Note: I do not own Fairy Tail. The owner is the very talented Hiro Mashima.
A/N: Chapter three is out now. Hope you enjoy. This chapter is still developing some plot and don't worry there will be some action soon. This story is going to be split into three adventures so there is plenty more to come.
The light was fading quickly as the sun began to set. Lucy was determined to go see the guild tomorrow. Natsu was supposedly out on a job, so she might not see him tomorrow. Conner still hasn't been seen since the night before, though there was no need to worry. What made Lucy really happy was her daughter joining Fairy Tail. She couldn't even use magic and she was determined to be a part of a wizard guild.
"Mom it's getting dark. We should retire for the night." Layla stepped out onto the balcony beside herself. "As Levy said it's winter time so we don't want to be out here at night." With that they shuffled into their temporary room.
"Layla we should head to the guild tomorrow. We should also send a group to go look for Conner." Their was a hint of worry in her voice. "He's strong but it has been a whole day without a single trace of him."
"That's true. Is there anywhere you could think he would've gone? He did say he noticed a particular scent floating in the air, something that he recognized."
Lucy laid down onto the bed to think. He hadn't been spotted around town. What was around the town that could be bothering him. The lake? The forest? Forest... Natsu's house was in the forest. She had spent a lot of time in his house before she had left, but that was a long time ago. Maybe he had a connection to Natsu's scent?
"There is one place but it's a quite a long walk outside of Magnolia. If he's there than there's nothing to worry about. Someone should be arriving soon that could protect him no matter what."
"Is there really someone that strong around these parts? I know that Fairy Tail is a wizard guild but Gray's magical energy was nowhere close to Conner's. What kind of monster could match or even surpass him?" Layla looked at her, with a quizzical look on her face.
"There are plenty of people stronger than Conner. We were stationed in Brago, not too many people there practice magic. Now that we're in Fiore a lot more people will intimidate you."
The walk home sure was taking longer than it did before. He didn't remember it being this long. He had just made it back to the forest, but the forest was pretty large. It would still be another couple hours until he would reach his house. The sun had just set and he could see the moon rising in the distance.
He couldn't wait to lay down in his bed. He was very tired after the mission and all the rides Kari made him suffer through. He would get back at the cat eventually.
Lucy would also be showing up sooner or later. He should mentally prepare himself. Fifteen years is a long time. A lot can change, he knew that firsthand. Look at the guild, they were just barely hanging on. She would be shocked to see the state of the guild and himself. He sure did miss her though and couldn't wait to see her. To see her smile. To see her laugh, but he didn't want to see her cry. The last thing he wanted to watch was Lucy crying.
Layla couldn't sleep. She couldn't wait to go to the guild tomorrow and meet all the people. Sure the master was a pervy ice mage but surely their must be some normal wizards. And what her mom said was irking her. People were actually stronger than Conner. How was that possible? When he was serious it sent chills down her spine. She couldn't wait to meet some of them.
Not being able to fall asleep she walked out the door and down the hallway. She needed something to drink so she went to the kitchen. There was absolutely nothing in the fridge. Should she head to the market? No they would be closed now. She could head to the guild, Gray had promised her mother not to speak about them yet. Would they let her in? They didn't know she was a member yet but did they not let people come in if they paid for food. She couldn't see that, Gray being a nice guy she was sure the rest of them would be.
Walking out the door she headed down the street towards the guild. There wouldn't be too many people around at this hour but she knew it was still open. She wondered what it was like when it was light out. Did people in Fairy Tail act properly? She highly doubted it. The master stripped in front of her. They were probably a rowdy bunch.
She could see the guild come into view, just a couple more blocks and she would be face to face with the doors. She better not anger them because she was going to be joining them. She could see the entire front of the guild now. She could see the lights glowing through the window. There was a lot of noise coming from the guild.
As she approached the guild she looked through the window. What was she looking at. People were all over the place. It was dark out, shouldn't they be heading home? She faltered for a moment. I guess this is what her mother meant by them being family.
"What are you doing out here little girl." A voice boomed from behind her. She quickly turned around. What were with people sneaking up on her? Was that the proper way to greet someone around here? The voice was from a rather talk and very muscular man. His hair was white with sideburns and a scar under his one eye. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out here. Come inside and get warmed up."
The man led her inside and took her to the bar. She sat down as he talked to the woman behind the bar. "Mira get her something warm to drink." The white haired woman turned to grab a glass. "My names Elfman by the way. Now what were you doing standing outside at this late an hour?"
