Were you guys expecting this by any chance?
I think not. Anyways I do apologize for the lateness of the chapter mainly because I wanted to make this chapter extremely long, and with the hopes that this with clear up some of your grief and anxiousness about Jellal and Erza.
Once again sorry to keep you guys waiting!
Repercussions
So far the mission was going well, expect for the fact that Jellal had his briefcase next to him, which made it practically impossible for me to just pickpocket it. Uncapping the navy blue ballpoint ink pen; setting the cap on the table, I mindlessly wrote down their orders of a cup of black coffee, a glass of ice tea, two sets of finger sandwiches and scones. When I turned to pass their orders to the chef like a good naïve waitress, I was stopped by Jellal asking, "Aren't you going to cap your pen?"
Turning back I explained, "No, this helps me keep track of orders. I color coded every order I get with different ink colors, a little personal habit of mine." I laughed nervously, praying that they wouldn't find the tiny listening device inside the dark blue pen cap, "We're about to enter the peak hours, you know?"
"I see." By the tone of the blue haired man's voice it really didn't sound convincing as I noticed out of my eye Zeref with a strange eyebrows furrowed look on his face if anything it looked like he was trying to remember something important. I handed the order to the elderly cook, who asked while squinting, "Are you new here?"
Nodding I told the grey haired chef, "First day here. I worked as a waitress before."
During missions, body guarding requests, and stakeouts. I added silently. Luckily the old cook wasn't well informed or suspicious of me, and said that he'll have the order in five minutes top. Once more, I glanced to their table, well more specifically Zeref, who had ordered the coffee and my smile turned into a frown.
Why? Since the moment he entered the café, I felt the need to be on guard…..to at least have a kitchen knife in my hand, but in this cover I wouldn't be able to find the need to do so. Was this man really capable of killing anybody? Then again, I shouldn't judge people by their appearances especially those that are known for mass murder.
Five minutes later, I heard the chef call for 'Eve' as I attended to other customers. I was done with collecting their cash from behind the counter; I went to the chef, who handed me Jellal and Zeref's order. Going over to their table, Zeref noticed me coming over to their table with their order and immediately mumbled something that caused Jellal to stop in their conversation but I hoped Juvia caught on the recording device in the van. While I placed their orders I noticed that one of them had set the blue cap to the edge of the table as if something was placed in the center of the table where the cap was originally placed.
Instinctively I could tell that something was there otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to move it. My eyes looked around their table to find anything that they would have put on the table as I placed their orders down onto the table. That's when the chef called me once more, "Eve! Someone's on the phone, she wants to talk to you about some wedding arrangements!"
Wedding arrangements? I could only assume it was Mirajane calling at such an important time, but I welcomed the distraction since I was fresh out of ideas for a distraction. "Hello? This is Eve."
"Lucy," I sighed in relief. It's Juvia. The blue haired woman said, "The information is a plain file folder with a big red 'x' on the tab inside Jellal's briefcase. Can you get it?"
"It's too heavily guarded and plus," I glanced back to Zeref's back then fixed my eyes onto the wall in front of me, "it's too risky with Zeref there. I could distract Jellal, but that guy…. He's too…. How shall I put it… He's on guard with everything and everyone." Like the world's against him.
"Gray's going to provide the distraction, he's on his way." said Juvia as I heard the clacks and clicks of a computer. I questioned, "How?"
"He'll think of a way."
Erza's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she felt a certain blonde spiky haired man's stare while the two in the luxurious orange Mustang were stopped by a street light. "Laxus. If you have something to say just say it."
"It's good to have you back, Erza. And you should wear that more often now. Floral dresses and blouses look horrible on you." The scarlet haired woman was wearing a dark blue blazer over a white top with dress pants which was the opposite of what would she wear during her days as a married woman. Erza snorted, "Like you're one to talk, The Man in the Yellow Suit."
Laxus grumbled as the street light turned green, "That was only a onetime thing, Erza. It's not like I had a choice!"
"Mhm." Turning to the corner, the two finally reached the house covered with secrets and began their mission.
Gray Fulbuster hated explosives.
Why?
