[ Eisenwald {1} ]
-L-H-
Lucy let out a small sigh as she sat near to the quest board, groaning at her dilemma with a mug full of juice. Levy McGarden sat next to the blonde, chuckling at her current state. She's been in her shoes after all, it's never easy choosing a quest as a beginner! There were many things to take into consideration, and Lucy's mind was running rampant at the potential outcomes as she spoke with Levy, her latest friend.
"It's never easy choosing your next job," Levy said warmly as she took a sip of her own drink. Lucy just huffed as she glanced behind her at the chaos Natsu was basking in, bickering in particular with a dark-haired exhibitionist that never seemed to back down from Natsu's advancements. "I'm sure it isn't Levy, but I just wished Natsu would give some insight instead of handing the mantle over to me. Shouldn't he be the leader of Team Haluna, considering he's been here longer?"
Levy's eyes widened, "Team Haluna? What does Haluna mean?"
Lucy couldn't help the smile that overtook her face as she took a sip of her juice, "It's a combination of abbreviations using the first two letters of all of our names. 'Ha' for Happy, 'Lu' for myself, and 'Na' for Natsu."
"That's so cute," Levy cooed.
"It really is." Lucy was extremely fond of their team name, despite being unanimously made the leader of it without a second thought. Ultimately she's fine with having a role of responsibility for them, already taking that role whenever they are on missions. She couldn't help but to wish she had a little bit more time to adjust to the guild life, but it seems like it was Team Haluna's fate to simply rush into things head-first.
"So you brats made a team, huh?" Cana snorted as she sat down heavily, causing the table to shake. Her barrel was tucked underneath her arm like a teddy bear as she drunkenly hiccuped, feeling a bit tipsy. Levy and Lucy greeted the resident drunkard, who gave them a classic smirk in response as she chugged her alcohol.
"Yeah, we went on our first mission yesterday."
"And?" Cana raised an eyebrow. Lucy looked at her with brief confusion.
"And what?"
"How did it go, Heartfilia." Cana chuckled and Lucy flushed a bit embarrassingly because she really should've known that was what she was referring to. She ended up filling in with a brief summary of their mission watching as Levy and Cana applaud her for a job well done. Well Levy did at least, while Cana let out a burp and held her fist up for a fist-bump, which Lucy did with amusement clear in her brown eyes.
The ladies began to chat about idle things before Mirajane came over to take a small break from bartending, considering no one was really drinking anyways due to the infamous brawl kick-starting once more. She took a seat next to Cana, who shifted her position so that she could throw an arm around her girlfriend as she laid against her shoulder. Mirajane just chuckled at her antics as she stole some of her alcohol, taking a small swing as she turned towards the resident bookworms.
"Congratulations on your latest mission, Lucy! I'm sure all went well, yes?"
It went well in the end, Lucy thinks, but it was a bit eye opening for her. She didn't say that part out loud however, just smiled and nodded. "Everlue is enroute to prison, the book ended up landing in the hands of the client who deserved it. We didn't get the money but hey, I'm sure getting rid of Duke Everlue for Shinotsume Town was priceless to begin with."
"There are different types of good in the world," Mira nodded in agreement. "It's good that law enforcement are taking the reins off your hands. It doesn't seem like the Magic Council's going to let him get away with his crimes."
"Hmm, I bet they're only mad that he got caught, spending resources to escort him to the nearest prison. He was a small fry, compared to others in the world." Cana snickered lowly, as Mirajane let out a sigh at her girlfriend's words but she didn't correct her. It was well known that the Magic Council liked displaying their power as a formality, and will likely wipe Everlue's long past of corruption under the rug by places blame on someone else. Nevermind that they should've nabbed the man a long time ago, because it's never the Magic Council's fault.
They were essentially the government, after all.
"The Magic Council rules the magical world and all of the legal guilds within it, Lucy." Mirajane began to explain. "They tend to be responsible for all events regarding mages, prosecuting them, and confiscating dangerous artifacts in the possessions of bad people. Dark guilds, in fact."
"Dark guilds…?" Lucy blinked in small surprise, but it didn't last long. It made sense after all, there are people that valued their own morals and beliefs and wouldn't want to be restricted by the Magic Council's regulations. Where there was good, there was bad.
