I AM ALIVE! Please R&R and I shall see you at the bottom of the page.
POV: Natsu
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the idea of this story, I am just the writer.
A story for a friend, by a friend
Music rings throughout the small room as well as the sound of shuffling papers. Lucy grunts as she picks up a heavy box filled with papers and heads towards the door with shaky legs. She barely makes it towards the door when she starts tipping forward due to the heavy weight in her arms.
Before she falls she releases her hold on the box allowing it to hit the floor with a heavy thud while giving a tired sigh. She rests for a few minutes before stooping down to pick up the heavy box again to which I quickly intervene by swiping it out of her shaking hands.
"I told you to leave that one there," I scold as I effortlessly place the heavy box on an empty table near the door.
Pouting, Lucy shakes her red hands as she moves to pick up a lighter box near the doorway filled with old copied sheet music that I don't really use, "If you don't take it out now you're going to forget it here," she mutters while moving to leave the room.
"That box is full of trash Lucy," I call out to her back that quickly disappears beyond my line of sight.
Sighing, I shake my head completely amused at her childish antics as I shuffle through a folder filled with scribbled tech paper. After not finding anything interesting I mark the front of the folder with a large red X before discarding it into the large heavy box before moving on to a different folder.
Lucy and I have been clearing out my office at the music shop for the past four hours. Even though I had somewhat cleaned the office a few days beforehand Lucy found the need to instruct me in making sure that I was not throwing anything away that might be valuable or important. Nothing in the office was really important other than the few modern electronics I had lying around the store and the drawing of Happy is securely put away back home in an old photo album.
"I thought you said you had cleaned the office," Lucy grumbles when she walks back into the small room before plopping into his nearby swivel chair, "We should have been done hours ago."
"Luce, when I said I cleaned it I meant that it was presentable for guests not for moving out of the blue," I say without looking up at her, but I can tell that she's glaring at me as I stuff three folders full of tech paper into a nearby empty box to put in storage or sell. I haven't really decided yet, "And can you change the music? Classical music really doesn't suit cleaning at all," I say while finally looking over at her to watch her huff and click a button on a small device resting on the side of my nearly empty desk.
Immediately rock-like music starts blaring from the small device that could outdo a large sound system. The device is a small control-like object with a skip button, a play/pause button, and a power button. It looks like an old MP3 player with a holographic screen that lets you search for music that you have stored within the device.
"Thanks," I say while finally clearing out the last shelf in the room and rummaging through its contents.
"Please just hurry," she replies with a small whine, "I'm getting hungry."
"Alright, alright," I grumble as I lift the box I was currently rummaging through as well as lifting up the box that Lucy was having trouble with, "Let me just get these boxes out to the trash and we can get going."
"Finally!" Lucy cheers as she picks up the small music device and follows me while turning off the music, "I want to go to Café 8," she states while picking up her purse from the front desk and following me out of the store while locking the door behind her.
"Fine," I grumble as I make my way towards the dumpster, "Go look for the car and I'll wait for you over at the dumpster.
Lucy bounds away with a wide smile disappearing down the street towards where I presume she parked the car. Hopefully she didn't lose the car again like she had a few nights ago.
Walking down the long sidewalk I look over to the park to find much more people walking around the nearby park. The weather is nice and cool with slight breezes rustling the leaves of the nearby trees as well as the flags that wave in the air. Birds chirping nearby also fills the air making the short walk towards the dumpsters a pleasant one.
Nearing the café Lucy likes to go to I spot a young man reading a holographic book intently. The title, which I can somehow clearly see from the distance I'm standing at, surprises me. 'The Art of War' is one of the many books that seems to somehow have made it this long in time. I had read that book perhaps a year after it had reached Fiore after migrating down from the upper countries.
Reading the title of the book leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not because the book talks about tactics on how to win a war or a battle but simply because of the awful memories that it brings with that simple title. I've been in just about every war that ever raged on since that one time long ago, in a village hidden deep within the Pergrande Kingdom. It wasn't a war per say, but the battle was harsh enough to change the way my eyes saw the world and the people who now occupy it.
