Chapter 68

Homecoming

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

The flare shined high in the sky as the two girls looked up at it. Coco raced forward and passed Lucy before the giant octopus, Sugarboy and Byro landed. The church girls climbed up and Mary stuck her tongue out. "Later losers!" The octopus jumped into the air and faded into sky.

Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"The Legion Platoon?" Cana asked her father. "We were attacked by followers of Zentopia?"

"Why would the largest church in Fiore do something like that?" Macao asked.

"Not entirely sure why, but the man I fought mentioned something about a holy war." The ace said.

Natsu slammed the table in front of him as he stood up. "All that matters is that they stole from Lucy." He said. "I swear, we are gonna get back what is yours."

The blonde nodded as Michelle hung her head. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have done something more to help you."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Michelle." Lucy said, clenching her fists. "It's on me. I'm too weak."

"A series of church attacks before the founding festival... A mysterious clock handle inscribed with an ominous phrase... and now talk of a holy war..." Makarov mumbled.

"I'll tell you this much; those guys made a big mistake when they messed with a member of Fairy Tail." Natsu said, making Happy nod. "This thing is just getting started."

"Could anyone figure out where they're going?" Gray asked.

"Warren said every search team lost sight of them." Erza said. "And I agree with Natsu. It's not over."

"So let's hunt them down and make sure they never mess with us again!" Natsu said, slamming his fists together.

"We need to try to make sense of things." Laki spoke up. "The Legion Platoon steals the clock handle and mentions something about a holy war. Why would they need that piece? Does it have something to do with the war? And what about that weird phrase on it?"

Lucy pulls out the book and began flipping through it. "This clock is real. But what is its significance?"

"Do you think the chaos and the holy war are one and the same?" Cana asked.

"We need some more clues." Lucy said.

"If we can figure out their goal, then we can try to stop them." Erza said

"So we find them and make them start talking." Gray suggested.

"I'll see what my fortune telling can turn up." Cana said as Macao stood up, pulling Gildarts and Natsu to follow him.

"Sorry to ask you two to do this, but you two are the only ones who can pull this off." The master said outside the building.

"Don't worry, we got this." Natsu said.

"Yeah, and this will be a great time for me to help Natsu with his relationship." Gildarts chuckled sparking protest from Natsu.

"Figures my dads habit of running off into the night would rub off on Natsu." Cana said from a far as the two walked away.

The Next Day

Heartfilia Mansion

"Even after seven years, this place is still impressive." Laki chuckled, staring at the statue in front of her.

"Is this still your home?" Gray asked.

"No, they're looking for a buyer. But it hasn't been easy." Lucy answered. "Lots of people have checked it out, but no ones made an offer."

"Probably because its too expensive." Rose joked.

"Such good memories." Michelle said with a smile. "Your house always reminded me of a palace from a story. I had so much fun here."

"You've been here?" Lucy asked, making Michelle break down and cry. "No, of course you've been here."

"So... you remember all the clothes you made for me?" Her cousin asked.

"I didn't know you sewed, Lucy." Laki said.

"She used to make the prettiest outfits out of colored paper and flowers." Michelle said, shocking Lucy.

"That doesn't seem possible so I'm just nit gonna try thinking about it." Gray said, earning a pat on the head from Laki.

"So, where do we start looking?" Wendy asked.

"We split up into teams and search every room top to bottom." Erza said. "Look for old clocks, ancient writings, anything of notice." The entire house was searched room by room, with Lucy smiling at every little detail that reminded her of her past.

The last room was Jude's office and everyone searched every single book. "How about this one?" Michelle asked, walking over to Lucy holding a book. The title was simply 'To My Daughter.' The two flipped through the book only to find all the pages blank. "Do you think there's a spell on the book? Also..." The girl looked up to see Crux snoring on the ground. "Is he asleep?"

"He's doing his search." Lucy answered. "If anyone can solve this, it's Grandpa Crux." He snapped awake with a roar, scaring Michelle. "Any luck?"

"What we have we here is nothing more than a stack of papers." The spirit replied. "No spells, no invisible ink, or water marks here. And it appears that your father himself bound this book." Both girls could only sigh in disappointment before Crux lifted the book. "If I may make a suggestion; it might serve better to think of this book as a riddle. Take a look the title, 'To My Daughter'. Perhaps it could be an anagram."

"So we should rearrange the letters?" Michelle asked, making Lucy nod.

"Guys, where are you?" Laki asked as she and Rose walked through the house. "How did Lucy not keep getting lost as a kid?"

"Can't you just smell them out?" Rose asked as they walked into the office. "Oh, there they are."

"What are you guys doing?" The Wood Dragon Slayer asked, looking over the shoulders.

