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Chapter Text

chapter one: the ghost of fairy tail

The only place the celebrated reckless didn’t touch in the whole guild was jīchan’s office. For Miyako’s childhood, the small room with its tatty couch and hand-crocheted blanket, its soapy butterscotch smell and sounds of jīchan’s quill scratching out apology letters to clients and the magic council alike, was her safe-haven. A place where her books wouldn’t be scorched or frostbitten (both often occurring within the span of several seconds), and she could immerse herself in their words without fear of her surroundings suddenly turning into a warzone. 

Miyako was aware that new guild members often thought she was a phantom that roamed the forbidden second floor. She’d heard the rumors. That the blonde-haired girl who flitted about the shadows stole an S-Class mission and never made it home, and was now cursed with the duty of scaring off mages who had similar delusions of grandeur and sticky, thieving fingers. Another tall tale said that she was the spirit of the first master, still lingering in this world and searching for fairies. Miyako liked that story best. The first one was honestly quite insulting. She had no need to steal S-Class jobs. She was an S-class mage. 

True, as she got older, and gained a reputation befitting a mage her status, the rumors were all but consigned to oblivion. They became less the product of sensational whispers and more deliberate fodder with which to trick and tease the new blood, like that bewildered, bubbly blonde mage Natsu had dragged in and promptly abandoned at the door to start a brawl yesterday. Miyako had watched that situation implode from her customary reading spot on the second floor, curtained in shadow and partially hidden behind a supporting post. 

She’d caught the older blonde’s eyes, Lucy she would later learn her name was. Lucy had smiled tentatively and given a small wave, and just to mess with her, Miyako had leaned further into the shadows and all but disappeared. 

“Who was that girl on the second floor?” she’d heard Lucy query with her sharp ears. 

Gray had been the one to answer. “What girl?” he’d asked casually, playing the game Miyako had started. “No one here currently is allowed up there.”

“But, I-”

“Lucy saw the ghost!” Happy all but shouted before snickering into his paws, like the little fiend he was.

The blonde shrieked. “G-ghost! ?”

Miyako smirked to herself privately at the memory before turning her attention back to her magical theory book, and the chapter on container expansion. She’d ventured downstairs today, though still kept to the corners. At some point, Gray had wandered over, one of her few fellow mages that understood what the word ‘calm’ meant (at least, until Natsu asserted himself in the situation, then Gray was as bad as the rest of them). He had a book as well- a fiction novel if she wasn’t mistaken. Miyako suspected Gray preferred to sit in her company when he read because no one dared intrude on her quiet, and the ice-mage could bask in the reflected silence.

She didn’t mind. It seemed a fair trade for all the time he’d spent teaching her how to ice skate when she was a kid. 

“Oi! Miyako-chan! Look what I found!”

A job flier was thrust under her nose, and Miyako sighed, snapping her book shut and pushing her reading glasses further up her nose so her eyes could adjust to the too-close print. 

“Natsu,” Gray all but growled. 

Before those two could fully register each other’s presence, Miyako spoke up. “What would you have me do with this, Natsu?”

“He’s looking for blonde maids,” Natsu said excitedly, pointing to the words as if she hadn’t just read them. 

Miyako arched her brow at him. “Yes, and?”

“Well, you’re blonde ain’t ya? And, see, it involves books. And you’ve always got your face in one of those,” he explained, rubbing under his nose. “Wanna come?”

He wasn’t wrong . Miyako felt oddly touched that he’d considered his invitation beyond trying to get her indebted to him so he could tag along on one of her S-Class jobs (a tactic he’d tried before). She was sure he was showing her the job because he genuinely thought her hair suited her for it and she’d be interested by its nature. 

“Well, I might consider… but I’m accompanying jīchan to the regular meeting,” she explained, handing the flier back to him. “We leave later today.”

Natsu pouted, but any lingering feelings of rejection were quickly replaced by incandescent rage when Gray suggested, “Why don’t you go put on a blonde wig and do the job yourself, pyro?”

“What !?” Natsu screeched, his fists lighting up, perhaps on instinct simply from the sound of Gray’s voice rather than his actual words. 

“Natsu-kun,” she said coolly, letting slip her magical aura and intentionally using the slightly patronizing honorific. The dragon-slayer made an ‘eep’ sound and his fists sputtered out. When she was certain she had his undivided attention, she said, “Why don’t you ask your new blonde friend. Lucy, was it?”

He blinked at her once, twice, before finally comprehending and smacking his palm with a fist. “Good idea! Let’s go, Happy!” he called over his shoulder. 

“Aye, sir!” 

The door to the guild banged shut behind the two Fairy Tail mages as they left, and Gray sighed loudly. “Can you believe that idiot?” he asked.

She hummed and flipped her book back open. 

- O -

Makarov glanced over at his only granddaughter by blood. The carriage lumbering towards Clover rocked back and forth over the uneven terrain, but she didn’t seem affected by it in the slightest. Her hand turned the pages of her book at a steady, voracious pace, broken only as she occasionally pushed her round reading glasses back up her nose. He smiled fondly and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. 

“How goes the research?” he asked after another minute of comfortable silence.

She held up a finger, and he waited patiently for her to finish her page, before she made a point of marking her spot, closing the book, and giving him her undivided attention. People often mistook Miyako’s taciturn personality towards anyone she didn’t consider her family as a choleric disposition, but he knew his granddaughter was actually very caring and attentive- just slightly socially awkward. “It’s going slow,” she admitted.

Makarov hummed. “That’s to be expected,” he offered. “Resurrecting magics that have been dead for centuries was never going to be without sweat and tears. Did you know our new recruit is a celestial spirit summoner?”

“Lucy-san?” Miyako asked. A small smile tugged at her lips, but that hungry glean of a researcher given a new subject to study in her dark eyes turned the gesture slightly predatory. “That’s a magic that’s been bordering on lost for decades… fascinating .”

“I thought you might be intrigued,” he said. 

But Miyako was no longer listening. She’d brought out one of her many, many journals and a slightly chewed up pen and was hurriedly scribbling on a fresh page. Makarov only got a peek before she adjusted the angle of her journal in a way that happened to obstruct his view of her writing, but he saw she was composing a number of questions for the celestial mage.  

The carriage carried on its journey in their silence and Makarov turned his gaze out the window. In the distance he could just make out the meeting hall, standing stalwart on the crest of a hill above a sea of trees and framed by far off mountains.

He’d been taking Miyako with him to these meetings since she turned fourteen, just over a year now. It wasn’t unusual. Many other guild masters brought a scribe with them, but it just so happened Miyako was slightly more than a monkey with a pen. Guilds did not descend through lineage by right, but it also wasn’t uncommon to see the title of master passed down through family lines if the next generation both wanted to take up the mantle, and was capable enough to do so. 

Another blonde-haired, grey-eyed grandchild popped into his mind and Makarov sighed to himself. Laxus . It seemed like that boy was standing at a dangerous crossroads most of these days. The times they spoke, which were few and far between, Makarov felt his grandson was already out of reach. It was why he’d started bringing Miyako along. He’d not told her the real reason. Bless her soul, Miyako was either willfully ignorant to the choices her older brother was making, or stubbornly forgiving. She still thought he invited her so one day she’d be able to better assist her brother in his duties when he got his head out of his ass and became master. 

He spared her another glance. Miyako was totally engrossed in her journal, pen between teeth, a familiar furrow in her brow.

It was a shame she was so prepared to stay in the shadows, too happy to remain in the background. Even all those books she’d written on magical theory, which had received many accolades, were published under a pseudonym. 

“About ten more minutes, Master Makarov!” the driver called over his shoulder. 

Makarov grunted his acknowledgement.

- O -

“Makarov, dearie, it sure must be nice to have all your little wizards so pepped up! Ooh, I heard that you gave some aristocrat a thrashing!”

The actual meeting portion of the regular meeting had finally come to a tedious end. Makarov was looking forward to the day he didn’t have to come to these things anymore, although the free booze they provided at the dinner after was always nice. He was perched in the middle of one of the tables, mug of frosty beer in hand, making conversation with his fellow guild masters and friends. 

“Oh! That was my new recruit, Lucy!” Makarov informed Master Bob. “She’s great! What a figure she’s got!”

Master Bob immediately turned away, covering his face at Makarov’s crude words. “Stop it, you flirt!” he cried out. 

“Is this something to be laughing at, Makarov?” Goldmine asked cynically. “Yeah, it’s great they’re energetic, but they go way overboard! There are people on the council who’re worried Fairy Tail is gonna crush an entire city one day, you know.”

Makarov had ingested just enough alcohol that the ever-present weight of the accumulated damages his brats were capable of was a far-off worry. Right now, everything was light and fuzzy and only slightly too warm. “I’d like to be crushed… by Lucy’s body that is!” he managed to get out between cackles. 

“Now that’s not proper!” Master Bob put in. “Don’t go laying your hands on your own little wizards!” 

He was unaffected by Master Bob’s admonishment though, and continued his inebriated giggling. That is, until he heard his granddaughter say darkly, “ Jīchan .”

Fortunately, before she could say anything else, a messenger bird flew into the hall through an open window with a letter clutched between its talons. “Master Makarov! Master Makarov!” it chirped out. “A letter from Mirajane-san!”

Makarov held out his hands expectantly. “Thank you,” he said when the white envelope with an official, golden Fairy Tail seal was dropped into his open palm. 

A hologram of a beaming Mirajane burst out of the seal when he drew his finger in a circle around it. “Master, hard at work at your regular meeting, yes?”

Several guild masters had gathered around his table with their curious eyes and Makarov held up the hologram for all to see. “What do you think!” he crowed out victoriously. “This here’s our poster-girl! Quite a looker, eh?”

Whistles and appreciative sounds went up in the crowd. “Little Mirajane, huh? She sure looks like she’s grown up,” Goldmine commented. 

“Actually, something wonderful happened while you were gone!” Mirajane continued throwing her arms out excitedly. “Amazingly, Natsu, Gray, and Erza formed a team! I think this is the most powerful team in all of Fairy Tail! I figured I should report this, so I wrote you a letter! Talk to you later! Tell Miya-chan I said hi!”

Mirajane signed off sweetly, having no respect for the turmoil her letter had left him in. 

“It seems like those worries might actually come to pass,” sighed Goldmine. 

Makarov’s legs gave out underneath him.

- O -

Miyako slipped away from her jīchan ’s side sometime after Mirajane’s letter. The hall was getting a bit too overzealous for her liking. The alcohol appeared to be hitting all the masters at the same time and they were getting quite rowdy and loud. Having grown up in Fairy Tail, Miyako could usually read through an apocalypse, but tonight she was feeling particularly sensitive to sound.  

The doors to the main hall closed behind her, cutting off most of the noise and she sighed. She was debating between returning to the hotel, or sitting out under her stars, when an oily voice called out, “Miyako-san.”

The young blonde paused, shoulders slightly tense as she turned around. “Master Jose,” she replied, politely, but coolly. “How can I help you?”

Master Jose stood just slightly too close, and he towered over her petite build. Those dark painted lips were drawn back in an approximation of a smile, and the light gleamed on the grease in his slicked back hair. Miyako had always been sensitive to magic, and Master Jose’s dark aura almost crawled under her skin and made her itch. 

“Oh? Where is that famous Fairy Tail hospitality?” he queried too casually. “I’m sure if you smiled you’d be so much prettier, Miyako-san…”

Miyako grit her teeth, but pasted on a strained smile. “Is there something you need?” she repeated, eager to move along. 

“Nothing in particular,” the older man said in a saccharine tone. “I just enjoy your magical presence. It’s a shame you expend so much energy in covering it up. So unlike your grandfather’s and brother’s, bordering on darkness… we’re alike in that regard. Don’t you think, Miyako-san ?”

“Jose!”

Miyako felt some tension bleed out of her body when her jīchan emerged from the hall and intervened on her behalf. The diminutive man looked dead sober now, and his lips were pressed into a thin line as he took in the scene before him. 

“Makarov,” Jose greeted with a canine-bearing smile. He dropped a hand on Miyako’s shoulder and squeezed with too much pressure. “I was just chatting with your granddaughter. She takes very much after your estranged son, does she not? Oh, pardon . I know that’s a sore subject…”

Miyako ducked away from his grasping fingers and moved to stand slightly behind her jīchan , very pointedly not looking Jose in the eye. She brushed her hair back behind her ear, and refrained from tracing her fingers over the very faint scar that split her eyebrow and ran from forehead to cheekbone on the left side of her face knowing the older mage would zero in on the nervous tick like a shark to blood. 

“Thank you for that unsolicited observation, Jose,” Makarov stated dryly. “Come along, Miyako-chan.”

She felt Jose’s eyes on her back the entire way out of the meeting hall, and she didn’t relax until her jīchan led her all the way into the woods surrounding the building. They walked in silence until they came across a small clearing, with an unimpeded view of the star speckled sky. Without a care for the dewy grass, Miyako sat with her legs extended, but crossed at the ankle, mindful of her skirt. She leaned back on her hands, chin tilted up to the heavens, and let the starlight tickle her cheeks. Already she could feel herself calming down from being in the presence of her element.

“Jose’s got some nerve cornering you like that,” Makarov grumbled. He was perched on a flat rock, and sitting in agura position with his palms resting on his knees, elbows turned out. 

The blonde mage made an agreeing sound, then cracked an eye open to peer at her jīchan , but he wasn’t looking at her.

“I don’t need to explain all the reasons why everything he said was wrong, do I?” the old man asked. His tone was humorous, but genuine nonetheless. 

“I suppose not,” she said. 

Miyako studied magic as a trade and was acutely aware that her magic type teetered between light and dark in an atypical way. Such was the trademark of heavenly body magic. There was brilliant light in the sky just the same as there was inescapable darkness. You could not have one without the other. Normally, she was not ashamed of this fact. Dark was not inherently evil, and, in fact, she personally knew many brilliant, kind mages with dark magic types. Mirajane, Freed, Bickslow… but to be compared to her father like that always scrambled her logical thinking.

Unconsciously, Miyako touched her scar. It did not stand out as sharply as her brother’s, but it was there if you looked, and the scar tissue felt conspicuous beneath the pads of her fingertips. 

“My child,” Makarov started to say, but the sharp snap of twig being stepped on caused him to pause. 

Her eyes popped open. On the edge the woods, cloaked in shadows, was a malicious magical presence. A man stepped into the clearing. He was bare-chested, but his entire torso was hastily wrapped with bandages. Crimson was already seeping through the white cotton. He had dark hair and narrow, slatted eyes and appeared just as surprised to see them as they were to see him.

“You’re injured,” Makarov observed flatly. “What the heck are you doing wandering around out here?”

“Uh, well…” the man faltered. “Would you listen to me play a tune?”

The stranger lifted a macabre flute part way to his lips and Miyako tilted her head to the side. The sinister magic was centered on the oddly shaped instrument. The crown was carved into the likeness of a three-eyed skull with bared teeth and the foot joint naturally tapered off as if to mimic tree roots. 

“I’m not allowed to bring instruments into the hospital, so…” the man laughed sheepishly, a pucker in his brow that betrayed his easy-going tone. “I- I wanted someone to hear me!” he further explained when Makarov made a questioning sound. 

Miyako glanced at her jīchan for a clue as to how she was supposed to act. Thus far, the older man had not given away the fact that they knew the dark-haired mage was up to no good. “That’s one creepy flute you got there,” jīchan said. 

“It might look strange, but it has a lovely tone!” the stranger hastily replied. 

“I’m in a hurry, but, I suppose my granddaughter and I could listen to one song, right, Miyako-chan?”

The dark-haired mage jolted when Miyako agreed, “Why not?”

She suspected he hadn’t realized she was there. Panicked, grey eyes quivered on her form for a long moment. The man’s skin was pallid and looked clammy even in the dark, she suspected from blood loss. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. The flute trembled in his grasp.

“L-listen up,” he stuttered. 

He brought the mouth piece to his lips and drew in a deep breath to his lungs, shaking fingers poised over the finger holes. There was sweat beading in his brow, now. She watched a droplet trace a sinuous path down his cheek as they waited, and waited. 

“What’s the matter? Hurry and play it!” Makarov goaded. 

The man swallowed, and the longer he stood there, motionless, the more his lower lip trembled. His breaths puffed unevenly into the night air. 

Finally, jīchan bowed his head and said, “Nothing will change.”

The dark-haired mage gasped and his arms lowered involuntarily. 

“Weak humans will always be weak no matter how long you wait,” he continued. “But weakness is not always a bad thing. Humans are weak creatures from the start. Uneasy by ourselves, we form guilds where we have allies and friends. In order to thrive we bind together and progress ahead. These awkward combinations might run into more walls than would a single person, and we might take a long time to get where we’re going, but as long as we believe in tomorrow and place one foot in front of the other, we will be filled with power from within. Living a strong life means being able to smile, and not relying on something like that flute.”

A soft clatter filled the woods. The man lost his grip on the flute and he ended up in a dogeza position before them, trembling fingers clutching at the dusty earth. 

“I surrender,” the man said shakily.

Miyako bent over and examined the flute. Its magic squirmed within the confines of the wood like mealworms in an apple, and, to get a better look, she retrieved her special mage glasses from their protective case in her bag and pushed them up her nose. 

“Master!” she heard Erza’s voice call.

“ Jīchan!” that was Natsu and Gray.

She paid them no mind. The magic in the flute appeared rich and black and sticky like natto, like if you touched the container it would cling to your fingers and seep into your pores. Miyako glanced up and saw that, in fact, there was some residual magic left on the strange man’s hands. Fascinating . This went beyond curse magic. It was living magic. And it was the blackest magic she’d ever seen, and she had studied many artifacts. Though she’d never seen this particular signature before, she knew immediately who this flute had once belonged to. 

Zeref .

Suddenly, the flute’s eyes began glowing deep purple, and Miyako pursed her lips. “No,” she said simply, and held her hand out over the instrument, placing a magic seal on it. 

The other magic resisted, twisting in the wind, but, despite its malicious aura, it was actually fairly weakened, all snarl and no bite. She suspected it had been sealed for a long time before this, and hadn’t had the chance to gather its strength back. She put it down without much of a fight.

“Miyako! Careful!” 

Erza’s stern voice interrupted her musing. “I have it contained,” Miyako said plainly. To prove her point, she picked the flute up and poised it in front of her mouth.

“Miyako !”

She blew into the mouthpiece and the instrument produced a soft note. Everyone around her tensed and their hands flew to cover their ears, but nothing happened. They stared at her, probably shocked by her audacity, but Miyako wasn’t bothered.

“Just a flute now,” she said, tucking it into her bag before any of the other masters could get a glimpse of it and try to stop her. 

Her jīchan gave her an inscrutable look, his mustache twitching in warning. They both knew that the magic council expected any artifact such as this one, especially this one, to be turned into their custody. They both also knew the magic council could not be fully trusted with something like this. It was safer in Miyako’s care, locked in Fairy Tail’s deepest vault. 

They stared at each other for a long moment, dark eyes that had been passed down through generations communicating silently. Finally, jīchan gave Miyako a curt nod. 

Miyako buckled her satchel and adjusted its strap on her shoulder. 

- O -

They returned to Magnolia that evening. The carriage ride was spent with Erza explaining how they came to be in Clover in measured words, Happy chiming in often with commentary, and Natsu’s nauseous burbling as background noise. 

Before they’d taken off, there’d been a funny moment when Lucy had spotted Miyako and yelped, scurrying behind Natsu and saying, “It’s the ghost again!”

Happy burst into manic giggles, his paws not even muffling the sound.

“Hm?” Jīchan glanced where Lucy’s shaking finger was pointed and saw that it aligned with his granddaughter. He sighed in exasperation. “Really, Miyako-chan, you must stop tricking the new blood into thinking you’re a spirit.”

Miyako lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t start that rumor,” she said. 

“No, you just perpetuate it,” the old man had grumbled. “Lucy, despite her very pasty skin, Miyako is not a ghost. She’s my sun-deprived granddaughter.”

Lucy had blushed then, swatting Happy who’d clearly been in on the joke. Luckily for Gray, the celestial mage didn’t suspect he’d participated in tricking her as well. Now, as their carriage rolled off into the night, Lucy kept cutting glances in Miyako’s direction curiously. 

Finally, the older blonde seemed to pluck up the courage to ask what had been on her mind, because she opened her mouth, and Miyako braced herself for questions about being the guild master’s granddaughter, or something alike, and was summarily shocked when Lucy innocently queried, “How is it you’re writing so neatly when the carriage is so bumpy?”

Miyako’s pen paused mid-word, and her lips parted on a little ‘o’. After a moment, she managed to answer, “My pen is spelled with a stabilizing charm.”

“Wow! That’s so convenient!” Lucy said in wonder. “I wish I had one of those!”

“Are you a writer?” Miyako couldn’t help but ask.

The celestial mage’s cheeks flushed. “N-no!” she stammered. “I mean, well, I guess, but, I’m not good yet or anything!”

Miyako wasn’t very good with people she hadn’t known since her childhood, and she hadn’t meant to make Lucy uncomfortable. “Everyone starts somewhere,” she said in what she hoped was a comforting tone. She dug into the side pocket of her satchel and found her spare pen, one without any teeth marks. “Here,” she offered, holding it out. 

“Thanks,” Lucy murmured, clutching the pen tight. A dusty rose lingered on her cheeks. “ Um , are you a writer too?”

Gray was looking out the window, chin resting on his fist, but he answered before she could make similar denials, “Miyako-chan is a researcher.”

The cart rolled to a gentle stop as they paused for passing traffic and Natsu apparently revived long enough to add, “She has a suede nam- eep !” The last word was cut short as the cart lurched forward again.

“A pseudonym, Natsu,” Miyako corrected lightly. “I write under a pseudonym . Not a suede name.”

“Same- ugh , difference,” Natsu managed before collapsing back over the bench. 

“Not really!” Happy chirped.

“Ten minutes!” their driver called in warning. 

When they arrived at Fairy Tail, the sun was coming up over the horizon. It had been a long night for all, but Miyako was the first out of the carriage. She called her thanks to the driver, and hurried inside the guild, pausing only to fetch the spare key from its hiding spot to unlock the door. It was too early for anyone to be in, and she headed up to jīchan’s office.

He joined her five minutes later, eyeing the flute she’d placed on the center of his desk and was staring at with hungry eyes. 

“How confident are you in that seal?” he asked.

“Very,” Miyako answered, not looking up. “It must be some of his early work. It didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Makarov breathed in deeply. “Nevertheless, it is still a demon. One of Zeref’s demons. I’m just as hesitant to turn it over to the council as you are, but, Miyako, you know I must ask you to exercise the utmost caution if you plan to study Lullaby.”

“I know,” Miyako said, finally tearing her gaze away. “I will. But just think of the potential. No one has ever gotten the opportunity to properly study Zeref’s work before. I wonder if I could understand his process, his signature, the next time something like Deliora arises, maybe we could be better equipped to deal with it.”

The older mage was quiet for a moment. “Lock that thing in the vault for now,” he said. “You may begin examining it at some other time. It’s far too late- too early , now, I suppose.”

A yawn forced its way out of Miyako’s mouth at the mere mention of the time. “Okay,” she agreed. 

Few knew of the vault beneath Fairy Tail proper. Even Miyako was not aware of the full extent of it. That was a secret passed down through Fairy Tail’s masters, and Miyako, though curious, had respected this tradition and never asked. She was happy enough with the part she had access to- a collection of books removed from the larger library above, the magical containment unit for artifacts such as Lullaby, and a small room she’d converted into a research lab and study long ago. 

Miyako carefully placed the flute into a fortified container and locked it in her desk.

Chapter Text

chapter two: the s-class conundrum

When Erza, with a high-spirited Natsu in tow, returned from her subsequent scapegoating, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. She’d really thought they’d been in some serious trouble, and that it was only a matter of time before she and Gray got dragged off as well. Lucy really could not afford to be taken before the magic council. They’d probably ask all manner of sticky questions, starting with her last name. 

“The sweet smell of freedom! Just smell it, yes!” Natsu crowed. The sakura-haired mage was running amuck in the guild hall like a toddler on a sugar high, spitting fire from his mouth. “Who knew freedom was so great! Freedom! Freedom!”

The initial happiness at seeing him return safe and sound and not in prison for punching a council member had worn off quite quickly for everyone in the guild. Lucy sat with her cheek pressed into the table, lazily tracking Natsu’s erratic freedom run with her eyes. She could tell Gray was standing somewhere behind her from the ambient temperature of his magic. Erza was quietly eating cake a few seats down from her. As she made a mental tally of the rest of her guild mates, she spotted Miyako.

The slightly younger blonde was scribbling away in a journal in the back corner of the guild. If she wasn’t writing, she was reading. Lucy wasn’t sure she’d ever seen the girl do anything else. Miyako looked content enough, but Lucy couldn’t help but notice the occasional melancholy glances she would send to the greater hall. 

“So, what about your man to man battle with Erza, Natsu?” Elfman’s booming voice called out. 

Natsu paused and then his lips split into a manic grin. The light glinted off his pointed canines. “I forgot!” he cried out, head on a swivel until his eyes locked onto Erza. “Erza! Let’s continue where we left off!”

“No, I’m tired,” Erza declined firmly. 

