OMG OMG OMG I'M SO SO SO SORRY :(((((((
It's been….a year? No really you can't imagine how sorry I am, I feel so bad it's been too long :(( Short explanation, my life got really shitty (senior year, my dad was sick, I was in a kind of depression I guess?, etc…) + I completely lost interest in Fairy Tail for a very long time. It's been a month or so that I decided to check out ft again, and hopefully my interest came back! Not as strong as before, but still :)
I really want to continue this story, I don't even know if people will still follow it (it's been a year after all :( ) but since I still have ideas I swear I'm gonna continue it! Please if you are still here, waiting for new chapters, please stick till the end!
Here's a longer chapter than usual as a gift of forgiveness! (I hope my English improved since last year ahah)
Illumines the Darkness.
( Chapter 4 : « Memories. « )
They both walked for a long time.
The named Gray seemed to be a really good person to Lucy. Even if he has the annoying mania to undress every twenty minutes, she liked to be in his company, in this deep forest. She wasn't alone anymore after all, and it certainly was what made her feel more comfortable.
They also talked a lot, even if now they were silent.
As the human she was, she knew a lot of thing she wouldn't think she'd know one day. Only the existence of monsters was already a lot to take, but the fact that she was now friend with some of them was also something.
She looked at the new one she made. He looked like he was deep in his thoughts, and she wondered just about what he was worried about... but then she remembered she was a human in the Underground, and that he told her before that his work here was to see if there weren't any suspicious people or objects here, which could belong to a certain fallen human.
She gulped, and that has caught the monster's attention.
With a kind smile, he asked "What's the matter kiddo? Worried about something?"
Lucy shook strongly "no" of the head, what made him grin a bit.
They continued walking to a destination Lucy didn't know. All this time, Gray asked her a few questions, telling her that he'd try to help her exit the forest. The questions were all like "Where do you live?" or "Is your family around?" or even "Do you have their phone number?" which were questions she couldn't honestly answer him. All what she did is that she claimed be amnesic, and so couldn't remember anything about her family or where she lived, etc. Fortunately, he took her response seriously, and promised her he would find a way to make her back to normal.
So, for now, they were going to be stuck with each other for a while.
On their walk, Lucy rethought about what Gray has told her when he just saved her.
"You should be more careful, especially in these days. Didn't you hear? The flowers all became golden again, it means it's gonna be a hard time for all of us."
She didn't ask why because she didn't want to look suspicious for not knowing the reason, but she really wanted to know.
What was wrong with golden flowers? Maybe it was a monster's superstition? Like "Beware of the golden flowers" instead of "Don't broke a mirror, or you'll have seven years of misfortune"? Curiosity picked her very hard here, and it annoyed her she couldn't ask.
Oh, but.
Her "amnesia"! It could be totally normal for an amnesic to not know this information anymore!
At this right moment she wanted to slap her face, but forced not to. At least she could now ask him why golden flowers were so "dangerous" or anything without being detected, and so fill her titanic curiosity. Watching her small hands, she still searched for good words.
"So… Sorry to ask this a little late but… what in these golden flowers is so... evil?"
Gray looked astonished for a second, but fast remembered why this little girl has forgotten such an important thing. He thought it must have been rough for her, while he didn't find her. He kneeled down to be at her oh so small size.
He watched her attentively in the eyes, and then in the as-small-as-her golden flowers that where in the corner of a random forest tree. Then he sighed.
"These golden flowers… It's rare for them to appear here so suddenly. They actually warn us of extreme danger, and in this case, of humans."
Lucy looked at her feet, saddened.
"Since you seem to have forgotten, I'll warn you : don't you ever go near a human, they're very dangerous and hate us. If they see you, they'll take you for themselves and use you to help them gain money, or they'll just kill you if they don't find anything worth it in you. You gotta be extremely careful."
Trying to fake her ignorance, the small bunny dared to ask.
"…What do humans look like?"
That made Gray laugh a bit. Actually, he had to be honest; he never saw one in his life. The last fallen human in the Underground came at the time when his father was still a teenager, so he wasn't even ready to be born. But he knew, he knew by his father that humans were cruel and without mercy. Silver, his father, got actually almost killed by a human who wanted his ice magic, he got extremely injured on the head and had a scar for the rest of his life, showing the monstrosity that happened to him.
It angered Gray so much.
But at least, his father survived… not like the one of someone he is close with.
Igneel, his father's really good friend, just managed to survive, but got extremely sick after that. He almost couldn't move, he was half paralyzed. His son, Natsu (Gray's rival actually), never could see his father in a good shape, and he knew exactly why he was like that. Soon after some short happy years, the illness of Igneel got him and he died. That's how Natsu, since almost forever, had an immeasurable hatred for humans.
