Chapter Nine
Zora watched the petite girl drag a limp body. With every footstep, she looked as if she was about to fall over. The sagging form was bloodied, the crimson staining the girl's clothes. Zora didn't make any attempt to help her. Instead he continued to observe her pulling at the motionless figure until she gave up and just let his body hit the ground with a loud thump.
"I take it the meeting with our Master didn't go well," the archive mage assumed.
She rolled her eyes. "You could've helped me instead of watch me drag Taro's body."
He raised his dark eyebrows. "You were doing such a good job on your own. Besides you can use some muscles."
She huffed at him. "Some help you are."
"I'm not the one who failed my mission."
She glared at him. "You have no idea who we're dealing with. There's no way we can face Acnologia while we're low on magic."
"Excuses, excuses." Zora loved rearing up Lena's temper. He mostly gave her a hard time since she was their Master's pet.
"Next time I'm telling Master to send you on a mission to retrieve the girl since you're all confident that you can return her in one piece."
"Oh, I can. I won't use brute force like Taro. I'll use my head."
"That's all you are good for. Nothing else." He just leaned back in his seat. His brown eyes flickered to their sleeping princess in the cell. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be able to find her."
"Don't get too much of an ego. Master is the one who confirmed she's a Magical Source."
"But I still felt her power," he said while shrugging his shoulders. "Especially when she was close to death."
"She's going to die anyway. No one else survived being a Magical Source."
"You did," Zora pointed out. "Or did you forget?"
"I rather not talk about that."
"Or you prefer to think you were one of us from the start?" He simply smiled when the green-haired girl didn't answer him. What made her Master's favorite pet among all the other mages was she was once a Magical Source on the verge of dying. It was during their ritual that Master drained her dry of her magic and miraculously, she survived. Her heart, somehow, kept beating despite not having magical energy to sustain her. Master took interest in her and bequeathed her some of his magic, thus, reviving her.
Ever since, Lena worked on understanding her magic. With a simple touch, she could drain magic from her opponents or transfer her magical energy to her allies. She could discern magic users and keep them to memory. Physically, she knew hand-to-hand combat. She concealed daggers in her regular clothes and used her girlish appearance to deceive people. That was what made her deadly.
"I'm one of you," she said with venom in her voice. "I'll always be."
He lifted his hands into the air, although a smirk twisted on his face. "I just wanted to remind you where you came from. Sometimes you have the habit of thinking you're better than us."
She growled and Zora found himself laughing.
"Seriously, Zora. You're asking for her to hurt you," Garif interrupted their little interlude.
Zora turned to the other man. "No, I'm just teasing her a bit."
"Or you are baiting her for some reason."
The archive mage smiled and shook his head. The green-haired girl was the only one who could bring out some life in him. In fact, she had a way she brought out emotional reactions from the people around her. But she wasn't the only one with such an ability.
His smile lengthened on his face, turning sinister.
The green-haired girl took a step back, wariness flickering in her unusual white eyes. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Ah, you have someone else rivaling you for Master's attention."
Immediately, her face turned red, indicating her anger. Zora laughed openly, not fazed by her fury. To him, Lena was a kitten.
"That darn Sindle!" the petite girl shouted. She shifted her focus to the next person, already acknowledging he wasn't going to give her more information.
"Where did she go, Garif?" she questioned.
The other slender man passed a hand uncomfortably through his brunette hair. He seemed to wish he was elsewhere.
"You should've gone to your room," the archive mage said while laughing.
"Shut up Zora!" Lena yelled at him. She turned to the other man. The brunette male scratched his head awkwardly. His politeness caused him to falter before the green-haired girl.
"Garif," she warned.
"She went with the old man to speculate the scene."
Her white eyes widened. "She went to the forest to get the Magical Source."
"Yep," Zora said with glee. "She left with old man Charles Yu because she heard of your failure."
Lena glared at him. The fierceness of her white eyes would have impaled him if looks could kill. Instead, he grinned at her as she chose to ignore him.
"Garif, can you please take a look at Taro's wounds. Any more blood loss would greatly affect him." Considering they couldn't die easily, it was pointless for the manipulator to check on their ally. One of the side effects of harnessing powers from a Magical Source was a prolonged life. Master lived a long time with each of them -Garif, Taro, Sindle, Charles Yu, and himself- following their Master's lead. Lena came quite later on.
"Yes," Garif answered. With strength belying his lithe frame, the brunette lifted the muscular black-haired male and threw him over his shoulder. Garif left the cell while Lena gave the archive mage one last pointed stare.
He simply shrugged his shoulders, then returned to his boredom of babysitting the sleeping princess.