Fire wrapped around Natsu’s fist and he paid no mind to the tremendous irritation bowing Erza’s brow as he charged at her full speed. “Here I come!”

“What am I to do with you?” Erza sighed. 

Calmly, she stood up from the table. Without even sparing Natsu a look, her armored fist drew back and slammed into the fire mage’s solar plexus. Combined with Natsu’s own momentum, the boy could barely manage a squeak before he collapsed into a twitching pile of limbs on the beer-soaked floor. 

“Shall we begin?” Erza asked dispassionately. 

For a moment, all Lucy could do was stare in shock at the swift defeat. But then Gray and Elfman started cackling like hyenas, and Lucy couldn’t help but join in with slightly nervous laughter.

“Lame, Natsu!” Gray heckled. 

“Erza’s strong, that’s for sure!” Elfman said. 

The laughter began dissolving in her ears, and her vision grew tinged with darkness. Lucy had a moment of panic before her head hit the table and she sunk into murky oblivion like there were weights tied to her ankles and dragging her down.

When Lucy managed to pry her eyes back open her head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. There was a crust over her eyes like she’d been asleep for hours and with a bleary stare, Lucy was relieved to see her guildmates were in similar states of un-wakefulness. 

“This feels like… was Mystogan here?” she heard Jet mumble. 

“That bastard!” Droy groused. 

“Mystogan?” Lucy asked through her dry mouth, unsure for a moment if she’d even managed to say the word out loud. 

It was Elfman that answered. “One of the strongest men in Fairy Tail,” he explained. 

“He does this because he doesn’t like other people to see his face,” Gray managed. The ice-make mage’s voice was still groggy and husky from sleep, and he rubbed at his eyes and down his face. “When he comes by to take a job, he always puts everyone to sleep like this.”

“What’s with that! That’s way too suspicious!” Lucy sputtered, finally shaking the last vestiges of sleep magic from her system. 

Gray shrugged, looking more alert. “No one other than the master knows what he looks like. Well, except Miyako-chan. She’s gone on a few missions with him before.”

“No,” a new voice called out smugly. “I know what he looks like.”

There was a man standing above them, leaning on the second-floor railing casually. He had a fur-trimmed coat thrown over his shoulders and a pair of sound pods dangling around his neck. His hair was yellow and his eyes were grey. A scar cut a path through his left eye like a bolt of lightning. 

“Laxus-nii,” Miyako said, sounding upset. “You didn’t tell me you’d be back today.”

“Another one of Fairy Tail’s strongest,” Gray murmured helpfully to Lucy.

The man, Laxus, Miyako’s older brother, said chidingly, “Mystogan’s shy… keep your noses out of it!”

“Laxus!” Natsu shouted. The sleep magic had hit the dragon slayer harder than the others and he’d been passed out on the floor until just then. “Fight me!”

“You were just beat by Erza a second ago,” Gray said dryly. 

Laxus had the same eyes as Miyako, Lucy observed, but even though the younger girl’s seemed somewhat closed off, there was a warmth to them missing in her brother’s steely gaze. He pinned Natsu with a derisive look, like he was staring at an ant and considering if it was worth the trouble stepping on. “That’s right,” he said. “If you can’t even beat Erza, there’s no way you could beat me.”

“What are you implying?” Erza asked coldly. The tension in the air was so thick it was stifling and Lucy found she was having trouble swallowing.

The blonde man laughed. “That I am the strongest!” he declared. 

“Then get down here and prove it!” Natsu snarled. 

“How about you come up here?” 

Natsu jumped up off the floor. “Fine by me!” he shouted. He took a running start and leapt over the bar, but he didn’t even make it to the first step of the stairs before the master’s elongated hand swung out of nowhere and pinned Natsu to the floor. 

“You cannot go upstairs,” master said firmly. “ Not yet .”

Lucy watched the proceedings in shock. The master’s words reminded her of something Gray had said to her on her first day when she’d seen Miyako on the second floor. No one here currently is allowed up there , he’d told her. She peered up at the apparently forbidden floor. Later, after the excitement of Mystogan and Laxus being there had died down, and Miyako had left with her brother, Lucy turned to Mirajane and asked, “About what the Master said before… how he can’t go up to the second floor. Why is that?”

Mirajane smiled kindly as she wiped down the bar. “It’s a bit early to talk to you about it, Lucy. But, the second-floor request board has jobs posted to it so difficult they don’t even compare to the ones on the first. S-Class quests.”

“S-Class?” Lucy repeated. 

“These are jobs where the slightest mistake would mean death,” Mirajane explained patiently. “Of course, the rewards are correspondingly high. Only wizards the master approves of can take on S-Class quests. If you include Erza, Laxus, Mystogan, and Miyako, there are only six people in the whole guild who can do them. S-Class is really not something you should seek out. They’re all jobs where you need a great number of lives.”

Lucy laughed nervously. “Seems like it,” she agreed. 

Mirajane was called away soon after that, and Lucy nursed her strawberry milkshake as she considered this new information. Erza and Miyako were so young and they were already that strong? She took another sip of her drink. Maybe one day she’d be strong enough to go on an S-Class job. She brushed her fingers against her keys. Well, a girl could dream anyway!

-O-

Miyako followed her older brother to his house on the edge of Magnolia in silence.

His loping strides were kind of hard to keep up with, but she didn’t ask him to slow down, and he didn’t of his accord, so Miyako kind of awkwardly trotted to keep pace. It was about mid-afternoon and the July heat was finally starting to blow off, but the sun was bright and if she closed her eyes and breathed in Laxus’s sharp, ozone scent, she could almost pretend it was yester-year, and they were heading out on a job together, just the Dreyar kids against the world; Laxus-nii and Mi-chan, the dynamic blonde duo of Fairy Tail. 

“Watch it, kid,” Laxus’s gruff voice sounded when she walked into his back.

He’d come to an abrupt stop in front of his door and she cracked her eyes open just in time to see him roll his eyes at her. Miyako felt heat rise in her cheeks and scowled at a particularly round pebble loitering on his porch. She hated how small Laxus could make her feel with just a single gesture sometimes. 

It hadn’t always been like this. 

The door swung open and they walked inside. Laxus’s home was musty smelling, and the air was stale and mites of dust glittered in the dying light seeping in through his closed curtains. He hadn’t been home in too long. 

Laxus tossed his keys in the plate by the door and swung his jacket onto a hook, toeing his shoes off at the boot tray, neatly lining them up like little soldiers. Miyako followed suit, knowing her brother hated a mess. He had a full liquor bar in his living room just off the kitchen, which was his first stop.

“Want a drink?” Laxus asked as he poured himself a finger of whiskey.

“You know I’m only fifteen,” Miyako said.

Laxus grunted and squinted at her funny as if he had actually forgotten her age for a moment. Then he shrugged, and said, “So?” 

“ So , I don’t like hard liquor,” she retorted. “And you don’t keep anything fun in the house cause you think it’s girly.”

“S’true,” he grumbled, sipping his whiskey. 

An awkward silence fell between them. Sometimes, Miyako didn’t know why they kept up this pretense. What felt like a long time ago, but was actually closer to a couple years, when Laxus would return from a long mission, she’d relish the invitation back to his house for a sleepover. They’d have dinner and she’d pester him with questions about his adventures, and he’d moan and groan and playfully roll his eyes as he indulged her and regaled her with stories. Sometimes he’d even bring her back a souvenir. 

Now it felt like he invited her over purely out of obligation.

“How’s the raijinshū ?” she asked softly, awkwardly lowering herself onto the couch. They hadn’t been at the guild in about a month, and if Laxus was here, maybe she’d get to see Freed and Bickslow and Evergreen too. They, at least, seemed happy to talk with her most times.

“They’re fine,” he said curtly. 

Miyako sighed, staring down at her hands folded in her lap. She heard Laxus shuffle and glanced up. He opened his mouth and she waited, leaning forward eagerly, but then he closed it again and shook his head slightly. Miyako deflated. 

“Right, that’s- that’s good,” she said with false enthusiasm. 

Another painful silence. Laxus took a long sip of his drink. “How’s… books?” he finally managed, cringing slightly at his own delivery. 

“Books fine,” Miyako said like a caveman.

For a fleeting moment, the corner of Laxus’s lips turned up. His grey eyes sparkled, and Miyako’s heart soared at her success. But it was gone just as soon as it appeared, and Laxus turned his head to the side. “That’s good.”

Miyako tapped her foot on the ground and tried to gather her courage again. Maybe she should have taken Laxus up on his offer of alcohol after all. “Laxus-nii,” she finally said softly, breaching the silence. 

He glanced over, slightly caught off guard by her tone. There, in that single second of vulnerability, she saw her brother. Her brother who’d never been good with words, but filled his clumsy silences with kind gestures and soft eyes and gentle utterances of her nickname that was just for him to use.  

“I-”

Laxus’s lacrima flashed on the table, and the man took his escape, snatching it up and answering with a brusque, “Hello?”

“Yo, Bossman,” Bickslow’s voice replied. “Ever’s finally done repacking her bags. We’re ready to head out when you are.”

“Got it. I’ll meet you guys at the train station in twenty,” Laxus said. 

Miyako felt like the air had been kicked out of her lungs. “You’re leaving again?” she asked. “But you just got back. I- I haven’t seen you in two months.”

“Duty calls, kid,” Laxus said with a shrug of his shoulder. He stood up, knocking back the rest of his whiskey like it was nothing.

“I’m not a kid,” she protested weakly.  

Laxus hesitated. She thought for a moment he might stay, or maybe invite her along at the very least, but he didn’t. “Dark guilds aren’t going to disband themselves,” he said, and he walked off in the direction of his bedroom, presumably to pack. Over his shoulder, he called, “You can stay the night, if you want. Just lock up when you leave. I won’t be back for at least another month.”

He disappeared up the stairs and Miyako sat there on the couch in shock for a long minute. It felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. When did Laxus get so far away?

The blonde girl stood abruptly and fled the house, needing to get away from it all. What she needed was to take a job. It had been too long. 

-O-

Dark guilds and chimerical monsters were Laxus’s favored jobs, but Miyako’s bread and butter was of a different breed; recovering artifacts, research missions, mysteries . They didn’t show up often of the S-Class variety, but Miyako was okay with that. She didn’t need to go looking for the most amount of trouble to be happy. She wasn’t Natsu. Still, she got excited when she did see them, and the extra reward played no part in it. Miyako liked the challenge, and today of all days, she really needed the extra distraction.

That’s why when she sat down at the guild’s bar and asked after the newest jobs and Mirajane gave her a secret smile, Miyako knew today she’d be lucky.

“This just came in and I thought of you, Miya-chan! Don’t tell the master, but I put it aside hoping you’d be in the mood for a job,” Mirajane said brightly, giving her a wink. She reached behind the bar and produced a flier with the S-Class stamp in the corner. 

“Help us, cursed island,” Miyako read. She scanned the few details provided and the reward, which caught her eye. Not the money, but the golden, Zodiac key they seemed to be offering. Already, her mind was digesting the mystery and churning out possibilities. “Fascinating,” she murmured under her breath. 

Mirajane laughed musically. “I take it you’re interested?”

“Is that an S-Class quest?!”

A solid wall of excitable heat was suddenly leaning over her shoulder and a weight landed on her head. A tail curled over her shoulders and she glanced up to see blue and pink.

“It is,” Miyako said carefully. 

“Can I come, Miya-chan? Please, please, please…”

The litany of ‘pleases’ spoken loudly and directly into her ear continued, and Miyako bit back the impulse to flat out reject Natsu and his feline companion, who were now making a scene and prostrating at her feet. Instead, she weighed the pros and the cons. 

Pro: despite wanting to take a job, she also didn’t particularly feel like being alone right now. Con: Natsu was impulsive and destructive and might not recognize her authority as the S-Class mage on the job. Pro: she did feel some sense of debt to Natsu (and Erza and Gray and Lucy) who had rushed to the guild masters’, and subsequently her own, rescue during the Eisenwald fiasco. 

“Please, please, please-!”

“Fine!” Miyako said loudly over Natsu’s begging. 

 The dragon-slayer froze mid-bow. “Fine?” he repeated in disbelief. He even glanced at Happy to make certain he’d heard correctly, but when the blue cat nodded, Natsu leapt off the floor, practically spitting fire. “ YOSH !”

“Oh my,” Mirajane said, lightly cupping her cheek. 

“Wait, you’re taking flame-brain on an S-Class mission, Miyako-chan?” Gray demanded, slamming a hand down onto the bar next to her, chest heaving like he’d sprinted a marathon. The ice-make mage opened his mouth, looking fully prepared to make a long-winded, unnecessary case for himself, which Miyako neither needed nor wanted to hear.

“You can come too,” she said before he could start, rolling her eyes. 

Gray’s protests died on his lips and he blinked twice before the befuddled look turned into a cool smirk. “Sounds fun.”

“Are you sure you want to take Natsu and Gray?” Mirajane asked, a small furrow in her brow. Her hand was hovering over the guild’s job log and the column for the names of the mages going on the job.  

“I’m so fired up, I don’t even care the ice-princess is tagging along!” Natsu was shouting.

Miyako twisted around in the bar stool and began scanning her fellow mages until she spotted Lucy, sitting in the middle of the guild with Levy. “Lucy-san!” she called, and the blonde jumped, pointing to herself uncertainly.

The celestial mage walked over, looking a bit nervous. “What’s up, Miyako?”

Miyako handed her the job flier. “I was going to give it to you after studying it, but, you might as well earn your keep if I’m taking those two anyway,” she said, tapping the reward section of the job. 

Lucy’s eyes lit up. “A gold key!” she shouted. Any sign of nerves disappeared and was replaced with fiery determination. “I’m in!”

“Alright!” Natsu said excitedly, throwing one arm around Lucy, and the other around Miyako, who looked like a startled stoat at the sudden gesture. “Team Natsu plus one stripper and Miya-chan! Let’s go!”

Mirajane was smiling fondly, but copied their names into the job log. “You’ve certainly got your hands full this job, Miya-chan,” she said.

“I’m just waiting for Natsu to realize he has to ride on a boat,” Miyako said. 

“A boat ?!” said mage yelped, eyes widening to the point of absurdity. 

Gray shook his head. “Can you believe this idiot?” he asked Miyako. 

She hummed in reply. 

Chapter Text

chapter three: the eighth planet from the sun

The four mages, plus blue cat, met at the train station early the next morning before the heat got too intense. Natsu was raring to go right up until he stepped foot on the train, where he promptly collapsed on top of Lucy in a pale, heaving mess. Miyako, acting as team leader, had secured their tickets and a private compartment the night before, and assisted Gray in dragging their dragon slayer to their seats. 

She chose to sit next to Gray, although the two did have to play rock-paper-scissors for the window seat (Gray had won, but Miyako smugly pulled rank and the ice-make mage conceded, more amused than anything). 

“Lucy-san, I have a request, but you don’t have to accept,” Miyako said after the train pulled out of the station.

Lucy tilted her head in askance, arms curled around the celestial spirit she’d introduced as Plue, her nikora, or canis minor spirit. “What is it, Miyako?”

“Well, as I believe you already know, I’m a researcher, and my primary study nowadays is lost magics. While not technically lost, celestial spirit summoning has been bordering on extinction among mages for decades,” Miyako said in what Gray liked to call her ‘Professor Dreyar’ voice. 

The older blonde nodded along, a small furrow in her brow. “So, you want to study my magic?” she asked curiously. 

“I have a number of questions,” Miyako admitted. “And I would love to observe you summoning a spirit with my mage glasses.”

“What are mage glasses?” Lucy asked. “The ones you’re wearing right now?”

Miyako’s hand automatically went to her reading glasses, which she kept secured on a golden chain around her neck. She shook her head. “No, these are just my reading glasses. My mage glasses allow me to see magic in the air and bodies around me,” she explained. 

Lucy’s mouth formed an ‘o’. “I’ve never heard of something like that before.”

“That’s because Miyako invented them,” Gray said, sounding proud. “She’s probably the smartest person in the whole guild.”

The researcher’s cheeks pinked up a bit at the unexpected praise. “Hardly,” she denied. “Freed had to help me with the runes. They’re just as much his baby as mine.”

“So,” Lucy pressed. “If you wore them while watching me summon a spirit, you’d be able to see my magic interact with my keys?”

Miyako nodded with a small, excited smile. “Exactly.”

“That’s actually really cool!” Lucy said enthusiastically. “Sure! I’d be interested to know what you’d learn from the process.”

“It’s so boring, Lushy ,” Happy whined around the fish he’d packed as an early snack. “She made me use my aera over and over again, hours of just flying in circles!”

Miyako scowled in the cat’s direction. “First of all, I gave you a nice salmon for your troubles. And second, I asked you politely to activate your aera a total of three times, and the entire process only took an hour. And you’re the only flying cat I know, was I supposed to not be interested?”

Musical giggling reached Miyako’s ears, and she stopped glaring at Happy long enough to notice it was Lucy laughing at her. Her fellow celestial mage was grinning. “This is the most I’ve ever heard you speak, Miyako-chan,” Lucy said. “You’re kind of adorable!” 

Again, all the blood in her body fled to her cheeks. Gray was smirking in her direction. “She is, isn’t she?” he agreed, reaching out and ruffling her hair. “But she likes to pretend she’s all tough like her brother.”

“I am!” Miyako protested loudly. “I mean-!” she broke off and sighed. “This is why I don’t talk to people.” 

“Well, I like talking to you,” Lucy said kindly. “What questions did you have?”

She immediately perked up. “Really?” she asked. When the other blonde gestured for her to get on with it, Miyako hurriedly retrieved her journal and pen from her bag. Still, she hesitated. “You don’t mind, Gray?”

Gray shook his head. “No, it’s not a bad idea to get to know the newbie’s magic if we’re going to be working on a team.”

“Great!” Miyako poised her pen above the page she’d already written a number of questions on, glasses perched on the tip of her nose, and she zeroed in on her target with astute eyes. “Can you explain the process of making a contract with a spirit? And in your answer, please touch on what would happen if you were to breach this agreement?”

For a moment, Lucy blinked at her in surprise. “Oh wow, you’re really prepared! Okay, well, first of all, the contract between spirit and summoner is super important. It’s the time where we flesh out the terms of summoning. Their strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, and the times they are available. Each gold key is unique, but a silver key spirit could have any number of contractors, and they have lives of their own, so it’s important to stick to the terms of the agreement. For example, I’m only allowed to summon my strongest spirit, Aquarius, on Wednesdays, but I can also only summon her from a water source, and she’s very picky about what kind of water I use. Depending on how severe the breach in the agreement is, I could potentially lose all my contracts.”

Miyako nodded, taking notes in shorthand. “You have several keys,” she observed. “Is it ever difficult to keep track of your spirit’s availability?”

“You’re not the only one who carries a journal!” Lucy said brightly. After a moment of rummaging in her purse, she produced a small, purple notebook. “I have them memorized, but if I ever need a quick reference, I have it all written down here,” she explained, flipping through a few pages and holding them out for Miyako and Gray to see. 

Gray whistled lowly. “That’s a lot of information,” he commented. 

“Yup! I’m pretty lucky though. My spirits are my friends, and a lot of the time they’re willing to help me out outside of our contract,” she said proudly. 

“What spirits are you contracted to?” Miyako asked curiously.  

“She has a scary fish, and a big cow, and a crab that ends all his sentences with - ebi !” Happy chimed in, counting them off on his paw. 

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Those are my three zodiac spirits. Aquarius the Water Bearer, Taurus the Golden Bull, and Cancer the Great Crab. But I’m also contracted with Crux the Southern Cross, Horologium the Pendulum Clock, Lyra the Lyre, and little Plue!”

The impromptu interview continued until the train pulled into the station at Hargeon, and Miyako was practically vibrating with excitement, not just about everything she’d managed to glean from Lucy, but also about the upcoming job. 

Lucy was very stimulating company, and she reminded Miyako a bit of Mirajane and Freed, so it was rather easy to feel comfortable in her presence, despite her usual reticence around new people. 

“So, how are we actually getting to the island?” Gray asked as they left the train station.

He had Natsu, who hadn’t revived from the long train ride, thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The incapacitated boy was moaning about boats.

Miyako checked her watch. “I called ahead and arranged for passage on a merchant boat. We set sail in about an hour.”

-O-

“What do you mean you’re no longer willing to take us to Galuna Island? I spoke on the lacrima yesterday to a man who assured me you could grant us passage to any of the islands off the coast of Hargeon.”

Despite her petit stature and the fact that she wore clothes more suited to a high academic than a mage heading out on a dangerous job, Lucy thought Miyako cut an intimidating figure. She was shorter than Lucy, but she carried what little height she had well, and even with her chin tilted up to glare at the weathered sea-captain, she still managed to look down on him. 

The captain must have agreed with Lucy because he twisted his cap in his hands as he explained nervously, “That lad you spoke to is still wet behind the ears. My men won’t sail those waters, and you’ll be hard pressed to find any sailor in this port who will. They say the island is cursed, lassie!”

“Yes,” Miyako said flatly. “That’s precisely what we’re here to investigate.”

But the captain shook his head again. “Sorry, lassie. I can’t help you,” he said before he lumbered back up the gang plank to his ship. 

“Looks like we’re swimming!” Natsu said brightly. “Let’s go, Happy!”

“Don’t be even more of an idiot,” Gray said scathingly. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, but he didn’t look deterred. “Miyako-chan will figure it out.”

Miyako hummed thoughtfully. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes against the sun glaring off the water and peered around the dock. “I’m sure there’s at least one sailor in this port worth his salt.”

It was funny, Lucy thought. Miyako was the youngest of their lot, but Gray, and even Natsu, seemed to recognize her authority and put faith in her to solve their problem. Her particular brand of leadership was different from, say, Erza, who was stalwart and inspiring, but lacked tact in certain areas, and was blunt in all the ways her swords were not. Miyako had already proved herself to be thoughtful, steady, and tactically minded. Lucy felt just as safe in her presence as she did in Erza’s. 

Her musings were cut short when a voice called out, “Sorry, did I overhear correctly? Are you four here to lift the curse from the island?”

A man with olive skin was loitering in the water on a small boat. He had a bandana wrapped around his head, a broad forehead and sharp cheekbones. Around his shoulders was a cloak cinched right up to his neck.

“That’s correct,” Miyako answered. 

The man made a sound like the air had been punched from his lungs and then said hurriedly, “Get on board.”

His vessel was not nearly as mighty as the merchant ship. The boat that bobbed on the water was nothing more than a skiff with a motor , and Miyako looked at it doubtfully. “She looks like she’d break apart the second we hit rough water,” she commented. “That’s not a boat suited for the deep sea.”

“She’ll hold up,” the man disagreed. “And, besides, you won’t find anyone else but me willing to go to Galuna.”

“I suppose we have no choice,” Miyako admitted. “Very well. What is your name?”

“Bobo.”

Miyako held her hand out, but Bobo hesitated. She did not question his reluctance, and instead lowered her hand and dropped into a polite bow. “I’m Miyako, and this is Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy. We’re Fairy Tail wizards. Thank you for having us on board, Bobo.”

The five of them began boarding, but when Lucy lowered herself onto the damp, wooden bench and the boat wobbled beneath her, she couldn’t help but glance back at the safety of the dock. Why exactly had she agreed to come on this dangerous S-Class mission again? Mira had literally just explained how perilous they could be last night!

“Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts,” Gray’s deep timber questioned teasingly. 

“No!” Lucy denied quickly, shaking her head. “I’m just… worried about Natsu, you know, throwing up on me.”

Gray looked at her like he knew that wasn’t quite true, but was kind enough to let it pass, and even chuckled at her joke. “Just point him over the side of the ship.”

“Not funny!” Natsu moaned.

The pinkette was already draped miserably over the side of the boat, and they were still tied to the dock. Miyako was the last to step on board, but when she got settled in the cramped space, they launched from the dock. Natsu began heaving immediately and Lucy cringed. 

They sailed for a few hours in peaceful silence. But eventually, Happy ventured to ask, “Do you have any fish?” from where he was perched at the bow, peering at the deep water with hungry eyes. 

Bobo didn’t answer. His back was turned to them as he steered them through the open water. Night had fallen and the moon was a silver disk above the gentle waves. Lucy could spot many of her constellations twinkling down at her, and she took some comfort from their presence. Finally, Bobo said, “I was once a citizen of that island. I ran away from the curse.”

Miyako’s eyes lit up, and Lucy wasn’t shocked to see her journal and pen all but materialize in her hands. “In my research I couldn’t find many specifics about this curse. There are vague accounts of ships going missing, but there aren’t any corresponding reports,” she said.

“If you go to that island, misfortune will befall you,” Bobo said gravely. “Can you really undo the curse?”

Lucy felt a shiver run up her spine at his tone. On the water, it was cool, and the salty breeze licked at her neck uncomfortably. But Miyako sighed minutely, snapping her journal shut. “I have yet to see any substantial evidence that there is a curse,” she said challengingly. 

Bobo reached up and grabbed his cloak with his left hand. When he pulled it aside, Lucy gasped, and scrambled into Gray’s chest. He placed a calming hand on her arm, but Lucy felt the tension in his muscles. Bobo’s right arm wasn’t human. It was demonic , that was the only way she could think to describe it. Scaly and deep purple, ending in a claw instead of a hand. 