Because there would always be an intense heat that came after the bombs would go off. Growing up in the icy mountains in the north, Gray never experienced an extreme amount of heat until he came down south of Magnolia. Nor did Juvia if he recalled the first time they met in the ungodly summer season a few years back, but that was a story for another time.
Calmly parking the old rusty maroon truck in front of the black sedan that Juvia told him was Zeref's car, Gray got out of the truck going over to the back peeping under the old dusty green cloth that covered the multiple coolers that had simple flammable household products along with a remote controlled explosive inside said coolers.
The raven haired man looked up to see the two men at the window, and began counting down while walking away from the truck as normal as possible. 5…
Taking out his phone, Gray put in his password which was the numbers of his shared apartment with Juvia. …4…
Gray pulled up the dial pad on his I phone. …3…
Tapping in the code to set off the explosives, he felt nothing but cold resolve running through his veins. Gray promised himself that the two equally sadistic bastards would be the only ones getting hurt. 2…
….1….0
Going back to their table I asked, "Is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you." said Jellal politely as Zeref nodded in agreement.
"Okay, tell me when you're finished and I'll bring you your bill."
"We wil-" Jellal's reply was cut off short when the old rusty maroon truck beside them exploded in a wave of fiery hell. It took only a second or two for heat of said explosion to break the window glass and cause everyone beside the window to fall back in the mess of shattered glass including me. After all who wouldn't be scared seeing a car explode right in front of your eyes?
Naturally the next that came up was shouts and screaming. Taking the opportunity to snatch the file folder among the distraction, I crawled quickly to the table reaching for the suitcase that was now on its back. My fingers quickly took action as I pulled out the file that held my partner's life. I did it!
I got up dusting off the debris and noticed I had gained a few minor cuts from the shattered glass. It was amazing how both Zeref and Jellal had minor injuries as well despite being so close to the explosion. I could tell how the black haired man wasn't shaking in fear, he probably had many attempts on his life before this, but he still froze at the sight of the now burning car.
Glancing at Jellal, I wonder how he had taken all of this, and strangely enough, Jellal's eyes seemed transfixed on the burning car a few feet away from him as if he was reliving a past memory. The cold hardness in his eyes seemed to harden even more at the sight. With each passing second he watched the fire while one of the male customers shouted to the three of us, "Are you guys okay?!"
The blue haired man was still staring at the fire until Zeref got up and whispered something in his ear. Jellal snapped his head towards Zeref so that he could look him in the eye, and then mouthed something to the black haired man who in return grinned. Knowing that I would have to go soon, I took one last look at the two before hightailing it out of there. I couldn't take a breath of relief till Juvia and I got back to the Agency.
Erza glared at the password locked computer in front of her. The scarlet haired woman tried every combination that related to their relationship with each other. Her first and last name, the day he proposed to her, their wedding date, his least favorite food, everything!
Maybe… No! He'd never choose that… But it's worth a shot.
Carefully Erza typed in:
Tower of Heaven
Her eyes widened as the computer accepted the password, surpassing a shiver at why Jellal would put something like that as his password was beyond her. Was it to constantly remind himself of what he did? She thought continuing to look through her husband's files while inserting a standardized black encrypted flash drive into a port.
Some were important, but surprisingly weren't locked expect for one which was named Zeref. The window was right in front of her, yet there were three attempts that could be made as shown on the bottom of the window, and on top of it were three text boxes and in between them were dashes, which Erza at that moment deduced that the password was in the format of a very important date.
Our wedding date? Great two more attempts before this thing gets shot to oblivion. Our anniversary? Oh god no. He's not that sentimental. Holy hell, I really have become one of those housewives from the around the block! It could be spy related… Or it might be something like his user password! …Don't tell me-
"Oi Erza!" hollered Laxus, who was in charge of watching the premises in case of unexpected guests.
"I'm in the middle of something here!" Erza snapped back while typing in a certain date. The day of the massacre.
"Well make it quick, your 'husband' just got home!" Once the lock accepted the date, a wave of relief settled Erza for a brief moment before she hissed to the impatient Laxus who was standing at the doorway. "Extract the files, I'll deal with Jellal."
