Chapter Eighteen

Laxus left yesterday and I've been training non-stop. I've only gone into the house to eat a little food and to sleep. It's his house and I don't feel comfortable in it without him here. Though with the constant training I've progressed faster than I thought I could. I can create two lightning bolts in a row and the start of a third. I also took Laxus' advice to try sending the lightning through other parts of my body. I haven't managed to do much in that area of training though.

It was in the midst of this training when a blaring alarm started going off in the area. I was just sitting on my boulder, and when the alarm went off I fell to the ground and, because of how much it scared me, I ended up using the last bit of my magic sending a bolt upwards into the sky.

"What the hell is going on?" After another few seconds a rune square came up in front of me, just pulsing a small light through it. I sat myself up, dusting off Evergreen's clothes.

She's not going to be happy that I got her clothes dirty from being frightened off a rock.

I looked at the small rune and touched it. The moment I did, the alarm stopped, along with the rune's pulsing, and began telling me a direction to go. "Is something going on with Freid's barrier?"

I ran to the house, with the little rune following me, it seemingly getting annoyed that it wasn't the direction it said. Once in the house, I searched for a communication lacryma to call Laxus or Freid to ask what was going on here. I found one in the living room and decided to call Freid since it is his magic. When he appeared in the little orb he looked confused to see me.

"Hello, Lucy, do you wish to speak to Laxus?" He looked to his left and was about to hand over the lacryma.

"Actually, no. I need to speak to you." The lacryma stopped mid-pass and I saw Laxus look confused and Freid raise a perfect eyebrow.

"Whatever about?" He was the only one in the picture again.

"While I was training, there was some weird alarm thing that started going off here, scared the bajeezus out of me by the way," I swear I heard some laughter in the background and a 'told ya that thing was too loud', which was answered with Freid looking up and sending that person a glare, "and a rune appeared in front of me and when I touched it, it started telling me to go somewhere, so could you tell me what's up?"

"The alarm means that someone is trying to break the barrier and get in. The rune tells you where the barrier is being compromised."

"Well, what do I do to get it to stop?"

"You go to the area and tell the people to leave. It's probably just your team since they haven't seen you in over a week."

I was biting my lip and my heart was thudding loudly in my chest. I didn't want to see anyone until I knew I could handle the lightning. Freid seemed to read my mind, and I could see slight understanding in his eyes from the small image of him in my hand.

"Laxus told me that the 'Link' spell allows you and Laxus to enter the barrier separately, so as long as you don't get within five feet of the runes, the barrier won't go down and they won't be able to get in and near you." I smiled in relief at the words Freid had spoken.

"Okay, thanks, Freid." Freid nodded.

"Your welcome, Lucy." And with that the orb went blank.

I stood from the large chair I was sitting in, my revealed skin sticking lightly to its leather, my mind going back to the conversation with Laxus a few weeks ago and understanding why Evergreen got the blankets. Calming my racing heart, I followed the runes' directions and, sure enough, on the other side of the runic barrier wall, was my team trying to break through. I stopped close enough to be seen by them in the thick trees, but far enough away that there was no way I could accidentally let them through.

"What are you doing?" At the sound of my voice, though it was quiet and shaky, they all stopped attacking the wall and searched for me in the forest around them. Somehow in those few seconds they forgot about the runes and tried jumping at me the second they saw me, but instead hit the wall.

"Lucy, would you come out here or let us in?" Erza asked once she stood and composed herself. I shook my head.

"Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not?" Gray sounded a little angry. Not at me, per se, but at the fact that I refused to go near them.

"Lucy?" Happy looked about in tears.

Looking to each of their upset faces, I sigh quietly and begin speaking again, "Listen, I love you guys, and I would love to be able to be near you, but I still can't control this magic so I'm not getting any closer to you, nor am I going to let you closer to me." I sigh one again, "I'm sorry, but I need to get back to training, so you guys should leave." I began to turn around.

"Wait!" Natsu's shout made me stop. I turn back to face them. "If you need to train, how about you train here? This way you can stay where you are and talk to us."

"I can't, Natsu. It's too closed in. I need space for what Laxus has me doing now."

"Then come train at the guild."

"No!" Everyone looked a little shocked at my shout. Not that I blame them, I wasn't even expecting it myself. I take a calming breath before trying again. "I'm not putting anyone at risk of my new magic. Here I'm alone, so there isn't any chance of people getting hurt."

"You practised at the guild last week." Natsu said in an innocent, matter-of-fact way, with the slight puppy dog head tilt and everything.

"And did you not see the result of that!?" My body moved on it's own, still not close to them, but they could see me better now that I wasn't half hiding in shadows. It was making angry movements, and my voice had raised again, almost to a screech. But, right now, I just don't care.

"Hell, you and Gray were two of the people who were trying to put out the flames! I'm not leaving!" I felt the lightning glittering down my skin and I knew that I had lost control of it again. I automatically curled my arms around myself. I bent my head down in shame as I caught sight of their faces, shocked, worried, and slightly frightened.

I slowly walk backwards back into the thickness of the forest. Once I'm back in the cover of the trees, I turn and begin running back to the place I knew I would be safe and not a harm to anyone. This time when I turn to leave, I don't stop at the sounds of my closest friend's shouts.

I'm sorry for the long wait. I wasn't sure if I really liked this chapter and a lot of stupid shit has happened since I last updated so my mind just wasn't in the right place. Not to say I was depressed or something like that, I was just upset. Then angry. Really angry. And I didn't want to end up writing something that I wouldn't be able to fix.

So, again, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and as my muses I expect inspiration in the forms of reviews please.