“The Demon curse,” he said. 

“Mister, your arm ,” Gray almost stammered.

Miyako already had a new pair of glasses perched on her nose and a furrow appeared in her brow. “ Fascinating ,” she murmured. 

“You- you don’t mean-” Lucy swallowed hard, finally tearing her gaze away from Bobo’s arm, but she remained unable to finish her terrible thought. 

Bobo pinned her with an intense stare. His eyes were dark as the churning water beneath them. She breathed a sigh of relief when he looked away. “You can see it now,” he said, pointing out to the water. “That’s Galuna Island.”

There was an inky smudge far off in the distance, but its peak was glowing brighter than a star, making it visible.  What was that? Lucy wondered. A lighthouse?  She turned back to ask Bobo if he knew, but faltered when the man was nowhere to be seen. “Where’d he go?!” she yelped, eyes frantically searching the water for any sign he’d fallen in.

“Did he go overboard?” Gray demanded, doing the same. 

“There was no splash,” Miyako said calmly. “If a man his size were to have fallen in we would have heard it.”

“He disappeared!” Happy cried out

Suddenly the boat lurched, and a roaring consumed Lucy’s ears. Before she even turned around, she knew what was happening.

“O-oi!” Gray exclaimed. 

Lucy looked over her shoulder and screamed. 

“We’re gonna be engulfed, hold on!” Gray shouted.

She reached for her keys, fingers instinctively brushing against Aquarius’s, but it was only Tuesday and she bit back a curse. Then, something heavy connected with the side of her head and she briefly knew pain before her vision was consumed by black. As she lost consciousness she vaguely heard Miyako’s voice shouting something, but before she could figure out what, she was gone. 

-O-

“Miyako, if you can control water, why didn’t you just stop the wave?”

Miyako scowled at the whining cat as she helped Gray pull Lucy and Natsu further to shore. The blonde was bleeding sluggishly from a shallow cut at her temple, likely made by debris from the ship breaking up. As she rummaged in her bag (thankfully spelled to be waterproof–she would not risk water damage to her precious journals) for her med kit, she said, “It’s July . Neptune’s powers are weakened in July. The best I could do was us not drowning. Don’t complain.”

Natsu made a weak sound of protest when Gray dropped him in the sand. “S-spinning,” he murmured in his state of half-consciousness. 

“We’re not spinning anymore!” Gray snapped. 

Miyako carefully cleaned Lucy’s injury, and affixed two butterfly bandages to help keep it closed. When she finished her work, she lay back on the sand and breathed out. This was not an auspicious start to the job. But, she was sure she’d learned another important piece of the puzzle from Bobo when she’d put on her mage glasses and examined his arm. Now, how did it fit into the larger picture? She couldn’t help but smile. 

“That face never means anything good,” Gray said jokingly. 

“Just thinking,” Miyako replied smoothly. 

The ice-make mage lay down next to her, and Happy curled up in the space between their bodies. It was late– early , she corrected herself when she realized the moon was no longer high in the sky and dusty pink light was spilling up over the horizon. Natsu’s body was in denial that they were on solid ground again, and Lucy was still unconscious. 

“We should rest here until morning,” Miyako murmured, her eyelids already growing heavy. It had been a long day of travel. The sand was soft, and Miyako’s butt was so sore from sitting on the hard, wooden bench on the boat for hours on end. 

Gray made an agreeing sound in the back of his throat. 

 “We arrived!”

Miyako jolted awake, yanked from an uneasy slumber by Natsu’s voice. She hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep, and she groaned when the late morning sunshine hit her still-closed eyelids, and her vision was washed in crimson. 

“Let’s go explorin’!”

“Aye, sir!”

She pushed herself into a sitting position, and carefully rubbed at her eyes, wary of all the sand that had stuck to her salty skin in her sleep. 

 “We’re here on a job, flamer!” Gray bit out waspishly.  

Finally, Miyako managed to pry her eyes open. The sky was the color of Happy’s fur, and said cat was flying tiny, victorious circles around Natsu’s head. Gray was pushing himself off the beach, dusting the sand off his pants and looking just as happy to be awake as she felt. Neither of them were early birds.

“We’re lucky that wave washed us ashore!” Lucy said.

Miyako automatically turned at the blonde’s voice, pleased to see her awake and alert, and looking no worse for wear. 

“That wasn’t luck–that was Miyako-chan,” Gray told her.

“Really?” Lucy queried, glancing at the fifteen-year-old curiously. 

The heavenly body mage was gathering her bag up, and shot Lucy a small smile. “We should probably start walking. We made it to Galuna, but the village is farther inland yet, and the chieftain is the one who made the job request.”

There was some grumbling about more travel, and complaints of hunger (some of their provisions had not survived their marooning), but the Fairy Tail mages eventually got walking. 

The island was covered in a dense, tropical forest, but luckily, there was a well-trodden, if not slightly overgrown, path for them to follow. It was humid, but the roof of the forest at least prevented most of the direct sunlight from beating down on their skin. Maybe after this job Miyako would have a tan and her jīchan would stop harassing her about being so pale. The bugs were probably the worst part of the experience–the constant, high-pitched buzzing was maddening . 

“Miyako-chan,” Lucy said when the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon again.

“Yes?”

The older blonde swatted another bug out of her face. “I just realized, I don’t know what your magic is,” she said. “Is it related to water? Gray said you helped us get to shore.”

“Not technically,” Miyako answered. “I’m a heavenly body mage. It’s magic that allows the caster to draw power from celestial bodies. Our magics are actually quite similar in that regard, Lucy. I use the planets, but I know of another heavenly body mage on the magic council who uses meteors and stars. Neptune helped get us safely to shore. However, its power is weakest in July, otherwise I would have been able to prevent us from getting shipwrecked completely.”

“Amazing!” Lucy said. “So, Jupiter?”

“Lightning and thunder,” she replied. “Not as powerful as my brother’s though.”

The celestial summoner was quiet for a long moment as she digested the information. “Neptune is the sea, Jupiter is thunder… So, Uranus would be the sky, and Saturn the earth… but what about Mars, Venus, and Mercury?” she listed off on her fingers.

Miyako glanced over her shoulder, smiling brightly. “Why am I not surprised you’re so familiar with classical mythology? I can draw on Mars for strength, Mercury for speed, and Venus, well , it’s called charmspeak, but I don’t use it.”

Lucy frowned, “What’s charmspeak?”

“It’s a form of hypnosis,” Miyako answered reluctantly, turning away. “It makes people very… suggestible .”

“Oh,” Lucy said. Then, more understanding, “ Oh .”

Gray chuckled lowly. He’d taken the lead, not by choice, but because he was the tallest he was the designated spider-web sweeper, clearing the path for Miyako and Lucy who shared a similar squeamishness for arachnids. “It was chaos when she learned that,” he told Lucy with a devious smirk. “She had no clue when she was using it for, like, three months. And she was ten .”

“A ten-year-old with the power to get whatever she wanted whenever she wanted with no control over it?” Lucy asked with dawning horror. 

“One time she told Natsu to shut up and he couldn’t speak for two whole days!” Happy chimed in. “They were a great two days.”

“Hey!” Natsu said loudly. 

Miyako was blushing. “It was a long time ago! I said I was sorry. Oh, look at that!”

Up ahead, there was a break in the trees, and in the distance were the walls, made up of thick logs sharpened to points, of a fortified village. It was a lucky spot. The sun had gone down during their conversation, and the clouds that had rolled in at some point during the day blocked what little light they would have been granted by the moon.

Natsu scented the wind with a twitching nose, and punched the air in his excitement. “Alright! Civilization, and they’re cooking! I’m starving , let’s go!” he shouted, before running up ahead, Happy flying close behind. 

However, as they got closer, it became apparent the natives were not waiting to welcome them with open arms. A huge sign on the front entrance declared ‘keep out’, and Natsu grumbled, “What do they mean ‘keep out’?”

“ Excuse me !” Lucy said loudly, hand cupped over her mouth. “Please open the gate!”

Barely a moment with no response went by and Natsu grinned devilishly and said, “Should we bust it down?”

“Absolutely not!” Miyako snapped. 

Luckily, a second later, a voice called back, “Who goes there!” and the five mages looked up to see two men with spears leaning over the edge of the parapet.

“We’re Fairy Tail mages!” Miyako replied, raising her voice. “Our guild should have called ahead to let you know we took the job.”

There was some indistinct murmuring before the second man shouted, “Show us your marks! All of you!”

They all complied, Miyako struggling for a moment to unbutton the collar of her blouse and shift the upper part of her dress to reveal the heather grey mark on her shoulder. Another moment of hushed whispering, and then, the gate began rumbling and lifting up from the ground. 

“It’s like we’re entering the mouth of a giant monster!” Happy said cheerfully.

“Please don’t say things like that,” Lucy hissed back. 

Miyako stepped forward. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

chapter four: when the moon hits your eye

When Makarov finally emerged from the mountain of paperwork which had overtaken his office after the magic council ‘arrested’ Erza, the first thing he did was approach Mira for a stiff drink. Time was immaterial, he’d been locked in that paperwork hell since the evening before trying to catch up. A little day drinking never hurt anyone. It certainly never hurt Cana.

The guild was quiet, and the diminutive master couldn’t quite put his finger on why, but he decided to enjoy it nonetheless. Mirajane was humming softly as she cleaned glasses at the bar, the pleasant sound carrying over the conversations happening all around the guild, and he sighed over the rim of his drink. 

“Is it a slow day?” he asked conversationally. 

Mirajane paused, and looked out at all the mages in the hall with sharp eyes. “No, I don’t think so, Master. Most of the usual crowd is here,” she said before she resumed her task.

“But it’s quiet,” he insisted. Far from being relaxing, the distinct lack of noise despite the fact that the hall was almost at max capacity was bothersome. Something was missing. Perhaps something was even wrong. 

His silver-haired barmaid laughed. “Natsu and Gray aren’t here,” she told him knowingly. “They went on that S-Class mission along with Lucy and Happy.”

Makarov tried to gasp and swallow at the same time and ended up choking on his beer. “They what? ” he demanded.

“Miyako-chan took them!” Mirajane said hastily. “I approved it. She didn’t tell you?”

She handed him a napkin and he began dabbing at his shirt. “Lead with that, Mirajane. I thought those brats actually stole an S-Class mission from the second floor!”

“Even Natsu doesn’t have the balls to break that rule,” Macao called over with a grin.

Makarov’s mustache twitched like he didn’t quite agree, and he set his beer back down on the bar. “Miyako-chan took them, you say?” He stroked his chin. “I thought she’d be with Laxus… they left together yesterday, did they not? When did this happen?”

“Freed stopped by shortly after they left and he picked up another S-Class mission for the raijinshū . He mentioned they were leaving that evening and wouldn’t be back for at least a month,” she said slowly. “Then Miyako-chan came back to the guild in the evening looking to take a job too. I got the impression something happened between her and Laxus.”

He made a disgruntled sound. “He just got back after being away for two months and couldn’t even spend an evening with his sister before running off again?”

Mirajane didn’t respond, but she did scowl at the counter as she wiped it down.

Makarov sighed heavily. That boy. He really was especially thick. Miyako wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he knew Laxus’s cavalier treatment of his little sister was really starting to get to her. She missed him even when he was right there, not that he had been even that lately. Makarov could only hope those two found some way to mend the growing rift between them. They’d been so close when they were little, the distance between them now was painful to witness.

“Natsu and Gray, huh?” he mumbled to no one. 

Miyako was the youngest member of the guild, and had been for her entire life. Making friends with the older kids had always been a challenge for her given her introverted nature, but he knew Natsu and Gray had managed to worm their way into her life more so than any of the others, except her older brother of course. Natsu through his relentless challenging of every mage in the guild, including a young Miyako, and Gray through his silent acceptance of her preference for quiet. 

If he was being honest, Makarov was very grateful to Gray for his patience, and could even muster up an appreciation for Natsu’s tenacity. Both their friendships had gone a long way in bringing his granddaughter out of her shell. But even so, it was brave of her to take the two of them on an S-Class job at the same time. Makarov took a long drink from his mug. “Good luck to her. She’ll need it.”

-O-

Miyako led the small band of Fairy Tail mages through the gates.  

The villagers were gathered before the entrance. All wore tan robes and headscarves that concealed their entire faces, unadorned, except the one that stepped forward and introduced himself as the chief of the village. His headscarf was decorated with moon phases in green, blue, and red, and he carried a staff with a smooth stone carved into the crescent moon.

“I am the chief of this village, Moka! But first, I have something to show you.”

The villagers removed their cloaks and Miyako was not shocked to see that their various body parts were demonic rather than human, just as Bobo’s had been. Some had legs that had been transformed, for others it was their arm, and quite a few had horns protruding from their foreheads or tops of their heads. The chief himself had a dark, purple claw instead of an arm. Miyako put on her mage glasses just as she’d done on the boat. All of them shuffled awkwardly under her scrutiny, eyes cast to the side, shame-faced.

“ Fascinating ,” Miyako murmured quietly. 

Like Bobo, the dark magic in their bodies was completely natural. She’d examined cursed mages before, and the foreign magic’s influence on the body was obvious, like an infection. You could see where healthy magic intersected with the curse magic and festered. But that was not the case here. It was most curious, and Miyako took her glasses off, brow furrowed in thought.  

“Like the man on the boat,” she heard Gray murmur. 

“Those sideburns are incredible!” Natsu choked out in shock, staring at Chief Moka with wonder-round eyes for all the wrong reasons. 

Moka waved his claw in the air. “No, no,” he said. “ This is what I wanted to show you. Every living thing on this island has been cursed like this. Dogs and birds, without exception.” 

“Not that I doubt you, but what basis do you have for calling this a curse?” Gray asked. “Have you considered that it might be an epidemic?” 

“We’ve consulted countless doctors, but they say there is no disease like this,” Moka explained. “And this appearance of ours is linked to the moon’s evil spell.”

“The moon’s spell?” Lucy queried. 

Moka looked up at the sky, though the moon was still hidden behind a veil of clouds. “This place has absorbed moonlight since ancient times and the island once sparkled beautifully like the moon. But some years ago, the light from the moon started changing to a purple color.”

“A purple moon?” Natsu repeated dubiously. 

But even as he said that, the drifting clouds shifted enough that moonlight began spilling through the haze, and sure enough, it was tinted a bright lavender.

“It’s the curse,” Moka hissed, eyes quivering. “This is the evil spell of the moon!”

The moonlight bathed the villagers in its light and suddenly, they all began clutching at their heads, their stomachs, shrieking and squalling. Miyako jolted from the sudden noise, and watched with wide eyes as the partial transformation spread throughout the rest of the villagers’ bodies. Their ears became pointed, their teeth sharpening to points. Noses flattened or became hooked like beaks, their skin developed colored scales or hardened like exoskeletons. 

And when it finished, for a moment the only sound was their heavy breathing. 

“I… apologize for startling you,” Moka managed laboriously. 

“What in the world is this?” Gray demanded lowly. “Miyako, have you ever heard of something like this before?”

Miyako opened her mouth to respond but before she could get a word out, Natsu was exclaiming, “How cool! Awesome! You got horns and spine and stuff! How can I get some?”

“Hey! It’s a real problem for them to look like this!” Lucy snapped. 

“Really?” Natsu asked incredulously. “My bad. I guess we better do something about it.”

Moka scratched the back of his head. “Getting back to the matter at hand. When the purple moon appears, we all change to these demonic forms. If this cannot be called a curse, then what is?” he said solemnly. “When the morning comes, everyone returns to their previous forms, however, some never change back again! Their very minds have been stolen from them. The ones who have been turned into demons, who have lost their minds… we have no choice but to kill them!” 

“But there might be a way to return them to normal!” Natsu argued. 

“If we leave them be, then everyone would be killed by that demon!” Moka insisted. “Even when we lock them up, they destroy the jail! So…” The chief’s eyes begin filling with silvery tears. From his cloak pocket he produced a photograph, clutching it carefully with his sharp claws. “I killed my own son. My son whose mind was turned into that of a demon!”

His hand trembled and the mages were just able to get a glimpse of the photograph. 

“That’s-! But just yesterday-!”

Gray tuts sharply, cutting Lucy’s rambling off. “I know why that guy disappeared,” he murmured. “He couldn’t rest in peace, could he?”

Miyako tilted her chin up, basking in the purple moonlight. No, Bobo had been living. Her glasses had at least confirmed that much. There was something else at work here. 

“Please save this island,” Moka entreated, choking on his words, head bowed. “If things stay like this, all of us will lose our minds and turn into demons!”

“We won’t let that happen!” Natsu declared heatedly. “We’ll do something about it, right, Miyako-chan?”

She glanced at Natsu, with a small smile tugging at her lips. He had always been so passionate. “Yes, of course,” she told Moka. “You have my word that we will get to the bottom of what’s happening on this island.”

“There is only one thing that would rid us of the curse,” Moka said. “The moon… please destroy the moon!”

-O-

“The moon keeps getting creepier the more you look at it.”

Lucy huffed and stopped rummaging in Natsu’s bag long enough to sharply tell the cat, “Happy, hurry and close the window. The chief explained, remember? If we get exposed to too much moonlight, we’ll turn into demons ourselves!”

They were staying in one of the villager huts for the night. It was actually quite cozy, decorated with bright colors, and they had provided four tatami mats for them to sleep on, but Lucy couldn’t help but shiver at the purple light spilling in through the windows. 

“Do they seriously expect us to destroy the moon?” Gray asked. 

He and Natsu were sprawled on a couple of chairs. The dragon slayer sat up at Gray’s question and wondered, “Who knows how many punches that’ll take!”

“You’re planning on destroying it?” Gray spluttered incredulously. “What are you thinking?”

Lucy stood from her task and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t think there’s a wizard that could actually do that,” she said. 

“But ‘destroy the moon’ is the request,” Natsu pointed out. “Right, Miyako-chan?”

They all turned toward the fifteen-year-old researcher. Miyako was sitting in the corner of the hut with her eyes closed and her hands resting on her legs like she was meditating. Like Lucy, she’d changed into her pajamas, a pair of plaid pants and an oversized bar t-shirt that said ‘serving up crazy’ that Lucy didn’t think actually belonged to her. 

“Their request is ‘save the island’. The chief’s proposed plan is destroying the moon, but that is not possible, nor will it solve the problem,” she said without opening her eyes. 

“See, baka ?” Gray said, leaning back in his seat victoriously. 

Natsu had the nerve to look disappointed. Lucy had no doubt he would have been more than happy to punch the moon given the opportunity. She could only thank the stars that Miyako was with them. 

“You don’t think the moon is causing the curse?” Lucy asked.

She’d kept a close eye on Miyako during Moka’s briefing, and had seen the flicker of doubt on the young mage’s features as the chief explained the situation. She’d shown the same incredulity to Bobo back on the boat. Lucy didn’t quite understand it though. There was very clearly something happening on this island. 

Miyako opened her eyes, and her gray irises were almost black in the low light of the room. “I don’t believe there is a curse at all,” she said. 

“How can you say that?” Gray asked, looking surprised. “You saw the villagers transform right in front of your eyes. We all did.” 

She hummed in agreement, but went on to say, “A curse requires malicious intent, which an inanimate object, such as the moon, is not capable of. Now, there are lunar based curses a mage could invoke; however, again, I have my doubts that that is what is happening here. When I used my mage glasses to examine the villagers, there was no sign of anything foreign in their magic.”

“But what about the moon being purple?” Lucy pointed out.

Here, Miyako smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was all glinting teeth and slightly manic eyes. “Now that is fascinating. I don’t know yet. We’ll have to begin investigating tomorrow. So we should all get a good night’s rest.”

A shirt smacked Lucy in the face, and she scowled and turned towards the offender. Gray was stripping down to his boxers and said, “Walking all day after that shipwreck… I’m beat.”

“All right! Tomorrow we go exploring!” Natsu said enthusiastically. He and Happy dove onto the far-left mat face first. “Now to bed!”

“Aye sir!”

Gray finished peeling off his socks and took the far-right mat. “We’ll think about it in the morning,” he said through a large yawn, eyes falling closed before his head even hit the pillow. 

“I’m tired too,” Lucy admitted, pulling back the blanket on the mat next to Natsu. 

She heard more than saw Miyako going around and blowing out the candles, leaving the room in cool darkness, before the heavenly body mage curled up on the mat between Gray and herself. Exhaustion radiated from the marrow of her bones, and Lucy felt herself drifting. However, just as she was on the edge of oblivion, a loud sound stirred her from the depths of slumber and she peeled her tired eyes open. As she blinked at the thatched ceiling, she became aware that the loud sound was Natsu snoring directly into her ear. Like all other activities, it seemed the pink-haired mage slept loudly too. Lucy groaned and used the pillow to cover her ears, though it did little to drown her companion’s beastly snoring out.

It was going to be a long night. 

-O-

Miyako woke up in a familiar position. She’d always preferred to sleep in the cold, and if she fell asleep while Gray was near (a situation that was not all together uncommon when she was a child, spending late nights at the guild waiting for jīchan to finish up paperwork), she’d inevitably wake up with her head pillowed on some part of Gray’s below average temperature body. This morning was not an exception. It seemed the sticky, tropical air had driven her straight into the ice-make mage’s arms at some point during the night.

She pushed herself into a seated position, blanket pooling at her waist, and rubbed at her eyes with her fists. Gray was still fast asleep, blanket kicked to the side, as he lay with one arm thrown out next to his head and the other at his side where she’d been curled up. The other two mats were abandoned, one neatly made up and the other a nest of pillows and blankets. That’s when she heard a soft murmur of voices coming from outside the hut, and she stood, intent on finding out where Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had gotten too. 

“Hey! Morning, Miyako-chan!” Lucy greeted her brightly when she stepped outside. 

The blonde was squatting by an open flame, tending to some eggs and bacon sizzling on a cast-iron pan. Happy sat next to her, happily munching on a particularly large raw fish, but Natsu was nowhere to be seen. 

“Natsu was getting restless so I sent him to play with some of the village kids,” Lucy said, interpreting her squinty-eyed gaze. She grinned and shook her head, “He wasn’t kidding when he said you and Gray weren’t morning people!” 

Miyako made an ambiguous sound and sat next to Happy. “Times’it?”

“Mm, about nine-thirty,” she answered, her fingers brushing over one of her silver keys, Horologium if Miyako were to make an educated guess. “I was going to wake the two of you up earlier, but Happy mentioned you guys didn’t get much sleep last night on account of you dragging Natsu and I out of the ocean.”

She hummed in agreement. Nine-thirty was a bit later of a start than she wanted, but it had been a long two days of travel, and she’d never liked morning anyway. The smell of crisp bacon was going a long way in perking her up though, and it wasn’t long until Lucy thrust a clay plate with a couple slices of bacon and an egg under her nose. 

“Thanks,” she managed,

Lucy waved her off. “I’m gonna wake Gray. Happy, why don’t you go find Natsu and let him know we’ll be ready to go in like thirty minutes?”

Happy agreed and took off. Lucy went inside the hut, and returned a moment later towing a half-asleep Gray, who she forced to sit down next to Miyako. Gray had a plate of breakfast forced into his hands as well. By this point, Miyako was feeling much more awake and excited for a day of exploration. 

Twenty minutes later, Miyako was ready and anxiously waiting for Natsu and Happy to return so they could leave. She was dressed appropriately for traipsing through a dense jungle, in a pair of cargo shorts, durable boots, and a moisture wicking t-shirt. With her bag slung over her shoulder and her favorite pen tucked behind her ear, she was ready to go. 

“Yo!” She glanced over her shoulder and saw Natsu waving his arm, Happy perched on his shoulder. “Let’s go!”

“Where are we going, exactly?” Gray asked in a sleep-rough voice. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, still not looking quite alive yet.  

Miyako extended her arm and pointed to the one mountain on the island that towered above the nearby trees. “When we were on the boat, before that wave engulfed us, I noticed an unnatural light on the peak of the island. There isn’t much known about Galuna Island, geographically or historically, so that seems like as good a starting point as any.”

“I noticed that too,” Lucy said. She was staring up at the mountain dubiously though, shielding her eyes with her hand. 

“Great!” Natsu exclaimed, and before anyone could stop him, he took off running towards the jungle, cackling madly. “S-Class! S-Class!” he chanted. 

“AYE!”

-O-

Even though Miyako seemed sure there wasn’t a curse on the island, Lucy still didn’t feel safe. The purple moon had long since set, but the second she got the chance, she pulled out Horologium’s key and summoned the clock spirit to take refuge in his cabinet. 

Miyako’s eyes had lit up when she summoned him, seemingly fascinated with her unconventional use of the clock. Natsu and Gray had raised their eyebrows, ribbing her lightly, but Lucy didn’t care. They were the ones outside with the bugs and the mud and the curses, while she was curled up all nice and cozy in a safe place. 

It was all going relatively smoothly. They’d stumbled upon an overgrown path leading to the base of the mountain, giving credence to Miyako’s theory that there was something worth finding at the peak. The boys were in high spirits, and Miyako had her head on a swivel, using her mage glasses to get another perspective of the island.

