Chapter 9
The First Contest
"MAVIS!" Natsu yelled. His voice was so thick and loud that it rumbled through the night like a freight train, causing a raccoon to leap away from its hiding place and scurry off into a denser cluster of trees. "MAVIS WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Wendy covered her ears at the noise and winced. Her brother sure could be loud when he wanted to be.
"Maybe you should be a little quieter?" She suggested; her own soft voice seemed even lighter in comparison to Natsu's full bellied roar. "I know we are far away from the house, but still."
"Yeah." Happy piped up in agreeance. "Natsu, you're probably waking up all of Fiore."
"How else is Mavis going to hear me?!" The pink haired boy protested. He was currently perched up on the branch of a large tree, shouting up at the sky with his white scarf billowing in the wind. "First she pops up out of nowhere before the Ball and now she's nowhere to be found!"
"Maybe the Fairy God Mother thing only works once?" Wendy suggested from her spot on the ground as she held Happy, the little blue cat, in her arms. "Like how a genie only gives you three wishes?"
"MAVIS I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! COME DOWN AND HELP ME OUT, WILL YAH?" Natsu started yelling again, choosing to ignore Wendy's warning. It couldn't be a onetime only thing, right? His Fairy God Mother made it seem like she was with him for the long haul. She wouldn't just abandon him when he needed it most, right?
When his shout was still met only by the eerie stillness of night, Natsu groaned in frustration. He, Wendy and Happy had all woken up in the middle of the night to sneak out and try to get Mavis to appear, but it was to no avail. He had been out in the woods trying for nearly an hour now and his vocal cords were becoming strained.
"YOU'RE THE LAMEST FAIRY GOD MOTHER EVER!" He shouted. "IF YOU DON'T GET YOU'RE BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO BURN DOWN THE WHOLE FOREST!"
"And what good would that do?" An angelic voice rang out in the night.
Natsu's heart soared with glee as he saw the glowing apparition of a girl standing on the forest floor below, shoeless and wearing a familiar frilly dress.
"You're here!" Natsu cheered as he leaped off of the tree branch and landing lightly on the ground in front of his Fairy God Mother.
"Wow, she actually showed up." Happy deadpanned.
"She's so pretty!" Wendy said in awe, seeing the Fairy for the first time.
"Hello Happy." Mavis said with a smile, looking straight past Natsu. "And it's lovely to finally meet you, Wendy."
"It's good to meet you too!" The blue haired girl said happily.
"Hey what about me?" Natsu said, not liking the fact that he was overlooked.
Mavis shot an icy glare at him that he did not know was possible from her angelic features. Natsu started to sweat as he realized his mistake.
"I didn't mean what I said!" Natsu said, trying to make amends. He wasn't very good at it though. His voice was high pitched and wavering and his couldn't help but fiddle with his thumbs behind his back. "Well I did- but I definitely didn't- I uh, you're not lame! You're really great actually! Thanks for coming and I um… sorry?"
Mavis made him sweat for a little while longer with her silence, staring at him with unflinching eyes.
"Ms. Mavis?" Wendy said sweetly. "Natsu didn't mean what he said. He really does appreciate you, he just gets really impatient sometimes."
The fairy sighed.
"I know." She said eventually. "But you really do need to work on your anger issues, Natsu."
"I know." He mumbled.
"Alright, then, what is it you wanted to see me about? I've been quite busy, you know."
"It's about the Coronal Contests." He said, not wasting any time with small talk. "Eldia found out that Lucy and I… well she found out that we are friends and has masterminded this whole plan where I have to help Sting and Rogue stay in the competition AND drop out at the very end so that one of them can become King. If I don't then she exposes the fact that Wendy and I are wizards. I have no clue what to do."
"Ah." She said softly. "I figured that was what this was about."
"Wait you knew?" Natsu asked.
"Of course. I've said before that I always keep track of you, right? Of course I know about your dilemma, but I'm afraid I can't help you. That's why I was reluctant to answer your call."
"But I thought you were like an all-powerful Fairy-Wizard ghost person? Why not?"
"You aren't wrong." Mavis let out a giggle. "However, my powers do have limits and rules. I can't interfere in matters of life or death. I can't control love or hate. I can't hurt someone for a client's gain. And I can't do anything that directly affects the major course of history."
"That's a lot of rules." Happy commented quietly. Natsu, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes skeptically.