She stomped away, not bothering to hide her foul mood. Sindle was the first female to catch Master's attention. In fact, the rumor of Sindle being their Master's lover spread like a wildfire among the small group. Lena didn't like Sindle for that particular reason. If anyone could persuade Master to change his mind, it was definitely Sindle.
"Yep, you're going to have a big challenge to face Lena. If Sindle succeeds where you fail, then you're going to lose the soft spot Master has for you," he said after the green-haired girl and he took what time he had left reviewing the information in his archive.
For the first time Levy couldn't find it in herself to open her book to read. She was distracted by the disappearance of Team Natsu. Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray left to search for Lucy and yet Fairy Tail hadn't heard from them in days.
Master Makarov wasn't easy to deal with either, his mind too preoccupied with worry for his missing children. He had been pacing back and forth on the second landing. Laxus took over Fairy Tail's paperwork. Mirajane began taking S-Class missions. Lisanna and Kinana ran the bar. And well, the other members of Fairy Tail hardly accepted missions. They were either sulking or still waiting for word from Team Natsu or Lucy.
There were times Levy raised her blue head in wonder. Perhaps the celestial mage would walk through the door with a bright-eyed Team Natsu and confess that she was pulling everyone's legs. Or maybe she would be dragging back a gloomy Natsu who would then talk her into taking another mission.
She shook her head and sighed deeply.
"How many times you're going to do that, Shrimp?" Gajeel grumpily questioned her. Originally, she would have a retort for the nickname he gave her but she didn't have it in her to argue with him. Instead, she sighed again.
He raised a studded eyebrow at her. She lifted her head, the sight of the ceiling becoming her primary interest.
"Not reading your book, eh, Shrimp?"
He was goading her.
"I'm not in the mood."
"Why not?"
She raised her blue eyebrows, a slight smile forming on her face. "Usually, you get annoyed with me for reading. Now, you want me to read?"
"No," he growled at her.
A giggle escaped her, causing some of the Fairy Tail members to turn their heads.
Stifling the sound with her hand, she quickly apologized to them.
Her head shifted to the iron dragon slayer. Something akin to amusement flickered in his red eyes.
"Don't tell me," she began.
"Gihihihi," he barked in laughter.
Her lips tugged upward on her face and her head moved side-to-side. The other members were staring at them like they've gone crazy.
She hit his shoulder, then she rubbed her hand realizing she hurt herself more than him. He just smiled infuriatingly at her. "You are so terrible, making me laugh when I should be feeling like-."
"Like what?"
She blinked. "Horrible!"
"Shrimp."
"No," she said firmly. "Don't call me that!"
"Why not? You look like one."
Levy stood up from the bench. Her hands clenched into fists. "Oohh, you!"
"Gihihihi." His laughter roared in Fairy Tail. This time he got everyone's attention.
She slapped his shoulder hard, not caring if her hand got injured. "Seriously, you can be such a jerk!"
"And who knew that Shrimp can insult people."
Her cheeks flamed. "I have enough!" She pivoted on her feet, but as she was about to walk away, the doors to the Fairy Tail guild slammed open and a spiky orange head burst inside. Gajeel moved swiftly. He was standing before Levy, shielding her with his larger body.
Hearing the gasps from the other members, she peered at his side. "Loke," she whispered.
Master Makarov jumped from the second floor to the main floor. He landed right in front of Lucy's spirit. "What are you doing here? Where's Lucy, Natsu, and the others?"
The lion spirit seemed out of breath, as though he had been running for some time.
"Quick! Bring him some water!" the master ordered. Lissana reached him with a glass of cold water. Giving the item to the orange-haired male, Levy watched him gulp it down.
Whispers filled the air. "Something bad happened to Natsu and Lucy for him to be here."
"Erza, Gray and Happy must be in trouble."
"Lucy must have survived for Loke to be here."
"Loke must be bringing a warning."
"This has to be terrible news or else why is he here?"
Levy filtered out the rumor as she pushed Gajeel and the folks aside to get to Loke and Master Makarov.
"Loke," she said his name. Being one of Lucy's closest friends, the spirit immediately responded to her.
"Levy."
Seeing Loke meant that Lucy was okay. But she needed to hear his story before making any judgements. "What happened to Lu?"
"That's what I came to tell you about." His stare went from her to everyone else. "All of you, in fact."
Everybody held their breath. "Lucy won't be returning to Fairy Tail."
"What?" they asked in unison.
"It's not because she doesn't want to," he quickly filled in. "But because something…." He paused, looking for the right word. "Important came up."
"What is so important?" Levy questioned, trying to mull over what she knew about Lucy. There had been a change in attitude from her friend after the Tartaros attack. Lucy became quieter, choosing to remain alone. There was something weighing heavily on her shoulders, but like Lucy, Levy and the other guild members also had their troubles. Naturally, Levy assumed that her friend needed time away from the guild to sort out her concerns. Now, she was realizing that she should have been the pestering friend.