"I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk. I'm from out of town and didn't know that all the shops closed this early." She tried to act as genuine as possible to deceive the two. "My throat was getting a bit raspy so I was looking for a place to get a drink." As she said that Mira placed a steaming hot chocolate in front of her. "Thank you Mira."
She passed the time by asking about the two's past. They were pretty interesting. Having lost their little sister and having her come back. They had been a crucial part of the battle with Tartaros, Elfman blowing up the guild trying to save his sister. He still blamed himself. Before long she noticed how much time had passed.
"Sorry but I must be going. I didn't realize that it had gotten this late." She got up and looked at the two one last time for the night. "I hope we can talk soon me more another time." With that she walked past the now deserted tables and walked out the door.
It was cold. Really cold. Where was he again. Oh yea, in Natsu's house. It seemed to be nighttime again so he closed his eyes again, trying to sleep till morning. Then he would head back to town to his mother and sister.
Then it was hot. Really hot. Wait why the hell would the temperature spike in the middle of the night. He forced his eyes open. Rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes he took a look around the room. Nothing out of the ordinary. He must imagining it.
"And who the hell do you think ya are?" Conner was startled. He sat up, looking around again. He hadn't even sensed anyone else around. Didn't even smell or hear anything. So where was this guy? "You gonna answer me or do I have to beat it out of you?" This time he could tell where the voice was coming from.
He turned around and looked at the front door. Standing there was a man, just taller than him with pink hair. He was in all black clothes, with a little furball on his head. "I just stumbled across this place last night. I was walking through the forest and had gotten lost." That was good enough to fool the man. Was this Natsu, his father of all people.
"Lying sack of shit, what are you really doing here? Don't bother lying, I can hear your heartbeat from right here."
Conner had a stupid look on his face. Able to sense his heartbeat. It was beating rather fast, but that wasn't the issue. How could he tell from that distance how fast his heart was pounding. There was no point in trying to lie. "I was following a scent I picked up from in town. It led me to this place and I've been waiting for about a day now. You're Natsu I presume?"
"And who wants to know exactly." The pink haired man looked pissed. Steam was rising from his mouth. Steam? This guy was crazy. He really acted on pure instinct, not really putting much thought into his words.
"My names Conner. I arrived in this town yesterday with my mother and sister. We are looking for a few people she knew." He wasn't really lying so he wouldn't be able to tell. If this man really was Natsu he didn't want him to know exactly who he was. He sure was crazy.
"I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel, the one who defeated Zeref and brought and end to the Great War." With that his face lightened up. "And this little gal is Kari." He pointed to his head. "She's had a long day so let's not bother her. Nice to meet ya, and don't ever lie to me. You're welcome to spend the night and tomorrow I'll help you find your family."
What the hell. His father was the one who ended the Great War. How would his mother know anyone like that? She always said she hated pointless fighting. It was a war so maybe it wasn't really pointless.
"Thanks but no thanks. I can't have a man of such significance helping me find my family. It would make me feel helpless." Natsu sure was oblivious, not even questioning him about his sense of smell. "And I would rather not make you travel to town. The walk there really takes it out of you."
"It's no problem at all. I'm actually heading there tomorrow anyways. I have to report on my mission to the guild. Just think of it as a side quest. I like helping people out anyway." With that a grin swooped across his face.
"Alright, have it your way. You really are a stubborn one you know." Conner looked away, stumbling back to the couch. The guy really was a pain but knowing he was his father made him feel indifferent about the whole thing. Conner's mind fell to rest as his eyes shut for the last time that night.
Natsu climbed the stairs to his room. That kid sure was something. He had made his way here using his nose alone. Too bad he didn't sense him or he would've been really impressed. "That kid is something else. Maybe he should join the guild." He opened the door and waltzed to his bed. All this could wait until morning.
She had just made it back to Levy's apartment. The moon was high on the sky, light filtering down to the streets below. In the one day she has been here she realized just how beautiful a place Magnolia was.
She turned to the door, pushing it open slowly to not wake anyone. If her mother knew she had left without her knowing she'd be in a whole mess of trouble. She turned around and quietly shut the door.
"Where exactly have you been?" The lights flickered on. She spun around and saw her mother there, leaning against the table. "Unlike Conner you aren't strong enough to handle yourself. Especially since were in Magnolia now, you need to take precautions."
"I know but I just couldn't sleep. My mind has been racing since this morning." If she didn't tell her mom now, the people at the guild would surely let her know she was there. "I went to the guild, met some of the people there. They're a rowdy bunch but that's something I could get used to." She readied for the onslaught of words she knew were to come. Nothing... She looked up and her mother was just staring at her.