But then the ground started shaking like an earthquake. Lucy tensed up, but couldn’t look over her shoulder because Horologium’s glass didn’t extend to the back half. Still, the boys’ horrified expression gave Lucy the impression she didn’t want to know anyway. 

“What the heck!” Natsu yelped.

“It’s huge!” Gray said.

Horologium finally turned around and Lucy’s jaw dropped. Gray hadn’t been lying. There was a frankly massive green mouse looming over the trees. Its beady eyes fixed on the Fairy Tail mages, and it reared its head back like it was about to attack. 

“Ice Make Shield!”

Gray got the shield up in front of all of them preemptively, but it was useless against the green gas the mouse spewed out of its mouth. It was so noxious, Horologium returned to the spirit world almost immediately, leaving Lucy in a soupy, putrid haze. The sound of coughing echoed in her ears, both her own and her fellow mages’. Lucy’s eyes began watering from the wretched smell. It made her lungs positively burn. 

“I’ve got it!” she heard Miyako wheeze out. 

A moment later, the air began to clear, and Lucy got a look at what had happened. Miyako stood between them and the mouse, her hand glowing golden and extended to the sky, where the noxious green gas swirled above their heads, before it suddenly dispersed. 

The mouse didn’t look perturbed by its gas attack being nullified. It made a chittering sound, like the mouse equivalent of laughter, and got down on all four paws, ready to charge. Lucy yelped, already turning tail before Natsu even shouted, “Run away!”

Running was not easy. Even though the gas was gone, its effects still lingered. Lucy was left dizzy and fawn-legged, and she suspected her friends were no better. But still, they darted into the trees, hoping to lose the humongous beast in the jungle’s natural maze. 

“Gray!” Miyako shouted, apparently shaking off the gas’s effects. “Make it skate!”

Lucy didn’t get what she meant right away, but Gray apparently did. He turned and placed his hands on the earth. “Ice Make Floor!”

Slippy ice encased the jungle floor, starting at his hands and rapidly spreading out. The mouse didn’t stand a chance. The second its paws skittered on the ice it was sent sprawling, sliding on the frictionless surface until it crashed into the trees and was left in a dazed heap. 

“Do that from the start!” Natsu complained, voice slightly nasal because he was still pinching his nose closed. 

Gray turned to glare at him. “No complaining!” he snapped. 

“Look!”

Everyone turned at Miyako’s command. The mouse had chased them slightly off the beaten path, but there, between the thicket of trees, Lucy could just make out what was definitely a man-made structure. 

“It’s a step pyramid!” Miyako said excitedly. She’d apparently already forgotten about the mouse, and was pushing branches aside to get closer. 

The rest of them could only scramble to keep up with her.

The step-pyramid as Miyako had called it, was colossal. It looked ancient, but the exterior appeared to be in pretty good repair. A staircase led up to the entrance, which was decorated with red crescent moons that looked quite familiar. The interior wasn’t as nicely preserved. Huge piers lay on the floor in ruin, and Lucy hoped they weren’t too structurally important. Maybe they’d been decorative?

“What era is this thing from?” Gray wondered as they stepped inside. 

The wall opposite the entrance along the central axis was decorated with relief carvings of the phases of the moon.

“The moon, huh?” Natsu said, head tilting to the side. 

“The island originally was called ‘The Island of the Moon’,” Miyako said. Her hands hovered over the wall like she wanted to touch, but knew better. “The village is entrenched in moon symbolism as well. Long ago there was probably a lunar cult, and this was its place of worship, likely a site of many religious ceremonies. We’re on sacred ground.”

Lucy glanced around uncomfortably. “These ruins are suspicious.”

“They’re in horrible shape,” Natsu commented. He wandered into the center of the room and began bringing his heel down on the floor forcefully. “Is it even safe?” he wondered. 

“Hey! Stop-!”

Lucy never got to finish her reprimand. The next instant, Natsu’s foot broke through the floor and it lost its integrity faster than she could process. It was like one minute she was standing there, and the next her stomach was in her throat.

“Natsu, you idiot!” she heard Gray yell, his voice echoing in the chasm that had opened up beneath their feet and swallowed them

She closed her eyes and braced herself for a bone-shattering impact, and was shocked when she hit the floor and instead found it malleable enough to break their fall, almost clay-like in texture. Lucy peeked open an eye. “What-?” she started to say.

“Everyone okay?” Miyako asked breathlessly. 

“No thanks to Natsu!” Gray said vehemently. “Why can’t you think before destroying things, you idiot!”

It was then Lucy remembered that Miyako had some control over the earth, and had clearly exercised her power to give them a soft landing. She looked up at the hole Natsu had created. It was dizzyingly far away, just a speck of light against a dark backdrop. 

“Happy, can you fly everyone up there one at a time?” Lucy asked. 

The cat tilted his chin up and eyed the distance. “Sure,” he said agreeably, his wings already extending behind him.

“No, wait,” Miyako said, holding her hand out. 

The fifteen-year-old had her head cocked like she was listening to something. Then, she turned narrowed eyes to an off-shoot of the cave they’d landed in, pushing her mage glasses up her nose. “There’s something down here,” she murmured. “Gray, can’t you feel the cold draft? It’s powerful ice magic.”

Gray finally stopped glaring at Natsu long enough to take stock of their surroundings. Now that Miyako had mentioned it, it was very cold, even beyond what was to be expected of a subterranean cave. It sent a shiver down Lucy’s spine. The cool breeze did appear to be emanating from the tunnel Miyako had indicated.

“Yes! Let’s go exploring!” Natsu said enthusiastically before running off.

When they caught up to the dragon slayer, he was rigidly standing at the entrance to a cavern the tunnel let out to, breaths coming out in puffs in the cool air. Lucy followed his wide-eyed gaze and gasped. It was a monster . It was a monster encased in a block of ice as large as a glacier, and it stood in the center of the cavern, glittering purple and blue like stained glass in the stray light leaking in from the fractures in the ceiling. It was beautiful and horrible all at once. 

“Deliora!” Gray whispered tremulously. “You’re joking! Why is Deliora here!”

Lucy had never heard Gray like this before, sounding so fragile and terrified. The Ice Make Mage stepped forward on shaking legs like he was in a trance, hands clenched into fists.

“I can’t believe this. There’s no way it’d be in a place like this!”

“You know this thing?” Natsu asked.

Gray was frozen stiff, shaking as if he felt the cold from the ice. His pupils were pinpoints. “That’s- that’s,” he stuttered and finally broke off.

“Gray, calm down,” Lucy murmured worriedly, folding her fingers over his hands.

It looked painful, but he managed a few deep breaths. They rattled in his lungs, and he shook his head, still incapable of speech. 

“It’s a demon of Zeref,” Miyako’s voice cut in. Lucy glanced at her sharply. She was staring up at the demon with a crease in her brow. “The so-called Demon of Destruction, Deliora. It roamed the northern continent for years, destroying towns and massacring their populations. It was unstoppable.”

“It’s just like it was back then,” Gray whispered. 

“You heard people’s voices around here?”

A disembodied voice echoed down the tunnel, accompanied by a number of shadows lurching towards them on the wall. The Fairy Tail mages had just enough time to dive behind a few stalagmites when a couple of wizards entered the cavern. Lucy caught a glimpse of them before pressing her back to the stone to hide.

“It’s noon, I’m sleepy ,” a man with spiky blue hair complained. 

His companion, a shirtless man with long, shaggy hair and a pair of dog-like ears poking out of the top of his head, made a whining sound in the back of his throat.

“Toby, you got exposed to Moon Drip?” the first asked lightly. “You got ears and stuff.”

Lucy poked her head out from her hiding spot. They were both quickly approaching the frozen demon. Moon Drip , she wondered. Was that the curse? Could Miyako be wrong?

“No dude!” the man, Toby, exploded. “They’re, like, fashion!”

The blue-haired man rolled his eyes. “Just teasing, you dolt.”

“Yûka, you’re so mean!”

A third person joined Yûka and Toby. She had bright pink hair pulled into high pig-tails. “I bring sad news,” she said softly. 

“Oh, it’s you, Sherry.”

“Angelica has been bullied by someone!” the woman, Sherry, declared. 

“It’s a mouse, dude! Don’t go giving it no fancy names!” Toby shouted. 

Sherry scowled. “She is not a mouse! Angelica is a hunter that runs through the darkness… and ai !”

“They’re not from the island.”

Lucy jolted. Natsu was leaning over her shoulder, his nose twitching. 

“They smell different,” he explained in a low tone. 

“Intruders?” Yûka queried, and Lucy tuned back into their conversation. 

Sherry sighed. “And we haven’t collected all the moonlight we need yet! How vexing! Let’s exterminate the intruders before Reitei-sama hears of them. Yes, before the moon’s true form appears. We can’t let them survive if they’ve seen Deliora. We must put the intruders to sleep for eternity. In other words… ai!”

“You mean death?” Toby asked, sounding genuinely confused. 

There was a clattering sound that echoed down the tunnel, and all three mages turned towards it. They nodded in silent agreement, before chasing after the pebble Happy had thrown to lead them away. 

“Nice one!” Lucy praised, as she stood and stretched her legs. 

Happy grinned at her in response.

“What? Why don’t we catch ‘em and make ‘em answer questions?” Natsu complained. 

Miyako shook her head. “No, we don’t engage them until we have to. They don’t want their leader finding out about us yet, and neither do we. This job has gotten more complicated. Whatever is happening on this island is clearly tied up with a demon of Zeref, and whoever this Reitei-sama is. This is delicate, understood, Natsu?”

Natsu had the nerve to look offended. 

“Why did they bring Deliora here?” Gray asked, his eyes trained on the demon encased in ice. “And how did they find the place where it was sealed away?”

“The place where it was sealed?” Lucy asked, suddenly feeling wary. Gray was far too affected for this to not be personal, and based on what Miyako had said earlier, she almost didn’t want to know how Gray was familiar with the demon. 

Gray finally tore his eyes away and looked down. At the very least, those three wizards almost catching them had given him the time to cool down. “This thing was sealed in a glacier on the northern continent. An immortal demon that ran rampant ten years ago in the land of Isvan. The demon who Ur, the wizard who taught me magic, gave her life to seal away! I don’t know what connection it has to the curse of this island, but this thing shouldn’t be here. Whoever this Reitei person is, I ain’t gonna let him get away with throwing dirt on Ur’s name!”

Chapter Text

chapter five: the cold emperor 

Moon Drip…

The familiar phrase echoed in Miyako’s head, and she turned it over in her mind a few times, wondering where she’d heard it before, or, more likely, where she’d read it. She gazed up at Deliora, encased in his prison of ice, and then glanced quickly at Gray. 

The ice-make mage had chosen to sit far away from the rest of their group, knees drawn in towards his chest, head bowed so his dark hair curtained his face from their prying, pitying eyes. Natsu’s snores rattled around the cavernous space, but that was the only sound, aside from Happy and Lucy occasionally murmuring to one another as they waited for the hours to pass and for the moons to rise. 

Every so often, Gray’s shoulders would shake, and, about two hours into their vigil, Miyako determined she would not be remembering where she’d seen Moon Drip before, not when she could all but hear Gray’s teeth grinding from ten feet away. So, Miyako pushed herself off the ground, shaking her head once when Lucy glanced up and opened her mouth to ask where she was going, and moved to sit next to Gray.

Miyako didn’t say anything. Their relationship had not been built on words. She simply sat close enough that she could feel Gray’s magic running rampant beneath his skin, making the temperature drop even more than it already had. For his part, Gray did not acknowledge her beyond subtly turning his head away from her. She’d already seen the tears gathered on his lashes, but didn’t comment. 

This job had just gotten more complicated. She’d said it before, but it was only really sinking in now just how complicated it would be. 

Gray was emotionally compromised. Miyako realized that this meant her hold on him as team leader was tenuous at best. And if Gray didn’t submit to her authority, Natsu certainly wouldn’t either. If Gray went off half-cocked, Natsu would as well on principle, and with Natsu followed Happy. Lucy was an unknown; she’d only known the celestial spirit summoner for a month, after all. But by her calculations, she’d just lost control of at least three quarters of her team on an island that contained the frozen remains of one of Zeref’s most infamous demons. 

She closed her eyes and leaned back on her hands. 

How to turn this to her advantage, she wondered. Miyako did not often work on teams. There was Laxus when they were younger, obviously, but that had been an equal partnership for the most part. He was the brawn to her brain, and they’d never stepped on each other’s toes. Not until recently, at least. There was Mystogan, but those were research missions, never combat, which it seemed this job was rapidly careening towards like a derailed train.

Maybe she was going about it the wrong way. Maybe it wasn’t about control. Sure, this was an S-Class mission, and she was the S-Class mage, but Natsu and Gray were capable wizards, likely in the running for the S-Class trials this year themselves. She didn’t need to dictate their every move like they were wayward children. She needed to trust them as the talented mages they were.

Easier said than done. Trust did not come easy to Miyako. She brushed her fingers against her scar, lost in thought for a moment.

“That’s it!”

Miyako jolted and glanced over her shoulder. Lucy had whipped one of her silver keys off her belt and was standing now. “Gate of the Harp, I open thee! Lyra!” she called. 

A young, winged spirit burst forth from the light of Lucy’s summoning. “Hi! Long time no see, Lucy!” the beautiful spirit cried out cheerfully, waving her hand frantically in greeting.

“Hi, Lyra!” Lucy responded in kind. 

Lyra frowned suddenly. “Why don’t you call me more often?” she complained. “I want to be lots and lots more helpful to you! Lucy, you’re such a meanie!”

“A meanie?” Lucy repeated, caught somewhere between surprised and offended. “But I can only call you three times a month!”

“ Eh ?” the spirit said in shock, though she quickly shook it off and asked, “So, what kind of song would you like me to sing today?”

Miyako glanced down the tunnel as Happy, Lucy and Lyra debated the song. She weighed the likelihood that those three mages were still nearby, and considered telling Lucy to ask her spirit to return to her own realm, but ultimately decided if Natsu’s snoring did not alert anyone to their presence, a little music wouldn’t either. At the very least, it would boost morale, something they were in desperate need of. 

Lyra set her harp on the floor, and wrapped her arms around it in an intimate embrace. Lithe fingers began plucking at the strings, and a sweet melody was coaxed from the instrument. The second the notes hit her ear, Miyako realized they contained magic. A similar principle to the Lullaby, she mused as she soaked in the calming music. 

A choked off sound caught her attention, and Miyako opened her eyes. Those tears, which Gray had been so valiantly holding back to this point, spilled down his cheeks in glistening, twin trails. 

“Gray?” Lucy called over softly. 

“ What ?” Gray replied sharply, fighting past the tremor in his voice.

Miyako twisted around and shook her head at Happy and Lucy. The older blonde opened her mouth anyway, but Happy put a paw on her shoulder and she quieted. 

It was roughly an hour later when Lucy and Happy fell asleep, joining Natsu in the ranks of the comatose. Gray had long since dried his tears with quick, subtle swipes of the back of his hand on his cheeks. He looked paler than normal, not that Miyako could comment. The longer they sat there, the more words bubbled up on her tongue. She bit them back though. None of them could be strung together into a lucid sentence, and she didn’t want to bother Gray with her incoherent rambling.

Eventually, though, Gray tilted his head back, eyes trained on Deliora. “Why is it here, Miyako?” he asked quietly. 

He sounded so vulnerable, Miyako regretted her answer had to be, “I don’t know.”

“You know everything,” he said, tone half-accusing and half-joking. Still, when he turned to look at her, there was a level of sincerity in his eyes that caught her off guard. 

Was that what people thought of her? That she always had the answers? It couldn’t be further from the truth. Over her years of study, Miyako had come to appreciate the notion that the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.

“Do you want to go home?” she asked eventually.

The look Gray sent her could have curdled dairy. It softened after a moment. He knew she meant no harm. “No, I have to see this through,” he murmured. “I have to. I owe it to Ur… I-,” he broke off to scowl at the ground. 

Miyako opened her mouth, the words I understand ready to leap off the tip of her tongue. But she held back, knowing it would be a lie. She didn’t understand. She couldn’t. Gray’s childhood was still a mystery to her, and even if he could articulate it to her, the words would still be hollow. “I hear you,” she said instead. “What do you need from me?”

He glanced at her, surprise written in how round his eyes got. “I don’t know yet,” he said after a moment of silence. “I’ll let you know, though.”

That was all Miyako could ask for. Her jaw popped on a yawn in the next second, and she shook her head. The tedium of waiting was beginning to get to even her. 

“Get some shut eye,” Gray told her firmly. “We don’t know how tonight is going to go. You should get some rest while you can.”

Miyako raised her brow. “And what of you?” she queried. 

Gray’s eyes darted to Deliora, then back to her so quickly she almost missed it. There was an uneasiness in his whole demeanor, and she was surprised when he said candidly, “I couldn’t sleep with Deliora here, even if I wanted to. Besides, someone has to keep watch.”

She wasn’t happy about it, but Miyako nodded. She grabbed her bag, intending to use it to pillow her head, but with all the books she kept in it, it wasn’t particularly comfortable. Gray chuckled at her predicament, then kicked over his own bag, which contained mostly clothing and was far more suitable as a pillow. 

“Thanks,” she murmured. 

He shrugged, then turned back to his silent staring contest with his demons. Miyako pressed her cheek into his canvas bag, and noted how it smelled like its owner, like smoky coldness and cedar. Her eyes drifted shut…

-O-

The whole cavern rumbling in a localized earthquake woke her hours later. Dust and stone were shaken from the ceiling and rained down on Deliora and their heads. 

Natsu jackknifed awake. “It’s night?” he demanded, immediately alert.

“What’s that sound?” Lucy groaned in annoyance, pushing herself off the ground and rubbing her still-tired eyes. 

Miyako sat up cautiously and then gasped when a purple magic circle burst into existence over their heads. Familiar, purple light shone down directly on the ice encapsulating Deliora and the reflective surface scattered the light so it danced on their skin and the walls. 

“It’s landing on Deliora,” Gray observed nervously.  

“That ain’t a coincidence,” Natsu said. 

No, it couldn’t be. Miyako stared up at the magic circle, a pit forming in her stomach. There really was only one logical conclusion, and it was aligning with the fuzzy details of Moon Drip swimming in her mind that she was still fighting to remember fully. 

“Let’s go! We’ll search for where the light is coming from!” Gray called over his shoulder, as he was already running.

He must have scouted an exit while they all slept, because he darted straight up a set of stairs carved into the side of the cavern, leaving them no choice but to follow. The stairs let out in the ruins they’d fallen from that morning. There were another two magic circles, one on the floor and one on the ceiling, but it was clear the light was not originating from this room.

“It’s further above!” Natsu said. 

When they finally reached the top of the step pyramid., Miyako realized what the light she and Lucy had seen from the boat was. A ring of cloaked figures stood underneath a brilliant beam of purple light that reached all the way up into the sky, concentrated by stacked magic circles. They were all chanting, and Miyako hastily grabbed her journal to copy the incantation,

Kuupelar Kulrakar Zeram sem Deioluna .

“What is that?” Natsu demanded, and Miyako scowled when he grabbed her writing hand and dragged her behind a boulder, Happy, Lucy, and Gray following. 

“ Moon Drip ,” Miyako whispered. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. “I know what it is now. Dammit –it’s an ancient spell. It collects and concentrates the purifying effects of moonlight. Given enough moonlight, it’s capable of nullifying any spell!”

“You’re kidding me!” Gray said angrily. “Iced shell is ice that can’t be melted!”

Miyako stared into the depths of Gray’s cobalt eyes. They burned with anger and resentment, all of it, in that moment, directed at her. She swallowed. “It can with Moon Drip. They’re trying to resurrect Deliora.”

“Oh no,” Happy said waveringly. 

“They don’t know the horrors of Deliora!” Gray snapped at her

She didn’t take his tone to heart, and looked back out over the ring of figures. “It’s powerful magic,” she said neutrally. “But it isn’t a curse. What’s happening in the village is merely a side-effect of this ritual.”

“Damn them!” Natsu growled, his muscles tensing as if preparing to leap.

“ Wait !” Lucy hissed, her elbow flying out behind her and catching Natsu in the nose before he could do something stupid. “Someone’s coming!”

Someone new had joined the merry trio that had almost caught them earlier. He stood head and shoulders above Sherry, Yûka, and Toby, an intricate silver mask covering most of his face, and a cloak draped over his shoulders. 

Reitei.

“Damnit, I’m all sleepy after waking up at noon!” Yûka complained. “And we never did find the intruders.”

“If they even existed!” Toby screamed at his normal volume. 

Sherry sighed. Their quartet paused and looked out over the ritual. “It is saddening, Reitei-sama,” she murmured. Miyako could barely pick up her words. “There seemed to be intruders around noon, but we failed to catch them. I can’t express my love like this.”

“Intruders…” Reitei repeated. 

Beside her, Gray tensed, and she cast a cursory look in his direction. There was a pinched look on his face, and, perhaps instinctively, he grabbed hold of her arm.

“Has Deliora been revived yet?” he asked. 

“At this rate, either today or tomorrow,” Sherry estimated and Miyako cursed under her breath. That didn’t leave them much time to work. 

Reitei’s shoulders seemed to relax. “Finally,” he murmured. Then, more loudly, “As for the intruders, I will brook no interference.”

The more the man spoke, the harder Gray squeezed her arm. 

“Yes,” Sherry agreed. “The only other people here should be the villagers on the far side of the island.”

“Destroy the village.”

Natsu snarled. “ What? ” 

“But the people in the village have nothing to do with it!” Lucy said in shock. 

“I would rather avoid bloodshed, however…” Reitei drifted off and there was a twisted sort of smile on his lips. 

“Ouch! Gray !” Miyako hissed. He’d gripped her so hard he was going to leave a bruise, and his blunt nails dug into her skin.

He didn’t seem to hear her. “That voice… it couldn’t be…”

She was so distracted by the dawning horror on her Gray’s features, she didn’t notice the sudden increase in temperature in the air around her until it was too late and Natsu exploded, leaping out of their hiding spot spewing fire and shouting, “I can’t stand sneakin’ around anymore! Your interferers are right here!”

“Well, I guess we have to do this now, don’t we?” Lucy grumbled, her keys jangling as she prepared for a fight. 

The four enemy mages whipped around at Natsu’s declaration. “That mark…” Sherry said, eyeing Natsu’s shoulder. “They’re from Fairy Tail.”

“I see, so the people of the village requested a guild save them,” Yûka sighed. 

“What are you doing? Eliminate the village, now,” Reitei said dispassionately. When even his followers looked confused, he continued, “Anyone who interferes or plots against me is my enemy.”

Natsu howled and prepared to charge, but Gray was faster. “Why you!” he shouted, hands automatically flying back into his ice-make pose. “I’ll stop this crazy ritual of yours!”

Gray slammed his palms into the temple roof. Blue ice began erupting from the ground in spikes, rushing towards the masked mage at a high velocity, but it was met head on by Reitei’s own ice, tinted green, from where he had one hand pressed into the stone. The two ice spells collided and fractured into a flurry of snow.

“Lyon,” Gray snarled, recovering quickly. “You bastard, do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

Reitei, Lyon he’d been named, chuckled humorlessly. “How long has it been, Gray?” he asked casually. 

Miyako’s mind was racing, trying to factor this new development into a plan. This confrontation couldn’t happen, at least, not in a way that favored Gray with how he was right now, chest heaving from a mixture of emotions that were ready to explode in a spectacular fashion. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” Gray demanded. 

“I can’t believe you were the wizard the villagers called here,” Lyon said, sounding a little amused. “Did you come knowingly? Or is this just a coincidence? Well, no matter.”

“Reitei Lyon, you know him?” Yûka called uncertainly. 

Lyon did not acknowledge his question. “Go now,” he commanded firmly. “I can handle things here myself.”

“ Hai ,” the three mages intoned, scattering quickly.

“You think we’ll let you go so easily!?” Natsu demanded, starting to chase after them.

Gray tried to call out a warning, but it was too late. In a flash, Lyon extended his hand and ice began growing around Natsu’s body, crystallizing into a frozen prison. 

“Natsu!” Lucy cried out, drawing Lyon’s attention to her.

“Happy! Take care of Lucy!” Gray commanded.

Happy shouted an affirmation, wings flaring out behind him, and Miyako watched as he grabbed Lucy’s shirt and disappeared into the clouds. Lyon moved to intercept them, but Gray was quicker, and with a swift kick, redirected his attack harmlessly into the ground. 

“So, you bought enough time for the woman and cat to get away,” Lyon said. “No matter, Sherry and the rest should have no problems against them.”

“Don’t underestimate Fairy Tail!” Natsu said fiercely.

Gray glanced at Natsu, and sighed under his breath. With a single push, Natsu lost his balance in his icy orb and went rolling down the side of the temple, shrieking the whole way. Now it was just Lyon, Gray, and Miyako, and she glanced between the reunited ice mages, unsure of where to go from here.  

“Miya-chan,” Gray said in a carefully controlled voice. He wasn’t looking at her, his gaze trained on Lyon with frosty determination. “I need you to let me handle this.”

Miyako looked at him sharply. 

