Chapter Four: Lost Magic
It had been one day since I was locked up in my cell. I was frustrated, then I was sad, then I missed my friends and then I starved because Demon Crosses apparently didn't even have the decency to feed its prisoners.
The daily guard came by to check I wasn't trying to kick down my door like I did last night, screaming for them to show me my father.
"No kicking today?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
"Would you like me to?" I asked.
"No," he quickly said, "Just stay put like that."
As he went away, I sighed. If only I had power like Natsu or the others, then I could just bust out myself.
Hmm… Power… I thought when a sudden glinting caught my eye. I looked down at my Celestial Keys, that's it!
I unhooked Taurus' key and summoned him out. As soon as I did, a green magic circle appeared over the whole roof and I felt a pain like an electrocution spread through my whole body. I cried out in pain and fell down, clutching at my sides.
"Lucy, what can I do to—" he suddenly fell down with a yelp of pain.
"Nani?" I said, looking at him, suddenly panicked, "What's wrong? What is this?"
"This magic," said Taurus between pants of pain, "It was forbidden a long time ago.
"Lost Magic?" I said, "That's impossible!" Well, maybe it wasn't. A guild as strong as this probably did have Lost Magic.
"In a way," said Taurus, "It's a magic which prevents other magic from being used in a particular area. No one could master it since it was so unstable. It also uses a great amount of magic to be able to do it. The more magic you sacrifice to it, the more magic can be prevented. For example, if the caster sacrifices enough magic from himself, it could even prevent Makarov's Fairy Law."
"How can that kind of magic exist?" I cried, "So someone here knows Lost Magic too?"
"Most likely," he said.
I nearly swore aloud but then remembered Taurus was in pain and got out his key again, "I'm making a Forced Gate Close. I can't have you in pain."
"No, first I'll do what you summoned me for," said Taurus.
"No, first I'll summon you back because in this state, we both can't do anything."
I forced his gate closed before he could say anything. When I did, the magic circle disappeared and so did the pain. I sat up, grumbling to myself.
Just then, a guard came against the door, "Got a taste of pain, huh?"
I scowled at him without saying anything.
"That's our Master's magic. Very powerful stuff so no matter how strong your little friends are or how much magic they possess, they'll be useless when using it against the Master."
"What if it's a long-distance fight?" I asked, "That magic can only cover a particular area. What if someone were to use magic outside that area? What will happen then?"
"You have no idea how much area our Master can cover," said the guard, unfazed, "He can cover the whole forest so no one can use magic in there. It's impossible to beat him at that great a distance." He went away.
I thought. The Master of this guild seemed incredibly strong but he had weaknesses in his magic which even I could see. I would have to change Infra's plan and hopefully it would work.
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"This trail leads to the station," said Natsu, surprised.
"She ran away then," said Mira, her voice breaking on the words.
"We'll find her," said Erza, going up to one of the staff of the station, "Hey, hi, have you seen a blonde teenage girl with Celestial keys and blue and white clothes?"
"Yes, she went on that train over there, why?" asked the woman.
"We're friends of hers," said Gray, "We think she might've run away."
"Can you remember where the train was heading?" asked Natsu.
"Well," said the woman, putting a finger on her lips as she thought, "It was a couple of days ago… I believe that train was heading to Datsun."
"Great, thank you," said Erza before barking at the rest of them, "Let's go!"
They caught the train a few seconds before it began leaving the station.
"This train takes a few hours to get to that town so now we have to be patient," said Erza, grumbling at her own words.
The others sighed and stared out the window at down at their hands, a million thoughts going through everyone's heads.
After a long few minutes of silence, Happy spoke up, breaking the silence, "Lucy's going to be OK, isn't she?"
"We can't promise that, Happy," said Mira, stroking his head, "But we hope she is."
Happy nodded and looked around, suddenly noticing something, "What is that?" he asked, pointing at the roof of the train. Everyone looked up at the rather large hole in the ceiling, clumsily rebuilt with planks of wood hammered over it.
