Chapter 66

Lobster Tail

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Three Weeks Later

"Another one, what gives?" Lucy asked, reading a paper.

"Did something bad happen?" Kinana asked setting a plate of fish down for Happy.

"Someones been setting fire to churches lately." Wendy said.

"That's just cruel." Carla said.

"Wait, I know him!" Lucy said, looking at a picture of Lahar. "He works for the council."

"Seven years and he stopped frowning." Happy teased. "I can't believe someone would set fire to churches."

"I'm still having trouble getting used to things." Wendy said.

"And our seven-year catnap has destroyed my clairvoyance." Carla added. "The future is nothing but fuzzy pictures now."

"Man, that sucks." Rose said before Natsu sat up.

"Lucy, you have a visitor." Romeo called out, making everyone turn to the door. Romeo stood next to a woman in a pink dress holding a brown case. "The blonde with the pig tails is the one you want."

"Thank you for the help, young man." The girl said back.

"Who's that?" Laki asked from the bar.

The woman walked forward until she reached the table Lucy was at. "Excuse me, but are you Lucy Heartfillia?"

"Yes, I'm a Heartfillia but who's asking?" Lucy asked.

The girl started tearing up before her eyes exploded in waterworks. "How could you forget your dear Michelle Lobster!? You meanie!" She bawled out.

"Way to be a jerk, Lucy." Natsu said.

"I'm so sorry." The girl replied. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to remember after such a long time."

"How could you forget someone like that?" Elfman asked before getting his ear pulled by Laki.

"Allow me to start over." The woman said. "My name is Michelle Lobster of the Lobster family. It's good to see you again, big sister Lucy."

"...Sister!?" Everyone in the guild shouted at once.

"While the Heartfilia's and Lobsters are related, we aren't really sisters." Michelle chuckled out.

"Oh, so you're a distant relative?" Carla asked.

"Yeah, they do seem a little different." Wendy said.

"Would you mind explaining why you called me big sister?" Lucy asked.

"Because you're older than me, silly." Michelle teased.

"Natsu, what's with the confused look?" Laki asked, leaving a broken Elfman behind.

"That girl's from the future. I totally get it." He replied.

"I don't think you do." She chuckled. "Don't forget about the seven years we spent on Tenrou Island. When you take into account, her age remains unchanged so Lucys older." Smoke started coming out of Natsu's ears. "I think I broke him."

"That's our Natsu." Lisanna chuckled.

"At long last, I finally found you." Michelle teared up.

"Don't cry." Lucy said back before looking at the case. "Why don't I take that from you?"

"Oh, right." The girl in pink said. "I'm supposed to give this to you. You're so thoughtful!" She hugged Lucy, dropping the case and forcing blonde to catch it.

"This thing is heavy..." Lucy groaned out.

"Are you sure they're related?" Natsu asked.

"Blonde, busty, have their own brand of crazy. Yep, they're related." Happy said.

"What the heck is in this thing?" Lucy asked with the case on a table.

"I'm not sure, honestly." Michelle replied. "All I know is that your father wanted you to have it. I was his assistant until a while ago, and this is my last errand for him. He passed this onto me when he was on his death bed."

"I see..." Lucy mumbled.

"He never stopped believing in you after you went missing." The girl in pink explained. "It's because he held onto that hope that he asked me to give you this memento."

Lucy glanced over to the case. "So what's in it?"

"I'm not sure." Michelle replied. "I've been so focused in finding you I never had a chance to look."

"Open it up." Natsu said. "Come on, you could at least let her see it. Everyones waiting."

"Uh, okay..." Lucy clicked the case open only to find some strange item wrapped in cloth.

"It smells funny." Laki said as Lucy picked it up.

"Maybe its the cloth." She said.

"No, its got some kinda magic on it." Natsu said. "Whatever it is, it smells really old."

Lucy unwrapped the cloth and was still confused. "Michelle, I've never seen this before."

"Strange, I thought it was something he kept around the house." Michelle said.

"Maybe its a weapon?" Natsu suggested.

"I doubt it." Lucy said.

"I just remembered something." Michelle spoke up. "I remember... that I haven't eaten anything in three days."

Lucy's Apartment

"Get comfy, I'll brew us some tea." Lucy told her 'sister' after leading her to the blondes home.

"Don't trouble yourself." Michelle said before picking up Lucy's rough draft and started crying.

Minutes later, Michelle was eating some snacks as she turned to Lucy. "You're so cool. You accomplished one dream and now youre working on another. You're living a charmed life. It must be nice, to have a dream."

"Hey, why don't you stay with me for a bit?" Lucy suggested. "Its no problem. I'd love a roommate."