Throwing the boxes into the nearest trash bin I hear a honking behind me to find Lucy waving at me from where she's parked on the curb. Closing the lid of the large container, I then make my way towards my partner only to notice that her eyes are on the young man who is still reading his 'book' with much interest. She doesn't look at the title of the book, at least she isn't anymore, and her eyes look a bit dejected as she takes in the appearance of the boy.
Eyeing at him as well I notice that the boy has a few similar qualities to a young man that lived in the old village I had mentioned before. However, this boy's raven hair is nothing like the other boy's deep onyx and his eyes are a dark brown instead of ebony like my own. Facial and body features aren't so similar either, but if you were to see him from the corner of your eye you'd think he was the devil himself.
Looking back at Lucy she smiles when she notices me approaching her and doesn't say anything about the boys when I climb into the passenger seat. Checking her makeup in the mirror, after hundreds of years I still don't understand why she wears the stuff, she looks at me and asks, "So we don't have to come back to the store for anything else, right?"
Shaking my head, I lean back into my seat while also stacking my hands behind my head as I try to relax for the short ride to the restaurant, "No, all that's left is dropping off the keys with the landlord and starting on packing up the house," I reply with a groan as she reciprocates with understanding.
"Well then, let's go see what kind of battle we'll have to fight to get our things organized," she giggles before shifting the gears into drive as she slowly makes her way down the short road.
So she had read the title of the book.
The sound of drums fills the encampment as the villagers dance around a large campfire while chanting strange words that I have yet to understand. I watch the fire blaze high into the sky as the people continue to move and twirl while wearing clothing and masks made out of wood and feathers to represent the animals that feed and hunt us. The light of the fire causes the colors of the feathers to glow as if they were burning with their very own fire.
I adjust the cloth that wraps around my waist and shoulder before clapping, a movement learned from the people of this 'tribe', and smile as I watch Mavis and Lucy from where I sit. They're both twirling around the fire in a large circle moving in strange ways that we've learned is called dancing. It is a way of symbolizing the movement of the animals as well as how the grass sways in the wind. They disappear behind the fire as Erza and Juvia come into view donning their own feather masks and moving in a similar fashion as the rest of the women.
While Lucy and Mavis dance Makarov plays one of large drums alongside Zeref who keeps his eyes trained on Mavis and Lucy. A small smile plays across his usually somber face when Mavis twirls causing the feathers on her mask to flutter in dazzling colors under the orange glow of the fire. Mavis's smile and tinkling laughter causes the small boy's own smile to widen as he beats down on his drum with much more enthusiasm than before.
Looking back at the dancers, I realize that it has already been some time that we've been staying at the camp. In the time that we've been here we have all learned many new things from the villagers like how to make the clothing that we now as well wear to how plants grow better in different parts around the camp. They've even learned that catching animals and keeping them enclosed in fences can make it easier to breed the animals to bring in more meat without having to hunt all the time.
Amel, who calls himself leader of the tribe, watches from where he stands nearby with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyes glowing with the burning flames. He had given a speech earlier on how he is grateful to the higher beings they have begun to believe in for reuniting him with his family. He spoke of the many tribes that were built nearby by others that had moved away to begin their own home like he had. He is also thankful that the soil has not stopped in producing food allowing his people to be strong, healthy, and happy.
"Let happiness continue to fill us," he had said before food was brought out for us to feast on.
Since we arrived Amel has spoken about his short travels with Fae after they had left us all that time ago. He explained that at first things had been difficult with just the two of them alone until they found this land that was fertile and filled with animals that would travel down to the river for water. Amel and Fae had seven children, four boys and two girls, who each went their own ways when they were old enough. Only two of his children had stayed with him and his partner to raise their own family they had formed with others who had found their way into their home.