"Who knows," said Erza, turning back to the window.
Natsu suddenly widened his eyes, sniffing and looking out the window, "Eh?"
"What is it?" asked Gray.
"Lucy's scent," said Natsu, "I smelt it back there."
Everyone was out of their seats in two seconds and running to the back of the train.
They all jumped off without waiting for the train to stop, all landing solidly on the ground, Happy flying off.
"Ah, I forgot the luggage," said Erza, suddenly remembering, running back towards the train.
"Are you serious?" yelled Natsu, "You still care about the stupid luggage?"
"She'll be back," said Mira, turning to Natsu, "Where's the scent, Natsu?"
Natsu sniffed and went towards a direction, leading into the forest, "Lucy's scent is going this way."
Erza caught up then, tugging along all the luggage, "What the hell is she doing, wandering into the forest all by herself?"
"She must have a reason," said Happy.
After walking for a long time…
"Estonia," said Mira suddenly.
"Nani?" said Gray.
"Estonia is where she's going," said Mira, "That's the only town in this vicinity she would go to."
"Mira's right," said Erza, "Since we're heading in this direction, the only town here is Estonia."
"What's Estonia?" asked Natsu.
"A town, obviously," said Erza, "But… why would she go there. It doesn't make any sense…"
"In any case, it's approximately two days of walking we have to do."
"Lucy hiked all this way?" said Natsu, "That makes no sense."
"She could have taken a vehicle," said Erza, "She would have went through here two days before we did so her tracks would have disappeared. We're just lucky this perfume is so strong so her trail still remains." Erza hiked ahead, quickening her pace, "However, no matter how strong the perfume, we have to hurry before her scent disappears completely."
"Something doesn't smell right, though," said Natsu, sniffing in the air, "From what I smell… Lucy's not alone."
"Nani?" said Erza, turning around, her eyes like the Devil's, "Is it anyone you recognise?"
Natsu shook his head, "This is new and it doesn't smell good either. I got a similar smell when we went into Phantom Lord and fought Oracion Seis. It's the smell of a Dark Guild."
Everyone's eyes widened. Mira and Erza were the first to recover and hiked so fast, they almost disappeared from sight in five seconds.
"This is bad, Mira," said Erza, "The situation is worse than what we thought."
"Yeah," nodded Mira, suddenly stopping, "It's so hard to hike in this," she said, lifting her dress. She looked toward a line of tall bushes and back to Gray and Natsu. She could change before they caught up, "Wait for me."
She went behind the bushes and changed, coming back out. Erza widened her eyes, "That outfit…"
"I haven't dressed like this in so long," said Mira, touching the purple clothes and tying up her hair, "I had the size alterations made since I haven't worn these since Lisanna's 'death'. I never wanted to wear these again but since Lisanna's back, I am. I'll never forgive anyone for taking a member of our guild." She frowned solemnly and Erza widened her eyes. She could see a part of the 'Demon' Mirajane in her face for a second.
Instead, Erza just shrugged, "OK, whatever you want, let's go!"
"Don't go so fast— Ahhh!" shouted Natsu, reeling back at Mira, "The Demon's back!"
Everyone jumped for cover except Erza, "Jesus! She hasn't changed otherwise I'd be fighting with her now," she turned around, "Come on!"
"Don't worry, mina, I haven't changed," said Mira, smiling at the trees where everyone was hiding.
"It's even scarier seeing the Demon smile like that!" cried Happy, hiding behind Natsu's head.
"Stop fooling around!" barked Erza, "Now come on or I'll leave you behind!"
"OK," said Mira pleasantly, following after her. Natsu, Gray and Happy followed but at a distance away from Mira who was smiling the whole time.
That actually is pretty creepy, thought Erza, shuddering at the sight of the Demon smiling. She walked faster ahead, looking positively petrified.
"Nani? Why is everyone acting strange?" asked Mira, completely oblivious, still smiling like an angel, looking at the wide space between her and everyone else.