Michelle started crying again. "Thank you. I promise, I'll get a job and I'll be on time with rent!" As the two smiled, they missed the glow from the key.

Weeks Later

Michelle had integrated into the guild pretty well, even if she was one of worst waitresses ever. As lucy and Michelle entered the guild one day, they saw Asuka riding Makarov with her parents behind them. "Lucy, Natsu and Laki are looking for you." Bisca said.

"Something about hunting bandits." Alzack added.

"How exciting..." The blonde mumbled.

"There you are, Lucy." Laki said as she and Natsu walked out of the guild.

"Oh, I'd love to come along." Michelle spoke up. "I'd love to watch you work."

Lucy studied the job flier and started sweating. "I'm not sure thats a good idea." The other members agreed to take her on the job. She turned to Makarov who also approved it.

"Experience is good, even if it is forced on others." Erza said. "Isn't that right, miss steal-an-S-Class-quest?"

Lucy nervously chuckled and reluctantly agreed. "If things get too hairy just stay by my side, okay?" Michelle nodded and the group left for the job.

"The flyer says that the victims suffer from night terrors after the attacks." Gray said as the group looked out over a cliff.

"They sound nasty. Seems like fun." Natsu chuckled. "Its a shame Laki had to miss this. I wonder whar Macao wanted with her.

"All the soldiers who went into the mountains to face them came back sobbing like babies." The ice wizard continued.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this." Lucy mumbled as Michelle mentioned she had snacks. "As clueless as Natsu."

Erza pulled up behind in a carriage, scaring Natsu. "The client gave us this to use." She said before explaining the plan. After some minor protests from Natsu, Michelle took the reigns as she and Lucy sat in the front.

A wall blocked off the road as the bandits climbed out of the woods. Lucy changed into her bikini and tried to flant her stuff, only for them to show a complete disinterest in her. They circled the wagon and a swarm of swords and ice knocked them back. Natsu dived the group and took out the rest, much to Michelles amazement. "You guys are amazing!"

"Yeah, being in a wizard is awesome." Natsu chuckled.

Fairy Tail Guildhall

"So, how'd the info hunt go Laki?" Macao asked.

"Well, we didn't find much." The purplette said, opening up the folder. "Just that the Lobsters are indeed related to the Heartfillias and that they were one of the wealthiest families in Fiore."

"What do you mean by 'were'?" Wakaba asked.

"Apparently there were a whole bunch of accidents that whittled them and their wealth down." Laki added with sorrow. "Michelle appears to be the last one."

The guild doors opened and the team entered the guild hall. Lucy quickly approached the fourth master with a smile and a request. "Sounds like a great idea. Someone has to know what this thing is. I'll have Mirajane whip up a request right away."

Lucy smiled and walked back over to Michelle. "By the way, I'm impressed you had the foresight to run a background check on our newest member." Makarov said.

"Being master for seven years teaches you a lot, like how to be paranoid." Macao said.

Michelle tripped and the memento fell to the ground. Everyone turned as the object started spinning and then pointed upwards as strange writings began appearing on it. "What's going on?" Michelle asked in a panic.

"This is starting to look very troubling." Makarov said.

"I don't care how it looks." Lucy said. "I'll solve it... I have to."

Days Later

Lucy could only sigh as she put another book down, trying to find something about the symbols on the item. "If only this was easy..."

"We've taken a job request." Erza said as she and Gray walked forward.

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass on that." The blonde said.

"We haven't found anything about the inscription." Michelle said.

"Where are Natsu and Laki?" Erza asked.

"I think they left a while ago." Lucy said.

"Hold on... that means... Just the two of us?" Gray mumbled.

"Do you have a problem with that?" The redhead asked.

"N-no..." He replied.

"Then let's go. If we hurry, we'll be done by nightfall." She turned and walked out of the with Gray behind her... and Juvia stalking both of them in horror.

Magnolia

Natsu and Laki were walking down the street, arm in arm. "Come on, Natsu. We spent seven years in stasis. We're finally going on this date." Laki said.

"I know..." He nervously replied. "But do you really wanna risk another restaurant after Daphne? We need to do something else. Something-" Lightning rose from the forest cutting him off. "I know what that means..."

"Natsu, don't-" Laki started before her boyfriend took off. "Damnit. Let's go." She started running after him, Happy and Rose flying in suite.

Natsu ran through the forest before bumped into Gajeel, sparking an argument about who could beat him. "Who's beating who?" Both turned to see the blonde in front of them.

Laki ran into view only to stop when she saw Laxus. Before she could say anything, Natsu opened his mouth and challenged the blonde to a fight. "Oh, no..."