"You can't?" He asked. "Or you won't?"
"Won't." Mavis admitted. "Well actually it's a bit of both. Technically I could, but according to Fairy Law I am not allowed."
"I see." Natsu said. "Well that sucks. Is there nothing you can do to help me out? Like what if you make Eldia like disappear? Or transport her to the North Pole?"
"Both would definitely qualify as harming someone for my client's gain." Mavis giggled. "Although I appreciate your creativity."
"What if you cure Lucy's mom?!" Natsu said suddenly, clapping his hands together as his eyes lit up with a brilliant idea. "If she's not going to die, then there is no need for the Coronal Contests! My deal with Eldia wouldn't matter anymore!"
"I can't save someone from death." Mavis reminded Natsu, shaking her head.
"Would it work if you found a cure for the virus?" Wendy asked thoughtfully. "You wouldn't be directly saving the Queen's life."
Mavis shook her head yet again.
"The EIV virus is an epidemic that will mark Fiore's history for many years to come. I cannot interfere in the resolution of such a monumental event."
"You sure you can't make an exception?" Natsu asked with a friendly wink.
"I'm sorry, Natsu. I just can't."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Pretty pretty please?"
"No!"
"Well then what the heck am I supposed to do?!"
"This is just something that you need to figure out on your own, Natsu."
Natsu thought hard on her words for a moment. He should have known better than to wish for someone to swoop in and solve all his problems for him. He had to fix things himself. But what was he going to do? He thought back to the time before he discovered he had a Fairy God Mother. The answer then would have been simple.
"Well then that settles it." He said definitively, nodding his head once with a new resolve.
"Settles what?" Wendy asked.
"Natsu is your head broken again?" Happy chirped, but was largely ignored.
"I'm going to find the cure myself." Natsu declared. "If we find the cure, then Lucy's mom can be healed and everyone wins. Well, except for Eldia but that's the point."
"And how are you going to do that?" Happy said. At the same time, Mavis clapped her hands with glee.
"Wonderful!" She said. "I have the upmost faith in you."
Natsu smiled and Wendy rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"And if we do find the cure, then perhaps we can prove that wizards aren't dangerous after all." The blue haired girl said with a faint smile and blatant hope. "We might not have to hide our secret anymore and be able to leave this place for good."
Natsu's grin widened and he placed a warm hand on his sister's shoulder.
"I didn't even think of that." He said. "In that case, now there is no way I'm going to give up. We will find the cure for sure."
"And how are we going to do that?" Happy asked, finding it odd that he, the talking cat, was the source of reason at the moment. "Do you even have a clue where to start looking?"
"Nope." Natsu said. "But that doesn't matter. We have Mavis on our side!"
"Of course." She replied. "I will certainly cheer you on!"
"Brilliant." Happy deadpanned. "You have a hair brain idea, a Fairy God Mother who can't actually help and a blue cat. This will go great."
"Took the words right out of my mouth, little buddy." Natsu joked, ruffling the fur on Happy's head. Then he added more seriously. "Just you wait. I'm going to fix everything. I promise."
For the first time in a long time, Natsu felt an ember of hope in his heart. For the longest time there was nothing to strive for, no end to his suffering, no light at the end of the tunnel, but now he had a plan. He had a goal. He had something to focus all of his energy on and there was no way he was going to fail.
XXX
Natsu chewed on his pen as he stared blankly down upon the tiny scrawls of printed letters on a frighteningly large mound of paper.
Which three nations formed a circumstantial alliance in the Seven Hills War?
Needless to say, Natsu didn't have a clue. It wasn't like he ever went to school or got a real education. He grew up on a farm and the only person who ever bothered to teach him anything was his father, Igneel. And the things that Igneel taught him always tended to revolve around farming, survival, fighting, and of course, Dragon Slayer magic. He was certainly never taught which three lousy nations teamed up in an idiotic war named by someone who clearly needed a lesson in creativity.
And so, he wrote down a random answer and moved onto the next, equally dumbfounding question. He had been going through his process for nearly an hour now and he was mentally done. This was not going well. Not well at all.
