Shadows
Chapter 4; Old Truths
Natsu paced impatiently up and down the guild, wearing a groove into the floor.
"Natsu~" Happy whined. "Lucy will be fine." Natsu hesitated for a second, gave the cat a good long look, sighed and began pacing again. Happy gave up, sinking onto the table crowded by observant bystanders.
"Whose turn is it?" Elfman asked, sitting back into the chair, exhausted.
"I think it's yours Evergreen." Happy muttered, giving a big yawn.
"Nope. Unless you want him turned to stone, it's Wendy's." Evergreen grumbled.
"Wendy's asleep." Carla moaned, sneaking a look at Wendy asleep next to Romeo, her head on his shoulder and his head on her soft blue hair.
"What's wrong?" Lisanna popped up at the table full of drained and exhausted guild members. Happy raised a paw, directing it at Natsu then let it flop back onto the table.
"Why is Natsu so anxious?" Lisanna asked.
"Natsu's just worried because Lucy went out with Levy and refused to let him go too." Mira replied, setting a tray of several hot, creamy coffees on the table. Everyone awake grabbed one, took a big mouthful and sighed simultaneously, feeling a little refreshed.
"Well, I can see why she didn't let him; Natsu would just complain all day." Lisanna sympathized. "Someone should go talk to him." Almost all of the table began to cough and choke on their drink after taking a gasp full of hot coffee as the short-haired mage marched away from the table.
"I bet she fails!" Cana whispered across the table, nursing her fifteenth barrel of wine.
"I bet she does it." Elfman countered, slamming jewels on the table. "Lisanna's a real man."
"Natsu," Lisanna called, sitting on the sideline of his walking margin. "Natsu." she called again and he ignored her twice. She growled a small huff and stood herself in his way. Natsu came to a surprised stop, looking up and seeing her for the first time. "Natsu." she snapped with authority. The dragon slayer took a quick step back and looked at her with confusion.
"When did you get here?" Natsu asked, his head tilting to one side and his pink hair following it over.
"I got here over ten minutes ago, and that's not the issue. You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep doing that." Lisanna warned, setting her hands on her hips. Lucy did that too when she wanted to be stern with him; it must be a woman thing. Dark onyx eyes washed over his feet and the floor with a saddened gentle gaze. Weakly, Lisanna sighed. She herded him off to the nearest booth, sat him down in it, and then took a seat opposite. "Look Natsu, I know you want to protect Lucy, and that's a good thing. It's just, you can't follow her everywhere." Lisanna tried to reason with him. Natsu's face set in an adorable pout like a child who just got told he couldn't have ice cream until he ate his vegetables.
"But there's that guy out there! He's looking for her, he could get her any second. If I'm there I can just beat him to a pulp!" Natsu countered. Once again, his gaze fell down on his hands fiddling with the edges of his muffler.
"And you will once he's shown himself, but until then, just let Lucy have this one day of peace. Levy's with her, and I heard Juvia's shopping near there; she'll be fine; stop worrying." Lisanna tried to cheer him up, giving him a warm smile. Natsu looked up and gave her his old goofish grin. "Lucy's strong. 'Kay Natsu?"
"Lucy's stronger than we all think." Natsu replied unexpectedly, dropping his scarf and perking up.
"I see," Lisanna muttered softly, looking up at the dragon slayer. "You've grown up, hmm, Natsu."
"Hey Happy, want to go fishing?" Natsu called, bounding across the room.
"Aye sir!" Happy sprung wings enthusiastically and left the table where Cana was handing over her lost bet to Elfman.
"Natsu, Happy, you can't go fishing in the middle of winter!" Mira called as they headed to the door. Natsu took the iron handles into his big palms and swung the doors open. Gusts of whistling winter winds exploded into the guild.
"Natsu! Shut the do-" Cana went to shout but was cut off by Natsu's cry.
"Lucy!" Natsu wailed, darting out the door. Levy and Juvia carried the limp Lucy over their shoulders, struggling to the door. Quickly, Natsu helped them out, scooping Lucy into his arms. "Lucy, wake up! You're a member of Fairy Tail don't di-" Natsu wailed.
"She's not dead." Levy flatly interrupted, huffing out harsh breaths, bent over with her hands on her knees. "She's just unconscious."
"Oh." Natsu said, turning hurriedly to carry Lucy inside. Gasps escaped the guild as they saw Lucy limp in Natsu's arms. A few cried her name in shock and most rushed over, launching out of their seats. "She's just unconscious." Natsu said softly, but the relief in his voice was obvious. Mages shuffled out the way as he made his way to the infirmary.
