Yo, and welcome to the next chapter! I'm gonna be honest and say that this chapter was a lot longer than I expected to be-so long in fact that I didn't get all what I wanted to put in this chapter. So, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna put this chapter up today, and and the next chapter will be up probably by either Wednesday or Thursday. And then the next chapter will be up by the usual Saturday schedule.
Now, with that being said, I'm gonna be honest to say that I'm not exactly satisfied with this chapter. I feel like it's not polished enough, but I want to get something up for you guys.
But anyways, I'm just rambling at this point, so please, enjoy this chapter!
"Kyyyyaaaaaa! This can't be happening!" Lucy cried for the tenth time, ribbing her eyes for the tenth time, hoping to see her body reappear, but with no such luck. Plue was sitting down, his shaking had since then increased as he watched his Master worrying.
Letting a small whining noise escape her lips, Lucy straightened her body, looking intently at the mirror. She crossed her arms over her chest, and she noticed the indent that it made on the towel, but nothing appeared.
"So... It looks like my body is invisible, but anything that my body touches can't become invisible. Oh, what am I going to do, Plue?"
Lucy looked down at her Celestial Spirit, but the poor thing just shook his head, trying to think of something but obviously not coming up with an answer. Lucy looked back at her would-be reflection, biting her lower lip as she thought, 'Hm... I'd rather not, but it looks like I need to go to the guild to get some help, again... but, I can't go around town with my clothes on because that could cause an uproar. People would believe that they're seeing ghosts... But I also can't go around town naked! What if the effects wore off as I walked down the streets!?'
That mere image made the Celestial Spirit red enough that even she can see her blush through the mirror. Face-palming herself, Lucy covered her eyes with her hands and let out a long sigh, "But it looks like I have no other choice... or do I? Wait!"
Plue watched in confusion as Lucy rushed to her bed side, bringing out her Keys. Looking to Plue, she smiled even though her Spirit couldn't see it, "You were great Plue. I'll call you back out after I deal with this whole ordeal. You can go back to the Celestial World now."
"Puun-puuun!" Plue called out, lifting it's little shaky paw and waving goodbye as he shimmered away. Going back to her Keys, it took Lucy a second to find the one she was looking for. She lifted the Key high in the air and called out, "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"
In a shimmer of golden light, and twirling into her room, Lucy watched with widened eyes as a floating maid's dress and floating shackles appeared in front of her, seeming bowing as a familiar, monotonous voice said, "Is it time for punishment, Princess?"
"V-Virgo! Why are you also invisible?!" Lucy screeched.
Virgo's maid outfit slightly shook, as if the invisible Spirit shifted her head to the side, "Because you are. I though you wouldn't feel so lonely being invisible."
Lucy blinked, "T-That's very sweet of you Virgo, I never thought-"
"And also because I wanted to know how it was to be invisible. It's not what people crack it up to be."
Lucy shook her head exasperatingly, even though Virgo couldn't see it, "Aaaand there it is. Okay, you can stay invisible or visible, it doesn't matter. But can you do me a favor?"
"Anything for you, Princess." Virgo replied as she poofed back into vision, the pink smoke clearing away instantly and leaving behind the pink haired, blue-eyed maiden.
"W-Well... I need to get to the guild, but I don't want to wander around the town naked, and I also don't want to walk around town with clothes on and people mistaking me for a ghost. I was wondering if you can get me a cape or something from the Celestial World to hide my body completely so I won't wander around and people won't notice anything different about me?"
Virgo deeply bowed, "That's not a problem. Just give me one moment, Princess."
With that said, Virgo disappeared with a small 'pop', and when she did, Lucy let out a long sigh. Sitting down on her bed, Lucy adjusted the towel that firmly wrapped around her mid-body, even though it made no difference. Lucy was invisible non-the-less. Placing her elbows on her knees, Lucy placed her head in her hands, closing her eyes as she tried to think of what she would exactly do once she enters the guild. However, she wasn't able to put too much thought as a minute later, Virgo came back with a simple maroon colored cape with golden lining.
Lucy scrunched up her nose when she saw the cape, "Maroon? Really?"
"You are not satisfied with the color? Are you going to punish me for it?" Virgo asked, handing over the cape to Lucy.
"No Virgo, I'm not going to punish you. I'm just not really used to any red colors. Thank you, though."
As Lucy began to turn around and take off the towel around her body, Virgo gave her a salute, "Then I'll be off. Call me the next time you need punishment."
