All Rights to Hiro Mashima
HEllo my precious cupcakes, I hope everyone is either enjoying their holiday break, almost on it, or doing well in their exams. Love you all to pieces, enjoy the next chapter! :3
FOUR
"You have the lacrima?"
"Yes Master, I have it. No one suspected anything, I used the staves and cloak just as you instructed."
"Hand it over now, I want to start the first sequence before the end of the night."
The stolen magic swirled thickly inside the small orb. It's colour deep and rich as freshly spilled blood.
Hesitation.
Then—
"Why the hell is it red? It should be gold."
That was the tipping point between outrage and civility. One could only hope that his answer will save him from a certain painful end. He had no illusions about his Master. The man was sick and twisted in a way that could only come from being rotten to the very core.
"That's the colour of the magic that I removed from the boy."
"Did you just say…boy?" Malice turned to incredulity, to disbelief.
"Yes, boy, the one with pink hair. As you requested."
"Imbecile! It was supposed to come from a woman, not a man."
"But…I followed what you said, Master…I removed the ancient magic and placed it in the lacr-"
His answer was cut off prematurely as a silver sword pierced between his ribs and drove straight into his heart.
It turned out that his answer just wasn't good enough to keep him living.
-ooo-
"Ivan? As in the ex-master of Raventail that tried to kill Laxus and effectively ruined my first match in the GMG by cheating? That Ivan?"
Lucy grumbled a bit as she remembered her loss to Flare all too well. She would do what she did every single time no doubt, of course, Asuka was far more precious to her than any win could ever be. But it still smarted, the absolute humiliation that she felt still irritated her every once and a while.
Makarov gives off a strangled groan. "Yes, my son Ivan."
Natsu hooked his chin over her shoulder and brought her back to the present where she was seated in her forced amnesiac best friend's lap.
"Who's Ivan?" His whisper wasn't all that loud, but his breath was warm and intimate against her ear. She shivered again, but it wasn't really from being drenched this time around. Natsu let his body temperature rise to stave off her sudden chills, and she all but melted into his front while she pouted.
"Just a giant asshole. That's who." Natsu hadn't read anything from the GMG yet, going in order from the beginning of their adventures to the present. It would be a while before he would read that name. "You'll learn it a little later when you read about the Grand Magic Games."
He nodded slowly, pointed chin digging subtly into her shoulder. Lucy flicked his nose and Natsu whined petulantly but backed off enough that she had room to think. Her brain felt a bit muddy with his proximity.
She knew she could just get off his lap dammit, but he was comfy and warm and she was still damp. What was the harm in a little skinship between best friends?
"Uhm… that's not all of it." Gajeel flicked a shifty look her way before continuing. "There's more bad news."
Master Makarov waved his hands at Gajeel so he would finish his thought, while Levy pulled on his sleeve to grab the Iron Slayer's attention. "What bad news?"
"Cellblock B was deemed maximum security. So only the worst of Fiore's scum was held there."
Levy's eyes lit up with recognition. "Who else was released?"
Gajeel eyed the Master warily. "It wasn't just one person. It was a group, and no one I've talked to know exactly how many got out."
"Well, give it to us straight my boy. Who do you know for certain?" Makarov's pipe was completely forgotten in the wake of the news, it's bowl still smoking enough to let curls of vapour wisp into the air.
"Bluenote Stinger, the Seis, Erigor, and Bora. That's all I know for certain."
Natsu snarled softly next to Lucy's ear at the sound of Bora's name. She had an idea of who Natsu wanted to go after immediately. While she was all for second chances, selling people was just too horrible to forgive completely.
She felt him open his mouth to say something about the situation but another voice drowned him out and made Lucy flinch back in surprise.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Again!?" Erza's little outburst made many mages jump as her booming voice practically vibrated the room.
The Master frowned a bit and looked towards his steepled fingers, possibly contemplating his life or his choices up to that moment. "Gajeel, what about Brain?"
"Unknown. I have no idea if he got out as well."