A balance that never ends.
Levy hummed as she drummed her fingers on the table in a rhythmic motion. "Dangerous mages that are wanted for dangerous things. They tend to band together, unfortunately, to cause harm. Every once in a while, we'll get a call for help to eradicate threatening guilds. I haven't seen anything too crazy myself, but there's limitless potential with magic, which also means there are limitless outcomes."
"That's true." Lucy nodded in agreement to Levy's words. Best to stop those types of guilds while they were still growing, she reckoned. She glanced around the guild idly, only to pause when she catches the attention of one of the heart-throbs, Loke once more who seemed to be look at her with eyes full of apprehension, which startles her. She narrows her eyes back, wondering if she's ever met the man before to cause him to look at her in such a way. Loke quickly breaks eye-contact however, moving to take a step out to breath from the guild hall.
Levy's observant eyes saw the whole thing, and she turned towards Lucy with questions dancing in her eyes. The celestial spirit mage just shrugged when she saw the curiosity in Levy's eyes, murmuring,
"I don't know what his problem is."
Levy opened her mouth to retort with Loke bursted back into the guild hall with fear on his face as he shouted.
"Erza's back!"
Fairytail gasped as they quickly scrambled to clean everything up, much to the amusement of Levy and Mirajane as they watched the boys go at work. Even Natsu and Gray, as Lucy recalls his name, stopped their rivalry in the middle of the room as their faces went pale, scrambling to clean up with the rest. Cana just groaned loudly at the news, as Mirajane gently slapped her arm that was wrapped around her waist.
"Fucking hell," Cana sighed and Lucy was suddenly extremely curious at this Erza figure. Just who was she, if she was able to create such a presence in the room without physically being here?
Her questions were answered as the guild doors were brutally kicked open with a strength that made Lucy subtly flinch. A dark shadow was casted into the hall of Fairytail as everyone froze at the sight of a large monster horn entering the room, settling on the ground with a massive creak once it was dropped onto the floor. Coming from behind the horn was a woman in a silver suit of armor with long red hair and fierce eyes as she glared into the room, scrutinizing everyone at once.
"Erza!" Mirajane waved happily, breaking the silence as Erza looked in her direction and gave her a tight smile before scowling at the sight of Cana trying to hide behind her girlfriend's figure. Cana peeked from over Mirajane's shoulder as she let out a curse, making eye-contact with Erza.
"Cana Alberona," Erza's voice thundered in the room but Cana just rolled her eyes as she leaned back from Mirajane, giving Erza a bored look.
"Erza."
"Back to drinking again? One of these days, you're going to get alcohol poisoning at this rate, and I won't be taking you to the Polyursica to save your sorry self."
"Damn Scarlet, not holding back from the jump. Maybe you need a drink yourself, and loosen up that tight ass of yours." Cana snarked back with a smirk as Erza's face flushed from the vulgar words.
"My ass is not tight!" Erza scolded as Cana waved her hand dismissively. She was quick to move on as she began to scowl everyone one by one, especially Natsu and Gray once she caught wind of them. Lucy watched in small amusement as the boys cowered at her glare as she crossed her arms, berating them for their destructive habits.
"She's a force to be reckoned with," Levy said a bit admirably as they all watched Erza threaten to beat Natsu up, holding him up by his scarf. Strangely enough, Lucy wasn't bothered by the scene before her. Sure it seemed that Erza Scarlet was a bit more…physical that she had expected, but beneath her words, Lucy sensed that there was a foundation of love that caused her to act this way. She was like a strict sister to them, Lucy concluded.
"That she is," Mirajane chuckled at found memories of them when they were all younger, "She's always been this way. Beyond her strictness and harsh words however, she's a bit socially awkward if anything. Rather adorable, if you ask me."
"She's a pain in the ass, Mira." Cana grumbled as Mirajane rolled her eyes. "But she's strong. As an S-Class mage, you have to be at least."