Why did the First Contest have to be intelligence? It seemed grossly unfair. All ten of the contestants were grouped together in a large but private room, each sitting at their own individual desk with a hefty examination booklet with a seemingly endless stream of complicated questions inside. Most of the contestants were well-educated so not many had too many others had problems with the test. The only other person that Natsu could see with a similar look of horrified confusion on his face was Elfman, the burly white-haired farmer from a small village. In contrast, Natsu glanced over to his left and saw Gray calmly jotting down answers while to his right Laxus was doing the same with sheer, effortless boredom. They each probably had fancy tutors who drilled this meaningless facts into them from a young age. They each would undoubtedly get full points on the written portion of the First Contest.
The First Contest was divided into four parts. The first was a written exam. It tested general and more specific knowledge about Fiore history, politics, mathematics, and reading comprehension. The other three parts were yet to be announced, but Erza Scarlett, the CCC, made it clear that each contestant would earn a certain amount of points in each stage of the contest. The person with the most points at the end of stage four would be declared the winner.
Natsu was just fighting his hardest not to come in dead last.
An integer from 100 through 999, inclusive, is to be chosen at random. What is the probability that the number chosen will have 0 as at least 1 digit?
He audibly groaned, causing some annoyed glances to be thrown in his direction.
The only good thing about this situation was the First Contest was being held in the privacy of the castle. No outside spectators were invited to watch. After all, it would be pretty bad if the whole country knew exactly how intelligent their future King was.
Natsu didn't know what the probability was that the number chosen will have 0 as at least 1 digit, but he did know that the probability of him getting this question right was exactly equal to zero, so he ended up just doodling a picture of a dragon on his test paper, taking extra time to detail the flames erupting from its mouth.
"TIME!" Erza shouted from the front of the room, her shrill voice startling all of the contestants. "Please, no more writing. Wait patiently as I collect all of your test papers."
Natsu set down his pen. He flipped through the pages of his test booklet, realizing that he hadn't even made it through half of the questions. Indifferently, he shrugged. Had he really expected anything different?
"Thank you. You are all dismissed into the waiting room." Erza said, having collected the bundle of paper in her arms. "I will promptly score your exams and then we will proceed to the next part of the contest. Be warned, while this exam tested concrete knowledge, the following stages will focus more on logic, rationality, and deductive reasoning. To preserve the integrity of the Contest, you will not know your score in each individual part until all are completed. That is all."
Happy to stand up and stretch his legs, Natsu was the first one out of his desk and through the door. The ten contestants spilled into the waiting room that was attached to the examination room. It was yet another luxurious castle chamber that Natsu couldn't tell apart from the rest. The ceiling was tall, the walls were decorated with edgy paintings and a variety of plush black leather couches provided seating places around the area.
"You're being far too generous, Rogue." A voice sneered from behind him. He whirled around to see none other than his two favorite stepbrothers approaching him. "I doubt the farm rat knew the answer to so much as a single question."
"Back off, jack ass." Natsu tried to turn around and just walk away, but Sting insisted on holding a conversation.
"Ooh, not very nice." He replied, feigning hurt. "I don't think the Princess would appreciate that sort of language here."
"You don't know anything about her."
"And you're saying that a filthy slave like yourself does?" He asked with a smirk.
"I'd stop running your mouth right now if I were you." Natsu hissed at him, stopping in his tracks to stare down his stepbrother. "You're mommy isn't here to protect you."
"I'm aware she isn't here." Sting replied coolly. "If she were you'd be cowering in the corner and not trying to act so tough."
"Bastard."
"Coward."
"Hello! I didn't know you guys knew each other!" Lucy said, entering the tense scene, clearly oblivious to what she was getting herself into. Nevertheless she was hoping that a pretty smile would ease the tension.
It didn't.
"We don't." Natsu spat. Ordinarily he would have no problem telling Lucy exactly how he did know Sting, but that was against Eldia's rules. She said nothing, however, about having to be friends with him.
"Your highness!" Sting said charismatically upon the Princess's presence. He dropped the sneer and exchanged it for a charming smile, taking the girl's hand and kissing it like a gentleman. "What a pleasure it is to see you. You look beautiful."
"Why thank you, Sting, it is lovely to see you as well." She said, keeping one eye locked on Natsu. He was still standing rigid with his fists clenched and anger radiating off of him in waves. "If you don't mind, I would like a word with Natsu in private?"
"Of course, your highness." Sting said, doing a decent job of hiding his bitterness upon her request.
"I apologize for my rudeness."
"You are already forgiven."
Lucy gave him one last smile then gestured for Natsu to follow her out of the waiting room and into the empty hallway. He complied in silence.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. As soon as they were out in the hallway, her royal façade faded away in favor of a much more fragile demeanor filled with concern and care.
