Author note: Thank you to my reviewer and my followers! I really appreciate you taking the time to read this story. Please, keep the comments coming and I hope you like this next chapter!
2.
The next morning, Lucy turned over in her bed and reached out to the spot next to her, only to find it empty.
*That's strange* she thought, cracking her eye open just enough to look over. On the pillow next to her, she found a note.
My Dearest Lucy,
I had to go back to the Spirit World to recharge my magic and rest for a bit. If you need me while I'm away, please summon me. Virgo left you a new change of clothes and breakfast in the fridge. Have an amazing day.
Love,
Loke
"Awe! That was really sweet of him!" Lucy said, holding the note to her chest and smiling up at the ceiling. *Wait! This is Loke we are talking about here, right? Why would a note from him make me smile?* Lucy stopped at that and looked down at the note again. The feeling of absolute sweetness came over her again and she sighed into a smile.
"Maybe there's just something about him that I never noticed before. Like how sweet he can be, how strong he is! He's also protective of me…" Lucy stopped at that. *Why am I suddenly listing all his good qualities?*
She looked around her wrecked apartment and took in the destruction all over again.
"This is hardly the time or place to be having romantic feelings for one of my spirits!" Lucy yelled at herself and got out of bed to start getting ready for the day.
After she got showered and changed, Lucy felt so much better, more like herself.
"Right! I can't leave Magnolia for good until I found out what really happened here!"
She marched to the kitchen, surprised to find it still intact, and got the food out.
"I can so totally do this!"
It wasn't until later, as she was strapping her whip to her belt that she started to get nervous.
*Those guys could still be out there* she thought, hooking her keys to her belt. *How am I going to deal with that and find out what happened to Fairy Tail?*
She listened at the front door, hearing that eerie silence again.
*It sounds ok, but that's what I thought last time, and then that guy got the drop on me.* Suddenly, Lucy got a great idea. She put her hands to her keys and called forth Horologium, the clock spirit.
"Thank you for coming, Horologium! Say, I need a ride to the old Fair Tail guildhall. Think you can handle that?"
"Of course, miss Lucy."
Once inside, Horologium opened the front door and left the apartment.
The streets of Magnolia were still empty of people, trash and other things littered the streets, adding a sense of abandonment to the eerie silence. *It's almost like this place is haunted. No wonder all the citizens left* she thought.
The Fairy Tail guildhall looked unchanged since she saw it last. In fact, the building almost looked…sparkly? The doors were shining in the sunlight and once Lucy blinked, the shiny appearance was gone. *Strange*
"Horologium? Can you open the front doors and head inside please?"
Lucy watched closely as Horologium's arm reached out and grasped the front door handles. Before he could pull them open, Lucy screamed at him to let go and step back. He backed up and she quickly got out and looked at his arm.
"Horologium! Are you ok? I just saw part of your hand go invisible!"
She saw his hand and it was just fine.
"But…your hand…"
Lucy slowly turned to the guild doors and thought she saw the sparkly sheen, but as fast as it came, it was gone again.
"How strange…"
She stepped close to the doors and slowly lifted her hand to the handle. Once she grasped it, she stayed solid.
"What?"
Lucy slowly pulled the door open enough to walk through. Before she did so, she sent the clock spirit back and called forth Crux.
"Crux, please scan this area and see what kind of magical properties this building has on it. I think there was a spell put on this place, but I can't really sense anything. When Horologium tried to open the door, his hand disappeared and then reappeared once he pulled it away. I need any information on spells that can do that too."
In answer to her query, Crux fell fast asleep. Lucy was worried that if she brought Crux inside the guild hall, he would disappear too. So, she pulled him off to the side and into the old café next door.
"This should be a safe place for now, old man. I'll come back to check on you once I see what's up with the guild hall."
Lucy placed him in a corner away from windows and made her way back to the guild hall. She looked around the empty street both ways and saw nothing.
"Here we go," she said out loud and entered the empty guild hall.
The inside was dark, almost pitch black, the only light was streaming through the high windows near the ceiling. She screamed when she heard the front door slam shut behind her.
"EEEPPPP!"
Her scream echoed back to her in a strange way that didn't sound normal.
"What was that?" she whispered, fear starting to make her body shake.
Moving slowly, Lucy crept her way through the empty building, keeping her eyes and ears open for any sound or strange thing out of place. Besides the lack of people, the guild hall just looked…empty. There were empty mugs scattered on the ground and on the tables. Plates of half-eaten food that was now moldy and covered with bugs. The smell in the air was stale and a layer of dust covered everything. Nothing looked like it was disturbed at all for a long time. When she got to the stairs to the second floor and looked up, she noticed a big change.
The doors to the second-floor master's offices were shattered, pieces lying on the floor. Lucy rushed as carefully as she dared, making sure she didn't make any loud noise on the stairs. She found the offices in a state of chaos. Papers were scattered everywhere, ink spilled on the desks and the master's chair was almost broken in half.
"It's just like my apartment. Nothing appears to be missing, just trashed. It's almost like they were looking for something and couldn't find it, so they left." *but, what could anyone want with my old apartment and the master's office?*
Lucy was so lost in thought that she didn't see the floating image of a young girl pass next to her until she was standing right in front of the young mage.
"Lucy Heartfilia. It is a pleasure to see you again."
"Ah! What…first master?"
There in front of her, floating in the air, was Master Mavis, the first master of Fairy Tail. Her ghost was only able to be seen by those who bare the guild mark.
"Yes."
"Oh! First master! I am so happy to see you!"
Lucy's eyes almost teared up at the sight of someone from her old guild. The first master nodded her head, turned and floated to the fallen bookshelf next to the old master's desk.
"Do you…do you know what happened here, first master?"
Mavis turned slowly to look back at the young woman, her face oddly blank.
"Tell me, Lucy. Have you seen the stars?"
Lucy looked confused.
"What do stars have to do with everyone in the guild disappearing? I mean, I just saw the stars last night!"
The first master turned back to look down at the broken bookcase.
"Did you? Did you look up to the night sky above Magnolia and see starlight twinkling back at you?"
Lucy paused to think.
"No…I…I guess I don't know. Now that I think about it, I never looked up last night at all. Not even once."
The first master looked back to the blonde mage.
"It started with the stars. One by one, they blinked out, only to reappear again, surrounding this building."
Lucy gasped.
"That shiny light? The light I think I keep seeing and then, once I blink, it disappears. Is that what you're talking about first master?"
The first master did not answer. She only floated in place, seeming to wait for something.
"In the darkness there is silence. In the daylight only lies. Thinking magic is the key opens gates of deadly cries."
"What? I don't understand. What are you saying?"
Mavis started to float towards the mage, her face and body changing into a grotesque version of the once first master of Fairy Tail.
"You're not Master Mavis, are you?" Lucy asked, fear starting to make her panic as she backed away from the ghost.
"In the darkness there is silence. In the daylight only lies. Thinking magic is the key opens gates of deadly cries."
The ghost kept repeating this over and over, while Lucy kept backing up until her body hit a wall behind her. She looked to her right and saw the doorframe of the office and ran towards it, not caring about making noise and just wanting to get out of there.
Once she was through the door, she ran so fast down the stairs and out of the front of the guild it was almost like she was flying. Lucy looked back only once, just to see that the dark ghost was laughing at her before it melted into the dark shadows behind her.