"We're trying to figure out how these letters go together." Erza said. "Now please. I'm about to have a break through."

"Well, it beats what we were doing." Rose said. "So, how do we hel- *ACHOO!*" The papers flew into the air and an angered Erza almost skewered Rose. "Sorry, Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"Hang on, look." Laki noticed that four letters ended up spelling the word myth. "Look at this." The other letters went together and spelt the words 'Duo' and 'Great'. "Any clue what this means?"

"I know!" Lucy said. "There's a pair of books known as the two great myths. Both were written by Will Neville. One is called 'The Life of The Clockwork', and it also happens to be where the strange inscription came from. And the other one should be right here. 'The Key of the Starry Heavens."

"I thought that was just a children's picture book." Laki said.

"Its more than that, its a work of art." The blonde replied.

"Whatever it is, I think the key part is pretty important." Gray said.

"You guys think it could be another anagram?" Lucy asked. "Probably not. But it probably has something to do with the clock hand. Maybe my dad left some kind of message in this book... Happy, what do you have?"

"One of my favorite stories!" The blue cat said, holding up a 'Turtle and Hare' story.

"Would be so kind as to hand over that book?" A voice said before the door burst open.

"Hold on... is that..." Rose looked through the dust as an Exceed in church clothing walked into the room. "Why are you in a diaper!?"

"He must be one of the eggs that hatched over the years just like us." Carla said.

"Tell us who you are!" Laki shouted.

"Samuel, the brains of the Legion platoon." The cat said, pushing up his glasses.

"You came after us after all?" Gray asked, reading his magic.

"I consider this more of a coincidence than anything else." Samuel said, growing his wings. "I knew you would come here and find a clue. Now would you kindly hand over that book?"

"You'll get nothing from us!" Erza said, having donned her Lightning Empress armor and firing off a bolt of lightning. Gray did the same with his ice and Laki her wood, only for an armored man to block it with his shield. All three magics bounced off and ripped out of the house, destroying the walls.

"How did that happen!?" Gray asked.

"Simple, I'm the spear head off the legion platoon." The man said. "The name is Dan Strait. And the shields name is Ricochet, get it?"

A wooden whip wrapped around the shield and began pulling on it. "Then let's get rid of it!" Laki said, pulling on the whip.

"Stop fooling around and get the book!" Samuel ordered. Lucy ran out of the house while the others followed. "Deal with her quickly, then join me." The cat flew out of the room as various spells went off in the wall.

"So tell me, who is this lovely lady that I'm facing off with?" Dan asked.

"The name is Laki!" She replied, pulling on the whip. "And I'm with someone, so back off!"

"Oh, that's a shame." The armored man said. "Let me show you what a real man can do." He tapped the ground with his spear and the rug grew in size, making Laki loose balance. "You like that? Well how about this?" He tapped some books and they grew as well, crushing her.

Crunching caught his attention as Laki burst out from under the books, eating the remains of a book case. "I'm not done yet!" She shouted as she charged forward, magic wrapping around her fist.

With the Others

"Really hope Laki can handle that guy." Gray said.

"Don't worry she'll be-" Lucy started before coming to a stop as Samuel stood in front of them. "When did you get here?!"

"Right on time." The cat replied. "It's quite easy to predict how someone in your panicked state would react. Now hand over that book."

The wall exploded and Laki landed against the wall. She flipped off and charged at Dan who stabbed her gut with his spear, sending flying out the window. Gray and Wendy were about to fire off some spells when the ceiling fell apart, giant books falling down.

Laki groaned in pain before thuds caught her attention. "Laki, are you okay?" Rose and Happy asked before the blue cat felt something under his feet. "Ahhh!"

"What happened to Laki?" Lucy asked as the blue cat held up Tiny Laki. "She's so tiny!"

"Escape is impossible." Samuel said.

"What did you do to Laki?" Rose asked.

"It was that creep in the armor!" Laki shouted, high pitched. "He poked me with his spear and now I'm like this!"

"That's what it does." Dan said as Samuel floated next to him.

"Hand over the book and we can be done with this." The cat said. "Mary has a heavy handed approach to this, but I prefer an intellectual answer."

"Not happening!" Lucy shouted before throwing it into the air. Happy flew into the air and grabbed it... only for Samuel to pull the book out from under Michelles dress.

"You hairy little pervert!" Laki shouted as the cat threw it back, saying he was done with it. Erza, Gray and Wendy tried to attack, only for Dan to block and repel them. Samuel picked up Dan and flew away, leaving an angered group behind them.

Fairy Tail Guildhall

Tiny Laki sat on the table as everyone stared at her. "This isn't funny Mira." She said. "I could be stuck like this forever."