"Nothin'." Natsu shrugged, refusing to look her straight in those brown eyes. She raised an eyebrow and then sighed.
"You know I don't care about the stupid contest." She told him gently. "It means nothing to be whether or not you know a bunch of random facts."
Natsu smiled at Lucy's false assumption.
"I know." He laughed. "That test was stupid."
"Welcome to the past ten years of my life." Lucy giggled back. "Growing up, I must have had a thousand tutors trying to drill in every piece of information in the world into my head."
"Doesn't seem very practical."
"Not to you." Lucy agreed. "But if you become King then you are going to have to learn all that stuff eventually."
Natsu studied her closely and Lucy realized her mistake.
"Oh I didn't mean you will become King I just meant that you might since every contestant here has a chance of becoming my husband and… oh I should just stop talking." Lucy threw up her arms in frustration. "You know what I mean."
Natsu smiled, enjoying seeing the faint red blush grace her cheeks. He decided that a flustered Lucy was a very good Lucy indeed. He liked it when she dropped her guard and didn't act so much like a princess. Whenever she was giving a toast at a grand Ball or standing next to her father, the King, she always seemed stiffer. Less likely to smile. Distant. But now, with no one watching, he felt close to her. He felt like he knew her in a way that no one else could.
"Nope you are making zero sense." He said, deciding to tease her a little more with the hopes that he could get her to blush even more. He was successful.
"Alright I take it back! Maybe the Intelligence test does mean something. You are clearly an idiot!"
"Ouch. That's harsh."
"I can't wait to see your score! I bet you get a Zero!"
"No way." Natsu shook his head with confidence. "I at least got one point."
"You don't get any credit for writing your name." Lucy told him bluntly.
"What!? Damn it. Well then I'm screwed."
"Seriously?!" Lucy exclaimed in disbelief. Natsu shrugged, but he over all didn't look too perturbed by the prospect of earning zero points on the first stage. Lucy picked up on this quickly.
"Alright." She sighed. "So if it isn't the test that's bothering you, then what is? Ever since the night of the Ball, you've seemed sort of…"
Natsu waited for the myriad of adjectives she could use to describe his mood swings over the past few weeks. Angry. Weird. Confusing.
"Distant." She said instead. Natsu was surprised. He'd used the same word to describe her in princess-mode.
It was weird. He felt like he was able to- after a little trial and error- see past her royal exterior and into the person she actually was. Was it possible that she felt the same about him? Could she see through whatever exterior he threw up to protect his secrets?
He didn't know how to respond. Denial? Vague answer? He felt a giant urge to tell her the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but he knew that wasn't an option either.
Indirect honesty? Yeah, that's about the best option here.
"You're right. I am being distant." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm not being completely honest with you."
Lucy's eyes widened in genuine in surprise. Physically she took a step back from him, slowly shaking her head.
Definitely the wrong choice. Definitely the wrong choice.
"What do you mean?" She asked softly, giving him a chance to explain himself.
No turning back now.
"My life… is complicated." He said finally after a punctuated pause. "And I have secrets. Secrets I need to keep to protect my little sister. And I can't tell you. Pretty much ever."
Lucy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"So you're telling me that you have a really big secret but can't tell me?"
"Yep."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Well that is certainly unfavorable." She said. Natsu could visually see it happening. Lucy's nose pointed up in the air. Her shoulders tightened. She clasped her hands together in front of her to give off a sense of effortless grace. In a heartbeat she had transformed from Lucy to the Princess. And Natsu didn't like it at all.
"Lucy-"
"I appreciate the level of honesty you permitted to me. However, I really should be returning to the other contestants."
"Lucy!" He said in frustration as she turned to walk away from him. She didn't look back. "Lucy, wait!"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him, trying to keep his touch firm but gentle.
"What?" She asked. Her voice was harsh and face a different sort of red than before. "What do you want me to say, Natsu? That I'm okay with you harboring this big secret?"
"Um… yes?"
"I'm not!" She said, raising her voice. "I'm trying to find my husband, the future King of Fiore! And now you are telling me that you have a secret that you can never tell me? Ever?"
"I'm sorry." Natsu said, unsure of what other words he could speak to calm her down. "I didn't think this would be a big deal."