What do you need from me? She’d asked earlier. He’d found his answer. Part of her wanted to tell him no, what he wanted was not what he needed. He wasn’t ready yet, not for this fight. She could tell just by looking at him that the anger that was making his hands tremble would not be his friend in this confrontation. But then, she took a breath. 

Trust , she reminded herself. 

“Okay,” she agreed. “I trust you.”

And she turned and ran without looking back. 

-O-

It was cold where Gray’s cheek was pressed into stone. When was the last time he’d felt a cold so deep it bit into his skin and gnawed at his bones? He must have been a child. As his eyes drifted shut of their own accord, he could almost picture it. The mountains with their snow that never saw a thaw, fat flakes drifting down from an overcast sky. He remembered lying face down in the frozen fields, just like he was now, Ur standing over him…

“What’s the matter? That all you got? Wake up, Gray.”

The mountain dissolved in his mind’s eye, and Ur’s voice faded into something else. 

“Do you trust me?” he heard himself ask. 

And his mental picture came into focus. Oh, he was at Fairy Tail. It was the summer, and heat poured down from the blue sky. He was looking at Miyako, eight years old with her twin tails, cheeks ruddy from the sun. Even back then she was so pale she never colored beyond a burn. She was staring at him, warier than any child had the right to look.

“This won’t work unless you trust me, ” he cajoled.

His hand was still extended towards her. They were out back on the pond which he’d frozen into solid cerulean with his magic. She shifted on her skates, still adjusting to the slip and slide feel of ice beneath her feet. 

“Come on, Mi-chan.”

She’d snapped at him for calling her that. It was Laxus’ nickname for her, and no one else was allowed to use it. He’d laughed at her indignation, so out of place on that round face.

“How about… Miya-chan? ” he’d suggested, coming up with it on the spot. When she didn’t protest the name, he wiggled his fingers under her nose. “ Can’t stand here all day.”

And then she’d looked at him with those sharp, grey eyes and scrutinized his whole being. “ Okay ,” she finally murmured. “ I trust you .”

Chapter Text

chapter six: his darkness

Miyako was not ashamed to admit she got a bit lost on her way back to the village. It wasn’t her fault, it really wasn’t. She knew the village was on the leeward side of the island, which was south from the temple, but when she’d looked up to find the north star, she found she wasn’t able . This island was so far removed from civilization, light pollution hadn’t even crossed her mind as something to worry about, and yet, that’s precisely what was happening here. Or, at least, something similar. 

She stared up at the sky with a puckered brow. The purple light from the moon was beginning to give her a migraine, and now it was drowning out her stars. She wondered if Lucy was experiencing a similar sort of disorientation, or if the summoner wasn’t as sensitive to celestial bodies as her secondary magic made her.

A dull throb echoed behind her eyes, and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. This job was becoming a hassle. She lowered herself onto an upturned tree and took a moment to breathe. It was then that it occurred to her. 

This whole time she’d been making the mistake of thinking about the moon as if it had literally turned purple, but it hadn’t, of course it hadn’t. It only appeared purple, which meant there was something affecting the perception of the moon for anyone who viewed it from the island. 

“Fascinating,” she murmured, turning her eyes back to the sky with renewed vigor. She’d been so distracted by Deliora she’d forgotten what the actual request was.

Miyako stood and craned her head back, golden hair spilling down her shoulders. Something in the air , she mused, wondering how literal that could be in the case. She picked a heavy stone off the jungle floor and weighed it in her hand.

It would do.

She channeled the strength of Mars and the swiftness of Mercury into her arm, and called on Uranus for a boost from the wind, and then launched the stone as hard as she could towards the moon. It quickly became a dark speck against a purple backdrop, before disappearing all together. Miyako strained her ears. For a moment, nothing, and then she heard it.

Thunk.

Her rock had hit something, and it definitely hadn’t been the moon. Miyako smiled. A hassle it may be, but this job was also so very interesting. 

Now, if only she could find the village. At this point, her safest bet was climbing to a high spot and looking for the light of their fires.

Only, as she was climbing up a steep hill, Natsu did what Natsu did best: make noise .

An intense explosion had her whipping her head around, and there in the sky like a signal flair, a brilliant eruption of flame that could only be the work of Fairy Tail’s Salamander

-O-

 Lucy had thought summoning her surliest spirit to fight against Sherry had been a brilliant plan. And it had worked–for a minute. Aquarius, being Aquarius, had swept away not just Lucy, but Sherry as well, in a single, monstrous wave. Lucy had a lot of experience getting caught up in Aquarius’ attacks and shook off the dizziness quicker than Sherry was able to. So, on that front, it had been a success. 

The doll-attack mage’s rock doll crumbled as she collapsed on the beach when Lucy struck her in the solar plexus, a move she’s picked up from watching Erza. She breathed a sigh of relief, pushing her wet hair back from her face and wincing when she brushed against the cut she’d received before the job had even officially started. Her fingers came away tinged red and she winced. It had reopened. The celestial summoner sighed and sunk down onto her knees. 

“Angelica… avenge me…”

Lucy looked sharply in Sherry’s direction. Angelica? That giant mouse? Had it not been a doll? She turned in horror when she heard a familiar squeaking fill the air and her eyes widened when she saw Angelica descending from the sky. 

Move , Lucy told her body. I need to move!

But her exhausted muscles refused to respond. Summoning her two most powerful spirits in a row had drained her dry and left her defenseless and all Lucy could do was close her eyes and brace for the impact. 

“Happy!”

“ Aye !”

Lucy’s eyes popped open just in time to see Miyako swooping down like a savior angel, with Happy as her wings. The young mage’s fists were glowing red with power and she delivered a vicious upper-cut to the mouse. Angelica’s head snapped backwards, and the force of the blow threw her into a boulder where she landed like a ragdoll. 

“Miyako-chan!” Lucy shouted. Relief flooded her veins like a powerful muscle relaxant and she collapsed back onto the sand, laughing.

Who knew bookish Miyako had that in her?

“ Lushy, thank goodness !” Happy cried as he flew into her chest and cuddled up. “Guess what? I found Miyako-chan while I was looking for you!”

“Yes, I think she noticed that,” Miyako said as she came and kneeled next to them.

Lucy struggled into a sitting position, watching as the younger blonde began rummaging in her bag. “We were worried when you never showed up at the village,” she said sternly.

Miyako rubbed her neck. “I got a bit turned around,” she admitted, tilting her head back and looking up at the sky for a brief moment, before shaking her head and pulling out a med kit. “Couldn’t find the north star.”

“Oh? That’s easy. I’ll show you. The north star–-wait, what!?”

Lucy blinked up at the stars, or where the stars should have been, wondering if she’d hit her head harder than she’d thought. It was a perfectly clear night, and yet…

“It’s Moon Drip,” Miyako explained. “Like light pollution.”

It was rather disorienting for the celestial mage, to be so far removed from the lights of the city, and to still not be able to see her beloved stars. 

“Ouch!” she said sharply, jerking away from Miyako’s hands.

The young researcher made a tsking sound and grabbed Lucy’s chin firmly so she couldn’t flinch away from the alcohol-soaked gauze she was cleaning her cut with. Her movements were sure and practiced, but her hands shook slightly as she placed the butterfly bandages. She smoothed over them with her fingers and said softly, “There.”

“Thanks,” Lucy breathed out. “Miyako-chan… are you okay?”

Miyako’s brow creased as she packed up her kit. “Happy told me Gray was injured,” she murmured. “I knew he wasn’t in the right state of mind to- but, he asked, and I left him. I’m supposed to be the team leader, and I let him get hurt,” she finished miserably.

“Miyako-chan,” Lucy said softly. 

On instinct, she reached out and grabbed the younger blonde’s hand. Miyako looked up at her in surprise, and Lucy shot her a brilliant grin. “This is Gray we’re talking about,” she said easily. “He would have fought Lyon even if he had to do it with you clinging to his back and trying to throttle him from behind!”

Miyako giggled and covered her mouth, and Lucy realized she’d never heard the heavenly body mage laugh before. It was a nice sound. 

“Next time, Gray will kick that Lyon’s butt!” Happy said assuredly. “So, don’t be sad, okay, Miyako-chan?”

“Yeah,” Miyako agreed, giving the blue cat a small smile. She still looked a bit unsure, but Lucy thought seeing Gray with her own eyes might alleviate that a bit.

Suddenly, Miyako pushed herself off the beach and extended her hand toward Lucy. “Can you walk yet? We need to find Natsu and Gray and regroup.”

Her legs were still a bit wobbly, but Lucy managed to stand with Miyako’s assistance.

“Happy, can you get us a bird’s eye view?” Miyako asked. 

“Aye!”

-O-

Consciousness returned to Gray in stages that he had to fight tooth and nail for. It had been sound at first, the low murmuring of familiar voices pulling him from inky darkness. Touch was next; he was lying on something soft, a light weight on his chest and legs. That’s when the pain came too, dully radiating from every part of his body. The soft murmuring became words and Gray strained his ears to make sense of them.

“-should have been able to find this place,” he heard Miyako’s voice say. “If Gray doesn’t wake up in the next few minutes, I’m going to look for him.”

He tried to open his eyes, but when that failed, he made an unintelligible sound in the back of his throat to let her know he was awake. 

“Gray!” That was Lucy’s voice. He felt her grab his hand, and he squeezed as tight as he could manage. “He’s awake, Miyako-chan! Gray, can you open your eyes?”

It took him a few seconds, but he managed to flutter his lids open. His blurry vision was filled with yellow and he blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

“Lean back, Lucy,” Miyako’s calm voice came.

The yellow, Lucy’s hair he was now realizing, fled his vision. It hurt, but Gray managed to turn his head to the side and finally lay his eyes on Miyako. She was sitting cross legged on the floor next to him, reading glasses perched on her nose, her journal open on her lap. He swallowed hard at the familiar sight, guilt forming a lump in his throat. 

He half expected her to, well, not yell . Miyako wasn’t Erza , but he had been scared he’d find disappointment in her eyes. All Miyako did was give him a small smile though. There was something heavier wrinkling her forehead that he couldn’t quite identify, all he knew was that it wasn’t anger. Still, the lump didn’t disappear. 

“Miya-chan,” he rasped, throat dry.

“Here, Gray,” Lucy said.

And the celestial summoner was helping him into a sitting position, a hand on his back, the other holding a cup of water to his lips and the cool liquid felt glorious going down. He took careful sips, knowing better than to chug it all at once, even though that’s what he wanted to do, and he was able to clear his throat and try speaking again.

“Where’s Natsu?” he managed. 

“We don’t know,” Happy said, and for the first time, Gray noticed the blue cat curled up against Lucy’s stomach, his mouth trembling. “He wasn’t at the village ruins when we checked.”

Miyako sighed, letting her glasses hang around her neck again. “Natsu is a very capable mage. I’m not worried about him, but we need to regroup as a team… Gray, do you know what Lyon is planning to do with Deliora?”

Gray closed his eyes. Part of him still couldn’t believe how selfish and delusional Lyon was being. He shook his head and explained, “Lyon’s aim has always been to surpass Ur. Now with Ur gone, he wants to defeat Deliora, a foe she couldn’t kill, to surpass her.”

He heard Lucy inhale sharply. “It’s the only way to surpass someone who's dead.”

“No,” he rasped out, flinching despite himself. “He- Lyon doesn’t know. It’s true that Ur is no longer with us, but she's still alive!”

“What do you mean, Gray?” Happy asked uncertainly. 

He sighed. “The city I lived in was attacked by Deliora. It didn’t even take a day for it to be destroyed. I was saved by Ur and Lyon who just happened to pass by. And for me, that’s how it all started…”

They listened patiently to his story and when he was done, a heavy silence fell over the tent. “I see,” Miyako said eventually.

Gray hung his head. They knew now, they knew what he’d caused with his near-sighted pigheadedness. Lyon’s words from that day still lived in his head, and he was terrified to hear them from his nakama now. 

A hand appeared in his vision, and he looked up at its owner in shock. “Miya-chan,” he murmured hoarsely. 

“Stand up, Gray,” she said firmly, and he took her hand unthinkingly.

She still believed in him, he thought numbly. He hadn’t realized how important her opinion of his character was to him until he’d been certain it was ruined. And later, when she looked him in the eye and told him, “Go, Gray. Finish things with Lyon,” he knew he wasn’t going to let himself lose to that bastard a second time. 

He’d die first.

-O-

Miyako didn’t look like much, but she was a good fighter. The second she’d mastered control over Mars and Mercury, Laxus had trained her to utilize her enhanced speed and strength in combat. Still, even with those boons her magic had granted her, she was never going to win on brute strength alone. Laxus knew that, and so he’d helped her develop a style all her own that used one other aspect of her magic to give her an edge: diversity. 

Her mastery over the wind and sky didn’t put her in the same league as Erigor, just as any lightning she could summon via Jupiter couldn’t hold a candle to what Laxus could do. She was more of a jack of all trades, master of none, but she could bring all these elements together in a way that made her versatile and tricky to corner.  

She leapt above an enemy mage to dodge an attack, getting a boost from the wind, and sprung off the air like it was solid. Then she swung around and kicked the mage into a tree. She summoned the earth and it dragged him down, screaming, until only his head was above the dirt. 

“Miyako-chan!” Lucy called out.

Without looking, Miyako called down a bolt of lightning and it struck the three mages that had tried sneaking up on her. They ended up drooling and twitching on the ground and she frowned. 

“Lucy, have you noticed?” she queried.

The celestial summoner nodded sharply. Her unfurled whip had already tasted blood, but she’d yet to have to call on any of her spirits. “There may be a lot of them, but their magical power is weak,” Lucy commented. 

“They only have five real wizards amongst them,” Miyako agreed. 

“I just can’t get serious against these guys,” Happy piped up, and out of the corner of her eye, Miyako saw Lucy barely refrain from rolling her eyes fondly at the cat.

Miyako quickly glanced around. “Can you handle this?” she asked out of curiosity. Lucy was still new to the guild, and to combat missions like this likely, so she wanted to see what the summoner could really do given the opportunity. 

“Leave it to me!” Lucy said, already reaching for one of her keys. “Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee! Cancer! Make them all powerless to fight!” she directed when the spirit arrived swiftly.

“Okay- ebi !”

Needless to say, Miyako was incredibly impressed by how many mages Cancer was able to dispatch in a single attack. In a matter of seconds, the remaining wizards were lying motionless on the ground and completely bald. Cancer’s scissors had sliced through their thick hoods as well as any hair they might have had. 

The crab-like man sheathed his scissors once again, looking to Lucy for approval, which she readily gave. With the danger over, Miyako approached the spirit and held out her hand.

“Thank you for your assistance, Cancer,” she said. “Might I ask what it was you did?”

Cancer looked startled, but shook her hand after glancing in Lucy’s direction. “I can cause temporary paralysis by cutting off sensation at the spinal cord- ebi ,” he explained. 

“He doesn’t actually cut their spinal cords or anything!” Lucy jumped in to explain, looking nervous. “His magic just tricks the brain into thinking that’s what happened. It only lasts for thirty minutes.”

“Your scissors are capable of that?” Miyako said. “That’s amazing.”

“Thank you- ebi . Is that all you needed from me- ebi? ” Cancer asked, and then he disappeared in a shower of gold when Lucy nodded and gave her thanks.

Happy was shaking his head. “ Ebi ,” he murmured in a disapproving tone.

Lucy scowled in his direction. “Shut up, cat!”

Now that the fighting was over, Miyako took a moment to reorder her thoughts. They should probably go in search of Gray to make sure he didn’t need back up. They still didn’t know where Natsu was, and tonight was supposed to be the last night of the ritual. She opened her mouth to convey all of this, but never got the chance. 

A loud roar cut through the air and the three of them scrambled to cover their ears, exchanging wide-eyed looks of shock.

“My ears are ringing!” Happy cried. 

The sound almost registered on two completely different frequencies at once. A sound that was both so low it reverberated in her ribcage and shook her teeth, and so high-pitched that she felt like her whole body was going to shatter like glass.

“What the heck was that voice just now!” Lucy demanded when it subsided. “Was that even a voice?”

Miyako shook her head like a dog ridding itself of water, eyes automatically cutting towards the ruins, where it seemed the sound had originated from. A pit was growing in her stomach. “Could it have been Deliora? I don’t understand though, the ritual participants are all right here, paralyzed,” she murmured. 

“Look!” Happy said, pointing at the moon. “It’s Moon Drip!”

And sure enough, purple light was once again pouring down from the sky. Miyako cursed under her breath as another roar erupted from the ruins. The purple light continued to beam down and she realized, “It’s not too late. Even though Deliora is able to make noise, the ritual hasn’t stopped, which means it’s still incomplete! Happy, grab Lucy, we’re heading to the top!”

“Aye!”

Miyako summoned the winds once again. She wouldn’t call what she could do flying , not in the sense that Happy could fly. It was more like she was standing on air and manipulating its density, like a human hot air balloon. If she made the air beneath her less dense, she could rise through the air, and then call on the wind to give her some sense of control over the direction she was going. It wasn’t incredibly stable, and wind hated to be harnessed, so she couldn’t maintain her ‘flight’ for long periods of time, which is why she didn’t use it often. However, this was going to be a short trip.

When they reached the top of the pyramid, they found Toby, and only Toby, performing the ritual. Angrily, Miyako called out, “ Stop! ”

She didn’t like using her charmspeak, but if it meant stopping a ritual that intended to resurrect one of Zeref’s demons, she’d set aside that particular moral. Toby, against his will, immediately froze, and Lucy used her whip to knock him out of the ritual circle. The magic circles began shrinking, the purple light fading, and Miyako breathed out a sigh of relief. She released her hold on Toby, and he rolled over and snarled.

“Wow, he was doing it himself!” Happy said in surprise. 

“You’re too late!” Toby shouted. “The ceremony was over!”

Miyako didn’t want to believe him for a second, but then she felt it. The air began to grow heavy with concentrated magic- it almost stole her breath away- and then, suddenly, a beam of brilliant green light burst through the temple ceiling and shot into the air. It was accompanied by another roar, this one somehow louder than any of the others, and Miyako squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears against the onslaught. 

It died down after a minute, but fear still gripped Miyako’s heart with icy fingers. 

“Oh no,” Lucy whispered, and Miyako glanced back over at her companions.

The older blonde was visibly shaking, eyes blown wide. Happy had jumped into her arms and his face was buried in Lucy’s chest, but Miyako could see that his blue fur was standing on end. She took a deep breath, and did her best to compartmentalize her own panic. As calmly as she could, though she knew her voice still trembled despite her best efforts, she said, “We need to find the boys. Brace yourselves, this is the fastest way down.”

Lucy’s brow furrowed in confusion, but there was no time to explain. Miyako called on Saturn, the ground beneath them crumbled, and they were free-falling.

-O-

The cavern was flooded and Deliora was free. Lucy and Happy made oomph sounds when they landed in the softened earth just as they had before. The whole journey had taken seconds. But those things only registered in Miyako’s periphery.

What mattered more was how Gray was standing before Deliora with steely resolve, his arms held out and crossed in front of his body, an impressive amount of magic building in the air around him.

“Do you know how long it took me to melt that ice!” Lyon was shouting from where he was sprawled on the ground, struggling to even push himself up on his forearms. “You’re just repeating history! One day I’ll melt it and challenge it again!”

“This is the only way,” Gray said in a level voice. “Right now, this is the one thing I can do to stop it!”

It clicked in Miyako’s mind. “GRAY!” she shouted, just as Natsu stepped in front of him.

“I stopped you before cause I didn’t want to die,” Natsu said without looking back. “Maybe I didn’t get through to you? If you’re going to use that magic, then do it.”

Gray was stunned into silence. The magic around him began to wane, and Miyako took her chance, stepping forward hesitantly, and folding her fingers around Gray’s wrist. He jumped when she made contact, then turned to her with wide, desperate eyes. 

Before either of them could say anything, Deliora roared again. The colossal demon raised its fist, attention on Natsu, who stood challengingly before it, arms already ablaze with fire up to his elbows. 

“Dodge!” Gray cried out when Deliora swung. 

But Natsu didn’t; he met the attack head on. Miyako screamed when their fists collided, feeling helpless and scared for Natsu. She didn’t know what she thought was going to happen. Part of her had so much faith in Natsu that she expected him to win against all odds. The more realistic part was sure she was about to witness Salamander’s, no, her nakama’s death, and she could already feel tears gathering on her lashes as she shouted his name uselessly. But then, before her eyes, Deliora fractured, splintering like it was made of stone, and began crumbling. She was barely aware of it, but Gray and she were clinging to each other.

“That wasn’t me!” Natsu said, in just as much shock as the rest of them. 

“Deliora was already dead,” Gray croaked out.

Water began rushing from the cavern, the added weight of Delioria’s body forcing it out through various cracks. There was silence amongst the mages, and then, Lyon’s trembling voice rose above the water. “For ten years its life force has been sapped by Ur’s magic. All we saw was its last moments… I can’t compare! I can never surpass Ur!” he cried out, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“Your teacher was pretty cool!” Natsu said, a bright grin on his face.

For a moment, Gray didn’t move, didn’t say anything. It was only because Miyako was still wrapped around him that she felt the fine tremors run through his body. 

“Gray,” she murmured, and the tension snapped. 

She found herself supporting his full weight very suddenly. His nose was pressed into the juncture between her shoulders and neck, and his tears soaked into her shirt as he quietly muttered words she wasn’t sure she was meant to be privy to. “ Thank you, sensei .”

Gray was a good deal taller than Miyako, and he’d had to fold himself practically in half to become the little spoon in their embrace. Tentatively, she threaded her fingers into his hair as he trembled and sought refuge from the world in her arms. 

“It’s over,” she told him. “It’s over.”

Chapter Text

chapter seven: green tea and blue dragons

It was over.

Not just the job, though that was satisfying. When Miyako and Natsu had borrowed one of the villager’s spears and ‘destroyed’ the moon, his heart had nearly stopped. For a moment he’d really thought- Miyako’s grin had been demonic in all the ways the actual demons were not. 

Gray chuckled to himself and leaned back on his hands, head tilted toward the sun. It had felt like he’d spent the whole job stuck in an eternal night. He’d either been unconscious or underground for most of the daylight hours since reaching the village. It was nice to see the blue sky again. He inhaled the salty air, and for the first time since arriving at Fairy Tail, he felt the weight of Deliora and Lyon and Ur melt off his shoulders. 

Closure at last. Closure he hadn’t even known he’d needed. 

Their last night on the island had been spent having a celebratory banquet. Gray had danced with more girls than he could count, which had been… something . Honestly, he wasn’t much of a dancer, but he hadn’t been able to say no.

“Hey.”

He cracked his eyes open as Miyako sank into the sand next to him. They were on the beach waiting for Bobo to finish making preparations to bring them back to Hargeon.

“Hey yourself,” he replied, bumping shoulders with her. 

They sat in silence for a moment, looking out at the water. It was nice. Gray had thought he might feel weird around his friends now that they’d learned about his childhood, he thought he’d feel especially weird with Miyako given he’d broken down in her arms, but he didn’t. He felt strangely at peace.

“You were going to use iced shell,” Miyako said softly.

And Gray tensed, insides twisting into knots. He opened his mouth, and then closed it without saying anything, unable to find a way to defend his actions. A glance in her direction showed him Miyako was still watching the waves crash against the beach.

“As soon as we get back to the guild, Jīchan is going to ask me for a report on how you, Natsu, and Lucy did. For you and Natsu, my assessment will factor into his choice in the S-Class trials this year,” she said.

His hands clenched into fists in the sand and he swallowed, patiently waiting for her to continue. 

Miyako turned to him suddenly, and he was naked under the scrutiny of those sharp eyes. “If you can promise me you’ll forget about that spell, I’ll assume these were unusual circumstances, and I won’t mention your apparent proclivity for suicidal self-sacrifice to him.”

The air rushed out of his lungs. “I’d appreciate that,” he managed. 

She nodded, and turned back to the ocean, but her brow was still wrinkled. 

“I’m not suicidal,” he felt the need to say. “I just…”

“You weren’t thinking clearly. It was the first solution you thought of because the master you idolize had done it already and it had worked, so you didn’t bother looking for another option,” she finished for him.

“…yes.”

Her fingers closed around his and squeezed. “I get it. I’ll be honest; if Deliora had been resurrected in its entirety, I have no idea what we would have done, but you weren’t going to give us a chance to try, and that’s unacceptable.”

He bowed his head in shame. Miyako tutted. She reached out and pressed her pointer and middle fingers beneath his chin, forcing him to look up. 

“I understand that there are times when hard choices must be made. Ur understood that, and I have a deep respect for your teacher. But it is never the first option, only ever the very last.”

She withdrew her hand and he found himself nodding. 

“Gray! Miya-chan!” Natsu called and they both turned toward the sound of his voice. The dragon slayer was waving his arms and gesturing to the boat. Bobo, Lucy, and Happy were already onboard. 

Their time was up. Home awaited them. Gray glanced back at the island once more, and gave his silent thanks. When he stepped into the surf to board the boat, the water was surprisingly warm where it lapped at his ankles. 

-O-

“Deliora, you say? That’s troubling.”

Miyako sighed into her green tea. They’d arrived back at the guild over an hour ago and she’d only just finished giving her Jīchan a full report of what had happened. “Yes, very,” she agreed. 

