Chapter Twenty-Four: Lake Aquamarine
Lucy's POV
Decisions were funny things. You spent sometimes mere seconds choosing or you spend days. Often the decision is decided by which option has the most pros or cons but since that didn't work for me, I ended up trying to use intuition instead.
Then Cana and Juvia came to talk to me. I walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, still thinking about their words. I can't believe I had never noticed it before myself. Just another thing to prove how dense I was.
Tomorrow we're going back to Magnolia, I thought as I pulled my fingers through my knotty hair, I'll tell them tonight what I've decided. Then hopefully we can go back to Magnolia happily and not have any more problems. I just hope he won't be too sad… I thought of his smiling face, hoping he wouldn't lose it because of me.
When I finished getting dressed, both boys stirred in their bed. I had just ordered breakfast via Archive magic. There was a small black device in each hotel room I supposed which could communicate with any room throughout the whole hotel with the press of a button. It was pretty cool; who knew how useful Archive magic could be?
I turned to Natsu and Gray, smiling as they sat up, blinking sleepily. I was grateful to see Gray still wearing pants.
"Ohayo," I smiled.
"Ohayo," they both said drowsily, obviously still half-asleep. I suppressed a laugh as they both fell back asleep, snoring loudly. Just then, the small device beeped to let me know someone was calling our room. I pressed the receive button and an Archive magic screen opened in front of me. Erza appeared on the small screen, already awake naturally.
"Lucy?" said Erza, "Ohayo."
"Ohayo," I smiled, "Awake already, of course. So, what are we doing today?"
"I thought we could probably go our own ways today," replied Erza, "Everyone wants to go to different areas and we don't have enough time to visit everything as a group. Are you OK with that?"
"Sure," I said. I would have to take a map from the lobby if I didn't want to get lost but it seemed fine.
Erza shifted on the screen as if trying to look behind me, "Are those two buffoons still asleep?"
"Um… yes?" I said.
"Lucy, move," said Erza. I did as she said and Erza shouted loud enough to wake the dead, "YOU TWO, UP!"
"ERZA?" yelled both Gray and Natsu, jumping straight out of bed. They stared at her on the screen, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, "ERZA'S EVERYWHERE!"
"SHUT UP!" yelled Erza, even louder if that was humanely possible but it was effective. Both boys shut right up.
Erza sighed irritably, a vein pulsating on her head but managed to keep her voice level as she spoke, "We're going wherever we want today, got it? Out of everyone, I am most concerned about you three."
"Eh? Me too?" I said, pointing to myself.
"Yes," said Erza, "Even if your family has lost their fortune, you still have a pretty recognisable face, Lucy. Plus your gold keys are practically on display for potential thieves. A big city like Jorgen has a lot of thieves that are dangerous, whether they're a mage or not and, no offence, you seem to attract… trouble. So just try to stay in crowded areas and don't wander too far from this hotel or from everyone else, OK?"
"OK," I said.
"As for you two," said Erza, turning to Gray and Natsu, "I have slim to no faith in that you'll leave this town without making some sort of riot. You are both strong mages with short tempers so I'm almost certain you'll destroy at least one building. So keep in mind there is a freaking base for Magic Council members right here in the city and DON'T DESTROY ANYTHING! If you do, I'll throw you in a volcano," she looked at Gray, "and take you on a cruise for a week," she looked at Natsu. Gray already began to sweat and Natsu turned slightly blue-purple.
"Hai, Erza," said both of them.
"Good. Bye," said Erza, signing off. The screen disappeared and Natsu and Gray immediately sat down on opposite sides of the room and started shivering in fright from her threats involving their fears of heat or motion sickness.
"Motion sickness, motion sickness, motion sickness…" said Natsu, shaking in fright at the thought of being on a ship for a week.
"It's going to be really hot, really hot, really hot…" said Gray on the other side of the room, looking as if Erza had already threw him in the volcano. His hand suddenly went to the waistband of his pants.
"KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!" I screamed, covering my eyes.
As we split up in town and went our separate ways, I looked at the large (and I mean large) map and tried to figure out where I was.
"I think this building is here somewhere…" I muttered to myself, scanning the map for the name. I sighed and looked up to rest my eyes which I was squinting for around an hour.
"Stupid map," I muttered. But really, it was my fault. I should have just stayed around some of the others instead of wandering off on my own. I sighed and looked back down at the map when a name suddenly caught my eye.
Lake Aquamarine? I thought, looking at the blue blob on the map that indicated a lake was there. It was right near the area I was standing in now, I realised.
Well, a lake sounds nice, I thought, heading towards that direction.
Soon, I reached a large cluster of trees. Not quite big enough to be a forest but still large enough so it would take me fifteen minutes at most to walk through it. Curious, I decided to walk through it and find the lake. The trees were tall, undamaged by men, unlike the rest of the Vegas-like town. Sunlight filtered through the canopy and seemed to light a path for me to follow as I walked along. Finally, I reached a space that seemed to open up into a clearing.
Finally! I smiled, folding up the map and putting it in my pocket. Then I ran through into the clearing.
It looked beautiful. The lake was circle shaped and huge and filled up most of the clearing with a thin sparse of land around it to walk on. I walked up to the water and put my hand in the water. It was crystal clear and shimmered with the sun shining on it. It also felt nice and cool.
What's with all these wonderful places suddenly popping up everywhere? I thought, grateful that the place was in all its natural beauty without being cleared or destroyed.
Smiling, I sat down on the damp but not wet ground. The grass was almost blindingly green here. If I said the grass was greener elsewhere, I'd be lying. It was even more green and healthy than the grass in Juvia's special spot.
Suddenly, gold and transparent magic circles opened beside me and two shadows burst out. I jerked my head up at the sudden light and looked at them. One had a scarf and the other probably had no shirt on.