Unfortunately, Fae passed away some time before we arrived much to Erza's and Jellal's dismay leaving Amel alone with his only remaining daughter Sienna. She is in fact the mother of Zeref's father who died on a hunting trip leaving the young boy under the woman's care.
Taking a sip of the bitter liquid Amel had given to me earlier, I watch Lucy and Mavis make their way towards me hand in hand. Large smiles encompass their beautiful faces as Lucy sits next to my while Mavis wraps her arms around my neck in a tight hug.
"Did you see me dance?" she asks excitedly with her large green eyes beaming under her mask.
"You were amazing," I tell her while nodding, "I could barely keep my eyes off of you and your mother."
Smiling wide she races off towards where her brother is still playing his drum. They speak amongst each other as she is seemingly trying to get Makarov to dance with her. He, of course, refuses making the younger girl pout in disappointment until Zeref stands up and offers his hand towards her. She stares at him surprised before looking towards her older brother as if asking for permission. Makarov quickly shoos her off while watching skeptically as Zeref leads Mavis back towards the burning fire.
"Zeref seems to have gotten a liking towards Makarov and Mavis," I tell Lucy who is also watching the younger children start to dance once again, her mask long forgotten on the floor beside her.
"More like a liking towards Mavis," she says with a warm smile on her face as she takes my hand in hers, "Who knows, he might even be her partner one day." Laughing, I wrap my arm around her shoulder as I pull her closer to me so we can enjoy the festivity together…
Looking back on that night now I can't really remember much of what happened afterwards. All I can recall now, thousands of years later, is the smell of the burning wood, the sound of the beating drums, and the feel of Lucy wrapped up in my arms. I can remember the others being there as well dancing, eating, and laughing because there was nothing to be afraid of. There was nothing for us to worry about because we were with family that we would not leave for quite a long time.
I had dreams from my children before I even knew what dreams and wishes really were. I wished for Mavis and Makarov to be happy with their own partners and their own children that they could raise on their own. My wish came true when they both grew older and each found their own partners with Lucy's prediction of Mavis and Zeref came true. They did become partners and none of us could have been happier to have such a smart kind man take care of our daughter.
At the time I was happy for my two children, happy to live in peace with my family, happy because there was no reason to feel otherwise. I was happy because my family was happy, but little did any of us know that things would not remain that way forever.
Much later on in life I would learn that when things go blissfully right, eventually they would go terribly wrong. Things would change, people would change, and it would all start with a boy we met who had hair and eyes as dark as a moonless night and a kind heart that would later turn to stone. A boy who my daughter had fallen in love with. A boy whose name would haunt us for the rest of our never ending lives…
{And the battle's just begun,
There's many lost,
But tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart}
- Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
I am a billion times sorry that it took my this long to update. I didn't mean to take so long in updating but so many things got in the way these past few weeks that I just couldn't sit down and concentrate on just one story. I then decided to just finish this story before continuing my other two stories but ideas were just not coming to me. I had never had a writer's block as nasty as this one but after time and persistence I finally finished the first part of My Immortal. The next chapter is the last chapter of the first part of this story so please look forward to that.
SShout Outs
Great thanks to my Fantastic Favorites...
- Natsu Dragneel13
- Noodleus
- Sprinkles328
- Deni. Marie31
To my Fabulous Follower...
- Natsu Dragneel13
And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...
- Splendora Faye = Sorry it took so long for this chapter, but I'm happy that you enjoyed the past two chapters I had updated.
- Kawaii - Turtles = I know what you mean about picturing Makarov old in this story. I honestly do the same thing and it even throws me off for a loop at times, but I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters and I'm sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter.
- Yuyui Hime = Yes, Zeref will actually be a main part of the whole story, or at least his name will be, So starting the second section of this story will be mentioning him a lot more.
Well that's all the shout outs for today
If you are enjoying my story so far please follow, favorite, and review - remember, reviews are a writers candy - and if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to see put into this story you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it in.
Until next time my lovelies.