"She's an S-Class mage?!" Lucy stated in shock as she looked at the knight, but found that even though she's never seen her activate her magic before, her presence and aura seemed to have demanded that she was nothing less than an S-Class mage. She didn't even bother activating her magic sensoring, because Lucy is sure she'll find even more evidence of her power. Lucy wondered if she could ever be an S-Class mage too, holding herself with confidence and pride such as Erza seemed to naturally do.
Yeah, Lucy thought with a small smile, she'll get there one day.
"Gray and Natsu," Erza spoke causing the boys to freeze again at the sound of her names, "I need you to come with me for my next mission."
"What for, Erza?" Gray spoke up as he shivered a bit. Natsu was still recovering from her onslaught moments prior, shaking dramatically which caused the knight to roll her eyes at the sight as she crossed her arms once more.
"There's been a bounty by the Magic Council for quite some time now on capturing members of a Dark Guild called Eisenwald," She started but her eyes darkened as she continued, "But I believe that something worse is about to come. I've overheard some men talking about a power magical item that could be used as a weapon."
"We tend to get rumors like that all of the time, though." Gray rationally pointed out. When he wasn't arguing mindlessly with Natsu and the others, Gray was actually a very cautious and observing man. A little cruel too, if he had to be, but that was a story for another time. "What makes you so sure this isn't just a rumor?"
"Because they mentioned a name that's been on my radar for a while now; Erigor, the Shinigami of Eisenwald." She sighed before hardening her eyes at the boys causing them to flinch. "You don't have a say in the matter, we leave in an hour."
Gray groaned at the firmness of her tone, knowing that there wasn't any way to get out of helping her as he reluctantly nodded. He let out a small yawn and Erza's keen eyes observed that his eye bags were looking a little darker than normal, but she didn't say anything as she turned towards Natsu.
"Well?"
Natsu let out a long dramatic sigh before nodding in agreement and Erza clapped once in delight before storming off to meet with Makarov for a quick debrief. Ignoring Gray, Natsu instinctively looked over towards Lucy, who was already looking over with amusement in her eyes and he was quick to give a grin of his own as he began to make his way over towards the ladies. A blonde eyebrow awaited him once he made it, greeting everyone with hug as he sat down next to her.
Gray watched silently as Natsu's mood seemed to have flipped at the sight of the blonde, narrowing his eyes a bit at her. Lucy Heartfilia, he remembered introducing herself a couple days ago. Granted he was too busy fighting with everyone else to properly make introductions, but maybe he should if the flame idiot liked her so much.
"Hey Luce," Natsu said lowly as he sighed into the table, causing Lucy to give him a look of pity. She patted his back as he groaned childishly, "What did Erza ask of you and Gray?"
"She wants us to tag along on some mission she thinks is about to go to shit, but dang, I don't wanna gooo." Natsu whined. Lucy just sighed as the rest of the ladies at the table rolled their eyes at the resident dragon slayer. Erza Scarlet was an S-Class mage, right? It seemed to Lucy that she wouldn't ask for help if she didn't think she couldn't do it on her own. Lucy frowned at the thought, and asked Natsu for more details on his mission.
" My mission? You mean our mission! There's no way in hell I'm going with Ice Freak and Erza and fend for myself! You're coming too!"
"What?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock with a dash of nervousness in her. Erza didn't ask her to come along, she only asked for Natsu and Gray. She did not want to intrude on something super important, especially when she wasn't invited. That was begging for trouble, Lucy thinks, as Natsu looked at her as if she said something incredibly dumb.
"No way. I'm not getting dragged onto a mission that I wasn't asked to tag along for. Maybe she chose you guys for a specific reason?"
Natsu's tongue poked his cheek as he stared at her with small annoyance, but Lucy stared right back in defiance. If she doesn't have permission, she's simply not going. Period. Suddenly, Natsu shot up from his seat as he hollered,
"ERZA!"
Everyone blinked in surprise at the loud noise, some people turning towards Natsu as he yelled some more for the red head's attention. Lucy flushed embarrassingly as she quickly urged Natsu to shut up and sit down, but he stubbornly refused as he called for Erza.