"U-uh, but I didn't need punishment this time..." Lucy sweat-dropped as the Celestial Spirit shimmered away. Once the Celestial Maiden disappeared with a poof, Lucy then placed the maroon cape around her shoulders. It went down to her feet, just barely brushing against the floor, covering her body completely. Where the cape connected at her collarbone was colored a bright gold and blue, with a star-like crest in the middle.
Walking over to her mirror, Lucy placed the hood over her head, half of her invisible face being covered by the cloth while the other half was covered by the shadows. Shaking her head slightly, Lucy muttered, "I'm so pathetic..."
Grabbing her belt that carried both her Keys and her whip and wrapping it around her hidden waist, Lucy quickly walked out of her apartment and walked down the streets of Magnolia. There was the usual chatter as the citizens of the said town walked down the streets, shopped at the outside markets, or were just conversing with friends. She did attain a few strange looks, but for the most part, Lucy was ignored. Although, when some of the market owners called out to her, Lucy felt her face redden slightly with embarrassment and just wrapped the cape more tightly around her and sped up her walking.
After walking rather quickly for around fifteen minutes, Lucy finally made it to the gate of where the guild was located. It pained Lucy's heart to see the place, as it seems so run down compared to the beautiful building the guild built months ago.
'Not months... years...' Lucy reminded herself, staring at the building in the distance. Even at the far distance, Lucy could tell that the wood seemed to be rotting slightly, some of the pieces of the wall were already broken in, and the sign that kept the words "FAIRY TAIL" were nothing more than chipped and faded words that seemed to reflect the loss of confidence and esteem the guild held together for many years.
As Lucy opened the gate and stepped inside the courtyard, it didn't really register in her mind that the guild's large wooden doors were open until she heard faint screams coming from the building. Breaking away from her thoughts, Lucy saw as some of the guild members seemed to be exiting. It was the Raijinshu, a team consisting of some of the strongest guild members. Their backs seemed to be turned to Lucy, and the guild member with long green hair, Freed Justine, seemed to be screaming to the people inside the building.
A sudden chill of fear ran down Lucy's spine, panic seizing her and making her heart beat a million miles an hour as she watched Freed's team mates Bickslow and Evergreen snicker at the man while Laxus, the leader of the group, seemed to just cross his arms and remain as stoic as possible. Foregoing her initial plan and rapidly looking around, Lucy found a rather large tree to her right and ran behind it. Her mind working on auto-pilot, Lucy quickly took off her cape and belt, hiding the belt under the cape and quickly stepping away from it. Looking back up, Lucy saw that the Raijinshu had walked away from the guild and were already close to the gate.
Peaking from around the tree, Lucy heard the only female of the group, Evergreen, snicker, "I haven't seen you explode like that in a while Freed."
"Yeah baby!" remarked Bickslow, throwing both of his hands in the air dramatically, "I don't think I actually remember you being so angry, even in a fight!"
Lucy saw Freed cross his arms and scowl, "Well, I'm ashamed to admit that today has been a short-fuse of a day for me. I shouldn't let my temper out like that, even if it is for a joke."
"Well, just leave it to Natsu to fire everyone up, for better or for worse." Evergreen chuckled slightly, "But even so, why did him accidentally burning that piece of paper set you off?"
Even from a distance, Lucy saw Freed's face become a bit more pink that usual as he turned his head away from his snickering team mates. As the other two continue to try and banter with the green-haired wizard, Lucy saw as Laxus suddenly stop in his tracks, and look directly were she was standing. Her heart seemed to stop at that moment as she and Laxus locked eyes, Lucy momentarily forgetting she was invisible.
Lucy covered herself and was about to scream at Laxus to look away, when Freed look over and said, "Laxus, what's wrong?"
The Lightning Dragon Slayer just continued to stare at where Lucy was standing, then cheekily turned away and said, "Nothing, I guess. I just got a familiar scent in the air."
"Well, we're pretty close to the guild still, so your nose probably still smells the guild members' sweat." Bickslow shrugged and laughed loudly, "But whatever! My babies are itching to finish this job. Let's go!"
With that said, the knight-dressed wizard threw a punch in the air and continued to walk out the gate, Evergreen quickly at his heels and both of them striking up a conversation. Laxus gave Lucy one long stare, then began to walk towards his other team mates and Freed fan-girled around them. Lucy didn't dare to move, or even breath out loud, until she was positive that the entire team was out of sight. When they were, she fell to her knees, grabbing her head with her hands, her entire body trembling, "W-What...? W-Why...? They're fellow guild mates... Why did I get the sudden feeling of fear when I saw them?"
