Lucy's recovery was moving along quite well. Wendy checked up on her every hour or two, healing or speeding up anything she could. She spent the night in the infirmary. Natsu snuck in after Lucy fell asleep, pulling up a chair and leaning over the bed. His one arm he wrapped across her while he drifted off to sleep. The next day, with Natsu's help, she was able to leave her bed.

He helped carry her down to the guild hall, placing her in the seat across from Levy who had her gale force reading glasses on and a stack of books piled on the table. Most of the guild had spent the previous day finding anything they could on the dark guild or the history of the staff and omnicore.

Natsu left the two, glad to skip out on a conversation that wouldn't make any sense to him. The second Levy's eyes met Lucy's, the blond was eager to ask a multitude of questions that had been running in her mind since her rescue. But she decided to start with a simple one.

"So, did you guys find anything important?"

Levy nodded, taking off the glasses. "We confirmed the story about the serum that grants immortality, as well as when it existed. Apparently the man who drank it lived for 218 years before he was killed. One of the books I read said that he never looked older than thirty."

"Keeps you alive and keeps you young, huh?"

The bluenette laughed softly at her words. She didn't say it, but she had been worried for Lucy when she saw the condition she was in when Happy brought her back. It was a relief to know she was going to be okay, and talking to her now reminded her of that.

"And what about the orb? What was it again, the omni something…" Lucy trailed off trying to remember the name.

"The omnicore," Levy finished for her. "Well, if the staff, your keys, and the orb is all that's needed, then they're just missing one piece."

"Wait, but don't they need all the zodiac keys? I only have ten."

Levy had to keep herself from making fun at the fact that Lucy said she only had ten out of twelve keys. The severity of the upcoming situation kept her serious.

"We contacted Sabertooth. Yukino's zodiac keys were taken as well."

"Is she okay?" Lucy asked with a horrified expression.

"She is," Levy said with a firm nod. "She didn't get quite the treatment you got. Actually, they took them while she was asleep, so she never even knew they were missing until she woke up."

Lucy sighed in relief. Though a part of her felt the need to wonder why she had gotten the short end of the stick, she shrugged it off for the time being. There was no indication time had been messed with yet, so Fairy Tail had assumed that the dark guild still needed to find the omnicore.

"Did you guys get any leads on where the orb could be?" Lucy asked.

"We have not," Erza appeared, placing her hands on the table and leaning forward. "We spent all day gathering any information we could, but nothing we found gave any indication on the omnicore's whereabouts."

"I've been reading cover to cover of book after book, but nothing," Levy stated.

Lucy placed a hand to her chin, thinking back to her time on the ship. She tried recalling every word the man Xeno had told her about the omnicore, but she felt certain that nothing he said could help her figure out where it could be. She didn't even know if the dark guild knew of its location.

"What are we going to do?" the blond asked.

"Makarov should be back any moment now. Until then, we have to keep researching. Though I will admit, our number of books left to go through is wearing thin," Erza said grimly.

Lucy could only nod in response before her head exploded in pain. Her face scrunched in agony while the innards of her brain felt as if they were trying to escape her body. She clutched her head tightly, grabbing fistfuls of her hair.

"What's wrong?" Erza asked, scooting in next to Lucy and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy only shook her head, feeling unable to breathe. Erza and Levy's eyes were wide at the sudden pain their guild mate was in, but before either of them could act any further, two dragon slayers appeared.

In a flash, Natsu and Wendy were on the other side of Lucy. Natsu held a damp hand towel, pressing it to Lucy's forehead while Wendy extended her hands, easing what pain she could. Natsu was muttering words that Erza did not catch, his lips too close to the blond's ear.

Minutes felt like hours as the time slowed, the entire guild's attention cast on the celestial wizard. But a couple minutes after the rush had come, it was gone. Lucy's face relaxed, and she managed to gather deep breaths again while her hands fell back down to her sides. Wendy sighed in relief as she dropped her hands. Erza lifted an eyebrow both at the situation, and at the the way Natsu was comforting Lucy by having his hand on her shoulder, rubbing circles with his thumb.

Gray must have drawn near during the episode, voice loud and asking, "what the hell was that?"

"Not so loud!" Natsu said in almost the same pitch.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Levy asked.

The blond placed a gentle hand to her forehead, nodding in response. "It only lasts a couple minutes."

"This has happened before?" Erza questioned.

"Since yesterday."

"I think it may have something to do with one of the magic users that…" Wendy cast a look Lucy's way, choosing her next words wisely, "hurt Lucy. She said he was able to enhance his weapons, and these episodes are likely side effects."

"When's it gonna stop?" Natsu asked, gaze still locked on Lucy.

"It's hard to tell," Wendy said. "Have they gotten any better since your first one?"

Lucy thought for a moment. She'd only had two or three of these explosive migraines, and it was a blessing that Wendy had been there for them all. But when she thought about it, the pain level felt the same for each one she'd experienced.

She shook her head in response. "The only thing that helps ease the pain is when you're there to help me."