"… You sure?" The spiky blonde wasn't sure how that confrontation would turn out. Partner against partner. Especially those two, no doubt he would hear a gunshot or two. He didn't really care much for the blueberry bastard, but he was concerned over the strawberry cake loving female in front of him.
"Yes, now get your ass over here!" Erza got up from the office chair; she paused for a moment before pulling out the bottom drawer of the office desk. Taking out a small revolver, Erza took a peek into the empty chamber while using her other hand to get some bullets as a safety precaution. Laxus took her place preparing to extract the files from Jellal's computer. The scarlet haired woman took a deep breath of cold air before turning on her heel, and walking down the stairs.
"Honey, are you home?" Erza frowned at the sweet yet utterly distasteful name. Twenty-four hours ago, she could have happily replied with his name and went to him like an obedient housewife (the mere thought of that now sickened her to her stomach), but now she was different yet she had to keep playing along with the role of the 'dumb and innocent' wife. While going down the stairs, she said, "Jellal? I thought you were at work. Did you forget a file again?"
"Something like that." Her husband said, and by the slight tremble tone in his voice Erza could tell without a doubt that he, of all people was shaken up as she got to the bottom of the stairs. By who? Erza had to wonder as Jellal embraced her tighter than he had ever before.
"Jellal?" She asked innocently while devising a strategy on how to go about this unexpected development. Erza had seen many sides of Jellal before, but not this trembling form of Jellal. "Is something wrong?"
"No… Everything's fine… Why are you wearing a suit?" The scarlet haired woman didn't stiffen. No she knew at this distance every move could lead to a disaster, their heartbeats could tell whether the person was scared or calm, the movement of their body could invoke the slight of suspicion from either one of them, the emotions that control their entire being, truly everything was laid bare for the other to see or rather to feel.
"I was at a job interview." Thump. Thump. Erza pulled back and had been counting down the seconds before she made a crucial move.
Jellal winced at the pain of the glass shards stinging his back as he looked towards the woman who was straddling his stomach with a very familiar revolver that he had in his desk drawer upstairs pressed against his forehead. "You regained them, haven't you?"
"ERZA, I GOT IT!" Jellal craned his head to the voice of his once best friend, "Laxus?"
The blonde man was coming down the stairs stopping to see Erza straddling Jellal. Biting back the words he was going to comment on their position he growled specifically to the other tattooed man not holding back his anger, "As much as I love to beat the bloody crap out of you, I think Erza would like to do the honors instead. I'm going to contact Mira, okay?"
"Got it." Her voice was laced with a wave of boiling rage, sadness, and more of all betrayal. They stayed there for what seemed like hours. Their thoughts wrapped around their mind.
"Tell me…" She said with her voice cracked. "Do you still love me?"
Jellal blinked surprised at her question. He knew that his fate would be decided on his answer, and sure enough he said, "No."
The blue haired man didn't want her to forgive him; no he didn't deserve it or her. If he was going to pay for his sins right then and there; the person he would allow to put a bullet through his head would be the woman that stole his heart on top of him right now.
His ears caught the sound of the safety being pulled backwards, and Jellal closed his eyes in surrender to the sweet cold death that was going to be upon him in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately his wish wasn't granted as he felt a burst of pain when something hard collided with his right temple, and Jellal blacked out.
When Juvia and I got back to the Agency, Natsu was there with his arms folded and I braced myself for an onslaught of anger, betrayal, and hurt to stab between us.
"Juvia, Mira wants to see you." Juvia gave my partner a small nod before glancing to me apologetically. Once she got to the doors, I ran my tongue over my cracked lips unsure of how to approach the brooding pink haired man in front of me. Anger dripped from every pore in his inch of his bare skin, I knew what I did was dangerous in his eyes, but I'd rather hunt Zeref down myself than let him touch a single hair on Natsu's head, and I'm pretty sure that Natsu could have done the same for me if I hadn't made the first move.
"I won't say I'm sorry, Natsu." I spoke once the cold silence almost settled in between us. Silence was never our thing; it was louder than this.
"I know. I would've done the same. Why didn't you take me with you?"