The sting of tears caused Lucy to blink rapidly, forcing herself not to cry as she took in a couple of deep breathes. After about five minutes, she finally managed to stop shaking and get a hold of herself. Slowly removing her hands from her head, Lucy exhaled deeply, "Fear... Fear of what? Fear of them? It can't be... Maybe it's me being invisible? Maybe the mixture of those magical ointments is also affecting my emotions towards my guild mates? Yeah, that's probably it..."
Standing up, crossing her arms against her slender waist, Lucy slowly made her way towards the guild, fighting the mixed feelings she held within her. As she walked up the stone steps, Lucy made it to the open front doors and was met with a slightly unusual sight. The few guild members that remained loyal to Fairy Tail and those who were stuck alongside Lucy on Tenrou Island were all drinking it up and seemingly having a good time.
However, that wasn't the unusual sight. Scanning the room for a little bit, Lucy realized that there wasn't really any loud ruckus or destruction, no tables were being broken or any fights had gone around. In fact, everybody, even Natsu, were all seated and they seemed to all be having a group discussion.
Stepping into the building, Lucy heard all of them break into a group laugh, which eased the fear in her heart, but before she could call out to them, a wizard with long brown hair and a barrel of booze called out in a slur, "Aye, where's Lucy? I haven't been seeing her much recently."
"Well, I certainly haven't. But haven't you all notice how much quieter it gets when she ain't around?" Wakaba replied, pulling the cigar out of his mouth to lightly tap away at the excess ash.
Macao, who had taken a long sip form his mug, let out a satisfied sigh, "Well, we can't be that surprised. Lucy can be a menace when she wants to be. She can be a true she-barbarian!"
"Father!" Romeo, Macao's son, cried out indignantly, "That doesn't sound like a nice thing to say about Lucy-nee!"
"Your son has a point," the sand wizard, Max, retorted, holding and empty mug in his hands, "Lucy's a bit too weak to be a barbarian, now is she?"
Lucy quickly rushed her hands to her mouth to prevent herself from either gasping loudly or screaming, but even if she did, it wouldn't of really mattered because most of the guild members laughed out rambunctiously- all except for a few of the female wizards, more specifically Levy, Cana, Juvia, Mirajane, and Wendy.
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Levy called out a bit angrily as the laughter calmed down.
"Ah, come one Levy, even you should've noticed it by now. Lucy just ain't strong." Wakaba replied simply, shrugging at the young bluenette.
Max also gave a small nod, "After all, Natsu and the gang always tell us stories about how she always gets herself into trouble during jobs and needs a bit of saving from them."
Cana threw her barrel at Max, who luckily managed to dodge it, but unfortunately hit Macao in the face. As Romeo called out to help his struck father, Cana glared at the men and hiccupped, "L-Look... Lucy is one of the strongest wizards I've ever met. Don't you dare insult her in front of me!?"
Max simply blinked at her for a moment, then laughed out loud, "Hahahaha! Ahhh, that's good Cana! I'll be sure to remind you of what you said later when you forget."
As Cana unsteadily go to her feet, Mirajane placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder. The drunken wizard turned to glare at the bartender, and Mirajane just shook her head, a silent message even Lucy understood, 'Don't get involved.''
As that happened, Max grabbed Reedus's mug, as the latter seemed to be completely into drawing the conflicted looks of Cana and Mirajane, and smirked, "And I think everybody here agrees with me, right?"
About half the guild, including the knocked-down Macao, cheered in agreeance, and the sounds itself were enough to bring Lucy to tears. The fear that had calmed inside of her when she heard the laughs of the guild suddenly exploded in her heart, and a feeling of utter rejection hit her to her core. She wanted to sob right then and there, or at least turn around and run away-but her body wouldn't listen to her. All she could to was cry silently and stare blankly.
Lucy, however, did notice that the same girls who didn't laugh also didn't cheer, along with Gajeel, Natsu, Gray, and Erza, who all seemed to be quite somber. Max also noticed this as well as he called out, "Erza! Gray! Natsu! Gajeel! Fairy Tail's famous foursome! You guys don't agree with what I say? That Lucy isn't weak?"
Turning rapidly to stare at the red-head and in the deepest parts of her heart, Lucy hoped that Erza would strike Max down for being so brutal- to knock him down for speaking bad about his comrades, but instead, Erza hesitated. The great, emotionally-in-check Erza Scarlet, hesitated. Feeling herself shake violently, Lucy turned her gaze to Gray, who also seemed to hesitate under Max's mock. Gajeel remained stoic, as if challenging the blond-haired male to make him speak. Natsu as well seemed to be in deep thought.
