Chapter Twenty Eight.

Lucy had never been to a Hot Spring before, so the whole 'get into a hole filled with boiling water' wasn't something she had expected. The steam snaked itself upwards into the air, muffling it. The Celestial Mage sighed as she stretched her back, sinking into the warmth once again. She leaned against the edge, her elbows propping her up as she continued to scan the two seperate pieces of paper. They were letters from Eden and Iris, each explaining in vivid detail what their most recent fight was about. Apparently, Eden had snuck more of her Hentaii Shoujo on their trip and lost it. Iris had mysteriously misplaced her favourite red lipstick and somehow it had turned into one of those You did It! fights. Lucy smiled fondly at the familiar penmanship of the childish scribbles of Iris and the elaborate curling of Eden. Wendy and Carla were busy trying to faint from the heat of the Hot Spring so they didn't notice the blonde magically pull a pen out of thin air and begin writing down her own thoughts on the situation.

"Lucy? How can you stand this heat?" Wendy asked, her voice soft from exhaustion.

"I'm not sure, heat doesn't bother me I guess." It was true, the Celestial Mage had a high body temperature. It was one of the things that made her able to work with Natsu back at Fairy Tail. The thought of the Salamander made her sink further into the water after sealing the envelopes and tossing them towards the entrance, hoping they wouldn't get wet from the hot spring. Lucy still didn't know whether she had fully forgiven the pink haired idiot or was still focused on trying to murder him. Wendy noticed the dark cloud settling over her favourite blonde and was quick to question it.

"Lucy? You okay?"

Carla continued to fan herself, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth as she floated on the water. She was already beginning to turn a strange red colour. Lucy looked up, meeting the Dragon Slayer's eyes with a contorted expression marring her pretty face.

"Honestly, I don't know anymore."

Was she supposed to welcome Natsu back into her life after what he did? What about locking him out again? Should she make him prove he really wanted her back? But what about Lisanna? What about Elf Man? Nothing made sense anymore! She groaned whilst throwing a punch in the water, hoping to relieve some of the frustrations building up in her chest. She was lost, that much she realised.

"Why don't we go talk to Onix about it?" Wendy asked sweetly, carefully treading around Lucy's raging emotions at the moment. Messing with a confused and angry Lucy was basically signing your own death permit. The two females climbed out of the steaming pot of water and reached for the flowery kimonos already provided by the Hot Spring Resort. Lucy snatched up the papers, carefully tucking them into the pocket The hallways were completely wooden with a slight musky smell to them. Red dots were splattered on the oak at parts, coming from what they saw as a type of red flower. Iron invaded their senses the closer they got to the designated dormitory for Demon Tears. Something was off, that much was certain as they pushed open the door. It was a fraction open already, meaning if they wanted to they could have just eavesdropped on what was going on.

Onix panicked as Zeref continued to wipe the bleeding girls forehead.

"One isn't a big deal right? For all I know I'm wrong! Yeah, I could be wrong. It's impossible anyway so I'm wrong. Definitely." The bluette paced around her room, oblivious to the opening door and pairs of feet that were inching closer to her. She grabbed a bunch of her blue hair, tugging on it in an attempt to calm herself down if only by a fraction. A hand clamped around her shoulder making her squeal. Her fingers instantly went to the limb to grab it and twist it around. A flash of blonde caught her eye, letting her know it was only Lucy.

"Onix...What happened?"

Zeref looked up from the pale girl currently taking laborious breaths as if to silently communicate his thoughts over. It wasn't a good idea to let anyone know, she knew it. They'd isolate her if they found out! No, forget that, they'd crucify her!

"We found her like this, we have no clue what happened to her." Onix explained, keeping to the truth as much as possible so it wouldn't be thrown in her face later on in life. Her body moved towards the black haired girl, observing the way her lashes tickled the tops of her cheek bones. Judging by how thin she was, they could easily guess she had been on her own for some time. Onix let her fingers tap slightly on her wrist, feeling for the pulse of magic she knew all too well. The energy surged up her arm, burning it from the inside as it charged her blood. It had been a while since she'd last felt something that reminded her so closely of home.

And if she remembered correctly, it was before Acnologia was created.

Okay... So I know I haven't really posted anything in SUCH a long time and I'm really sorry about that! It's just I was all "Nah, I'll do it tomorrow!" And then tomorrow came and I was like "I didn't mean today, I meant tomorrow-tomorrow!" And it just got really out of hand! I even thought of canceling this fanfiction but I wasn't able to since it actually holds some value for me.

Sorry for making you guys wait so long!

Gomen!

-Kaiya

P.S

Oh! And if anyone is actually interested, which I doubt you are ;-) it's that I'm actually starting my own book. Like, proper book! I'm really excited about it and hopefully it turns out okay and I don't get too side tracked along the way! Oh well! One can only hope in my case :-P I'm easily amused and distracted you see ;^^