"HEY ERZA! ERZA!" Natsu shouted until a sword spun from the second floor of the guild hall, implanting itself in front of Natsu's body on the table as he grinned without flinching. Cana let out a small curse as she jumped, while Mirajane flinched a little bit but stayed relatively calm. Levy and Lucy clung to each other as they yelped, and Natsu took a step on the table as he grabbed the sword, pointing it upwards at the knight who was staring down at him with a small murderous expression.
" What is the meaning of all this ruckus? " Erza glowered at Natsu who just waved her off with a grin and replied with,
"Gotta get your attention somehow, yeah? Anyways, can Luce come?"
Erza furrowed her brow, "Who is 'Luce'?"
Natsu pointed at the terrified blonde who snapped her head up and made eye-contact with Erza, who stared at her for a moment. Lucy felt absolutely helpless as she looked into the serious woman's eyes, before Erza gave a sharp nod in agreement.
"That is fine. In fact, I don't believe we have met, Luce. I'm assuming you are new here, correct?" Erza nodded her head politely, watching as Lucy nodded back with slight apprehension.
"Y-Yeah."
"I see. Welcome to Fairytail, then." Erza gave her a smile before glaring back at Natsu, who lost all of his bravado and flinched despite being floor levels apart. "Next time have some decorum and wait , Natsu."
"Says the most impatient person I know," He huffed under his breath as he shrugged. "Hey, after the mission, let's fight again! I wanna see how strong I've gotten and beat your ass!"
Erza snorted as she walked back to where she was originally, "You can try. I accept your challenge for when we return."
Natsu fist bumped the air, "Hell yeah!"
" Natsu. "
Natsu shuddered as he slowly turned around to see an irritated Lucy, staring him down with an occasional eye twitch as she glared at him. He felt really nervous suddenly, as he quickly placed the sword down and took a seat next to Lucy. Natsu started to fidget a little bit as he looked from his lap to Lucy's eyes to his lap again as he awaited judgement.
A nose exhale was all he heard as he looked up at Lucy, shaking her head with pursed lips.
" Next time, let's finish at least talking it out before you drag me onto something I don't feel as if I'm ready for."
"You don't believe in yourself? Because I do."
"It takes more than confidence to go on missions. No one likes being put in situations they don't feel prepared for."
Natsu realized that Lucy was a bit different than the typical Fairytail mage that joins. She doesn't like to recklessly dive head first into something that has risks in it, she likes to at least give time to think about it before making a decision.
And Natsu just made such a decision for her.
"Sorry." He said a bit remorsefully.
"It's okay," Lucy said softly, noticing that Natsu seemed genuine with his apology. It seems as if he takes her words really seriously, she realized. But as she recalled that Natsu stated that he believed in her without hesitation, she grew a little warm inside at the faith in her. Perhaps she was a little too serious about this…
"...thanks for believing in me, though." She added on after a moment. Natsu's eyes lit up at her words, noticing that she wasn't mad anymore (she wasn't truly ever mad in the first place). Throwing a casual arm around her, he side-hugged her and Lucy smiled a bit into it as she waited a moment before returning it, for dramatics.
"Erza said that we were leaving in an hour, so be ready by then, I guess."
"So it's another adventure, then? Odds are we're taking the train, Natsu." Lucy warned and Natsu's body shook at the implication of motion sickness as he sagged against Lucy.
"Aw fuck."
-L-H-
"Lucy, right?" Gray started up conversationally as they sat in the back of the train, with access to the largest luggage area. They had no choice considering the sheer amount of what Lucy had thought to be supplies, was just Erza's clothes as they made their way towards the train. Gray had rolled his eyes in annoyance at the sight, especially Erza forced them to help loading them on the train.
Erza had immediately sucker punched Natsu in the gut afterwards without hesitation, causing Lucy's jaw to drop as she held the unconscious boy in her arms on the train. "He is whiny when he gets on trains, I do that to make him feel better."
In what universe does getting punched in the stomach make someone feel better, Lucy exclaimed in her mind but sweatdropped nonetheless as she quietly took Natsu. He ended up laying in his normal position with his head on her lap as they all sat together, Happy included. He was eating some of Erza's cookies though, but that was besides the point.
