Hey guys, so I want to say thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, follows or favorites my fic. I really appreciate it! It makes me want to write more for everyone. =]
So this week I will be busier than usual. I have birthday plans, and then I am going to Vegas for the weekend. 25th-28th. This means that I will not have my laptop with me and will not be posting a chapter on the 26th. Although I will post a chapter by Friday at the latest to make up for my missed Sunday. If my brain is willing to cooperate I will write as much as I can, past the Friday chapter, that way I can post whatever I have via my phone.
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
(Thanks GemNika for the idea. :D)
Lucy POV
Leaving the slayers to play their game I turned to go back into the guild to sit down while Draco spent quite a bit of my magic to remain in his larger self, but I was stopped by a stranger who appeared out of nowhere and approached me.
"Excuse me but are you Lucy Heartfilia by chance." Wary of the way he looked from my face to my keys I took a step back, intending on running back to where everyone else was but was stopped by his hand on my arm. "Never mind it doesn't matter, with all of those keys I'd just have to come back for you anyways. I might as well deal with you now."
"What are you -." Materializing a dagger in his free hand, he brought it to my throat before I could finish speaking. I could hear the guild behind me call out to the man to stop, but I knew they wouldn't be able to make it in time to stop him.
"LU-CHAN!" Levy called out to me when she realized the same thing.
Panicking I called to Draco as I tried to hold back the man's arm from completing its slice across my throat, but there was no need for me to call because Draco was already flying straight towards the man's back. With a mild puff of his breath the man caught on fire and released his hold on me, enough so I could back away from him.
Nodding in satisfaction as I watched as he tried to pat his back to get rid of the fire while yelling his head off, the smell of burnt flesh caused had me scrunching my nose in disgust. Tired of the smell, I decided to take my anger out on him and grabbed my whip. With one hand I covered the small cut that graced my neck, and with the other I flicked my whip and wrapped it around his legs. Flicking my wrist again I sent him flying into the canal, making sure to aim him so he hit his head on the stone as he fell in.
"Lucy! Are you alright" Erza yelled as she finally reached me. Dragging my hand away from my neck she gasped when she saw a trail of blood streaming from the cut.
"I'm fine really. It's just a little cut, and it doesn't even hurt that much." I said trying to get her and everyone else to calm down.
"How dare he come to our guild and attack one of our own. Does anyone know who he is or what guild he is from?" Someone screamed from the back, further riling the guild.
So much for my week break. I thought as I slapped Erza's fussing hands away from my neck to cover it with one of my own.
Laxus was way ahead of everyone, by flashing to the enemy mage the moment I had sent him flying and bringing his unconscious body back. Throwing him onto the ground in front of Erza and me, he crossed his arms and waited to see what we would do with him. Clearly by the look on Erza's face she would like nothing more than to cause more damage than he already had sustained but I blocked her path by stepping in front of him.
"We should question him once he wakes up. There's no need to rough him up right now." I said worried that he'd tell her something I wasn't ready for her to know. Reluctantly she nodded her head and grabbed onto him by the scruff of his neck; dragging him off to the basement to hold him until he came to.
"Lucy-nee!" Wendy cried as she ran up to me.
Smiling down at her I wondered how she had gotten here so fast. "Weren't you playing with Draco?"
"Carla and I had just taken off when we heard the commotion and came back. I'm so glad you're alright! It didn't look like anyone would be able to get to you in time." She said as she hugged me tight. "I can heal that for you."
"Thanks Wendy, it's not that deep of a cut but it does sting a bit." I said, wincing as I gingerly touched it.
Feeling the gently prodding of her magic knitting my skin back together I sighed in relief as the pain of the cut disappeared. Looking down at her to thank her again I saw a strange look on her face. "Is everything alright Wendy?"
Absentmindedly she nodded her head, still sending magic into my neck. When she kept healing my uninjured neck I gently grabbed her wrists and brought them down to her sides. "It's all healed now Wendy." I said waiting for her to respond verbally this time.
