Lucy visibly paled at the name.
"So what happened with Zeref? I thought he died," She asked, trying to seem casual about it.
"He did, sort of," Mavis took over. "He's been sealed on Tenrou Island."
"Then why didn't we see him when we were there?"
" Probably because he was asleep. Normally, he's put to sleep the moment someone steps foot onto the island."
"Is that what's going to happen to me?" Lucy asked, trying to keep calm though panic was evident in her voice.
She didn't want to leave Fairy Tail and her friends. What would she do without them? They had come to be such a huge part of her life that she wasn't sure she could go back to being alone all the time. Well, technically not alone, she supposed, after all Zeref would be there.
Zeref. The darkest wizard of all time. The masters exchanged uncomfortable looks, which Lucy took to be a 'yes' that they didn't want to say out loud.
She sighed heavily, "Can I at least say goodbye to my friends?"
The masters blinked in surprise. They had expected her to put up more of a fight than she had.
"Of course," Mavis answered, willing to let the girl do pretty much anything if she wouldn't fight with them about going.
Lucy flashed them a relieved smile before hurrying out of the room to do exactly as she asked.
Mavis sighed as soon as the young blonde was out of their sight.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked softly. "Natsu will go to the end of the Earth trying to find her, you know."
Makarov nodded, "Sadly, this is true. Eventually he'll have to accept that she's gone."
Mavis and Gildarts exchanged looks that said they didn't think he would ever accept it after she left.
"Do you think Zeref will harm her?" Makarov asked after a moment.
Mavis paused, thinking about it before answering. "Not on purpose. But if his magic goes haywire it might happen."
"Well, it seems our little Lucy has the perfect defense for that," Gildarts chuckled.
The trio nodded, hoping it would be enough. They really didn't need the long dead wandering around Fiore and if Lucy's magic operated like Zeref's did that was a distinct possibility.
Lucy, in fact, had decided not to say goodbye to everyone. It would be hard to say goodbye and harder to explain just why she was leaving all of them. Instead she headed straight for her apartment, packing the few things that she felt she needed to take with her. When she was done she was surprised at how much stuff still laid about the room. It looked as if she was packing for a job instead of moving away.
She sat at her desk and scribbled goodbye letters to each of her friends, stuffing them in envelopes with their names on them before scattering them throughout her apartment. Natsu's she laid on her bed, knowing that was where he would end up, Erza's on the table by the cake, Gray's on her desk. Wendy and Levy's letters she laid next to Erza's, knowing the red head would be sure that the letters got to the right people.
Taking one final look around she laid her key to the apartment on Natsu's letter before slipping out, hoping that she would be long gone before they found the letters.
The sun was just starting to sink below the horizon when Lucy walked into Fairy Tail for the last time. Mira was cleaning up the bar and looked up at Lucy with sad eyes. Apparently she had been told what was happening, but she remained silent until the last of the guild filtered out.
"They're waiting in the Master's office," Mira nodded toward the door.
Before Lucy could take two steps toward the office Mira had hurried around the bar and flung her arms around the blonde, crying softly.
"We'll miss you, Lucy," She whispered.
Lucy hugged her back, forcing herself to keep her own tears at bay.
"I will miss all of you as well," She replied before hurrying up the steps to Makarov's office, hastily brushing the tears from her eyes before she entered.
"Lucy," The guild master looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry you have to leave us, my child, but all paths must diverge at some point."
Lucy nodded, "Are we going now?"
"First, we have to take your mark," Mavis said, tears in her eyes.
Lucy looked between the two in panic, "Please, no."
"If you keep it, you'll remember everything," Mavis said softly. "It's up to you, but it makes for a long and lonesome time if you remember everything about yourself and who you were before you came to the island."
Lucy held her hand close to her, "I don't care. I don't want to forget one single moment of this place."
Mavis and Makarov smiled sadly at her.
"Of all of my children, you are one of the few that is Fairy Tail through and through," Makarov said, standing on his desk so he could kiss her forehead.
He nodded to Mavis, and the next thing Lucy knew she was flying through the air, being transported to a place in which she would never see her friends again.
Back at the guild Lucy's team had found their letters and were trying to demand answers from their master, who sighed, looking at them sadly.
"Lucy had to go away, children. She agreed to it and left willingly. If she told you no more than I cannot tell you either. It is her secret to tell and perhaps one day you will know it, but for now just know that she quite safe and misses all of you dearly."
Levy held her letter close to her heart, being the only one who knew the full extent of what had happened. After the others left she quietly approached the man who had been like a father to her for years.
"Master, will Lucy be alright being all alone out there?"
Makarov looked up in surprise. He'd expected that Lucy would tell someone the full truth, but he had expected her to tell Natsu or Gray, not the quiet blunette that stood before him now. However, Levy was one of Lucy's closest friends and her smartest. Maybe Lucy had more sense than anyone had ever given her credit for.
"I don't know, my child," He said stroking his mustache. "I really don't know."