"That's right," Lucy said slowly as she took a moment to look at Gray. The dark haired teenager was wearing a white jacket without a shirt underneath, with a silver chain glistening on his chest with a cross on it. He seemed relaxed, and a laid back individual upon first glance. He even had a rugged charm to him a little bit.
But there were a couple things that made Lucy feel unsure about Gray, the more she looked and thought about what she knew of him.
He seemed to pick on Natsu alot, from what she's seen. Boys fight each other alot, that is what she's quickly realized when she saw most of the Fairytail brawls were full of me. But did they also declare mean things to each other too? Every once in a while, a tease is fine. She's even called an idiot, with fondness in her voice and it's clear with his reactions that he understands that. Yet every single time she's witness an interaction with Gray and Natsu, it's been with poisonous words and violent exchanges.
Do they even like each other?
Gray stared cooly at Lucy, noticing the way she was scruntizing him in an odd way. Has he met her before? Why was she staring at him so intensely, as if she was trying to figure him out?
"You fight with Natsu, a lot." Lucy said mildly.
Gray blinked in surprise at her tone of voice, and the fact that she didn't even ask for his own name in a typical fashion. What ever happened to hello? What's your name? Instead, it felt like the beginning of an interrogation, and Gray couldn't help but narrow his own eyes as he looked at her a bit warily.
Lucy rested her head on her hand as she idly rested the other on Natsu, brown eyes piercing into dark blue as she hummed at his actions. He was on edge now, she noted. He didn't expect her to ask that.
"Yeah, I do? The idiot fights me and vice versa. We just don't get along." Gray answered slowly, much like Lucy did in the beginning. Only the difference this time was Gray felt a bit unease, while Lucy did it because she had already begin to size Gray up the moment they were in close proximity. She looked down to see if Natsu was still "asleep" before reclaiming eye contact with Gray. "What's it to you?"
"My only knowledge of you is that you like to antagonize my best friend," Lucy stated calmly but there was a small, miniscule edge of her own, to her voice. If you weren't looking for it, it would've been easy to miss. But Gray is far more observant and cautious than most people give him credit for, and he did notice.
"I didn't realize you two were so close."
"There's a lot in life that many people don't realize, in general." Gray knew immediately that there was more to their story then. She dismissed it easily, bringing out a general concept that could be applied to anywhere. Something must've connected the two of them together, but before he could even generate a question, he noticed that Lucy wasn't finished,
"I don't know the nature of your relationship, but I have to be honest and say that to me, you seem like an odd bully-" Gray sucked in a breath at the implication of bullying Natsu because he doesn't, they just tend to argue all the fucking time and, "-and Natsu is the same. Honestly, what is the fun in toxic relationships where all you do is yell, scream, and walk home with a bruise every day…"
Gray blinked rapidly, trying to understand how the conversation even got here. He just asked to confirm her name, why was he in the process of getting psycho-analyzed? He gritted his teeth as he narrowed his eyes at her, feeling disturbed by how easily she's been able to cut through to get underneath his skin. He opened his mouth to say something, something that probably wasn't the best but-
"...especially when you already don't get enough sleep at night, Gray." Lucy finished off gently and Gray is left spiralling at the sudden turn of events. A complex feeling rose in his chest as he let out a shaking breath and clenched a fist. Who the hell is this girl? And why is she looking at him as if she could see through, past the ice that's seemed to never melt and shatter in his chest?
"What the hell do you know about me?" Gray glared as he swallowed a pained breath.
"It doesn't take rocket science to notice the bags under your eyes."
"What does that have to do with Natsu?"
Lucy hesitated this time around before answering, because she's just met Gray after all. What gives her the right to give him advice, not knowing what he goes through behind closed doors? In the beginning she wasn't sure what to make of him, but when she saw the look in his eye when she softly accused him and Natsu of bullying each other, it was a small look of a long aged tiredness that seemed to settle deep within Gray's bones.
And now..what is his story?
Considering how their first meeting is going, maybe she'll never know. But at least she could nudge him in the right direction, to get some help. Because it starts with sleepless nights and it can end within a coffin, if he doesn't take care of himself.