"Sorry Nee-chan, I got carried away." She said with a little blush.
Releasing her wrists I thanked her again and turned to Erza and Gray who were still hovering close by. Tilting my head up I gave them a clear view of my neck so they could see that everything was alright now. Giving each of them a quick hug I caught up to Master who was walking back to the guild.
Placing a hand onto Gramp's shoulder I stalled his entrance, waiting for the rest of the guild to go inside before I quietly asked him if I could talk to him in private. With a nod he led the way back into the guild and into his office, expecting me to follow. When Laxus followed behind us I lifted up my brows in question and looked at them both.
"Laxus is training to be the next guild master someday. What I know he knows." Master explained as he waited for me to make my decision on whether I still wanted to talk to him or not.
"That's fine, but you can't tell anyone else until I'm ready. Okay?"
When they both nodded I continued to his, their, office and closed the door behind them, watching as they both got comfortable; Laxus slouched down in the chair behind the desk with his feet up, while the Master sat on the edge of the desk with his legs crossed.
"Wait for me!" was said from the door I had just closed, seeing Mavis' head sticking through the door I backed away from it and let her enter.
Finding a ratty couch across from the desk I sat down on it and brought my knees to my chest. "What I'm about to tell you can't go any further than this room, at least not yet. If my team were to find out about what is going on they would never let me leave without them glued to my side." Seeing how serious I was being Laxus straightened up and gave me his full attention. Nodding to Makarov, Mavis did something with her hands and a shimmery light burst from them surrounding the inside of the room.
"There now no one can hear what is being said."
"Thanks, I will tell them eventually, I just don't want them to worry about me to the point where I can't do anything." Seeing them nod in understanding I continued. "While I was in the clock I learned that my mother's death was intentional. The 'illness' was the result of a powerful draining spell that was placed on her when she went to strengthen a seal for the Spirit King. Long ago his daughter tried to take control over both Earthland and the Spirit World, but was caught and sealed away in time. The King sealed away all knowledge of his daughter's actions believing her to be safely contained for the rest of eternity. But after several hundreds years her followers have weakened her seal enough so that she will be free in five months if we don't do something to stop them.
"The King has told me a way to stop her, well vaguely. I have to find all of her previous lackeys, the Jeweled spirits, and they will be able to find and defeat her somehow.
"As for the man who attacked me, well he is most likely one of Polaris' many followers. In order to gain more power for her and less resistance for when the time comes that she regains enough power to be released from her prison, they have been killing off Celestial Mages and destroying their keys. That's why you can't let Erza interrogate him, he'll crack easily enough and she'll find out everything and I'll never be able to see the light of day again without an escort. I need to be able to move around freely so I can follow lead on a whim. So if one of you could interrogate him that would be wonderful.
"Her followers are extremely loyal to their cause of freeing her and cannot be swayed away from their path. I've already encountered one before and he said that their dedication to her is of their own free will and is ingrained in each generation at a young age. The only thing I don't know about them is where they're stationed and how many of them there are." I said waiting for their reaction.
Mavis was looking at me with sad eyes as she took in everything I had told them, same as Laxus and Master. "What is your plan then Lucy?" Master asked, "How many of these keys are there and what do you need from us?"
"I've already collected two of the six keys, but I'm not sure where the others are so it's going to take some time. I've asked the King, but he says that they've shifted locations after all of these years, either by other mages or by collectors, so they can literally be anywhere. As for how you guys can help I need to borrow Levy and Freed, I have a couple of books that I need translated, they may have a general location of one of the keys. But if there are multiple locations that are too far away from each other I might need some teams to go and retrieve the keys. It won't be a simple task; they'll fight to remain free from humans, so you'll have to forcibly take them, but try not to hurt them too bad."
Makarov looked to Laxus for permission to keep Freed here, shrugging he said "that'll be fine, we hadn't planned on going on another mission for a while. Since we've been out for an entire month it'd be nice to relax." As he said that he gave me a weird look.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I did tell you that I'd be back and to not worry about me. You didn't have to continue your search." I said defensively crossing my arms.