Gray picked her up by her cape, making her hold her skirt down. "Feel like opening shop again, Max?" He chuckled to the sand wizard. "A lot of people would pay big money for a life-size Laki action figure."

"That ain't gonna happen!" She shouted punching Gray in the face.

"Would you stop!? I'm trying to concentrate!" Lucy shouted, before she finished reading the book. "Well, it seems like my dad followed this book to the letter."

"What does that mean?" Erza asked.

"That this book is more fact that fiction." The blonde said, holding up the book. "The key of the starry heavens is about a little girl who goes looking for six keys, because its said they bring happiness to everyone when together. The thing is, in finding her happiness she brings destruction and misery to everyone else."

"What kind of kids book is that?" Happy asked.

"How does the book start?" Erza asked.

"It says 'the first key takes a journey'." The blonde answered.

"Do you think its talking about Michelle bringing the key here?" Laki asked.

Lucy nodded before opening the book again. "It says the little girl decides to go and find the other five keys. She finds them, one by one. Then she travels to the cathedral, and finds the sixth one."

"A cathedral? You don't think-" Erza asked.

"Its not the cardia cathedral. In fact its no where near magnolia." Lucy said."My dad might have realized this and hidden the clock pieces there. Do you know anything about this, Michelle?"

"No, I'm sorry." Her cousin said.

"If we go to these locations, I'm sure we'll the pieces." Lucy said. "I don't know what the Legion Platoon wants with them, but it can't be good. If this chaos thing turns out to be real, we can't just sit by and let them get away with it."

The guild stared at her before everyone volunteered to help her. "I'll handle team assignment." Erza volunteered.

Days Later

A single boat sailed away from Hargeon with five Fairy Tail wizards aboard it. "How far away is this key that we need a boat?" Laki asked, sitting on a table.

"I don't know, but I just hope we don't have to fight anyone." Happy said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Romeo asked.

"Look at us. We have a tiny terror, a blonde bimbo, a little kid and a goody two-shoes." Happy pointed. "If the Legion Platoon shows up, I'm the only one who's gonna be able to fight them."

"I can fight!" Romeo protested.

"You wouldn't be saying that if i was normal sized." Laki added.

Lucy looked out over the railing and stared at the sea. "Why would anyone push towards chaos?" The blonde asked.

"Excuse me." Four people walked forward in standard pith outfits walked forward. "Are you members of the Fairy Tail guild?"

"Yes, who are you?" Michelle asked.

"We are members of a prestigious archeological society." The tallest member said.

'So you're archeologists?" Lucy stupidly asked.

"Yes and we've heard of what your guild is doing, looking for pieces of a legendary clock." Another member said, surprising the group.

"Where did you hear that?" Michelle asked.

"I hardly think that matters." The shaking member said.

"That makes one of us." Laki mumbled.

"You don't think there's a traitor in Fairy Tail, do you!?" The frilly dressed girl asked.

"Look, what do you want?" Romeo asked the group.

"We want to ask you to stop this mission." The leader answered, shocking the wizards.

"Our data shows that all of the pieces have been buried around the world in various shrines and tombs." A small member said.

"After studding the book we know you've read as well, there's more to the book than it seems. Understand?" The leader asked, only to get a no. "Its so simple! We've determined that the book holds the location of several archeological sites. Our theory is that the places the girl in the book went to are modeled after these sights! The goal of our society is to keep them safe from harm. They must be respected and unsullied!"

"So please, just forget about the clock and go home." The shaking member said.

"I figured that out reading the book myself as a kid." Lucy replied shocking the four. "How'd it take you years to figure that out?"

"You must understand!" The leader shouted in Lucys face. "Forget about the clock!"

"I'm not going to do that!" She shouted back. "I get that the ruins are important, but I have to see this through! My father waited for seven years for me to come back! He knew I could save the world from plunging into chaos! He believed in me to the end and I won't let him down!"

The leader hung his head and smirked before the wind picked up, knocking Laki into the water. The archeologists jumped into the water after her. They grabbed her and threw her towards the ship. Her body started glowing before it erupted into purple smoke before she grew in size.

"I'm big again!" She cheered before looking over the railing. "Was that you guys?"

"Yep. We know a little magic." The leader chuckled. "Think if this as a thank you for keeping your fathers promise. Stop at nothing snd keep your fathers wish alive!"

"You bet I I will!" Lucy cheered as the ship sailed away.

Another relatively short chapter, but that was by design. Skipped most of the traveling scenes because... well, because they were mostly short, hooky and didn't really add anything to the plot. Besides, I'd rather save them for their for the fights they have. Not much left to say. See you next time.

Beta read by JballinR12.