Wendy's cheeks went red, but she smiled as she shrugged it off. The classic 'it's nothing, really!' leaving the girl's lips. Mira walked over, placing a glass of water in front of Lucy.

"Here," the silver haired mage said, "I'll go get you a pack of ice just in case, too. Just give me a couple minutes. I guess I didn't clean up well last night because it seems I misplaced a lot of stuff."

"Thank you, Mira. Take your time," Lucy said.

Mira smiled before going in search of the ice pack. Erza studied Lucy closely.

"And you're sure you're feeling all right now?" She asked.

"Positive," Lucy answered. "Like I said, it only hurts when it's happening. I appreciate you guys being here for it, though."

"I see."

Any further speculation Erza had on the matter was cut short when the doors to the guild flung open, Master Makarov's small frame standing at the entrance. A chorus of "master!" rang throughout the building, making the old man smile at his welcome.

It was short lived, however, once Erza strode across the hall, meeting Makarov at the bar. He wanted to get a drink, to which Mira said she was still looking for the ice pack and that she'd have to figure out where the glasses were put. Erza interrupted, asking to speak in private.

He grunted in response, but ultimately agreed while she led him to a separate room.

"I thought you wanted to speak in private," Makarov said once they were away from the rest of the guild.

"That's correct."

"Then what are all of you brats doing here?!"

Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Wendy all chucked in response. Makarov's face fell once he saw Lucy, wrapped neatly in bandages. He wondered how she was walking, but then realized it was no doubt thanks to Wendy.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice serious.

"A bunch of jerks took Lucy and we're gonna make them pay for it!" Natsu said, smacking his fist into his hand.

"It's a long story," Erza said, refraining from rolling her eyes at Natsu. She had to give him credit, though. Sometimes things really were just that simple to him. Makarov looked at her expectantly and she continued. "Have you ever heard of a serum that grants immortality? Or an orb called the omnicore? It is required to merge with two other components in order to travel in time."

With a stroke of his beard, Makarov answered. "I can't say I've heard of the serum, but the omnicore does sound familiar. Have you done any research on it?"

"More than you'd think," Gray said. "We spent the whole day finding what we could on it, but we have no leads."

Makarov responded with a small 'hmm,' one that made the members of the guild in the room all look at each other. It sounded like he knew something, whether it was about the orb or the vial, they weren't sure. Lucy asked the question everyone was thinking, her gaze locked on their master.

"Do you know anything about the omnicore? Or where it could be?"

Makarov's eyes remained plastered to the ground, seemingly lost in thought. When he finally looked up, Lucy's gaze was so intense, he couldn't look away. He stared as he saw her eyes focus and then unfocus. It looked as if she was slowly beginning to fade away, the fierce look in her eyes being replaced by one of absence.

"Are you all right, Lucy?" Makarov asked.

As if on cue, the blond was once again clutching her head, a soft moan escaping her lips. She slowly fell to her knees, curling inwards and trying to stop the pain. Wendy was quick to act, surprised that she was experiencing another episode so soon after she just had one.

Natsu was kneeling beside her, worry etched on his face. Why the hell was this happening again? And why did it seem like this time looked more painful than the others?

"Where's that ice Mira was getting?" He asked.

"I'll go get it!" Erza was quick to respond before Gray interrupted.

"No need."

He placed a hand over Lucy's forehead, extending his powers to the blond. The cooling sensation helped to relieve Lucy's pain a little, and she was glad Gray was there to help.

The minutes passed and as soon as her migraine had come, it had gone. Makarov looked appalled at what had happened, even more confused as to why the guild knew what to do. He had only been gone for a couple days, how much could he really have missed?

"You okay?" Natsu asked, the same comforting hand on her shoulder.

Makarov was stunned at the action. He hadn't seen Natsu as the physical affectionate type before, especially not with any girls. Lucy nodded, placing her own hand on top of his in appreciation.

"All right, tell me everything that happened while I was gone, now!" He demanded.

So they did. Erza explained most of what had happened, how they received word from what appeared to be the council, how they prepared for an attack which turned out to be a diversion from their real plan. About Lucy's capture, how they tortured her, and how much they had discovered about the dark guilds plan.

"They have the zodiac keys?" Makarov asked.

"Yes," Erza nodded. "I contacted Sabertooth, and Yukino said that her golden keys had been taken as well."

"I'm getting too old for all of this. I need to have a drink while I put together everything you've told me. Until then, keep searching for more on the omnicore," Makarov ordered, exiting the room.

Team Natsu waited until a minute after the door had clicked shut to speak. Gray was the one who broke the silence.

"Is it just me or did master seem a bit off?"

"While I hope he isn't, he did seem as though he were hiding something," Erza agreed.

"But what?" Natsu asked.

"And why? He never seemed like the secretive type to me," Lucy said.

"He could just be overwhelmed with all of this since he just got back. It is a lot to dump on someone," Wendy said, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

However, there was an unspoken agreement between the five of them in the room: Master Makarov was hiding something from them. Something important.

X

Uh oh, Makarov? Hiding something? I wonder what it could be. Once again, thank you for reading and have an amazing rest of your week ❤︎