"Maybe this conversation started off about Natsu but it'll end being about you, Gray, because now that I sit here and I look at you fully without the fighting, without the yelling, without the noise…I see someone who is always tired, always yawning, but alert with tension seeping into his bones. As if he's always ready for the worst to happen ." Lucy's eyes widened as it all came together. She's observed many people at the bar of Fairytail, sitting next to Mirajane and Levy as she slowly got to know everyone in the guild. And whenever she sees Gray…
There is a lingering sadness that follows him, she thinks.
And maybe that's why his magical signature feels frozen and rigid.
They didn't say anything as Erza declared that she was going to leave to get some strawberry cake from the middle of the train. A full range of emotions flashed through Gray's eyes as he stared into Lucy's eyes, who met them with a softness that made Gray want to leave the room. It was uncomfortable. It made his skin crawl, because how can someone see through his glacial defenses that he's had since he arrived at the guild?
She doesn't even know his last name.
So why does it look like that she…
"Why does it matter to you? It's easier to just scold me about fighting Natsu all of the damn time, to be pissed off at the fact that we treat each other like shit. Why bother with the "I can see through you" bullshit . You don't know a damn thing about me."
That was a lie.
She was already seeing through him.
"Because I've realized now that perhaps this was all that you know." Lucy gave a fond look at Natsu, remembering when he had said that destruction and chaos was all that he knew how to do on missions. She thinks that logic was probably true in relationships as well. Chaotic relationships such as Natsu and Gray's were built on familiarity after all, she realizes. Maybe it came across as bullying from an outsider's perspective, but the closer she looks, she begins to understand that it's become a routine so consistent that it doesn't feel right when they weren't fighting.
And maybe that'll never change, with their dynamic.
New memories can grow though, in their place.
"Let's be friends, Gray," She suddenly smiled at the conflicted man, " 'Cuz there's a lot in life that people don't realize, right? Maybe we can do fun things, like go shopping or go to the beach. You have ice magic, right? Bet that'll be great in the summer, you're like a walking A.C. unit-"
Lucy kept chattering on and on, but in a soft lulling voice as she thought about different ways to have fun with Gray and Natsu as the former stared at her in shock. It was incredibly weird to feel as if you've been read like a book, but the person wasn't actively trying to rewrite it. She never suggested about him changing his ways, or scold him for his past with Natsu. It was something Lucy had simply acknowledged, knowing that the two don't see eye to eye on almost everything.
She continued to ramble on and Gray found himself feeling a bit sleepy, blinking slowly as he tried to understand the spirit that was Lucy Heartfilia. Why did she care? A million-dollar question.
One that will have to be answered once he awakens, as he succumbed rapidly to sleep. His body was grateful, and he felt a bit bad because it's not like he doesn't want to go to sleep, it's just everything bad seemed to happen when he was and-
A soft snore alerted Lucy as she realized that Gray had fallen asleep in the middle of her talking, but she found that she wasn't upset at all at the revelation. He desperately needed it anyways, judging from the bags under his eyes. Lucy winced a bit as she remembered that she had pointed that out, and suddenly scowled herself for behaving a bit rudely.
She…was still new to the friend thing. Maybe everyone wasn't looking for someone to grow and mature with side by side through different challenges, like Natsu was. Natsu had told her that he was a forever friend on their third day of reuniting, and they had shared deep thoughts even before then.
Their friendship was an anomaly, she winced again as she remembered Gray's frustrated expression as she openly brought some of his repressed feelings to light. Okay, so maybe she definitely overstepped throughout their conversation, but it just happened and suddenly she wanted to kick Natsu because making friends was hard .
How do you balance sharing too much to the point of overwhelming a person but not sharing too little, so that it doesn't come across as being unresponsive?
For a girl who's been starved of experiences these things early on as most children do, it's like playing a decade's worth of catch up when it comes to social interactions.
Not everyone is going to be as open as Natsu, she reminded herself as she smiled a bit at Erza who took a seat back down with her cake in her hand. Erza had already told the group that she'd inform them more about the mission when they got closer to their destination, which is why there were relatively separated now.
If Gray feels uncomfortable when he awakes, she'll apologize wholeheartedly for the rather… intense introduction.