Master seeing that Laxus was about to respond, interrupted our budding argument. "What about the two slayers that you brought along? Can they be trusted?"
"Yeah they can, they know everything already and helped me get the two I have now. All that's left is the Chameleon, the Wolf, the Phoenix and the Great Bear. While Freed and Levy translate the books, I'm going to continue training and keep an eye out for missions that have keys as a reward." I said.
"That's well and good but from the sound of it you have yet to relax. Spend the next week getting some rest and spend time with everyone we've all missed you."
"If you say so Master, I wouldn't mind a little rest."
Rogue POV
How could Lucy just leave me alone, not once but twice? As everyone had pushed me out of the way to get outside I looked around what used to be the number one guild in Fiore. My how the mighty have fallen, I thought as I leisurely followed them outside. Looking at how everyone was prepared to fight I looked for the threat and saw none, just Lucy's dragon flying overhead chasing Natsu. I wonder where Sting and Lector ran off to. Listening closely I heard a faint moaning on the other side of the building where Draco had been told to wait, investigating the noise I found my partner in a heap on the ground with Lector trying to help him up.
Scoffing at the scene before me I grabbed Sting under the arms and yanked him up. "You let him beat you?" I asked disappointed in the outcome.
"Ha! Let him beat me, never. You're girlfriend's dragon cheated and dropped that on my head when things were getting interesting." He said pointing at the smashed potted plant that was near the wall of the guild.
Blushing at him calling Lucy my girlfriend, I turned my face away from him to hide it before he noticed. Thankfully he was too focused on getting all of the dirt out of his hair to look at me, that is until I chuckled at how he was defeated by a plant.
"What you think this is funny? That dragon ruined my fight, and I was winning too!"
"That's right! Sting was getting a lot of good hits in and had Natsu on the run!" Lector chimed in.
"Well if you want a go at the dragon I suggest you go now. He's off flying around, chasing Natsu and the blue haired slayer." In the next second he and Lector were gone, having flown away to join in the game.
"LU-CHAN!"
Hearing the panic in the voice I pushed through the people to see what was happening. Before I could see Lucy the scent of her blood wafted into the air. Panicking at the smell I became frantic, and was no longer worried about hurting anyone in my attempt to get to her. Pushing through the last of the people I watched as she flung someone into canal, some 40 feet away. I wanted to go to her, but once again she was surrounded by her guild mates before I could get to her.
"How dare he come to our guild and attack one of our own. Does anyone know who he is or what guild he is from?"
Damn it, Julien was right; others are coming for her. Who else is stupid enough to attack her with so many people around?
Watching as she spoke to her master in hushed tones, I followed behind them as they entered the guild. Finding a corner of the room while she talked to the tiny old man and the scarred blonde I sat down and waited for her. Ignoring the glare of her two team mates, Gray and Erza, I believe it was, I contemplated ordering a drink, but I thought better of it when I saw the woman manning the bar was looking at me with a different kind of terrifying gleam in her eyes.
Hearing Frosch's stomach grumble I resigned myself to confronting one of the three sets of eyes watching me. Wishing that Lucy had returned our bags to us after we got off of the train, I stood up and walked to the bar. As I got closer to the bar I noticed the hearts that were floating around in her eyes. Cautiously approaching the bar I leaned over it and waited for her to gain enough control of herself before I ordered enough food for Sting, Lector, Frosch and I. Having four Dragon Slayers in the guild, she wasn't surprised about the amount of I had ordered. When I turned away to leave she mumbled something about 33 babies and promptly fell over.
"LUCY!"
"LUSHIII!"
Both Natsu and his exceed burst through the doors panting, and frantically looking around for the blonde haired mage. Not seeing her, the exceed's eyes filled with tears of worry and flew to Erza and Gray.