"If you thought I'd be mad I'm not. Actually that will make things a little less tense tomorrow." Lucy's mouth curved into a smile. "We're going to need their help and since you've met them already we can skip some unnecessary blabbering. Now go to bed, we have to get up early."
With that Lucy turned to the hall, heading towards their room. She followed, surprised at how her mother took the whole thing. She was sure she was going to be scolded. Just how long has her mother known all these people? With them around she noticed her mother's attitude shift. She no longer was as tense, Lucy was always paranoid before now. She must've felt safe. With that thought Layla laid her head on her pillow. She shuffled under the covers and closed her eyes. She was really tired and almost instantly sleep took her over.
The sun shone through the window, just breaking over the horizon. His room was a complete mess but he didn't care about that. It had been that was ever since he built it.
He sat up taking in his surroundings. Everything was as it was before he left. Kari was asleep at the foot of the bed. He took in a deep breath through his nose. He picked up the boy's scent, startled that he had forgotten about him. He was going to help Conner find his family. Magnolia wasn't to large, and with both of them looking it shouldn't take too long. Then he'd head to the guild to report on his mission to Gray. At least his day was full of activities to keep him occupied.
He shuffled to his feet, making sure that Kari didn't wake up. She had been so tired when they showed up last night. He walked to the door, his stomach growling. He hadn't had anything to eat since leaving Hargeon. That was almost twenty hours ago. This was unacceptable. He walked down the stairs heading for the kitchen.
He entered the main room, looking towards the couch. Conner was sprawled across the furniture, mouth wide open snoring. Pretty carefree for being in a strangers house. Or was he not a stranger to him? He never asked Conner how his scent was familiar. Maybe he met Conner on a mission when he was a kid? It really didn't matter. What did was his stomach.
He wheeled around heading for the kitchen. He was going to make an amazingly big breakfast. Surely Conner must be hungry too, he said he had been here for a day. He didn't have a bag or anything and nothing in the kitchen was touched. Now that he thought about it almost everything was how he left it. Did Conner come to his house and sleep the entire time? Natsu shouldn't complain, he himself had done it to Lucy a lot when she was around.
Lucy...
She was going to be showing up soon. Soon could mean anything. Heck a month to fifteen years was 'soon.' He shouldn't be thinking about this while cooking. He was already bound to make a mess, so being distracted would make everything worse.
He liked his bacon extra crispy. Same thing for the pancakes, sausage, hash browns and everything else he could find that was breakfast related. It took quite a while for everything to finish cooking. But it all looked delicious, burnt to a crisp. Maybe Conner and Kari wouldn't like overly toasted food. He had been cooking to his liking and they most likely wouldn't want it.
He heard some stumbling in the other room. Conner had awoken. He quickly placed the food on the table, waiting for him to make his way to the kitchen.
He appeared in the doorway, arm resting on the frame. "Come and take a seat, there's plenty to go around." He let a smile slip across his face.
Conner looked up at him with a tired face. "Where is Kari?"
"She's asleep upstairs. Don't worry she won't want this. I accidentally burned most of the stuff. You don't mind do you?"
"That's not what I mean." Conner's face looked panicked now. He looked up at the ceiling. "It's here now."
He had awoken to the smell of burnt food. Just the way he liked it. It smelled like all sorts of breakfast foods. He really wanted some bacon, the smell was so enticing. He hadn't eaten since arriving in Magnolia.
Then there it was. Magical energy so powerful, he could sense it approaching quickly. He had to let Natsu and Kari know. He wasn't sure how strong they were.
He stumbled to his feet. Why was he so tired. He had just slept over twenty-four hours. He heard Natsu scramble to place some silverware down. Did he really not notice the energy. He forced himself to his feet and made his way to the kitchen. Arm resting against the frame he caught his breath. What was with himself?
"Come take a seat, there's plenty to go around."
Conner looked up at him, seeing a toothy grin across his face. He really didn't notice, or he was confident enough he didn't care. "Where is Kari?" He barely got that out his mouth.
"She's asleep upstairs. Don't worry she won't want this. I accidentally burned most of the stuff. You don't mind do you?"
His face was now fear-stricken. He had no idea what was happening. Kari wouldn't be able to last a second against what's to come. "That's not what I mean." His gaze was now directed at the ceiling, feeling the powerful being right above them. "It's here now."
Natsu's face showed a confused expression. Then all Conner could see was a piercing blue light.
A/N: Sort of cliffy, I know what happens already but you don't. You're going to have to wait until Sunday... Or will you? This world is full of surprises.