Gray got disturbed by Lucy, who was waving her small paw in front of him. Oh yeah, the little monster was still waiting for an answer. He smiled gently at her.
"I can't really answer you here, I gotta be honest and tell you that I've never saw one. But! I know by sources that they look like us, humanoid monsters, but without… "extra features" I guess? Let's say they're just boring version of us."
Lucy couldn't help but pout at that last sentence, which kind of confused the ice monster.
Maybe she's just disappointed because she thought they would look as dangerous as they sound. Ah, kids.
Actually, Lucy wanted to prove Gray that humans can be awesome too if they wanted, but remembered just in time that she wasn't supposed to be suspicious in any way…
Oh my, thanks god I can keep my mouth close sometimes…
It has been only fifteen minutes since they entered Snowdin Town that a strange sound could be heard, it was coming from nowhere and it was almost terrifying. It scared Lucy to death only for her to realize that…
It was just…her stomach.
After making a scene –she actually was so scared and tired that after hearing the strange noise, she used Gray as a shield from whatever creature could attack them at any moment- Gray burst in laughs.
"Oh my god, you wanted to eat that bad? Why didn't you just tell me sooner! I didn't even think of it, what an idiot!" And he continued to laugh, to the biggest shame of Lucy.
That's how they ended up going to a bar, called Grillby's. The atmosphere here was, how could she describe it…special? There were monsters there and there, humanoids and neutrals, all drinking, eating, or doing stuff she didn't quite understand, like…playing poker alone? Speaking of neutral monsters, it was the first time of her life she could see them! She was so astonished by how cute some of them looked. There was a giant white dog, in armor, it was quite confusing by how cute and disturbing it could be, but she loved it. The barman was a…flame. A living, burning hot flame.
How cool was that!
Well, there were also monsters a little scary looking too, like a giant flower with giant teeth, but she didn't mind. It was fun being here; just discovering new things she never knew existed before. Gray helped her sit on a high chair in front of the bar –she was really small in this monster bunny form- and she attentively looked at the menu.
She understood nothing.
Actually, it was written in the same language she used to read every day, but…
What was a "hot-cat"? A "ketchup-shake"?
Was it really what she thought it was, and was it just a normal dish but with a special name? She decided to just ignore it, and started looking for something she thought would be comestible.
"So, what do you want?"
The black haired monster at her right asked her after having his own drink put in front of him, which startled her a bit.
"Uuuhhhh…" she searched frantically for something, anything on the menu that appealed to her, and then she found it "Pancakes!"
"Pancakes?"
"Yes please!"
"You mean, "puncakes" right?"
Oh.
Yes, of course.
Red as a tomato, she frantically said "yes" with the head and Gray couldn't help but giggle again. But, his good mood got automatically crushed when he heard the voice of someone who knows that he shouldn't be here right now… Her voice…
"GRAY FULLBUSTER, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING YOUR JOB IN THE FOREST, WHY THE HELL ARE U HERE, YOU LAZY—oh, hi there little girl." A red hair woman monster, who just a second ago was the most terrifying thing Lucy has seen in her entire life, was now talking casually with her, eyes filled with stars as she looked at the cute blonde bunny monster. While Lucy searched for Gray, wanting an explanation, she found him crawled on the floor, begging for his life, half naked (of course). She didn't even have the chance to call him that the red hair started being scary again, looking at his direction.
"Gray… I'm gonna ask you this again… What in the Underworld are u doing here, instead of working." It sounded more like an order than a simple question, in Lucy's point of view.
Wanting to keep a little bit of self-esteem, the ice monster finally got up (still half naked though) and started explaining the situation to the woman, who by the way was called Erza. He told her about how he found her alone in the forest, amnesic, and how they ended up here because she wanted to eat so badly. He finished with a small "please don't kill me" under his breath. The face of the named Erza's face automatically softened. "I see." was all she could say at first. But she quickly looked again at Lucy's direction and started thinking deeply.
"Can I ask you… what is the first memory you have now, in your head?"
Lucy was taken by surprise, she didn't know what to invent. Stressed, she just dropped out the word "Black."
"Black? Like what, black? The first place you've seen was black or the first person maybe?.."
On an impulse, she answered that yes, the first person she has seen was black (he has a black aura). But right after that, she noticed that if she specified them the first person she has seen was José, they would discover more easily that she was the fallen human. They would interrogate José and since he has seen her face –her bunny monster form has keep her face the same, just a bit more childish- he could tell them right away that, it's her, take her.
Her face went blank at this thought, and so she said nothing more. She had to keep her mouth shut or she would divulge some important information that wouldn't help her in her journey. It's the soft hand of Erza on the top of her head that woke her up, startling her a little bit.
"Don't force yourself, it's normal that you're scared. I would be too if I did lost all my precious memories, they're important after all. Without them, you may don't know who you are anymore. I hope you will find out yours soon." Her face was kind looking, so different from what Lucy has seen in her first appearance in the bar, yelling at Gray like a demon.