It almost seemed like a joke. Not three weeks ago they’d had an encounter with another of Zeref’s demons. Miyako had even gone so far as to name Deliora as one of the reasons she planned to study Lullaby at the time. She’d not even got the chance to properly do so before they’d run into it. It was pure luck they’d gotten off the island unscathed, and Miyako was deeply unsettled by the lack of control she felt she’d had over the situation.

Some of this must have shown on her face, because her jīchan steepled his fingers beneath his nose and asked, “Are you okay, my child?”

“Yes,” she answered automatically, but under the weight of his unamused gaze she admitted, “I’m just finding myself haunted by the what ifs.”

Two of them in particular had taken up residence in the periphery of most of her thoughts. One being what they would have done if Deliora had been truly alive, and the other being Gray, and what could have happened if Natsu had not been there to stop him from throwing away his life. She’d hoped she’d gotten through to the ice mage during their talk on the beach, but she knew there wasn’t really any forgetting a spell like that. It was always going to be there in the back of his mind.

“You know there is no use getting hung up on those,” he told her.

Miyako looked at him sharply. “Isn’t there? Just because it didn’t happen this time, doesn’t mean it won’t happen ever. If I examine every eventuality and prepare a response to-”

“You imagine you’ll find yourself on an allegedly cursed island where a group of rogue mages will attempt to resurrect a demon of Zeref using an ancient, holy ritual again?” 

“Don’t be facetious. You know that’s not what I meant,” she grumbled.

Her jīchan held up his hands in surrender. “My point is you cannot possibly plan for everything. You will only drive yourself mad trying, or worse, you’ll find yourself so attached to your plans you won’t be able to let them go and make decisions in the moment when it’s called for.”

Miyako scowled at her tea. She’d suddenly lost her taste for it. He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. There was a balance between having a plan and being flexible and it continued to evade her. So, she changed the subject. “Natsu mentioned there was a suspicious man in Lyon’s ranks, one that used time arc magic.”

“That’s a lost magic,” he said idly, and his eyebrows shot up his wrinkled forehead in surprise. 

“Apparently, he’d only recently joined Lyon’s cause, and from Natsu’s description, even Lyon did not fully know who he was or where he came from. The others, they all had the same motive, and they all came forward in the end to offer their apologies to the village, but not Zalty,” she said.

Jīchan rubbed at his chin, suddenly looking tired. “You believe he might have had an ulterior motive for resurrecting the demon, and that it might have been malicious?”

“I’m not sure,” Miyako said haltingly. “He did restore the village of his own volition, but still… I don’t like it. I don’t like that Lullaby and Deliora happened in such quick succession.”

The older mage was quiet for a long moment. “Miyako, I’d like you to forget about it for now,” he told her seriously, and held up a hand before she could protest. “I’m not asking you to stop your research–I wouldn’t do that. I promise I will keep my ear to the ground, but, for now, why don’t you go join your teammates in celebrating a successfully completed S-Class job?”

If she listened for it, Miyako could hear Natsu and Happy giving a dramatic rendition of their quest to their guildmates. There was laughter and cheering. It was all so loud. She was tempted to finish her tea in her grandfather’s company, and then head down to her study.

“Alright,” she finally agreed.

And when she emerged from his office, Natsu noticed right away. His ember eyes flew up to where she was leaning against the second-floor railing and he grinned. “Miya-chan!” he called, and everyone looked up, welcoming smiles on their faces. He gestured for her to come down, and she did.

-O-

Magnolia was a bit further north than Lucy was accustomed to living, and the summers were far milder in comparison. When August rolled around and the temperature never crawled above twenty-six degrees, she was pleasantly surprised. Her fellow guildmates had been complaining about the heat since the month had turned, and had started taking any job that brought them north. To Lucy’s amusement, Gray was suddenly the most popular wizard in the guild. She could easily imagine Natsu receiving similar attention in the winter. 

But as it stood right then, Natsu was being very pouty because even Happy kept a foot of distance between them. To be fair, the cat had a fur coat and was more susceptible to the heat anyway, which is why Lucy guessed Gray didn’t complain when Happy took up residence on his person more often than not. 

That’s where Happy was now, curled up on Gray’s head like a shaggy cap. Lucy couldn’t help but smile at the sight from where she was sitting at the bar sipping on a strawberry smoothie. 

“S’not even that hot,” Natsu grumbled, his cheek pressed into the bar.

“It’s not,” Lucy agreed absently as she swirled her straw around, partly because it was the truth, partly because Natsu looked so pathetic.

He perked up at that. “Yeah?” he asked, and she nodded. For a moment he stared at her with an intensity usually reserved for battle. “You didn’t know that Hakobe still had blizzards, even in the summer.”

“I’m from further south, near Margaret Town,” she freely admitted. “The mountains near us don’t see weather like that, even in the winter.”

Natsu nodded like he’d expected as much and she really ought to give him more credit. Natsu wasn’t as oblivious as he came across. He went back to glaring at Gray from across the guild, so Lucy returned to what she’d been doing before he’d distracted her- planning her novel. 

The trouble was, while she had a fantastic idea for a set of characters, she had no conceivable plot. She was sure she wanted to write an adventure, but she had literally no inspiration for what the stakes of the story would be, and she hadn’t even formally settled on a genre! Fantasy? Something more grounded in reality? A mystery? A thriller? The possibilities were overwhelming, and she frowned at her smoothie. 

“You’ve got those funny looking wrinkles again,” came Natsu’s voice. 

Lucy jolted to attention and scowled at Natsu from the corner of her eye. “Well, yeah, I’m stuck for an idea for my, you know .” She didn’t want to say it out loud. 

“You mean your novel?” he asked tactlessly, and Lucy recanted on her earlier thought.

“Yes,” she said in a flat tone. “That. If you aren’t going to help, go back to obsessing over Gray.”

Natsu’s nose wrinkled at her phrasing, but he said, “Okay,” and stood up from his seat.

But then he didn’t leave. Instead, he held his hand out to her expectantly, and Lucy raised an eyebrow questioningly. “What are you doing?”

“Helping you! Come on, you aren’t going to get an idea all cooped up in the guild. Let’s go get some fresh air,” he said with a smile. 

She hesitated, but some fresh air didn’t sound like a bad idea, plus, her smoothie was mostly finished. Natsu, sensing her shift in mood, wiggled his fingers enticingly. 

“Alright,” she agreed, placing her hand in his.

Immediately, she was yanked to her feet and Natsu began dragging her towards the door. “Alright!” he cheered. “Happy, c’mon! We’re going fishing!”

Fishing wouldn’t be too horrible, right?

-O-

Lucy was wrong. Fishing had been a disaster. 

Natsu and Happy had gotten into a spat about the fish Natsu had caught and Happy had run off. But that wasn’t what was bothering Lucy as she walked back into the guild, a cold sweat trickling down her neck that had nothing to do with the weather. The malicious glean in Natsu’s eye when he’d told her shut up… she hadn’t seen the dragon slayer look so mean before. Hadn’t thought him capable, at least, not with her . Maybe with Gray.

It was really bothering her. Despite her complaining, which had really only been on principle, the afternoon had been nice, peaceful, even. The speed at which everything had soured was astonishing. There had only been seconds between a carefree smile and a furious scowl.

She wondered if it was something she said, or if she’d just caught the backlash of his fight with Happy. 

“Oh!”

Lucy hadn’t been paying attention to where she’d been wandering, but when she looked up, she found she was in a library. There were a couple of tables in the middle and the shelves went all the way to the ceilings. It was quiet, quieter than she’d ever witnessed in Fairy Tail, but that was probably because there were only two people in the spacious room.

Mirajane was on perched high up on a ladder, carefully perusing the spines of the books, and Miyako across the room, squatting to be eye-level with the lowest shelf.

“Mira-san! Miyako-chan! What are you doing?” Lucy called.

The silver-haired beauty looked over her shoulder with a pleasant smile. “We’re sorting some old materials,” she replied, and Miyako hummed distractedly in agreement. 

“I’ll help too!” Lucy volunteered. 

“We’d be happy to have your help!”

Mirajane filled Lucy in on what they were doing, and she quickly got stuck in. Lucy was a pro at the Dewey Decimal system. She’d spend long hours in the library back home avoiding her father, and assisting Ribbon in doing exactly this type of labor. 

As they worked, Lucy explained what had happened at the river with Natsu and Happy. Mirajane’s hands and eyes remained busy, but she listened astutely to her tale, and made all the appropriate sounds and facial expressions in time with her words. 

“So, don’t you think Natsu was being a jerk?” she asked when she was done. 

Mirajane laughed softly. “But that’s what makes him cute!”

Lucy frowned and glanced down at Mirajane, who by then was sorting books on the table as Lucy retrieved books from the shelves. She was quite high up. 

“You also like Natsu’s childlike side, right Lucy?” Mirajane asked coyly. 

And her foot slipped. Lucy flailed her arms trying to catch herself as the ladder teetered backward dangerously, but only succeeded in knocking a whole shelf of books to the floor, which did nothing to cushion her fall. 

At the loud clatter, Mirajane and Miyako both rushed over, but Lucy’s laughter at her own misfortune eased the mild panic in their expressions. 

“Are you okay?” Mirajane asked. 

“Sorry!” she replied, rubbing the back of her neck. “I just- oh? What’s this drawing?”

One of the books she’d knocked over was splayed open on the floor, the corner of a picture peeking at her enticingly, and Lucy pulled it the rest of the way out. 

“How nostalgic!”  Mirajane said. 

It depicted a group of children in the guild hall, and Lucy’s eyes roved around the increasingly familiar faces. “Is this everyone when they were kids?” she asked in amazement. 

“That’s right!”

With the confirmation, Lucy began putting names to faces. A little boy standing tall with his hands on his hips, shaggy black hair falling into his eyes, wearing nothing but a pair of blue boxers. “So, this is Gray,” she identified, turning her attention to the girl next to him. She had dark hair pulled back in a pony and bright purple eyes. “And next to him is Cana,” Lucy realized. 

Behind them was Macao and Wakaba looking young . On the left side, a grinning boy with spiky, pink hair. Natsu, obviously. In the drawing, little Natsu was clinging to a small, blue dragon, much to her confusion. 

“It’s Happy!” Mirajane told her brightly. 

Lucy almost choked on her own spit, but quickly moved on. The girl with the bright red hair tucked neatly into a braid and dressed in a gleaming chest plate was Erza. She looked just as authoritative as a child as she did now, Lucy thought. Behind Erza was an older boy. Lucy had only seen Laxus the once, but she easily recognized him. He had the same bright yellow hair, scar, and even the same sound pods. And, on his shoulders-

“Miyako-chan!” Lucy squealed. “That’s you, right?”

But, what other flaxen-haired little girl with round-framed glasses would be receiving a piggy-back from the taciturn looking teen? 

The Miyako of now was looking at the photograph with a sad smile. “Yes. I was seven, I believe,” she said, an odd note to her voice. 

“Seven?” Lucy repeated. Then, this picture was drawn eight whole years ago. “You haven’t changed at all!” 

Miyako wrinkled her nose, looking mildly offended. “Perhaps, but Mirajane has,” she said, and then pointed to another girl in the photo. 

Lucy gawked at who she’d indicated. This girl had Mirajane’s silver hair and cerulean eyes, but she was dressed in a cropped tank-top, booty shorts, and thigh high boots. She was smiling, but there was a challenging tilt to her eyebrows. “ That’s Mira-san !?”

The woman in question laughed, and shrugged off Lucy’s astonishment. 

There were a couple of more people Lucy knew. Eight years apparently didn’t shave any age of the Master’s face, so he was easy. Then, she picked out the familiar silver-hair of the Strauss siblings and correctly identified a smaller, meeker looking Elfman. Lucy’s eyes lingered on the last person in the picture. A girl with Mirajane’s hair and eyes, but younger. Was there a third Strauss she had not met?

She glanced quickly at Mirajane, who had the same, melancholy smile as Miyako as she stared at the mystery girl. Lucy swallowed down her question, and asked instead, “How did Natsu and Happy meet?”

Mirajane perked up and began telling her the story. During it, Miyako wandered off to continue sorting through the books, but Lucy listened with rapt attention. 

When she’d finally finished, Lucy said, fondly, “I see! What a nice story, though! But now, those two…”

“The worse they fight, the closer they are, you know?” Mirajane assured her. 

“ Oi ! Mira!” They glanced up and saw the Master perched on the railing. “Help me out over here!”

“Coming!” Mirajane called, and hurried over. 

Lucy turned back to the picture, her lips quirked up. Everyone had been so small and cute! She couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up at the guild, and the idle musing made her heart ache sharply. It was a weird feeling… like she was homesick for the place she was currently at. 

Her gaze lingered on the unidentified girl. The only name she hadn’t recognized in Mirajane’s story was Lisanna, so this must be her. Lucy traced her face with her finger curiously, but ultimately her eyes were drawn back to Natsu and Happy at the center of the drawing

“I wonder if they made up?”

“You mean Happy and Natsu?”

Lucy jumped and clutched at her chest. “Miyako-chan!” she gasped. “I forgot you were still here!”

Miyako’s head tilted to the side and she smiled. “Yeah, I get that a lot,” she said. “Natsu and Happy will be fine. They always are.”

“Yeah?”

The younger blonde nodded resolutely. 

Lucy stared at the photo for a moment longer. Suddenly, she was filled with the need to see Natsu, her Natsu, the Natsu of now, all grown up on the outside, but with the same canine-bearing grin as the kid in the photo. “I think I’m going to go check on them… just in case,” she decided, standing up. 

Miyako made a sound of acknowledgement, and Lucy turned to race up the stairs, but paused at the bottom step. “Do you want to come?” she asked. 

The heavenly body mage looked up in surprise. Her eyes darted around Lucy’s face for a moment before she found what she was looking for. “Alright,” she said.

Chapter Text

chapter eight: the phantom and the fairy

“Is that a job?”

The flier in question disappeared from Lucy’s hands before she could even get to the bottom of the job description. She huffed in annoyance, but knew any attempt in getting it back was futile. Instead, she drummed her fingers impatiently against the bar and waited for Natsu to decide it was of little interest to him. It was a simple request; no monsters for Natsu to fight, no demons of Zeref, or dark guilds, just a regular, old, boring-

“This’ll be a cinch!” the dragon-slayer declared, pressing the flier back into her hands. “And it’s within walking distance! Hear that, Happy? No trains!”

“Aye!”

Lucy opened her mouth around an objection, but Natsu’s sudden increase in energy had attracted Gray. “Is that a job?” he leaned over her shoulder for a quick scan. “OI! Erza! We’re going on a job!”

“Very well. I’ll return home at once to begin packing. When do we depart?”

“Wait!” Lucy suddenly shouted, and all four of her teammates paused in their preparations to look over at her in confusion. “Five wizards is-”

“Five?” Natsu held up his fingers in puzzlement like he was counting. “Wait, where’s Miya-chan? She’s part of Team Natsu too! Miya-chan!” he bellowed, cupping his hands over his mouth and surveying the guild hall.

“Miya-chan left this morning,” Mira called over. “She took a lacrima call and ran out without even saying goodbye to Master.”

Gray hummed in understanding. “Must have been Mystogan. She never leaves like that unless he’s involved.”

This Mystogan character again? The more Lucy learned about him the more suspicious she became of him. Still, neither Gray, Erza, or Mira seemed worried that Miyako had departed so abruptly. Natsu pouted. “Team job minus Mi-chan,” he amended.

“You’re lucky she isn’t here to hear you call her that,” Gray said, rolling his eyes.

They agreed to meet at Lucy’s house in twenty minutes to depart and Lucy waved goodbye to her teammates as they parted ways just outside the guildhall. She had no idea as she cast one last look over her shoulder, that would be the last time she saw the guild intact. 

-O-

Miyako stepped off the train into Komu station. Komu was a rural town on the fringes of Crocus that was so small there was barely even a need for the one train platform, which was only about forty-five feet long with no cover or signage. The ticket booth was the largest structure for miles and though it was very modest compared to anything one might find in Magnolia, it was surrounded by vast fields of wheat on either side and stuck out anyway. 

The only person at the station besides Miyako was Mystogan. Her guildmate was waiting for her at the edge of the platform, customary hat, head scarf, and high collar obstructing all but the tiniest peek of his distinct blue hair from the rest of the world. Behind her, the train door slid shut and the train itself began trundling back down the track, carrying its empty cars back to civilization. 

“You got here quickly,” Mystogan said gratefully. “I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything too important.”

Truth was, Miykao had been locked in her research lab for the last three days making very little progress in her attempts to understand Lullaby’s magic. The fresh air of the countryside was more than welcome. “You know that Anima takes precedence over any of my other research,” she replied easily. “How much time do we have?”

Mystogan closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. “I estimate about an hour before Anima touches down.”

Miyako nodded, pleased with the answer. Sometimes Anima touched down in such a distant location, or with such little warning, she and Mystogan only had minutes to do their work. An hour was a lifetime. “Okay, lead the way.”

The trek to Anima’s exact location was about fifteen minutes on foot. As they walked, they traded stories of their most recent jobs. Mystogan listened intently as Miykao described the events that occurred on Galuna island and her current work with Lullaby. 

“ Jīchan asked me to not investigate,” Miyako admitted, “And I’ll respect his wishes and not pursue anything outside of Lullaby, but…”

“But you’re Miyako Dreyar and you can’t stand an unsolved puzzle?” Mystogan filled in for her, offering her a teasing sort of smile. He’d long since removed his headscarf and hat, and Miyako’s heart fluttered, pleased, as she always was, that he was comfortable enough around her to be so open.

There was something potent about being the only person who knew who Mystogan was really . Jīchan and Laxus knew Mystogan’s face, but they didn’t know him. That information was Miyko’s entirely and she felt a little possessive of it. In turn, she’d told Mystogan things about herself she’d never told anyone else, not even her brother. Being with him made her blood sing. It wasn’t just their work with Anima that had Miyako dropping anything and everything to meet Mystogan whenever he called. 

“They’re called puzzles for a reason,” Miyako reasoned. “Have you ever heard of anyone called Zalty ? You always have your ear to the ground about unusual things. He’s the wizard who used time arc magic on Galuna.”

Mystogan was quiet for a thoughtful moment. He tilted his chin back as he racked his head, and Miyako could not help but admire the sharp line of his jaw. “I don’t think so,” he finally answered. “I have a contact who specializes in tracking down wizards with unusual magic types though. I can put some feelers out.”

Miyako hesitated. She’d promised jīchan she’d forget about Zeref for now, but… “Thanks, Mystogan,” she said. “I just have a bad feeling.” 

“Trust me, I understand,” he assured her, before coming to a stop. “I think here is good. We should begin setting up.”

With about forty more minutes until Anima, Mystogan and Miyako fell into a familiar rhythm. Miyako slid her bag off her shoulders and pulled out her specialized lacrima. The lacrima took a number of readings from the air around them–magic levels, temperature, pressure, ect–which Miyko then threw into an equation she’d cooked up years ago when Mystogan and her had first started out. 

“Check my math?” she requested, holding her notebook out. 

“Well, you didn’t forget to carry any ones,” he said a minute later.  He shook his head as he began sorting his staves. “Though I still don’t understand how this equation works. You’re really smart, Miyko. I’m lucky to have you.”

Heat flared in her cheeks, and Miyako had to duck her head so Mystogan wouldn’t see. “Anima’s epicenter will be at 117 degrees 7 minutes south and 43 degrees and 35 minutes east,” she said.

“Lacrima?”

She tossed it to him so he could use its global positioning function to place his stave at the exact coordinates she’d given him. As he headed off further into the field, Miyko busied herself with filling in her notes and willing her face to cool down. It took Mystogan only ten minutes to position his staves according to Miyko’s calculations, and by then, Miyko’s heart had stopped attempting to flush all the blood in her body towards her cheeks.

When he returned to her side, Miyako slipped on her mage glasses and said, “Ready?”

Mystogan sucked in a deep breath. “Ready.”

The air thickened with magic as Mystogan began drawing it in from the world around them and concentrating it through his staves. His skin shimmered with light, and Miyko’s breath was taken away by how beautiful he looked, glowing gold like a god. She’d seen him do this more than a dozen times, but she was never not blown away by his control and power. 

Above them, the sky cracked open, right on time, quickly becoming a swirling, black vortex. Before Anima could take hold, Mystogan slammed his final stave into the ground. The radial staves lit up like fireworks, brilliant blue light arcing through them all before connecting with the central stave and beaming up directly into the eye of Anima’s storm. 

Mystogan’s magic quickly wrestled Anima into a stranglehold, resulting in a brilliant light show, and from there it was all over. The sky began to clear, the magic in the air settling. He’d made it look easy, but Miyko knew that feat had been anything but.

“Amazing,” she breathed out. 

Mystogan laughed tiredly. “We are,” he agreed. 

Before Miyako could embarrass herself by attempting to respond to that frank and honest statement, her personal communication lacrima lit up. She fumbled it out of her bag and answered with a slightly flustered, “Hello?”

Mirajane’s somber face appeared in the lacrima and Miyako tensed automatically. “Miya-chan… it’s Master.”

“What happened?” Miyako asked instantly. Next to her, but out of sight of the lacrima, Mystogan's eyes widened.

They listened intently as Mirajane explained everything that had happened in their absence. How the guildhall had been wrecked in the night, how Team Shadowgear had been hospitalized, how jīchan had decided to lead a full frontal assault on Phantom Lord and how quickly everything had fallen apart.

When Mirajane had finally exhausted her words, Miyako swallowed hard and said, “I see… and where’s Laxus?”

“He’s not answering my calls,” Mirajane admitted. “Cana is looking for Mystogan but-”

“She can stop,” Miyako quickly cut in. “I’m with Mystogan right now. We’re on our way. And don’t bother with Laxus, I’ll call him.”

“Thank you, Miya-chan,” Mirajane said, exhaustion evident in every line of her face. “Stay safe, we’ll see you soon.”

The call ended and Miyako clenched the lacrima so tightly in her fist it cracked under the sheer force of her anger. Mystogan’s hands flew to cover hers, prying her fingers loose as he murmured, “It’ll be okay, Miyako.”

She nodded her head jerkily. “I know,” she said automatically, though she didn’t believe it yet herself. She’d believe it when she had a plan. Her mind was already swimming with possibilities and she didn’t like how the numbers were adding up. “Phantom Lord has subdivisions all over eastern Fiore and Jose can call on any of them for reinforcements. Fairy Tail was always the smaller guild and some of us are still scattered in the wind.”

“Leave the subdivisions to me,” Mystogan said. “Phantom Lord might have numbers but they have no big players outside of the representative guild in Oak Town.”

Miyako closed her eyes, shifting numbers and factors around in her head like an abacus. “Okay, we split up. Phantom Lord’s closest outpost is east of Crocus. you head there. I’m going straight to Oak Town to gather jīchan’s magic. We’ll need him if we want a snowball’s chance of defeating Jose.”

“Understood,” Mystogan said. He placed his hand on Miyko’s shoulder, and her eyes popped open. “It’ll be okay,” he repeated, more firmly, and Miyako was bare before him.

“I know,” she said, this time with the confidence she’d been lacking. He smiled, and Miyako returned the gesture automatically. “Go collect your staves. I’m going to call Laxus.”

He let go of her shoulder, and Miyako felt his absence keenly. She waited until he was a suitable distance away, before sucking in a shaky breath and calling her brother. Disappointment lanced through her when he didn’t pick up and she grit her teeth, trying Freed’s lacrima instead.

“Miyako-san?” Freed answered, and Miyako’s cheek twitched when she saw that Freed was currently in what appeared to be a hotel room.

“I need to speak with my brother,” she said shortly. “Is he there?”

“Of course.”

The anger that coursed through Miyako’s veins when her brother appeared in the lacrima was hot and all-consuming. It flushed through her body and lit every nerve-ending on fire until she was boiling from the inside out. She couldn’t imagine what reason he had to ignore all of Mirajane’s and her own calls when he was doing nothing but lazing around a hotel and likely drinking during his downtime. 

“What is it?” Laxus demanded. He had the audacity to appear annoyed, as if she was one of his silly little flings that was acting too clingy and not his flesh and blood sister. 

“Why weren’t you answering your lacrima? Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail. Jīchan and lots of other people are hurt. We need your help, Laxus,” she said.

Laxus raised a lazy eyebrow. “Serves him right. If the old man decided to pick a fight-”

“He didn’t pick a fight ,” Miyako snapped, feeling tears prick at her eyes. “Phantom Lord instigated. They attacked Team Shadowgear and are after Lucy. Jīchan is gravely wounded. Laxus, I’m really worried, please, won’t you come home?”

“It takes two to fight,” Laxus said cruelly. She was certain he’d been drinking now. His tongue was only this sharp when he had a couple fingers of whiskey in him. “I’m not getting my hands dirty in an interguild brawl just to bail the old codger out. If he steps down as Master then I’ll consider cleaning up his mess. But until then, it’s not my problem.”

Miyako stared at the man on the other end of the lacrima. This wasn’t her brother. His grey eyes were that of a stranger’s. No , they were worse. She was looking into the eyes of her father. Her scar ached with the phantom pain of what he’d done to her, and in an instant, Miyako’s anger froze over. “Laxus,” she said, and her voice sounded far away to her own ears. “If you don’t come home, I will never forgive you.”