"What happened?" The guild questioned the exhausted girls. Another brunette was with them but she just put bags and dress boxes on the table and left. She did ask for them to let her know if Lucy was okay when she woke up.
Mira-Jane pushed through the crowd and gave the girls some hot, mint tea. "It was fine until Lucy got that delivery." Levy started.
"Juvia and Levy were buying dresses and the woman said there was order that arrived for Lucy. Lucy said she didn't order anything." Juvia inputted. "She opened the box and then..." she trailed off.
"She just dropped to her knees." Levy continued. "She wouldn't respond to us at all, and then she fainted."
"Juvia and Levy waited for her to wake up in the shop. When she did, she looked so...scared." Juvia added.
"After that we carried her here. She must have passed out again along the way." Levy finished.
"What was in the box?" Wendy asked, woken up at the start of the commotion.
Natsu gently laid the blonde onto the soft bed, pulling the blanket under her chin. For a moment, his hand grazed her chin. Ice jittered up his arm as he felt her cold skin. "Jeez Luce, you're so cold." Natsu whispered, taking off and wrapping his warm, scaled scarf around her narrow neck. He sighed and crawled under the sheets next to her. "Ugh! I'm so tired." Natsu grumbled, burying his head into Lucy's chilled neck.
"I think I'll check on Lucy," Mira said as she made her way up the guild steps. She slid open the door and gasped, spinning away.
"What is it, Mira?" Lisanna called from the foot of the stairs. Everyone whizzed around watching the girl's cheeks light up with a big, devilish grin. She waved a hand at Lisanna who hurried up the stairs. Lisanna pushed open the door and smiled softly. "I think we should leave them be." Lisanna suggested with her elder sister agreeing. "Don't worry everyone; it's nothing." Lisanna called as she floated down the stairs. Mira lingered and watched for a moment before she finally hurried and followed her little sister down the stairs.
Set out on the table was the white, blood-stained dress covered in shackles. Laid on a bed of red rose petals, the white layers of cotton frayed at the edges, looking rough and tough on the skin. The black iron-cast handles were rusted, with chipped paint and dried blotches of blood on the inside and out. The deep crimson color of the blood surrounded a small tear in the fabric, the size of a thick needle. Makarov sat next to it on the tabletop, thinking to himself intensely.
"What do we do, Master?" Levy whimpered, curled up in a small chair nearby. Blue eyes kept down to the floor with her knees tucked under her chin, her arms wrapped around them tightly.
"What kind of sick person would send this as a joke?" Cana snapped, glaring at it in disgust. "We should burn it."
"No. It could give us a clue on who this person sending these gifts is." Makarov sighed with the same disgust on his face.
"Lucy, she looked so scared." Juvia repeated again, looking shaken. Mira and Lisanna draped a blanket over Juvia and Levy's shoulders as an act of reassurance. Juvia and Levy nodded their thanks, tightening the blankets up to their chins.
"I don't like this." Evergreen sighed, dropping the note carelessly on the table. Wendy slowly picked it up, hesitatingly opening her mouth to read aloud.
"I'll be seeing you soon...Lucy." Wendy read, gulping back her emotion at every word.
"Why won't this creep show himself?" Cana ranted again, refusing to touch her drink. "Sending presents like this, the freak!" Freed moved around and gently plucked the note from Wendy's small hands. Its paper mass felt like it weighed like a ton in her hands, and she struggled to keep hold of it. She felt relief in her arms when she finally let go. Freed looked and examined it closely before handing it to Bickslow, who passed it to Laxus.
"It's not encrypted." Freed stated. Laxus read the note slowly, flipping it over in his palm and then passing it to his grandfather beside the column he leaned against.
"He's one hell of a stalker." Macao growled, glancing at the small dress and turning away.
"I don't think he's your ordinary stalker, Macao," Wakaba said, fiddling with his dry pipe.
"No." Bickslow agreed.
"This guy must be from Lucy's past." Laxus called.
"Lucy actually knew a guy like this? Poor girl." Cana sympathized.
"I think the problem we have is in the present." Romeo inputted.
"The past can still affect the future, Romeo." Makarov wisely told the young mage.
"He's right; Lucy's past might help to find out whom this man is and why he's after her." Mira added, sitting in a booth with Lisanna, Elfman, Wendy, Romeo and Juvia.
"There's also her reactions to those boxes." Carla included, sat with Happy and Lily on the table top. "That's not just being scared, that's blind, terrifying fear by the sounds of it."