"Draco told us she got hurt is she alright?" He asked as he landed on Erza's head. Before she could answer Natsu caught Lucy's scent and bounded up the stairs, pushing aside the mages that were blocking the top of the stairs and busted through what I'd assumed was the office door. Or at least he would have if the door hadn't opened at that exact moment.
A familiar 'oomph' had my feet taking me up the stairs to see what had happened.
"Lucy! I'm so glad you're alright. Where is he? I'll teach him not to attack us." Natsu said as he squeezed her tight and crushed her under his weight. After returning the hug she tried for longer than I liked, she tried to push him off of her but he wouldn't budge. Happy to be of some help to remove Natsu from his spot on top of her I pulled him up by the back of the neck and not too gently shoved him aside. "Hey! What's the big deal?"
"Thanks Rogue." She said with a smile as she dusted herself off.
Ignoring the pink haired slayer as he struggled against the three mages he had pushed aside earlier, I waited until Lucy was ready and followed her down the stairs to the table Frosch was occupying. Luckily I was right behind her because the moment we sat down the rest of the seats were filled with her guild members.
"Rogue, this is Levy, Lisanna, Juvia, Cana, Wendy, Carla, Happy and you've already met my team. Everyone this is Rogue and Frosch."
Nodding to them I watched as Frosch beamed and waved at each one of them before she made herself comfortable by sitting on the table and using Lucy as a back rest. Whereas her teammates were glaring at me, still unsure of what part I had played in keeping her from them for so long, the rest of her friends were very open and interested in learning all about me.
Feeling the undeniable urge to run and hide from the ladies inquisitive glances, I looked around for the quickest escape route. Mentally judging the distance from the table to the guild doors, I was saved when their guild master shouted from on top of the bar.
"In order to celebrate Lucy's safe return to the guild and our new friends," he said with a glance towards me, "all alcohol is on the house for the rest of the day!"
Amazed that something as simple as a guild member returning would cause such a ruckus, I watched as Cana planted a kiss on Lucy's lips and rushed to the bar, "You should leave and come back more often Lucy!" she shouted as she leaned over the bar and lifted a huge barrel out from under it. Expecting her to share the barrel with everyone else I watched in horrified fascination as she tilted it and began drinking from the barrel without spilling a drop.
"Uh…"
"Hahaha Cana is our resident drunk; she can drink anyone under the table and keep going." Lucy explained after she had wiped her mouth of Cana's kiss with a dusting of pink on her cheeks.
"Mhmmm…"
"Honestly she can drink at least five of those before she even thinks about stopping for the night. Would you like something to drink Rogue? If so we should get it before all of the good stuff is gone." She said as she stood up, waiting for me to answer her. Joining her we pushed through the crowd in front of the bar, losing sight of her curvy form, I stopped and looked around for her blonde hair. Not seeing it I shrugged and moved to go back the way I came when I felt something grab a hold of my hand, tugging me forcefully to the bar. "Found you!" the blonde said with a giggle.
"33 babies!" Was have squealed from behind the bar as one of the bartenders, the same one that I had ordered food from before, fainted; causing everyone to groan in impatience, and Lucy and I to blush.
AN: Hope you enjoyed it! :]
Let me know what you thought! Please and thank you!
Amy: Thanks!
GemNika: I borrowed your 33 babies =] lol.
Thanks, I wanted to change it up a bit. I've read a ton of fics where the first thing the slayers do is ask about their parents. Although that is a very likely scenario, and will eventually happen in my fic, I felt like Natsu would enjoy playing with Draco in a way he was never able to with Igneel since he didn't have Happy back then. :) Lol just my crazy opinion.
BronzeDove: I did consider a fight between the guild and the twin slayers but thought better of it. Lol, Lucy wouldn't want her new friends to get hurt, especially Rogue. ;) So the fight would have ended before it even started. Feelings will be exposed soon enough, you can't have a flirting couple anywhere near Mira, something is bound to happen.
Eclipse1: :D yay!