Somehow those words made things even worse. All of Lucy's anger dissipated and she was left with a raw combination of disappointment and sadness.
"You're right. It's not a big deal. I clearly have far too active of an imagination to think that you'd actually be interested in a future where it was a big deal. Good luck in the rest of the contest, Natsu."
With that she turned away and walked back into the room where all the other contestants were still gathered, awaiting the test results and the announcement of the next part of the First Contest.
Natsu was left frozen to the spot, having no idea what Lucy meant or what the hell just happened.
He desperately hoped that deciphering the antics of woman was not a part of this Intelligence Contest.
XXX
Not too much time later, Natsu was in a small room, sitting on a rather uncomfortable chair with Gray doing the same on his right and Laxus sitting more rigidly to his left. For this stage of the First Contest, the contestants were split up into groups of three (with random volunteers filling in to complete the fourth group) and were directed into separate rooms.
"Good, now put on the goggles." Erza commanded them from the front of the room. Earlier she had handed each of them a set of strange looking goggles. It reminded him of the blinders people put on carriage horses so that they could only look forward and not be distracted by whatever was in their peripheral vision.
As Natsu slid the clunky headgear on, he realized that these had a similar effect. It was like he had tunnel vision. He could only see what was directly in his line of sight. To see Gray to his right, he was forced to swivel his head the full 90 degrees. His only pleasure came from seeing how ridiculous Gray looked wearing the goggles.
"Now, this stage of the intelligence contest is very simple." Erza spoke. Out of her bag, she pulled out five hats. "As you see here, I have five hats. Two of them are black and three of them are white. In a moment, your goggles will blind your vision completely and I will place a single hat upon each of your heads. When this is complete and I leave the room with the remaining two hats, the challenge will begin. Your goggles will allow you to see the color hat your two fellow contestants are wearing, but you will be unable to view the color of your own hat. Your task is to undoubtably determine what color hat I place upon your head."
Natsu squinted his eyes, further compromising his already limited vision as he contemplated the problem. His mouth dropped open as he realized what exactly she was asking of them.
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?!"
Erza smiled. "The only hint I can provide you is that you are participating in a contest of intelligence."
Suddenly, his vision went completely black. A few moments later, he felt something being placed on his head.
"You will have three minutes. You may begin." At the same time Erza left the room, his goggles allowed him the same tunnel vision he had experienced previously. He whipped his head to the right and saw that Gray was wearing a white hat. He turned to the left. Laxus was wearing a white hat too.
"This is definitely a change of pace from the written exam, that's for sure." The raven haired prince commented, eyes taking in the sight of the color of two hats.
"This has to be a joke right?" Natsu said.
"Unlikely. I doubt they'd make us do anything impossible. This is just a logic puzzle. There's always a trick."
"Hey, Laxus! You got any idea what the trick is?"
The big blonde didn't respond. He was deep in thought.
"Alright new plan." Natsu said. "Gray you just tell me the color of my hat and I'll tell you the color of yours. Everyone wins!"
"How about you just shut about and use your brain for once? There isn't any point in cheating and besides there is no way we aren't being watched right now."
Natsu scoffed but in the end decided to take Gray's advice and use his head.
There were five hats total. Three white. Two black. Two of the white ones were on Gray's and Laxus' heads. That meant there were only three left that could be on his. Two of the three were black, so his hat was most likely black, right? It was the most likely scenario, but Erza said that you had to be certain. Still, two out of three chances is pretty certain right?
It felt like no time had passed at all when Erza reentered the room.
"Time's up!" She announced. She gave them each a piece of paper and a pen to write on. "Write down your answer and a brief explanation."
Natsu scribbled down his brief reasoning and was slightly perturbed when Gray took even less time than him to write and Laxus took twice as long.
They passed in their papers.
"Excellent. That concludes this portion of the contest." She said. "You may remove your goggles."
"What'd you answer?" Natsu asked Gray. He smiled.
"White." He said. Natsu raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because a black hat would clash with my hair."
Both boys roared with laughter.
The three contestants filed back into the waiting room, meeting up with the other contestants as well. They had all been divided into groups of three for the challenge. Since this part took a lot less time to score, Erza and Princess Lucy addressed the crowd quickly.
"That was a bit more challenging, wasn't it?" Lucy asked with a smile. Natsu could see right through it though. The way her face wrinkled. The lack of sparkle in her eyes. It was a fake smile.
