Shadows
Chapter 12; Questions
"I came to find you to offer my help." For the first time, Gray assumed, it seemed to cross his face how embarassing it was to say.
Everyone was stunned, staring dumbfound at Iac who looked only the slightest bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, Lucy hadn't even batted an eyelid in reaction to his uncharactisitc offer. Lucy's face began to show the faint signs of consideration.
Colour was slowly returning to her face thanfully. Pale legs seemed able to hold her weight more or less. Even Natsu was looked a little more relieved. Dark eyes flickered ack and forth between her and Silver. It was a nervous guesture Gray had noticed about Natsu recently. If he was nervous, his eyes seemed to jump to from the problem to Lucy, as if she was the solution to everything. To Natsu, maybe she was.
"Your help?" Lucy finally spoke with a suspicious tone. "Why?"
"Why not?" Issac shrugged, avoiding her direct gaze. From time to time, it would flicker to her and jump away. Strangely, Gray noticed, he looked like a child being scolded by his mother -More like a disobediant teenager than a child.
"Maybe I should change the way I asked that." Lucy said. She contemplated it for a second, before she replied with a much more suitable question. "What's in it for you?"
"For me?" Silver countered, a little surprised. It was like he hadn't even considered helping for his own gain. Of course, Gray reminded himself, it was a proposterous to ever think that towards a Black-marked criminal. "Why would there be something for me?" Expression changed on his face. His slightly suprised, open expression was covered by a hard but leinant mask.
"There's always somehting for you, Silver Fox." Lucy stated matter-of-factly. Lucy's arm unwound from Natsu's neck. Objection was written clearly on the dragon slayer's face, watching her stand alone in dismay. At first, the ice mage thought she was going to ignore him. In the end, Lucy reached out a hand which steadied on his quickly produced arm. From the loks of it, Lucy could stand perfectly well on her own. Still, Gray couldn't be completely sure. That aided hand could have been for assistance or to calm Natsu. Most of the dragon slayer seemed satisfied just standing next to her. Since when had Natsu been so submissive.
"Jeadou's absence would benefit me, quite obviously." Silver admitted. "If you guys can get rid of him, with the tiny chance you have, it would certainly relieve me." Brown orbs stared hard at the man with cold but thoughtful regard. Finally, she let out a tired sigh.
"I see." Lucy whispered softly. "So that's what it was." The eyes turned back to their normal softness as they moved over to Natsu. A strange conversation between their eyes passed between them. It was a language no one but themselved would ever understand.
It didn't seem to be going Natsu's way. Objection, anger and dismay made a unique expression on his face.
After another minutes, Natsu sighed and Lucy turned. Lucy stood on her own two feet- without Natsu's help, Gray noticed. "Your help." Lucy;s voice rang crystal clear under the concaving walls of the cell. "What is it?"
"I know the ins and out of this entire building. That is assistance you need, is it not?" Silver replied, raising a thick, gray eyebrow.
"What makes you think we can't find our way to him ourselves?" Lucy countered instantly.
Gray could tell, just by looking at her face, that she really didn't want his help. He could also see that she was probably going to accept it anyway, dispite her feelings. Lucy had a way of thinking rationally, unlike the hot-head that would only trust his heart. That was a good thing about him, not wise, but still nice, Gray admitted reluctantly. Right on que, Natsu had to jump in.
"NO WAY!" NAtsu barked. Raven eyes set on the eldered wizard like daggers. Gray wondered what was holding him back from punching him. But, of course, that was Lucy.
The pale hand resting back on his arm clamped down hard. It broke his stare, letting the dark eyes hope back to the stellar mage, full of protest. Brown orbs stared dead ahead, ignoring the dragon slayer's outburst like it never happened.
"There's no reason to think you arn't capable of finding your way." Issac continued. He was probably planning on ignoring Natsu anyway. "Except the odds are stacked against you."
Raven eyes burned with rage and sinking despair. He wasn't the only one who noticed what the celestial mage was thinking. For now, he was repressing his feelings, eager to jump in. There was also the fact that he didn't want Lucy to get mad at him. Gray couldn't be sure she wouldn't. Part of her attention was on him, keeping him back. Then again, Lucy's hand had softened. She was understanding of his feelings, her own were the same most likely. Especially against such a renouned enemy like 'Jaedou'.
"What odds?" Lucy asked, still stood i a refined manner, posed with a silver tongue on guard. If Gray was to imagine Lucy as a 'lady', this would be the image he thought of.
"This path and the path leading to him." Silver spoke. Gray assumed he felt just as uncomfortable saying Jaedou's name as Lucy did. "...is one of many. This whole place was made a labyrnth -by design."
"Even so," Gray countered, making his first appearance in the midst of the conversation. "We could keep trying again until we find it." It wasn't a very logical suggestion, but Gray had an itching feeling about Silver. He wasn't positive it was bad, but he wasn't certain it was good either. He would rather ork without him, than take a risk in trusting him.
"Unfortuantely, we can't do that." Erza stepped off the side line. "If it was made by design, I suppose there are areas in this rat maze that a 'designed' to deal with intruders." Gray hadn't thought about that.
Erza was right; the guy ws a criminal mastemind, of cource he would habe way of dealing with people looking for him. It was probably the reason he and his captives, had never been found.