"She could have rejected the memory of him because of some related trauma." Laxus implied.
"Trauma?" Levy exclaimed. "You mean that Lucy suffered something so bad that she refused to remember it and pretend like it never happened?" Levy stammered, feeling upset and pained as she thought of what her bright and enthusiastic best friend had suffered.
"Either that or they were forcibly forgotten." Laxus added, shifting from his slouched standing position to a pulled-up chair.
"Juvia doesn't understand?" Juvia looked at them with confusion.
"Lucy knows that priest of knowledge or whatever." Laxus replied.
"Hiro Nisaki!" Happy filled in for him. "He was a close friend of Lucy's mother and she grew up with him around a lot."
"He has mind magic and can manipulate memories or, coincidentally, block them." Carla continued.
"He could have done it!" Happy exclaimed.
"I think we should have someone go talk to him." Freed suggested.
"I wish we could, but Lucy told me that-" Wendy sighed.
"Hiro's gone away on a trip and god knows where that sly, old man could have gone." A voice interrupted from the other end of the room. Everyone whirled around, finding Lucy standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Are you okay Lucy?" Levy leapt up, rushing to her side.
"I'm fine." she smiled reassuringly. Slow thumping steps staggered down the stairs behind her. Clasping his red cheek softly with a pout on his lips and his scarf almost slipping awkwardly off his shoulder was Natsu. A bright red hand mark glowed like paint on his cheek.
"You didn't have to hit me." Natsu mumbled, glaring at her with gentle, soft eyes. Levy read the relief and relaxation inside of him like her favorite book.
"I did." Lucy sighed, stalking over to the crowded cluster of mages.
"Lucy~!" Happy wailed flying towards her. Side-stepping to the left, Happy missed crashing and knocking over the dragon slayer as collateral.
"I don't remember who this man is," Lucy gestured to the note and dress. "And I'm not waiting for this 'soon'. Until Erza, Gray and Gajeel come back, I'm going home." Lucy demanded without any room for objection, and stormed out into the winter night before anyone could protest.
"Quickly Happy, after her!" Natsu leapt up and ran for the door.
"Aye sir!" Happy chimed, sprouting wings and darting after him.
"I hope Erza comes back soon," Levy whispered to herself softly as she watched the doors close in silence.
"A Shadow? What shadow?" Gray demanded, feeling frustrated and confused due to the fact he couldn't follow the conversation.
"Sit down boy, and I'll tell you the whole story." Silver snapped impatiently. Gray pouted, sitting on the floor next to Gajeel and Erza.
"Continue." Erza demanded sternly. Issac sent her a sharp glare before he cleared his throat and began again.
"About thirty years ago, I was youthful and already an infamous hacker mage. I had recently earned the nickname 'Silver Fox' for hacking into council information, when I met a strange man who called himself Jaedou. He was a genius and very charismatic. He came and told me all about his big ideas for the world of magic and spells. I was recruited to join him. I accepted, of course. He had charmed me into feeling necessary in his big plans. Jaedou's theories were about using magical energy to increase our longevity.
"A few years later, he came to me and told me he had found an artifact that draws out another's magical energy. All he needed to do was get it to work. It took me just about five years until it was complete. The artifact worked only under moonlight and one of our other friends who Jaedou had recruited, volunteered to be the first test subject."
"The way the artifact works is that when the moon is at its highest point in the sky, it absorbed its energy as a conductor for magical energy. A fine needle then pierces the user through his back into the core of your magic energy. The moon energy drags out his magic energy and transfers it to a capsule which can be injected into another."
"However, the moon's energy capabilities were underestimated. The energy absorbed every ounce of magical energy out of the young lad. He died during the experiment. Other than that, the trial was successful."
"Jaedou took it upon himself to test the vial of energy first. He suffered a great deal of pain for a long time. Once it subsided, he realized that his body had begun to show signs of regeneration. Except the effects didn't last long; a few months at most."
"In order to keep his body regenerating, Jaedou began kidnapping those with high magic energy capabilities. Each and every one was killed by the machine. As years and years passed, Jaedou became obsessed with it, demanding many more lives. Until one day, he snapped."
"I tried convincing Jaedou to stop but he forced the girl he loved onto the machine. Jaedou turned it on. By the time he realized what he had done, it was too late and she was dead."
"That night Jaedou left and I didn't see him for ten years."
"One night I was hacking a high up business man's home for information to trade for money. Jaedou suddenly appeared and he looked horrible. His body was deteriorating and the aging process of his body was twice as fast. He begged for me to save him, to help. We returned to the artifact and Jaedou found a street junky that happen to have high magic energy levels."