"Zeref is after you, Natsu. It'd be like hanging a mouse over a cat's head. I wasn't going to take that risk."
"I can take care of myself. It's you I worry about." stubbornly said Natsu folding his arms before continuing, "That was completely reckless. You could have gotten kidnapped or worse."
"Like you're one to talk. How many times have I had to get your ass out of enemy bases?"
"Those are completely different from what you just did." dismissed Natsu quickly with a wave of his hand as I folded my arms, "Oh really? The twelve clowns."
He stiffened as he was most likely remembering the operation that nearly got Natsu's arm cut off by an axe. The twelve clowns as the name suggests that the mission involved twelve clowns with rifles, axes, and a small circus car with a massive amount of drugs that the circus was selling.
"Hawkeye with tacos. The black sea and white dust. Hot chili peppers. Do you want me to continue?"
"No. No. I get it." My pink haired partner held up his hands in surrender.
"Good. So do you forgive me for going solo?" I asked the question that was gnawing away my exhausted mind as Natsu nodded before observing the cloudy sky, "We should go in. It looks like it's going to rain soon."
With a smile, I took his warm hand and walked back with Natsu to the building.
Jellal was a man of many talents and many weaknesses, he pondered on what he should next. Even a captured man has plans to execute. Famous mafia bosses and corrupted police men that were in the same state as he is in right now managed to get out, so why couldn't he do it? The tattooed man had considered the fact that he couldn't raise a finger against his captors, his friends who without doubt want to torture the crap out of him for what he did, and the fact that he had no one to rely on except Ultear. Unfortunately he knew the woman wouldn't give two shits about him no matter how close he was to her cause that's how the world was.
I should just accept my fate. Jellal wistfully thought thinking back to the latest memory in his throbbing head. Even after all the drugs, she still manages to beat me senseless.
Jellal looked up from his hands as he heard the door creaked opened, and he saw the last person he thought would interrogate him. The blue haired man expected it to be Mirajane or Laxus, but no not her.
When her husband gave her that wistful smile Erza's hand twitched slightly, she held back the urge to slug him again. The rage in her had still yet to simmer down as she pulled out the chair. This man infuriated her, but deep down she understood the reasons for what he did. But…
"So you're just going to sit there?" demanded Erza with her arms folded, "Look Jellal. The only reason why I didn't put a bullet in your head before although I reconsidered that after visiting with Lucy to here was that I wanted to know what were your reasons you giving me drugs and making me live like a housewife."
Jellal chuckled at her. He couldn't help it! It was that fieriness in her was one of the reasons he fell in love with her in the first place. "Sorry. Sorry. But we both know why I'm here and why I did what I did, Erza."
"I still need a verbal confession from you." Jellal glanced down to the old videocassette recorder on the desk, knowing that he should be throwing it against the wall, but would invoke the rage of the person in front of him and the current heads of his previous workplace.
I guess I have no choice. The blue haired man thought. "A few years ago… Do you remember, Erza? It was around the time of the massacre, you pointed it to me that I was acting weird, and that when it all started…"
Jellal couldn't believe his eyes well actually he did, but it was a form of expressional shock and disbelief. There it was the gift that he was sure that Erza would be truly happy about right in front of his enormous 2 foot tall strawberry shortcake made especially for Erza by her favorite bakery on their seventh anniversary as a couple. The tattooed man thanked the bakery manager and took the packaged cake from the counter and used his back to open the bakery door.
Brr.. Brr..Sighing Jellal had to wonder who could be calling him during his day off. Please not Laxus. Please not Laxus. Please not Laxus. Please not Laxus. The cake carrying man silently prayed as he fumbled into his pocket for his phone. His childhood friend hadn't forgiven Jellal after the Last Lemon Pie incident, which resulted in three broken ribs, a black eye, a 'you're sleeping on the couch for one month' from the blonde's fiancé, and a ongoing week of grumbling phone calls from the petty muscular man.
"Hello Jellal." The said man stiffened at the unknown caller's voice out of caution, "Who is this?"