"I'll accept." Lucy declared abruptly. In te moments Gray had been pondering, Lucy must have been too.
Natsu gave a surprised gasp, opening his mouth to protest. Lucy opened her mouth to stnad him down, but this time, Natsu jumped in before she could bother. Gray had a feeling he wouldn't have expected it, even if she told him to at that moment. He would have to take back his earlier comment about Natsu being 'submissive'.
"NO, Lucy!" Natsu barked. Hut, confusion and despair all mixed on his face. It only increased more when Lucy's remaind the same calm, confident and collected as it was. Comapred to her clear thinking, Natsu seemed like a young child having a temper tantrum. Natsu noticed it too. "Luce, don't look at me like that," his voice turned small and pleading as he pulled in his boiling anger. A small barely, noticable crack chipped her stoney mask. Once again, Natsu was abel to read her like an open book. He knew he that well.
He also knew how stubborn she was. Lucy was trying to do the best thing, the most logical one. In doing that, she always ignored her own feelings. So, even if the chance was slim, he would try his best to show her, her own feelings. When she listens to them, maybe she'll change her mind. If not, Natsu wouldn't argue anymore.
"Natsu, I understand how you feel it's just-" Lucy tried to persuade him, stepping forward. A pale hand reached out to touch him, but he steped out of her reach. Surely, she would touch him, like she always did, and she would make him see sense. But he didn't want to see sense. He wanted to see her true feelings. As she pulled back her neglected hand, small prickles of hurt flitted across her face.
"Lucy, if you truly understood what I was saying you wouldn't be listeneing to me. You'd be listening to yourself." A small hand guestured to his chest where his head laid. Brown eyes were emersed in his gaze, and for a moment, they flickered to his chest.
Althought Natsu said those words that sounded so wise, she doubted he actually knew what he was saying. Still, Natsu always had that inbuilt conciousness that made him say the right thing. Only this once, could she ever find the courage to ignore it.
"Natsu," Lucy muttered softly. The distance between them closed as she took a small step forward. This time, she didn't reach out, she stayed small and compact.
Brown chocolate eyes stared blankly at his chest. A vail of blonde hair shadowed the front of her face, masking her embrace.
"Do you know how many people have died on Jaedou's hands?" It was a rhetorical question, and the constricting feling around her heart was teling he knew what was coming next. "Too many, Natsu. Too many." It was the loudest Lucy had every spoken to him since the drug wore off. "Even my friend died. She was somone's daughter. She could have been a mother. She could have gone travelling like she always dreamed. But, she can't. Because she's dead." A long strained silence wrapped around the room. It's density crushed the dragon slayer's heat, threatening to make it pop. Natsu wanted to speak, to convince her again, but his words were knotted in the back of his throat.
"That's why this time..." She continued, her eyes staring flatly at his broad chest. "My feelings don't matter. I will trust Silver just this once. Not for me, but for everyone. For Lilianne." The glisten of a single tear trickled down over her shadowed face, rolling off her chin.
A large warm hand caught her cheek, brushing it away with gentle strength.
Maron pools brimming with tears darted upwards. Dark eyes met hers with an overwhelming wave of sadness and reluctancy. Hidden underneath all that, was a tiny bit of relief. A small, weak smile pulled his lips as he looked down at her. "Dammit." Natsu sighed reluctantly. He'd lost.
Onyx eyes examined the hand still holding her pale cheek, cold to the touch. So this time, it was him who touched her. Lucy's magic had captured his heart again.
The hand dropped loose and he turned to three face staring at the same expression of his own. Surprisngly, there was also a fourth.
Long, greying hair draped down over his face like frosted vines, creating a wall of hair between the two.
"Great, let's go." Silver coughed bitterly, marching on through the gate.
"Wait." Natsu coldly added, making Silver turn on his heals. Silver hadn't seen it coming. Two hands grabbed a fistful of Issac's shirt tearing his from his balance. They pushed him hard against the bars, letting a threatening ring echo through the halls. Natsu's face glowed lean and sharp, staring at Silver with deadly cold eyes. Everything about the dragon slayer screaming threatening as his hands twisted tighter near Silver's neck. "You dare, harm Lucy or anyone...and I will make sure I'm the one who makes you feel the consequences." Natsu's dark eyes stared hard into Issac, who seemed paralysed with shock against the bars. Until finally, Natsu let go, moving besides Lucy.
Silver's eyes narrowed on the dragon slayer with deadily sharpness. Waving off Natsu like he wasn't anything was one of the mistakes the silver fox had made towards that boy. He'd be careful not to do it again. Silver quickly shook it off like it was nothing, moving silently through the open iron gate.
Everyone else gave Natsu a quick glance. They all hadn't been expecting that. But Natsu seemed a little more content than he had before. And strangely, Lucy was looking, even a little bit, impressed.
Cold stares followed Issac out the gate before Erza made a move to follow. She gave a small curt nod to Lucy, which she interpreed as an acknowledgement of somekind. Gray traced Erza's footsteps. Happy lingered until Natsu and Lucy walked on.
Next Monday; Chapter 13: Doorway to Darkness
Lucy makes her way to her final stand as Silver explains his offer. Meanwhile, the left behind guild members might not be as safe as they seem.
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-A-ccentric