For now, she was content at watching the dark-haired boy softly sleep with a calm, relaxed look on his face, as Natsu did the same on top of her.
Wait-that doesn't make her a stalker, right?!
-L-H-
"Lullaby," Erza started as she grabbed Gray's and Lucy's attention. Gray had woken up moments prior with a look of surprise and confusion on his face once he realized that he had actually fallen asleep. He shoots a look at Lucy, who was talking with Happy, and quickly looks away. He doesn't know what to say to her, honestly.
But Gray quietly thanks her in the back of his mind, at least for allowing him to get some rest.
"It's a magical item that has the potentially for devastating consequences considering the type of people I overheard talking about it. Originally, I thought it was just an unsealing job. Still dangerous, but not in active usage of the item. That was until I heard about Erigor, and knew that something was definitely off about this." Erza crossed her arms as she confided into the duo. Natsu was still asleep and Lucy couldn't even find it in herself to move him, even if her leg was getting tired.
She'll just fill him in with the details when he wakes up.
"How do you know where they are? Aren't they considered a ghost guild?" Gray asked.
"I've received reports from trusted sources that they are currently by Kunugi Station. That is where we are headed in fact."
Lucy was caught up on the name of the magical item that they were seeking, however. Lullaby? Where has she heard that from? It gave her a sense of dread when the word came out of Erza's mouth, and she found herself trying to remember what that item was and what it can do ..
Eventually they reached their stop via train, Erza was quick to get her luggage off of the train with a reluctant Gray and a joyful Happy trailing off after her to help. Gray and Lucy made eye contact as he scooted past her to help Erza, but Lucy found that she couldn't see anything past the dark blue. He didn't say anything to her, in fact he looked rather pensive as he looked at her.
Gray was the first to drop eye-contact.
"Gray!" Erza shouted for him, and it caused him to roll his own eyes as he grumbled,
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."
That left Lucy and Natsu as she gently shook the boy awake. Natsu grumbled and flipped over, not bothering to wake up properly as the train stopped. Lucy just huffed out a small breath of exasperation as she shook the boy harder.
A bleary eye cracked opened only to see an exasperated look through at him. Her hair was down, Natsu sleepily realized, as he slowly began to wake. It draped over her shoulders and it enclosed his eyesight, like an embrace as Lucy looked at him with tiny amusement as she raised an eyebrow.
"Are you going to get up?"
"...nah," Natsu yawned, "Too comfy."
"Erza will get pissed at you. Apparently, this is quite the urgent matter that needs to at least be investigated."
But Natsu wasn't paying close attention to her words as he lifted up a hand, touching the soft strands of Lucy's blonde locks. She continued to try and debrief Natsu, the same way Erza had done so for Gray and herself, and Luce should really stop talking now, Natsu thinks, because her soothing tone, her naturally calming presence, it was making him drowsy all over again.
"Your hair," Natsu says softly as he feels his fingers glide in what felt like silk. "It's soft ."
Lucy faltered, feeling a bit flustered at Natsu's words. What in the world? Why was he saying stuff like this at a time like this?! With slightly red cheeks, she decided to ignore that comment and focus on the hidden truth of his statement, in which Lucy grumbled,
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
And when Natsu flashed her a grin that was a bit too cheeky, she rolls her eyes as she shoves him off of her, causing him to land on the floor of the train as she stood up to grab her things and meet up with Erza. Natsu laughed at her annoyance, but Lucy just hmphed as she willed the flusted feeling to go away.
His laugh quickly died off however, once he realized that there was a man that was standing in the middle of the lane rather ominously. His eyes quickly narrowed at the man, who looked at him with a casualness that borderline cockiness. This guy was suspicious in Natsu's mind, but he didn't make any movements until he watched Lucy get off the train to help out with the others.
Soon it was just the two men in the middle of all of the seats, having a stare off as they didn't dare to move with any big, sudden movements. It was silent until the guy decided to introduce himself, with a small smirk.
"The name's Kageyama."
"Okay?" Natsu said bluntly, because he truly didn't care what his name was to be honest. He just wanted to know why he looked at Natsu as if he was a small fry, as if he wanted to fight him. Natsu's eyes gleamed at the prospect.