"The one you've been ordered to investigate on and I have to say excellent work on the new profile you made for me. Some of these places I just visited a couple of days ago. Amazing how the Agency has changed. I still remember the time where we had to follow our targets and infiltrate their houses undetected." mused the man on the other line.
"If you know I'm hunting you why are you calling me? And how do I know if you are really Zeref?" asked Jellal as 'Zeref' countered with another question, "Why are you hunting me then?You should trust your gut on this one, Jellal."
"I think you already know the answer to that question." Jellal said while he started to walk again as he felt a sense of dread hearing Zeref continue to talk.
"I do. You see Jellal, I have a special interest with you."
"A special interest with me?" repeated Jellal as Zeref continued, "The Tower of heaven."
The blue haired operative froze completely, "How'd you know about that?"
"A little birdie told me. Very interesting don't you think? Twelve dead, and thirteen injured human traffickers with all the prisoners freed at a great price. I wonder if your fiancée knows about the death toll."
"What do you want Zeref? Cause once I get my hands on you I'll-"
"You'll what, Jellal? You don't even know where I am. All I want from you is to do a small request. If you refuse, who knows what will happen to your red head eating a strawberry crepe right now."
"Don't you date bring Erza into this!" shouted Jellal as he walked faster to the Agency knowing full well what Zeref was capable of, and what Erza would be eating at that time after all he was her boyfriend. If he's got her under surveillance there's nothing much I can do. Thought Jellal as Zeref continued, "I won't do anything to her yet. If you don't do what I'm about to say then I'll have to punish you."
"... Alright what do you want me to do?"
"Kill Makarov Dreyer."
"Did you do it?" asked Erza warily even though she knew the answer to that. Somewhere in her heart she wanted to believe him regardless of the cold truth right in front of her.
"I figured you would know the answer to that, Erza. That was the first time Zeref contacted me. I assume you'll want to get a new tape, right?" finished off Jellal as Erza scowled before getting up, knowing that the man was right. Glancing over to one way mirror, the scarlet haired woman went to open the door, and closed it behind her.
Mirajane and I watched as the interrogation unfolded before us, and I said, "Hey Mira. Can I ask you something trivial?"
"Go for it. I'm assuming that you want to know about us." Nodding I said, "How'd you guys meet? Cause the way I see it, your relations with one another go far beyond what me and Natsu share with Gray and Juvia in terms of co-working with other partners."
"Laxus and I met long time ago. Laxus's grandfather, Makarov took me, Lisanna, and Elfman in after our parents died. He knew them well, and fought tooth and nail for us to be in his custody. I was only ten at that time. Three years later… We met Jellal and Erza. They had came with Laxus's grandfather from a," Mira paused her eyes trailed back to the duo before continuing, "Human trafficking organization called the Tower of Heaven. Lisanna got Erza to talk to her with a strawberry shortcake, and Jellal didn't crack till Erza shared her cake with him. I can still remember the teasing from Laxus afterwards. At that time, I could only imagine the pain the two of them suffered at that horror, and now I understand what they've gone through just in a different way."
I stayed quiet for a moment letting that story sink in. I could only imagine the betrayal and suffering it must have cause my bosses, but there was one question on my mind. "What are you going to do to Jellal now?"
"There's only one thing I would do to him."
"Mira." Our heads turned to the now open door, and saw Laxus.
"What Laxus?" asked Mira as her husband responded, "Cana's awake, are you coming?"
Mirajane nodded bore turning to me, "Go into the room and try and get him to tell us some more. I don't think he's wants to tell anything to Erza, and we just installed a listening device in the room before Jellal came here. Can you do that for me?"
I nodded, "Okay, I'll try."
Resting my hand on the knob of the interrogation room, I inhaled a small portion of oxygen then exhaling a second later while opening the door. Closing the door behind me, I turned my head to face him. "Hello Jellal."
He inclined his head, "Lucy."
"What you say in here will be off the books, and away from Erza, Mira, and Laxus's ears."
"Where are they?" I pulled out the chair that was preoccupied by Erza. "They went to see an injured agent that woke up recently. So tell me Jellal Fernandes, what truly happened in the massacre?"
"How perceptive of you. But what makes you think I'll tell you?" He crossed his arms, and I raised a brow. A challenge? Bring it on.