"To receive full points for this round of the Contest, you needed to provide not only the correct answer, but also the correct explanation. As if to confirm the difficulty of this challenge, I must announce that only two of you were able to do so."
"General Laxus Dreyer." Lucy said. "And Gentleman Rogue Chaney, congratulations. I am very impressed."
There was a polite round of applause that Natsu did not participate in. He had to do his best not to gag as it was announced that Rogue of all people was able to get the puzzle right.
"Would either of you like to explain the reasoning you applied?" Erza asked. "I'm sure the rest of the contestants would be delighted in an answer."
Rogue remained silent as ever, but Laxus stepped forward.
"The answer for everyone was a white hat." Laxus said. "This conclusion is based off the principle that Lady Erza could not have given anyone a black hat, lest the competition be unfair. If she had given two of the three contestants a black hat, then the third would instantly know his was white. Equally telling would be if she had given only one person a black hat. A person would then see one person with a black hat and one with a white hat. Knowing that she could not possibly have given out two black hats, the solution becomes equally clear. All three white hats were passed out so that each contestant would be faced with the same problem."
"Very good." Erza said, beginning another round of applause.
"That make any sense to you?" Gray whispered to Natsu.
"Not a word."
"Not to worry. There is no need to fret over failing to earn points in this round because there is still plentiful opportunity to prove your rationality and logic reasoning to the Princess." Erza said. "We will, however, need a change of venue for the next portion of the contest. Everyone, please follow me!"
The confident redhead began striding towards the door, the ten contestants and the Princess following closely in her wake.
Natsu tried to push through the crowd to get to Lucy, but she was busy chatting to Elfman and Loke simultaneously. He was about to interrupt when-
"It's locked." Erza said in confusion, to no one in particular. She tried to turn the handle of the door again, but it only giggled stubbornly under her firm grip. "Why is it locked?"
"Is this part of the contest?" Laxus asked, instincts suddenly on high alert.
"No it most certainly is not." Erza confirmed, trying again to open the door, but it refused to budge.
Suddenly a loud explosion rattled out in the center of the room, near the ceiling. An elegant piece of parchment appeared out of nowhere and it slowly started to flutter to the ground.
"Magic?" Lucy breathed out in terror. Natsu narrowed his eyes. What the hell was going on?
Erza shouldered her way through the group of people and snatched the paper out of the air before it hit the ground. Lucy remained close by her side.
"There's a note written on it." She breathed out.
My dear, amusing people,
I've been watching your contest of "intelligence" and I must say, I am rather bored. You standards for intelligence are rather pitiful and I think it prudent to raise the bar.
I'm sure you all are aware of the recent assassination attempt on the Princess's life. Although I have no intention of revealing my identity any time soon, I will inform you that it was I who was responsible. I did not fire the arrow, however. That was someone else. An accomplice. And that person is in this room. How does the Princess feel, I wonder, to know that one of her suitors is responsible for her near death?
Now let the real test of logic and deductive reasoning begin. I challenge the mighty contestants to identify the would-be assassin. I have ensured that the no one can enter or leave until you have done so. And, to raise the stakes, a poisonous gas had been ejected into this room. You have half an hour before it suffocates and kills you all.
Best of Luck
Erza read the note out loud, somehow keeping her voice steady despite the content of the letter. A shiver was sent down Natsu's spine. The person who tried to kill Lucy was in this room. And the mastermind behind it was insane. And had access to magic.
This was not good. Not good at all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leaving you with a cliff hanger is so much fun. Who do you think wrote the letter? I'd love to hear your guesses. Oh, and don't hate on Lucy for potentially overreacting this chapter in the scene between her and Natsu. She isn't too good at expressing herself yet, so we'll get more of what was going through her head in the future.
Whenever a character has a giant secret to keep from someone close to them in a book/movie/TV show, I never understand why the character just doesn't explain that they are being forced to keep said secret before everything blows up in his/her face. I had Natsu be very blunt about the fact that he's keeping some things from Lucy in order to avoid a story line that I feel I already played out in my other story, A New World. That was my intention. Just trying to keep things fresh for you guys.
Oh, and did anyone guess the answer to the hat logic puzzle before I revealed the solution in chapter? If so let me know, because I would like to applaud you for being a genius. I thought it was pretty cool; I love those sort of puzzles.
Anyways, eat your vegetables and tell someone you love them. I'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as I can.