Kageyama seemed a bit peeved at the lack of respect from Natsu, eyes darkening a bit as he hissed out in a moment of anger, "And I know who you are, Salamander."
Salamander?
Excellent. That meant that they knew of him, of his power . Or maybe they underestimate him, Natsu thought with a growing smirk of his own, eyes darkening as he lit his fist on fire. To use his title in such a way, said with such venom only concluded what he had originally suspected.
This guy so wanted to fight him.
"You should've started with that," Natsu smirked as he launched himself at Kageyama, who's widened with surprise at his speed, before he ducked and kicked Natsu in the stomach. Natsu blinked in small surprise but was quick to steady himself as he propelled himself off of the train seats, twisting his body to kick him across the face. Kageyama's face snapped to the side as he grunted at the impact, and something ended up dropping from underneath his jacket that clanked on the floor.
Natsu looked down curiously, noticing that it was in fact a flute.
A flute? What the hell?
Kageyama's eyes widened in fear as the flute was exposed to Natsu's vision, and he was quick to grab it safely as he shoved it back in his coat. He gave Natsu a startled look, which surprised the latter as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously once more. It must be more than a flute then, Natsu figured.
Meanwhile Lucy heard a crash coming from inside the train, where Erza was organizing her stuff on top of a Magic Four-Wheeler, causing her to glance back towards where she came off. Only for her eyes to widen at the sight of Natsu's flame inside of the train, and she was quick to alert the others.
Gray's and Erza's eyes snapped towards the train but a feeling of unease began to sink in as they realized that not only was Natsu fighting someone on the train, but it was slowly beginning to take off. They watched for a moment, frozen as the train slowly began to descend to the next station. Lucy snapped out of it first.
"The Magic Four Wheeler!" She shouted as everyone scrambled onboard, Erza immediately jumping on the races and enlacing the vehicle with her impressive ethernano reserves, whipping it into shape. She floored the wheeler, causing Gray to let out a yelp as he scrambled on top of the cover, ready to crash into the train in order to help Natsu out. The wheeler's passenger door slapped open as Lucy stood out with her whip ready to catch anyone falling as they raced against the train.
Natsu on the other hand was desperately trying to hold his own, but once the train had started to move, he was immediately at a considerable disadvantage. Bile threatened to rise up his throat as Natsu side-stepped a punch, gagging at the brief moment of peace before taking the defensive stance once more.
'Crap'
A series of muffled yells alerted his in-depth hearing as he glanced through the window, only to see Erza whipping a Magic Four Wheeler, Ice Freak on top and Lucy hanging on it as they tried to get his attention. He gritted his teeth, he didn't want to retreat. He wanted to keep going, because now that Kageyama guy was getting cocky.
Natsu felt the urge to put him in his place.
The window closest to him broke thanks to Gray's ice and he heard him yell,
"Oi, Flare-Head! Come on, we gotta go!"
Natsu just grunted as he gave Kageyama one last look before stumbling over towards the window, preparing to jump. He didn't need to jump too far, as Lucy was already there to meet him half way with her hand out to reach him. She gave him a smile,
"Let's go, Natsu. We got bad guys to stop, right?"
This time, his grin is brighter as he takes her hand and jumps into the Four Wheeler, with everyone yelling and holding for dear life as Erza suddenly U-Turns to head back towards Kunugi Station. With a quiet sigh as Natsu throws up out of the window as they ride, Lucy pats his back as they make their way to Kunugi Station.
"He had a f-flute." Natsu gasps out as he dry heaves. Lucy's brows furrow as she thinks, a flute? That was incredibly random-
A sharp gasp of horror erupted from her mouth as she realized that Natsu was trying to tell her. He had fought someone from Eisenwald, there was no other explanation. That could mean that they know that they are coming, which didn't make Lucy feel any better. A flute, of course . She knows why she felt as if she's heard of the item called Lullaby before.
Because it was a horrid flute that was made to enchant and suck out the souls of those who listens, whisking them away to a forever slumber. A cruel berceuse as they will never wake up to see the life again.
A device that can orchestrate a song of genocide .