"I don't. All I know is that you don't want Erza to find out or anyone from the Agency that was in it before the massacre for that matter. So you must have your reasons, like I have my own. You know I get it. You want to protect her, but did you think she wants you to go through all of that just for her? Furthermore shouldn't you have told Erza no matter what the risk? Even after all those years the result will be the same. Secrets can lead to anger and betrayal. When Erza comes back, I hope you can tell her everything instead of masking the answers that are right in front of her face like a fool."
The door opened as I got up turning around to see Erza and sadly not Natsu (who was supposed to be with me for the interrogation but didn't show up), smiling I gave the other woman a brief squeeze on the shoulder and said, "I won't rat you out on Mira if you decide to knock a tooth or two out of him. Try not to knock him unconscious, okay?"
Erza smiled back with a nod. "Okay."
Closing the door behind me, I went back into the room that I previously occupied with Mira and made myself some coffee since it was getting late and I knew this interrogation would take longer as Jellal continued his story reluctantly.
"I'm giving you a limit of twenty four hours, if you don't deliver... You know what will happen. Try to go out with a bang, Jellal." Without another word, Zeref hung up, and Jellal closed his phone walking hastily pure anger and fear rippled through his muscles.
Twenty hours later...
Jellal was running out of time, and he wasn't sure if he could save people he carted the most about. His body sickened him whenever he picked up the phone to call his contacts, he would feel this nauseous wave overcome his very soul and he would hang up before anyone picked up on the other line.
"Jellal!" The blue haired man stiffened before turning around, "Erza. What's wrong?"
"You've been acting weird lately, is something wrong?" She said worriedly as her fiancée replied, "I'm fine, Erza it's just something I'm working on right now. I have to go report to Maka-"
BRING! BRING!
Jellal glanced down to his pocket pulling his phone out, "Hello?"
"I told you to go out with a bang, Jellal. It's a shame that you failed to do what I asked, and now you're going to pay the piper."
"No don't-"
With a click the line disconnected, as Jellal looked up and saw Erza with a frown, "Jellal. What's going o-"
The scarlet haired woman was quickly cut off as they both saw a flash of light before the whole building started to tremble.
Jellal grabbed her shoulders, and gave a tight squeeze, "Erza, I need you to go evacuate everyone, I'll be right back."
Quickly he took off feeling that horrible nauseous wave again. He had to go find Makarov otherwise, who'd know what Zeref would do to kill him. Please let me make it in time!
Smoke had started to form around him as he heard the shouts of his fellow comrades evacuating, he called out as he reached where the elderly man was most likely to be, the control center "Makarov!"
Jellal saw his worst fears come to life as he saw helplessly Makarov on the ground. There wasn't any blood any open wounds on him until the short man started to cough blood up. Instantly Jellal was by his side, "Makarov!"
"Jellal." The man coughed as the tattooed man gripped the old man's hand with the only conclusion he could guess with his guardian's condition, "Poison?!"
The shriveled man started coughing once more, "Jellal…"
"Don't speak! Who did this to you?"
"Didn't I tell you to call me father?"
"Idiot, you say this now?"
"This is why-" Makarov spit out another ounce of blood, "I'm saying it, brat. Now I want you to listen up good, okay?"
"Don't you dare think that you'll die here, now!"
"Jellal Fernandes." The blue haired man closed him mouth, knowing to do so when Makarov used his full name, "Shoot me."
"What?"
"Do it." commanded Makarov while Jellal paused. Should he do this?
"Please Jellal. Let me go in peace not agony." Hesitantly Jellal stood up and pulled out his pistol, using his other hand to hold the gun's grip steadily. All his childhood life, Jellal struggled to survive, and Makarov saved him from that gory hell. In a sense this was a debt that was about to be fulfilled. Struggling to hold back the tears, Jellal held the gun firmly. His knuckles soon turned white as he rested his index finger on the trigger.
"Goodbye, father."
The old man put on a small smile as the traitor pulled the trigger silently mourning in the flames of despair.
Instantly Erza was over the desk grabbing him by the collar of his dirty shirt.
