The Rune's Shadow

15.

Sorry for the wait, this chapter was kinda difficult for some reason. 

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"Will you shut up? For the hundredth time?" 

Awai grinned, "No I will not. I'm bored. And you are the first living being that I have conversed with in around twelve years"

Laxus sighed heavily as the ghost continued with his lecture about who knows what. At first it was about the plant life that lived in the area, then it turned to the town's entire history, and after many topic changes later, he was now giving a very detailed speech on why cats are actually shape shifting demons....who knows how he got there.

Laxus went back to drowning out Awai's lecture and carried on towards the town. 

After another half hour or so, Awai suddenly stopped his lecture mid sentence and stated plainly, "We're here."

Laxus sighed in relief, "Thank god. I was minutes away from losing my mind." 

Awai pouted, "What, you didn't enjoy my fascinating speech?"

Laxus gave him a long look before saying in monotone, "No. I did not. In fact, I didn't listen to most of it."

Awai returned the look before sighing, "Well. Most of it was bull anyways." He considered this for a moment before adding, "I mean except for the fact that cats are actually cute shape shifting creatures from Hell. That was the only true thing."

Laxus didn't bother to reply to this, instead going over their plan.

"So I'll search inside the town, and you will search the area outside it?" 

The ghost nodded, "That was the idea, was it not?"

Laxus ignored this and stated, "Then we'll leave now. We can meet up here again at sundown and stay the night, and if we don't find them, we'll go to the next town and search again."

Laxus prayed that they find them, as he couldn't live with Awai for much longer without losing it. He then remembered that even if they find Ever, Bixlo, and Freed, he would still have to help Awai find the people or person that he was searching for. Laxus cursed under his breath, then walked into the town.

Awai had told him the name of the town before, so that he would at least know where they were. 'Anaomi. I think that's what he called it.'

The town was definitely larger than Blue Fang. From the bay that was beyond the town, a fair sized river flowed in a canal, streets on both sides of it. The streets had many shops, selling things from baked goods to plants, and a small cart was selling smoked fish. 

As Laxus caught the scent of the smoke, his stomach growled irritably, complaining about the lack of food recently. He walked over to one of the carts, pulling a few dollars from his pocket. As he approached, the elderly man looked up and smiled. "How many would you like, young man?" 

Laxus glanced at the price before answering, "Just one would be great, thank you." 

The old man smiled again, "M'kay. That will be done cooking shortly." He looked up and asked curiously, "You don't look familiar. Are you new here?" 

Laxus shook his head, "No I don't live here. I'm looking for some of my guildmates. We're from Fairy Tail." 

The old man raised his bushy eyebrows, "Fairy Tail! Impressive. My grandaughter actually lives there!" He looked over his shoulder, muttering under his breath, "Speaking of which..."

He hollered over his shoulder, "EY! LEVY! COME AND TALK WITH YOUR GUILDMATE!" He added after a moment, "AND BRING THE FISHIES!"

A familiar girl's voice called back, "I'm going, I'm going! Sheesh, no need to yell. I'm only ten feet away!"

The old man squinted, "Oh..."

Laxus looked behind the cart and saw a small blue haired mage carrying a ginormous net full of fish towards the cart. 

Levy looked up and saw him and gave a quick smile before walking over, "Wow. I didn't expect to see you here, Laxus!" 

Over time, Levy had slowly forgiven Laxus for the incident where Gajeel had saved her from the lightning bolt. Laxus still didn't understand why she had forgiven him just like that.

Laxus glanced away, "I'm looking for the rest of the team. We got split up." 

Levy looked up in surprise, "How did that happen? For how long?"

Laxus kept his eyes trained on a nearby sign and answered quickly, "It's a long story. But have you seen the morons?"

She thought for a moment, "I'm not sure. I might have seen someone that looked kinda like Ever, but I'm not sure if it was her or not." She snapped her fingers as she got an idea. "Hey maybe I could help look for them with you, since I know the town better?"

Laxus glanced at her, "Don't you have to stay and help your Grampa?" 

"It's alright, I was already leaving after I did the stuff he needed help with." She chuckled, gesturing towards the net of fish.

Laxus thought about the offer for a moment before nodding, "If you're sure  that it's ok, then fine."

'She does have a point about knowing the area better. And she could definitely be of some help too.'

After grabbing the smoked fish and thanking the man, he followed Levy into the town. It suddenly occurred to him that if she was going to help find his teammates, he would have to introduce her to Awai. 'No, she'll only help search the town, and if we don't find them, I can go to the next town without her.'

But the thought still remained about what if Levy decided to help them look in the other surrounding towns. And that she would have to meet Awai.

The dragon slayer shook the thought away. 'Lets just hope for the best on this one. Because I don't want to be the one to explain everything...and have to deal with the ghost AND Levy.'

He sighed and followed after the petite blue haired mage, having a very bad feeling about what is to come. 

'Just hope for the best. And gather my sanity for if things don't go too well.'