat, feel free to review and PM me.
Disclaimer: I no own! Property of Mashima-sensei.
So... here it goes!
Chapter 2: Mansion
At the guild
"I am back, Mira-san!" said Levy, followed by Gajeel holding dozens of books. Mira cracked a small smile, seeing the soon-to-be couple, according to her matchmaking instincts.
"Keep those on the bar, Gajeel. Thank you so much!" Levy gave him the sweetest smile. Gajeel grunted and walked away.
"Huh... Levy-san, sorry for all this trouble."
"Don't worry Mira! I love reading. And we would soon get the required knowledge."
At Emzorde
"Here we are," said Will. "You may leave for the Mansion in the afternoon. And try your best to come back a-... soon."
"Thank you Mr. Neville. We will try our best," said Erza as they were handed the keys of their rooms. Currently they were in the hall, watching Will Neville's retreating back. After he totally vanished from the sight, they sat down on the sofa.
"Gray, take out the papers." Gray brought those out of his pocket and spilled those in the front table. Each of them took one and-
"W-what is this?"
At the guild
"Ano Levy-chan, any progress?"
"Not much Mira-san. These archoelogical books only have the information that we already have. Only two more are left."
"Okay Levy chan. Let me help you out. My shift in the bar is already over."
"Sure!"
At the Emzorde Inn
"But... but he said we were the first to accept the request!" Currently five request papers were spread on the table, all accepted by different guilds. "Why did he lie to us?" said Lucy.
"This means the bin is actually filled with past requests! This is all so inappropriate! Why is he hiding things from us? Why did he lie?" said Erza.
"Moreover, what happened to all the other people who accepted the request?" said Gray.
There was a long silence. "I think we should ask him about this."
"No," a voice came from outside the window. They all suddenly were on guard when a guy appeared outside the window and said, "I am not here to harm anyone. I am here with important information."
Erza stepped forward with sword point at the guy and said, "What information?"
"It is about the Mystique Mansion."
"Levy-chan, this book is empty."
"What?" Levy took the book from Mirajane and inspected it. "What is it, Levy chan?" said Mira.
"This is a very rare book. It is about and written by the owner of Mystique Mansion, Drake Emzorde. I found it in the magic section of the guild library. He is the same guy after whom the town was named. All I know about him is that he excelled in... Rune Magic. That's it! It is protected by runes! So all I have to do is crack the runes!"
"Sugoi Levy!"
She concentrated and was able to find and crack the code. "Yes! Though I don't understand why it was so protected. So, Drake Emzorde was the heir of the Emzorde family. This mansion was built by him. In that period, Emzorde used to be a frequently attacked by terrorists and thieves, so Drake cast runes and made deadly traps around his own house, to protect his treasure he had won conquering the other nations... or should I say, by looting them. But..."
Team Natsu surrounded the mysterious guy. He was wearing a dirty cloak, had black unkempt hair, and had dark pools for eyes that resembled to that of a maniac. He looked as if he had been shaken real bad by something.
"I am Jean-luc Neville, son of Will Neville. Few years ago I and my father came to Emzorde for our mission to find the lost treasure of Mystique Mansion. It used to be a huge mansion when it was created, but all that remains now is burnt runes."
"... When Drake Emzorde, the owner of the mansion was casting runes all over the place to protect his 'treasure', the mansion was attacked by some of the terrorists. he failed to save himself and the mansion was burnt to the ground. The only place that was saved was..."
"... The place where he hid the treasure," said Levy. "Rumor has it before getting burnt; he was able to cast such a spell which enabled him to do something really unexpected in the magic history. His body was conserved somewhere in the runes, around where he hid the treasure. And whoever else tried to go near the place...
The book doesn't say what happens. I was able to decipher only this much. We may ask Freed if you want to know more." "No, this much is okay... I think I was worrying for nothing. You may keep the book. We might need it"
"... At some point of our journey, I started to know his true intentions. When I confronted him, he revealed he was here to acquire the treasure and keep it to himself. I was so shocked and angry, I left him there. Alone in the mansion. And I shouldn't have done that. As I told you, Drake's body was hid inside the runes, and by some unfortunate twist and turn, my father ended up there. And when he came back... when he came back, he wanted revenge from me. He had gone crazy."
"What? But... but he seemed completely normal!" said Lucy.
"Yeah. Even I don't know how or why. All I know is that he was not normal... as if he had lost control. His-" he abruptly stopped. "I think I have said enough. This mission is just to allure wizards here. He is still after the treasure. Believe me. You should not go there! It is dangerous! It is haunted!"
Silence.
"Meh! I don't believe you! This is crazy! There is no such thing as a ghost. You are just trying to scare us away or something. I bet you did the same to all other wizards so that you can have the treasure to yourself!" said Gray.
"What? No! You have to believe me! I am telling the truth! How do you explain my father's lies and lack of details then?" said Jean.
After a long break, Erza decided to speak, "I believe you are telling the truth. And I also believe that your father is telling us lies. But we cannot jump to conclusions without investigating."
"W-what?" said a scared Lucy who had been hiding in the corner since who-knows-when.
"NO! You should not go there! It is not safe!" said the archaeologist.
"That is for us to decide. And don't worry! A petty ghost cannot scare us away! After all, we are Fairy Tail! C'mon guys! I am all fired up!" said our energetic dragon-slayer.
"Aye!"
"B-But guys... it is dangerous. Even if no ghost, there are still runes to deal with..." said Lucy.
"Don't worry Lucy! We will find a way. And you still have that communication lacrima so we can easily communicate Levy for that matter," said Erza.
"As you say guys."
"Very well wizards. But if something, anything happens... don't tell me that I didn't warn you. Best of luck." And with that, he went out of the window.
"So... what are we waiting for? Let's go guys!" "Aye!"
As they started towards the mansion, Lucy whispered to herself, "I still have a bad feeling about this..."
Sooo... how was it? Hope you guys didn't get confused during the switch from Jean-luc to Levy. Yeah, I stole the names from the anime, Key of the Starry Heavens arc. They are not much important here so... I didn't bother to think them names. :3
Do tell me by your reviews! And if by any chance you like the story, don't hesitate to follow/favourite it!
P.S. it is possible that the upcoming chapters would be updated late frequently. I have to cope up with school and coaching classes so I would be real busy these days. Please bear with me minna!
Until next time then!
Ja`ne!