The entire guild turned to silence. Romeo finally managed to get his father up, but even then he seemed upset as he stared at the four members who were called out. Levy seemed to be shaking in anger, along with Cana. Wendy had her hands covering her petite mouth, as if not comprehending what was going on. Wakaba, along with most of the other guild members, were taking large sips of their drinks and Max smirked at the four.
Juvia, who was seated right next to Gray, glared at Max, "Juvia thinks you are going too far, Max. Did the Master promise that no matter how strong or weak you are, Fairy Tail will always accept you? Or did everyone lie to Juvia?"
"How ironic! The girl who always harbors jealousy for Lucy is now defending her! What's the matter Juvia? I would've thought that you would want Lucy gone!" Max retorted, with a few of the other guild members backing him up with either laughs or cheers.
The Rain Wizard was slightly taken aback, "B-But Juvia-"
But before she could continue, Erza stood up, immediately silencing her and the rest of the guild. Lucy watched as Erza didn't even lift up her gaze, and instead replied with gritted teeth, "I cannot lie. Lucy is the weakest link in our group. Even Wendy, who is an even newer member of the guild, surpasses her in strength."
"E-Erza-san!" Wendy called out indignantly, tears streaming down her face.
Gray nodded in agreeance with Erza, his eyes downcast as well. Juvia looked at him in shock, "G-Gray-sama!"
"I can't lie as well Juvia." Gray replied, taking his shirt off unconsciously and tossing it somewhere else, "We are always saving her, so I think it's safe to say that she's probably the weakest link."
Juvia looked at Gray, a look of slight betrayal lingering in her eyes, and she did something that Lucy would never thought that she would see. Juvia stood from her seat, and actually moved away from the Ice Make Wizard.
Everybody then turned their attention away from the one-sided couple to the sudden scoff from the Iron Dragon Slayer, "Tch, don't get me involved with her." Looking towards Max and glaring, Gajeel said, "I don't know what your beef is with Lucy, but keep me out of it."
Maybe it was the tears in her eyes, but Lucy swore that for the briefest of seconds, she saw Gajeel turn his glance to Levy, who had tears in her eyes and seemed to be holding herself back from attacking Max.
Max just simply shrugged at the Iron Dragon Slayer, "Fair enough, fair enough. I wouldn't expect you to say anything anyway."
And finally, Max turned his head towards the salmon-haired Wizard, who had crossed his arms and closed his eyes-obviously deep in thought. All eyes were turned on the Fire Dragon Slayer as Max said, "Well, Natsu? What do you think? Is Lucy the weakest Wizard in Fairy Tail?"
'Please Natsu... please help me...' Lucy called out in her mind, biting down hard on her lower lip, forcing a sob to stay down in her throat.
When Natsu finally looked up, it seemed like he was staring directly at Lucy and for a single moment, Lucy felt the lump in her throat go away and her tears stop for a moment. Lucy would be lying to say that she hadn't realized her feelings for Natsu, but she always thought that they were nothing important. That they'd go away, but whenever she looked into his eyes, she felt like everything was going to be fine.
Letting out a silent sigh, Lucy brought a hand up to dry her eyes, but before she could reach her face the last thing she could ever expect Natsu to say escaped his lips, "Yes, yes she is."
The entire guild became deathly silent, and Lucy felt numb. All emotions seemed to drain away from her and the sunlight that seemed to enter the pub-like guild seemed to dim. The only thing she could say that she felt was a small pain in her chest, like a small prick that would sting whenever she took a deep breath in.
"N-Natsu-san..." Wendy said, tears also free falling from her face. In the mist of all that silence, it seemed like Romeo had moved his way towards Wendy, placing a hand on her shoulder as he muttered sadly, "Natsu-nii..."
Natsu closed his eyes again, as if in deep concentration, and continued, "Well, yeah. It's the truth now ain't it? In every job we go to, Lucy does seem to get into trouble easily and we always have to save her. Ever since I first met her, she had been someone I always had to save-"
"Doesn't that get tiring after a while?" Max suddenly cut it, "Don't you guys get tired of saving her?"
And in that second, Lucy watched as all three of her team mates straighten their backs, and hesitate. With that action alone, it was enough for Lucy. Not even bothering to listen to what they were going to say, Lucy turned around and ran outside, away from the people who she always believed who were her family.
And that's the end of the chapter! Yeah, I had to make someone the villain, and I felt like Max is the only person who can pull it off. Sorry to anybody whose favorite character is Max.
Also, before I forget, here is a list of ships that are gonna be in this story: NaLu, GrUvia, RoWen, JerZa, GaLe, and some slight and comedic Loke/Aries and Aquarius/Scorpio.
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the story and please review! I'll see you all soon!
-Anna