"I've got better things to do than that." Laxus said, making Laki smile.

"Like run away?" Natsu asked making Laki facepalm. "You've never been one to turn down a fight, so why start now?"

The blonde just growled before smirking. "Okay then. I'm teaching you two a lesson."

Both started to coat themselves in their elements and were about to launch into a fight. "Stop!" The four slayers turned to see Wendy and Carla behind them. "If you're going to do this, then it has to be a special occasion! The match will take place tomorrow!"

"Fine, I can wait another day." Natsu said. "Meet me under the big tree in the park."

"And then it'll be my turn." Gajeel chuckled.

"Wendy... can I talk to you for a second?" Laki asked, grabbing the girls shoulder.

Fairy Tail Guildhall

"You guys hear about the big fight coming up?" Wakaba asked. "Add it to the list of bad decisions Natsu's made."

"Are we sure about this?" Lisanna asked. "Someone's going to get hurt."

"Yeah, Laxus has never been someone I wanted to fight." Mirajane added.

"Is he that much stronger?" Kinana asked.

"Yeah he is." Macao said. "Wait, why don't we make this some kind of event?"

"That's a great idea!" Lisanna said. "We'll turn this into a party!"

"A manly fight party!" Elfman added, making the group cheer.

The Next Day

"This is crazy." Natsu said looking around at the swarm of stands and people around the park. "What's going on?"

"You challenged Laxus. What did you think would happen?" Laki asked.

"Im having so much fun!" Michelle said to Lucy, chewing on some candy.

"I'm sorry, Laki." Wendy said bowing to the purplette. "I didn't think about this."

"Well, I know you don't care but we're no closer to solving the inscription." Lucy said. "This seemed like a good way to kill the time."

As the party went on, Laki walked over to Natsu who was eating a chicken leg. "Natsu, please tell me you've been doing some kind of special training?"

"Nah, I just plan on hitting him with everything I've got." He answered.

"Why am I not surpised?" Happy asked.

Laki glanced over to see Lucy and Levy talking about the inscription. "Well, at least something good came out of this."

Laxus stepped forward and saw the party. "Huh, guess the word got out." He chuckled.

Gajeel and Natsu stepped forward and the three stared at each other. "I've got this." Natsu smirked as Happy floated back. "Bring it on."

"Just so you know, it ain't my fault if you don't survive this." Laxus said.

"Back at ya." Natsu said before they both triggered their magics. Gajeel watched from the side as Natsu burst into flames before charging forward. He threw a fist forward only for Laxus' to pass by and punch Natsu. The pinkette went down like a sack of rocks, making the crowd gasp and/or laugh.

"So, you up for-" Laxus turned to Gajeel only to find empty air.

"He ran away!?" Elfman shouted in shock.

"What!?" Pantherlily ahouted in disappointment.

The entire crowd faded as they searched for the Iron Dragon Slayer. Happy poked at Natsu only for Makarov to step forward glaring at his grandson. "He better be breathing." Makarov said as the blonde walked away. Makarov went in the other direction as Natsu finally woke up.

"You okay, Natsu?" Laki asked helping him up.

"Yeah, I've had worse headaches." He replied, leaning against the tree. "So where's that metal headed coward?"

"Don't know." Happy said. "Macao and the others went looking for him."

Lucy's Appartment

"Wow! This is written in ancient Protomidean!" Levy shouted in as fangirl a way as she could.

"Never heard of it." Michelle replied.

"So now that you know what is, do you know what it says?" Lucy asked.

"'Time ticks forward on towards inevitable chaos'." The bluenette read aloud.

Lucy and Michelle repeated the words in confusion. "I swear I've heard that somewhere before." Lucy said. "But where?" she went wide eyed before tearing through her book shelf. "There it is!" She set the book down and began flipping through it. "I knew it was familiar, and its on this book."

"What's it about?" Levy asked.

"An old clock that passes from one owner to another." The blone replied. "And a lot of mysterious stuff happens around it. No way!" The three looked at the picture and went in shock. The memento was a clock hand on the very clock in the picture.

Fairy Tail Guildhall

The sun had long since started to set as three people walked forward. The sound of footsteps caught Pantherlily's attention from inside the building. "I think thats Gajeel outside." The former soldier said. The four cats raced outside with Pantherlily leading them. "Where were you!?" He shouted only to come to a sudden stop. "I don't believe it..." They stared up at the faces of Coco, Hughes and Sugarboy.

Short chapter, but I choose to focus on the main plot rather than the side stuff. Hope thats okay with you guys. Next chapters will definitely be longer.

Beta read by JballinR12.