"Natsu and… Gray?" I said, surprised as the two flew about, diving in the water and playing around.
Yep! said both cheerfully. They zoomed about at unnatural speed and sparred each other in the water. I was about to scold them like I did with the human forms but then I stopped as I heard them laughing in my mind.
Is this what Natsu and Gray are like when they're not fighting? I thought as they both tackled each other into the water. I smiled and then even began laughing. Then they both flew over to me and splashed me with water.
"HEY!" I yelled, standing up as they flew off laughing.
We noticed you were feeling down, said Shadow Natsu.
Why? asked Shadow Gray.
"Just… stuff, it doesn't matter," I replied, rushing for an answer and deciding to quickly change the subject. But the Shadows beat me to it.
Liar, said Shadow Gray. I sweat-dropped at how blunt he suddenly said it. I could tell Shadow Natsu was thinking the exact same thing.
"I have to tell the boys something," I said after a moment's hesitation. Both Shadows had come to a stop and floated slightly above the ground in front of me, both curious, "I'm afraid how one will react and feel afterwards."
Hm… is that so? said Shadow Gray. Then suddenly they both suddenly flew away. I blinked to see them when I was suddenly in the air.
"O-OI!" I shouted as both Shadows had the strength of their bases and lifted me clear off the ground.
You need to realise something, said Shadow Natsu, their grip on me loosening as we floated a few centimetres above the lake.
"Oh, you better not be thinking—" I said just as they dropped me.
The water wasn't a new sensation but it wasn't pleasant. It soaked through my thin clothes easily and I rose to the surface, spluttering like a mad woman. I glared at the two shadows, "What was that for?"
'Cause frankly, you're blind, said Shadow Natsu. I stood up; the water wasn't very deep, but it did reach up to my stomach, "What?"
Don't you think both of them value your friendship too much to let it go because of something like this? said Shadow Gray.
"It's easy for you to say," I said, my expression softening after a moment, "You can predict the future. Make sure everything goes right. I can't."
It's not a matter of predicting the future; it's a matter of trust. Don't you trust that whatever happens, they'll be by your side no matter what? said Shadow Natsu.
I blinked at that, surprised for a second. I thought of both their grinning faces.
Lucy, they both said, smiling. Then I thought back on memories.
"…I promise to never hurt you…", "…I'll never hurt you in any way…" both of them had said that in their confessions to me.
"It's friendship necklaces!" said Natsu, "Now we can make sure we're always friends!"
"…Out of everyone in the guild, I worry about you the most," said Gray.
"Yes," I smiled, "They would always be my friends, no matter what." I looked up at the shadows, "Thank you, Ikuto and Akaya." Ikuto was Gray's Shadow and Akaya was Natsu's.
No problem, they both said, drifting around with the wind. I shivered at the sudden breeze, you should probably get out before you catch a cold.
I nodded, "Yeah…"
I walked out and stood in the sun for a few minutes, thinking about the situation with Gray and Natsu obviously. If I was going to tell them, I would have to do it somewhere no one could interrupt us. I looked at Lake Aquamarine and the clearing, nodding at the sight. If I had to tell them, it might as well be somewhere nice as well.
I searched around in my pocket for the free pen that came with the map (they actually had free pens for every map. Jorgen must be a really rich place) and found it. After writing a few things on the map, I folded it up and called to the Shadows, "Could you guys help me with something?"
"To Natsu and Gray?" said Akaya as he held the map.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Where will we find them?" said Ikuto.
"Um…" I thought about it. It had been about half an hour to an hour since we split up. It would be about time…
I heard a loud crash followed by a fire tower from the middle of town. A second later, a cloud of frost blew up as well.
"Follow the smoke," I said.
"OK…" said both Shadows, sweat-dropping.
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Gray's POV
Natsu was a hard person to fight, as much as I hated to admit it. Even if I could freeze fire, Natsu's flames were definitely much more powerful. He was one of the few people who really gave me a challenge. The others would be Erza… and Lyon… and Laxus… Probably Gajeel too and Gildarts and a whole lot of other people too. But the point was Natsu was strong.
As I dodged another pillar of fire and threw an ice sword at him, I grinned. It really was so much fun sparring with Natsu.
We both landed on our feet, panting and grinning at each other.
"You know Erza's going to kill us," I said.
"We'll worry about that when it happens," replied Natsu, his magic circle appearing.
"Right," I said, my own appearing.
Before we could release our attacks though, something flew between us. I widened my eyes like Natsu.
"Shadows?" said Natsu, suddenly growing excited, "And mine is there too! Whoo-hoo!"
He immediately forgot about the fight and ran like a little kid at Christmas to the Shadows, "Hey! You're Lucy's shadows right? Is she here? What's it like being a shadow? Are you lost?" he looked at the map they were holding at the last question. I laughed slightly and walked over, "I doubt it, Natsu."
Actually, we came to give you this from Lucy, said one shadow, mine. Shadow Natsu handed us the map before they both flew off, Bye!
"From Lucy, huh?" said Natsu, walking over and peering over my shoulder, "What is it?"
I unfolded the unnaturally humongous map and saw a space circled in red. An arrow led from it to the side where writing was.
"Lake Aquamarine?" said Natsu, looking at the circled space. I looked at the writing.
Dear Natsu and Gray,
Meet me here tonight at 11. Don't bring anyone with you. I'm going to tell you what I've decided.
Lucy.
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Sorry I haven't updated for so long! I've been busy lately… :(
But anyways, the next chapter is the telling of the decision! How will they react, who will Lucy choose, how will the story end, will people love or hate me for the next chapter? XD
Well, all will be revealed next~
Review as well~