"How-" the scarlet haired woman choked out in extreme anger and confusion, "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me, Jellal?"
The 'traitor' stayed silent definitely blaming himself for the matter. "God damn it, Jellal if you don't answer me you're in a trip to the morgue!"
"I-I just wanted to protect you, Erza." He said lamely, but in truth that was his intentions from the start. Erza snarled giving in to the boiling anger within her like oil in a pan on a fire after two minutes, "If you wanted to protect me then you should have told me the truth from the start! If he," She just couldn't say his name, no not yet. Not after all the years of not visiting his grave and she had yet to do so since she did have a job to do.
The man whom she had treated like a father would understand, Makarov always would understand each and every one of them, "If those were his last wishes…. You could have told me. You could have made me understand that they had poisoned him, and that the poison had eroded his last defenses and all he wanted was peace!"
Letting him go, Erza glared at him one last time before walking out of the room. Closing the door behind her she slumped to the ground, not caring if the people passing by her cared about that. What she cared about was the situation Jellal had been in, and was damn frustrated with him. If he was being monitored I could understand if he sent me a coded message or something or let me know what the hell was going on!
"Damn it."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay here, Lucy?" asked Mira as I shook my head, "If I stay here any longer, I'll tense up and start stressing you know how it is. Could you tell Natsu, not to use my fire escape while entering through my window? He's making an unhealthy habit of it."
"Okay, I will… Lucy?"
"Yeah Mira?"
"Thank you for everything."
"You're welcome, Mira I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Lucy." Mira waved as I waved back, "You too, Mira."
Walking forward to the Agency's doors I saw that it was already started to rain, and a lot too.
I stepped into my apartment, completely exhausted with today's events. A hot shower before Natsu gets here should do the trick. I thought while turning the left knob for the hot water to come gushing out. I stepped into the shower letting the hot water wet my body, reminiscing about my stressful day.
Jellal, Erza, Zeref, Natsu. I thought lathering my hair with my favorite Heart vanilla shampoo. What are we going to do now?
After spending a good amount of time cleaning out the smoky stink from the explosion out of my hair and skin pores, I reached for the towel and slid the flowery shower curtain aside. Frowning at the curtains, I remembered the first time I had gotten this apartment with a garbage smelling Natsu in tow.
We had just came back from a operation that had me end up with a right arm cast and Natsu in a dumpster wearing a chicken suit (Gray wouldn't let Natsu live it down for a couple of weeks until Gray himself ended up wearing a bath towel walking all the way back to his place, because Natsu burned his clothes while he was in the gym shower). I got to shower first, then my stupid arm had to get in the way, and I ended up with an extremely painful head bump as a result.
Natsu came bursting into the shower, and when the glass door wouldn't open for him as he panicked at the sight of my crumpling form... Well he punched it off its place costing me later that week a couple of hours of scolding from the landlady and money out of my bank account, along with a helpful suggestion from Levy to get shower curtains instead. Since I was almost out of money thanks to my late payments, and Natsu's over-protectiveness I had to settle for the cheap flowery curtains that I got from the thrift shop.
I wonder why I'm remembering this now. I thought amused at the memory as I wrapped the towel around my waist. Looking around my bathroom I noticed that I had forgotten to bring my night clothes. How could I be so forgetful? Oh, I really do need some time off.
Walking out of the bathroom I was greeted by a unexpected guest, one that was behind the stages of the massacre, the murderer of Natsu's parents, and the infamous black haired man was merely a few feet away from me when I completely froze at the sight of him and with no time to fully recognize the person beside him as my mind just shut down completely. Like death himself came for me and his cold composed face that broke out into a chilling small smile once he laid eyes on me. "I believe this conversation is long overdue. Hello Lucy Heartfilla."
My voice no more than a whisper as I sputtered out the devil's name, "Zeref."
The bastard gestured to the person beside him while speaking in a very casual tone as if he was explaining uninterested in the topic to a young child about politics and liars, "I believe you met my little cat over here."
My eyes then took the moment to dart to the person beside the seated man as I felt my entire body turn cold and frigid.
"L-Lisanna?!"