The room lit up with exclamations of annoyance, chief of all Gray, who was more than pissed that the Seis were out again. "—we literally just put them away! Again! Just last month! How did they get out so quickly?"
Makarov threw up his hands in the universal sign for fuck if I know. "We need more information, the council, or possibly the Rune Knights will know. It will probably up to us to put them back into jail, again."
Gajeel cocked his head to the side, red eyes narrowed down to the little bluenette that had caught his attention – against his will, obviously – and grumbled. "The weirdest thing about this break out is that the Seis didn't go with Ivan, or with Stinger, and Bora disappeared almost immediately, they all left separately and went on their own way."
"How can you be sure?"
"I'm not, but I tracked down Stinger and watched as he got his ass piss drunk in a small town just south of Mount Hakobe, and heard rumours of the Seis up North. But I didn't hear a word about Ivan, or anything about a resurrection of Raventail. I think that Bora's back in Hargeon, but again…rumours only. I thought that the biggest threat was Bluenote, and that moron was the easiest to track. It was like he didn't give a shit about who saw him."
Another sigh of resignation. "Thank you Gajeel."
"Tch. Whatever old man."
Laxus gripped the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "So, you're saying that we no longer have just one problem, but two…or even more? I guess three if you count Stinger, but he's not really a big issue right now with Hades dead. Even more, if you factor in the idiot Bora and Erigor."
Lucy deemed this whole situation too complicated for their own good. And stupid. Couldn't forget how stupid it all was. "It seems that way Sparky." She murmured with a grimace.
The large blonde shot the small one a wry grin. Ever since the GMG, they had bonded nicely over their shared hair colour and love of soft coats. He was her honorary big brother really, while Bickslow was more like a crazy weird family friend that no one knew how to deal with properly. "Shut up Blondie."
Their diminutive Master shuffled papers about his desk and huffed at the silent communication device situated by his elbow. "We really need to talk to Jellal, he might know information that even Gajeel couldn't get at this point. I wish that man would pick up his goddamn lacrima!"
While Gajeel squawked at the slight to his sneaking and spying skills, as Wendy, sweet beautiful Wendy spoke up quietly where stood by Evergreen's side. "Why not use his calling card? I thought Cana made one for him during the GMG?"
They were all stunned into silence. Lucy watched incredulously as Levy's favourite pair of glasses slipped down her nose and fell quietly onto the open book in her lap.
How could they have been so stupid?
"Damn, that's brilliant squirt, why didn't anyone think about that?" Laxus looked impressed with the tiny Slayer and patted her head awkwardly. Wendy just preened at the praise from her elder, even if it was a little stunted.
He was getting better at the whole human interaction thing.
"Who are the Oracion Seis?" Poor Natsu, he looked completely bewildered. Nothing about this conversation would make any sense to him yet. Not having read anything on Nirvana, the Seis were still an unknown entity and therefore annoying mysterious.
Lucy twisted in his lap so that she could see his face. "Short version. Our team – including you – met up three other guilds a while back to put a stop to the Oracion Seis. This is where we met Wendy and Charles who joined our guild after theirs was disbanded. After fighting for a while and meeting up with Jellal who had amnesia, we effectively stopped their plan to use the weapon of mass destruction, Nirvana, to wipe out the other light guilds in Earthland. You and Happy wiped the floor with another Dragon Slayer named Cobra and took out their leader Brain, who had then turned into Zero. They were thrown in jail, along with Jellal. After our seven-year sleep, the Oracion Seis tricked Fairy Tail into collecting the pieces of a gigantic clock which transformed into a…uhm…fish thing…and sacrificed many celestial wizards to bring about the real nightmare spell. The spell was supposed to remove time and create the ultimate chaos. They came after me to do it, because of my magic, but the Oracion Seis were sent to prison. Again."
Natsu chuckled dryly and gripped Lucy's waist a little tighter at the mention of the sacrifice. "Short version eh? You know that story sounds completely crazy, right?" Looking back on it, Lucy could see his point. Nothing about any of the situations they get into here followed any kind of known logic, much to Levy and Freed's chagrin. Everything that happened at Fairy Tail was absolutely crazy and deemed so far out of Lucy's comfort zone she wouldn't be able to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
"Just another day at Fairy Tail." Lucy shrugged, her voice deadpan.