Lucy took finally the time to closely inspect the woman who was gently touching her head.
She has pretty dark brown eyes with a little bit of yellow in it –it was very pretty and interesting- and fabulous long red-like-ruby hair. Her ears were shaped strangely, like the fins of a fish. Her skin was covered almost everywhere with blue scales, a little bit iridescent with yellow. She was wearing an armor and her hair was put in a high ponytail. She seemed very strong, someone who you didn't want to pick a fight with (by the reaction of Gray earlier, her thought was actually confirmed). Lucy wondered what her etherious form would look like, she was sure it would be stunning. And now that she thought about it, she wanted to see Gray's too.
Her "puncakes" finally arrived and she got surprised when she saw that, it was just regular pancakes but… she soon discovered that as soon as she finished eating a bite, a pun would be said in her mind.
What kind of magic was that?!
After finishing it really fast –she almost forgot how hungry she was when entering the bar- she promised to herself that she would eat some puncakes everytime she would feel sad, to brighten up a bit her sad mood.
"So Gray, I'm still waiting for an answer from your stupid brother you know."
"HE'S NOT MY—urgh whatever, yes I know, he's stupid."
"THAT'S NOT THE ANSWER I WANT GRAY."
"Ok ok ok! He just doesn't like using his phone for whatever reason, he said that coming out of nowhere when nobody would think he'd come is better than telling when he will come by with a stupid phone. He said it's funnier." Gray said as sighing at the same time.
"I'll punch him in the face for being late and we'll see if it's still that funny." Answered Erza with a dark aura surrounding her.
Lucy was curious now. Who was this "non-brother" Gray and Erza were talking about? She didn't know if she was allowed to ask, but oh she was such a curious person. So she asked, because she was a child now anyway, and everyone knows that every child is beyond curious over everything, right? She obviously took this opportunity to fulfill her natural curiosity.
"Oh don't mind, we're just talking about an idiot. His name is Natsu. Hopefully you won't meet him, because he can be really irritating sometimes… this flamebrain." Gray got punched in the head by Erza, a bit upset by Gray's explanation of Natsu.
"Stop it, he has good sides too, and you know it." she started smirking "By the way, while you're here being lazy and stuff, he's working hard in Hotland searching for this fallen human. Aren't you the one being an idiot here? Skipping your chance to show Makarov who is the best?"
Gray spilled his drink. His eyes clearly showed that his mind was like "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" at this exact moment. But he looked at Lucy, and then at Erza. He seemed to think deeply for around a minute and then shouted, praying in front of Erza.
"Please Erza, can you take care of her and take her to the Waterfall in safety please! She should be able to find a way back to her home there! Or just be safe if not!" then he looked at Lucy, deeply sorry "I'm sorry I've promised you to take you to your home, but I completely forgot that I was in competition with this idiot of a matchstick! Erza can take you to a safe place alright? Waterfall is a place where there are a lot of monsters of almost the same specie as you, you should be able to find your family there. Is it ok?"
Even if Lucy was a bit scared to be alone with this new monster she just met, she chuckled and answered to Gray that it was ok, there was no problem.
She tried to get out of her high chair, but completely forgot about her new-small-body and fell directly on Erza's armor. It was a direct hit, and it was actually painful.
While she tried to get up of the floor, she started feeling weird and saw little "stars" around her. Something was not normal, something strange was happening. She felt her body growing. It was just a little bit, but she definitively felt it, and she was sure the others could see it if they were watching.
Lucy started to sweat.
Hopefully, the "growth" of her tiny body stopped right after that. She had gained like two or three centimeters or so, but…
Erza definitively noticed that.
The sweat was getting stronger. If the red hair monster would suspect anything, she was dead.
But after a long moment of staring at each other, Erza finally spoke.
"Oh my, it's the first time I've seen species of monster that grow up fast like that! I'm happy to know that I still have something to learn."
Smiling, the almost-discovered-human sighed in relief, and simply nodded her head. Touching gently her head, she felt a small bump on her skull, after the hit she had taken with Erza's strong armor, and remembered something important Mirajane, the goat-mom, told her before her departure.
"…the transformation can be vanished before the timeline if you pass trough too much stress, or if you injure yourself too much."
The thought of her already losing a bit of her transformation scared her, but she was ready to take up the challenge: keep her transformation to the 48 hours promised, without accident.
It filled her with determination.
Soooooooo, did I say that I'm sorry?
I really hope I brightened the day of some of you by (finally) publishing a new chapter of this story! Like I said, this one is a little bit longer, so I'd be really happy if you enjoyed.
Without further do, I'm gonna directly start writing the next one, because I really feel so bad that I didn't publish for ONE YEAR :')
See ya!
-Daria.