Loneliness & Forgotten
"I can't believe they're back," Freed spoke in disbelief.
"Fairy Tail wins!" the announcer shouted.
The crowd cheered.
Zane's eyes trembled. "Laxus beat me and that girl Lucy turned Leo against me. It's they're fault." Zane's left eye turned purple. "It's all there fault!" A dark aura shot up out of him.
Natsu, Gray, and everyone else stopped in mid run. They looked over at the massive amount of magical energy pouring out of the man. "I'm going to make you pay. Laxus Dreyer, Lucy Heartfilia!"
Purple magic circles with cross bones in the middle appeared underneath Laxus and Lucy. A larger magical circle spread out across the ground. "You'll pay. I swear to make you pay. Sore Joker: Painful Memory!"
The dark purple energy that poured from Zane's body shaped into points that came straight for Lucy and Laxus' eyes.
"Stop right now!" Natsu flew toward Zane with his fist on fire. He decked the Phoenix Wing wizard straight in the face. Zane soared back through the air. He crashed into the wall once again with his spell disappearing.
Zane stood on his knees as the dust cleared. He looked at his own hands as his body started to fade away. "No, don't tell me I didn't have enough power for the spell." Zane's body was breaking apart, becoming sparkling dust that floated up in the air.
He glared at Laxus and Lucy. "I swear to make you two pay. Even if I am no longer of this world." The rest of Zane faded away into dust.
"Why is he mad at us?" Lucy asked. The blond girl then felt a sharp pain and shut her eyes. She wrapped her arm over her stomach.
"Lucy and Laxus are still hurt let's get them to Porlyusica," Erza told her injured teammates. The Fairy Tail wizards picked up Laxus and Lucy and headed out of the arena to the infirmary.
Erza and the others who fought Zane on the blond wizards' behalves had been bandaged up and watched with their master as Porlyusica finished checking out Laxus and Lucy. "I've checked everything I can think of." The old woman lowered her hands down into her lap. "From what I can tell you two need rest from such an ordeal."
"That's good to hear," the Fairy Tail master said. "Thank you, Porlyusica."
"Hmm." Bickslow looked around.
"What's the matter, Bickslow," Freed questioned.
"I thought I sensed another soul here just a second ago, but it's gone now," he answered.
"It's just a relief to know you guys will be alright." Wendy stepped forward.
"Yeah!" the others cheered.
"Thanks, you guys," Lucy could barely get the words out.
Elsewhere in Fiore deep inside a forest, the ghost of Zane stepped in front of a large tree. His gaze lifted up the tree's length. "This shall be the start of a brand new nightmare for Fairy Tail." He touched the tree.
All the leaves fell off the tree and it quickly died with darkness surrounding it. The darkness quickly spread to the other trees close by, killing them in the same way. Zane's eyes trembled with madness. "This will be your punishment, Lucy and Laxus."
Lucy entered her apartment, turning the lights on. She lifted her hands above her head, stretching out. "I'm finally back." She dropped her hands down and opened her eyes. "It feels like forever since I've been here." She shut the door behind her.
The Grand Magic Games were finally over after all the craziness with Zane Vainhope. His guild had been questioned about the man by the magic council. Once it was believed they knew nothing about Zane's plans they were allowed to continue the games.
Though Fairy Tail was badly beaten from their fight with Zane they rally together and won the games for a second year in a row. Lucy sighed, although it was actually Fairy Tail B that won. She didn't even want to think about the punishment Laxus and the others were going to give them tomorrow.
The tired blond managed to make it over to her bed. She was too tired to change her clothes from all the excitement and partying. She crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep.
The ghost of Zane stood outside of Lucy's window, glaring at the girl.
Laxus rested soundly in his bed.
The ghost of Zane walked up to the lightning wizard's bed. He raised his hand above the man's sleeping body. He narrowed his eyes. "It's time you disappear for good." His eyes glowed purple. Laxus faded away.
The blanket dropped back on the bed. "One down," Zane said.
The ghost of Zane stepped up to Lucy's bed. He raised his hand and his eyes glowed. "Fall into despair." Lucy faded away in a sprinkle of dust, leaving only her keys behind. "Now for the rest of this town."
He brought his hand down to his side. He then lifted both his hands into the air. "Forget these two fairies ever existed."
A large black magic circle appeared above the town and spun around, casting a bright light.
The next day, the doors to the guild hall busted open. Loke stood at the doors, holding them open and looking at the members of the guild. "Where's Lucy?"
All the members of the guild stopped what they were doing, looking at the lion spirit. "Lucy?" Gray questioned. He and Natsu were in the middle of a fight.
"Who's that?" Natsu asked.
Mira came from behind the bar. "Is she a girlfriend, pal?" Natsu started to fight Gray again.
Loke stepped further into the guild. "You've got to be kidding me! You were all with her just yesterday."