It was the truth.
"How did everyone fucking survive after all these years?"
Which was also a strange statement to make. By all accounts, most of the people in that room should have been dead or incapacitated several times over. Including her.
Especially her.
"Sheer dumb luck…and a little skill."
Natsu breathed out slowly and nodded, curiosity sated for now.
"While this is all very touching, I think this concludes our little meeting for today. Wendy, please find Cana and bring her to my office so we can get a hold of Jellal. Thunder Legion and Laxus, search for hints on where Ivan or the Seis have gone. Levy and Freed converse with Crux please and sort out your data. Erza and Gray, you just finished a job for the council so they might be willing to tell you more about the breakout. You will leave for Era as soon as possible. Lucy and Natsu, continue training with Romeo and spar—.
"I want Bora." Natsu's interruption caused Makarov to purse his lips in thought. He looked a little pained, but like he was also seriously considering it.
"How do you even know that name Natsu? Did some of your memories come back." Levy, the ever-inquiring one.
Lucy shook her head and pointed to the book in Natsu's left hand. "I gave him my journals to read. I wrote down everything about or adventures since he brought me from Hargeon."
Levy squawked. "You let him read it? I didn't even know you wrote other than your letters and the novel. Can I read them next?"
She chuckled at her little bluenette friend. "The next time you get amnesia, I'll definitely let you read them."
Levy pouted but relented. For now. Lucy knew that there wasn't a book out there that Levy didn't want to read, least of all something that she wrote.
Her eyes shifted to Gajeel who was already looking at her with displeased eyes. She looked past him to Laxus, who looked a bit constipated honestly, but Lucy knew that it was just his frustrated face. Two guesses as to why they looked like that.
Bonus points if you guessed they were uneasy at the fact that their…discretions towards Fairy Tail and her in were immortalized in black ink on parchment. Which currently sat in the hands of the most volatile Dragon Slayer known to Earthland. Maybe it was good that Natsu couldn't breathe fire anymore.
Their Master regarded Natsu with critical eyes. "Why do you want to go get Bora, my boy?"
"The last time we caught him, he was using my name to capture women to sell them. I don't care about my name, but if he's up to his old tricks again, people are in danger." Lucy was happy to say she was very proud of Natsu for that explanation, even though she knew that he did care about his name and how Bora dragged it through the mud their first go around.
"Fine. Lucy, your thoughts?"
"I agree with him, Master. We know how he fights better than anyone here. And the fact that he's in Hargeon again…"
"Very well...you can begin tomorrow with a refreshed mind and body after a good night's sleep."
Lucy smiled and nodded her head as Natsu shifted behind her.
"Alright, Gajeel, back to the dark guilds, we need more information on just what Ivan wants with the magic he stole, and if you get a lead on Erigor, take it. If you remember, his guild only took assassination requests and he may have regained the memories that he sacrificed."
Gajeel grunted and leaned against Levy, using her head as an armrest. She swatted at him, cheeks glowing pink.
"That's it brats, meet here again in four days, same time." Everyone groaned.
"Master, might I ask if we could relocate to somewhere slightly larger than this room? I'm almost straddling Evergreen." Lucy glanced around at everyone from her place still seated with Natsu. While she felt fine where she was, comfortable and safe even. Everyone else looked a touch…smushed. Erza was indeed practically in Evergreen's lap.
Erza scowled at the chuckles but looked at the Master beseechingly.
He nodded. "Fine, let's meet in the library instead then. And Freed could you set up a barrier when we get there so we can minimize the damage of any more…flooding incidents and eavesdroppers." At this remark, everyone shot small smiles at Gray who only sighed loudly. Lucy could feel the heaviness of the previous conversation lift, at least for the time being.
Natsu pushed her out of her seated position and swiftly took her hand in his. Lucy stumbled a little at his rush to get out the door and back to the beer hall. "Where's the fire Natsu?"