The eerie calm of her voice and the finality of her statement threw him off balance for a second, but only for a second. His surprised expression quickly morphed into a sneer. “If the old man makes it, tell him to hurry up and retire so-”

He never got to finish his sentence. The lacrima shattered in Miyako’s hand and she continued to clench her fist around the shards of crystal now embedded in her palm. Rivulets of warm blood dripped down her wrist towards her elbow, but Miyako didn’t feel the pain. 

“Miyako!” 

Mystogan’s worried voice filtered in past the ringing in her ears and Miyako flexed her hand, finally releasing the bloody fragments. “I’m okay,” she said hollowly. “Let’s go.”

-O-

The central hall of Phantom Lord’s guild had been utterly destroyed as well. Gray’s eyes swept over the swaths of charred debris and singed walls and just knew Natsu had been here. Heat from his flames was still radiating through the air, and he hoped his group of Elfman, Mirajane, and himself were not too far behind him. 

“Erza!” Mirajane cried out, and Gray tore his eyes away from the destruction,

They widened when they landed on his redheaded teammate slumped against one of the few standing columns. If it was possible, she looked even worse than when he had last seen her after taking a direct hit from Jupiter’s cannon. “Erza,” he breathed out.

Her eyes fluttered open, and he was relieved to see her lucid. “It's you guys,” she croaked out, breathing ragged. 

“When did you break in?” Gray demanded, reevaluating the hallway’s battle scars. Now that he was looking for it, it was clear the damage wasn’t just from Natsu’s flames. There was unignorable evidence of Erza’s powerful sword strokes slicing clean through curtains and slashing a Phantom Lord banner on the wall. He easily recognized the indicators of her Heaven’s Wheel attack.

“You shouldn’t even be standing,” Mirajane said. 

“H-hey!” Elfman stuttered. Gray followed Elfman’s wide-eyed gaze to a man sprawled out on the floor. He instantly recognized him as Aria of Element Four. Elfman voiced their collective disbelief. “You actually fought with wounds like that?”

Gray clenched his jaw, simultaneously amazed with Erza’s tenacity and horrified by her lack of sense. “What were you thinking?” he demanded. 

Erza had the gall to smile at him sheepishly. “I never wanted you to see me so weak like this,” she admitted. “I guess I still have a long way to go.”

A sudden shudder wracked through his body, but not from Erza’s words, and definitely not from any cold. It felt like the air from his lungs had been ripped out of his body and a frisson of dark magic crept its way up his spine. Gray caught Erza’s eye and saw her pupils had dilated to pinpricks. “What is this?” he choked out. 

“I sense death.” Erza hissed.

“The malice is palpable,” came Mirajane’s strangled whisper, and Gray braced himself automatically. This was dark magic, dark magic that could make even a former Satan Soul wizard tremble. 

Behind them, someone began to clap in a sarcastic manner. “My, my. I’m quite impressed, my Fairy Tail wizards,” a man drawled. The malicious aura poured off his body and Gray had to fight back the urge to throw up as the magic squirmed under his skin like live worms. “To think I would be able to have such fun… I never would have dreamed of it. Destroying Jupiter, taking down Element 4, and even bringing my magic giant to its knees.”

“Master Jose,” Erza snapped. 

It clicked in Gray’s head. This was Phantom Lord’s master, one of the ten wizard saints on par with jīchan . 

“Now, I must thank you for the fun you’ve given me,” Master Jose said. The magic around him began to swell, and Gray knew they had to act quickly. Erza was down, and Mirajane was vulnerable.

“Elfman!” he called out.

“Right!”

“Ice-make: Saucer!” he shouted. 

Next to him, Elfman called on his own magic, but before either of them could even get close to Jose, the man released his magic in a torrent of dark shades. Gray cried out as the shades bombarded him. The second the searingly dark magic touched his skin he felt the energy being sapped out of his body. His back slammed into the wall and Gray groaned.

“Jose!”

Gray’s eyes popped open, and he found the strength to turn his head. “ Miyako .” Her name came out as a string of strangled syllables, and he coughed, blood splattering the floor in front of him, but he tried again. “Miyako!”

She barely acknowledged that she’d heard him. Her eyes darted over, hardening to onyx when they took in his injuries, before returning to Jose. 

“Miyako-san,” Jose said in a simpering voice. His eyes raked up and down Miyako’s body in a way that made even Gray uncomfortable, but Miyako just raised her chin defiantly. “I was hoping I’d get the pleasure of seeing you today.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” Miyako said. “You’ve made a big mistake Jose. The rune knights are on their way.”

Jose threw his head back and laughed. “Oh? You called the rune knights. Miyako-san, I’m so… disappointed in you.” The wizard saint crossed the room in a few strides. He was a good foot taller than Miyako, and loomed over her. Gray could swear he felt one of his molars crack from how forcefully he clenched his teeth when Jose touched Miyako, his long, pale fingers grasping her chin. His thumb stroked along her jaw as he said, “It takes two to fight. Your precious Fairy Tail will be in just as much trouble as Phantom Lord. In fact, I seem to recall that Fairy Tail made the first illegal move against Phantom Lord. My, my, attacking our guild in broad daylight. What will the Magic Council think?”

“No.” Miyako slapped Jose’s hand away from her face. “Fairy Tail was attempting to dissolve the illegal , dark guild, Phantom Lord, which is perfectly within the law.”

“ Illegal ?” Jose repeated, sounding amused. He tsk-ed. “Miyako-san, what kind of guild do you imagine that I am running? Phantom Lord is above board.”

Gray was helpless to watch the exchange. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elfman and Erza were also struggling to regain their strength from Jose’s attack. He didn’t know what game Miyako was playing with Jose, but if she could keep him talking…

“It was above board,” Miyako said coolly, “Until three days ago when Phantom Lord accepted and acted on an illegal job request.”

Jose’s eyes narrowed, the mirth dissolving from his features. “Illegal job request?” he repeated through gritted teeth. 

“ Yes .” Miyako’s smile bared her teeth, and Gray almost pitied Jose. “By decree of the Magic Council, any job request that involves abduction is illegal , and any guild that accepts such a job request automatically loses their status as an official guild. Lucy Heatifilia is a working mage over the age of sixteen, making her a legally recognized adult. Forcefully relocating her, even by request of her father, constitutes abduction. Do you understand now, Jose?” Miyako said. 

For a full ten seconds, Jose did not react. His shoulders were trembling, head bowed so his face was curtained by his oily hair. Then, Gray heard it. A chuckle . Jose’s manic laughter quickly grew, until his whole body was shaking from it. When he finally looked up, his eyes were glowing red and his magic simmered underneath his skin. 

“MIYAKO!” Gray shouted.

Jose’s magic exploded and an inhuman howl tore its way out of his throat. Gray lost sight of Miyako as he was forced to cover his head as he was slammed by the aftershocks. The attack wasn’t directed at him, but he was overwhelmed by it anyway. He fought to keep hold of consciousness, but it was too slippery and everything quickly faded to black.

Chapter Text

chapter nine: fairy law

Miyako slammed her foot into the ground and a slab of stone erupted from the floor in front of her. Jose’s shades slammed into the rock and she grit her teeth against the onslaught. In the back of her mind, a clock counted down: the number of minutes she had to hold off Jose until jīchan recovered enough to come save her. 

Just as her shield cracked, Jose’s initial attack began to die down. Miyako breathed out a sigh of relief, and let the stone crumble back into the floor. Jose’s chest was heaving, though not due to exertion. She had managed to royally piss the wizard saint off. His face was twisted with hideous malice, and Miyako swallowed hard.

“Miyako-san, did no one ever tell you that young ladies should be seen and not heard? You really would be so much more attractive with your mouth closed ,” Jose said. He sighed, and continued, “Really, you’ve caused me so much trouble by involving the rune knights. I’m afraid I’ll have to punish you.”

“They would have been involved anyway,” Miyako pointed out tartly. “Your guildhall is currently falling to pieces in Magnolia’s harbor. Even they were bound to notice that eventually.”

“You’re right.” Jose raised his hand and dark magic began to gather at his fingertips. “In for a penny in for a pound, I suppose. If my guild is fated for shadows, then I might as well take all that I want today without inhibition. Starting with you .”

She tensed, and Jose flicked his fingers at her. The concentrated magic slammed into her clavicle, and Miyako cried out as she was thrown into a wall. She’d had enough time to at least use her magic to soften her landing, and Miyako easily rolled back to her feet. 

“What was the point of all this, Jose?” she demanded as she dodged his next attack. The wall behind her exploded from the impact, and she hid her wince as the shrapnel cut her under her eye. Warm blood dripped down her cheek, and she pressed, “You sacrificed your standing as a legal guild and I don’t believe for a second you didn’t know that was a risk when you took that job from Lucy’s father. What is it you really want?”

Jose laughed, and the sound was slimy against Miyako’s sensitive ears. “You really are as smart as they say, aren’t you? Laxus, Erza, Mystogan… those are the names that launched Fairy Tail into the public’s eyes. Phantom Lord used to be the only guild worth talking about–we had the most powerful magic, the most talented wizards, the most money in the country.” 

He punctuated each reason with a dark wave of magic, and Miyako dodged the first two, finally calling up another stone shield to absorb the last one so she could catch her breath. “So this whole war–was it a fit of jealousy?” she called. She dropped the wall suddenly and attempted a counter-attack, unleashing a blade of wind sharp enough to cut through stone.

Jose was too quick. He disappeared from her sight, and Miyako barely stopped herself from jumping out of her skin when he reappeared behind her. “Hardly,” he simpered. 

Miyako leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding a shade. “Of course not,” she said, breathing heavily. “Jealousy is unbecoming . A show of power?”

“Phantom Lord is the most powerful guild in all of Fiore and now everyone knows it!” Jose smiled so wide his face was split from side to side. “And imagine just how much more powerful we will become with the Heartifilia fortune behind us! That kind of influence would be wasted in a trash guild like Fairy Tail. I will not allow Makarov to have such a jewel in his crown.”

Miyako’s lip curled into a snarl. Jose had always been a disgusting chauvinist, a power-hungry, belly-to-the-ground snake, but this was bordering on delusional. “You need to check your facts, Jose,” she said. “Lucy ran away . She doesn’t have access to the Heartfilia money! She scrapes together the 70,000 jewels to pay her rent each month by taking jobs just like any other wizard in the guild. Until today, no one even knew her last name. We didn’t need to know it, because we know her . You can’t even begin to understand who Lucy is, and you are poorer for it!”

Jose threw out his hand, and Miyako’s eyes widened as his magic wrapped around her in a vice grip and lifted her into the air. She struggled, but it was no use. His magic crawled under her skin like a thousand ants. “I’ll know Lucy-sama intimately soon enough I’m sure,” he drawled. “As if I would just hand her over to her father. I will keep her as my pet and I will bleed her family dry to get what I deserve.”

Miyako spat her blood at Jose’s feet, and his nose wrinkled in disgust.

“As for you , I’ll find good use for that brain of yours. Do you know why I kept your grandfather alive, Miyako-san? Despair ! When he wakes up and sees his beloved guild and his beloved guild members in ruin, how will he feel?” Jose squeezed his fist and Miyako choked on a scream, surprised by the sudden pain. “But I will use you to destroy him–his darling granddaughter, such a clever little girl, his pride and joy. I think I’ll finish what your father started. You could be so beautiful, Miyako-san, you just need the right push .”

Miyako closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek so hard her mouth was flooded with copper, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream again. Jose’s shades clawed at her soul, but this wasn’t the worst pain she’d experienced in her life–he’d just caught her off guard. Her second magic thrashed beneath her skin, but her mental clock was almost at zero…

“Don’t struggle, Miyako-san” he advised coldly. “It’ll just cause you to suffer more!”

Don’t struggle, Miyako-chan , a voice whispered in her mind. I’ll make you strong.

Beneath her skin, a battle raged. It wasn’t as simple as dark and light–it was blistering heat and bitter cold, an aching emptiness and a superheated explosion of energy capable of filling that emptiness with creation. Her magic was at war with itself, and Jose was trying to crawl inside of her tip the favor in one direction.

Three, two, one…

“Much blood has been spilled. Children’s blood. Because of their parent’s failure, the children have suffered and shed tears.”

The assault eased and a mellow warmth chased away the oozing darkness of Jose’s magic. Miyako felt herself being lowered gently to the ground. Her jīchan’s magic was like being wrapped up in a hand-crocheted blanket–she breathed in deeply and let the soapy-butterscotch scent wash away the pain. 

“Enough of this, you and I…we must put an end to this!”

Miyako had only seen her jīchan this angry once before. It hadn’t ended well for her father, and it wouldn’t end well for Jose. The two wizard saints stared each other down for a long moment. Jose smiled slowly. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, his irises were nothing but a speck of sickly yellow in the black sea of his scleras.

“You wish to cause a disaster?” he asked

Jīchan summoned his magic too, and the combined pressure inverted the natural forces of the world around them. Miyako’s inner ear popped and the air quivered with uncertainty. Movement in the corner of her eye reminded her she wasn’t the only person about to be caught in the middle of this fight. Gray’s eyes were open, and he was struggling to push himself upright. 

The tension snapped. Jose’s purple magic arced through the air and collided with the glittering yellow of jīchan’s magic as he leapt in front of her protectively. The concussion of the collision swept over Miyako and she covered her head. 

“Everyone get away from here!” Jīchan bellowed.

Miyako scrambled to her feet and lurched towards her friends. Fortunately, Erza, Elfman, and Mirajane were also beginning to stir. 

“Master!” Gray shouted.

“Do as he says,” Miyako snapped when she saw Gray’s hands automatically falling into their ice-make form. “Let’s go!”

“But-!”

“Leave everything to the master,” Erza said calmly, miraculously sounding strong despite her injuries. “We’ll only be a distraction.”

Elfman was helping Mirajane to stand. Miyako pushed Gray forward to get him moving in the right direction, and they ran. Even as the earth quaked and the sky split open on forked tongues of lightning, she didn’t doubt that jīchan would win. They managed to make it out of the guildhall before it could collapse around them, and as they stood on Magnolia’s shoreline, Miyako started counting in her head as she knew her jīchan was out loud to Jose.

One .

Two.

Three.

A magic circle burst into existence above Phantom Lord’s guildhall, blazing brighter than the sun and expanding like a supernova. It washed over her and Miyako felt the last tendrils of Jose’s magic that clung to her shrivel in the warm light. 

“It’s Fairy Law,” Erza said in amazement. 

“Fairy Law?” Gray repeated. 

“Righteous light that slays the darkness,” Miyako supplied. “It slays only that which the caster believes is the enemy.”

As she finished speaking, the light began to finally dwindle. Miyako glanced over her shoulder and found that all of Jose’s shades had been defeated. The sky had been left a brilliant blue and relief sloughed the tension from her body. All at once, their guildmates began cheering, the cacophonous din echoing across the water, and Miyako smiled, imagining even Mystogan, as far away as he likely was right then, could hear them rejoicing. 

Jīchan emerged from the guildhall, standing tall on the heap of rubble. His voice carried pride and power as he declared, “This victory is not just from my power, but a victory for our whole family!”

Miyako’s heart clenched at his words. They had won, so why did she feel so lost?

-O-

Mom,

It’s been one week since our battle with Phantom Lord ended. We’ve finally gotten back to our peaceful days. After it happened, it was pretty tough. We were rounded up by the council’s army, the Rune Knights. Apparently, Miyako-chan called them. We were taken to the army post and interviewed about what had happened. They asked a lot of questions to corroborate the story Miyako-chan had told them. I don’t know how, but she managed to twist things so that Phantom Lord took all the blame. Master was so relieved that he cried. It’s looking like Fairy Tail won’t be punished at all, thank goodness.

So, Mom… do you think he was behind the whole thing, pulling the strings? I know what he’s like, but to go this far… No, he’d do it. He wouldn’t have any problem with this. But why would he try and suddenly take me back? It’s not like he cares about me personally. 

Mom, he’ll do it again, won’t he? Using the power of his money… that… I couldn’t…

-O-

“I spoke to Laxus.”

Fairy Tail had begun to rebuild. Excitement about the new and expanding guildhall swept through everyone except Natsu, who was as resistant to change as always. For her part, Miyako was too relieved that Fairy Tail’s vault had survived to feel any sadness about the destruction of the rest of the guild. As construction reached a frenzy, and her guildmates on the surface were all pitching in, Miyako found herself hiding away in Fairy Tail’s underbelly, which is where jīchan found her a week after the dust of the battle of the guilds had settled.  

“Oh?” he prompted.

He’d kept his tone deliberately casual so as not to pressure her. She knew he’d been curious since Mirajane had informed him of her lack of success in contacting Laxus and Miyako’s promise of calling him, but he’d refrained from questioning her about it. Her pen shook in her hand as she carefully measured her next words and she was forced to set it down. 

“He was cruel,” she finally whispered. “I…I don’t know if I can forgive him for what he said, for what he did, or what he didn’t do.”

Jīchan was quiet. He regarded her with steely eyes, and after a long moment, raised his hand in the air, pointer finger and thumb extended. “What does this mean, Miyako-chan?”

“Even if I can't see you, you’ll always be watching over me,” Miyako recited dutifully, even as she frowned, not quite understanding why jīchan was asking such an obvious question. Miyako has known what that sign meant her whole life.

“No matter how great the distance?” he pressed, hand still high.

Miyako nodded. “No matter how great the distance,” she agreed.

“Sometimes that distance isn’t physical,” jīchan said gruffly. He lowered his hand and it came to rest on top of hers. “Your brother is very far away right now, but he is still your brother, and he still bears the mark of Fairy Tail. I will not ask you to forgive when he has done nothing yet to earn it, but leaving the door open for forgiveness lets bitterness and resentment find a way out of your heart. Do you understand, my child?”

His hand was warm and soft where it rested against hers, and Miyako breathed out through her nose. “I’ll be made unhappy if I try to hold onto my anger,” she said, and he squeezed her hand.

“You have always been incredibly bright, Miyako, but the truly extraordinary thing about you is that your intelligence never made you cold. You have been nursing your sorrow and hurt for a week. Now it is time to leave it behind and come celebrate with your family.”

In a rare display of physical affection, Miyako leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her jīchan’s middle, burying her nose in his shoulder and breathing in deep his familiar scent. She vividly remembered how safe his embrace made her feel when she was four-years-old, in pain and confused, watching her father walk away after being excommunicated and not yet understanding that what he’d done to her and Laxus was wrong yet. Jīchan returned the hug ten-fold, and Miyako was pleased to note that eleven years had not dimmed the feeling. 

She drew back a moment later, sucking in a shaky breath, and said, “Thank you.”

“Go,” jīchan said sternly, mustache twitching as he held back a smile. “Your team has been making a ruckus looking for you. I believe they intend to check in on Lucy.”

Team . 

Miyako had not realized bringing Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy along on that S-Class mission had been a formal application to Team Natsu, but she didn’t think she was upset about the unanimous acceptance. Miyako had been a solo act for a long time now and she was self-aware enough to admit there was a reason beyond preferring solitude. Deep down, part of her had been waiting for the day Laxus would wake up and realize she was good enough to join his team. She’d thought for sure when she became an S-Class wizard…

But Laxus was far away right now, and Natsu and Gray were here. Lucy was new, and though she’d never been particularly close with Erza, Miyako knew they were here too. They were here and they were her teammates now, for better or for worse. 

-O-

Lucy said goodbye to her mother.

She didn’t expect to return to her grave for a long time, and though she’d always have her letters, it was nice to be able to stand in front of her headstone, touch the inscription, and feel her mother’s presence in the land and home she’d been raised in.  

The sun was setting over the mountains, casting the cemetery in a soporific, golden light. Lucy breathed in deeply, and the scent of sun-warm roses, her mother’s favorite flower which grew in the beds around her headstone, filled her entire being. 

Talk to you later, Mama , Lucy thought.

“LUCY!”

She startled as the serenity shattered, and whipped around just in time for a flying blue cat to collide with her chest and begin sobbing. Not far behind Happy trailed Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Miyako. Lucy’s eyes widened at their panicked expressions, and began frantically searching for whatever dark guild or demon of Zeref must be bearing down on her, but found nothing but gravestones and flowers. 

“Everyone?” she asked nervously. 

“Lucy!” Natsu reached her first, though the others were close on his heels. He skidded to a halt in front of her, chest heaving and said, “You can’t stay here! Fairy Tail is your home now! It doesn’t matter how many dark guilds we have to crush, you-!”

“Natsu!” Lucy cut in. “I’m not staying here.”

“But, your note.” Gray pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and thrust it under her nose. “‘ I will go home’ , we thought…”

Her eyes skimmed over the words she’d hastily scribbled as she’d run out the door yesterday and she grimaced as she realized how her team had taken her message. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t clear. I realized that running away was a mistake. I only came home to formally let my father know I’m leaving and not coming back, and that if he tries anything like he did with Phantom Lord again, I’d, well, we’d-”

“Fairy Tail would retaliate,” Miyako smoothly inserted. 

She laughed sheepishly and played with a loose strand of her hair. “Yes. I’m really sorry I worried you all.”

“It was our fault for jumping to conclusions,” Erza replied.

Gray stretched his arms up over his head. “I guess we worried for nothing.”

“Happy was crying the whole time,” Natsu told her. 

“You were sobbing too, Natsu!”

As her friends began to light-heartedly bicker, Lucy couldn’t help but smile. She’d needed this, a clean break from her past. Now, she could return to Magnolia without any regrets. Her chest felt lighter having finally spoken all the words she’d kept locked up inside her heart. It was time to return home.

Chapter Text

The gavel fell with a resounding clatter, and Makarov watched with unflinching eyes as a gaunt-looking Jose was taken away in magic-restraining cuffs. It was exactly as he had expected. Miyako had made a strong case. She’d been so confident in the Council’s decision, she’d left yesterday before the sentence could officially be handed down. He imagined she was sick of seeing Jose’s face.

Makarov had felt bound to stay. Part of him still expected the Council would turn around and call for his trial next, but the subpoena never arrived. 

“Macky.”

With the proceedings finally finished, Yajima had stepped down from the judge's bench and was now standing before him as an old friend. Makarov got to his feet and followed him outside the courtroom. It was beautiful outside, and Yajima led him to a nearby sitting area. 

“Phantom Lord has been disbanded and Jose is stripped of his title of Wizard Saint,” Makarov said, as though they had not both just been there for the sentencing. “That is exactly as I expected, but for Fairy Tail to not even need a trial…”

“You should be grateful, Macky,” Yajima murmured. “Your Miyako is very clever, calling the rune knights and getting the story straight before anyone could accuse Fairy Tail of wrongdoing. She must be well versed in our laws to have pulled this off.”

Makarov grunted in agreement. A year and change of being involved in the guild master meetings had not been wasted. 

“We’re no longer young,” Yajima said leadingly. “You haven’t forgotten, yes?

“About what?”

“Rob.”

Makarov tipped his head back and looked up at the blue sky. “Rob, huh?”

“Me and you and Porlyusica. And Rob too… we were all so young. We overdid it, but every day sure was fun.”

“Then Rob quit Fairy Tail,” he recalled. “Erza tells me stories every once in a while.”

His friend stared out straight ahead. “Lately many people are of the opinion that Fairy Tail has gone too far too often. You might have gotten off on a technicality this time, but Michello and Org have requested that you be disbanded. At this rate, you will be facing serious punishment, Macky. Dead, you’re no good to anyone. Like Rob…” he sighed. “Macky, hurry up and retire. For the sake of your health.”

The earnest entreaty lodged in the back of his head and stayed there, buzzing until he could no longer ignore it that evening as he sat under stars, the bones of Fairy Tail being reconstructed all around him.

Makarov was aware of his age, but what could he do? Pass the guild to Laxus? Laxus who couldn’t be bothered to defend his home when it mattered? Who hurt those he was supposed to protect with his sharp tongue and inaction? And Miyako… as smart as she was, she was just barely getting started learning how to be a teammate. No, he couldn’t possibly heap the responsibilities of being guild master on her young shoulders. The road of isolation that would set her down was not what he wanted for her.

“Master!”

He leaned over the edge of the wall and peered down at Mirajane. She was smiling at him brightly, holding a stack of paper in the air. 

“It looks like they’ve gone and done it again!” Mirajana called. “It seems like Miya-chan and her team destroyed half a city while on the job! The Council has requested you submit a written explanation immediately!”

Makarov barely felt his tankard of beer slip through his numb fingers as he processed Mirajane’s words. “Retire!?” he shouted at the moon. “No frickin’ way!”

-O-

Earlier that day…

“Everyone!” Mirajane’s voice rang out in the tented area. She was standing behind the newly constructed bar, beaming away. “You can all take jobs again starting today! It’s just a temporary counter, but do all the jobs you can!”

A resounding cheer went through the tent and Lucy idly watched the job board get swallowed up in a swarm of her guildmates. “What’s up with them? Usually they’re just hanging around not taking jobs.” Mirajane giggled behind the bar and Lucy narrowed her eyes, searching the streaming crown for a glimpse of ginger hair. “I haven’t seen Loke around,” she commented.