"That's enough, they clearly don't remember, Loke."
Loke turned around to see who was talking. "Porlyusica."
The old woman walked into the guild hall.
The master of Fairy Tail came forward. "Porlyusica, what are you doing here? No one here is injured."
"You forgotten, you old fool," Porlyusica said. "I guess it's no surprise sense this entire town has been putted under a spell."
"A spell?" Mira said in utter shock.
"What kind are you talking about?" the master questioned.
"A mind altering one." The woman walked toward the old man. "It was set to make you forget your own grandson Laxus and a girl name Lucy Heartfilia."
"What? Me a grandfather? But I thought my son Ivan didn't have any children."
"Seriously, gramps has a grand kid," Natsu said.
"But why would anyone do that?" Loke asked.
"Mararov, you asked me to look into a spell called Sore Joker: Painful Memory," Porlyusica began to explain. "It took me some time, but I finally found the information. The caster choices those that he believes has wronged him casting a spell to punish them; however it doesn't directly fall upon them when the spell is cast.
"The spell waits until the targets are completely alone before taking them away and making all those that know and care about them forget they even existed," the old woman said.
"So then why do the two of you remember?" Carla asked.
"It must be because I'm a Celestial spirit," Loke said.
"Really, Loke?" Happy questioned. The little blue cat flew in front of the spirit.
"So you don't remember that, either," Loke responded disappointed.
Erza stepped forward with her arms crossed. "I remember you telling us that and you belonged to someone." She lowered her head with a serious expression on her face, wrapping her hand around her chin. "Now who was it?"
"Lucy," Loke yelled.
"The person that cast the spell didn't have much power left," Porlyusica stated. "Even by sacrificing his body he could only cast the mind alter spell over Magnolia."
"But what did he do with Laxus and Lucy?" Loke questioned.
"He took them to a forest of dark memories," Porlyusica answered. "It's a place that will force them to relive the most painful moments of their lives over and over again until they can no longer take it. Even as they sleep they will be tormented. It will drive them into such despair that the only solution will be to kill themselves to end the pain."
"Where is this forest, Porlyusica?" Makarov questioned.
"The forest is created where ever the caster chooses," Porlyusica explained. "He could have placed it inside of any forest in Fiore or simply a part of a forest inside of any forest in Fiore in order to keep it as hidden as much as possible."
"But what I don't get is why I can't even sense Lucy," Loke said.
Porlyusica shifted her eyes back to the spirit. "Once someone enters the forest their presence can't be felt, seen, or even smelled from anything outside it. Only once you enter the forest will those things come back, but if they kill themselves before that the forest will disappear and your memories of them will come back to leave you all in despair as well."
Natsu punched his fist into his hand. "Well, we can't let that happened. If our fellow Fairy Tail wizards are in trouble we'll set them free."
"No one has lasted in that forest for more than five days," Porlyusica told them. "You have that time or less to find and save their lives."
"Then let's start looking."
-M-
Laxus woke up in a cold sweat. His breath was heavy as he sat up on the dead ground. "What was that?" Laxus' body wouldn't stop shaking and his mind felt hazy after the dream he just had. He stared at his own trembling hands for a moment.
He then looked around to see a thick fog coming off the ground. All the trees that surround him were dead and blackness covered the area as if it were late at night with barely any moonlight. "Where am I? And how did I get here?"
He managed to pick himself off of the ground, clenching his teeth. "I don't know what this is, but I'm not interested in staying here for a second longer." The lightning wizard walked forward a couple of steps.
"How could someone like that possibly be in Fairy Tail?"
Laxus looked around. "Mira, is that you?"
"You jerk."
"Natsu."
"Why don't you tell the others how you really feel?"
"So let me get this straight. You messed up so bad that your own grandfather kicked you out of the guild, man how lame?"
"A person like has no right to be Fairy Tail's Master."
"You ungrateful, child Laxus!"
The voices echoed all around the lightning wizard, having him look in every direction as the many voices of his family and friends came from the dead trees. "What the hell is this?"
"He's such a jerk."
Laxus faced forward. His eyes opened wide. "What the-?" A vision of him with his grandfather stood before him.
"You are here by expelled from Fairy Tail," Makarov told him as he stretched his hand to the side.
"When I was expelled." Laxus covered his ears as the hateful words toward him from his fellow Fairy Tail wizards grew louder by the moment. He fell to his knees and shut his eyes. "Stop it, stop it." His own painful past flowed through his mind like a river, not allowing him to think of anything else.
Elsewhere in the forest, the same horror fell on Lucy. She laid on her side with her ears covered and tears falling down her face as she remembered her father, the lost of her mother, and slowly started to see the pain of her friends getting hurt on her behalf.
"Please, I…."
The ghost of Zane stood above her with a smile. "You'll never see a good thing again."