He scowled at the hallway like the stones had personally offended him. "I need to read more of your journals, I hate the feeling of not being able to remember everything, or anything really. But I hate it more when someone talks about something that I know I should remember but don't."
"Isn't it the same thing?"
"Sort of? I don't know. It makes me feel small. Like I'm no help to anyone like this."
This time Natsu stumbled and tensed only barely catching himself as a flash of pain and the lingering feeling of helplessness washed through his heart. His stomach sunk into the ground as the ghost of an image of Lucy breezed through his empty head.
He was pinned to the ground under something, entirely trapped, but his rage felt no bounds.
He couldn't move.
It's always better when we're together…
She was in crushing pain, her head squeezed in a vice-like grip of a massive sadistically smirking man behind her and he couldn't fucking move—
Lucy was dying and he was helpless. He couldn't prevent it.
"Natsu! Snap out of it!"
He was brought back by Lucy shaking his shoulders and he realized that he was shuddering quietly. "What did you see this time?"
"You were…your head was being—being crushed…" He couldn't finish around the lump in his throat.
Lucy only looked slightly annoyed. "Oh. Kain Hikaru. That was on Tenrou Island when Grimoire Heart decided to crash our S-class mission before most of us were sent into a seven-year sleep."
Natsu redoubled his pace. "I seriously need to read those books."
Lucy decided she didn't really mind being dragged around for a change and she would never complain about sharing a calm evening with Natsu while he read and she wrote, although…she did miss the fly by the seat of her pants adventures, but a little downtime was in order. They could do something crazy tomorrow when they left to find Bora.
After all, it didn't matter what they did, it was always better when they were together.
-ooo-
"Erik, where are we going? Do you even have a plan?"
"Shut it Sorano, you know you're not supposed to call me that anymore. That life is behind us. And yes, you angel-loving twat, I have a plan. Get the hell out of here, and get as far away from the magic council as we possibly can. I'm thinking Bosco."
A new voice stopped all five mages in their tracks.
"You know Cobra, you can't run forever, the freedom you desperately desire can be achieved. But you must first seek retribution for your crimes."
They all know that voice. They hear it in their nightmares sometimes, from when they were but frightened children in the tower.
As if they possessed a single head, they all turned towards the man that was awakening their long-suppressed fears.
The man with a single eye glared at the two new mages. And he spoke with murder in his voice, dripping out of his mouth like poison.
"Fancy meeting you here, Jellal."
-ooo-
"This is very…strange."
Natsu looked up at Lucy from where he was engrossed in her fourth journal, his head pillowed in her lap in an unconscious action that he didn't know where it came from, but whatever. They had boarded the first train that morning from Magnolia to Hargeon, leaving in the hours between too damn early and fuck I'm still tired. "What's strange?"
The train rocked, the motion soothing him into a half-awake-half-dream state and Natsu thought distantly that he could probably fall asleep like this.
"You hate trains."
He frowned and lowered the book, blinked uncomprehendingly up at her as she smirked. "Why?"
"Motion sickness. You have terrible, ridiculous motion sickness that completely immobilizes you every time you ride on something that moves. But it's not just you, all the Slayers have it, even Wendy now that she's a little older. Usually, you would get her to relieve it with a spell, but it doesn't work that well anymore."
He turned back to his book with a little laugh. "I guess I better enjoy this while I can."
Lucy didn't know if he meant the train ride, or the peacefulness, or the fact that they were so close and comfortable together even after his memories disappeared.
Truthfully, neither did he.
-ooo-
Natsu stood on a pier in Hargeon and tried with all his brain power to just try and remember something goddammit. But he also knew that try as he might, he had no control over what he remembered and what he didn't.
He turned as he felt a tug on his hand. "Natsu, let's get rid of our stuff at the inn and start looking for the Salamander."
"Luce! Bora. His name is Bora. Not…oh you're teasing me. Rude." He followed behind her with a wry smile on his face as she snickered into her hand.
"Come on you big baby."
"So rude."