'Lu, I hope you can forgive me,' she mentally prayed. 'And wherever you are, you're going to be okay.'
"That's the thing," Loke meddled into her thoughts. "I have a lot to explain to all of you. And I have to do it before they get back."
"Wait!" someone yelled in the back. "Natsu, Erza, Gray and Happy are coming back?"
"Yes."
"That's great!"
The others started to cheer.
"Quiet, you brats!" Master Makarov shouted at his children. "Loke's not done with his explanation."
Everyone became silent.
Using the opportunity, the blue-haired script mage suggested, "Lisanna, I think you better get some tea over here. This may take a while."
The white-haired girl nodded her head and set straight away to do her task.
"All right. Better get to explaining why Lucy won't be coming back to Fairy Tail."
Loke bobbed his head. He inhaled a deep breath before letting it go. "This is why Lucy won't be returning here…."
The blond girl bit her lip in nervousness the moment Acnologia deposited her onto a bedding of luxurious furs and soft pillows in his den. It was the last place she expected to be since the tirade -him fighting her friends. Instead, she expected him to interrogate her for keeping the secret that they met before.
Her eyelashes lowered when she felt his intense stare on her form. "Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?" he questioned.
"For letting them, my friends, go."
"You're mine." He said the words so simply.
What could she say to him? She made a deal, herself over them. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "What next?"
He walked toward the bed, making Lucy scoot back. Laying down beside her, he draped an arm over his eyes while his head rested on one of the pillows. Again, Lucy bit her bottom lip. The long cape he wore over his bare chest opened out and she couldn't help but notice his abs.
She shook her head, hoping the heat from her cheeks would disappear. "Umm.. uh.. I think I can sleep elsewhere."
Putting both hands on the furry blanket, she used what little energy she had left to lift herself. She didn't realize that her stunt of trying to stop the dragon shift shaper from hurting her friends was going to exhaust her.
Instantly, strong fingers wrapped around her injured ankle. Lucy gasped in pain.
"You're still hurting."
"I'm okay."
"Don't lie. There is a shift in your scent and your heart beats faster."
Great, he was a lie detector too.
"I'm sorry. It's just that this is your bed and well… uhh…" She couldn't finish her sentence.
"I don't mind." She blinked. Had she heard him right?
"I..."
"Shut up. Your voice is too loud." Her mouth closed, and she sat down in silence.
He sighed and then shifted. His grip on her leg eased but her eyes rounded when his fingers slid along her calf in a subtle movement. She swallowed, anxiety gnawing at her.
"Relax."
"Uh… okay."
The corners of his lips lifted on his handsome face.
She tried to get comfortable on the bedding next to him. She settled for making herself as small as possible, drawing up her legs and wrapping her arms around them. She pressed her forehead against her knees.
"You need to rest."
Lucy would've blurted out she was fine but he would make note of her lie again. It wasn't the fact that she liked deceiving people. The fact remained she preferred to make things more convenient for them. She was used to making others happy, even if it meant putting her needs second.
His hand moved along her leg. Her head shot up. She had forgotten that he still held onto her. "You smell like the sunshine."
"I do?"
"It's your magical energy. Warm, bright, and divine."
"I've never heard someone describe my magic like that."
He chuckled. "You're a rarity."
"I don't think so. I'm a celestial mage. There are others out there like me."
He lifted the arm covering his eyes and gracefully sat up. His face moved to hers, his green eyes glinting. The blond girl almost fell backward.
"There are others but none of them are you." She would've frowned if she didn't feel so alarmed.
"Lie down," he murmured.
"But…."
"You need to sleep." He was right. She could barely move her body.
Helping her out, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her down on top of him. A gasp escaped her. She wiggled in his arms, trying to put some distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her, trapping her.
"Sleep… please."
That word –"please"- took the fight out of her. Her eyes closed, and she drifted into a deep slumber.
The blond was supposed to be a filthy human. He should feel disgusted with her in his arms but curiosity stripped away those parts from her. From his observations, he learned this blond girl was unlike any other human he ever met.
And now that she was his, it put a new meaning to everything.
With no one to witness his action, he experimented what he couldn't do to her when she was wide awake. He pressed his lips against her forehead. Hovering over her tender skin, he waited to see if he would feel disgust. What he felt transfixed him. He shifted closer to her, his lips touching her delicate skin. She smelled and tasted as good too. He decided he liked having her close.
She was a treasure, a diamond among the rocks.
But there were others who discovered her like the trash she called friends.
