Trust

Intertwine | 絡み合う

"'Fairy Tail', you say? I can't say I've ever heard of any group or organization with that name." Sinbad pondered before looking at Lucy. "I'm guessing it has something to do with where you came from?"

Lucy let out a light, hollow laugh. "Yeah... I guess none of you guys would know what that is." This isn't Fiore; the name 'Fairy Tail' isn't widely known and praised. These are people who have never so much as heard of the guild before and Lucy hoped that they never would. Because them knowing about Fairy Tail means they'll know about her and just like them, they'll toss her aside too.

(̶S̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶p̶p̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶F̶a̶i̶r̶y̶ ̶T̶a̶i̶l̶.̶)̶

Just as she finally accepted this world and its people. Just when she finally decided to put Fairy Tail behind her and finally begin to thrive.

(Just when she finally decided not to tell them about herself unless she really needed to and to simply live with the guilt forever. That would make everything so much simpler.)

But she's come this far—they all have. After all the effort it took to get to the dungeon, she is the only one who can see it. She is the only one who knows what it is. She can't run away like the weak, pathetic coward they always called her. She can't have let this entire journey—the entire time she's known them—be for nothing.

"Where I come from, Fairy Tail is well known throughout the continent. I can't say the same about Ishgar, but in Fiore, there's next to no one who doesn't know who Fairy Tail is."

Sinbad cut in before Lucy could continue any further. "Fiore? Ishgar? I've never heard of any of these places—does anyone else know where they are?" He asked the mostly quiet group and received a "no" from everyone but couldn't help but notice Morgiana's hesitation before she too denied ever hearing about these places, yet he can't recall them ever meeting without other people around. How strange.

"Ah, right." Lucy cracked a weak smile, more strained than it ever has been since coming to this world. "I should probably start from the beginning then," she took a deep breath. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Layla Heartfilia, former Celestial Spirit Mage, and Jude Heartfilia, the founder and owner of the Heartfilia Konzern. I am... a member of the best," she said dryly, "wizarding guild in all of Fiore: Fairy Tail—or at least I was, up until when I was found in the flower. And this," she removed the fingerless glove she started using to cover the back of her hand and lifted her wrist up to give everyone a clear view of the light pink insignia still resting on it, "is proof of that."

Faintly, she could hear someone (Kouen, she suspects) take a sharp intake of breath as her hand was examined by all those around her.

"The reason why none of you have ever heard of any of these places or any of these people is because... they're not from this world. I come from a world called Earthland and though I have been to other worlds," she tried not to visibly cringe at the reminder of Edolas and of everything that came after it, "none have quite been like this."

If they weren't shocked before, everyone was now stunned into silence. It's not that unbelievable of an idea, another world existing—Aladdin and all the Djinns are proof of that—but knowing that Lucy, someone they just thought had an unusual kind of amnesia, is actually from another world, is something entirely different.

"That makes... so much more sense." Kouen said, being the first to break the silence. "The reason why you didn't know what's considered common knowledge but knew your name and had pristine manners, like you've practiced it thousands of times even though no one has ever seen you before. All of this... though so, so weird, is the first thing about you that actually makes sense."

"That's why there's so much white Rukh around you and why you know about the Spirit King even though no one else does! Lucy, you're a Celestial Spirit mage, aren't you?!" Aladdin's eyes widened at the thought of finally being able to understand more of the ever elusive mage.

"A Celestial Spirit Mage?" Came Ja'far's confused voice.

"It means my magic is able to summon 'Spirits', so to speak."

This time, it was Morgiana's eyes widening. "That man—the one I saw the first night you were on the ship, you never told me who—or what—he was. He's—He's one of your 'Spirits', isn't he?" No matter how many times Morgiana remembers her conversation with Lucy, she doesn't think Lucy ever answered her original question about who he was, or anything about her magic. It was almost like she was purposefully trying to steer the conversation away from that particular topic and since Morgiana was too engrossed in learning whatever she could, she didn't even realize it.

"The man?!"

"The Spirit?!"

"Who?!"

"Perhaps... some visuals might help." Taking a deep breath, Lucy tried to calm herself by focusing on her Spirits instead. Showing them a Celestial Spirit, a being from a type of magic that doesn't exist here, will fully solidify everything she's said as the truth and there'd be no going back.

Once she confirms it, that's it. Everyone will know. There'll be nothing left to hide. The guilt will all be gone but it might be replaced by something even worse: the disappointment she knows they'll have in her.

Please... don't change how you view me... don't change how you treat me... please, please, don't realize I'm truly not worth your time and leave me.

In the back of her mind, she could feel her Spirits, her family, comforting her.

Right, she won't be truly alone, she never has been. She has the best Spirits she could ever ask for, who she knows won't abandon her.

"Open," she closed her eyes and pulled out the familiar and comforting key, "Gate of The Lion: Leo!"

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A/N: The way I had this chapter done for at least a few days but never posted it because I kept forgetting to.