“I see you’ve finally fallen for Loke’s magic touch, Lucy,” Mirajane teased.

“That’s not it!” Lucy said defensively. “I just heard that he found my keys, and I wanted to thank him.”

Mirajane smiled. “Sure, I’ll tell him if I see him around. By the way, weren’t your spirits angry? About you dropping your keys?”

Fighting to keep her voice even, she replied, “Oh, it wasn’t anything for them to get mad about…” Lucy felt her bottom heat up from the mere memory of the thrashing Aquairius had given her. She dropped her head onto the table and murmured, “Just remembering makes my butt sting.”

“Oh my,” Mirajane said. 

“I can chill it for you,” Gray’s voice offered from behind her. She didn’t even have to look to know his hand was already frosted and ready.

Lucy’s jaw ticked.“I don’t need innuendo-style sexual harassment.”

“Lucy!” Happy sing-songed, “Let me see your bright red butt!”

“I don’t need overt sexual harassment either!”

Natsu cackled. “I wonder what she’ll look like if I make it sting even more!”

“And you’re just the devil!” she cried out. 

An annoyed huff caught Lucy’s attention and she turned and smiled as Miyako took the seat next to her. “Natsu-kun, cut that out,” she said in a deceptively calm tone. Natsu immediately squeaked and his flaming fist sputtered out. Miyako turned to Lucy. “You should consider asking Erza to teach you the basics of requip magic. It might be a safer way of storing your keys, all things considered.”

Lucy’s mouth popped open, “Wow, I’d never even-”

As she was speaking, Miyako’s head cocked to the side like she was listening to something far away, though Lucy could barely pick out a distinct conversation from the blend of all their guildmates excited chatter. Miyako suddenly stood up, cutting Lucy off. Her face was as dark as a storm cloud when she snarled out, “Say that again.”

Miyako did not raise her voice, and she did not have to. The raucous noise immediately died down at the spike of irate magic and a nervous energy filled the air as Lucy, and everyone else, tried to figure out who the guildmaster’s granddaughter was speaking to in such an uncharacteristically caustic tone. 

Across the guildhall someone chuckled darkly, and Lucy’s hackles raised. It was Laxus. He turned around, but didn’t bother to get to his feet. “I said, we don’t need weaklings in this guild.” He looked over his shoulder to Jet and Droy, disgust written in every line of his face. “You two are pitiful. Getting humiliated by Phantom like that… wait, I don’t even know your names.” His dark gaze landed on her next, and Lucy’s blood turned to ice in her veins. “And you, there, the main culprit. The debutant Celestial Spirit user… it was your fault.”

Miyako slammed her hand down on the bar so hard the wood splintered. “How dare you?” She stalked right up to her brother and jabbed him hard in the chest with her pointer. “You couldn’t even be bothered to show up and fight. You have no right, Laxus.”

Laxus stood up, towering over his younger sister. “I told you, it had nothing to do with me!” He cackled madly. “Although, if I had been there, you wouldn’t have had all the trouble.”

“Hold it right there!”

“Natsu!”

Natsu lunged for Laxus, despite Erza’s warning, but before his flames could even get close to Laxus, the man’s body disappeared in a strike of lightning, reappearing a foot behind the enraged dragon slayer, completely unscathed. “Laxus, fight me!” Natsu shouted. 

“What kind of fight would it be when you can’t even catch me?” he taunted. “When I inherit the guild, I’ll get rid of all the weaklings and anyone who stands against me. I’ll make the ultimate guild! The strongest guild in history that no one could look down upon!”

Laxus laughed again before finally vanishing in another burst of lightning. 

“Miya-chan…” Mirajane murmured, and Lucy jerked back around.

The young researcher’s head had dropped forward so that her hair curtained her face. Her shoulders were trembling and Lucy’s heart broke for her.

“Everyone, return to your business!” Erza suddenly snapped. 

The crowd, which had been frozen during the confrontation and openly gawking at Miyako as she dealt with the aftermath, hastily turned away. The noise level gradually picked up again, but Lucy still saw most casting glances in their direction. Gray and Natsu immediately came up behind Miyako, standing shoulder to shoulder to shield her from the looks with their bodies. 

“He was just being a jerk,” Gray murmured. “Brothers are like that. He didn’t mean it.”

Miyako dropped back down into her seat and pressed her forehead to the counter. “I’m open to forgiveness, I’m open to forgiveness, I’m open to forgiveness,” Lucy thought she heard the younger blonde muttering to herself. 

She shared a glance with her friends, but they looked as lost as she did. “I have an idea,” Erza finally spoke up. “Let’s make our team official, and go on a job. All of us together.”

A warm feeling spread throughout Lucy’s body. It was true they’d been calling each other teammates the past couple of months, but poor timing meant they’d not managed to go on a proper job all together, either Erza or Miyako having been absent on missions of their own. Speaking of Miyako, she’d picked her head up, looking tentatively intrigued at the mention of a team job.

“But, do you really want someone like me?” Lucy couldn’t help but ask. Erza and Miyako were S-Class wizards, and Natsu and Gray were both super powerful in their own right. Lucy was just…

“Not someone like you. Someone that is you, Lucy!” Natsu spoke up, grinning in a way that made her heart skip a beat. “Without you, things just wouldn’t fit right, you know?”

Lucy beamed, almost overwhelmed with gratitude that she’d run into Natsu and Happy that day in Hargeon.

“It’s settled,” Erza declared. “We’ll take down the magic sect operating in the shadows of the castle town of Lupinus. Let’s go!”

-O-

A couple of weeks had passed since their semi-disastrous first job in Lupinus. Team Natsu had been on a few more jobs in that time, each one racking up a hefty stack of paperwork for jīchan and denting their reward with reparations for the destruction they wrought. Natsu and Erza were a cataclysmic combination. Gray knew he wasn’t completely innocent himself, but he could at least be trusted to practice restraint when it counted. He thought between himself, Lucy, and Miyako they’d be able to wrangle their other two teammates, but Miyako could hardly be considered sangfroid recently. 

“Well, that took less time than I thought,” Erza said. Fort Term was smoking in the hills behind her, but at least they weren’t fiscally responsible for the bad guy’s hideouts. 

“I didn’t get to go nuts enough!” Natsu complained. He had that crazy look in his eye and Gray expected they’d end up fighting again sooner rather than later with how much excess energy the man-toddler still possessed.

Gray rolled his eyes. “You were plenty nuts back there, buddy.”

“No, I agree. They were entirely too incompetent to pose a proper challenge,” Miyako said. Her shoulders were almost as tense as Natsu’s, and Gray side-eyed her nervously. 

Miyako was the type to bottle things up. Gray knew he wouldn’t be getting any awards for sharing his feelings, but Miyako was on another level of suppressing her emotions. She’d only been five when he’d joined Fairy Tail, and even back then he couldn’t remember her throwing fits the way he knew he used to when he didn’t get his way at the same age. She’d been teetering on the edge of an unprecedented breakdown since her encounter with Laxus, and he was sure he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it when she finally tipped over.

“And they call themselves a dark guild. Honestly,” she said.

“Exactly!” Natsu shouted. “They were defeated before I was even warmed up!”

“Isn’t that Loke over there?” Happy asked, unintentionally diffusing the building tension. The blue cat pointed into the distance.

Gray turned and squinted into the sun. Sure enough, he spotted Loke’s signature green coat and copper colored hair glinting in the light. Natsu was already heading down the road. “What a coincidence!” the dragon slayer crowed in delight. “You had a job around here?”

“Yeah, you too?” Gray heard Loke say as he got closer with the girls and Happy at his heels. Loke’s gaze drifted over his shoulder and he sucked in a sharp breath. He stumbled back a couple steps and stuttered out in horror, “Lucy?!”

“This is perfect!” Lucy said, smiling brightly. “I wanted to thank you for-”

She couldn't even finish her sentence before Loke booked it down the road. “Sorry I’m in the middle of a job!” he screamed over his shoulder. 

Lucy watched him go with tremendous irritation at his reception of her. She angrily ground out, “What is with him?”

“What did you do to him?” Gray couldn’t help but wonder. 

Natsu nodded aggressively. Even the dragon slayer, with his reprehensible social skills and inability to read a room, couldn’t miss the awkward tension between Loke and Lucy. “He is totally avoiding you.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Lucy shrieked. She took a composing breath. “Hey, since we actually finished a job early for once, why don’t we head to a spa and take it easy?”

“Lucy…” Erza said, and her tone was just ambiguous enough that Gray felt his shoulders tense. “That’s a great idea!”

As it turned out, Hosenka, one of the more popular spa towns in Magnolia, was on their way back to the guild, and they were able to secure passes for the day and a room for the night. The room was a bit garish, but then again, so was the entire town. So long as the sleeping accommodations were comfortable, Gray honestly couldn’t say he cared. 

He rolled out his mat, basking in how silent the room was and just knowing it wouldn’t last. Natsu and Happy were still terrifying the onsen, and Erza and Lucy hadn’t come back yet either. For now, it was just him and Miyako. The younger girl had chosen to forgo bathing, and had instead showered before curling up with one of her journals. Her pen had been stalled on the page for several minutes, though, and Gray judged it permissible to speak.

“Personal research or another book?”

“...personal,” she said after a moment. A sigh escaped her lips and she snapped the journal shut, tucking her pen absently behind her ear. “How was the onsen?”

“Fine. Can’t say I’m overly fond of hot baths though,” he admitted with a shrug.

“No, I wouldn’t imagine you would be.”

Gray tapped his fingers against the bamboo floor, considering where he wanted to direct their conversation, or if he even wanted to direct it at all. It wasn’t often he felt as though he had to look out for Miyako. When she was young that had always been Laxus’s job, and now that she was grown, she was usually more than capable of taking care of herself. There’d yet to be a job Miyako couldn’t overcome with some combination of smarts and grit. 

But this wasn’t a job. This was her brother. What was she supposed to do when the person who had spent her entire childhood protecting her was now the cause of her pain?

 Gray started, “Miya-”

“Do you believe in fate?” she interrupted.

For a moment he was so caught off guard he could only blink at her. “Fate?” he repeated dumbly.

“Sorry, that was incredibly vague. I mean, do you believe in a predetermined future or do you believe the choices we make can impact who we become and what happens to us? Are there some things that are meant to be, that are always going to happen no matter what we do, or are we the sole orchestrators of our own destiny?”

Gray’s mouth opened and then shut several times in succession as his brain struggled to process the direction this conversation had gone in. It was his confusion that probably led him to insensitively stutter out, “I- wait, hang on, does this have to do with Laxus?”

“No,” she said. Her brow furrowed. “Maybe. Answer the question, please.”

“I-” Gray turned his gaze to the veranda, away from her piercing eyes. “I have to believe that we’re always in control of ourselves. Whether or not the things that happen to us are fate or destiny or whatever, we still control how we respond to them.” 

He dared to look back. Miyako was nodding slowly.

The door slammed open. “It begins!” Natsu barreled into the room, the inn’s robe draped over his shoulders, several pillows tucked beneath his arms, and a manic look in his eyes. 

“Upa!” Happy shrieked.

Gray’s jaw ticked. “Natsu, some of us are trying to rest.”

“Hey, look around you! We’re at an inn. Nighttime at hotels means pillow fists!”

“You mean pillow fights?”

Erza and Lucy entered behind him. Erza too, had somehow acquired an arsenal of pillows. “All the pillows of merit in the room are already under my control,” she stated.

“Of merit?” Lucy questioned. 

Predictably, Natsu took that as a challenge. “I will defeat Erza!”

As the dragon slayer drew back his arm, preparing to chuck a pillow with all his strength, Gray glanced at Miyako. “What are we going to do with these people?” he asked, reluctantly amused. He only caught a glimpse of her wide eyes before the pillow intended for Ezra slammed into her shocked expression and knocked her over.

Natsu squawked when he realized what he’d done. The room was silent as Miyako lay on her back, processing what had just happened. 

“Miya-chan?” Natsu called nervously.

Calmly, Miyako sat up.“Natsu-kun,” she said, and Natsu went rigid. “I’m afraid you’ve started a fight you cannot hope to finish.” Gray yelped as Miyako snatched the pillow he’d been leaning on from under him and launched it at Natsu. “You’re next, Erza!”

Natsu was laughing until Miyako’s pillow made an impact and sent him flying into the inn’s table. For one moment, Gray deigned to concern himself with thoughts of collateral damage, but then Natsu nailed him with a pillow and all rational thought flew out of his head. 

-O-

“What were you doing getting so worked up about a pillow fight anyways?!”

“I give everything a hundred percent!”

“And yet you lost!”

“What?! It was you who lost!”

Natsu and Gray’s bickering went back and forth, ratcheting up in intensity until both of them turned toward Lucy, sitting mulishly at the bar eating a late lunch, and simultaneously demanded, “Lucy, I’m the one who won, right?!”

In response, Lucy furiously whipped around and snapped, “Shut up,” with such ferocity, both boys cringed and immediately apologised. 

Miyako sighed in relief as Natsu and Gray sulked off to some other part of the guild. Their fighting had been bothering her more than usual. She looked at Lucy out of the corner of her eye, and raised her brow when the older blonde aggressively speared a cube of melon on her plate. She chewed it with just as much ferocity, never losing the pinched quality of her expression.

“Lucy, you’ve been in a bad mood,” Happy observed. 

“Oh?” Lucy said. “I’m totally normal.” 

Happy’s head tilted to the side. “Are you still mad at me for tricking you?”

“No, I’m not that petty,” she denied instantly. The angry tilt of her brow softened into something more thoughtful. She sighed. “Sorry, I just have a lot to think about.”

“You can always talk to me!” Happy offered. 

“No, but thanks anyway.”

Lucy had been off since she’d returned from wherever she’d gone during their pillow fight at the spa. She’d been a bit more reserved than usual, and the anger had built slowly over their journey the next day as she turned whatever was bothering her over in her head. By the time they’d made it back to the guild, she’d been seething in a palpably bitter silence. Of course, Miyako was curious as to what had triggered the unusual turn in mood for the older girl, but she was not proficient at talking about feelings–a trait she shared with Laxus. The best she’d been able to offer was some quiet company as Lucy ate. 

“Hey, is Loke here?”

Several women approached the bar, and Miyako sighed into her cup of tea. She was prepared to ignore Loke’s band of lust-struck sycophants until one of them wailed out, “He tried to break up all of a sudden last night!”

The rest chorused in agreement, and Miyako set down her cup of tea, reluctantly intrigued by this development. 

“Lucy! Save me!” Mirajane whined. 

Lucy went rigid as the collective ire of each and every one of Loke’s many newly ex-girlfriends turned on her. “Don’t put me in such a sticky situation, Mirajane!” Lucy cried out as she abandoned her meal and ran away from the bar.

A wise choice. Lack of magic be damned–those girls filed their nails to a fine point with intent to seduce men or gouge the competition’s flesh, and Mirajane was fresh out of seducible men behind the bar. The girls lamented for several minutes longer, becoming increasingly teary-eyed as Loke failed to appear before they finally left, presumably to continue their search. It was odd that Loke had cut ties with all of them at once, and a pang of worry hit Miyako. Either Loke had turned over a new leaf or… “Happy,” she said. “Where did you and Lucy disappear to last night anyway?”

“We ran into Loke and Lucy invited him out on a date!” Happy said.

“A date?” Miyako repeated, raising her brow.

“They like each other,” Happy said conspiratorially, rolling the word around in his mouth for much longer than necessary. He had the same mischievous smile he wore when he was tricking people into thinking Miyako was a ghost, so she took this tidbit of gossip with a grain of salt. “We went to a sushi bar and I ate a lot of fish with Plue. A lot of fish. But then Loke said something and Lucy got so angry she dragged us away before I could finish my dessert!”

“Do you know what Loke said that upset Lucy?”

Happy nodded sagely. “He told her that he didn’t have long to live and then started laughing. He was playing a trick, but it wasn’t a nice one. Not like the one I played on Lucy! My trick was really funny.”

The blue cat began describing the prank he’d pulled on Lucy, and Miyako nodded along absently, though she was already lost in thought. 

Loke was not a Fairy Tail member she’d spent a lot of time around. She knew he and Gray would often partner on jobs, though they’d never been an official team. She knew he was a holder-type mage, and had a fairly standard set of rings which he used to great effect. According to Gray, he was also very skilled in melee fighting. She knew he was an incorrigible flirt with a severe allergy to any form of serious romantic relationship. She knew he had an aversion to celestial summoners due to an undisclosed, presumably negative, encounter with one. 

The list was short and didn’t amount to much in the end, but something about it bothered her because there was one other thing she knew about Loke. A thing that she wasn’t sure she was supposed to know.

Loke was sick. 

She didn’t know how he was sick, just that he was. She’d known for a long time. It was back when she’d first created her mage glasses with Freed’s help. Miyako had worn them around the guild all day trying to devise a standard for how to measure magic. What did it look like when caster-type mages output magic versus holder-type? What did it look like when mages recovered magic from the natural ethernano around them? These were the types of questions she’d set out to answer. 

It had been obvious from the outset that there was something different about Loke, though she hadn’t known what. She still wasn’t quite sure. Two years she’d been using her glasses to aid her research and she’d never seen anything like Loke’s magic in all that time. It was wholly different from all other magic she’d seen within a wide variety of mages, artefacts, even the ethernano around them, which was, Miyako believed, the root of the problem. 

Magic was like a fingerprint. It was incredibly personal–she could learn a lot about a mage by studying their magic, and had eventually come to the conclusion it was best practice to ask permission before doing so because of what she could accidentally discover. Every mage had a unique way of filtering raw ethernano and converting it into viable magic; even two mages who used the same type of magic had unique signatures. No mage could use raw ethernano to cast, but every mage’s body was compatible with it. They had to be in order to use it.

Loke wasn’t. 

Not only did his body seem to reject naturally occurring ethernano, but it had looked as if his magic was seeping out of his body just by existing. It was normal for a mage to lose a steady stream of magic when casting. It was not normal for a mage to hemorrhage magic while doing absolutely nothing.

For weeks she had quietly watched him from the second floor, unsure if she should mention her observation to jīchan, Porlyusica, or anyone else. If Loke was suffering from Magic Deficiency Disease she would have said something. Magic deficiency was fatal–often expeditiously so–and she would not have stood idly by as a guildmate died. Only, Loke did not present as a classic case of Magic Deficiency Disease. He did not even present as an obscure one. He simply continued to live his life exactly as he always had, seemingly without even noticing his magic was waging war with the universe and losing ground every day. He laughed, went on jobs, flirted relentlessly with any girl in a short enough skirt. After a while, Miyako had talked herself into believing she’d been mistaken and had nearly forgotten altogether. 

Until now.

Miyako bit her lip. She was likely being paranoid. Surely nothing was wrong and Loke had just been using one of his dumb pick-up lines on Lucy… but it wouldn’t hurt to check on him anyway. 

“I’ll be back, Happy,” she said, standing up from the bar. 

It was easy to slip into jīchan's office and find Loke’s address. She was standing on his front step and knocking on his door fifteen minutes later. No one answered and a pit opened up in Miyako’s stomach. So he’s not home, she thought to herself. So what? That doesn’t mean something is wrong. So… then why was she breaking into his home?

She’d forced the door open before she realized what she was doing. “Loke? It’s Miyako Dreyar,” she called, on the off chance that he was home and had just been ignoring her knock.

Everything was still. Miyako quickly shut the door behind her. A cursory glance revealed that Loke’s apartment was tidy and missing any personal touches. There was no coat on the hook, no shoes in the boot tray, but his keys were in the little dish on the table in the entryway. Miyako’s brow puckered. Had he simply forgotten them on his way out? A crisp, white note perched on the coffee table in the living area caught her eye next. She opened it, eyes scanning the words almost faster than she could process, but once her brain caught up, Miyako’s heart fell. 

“Leaving Fairy Tail?” she repeated in horror.

He told her that he didn’t have long to live.

Miyako’s hands shook. It hadn’t been a pick-up line. For whatever reason, Loke had chosen Lucy to reach out to, only he’d clearly changed his mind at the last second and tried to play it off as a joke. Miyako stuffed the note in her pocket and ran the entire way back to the guild. She burst through the new doors with all the tact of Natsu returning from a job.

“Jīchan!”

Her grandfather was perched at the bar enjoying a beer. The smile slid off his face when he saw her expression. “Miyako, my child, what’s wrong?”

She thrust the note in his direction and began babbling. “I snuck into your office and found Loke’s address and then I broke into his apartment and I found this note and I think something is really wrong. I think Loke is in danger.”

Jīchan’s brow rose. Miyako was aware that she was speaking uncharacteristically fast, but she couldn’t control her own tongue. The guild hall had fallen silent when she’d entered so abruptly and everyone waited with baited breath as Jīchan read the note. “This is worrisome,” he said at last. “Miyako, I have to ask, why do you believe Loke is in danger and not choosing to leave the guild of his own volition?”

The guild was sent whispering at the news. Miyako bowed her head. She took a deep breath and forced herself to speak slowly. “Loke bleeds magic, even when he’s not actively using it, and he isn’t capable of replenishing it. For whatever reason, his body is not compatible with Earthland’s ethernano. I’ve never seen anything like it. But he was never sick or had any symptoms of Magical Deficiency Disease, so I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. Earlier today, I learned that Loke had told Lucy he didn’t have long to live and then tried to play it off like a joke. I had a bad feeling when those girls came to the guild and said he had broken up with them.”

The diminutive guildmaster nodded and stood up on top of the bar. “Children,” he said loudly, addressing the rest of the guildhall. “One of our own is in trouble. We must find Loke. Spread out and search the city.”

“Hang on.” Gray’s voice was frozen over with contempt and Miyako was shocked when she turned and found he was speaking to her. “You knew something was wrong with Loke and you never said anything?”

“Well, I-” Hearing it put quite like that sounded bad and for a moment she lost all rational thought. “I didn’t know anything. But I suspected-”

“You were just going to let a guildmate get sick and die?” he demanded forcefully.

Miyako blinked in shock. “No!” she said loudly. “I didn’t know he was dying! I just-”

“You just thought he was really sick. Did it ever occur to you that maybe you could have helped? That instead of hiding away in your study, writing down your little observations, you could have actually done something?”

Tears welled up in Miyako’s eyes. She didn’t understand why they were fighting. She never fought with Gray. She never fought with anyone, really. Not with Laxus growing up, never with her guildmates. Not with anyone she wasn’t paid to fight for a job. “He didn’t tell me anything. I wasn’t supposed to know-”

“It doesn’t matter what you were supposed to know or not know, you did know and you did nothing!” Gray shouted. “Loke could be anywhere by now!”

Miyako’s heart was pounding in her chest, adrenaline rushing through her veins as if this was about to turn into a physical altercation. The angrier Gray got with her, the more he refused to listen to her reasoning, the louder her heartbeat became in her ears until Miyako realised she was angry too. Her eyes narrowed, forcing the tears to stream down her cheeks, but crying didn’t change the fact that she was mad. 

“There’s a reason I don’t use my charmspeak to get whatever I want whenever I want it,” she said. Gray opened his mouth but she pressed on, voice rising to an octave it had never been before. “There’s a reason I ask people for their permission now before I study their magic. There are some things I just see as violations of people’s free will and privacy and Loke did not consent for me to know he was sick!” she snapped. 

“That doesn’t-!”

“Enough!” came jīchan's angry voice. Miyako fell silent immediately and watched Gray’s teeth gnash, furiously snapping shut around whatever he was about to shout at her. “This is a selfish argument to be indulging in when a member of this family is still in trouble. Pack it away. Now.”

Gray turned on his heel and stormed out of the guild. As the door swung shut behind him, Miyako could hear him shouting Loke’s name into the early twilight. Her knees wobbled and then hit the ground as the adrenaline fled her body. The beer-soaked floor was a blur beyond her tears, now flowing in earnest, and Miyako gasped out a ragged breath.

“Miyako.”

Miyako barely heard her name being called. She bent forward until her forehead was resting on the floor and wrapped her arms around her stomach, desperately trying to hold herself together as she shook apart. Her mind was spinning off into outer space. Was Gray was right? She had known something. She should have said something to someone. Maybe… was it possible Loke hadn’t known all those years ago he was sick? Could something have been done? Was it her fault that Loke was dying? 

“Miyako.”

A pair of warm hands grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up until she was looking into Natsu’s dark eyes. “I’m sorry,” she choked out, not even sure what she was apologizing for. All she knew was that a sick feeling of guilt was crushing her heart in its grip and making it hard to breathe. 

She didn’t see Natsu raise his hand, but she certainly felt it land across her cheek. Miyako’s head snapped to the side and for a blissful moment, the thoughts stopped. All she could feel was the sharp sting where Natsu's hand had made contact and there was silence. She inhaled deeply and the breath didn’t get caught in her throat. Miyako brought her fingers to her cheek. Her skin was hot to the touch and she was certain she had a mark. She swallowed. “Thank you,” she heard herself say.

“No problem.” Natsu held out his hand and pulled her back to her feet when she took it. “Now let's go find Loke.”

That was right. Miyako could cry on her own time. She nodded slowly and mutely followed Natsu out of the guild and into the night.