And since she agreed to be his, it meant that she would stay with him for an eternity. Those who wanted her would never have her.
What kind of Fairy Tail mage would leave a comrade behind?
The fact that Lucy sacrificed herself for them left a bitter taste in Natsu's mouth. He felt sickened with himself as he, Gray, Erza and Happy were forced to retreat. They lost contact with their precious teammate and friend.
Barely able to stand up, he just let himself fall to the ground. Erza and Gray practically crawled over to him as a pink-haired spirit flashed within the vicinity. There were bandages in her arms. A box with first aid supplies was laid out next to her. The requip mage let Virgo tend to her wounds. The ice mage grunted and complained while she disinfected his cuts and wrapped his injuries.
Natsu, on the other hand, refused to let the maid take care of him. He gritted his teeth, his hands fisting in the dirt.
"Why?" he growled in anger.
The maid blinked her blue eyes at him. She turned away from him to put away the bandages in the box.
"Damn it, why did you stop us?"
"You know why."
He didn't care about Lucy's wish. No one in their guild sacrificed a comrade to gain the upper hand in battle. Fairy Tail was supposed to be about making bonds that lasted a lifetime -in this sense it was family. And Lucy was an important part of that family.
"No I don't," he said, his voice sounded dark. His eyes narrowed on Virgo.
"Then you are a fool."
All eyes, except Natsu's, widened at the maid's choice of words. Usually, she spoke respectfully to others. She only let a playful side show when she was messing with her mistress.
"No, you betrayed us."
"Natsu, that's enough!" Erza said tersely, sensing a new type of danger.
But Natsu didn't hear her. "You helped him get away with Luce."
"Natsu!"
"You chained us down and stood on the sidelines while she faced him alone."
"Natsu!"
"You betrayed us and you betrayed her."
"Natsu!" This time Gray yelled at him. "Don't you hear what you're saying?"
The fire dragon slayer didn't listen to his teammates. With fury coursing through his body, flames flickered to life around him. He stood on his feet, his anger driving him to strike at the one who let Lucy get away.
Virgo stood, watching him unabashedly. His accusations falling on deaf ears. The moment he dashed at her, the maid lifted her hands and the chains around her wrist extended. The metal links wrapped around the fire mage's body, stilling his actions. He let out a powerful roar, his muscles bunching up under the chains. Swiftly, she ran to him, punching him to the ground.
Erza, Gray and Happy were too shock with the change of events to make a move.
"Are you really stupid fire breather?" The maid questioned him as she looked down at his prone form. The fire around his body had been distinguished when she struck him but he still had enough energy to struggle in his binds. "Princess saved your life. She left me with strict orders to tend to your wounds and to make you understand that she's not going back to Fairy Tail."
"Wait, what?" the raven head blurted out.
Happy drooped to the ground. There was a saddened expression on his face.
The knight of the group remained quiet. Her eyebrows tugged together.
"You're the stupid one if you think I'm going to let you convince me not to bring back Lucy," Natsu growled as he fought harder to break the maid's chains.
Virgo shook her head. "You're an idiot, throwing your life away when Princess did what she can to save you. She's much too kind to you."
"But Lucy is part of our guild," Erza finally said. "Whether she chose to give herself to the enemy to save us does not change the fact that she is one of us."
The maid turned to look at the knight with sternness. "Accept Princess' actions," the maid admonished. "Leave everything as it is. Any more interference will worsen what is already done."
"We took a job to defeat a monster," Happy whispered. Although his head was lowered and his little shoulders were hunched over in defeat, the spirit heard him clearly.
"Drop the mission and go home. Staying here will cost you your lives."
"Then we stay," Natsu snarled while he stopped moving in Virgo's chains.
The pink-haired spirit made a last attempt to persuade the group otherwise. "Talk to your master and hear his final decision."
"We stay," the fire dragon slayer confirmed for the last time.
The maid shrugged her shoulders. "I tried to reason with you. Princess will be upset if she learns that you didn't listen her and she will be saddened by your deaths." She bent down to retrieve her first aid box and then vanished with a flash of light.
A/N: Hi everyone. It's been a while. I will like to thank you all for your support in your reviews, especially for accepting the changes for the sake of this story. Personally, my original plan to keep this story short might change due to events going on -Fairy Tail, Acnologia/Lucy, Occult. Hope you all don't mind. In the next chapter I will put more interaction between our favorite pairing Acnologia/Lucy.
Also, to respond to a reviewer who leaves such long thoughtful reviews, kurahieiritr JIO, thank you and I can say that you're heading into a direction I want to delve in some more. I will like to elaborate but perhaps the next three chapters will explain more clearly the relationship between yin and yang theory.
And if you all don't mind, please review. Your reviews help spark inspiration in me.