"That night was what kicked the circle back in motion. It was all too Deja vú. His body became adapted to the injections and he barely felt the change, he was just a little uncomfortable for a while. Jaedou went mad in the past, but this Jaedou was calm, collected and rational which was much worst. He recruited enough men for a small hit team, making me its leader. We were sent to kidnap more and more people, caging them up like slaves in cells, and killing them off one by one.
"One day, Jaedou came to me with a request. Normally, he left me to write the bingo book, but an ally of his, requested to be rid of a young business man's daughter. Jaedou didn't mind, and accepted."
"The night of that very same day, I lead my team to infiltrate and kidnap the young, Lady Lucy Heartfilia."
"Lucy? You kidnapped Lucy, you fiend!" Erza snapped.
"The one and only." Silver smirked, his fox's tail swaying.
"That can't be right." Gray protested. "A while back Lucy told us that she was almost kidnapped. Almost."
"She probably doesn't remember, well, it's more like she's beginning to remember something she forgot a long time ago." Issac purred with a bitter smile.
"But-!" Gray protested.
"Are you going to let me finish, boy?" Silver hissed.
"I'm no boy, you old geezer." Gray retorted.
"Gray, shut up." Erza snapped. "Continue." She demanded harshly, turning on the old, grey man.
"We took Lucy and kept her locked up in a cell with another young aristocrat lass. We never bothered with her much. At the time we hadn't known much about her and she stayed down there for a few weeks. We always had others we could use for the experiments, so we never really needed her."
"Times became a little tight when our hauls got lower. On a whim, Jaedou just said to use the girl and get whatever little we can from her. She was a fearsome little brat. The three scars on my forehead were from where the runt had clawed at me. In the end, I managed to haul her down to the artifact and bolted her up. Many children like her had died on that ancient alter before. The girl she was locked up with died two days earlier. But, she was different. Lucy exceeded the scale of the machine. Magic energy was pouring out of her in gallons. Her magic capacity was impossibly large for such a little girl. She managed to overload the artifact and we had to shut it down before it exploded."
"Lucy was amazing. She was far more powerful than any mage I had came across in my lifetime. We hadn't noticed it until then because a seal was placed on her and locked away most of that power. The needle hits the core of your magic and can override any seal. However, the seal was powerful so we were only able to open it up a fraction."
"Jaedou was overwhelmed. He ordered Lucy to be treated straight away and to dispose of any other potentials. We did as we were told."
"Once Lucy recovered, he made me alter the machine to fit for Lucy's capacity. It took a few weeks, but I managed to fix the machine. However, it would only work through a direct transfer. The risks were high and Jaedou knew he could die but he volunteered himself."
"Jaedou tricked Lucy with his pretty words and made her cooperate. He broke her will down so there was nothing left of that feisty child I met. At first, Lucy would often cry and scream in pain while she was on the artifact. After so many times, she stopped crying or fighting. Lucy became lifeless."
"Her magic's effects on Jaedou was different than any kind before. He became stronger, his own magic strength increased rapidly. Other than just showing signs of rejuvenation, his body had actually looked frozen in time. Jaedou had legitimately become immortal."
"It wasn't long before Jaedou was discovered. Then they appeared. White cloaks with black crosses over them; the priests of knowledge. It was a gruesome battle but they managed to defeat Jaedou and rescue Lucy. I fled, hoping to escape. Jaedou's cries echoed in me that night and I knew- No, I thought, he was dead."
"A few months ago, I received a present. It was the head of a silver fox. I knew right then he was alive. That's when I set in motion a plan to be hidden here, in a prison where no one knew I existed. Even the government hid my existence from the world."
The atmosphere shivered into stone, weighing heavily on their shoulders. "So...it's Jaedou who's coming for Lucy?" Gray whispered softly, trying to speak through the lump in his throat.
"What can we do? This guy sounds bad. Really bad." Gajeel mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his place.
"Don't underestimate him; He's your worst nightmare." Silver growled, his lips turning up in a snarl.
"So, how do we defeat him?" Gray growled back.
"Kid, do you know what Jaedou is in Kanji?" Silver mused.
"Shadow." Gajeel whispered in a low, dark tone.
"You can't hide from a shadow. All you can do is pray to God that you'll get to see Lucy one last time." Silver hissed venomously. "Because once he finds her, you'll never see her again!"
"We need to go. NOW! GO!" Erza snapped, sending them all bolting up the steps.
"It's too late." Silver whispered softly.
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-A-ccentric