Trust

Marvell | マーベル

One week after the Tenrou Island incident.

Wendy sat in a more secluded part of the guild, wanting to be alone for a bit (with Carla, of course). "I don't understand why they were so mean to Lucy..." she tightened her grip on Carla who looked up at her sympathetically. "I know how you feel Wendy, but at least she's free now, wherever she is." She patted her head.

"That's true," she conceded, "but why would their attitudes suddenly change? They never would've done this to anyone before—let alone Lucy who's never once done anything to hurt them. They used to protect her, not hurt her, and then it all changed..."

Carla sat there with her brows furrowed. Wendy does make some very good points but for the life of her, she can't remember why they started treating her like that. All she remembers is one day everything was normal in the guild and the next, nobody seemed to like Lucy and actively went out of their way to try to harm her. Even Levy, her best friend, shared this fate.

But then, why are she and Wendy still unaffected by whatever made everyone else different?

There's nothing out of the ordinary in their lives and nothing that they did differently yet they're the only ones who can tell that everyone's behaviors specifically towards Lucy are much, much different now. Something must be different for them, or else why would only they be—

Carla's eyes widened.

"Wendy! The solo job we went on a while ago. Before we left, everybody was perfectly fine but once we came back, everyone changed. Mira said we were the only ones out on a job at that time, that everyone else was busy recovering or preparing for the S-class trials." Carla pondered  before continuing. "I think something must've happened while we were on that job because only the guild members were affected and it was only towards Lucy; they treated us perfectly fine."

Wendy, having caught on to what Carla was getting at, eagerly continued for her. "That's why Natsu, Erza, and Gray forgot about her too! Whatever happened that made them treat her like that made them forget about her as soon as she left—and it must've only been those three because they were the most affected and the ones who were closest to her. We most likely would've been too if we were in the guild when it happened!"

She curled her hands into fists and jumped up with determination. "Carla! Someone in the guild made everyone turn against Lucy and make them forget about her! And we're going to figure out who!"

- - - - -

It isn't easy trying to find the mastermind in a guild where no one else except her (and Carla) know that there's someone controlling them like this but that didn't stop Wendy from trying.

She went questioning every guild member, trying to seem as natural as possible. She couldn't rule out that whoever did this pretended to follow along with everyone's actions to blend in but she also hated having to suspect everyone she now thinks of as family.

But regardless, she needs to do this, for both Lucy and her sake.

Everyone easily answered all of her questions, not even thinking to suspect her of having any ulterior motives and Wendy didn't blame them, she never once did anything that would warrant any kind of suspicion to be placed upon her, however this did make her life a hell of a lot easier.

Since no one was too guarded or suspicious about her, no matter what she asked or how bizarre it sounded, no one questioned it.

She tried not to ask too many people the same questions, casually bringing it up in conversation with them then having Carla secretly write their answer down before moving onto the next person. It was exhausting to do for everyone and took a considerable amount of time, but in a few days, she managed to get answers from every guild member and in her room in Fairy Hills, she set up a board to organize everything.

Then, over the course of the next few days after that, Wendy sorted through everything, pieced statements together and tried to figure out exactly what happened.

From everything she collected, she can confidently say that while she and Carla were out on a job, a spell was cast on everyone currently in the guild—the perpetrator knew that next to no one had left—which made them treat someone with as much contempt as love they used to have for them. In this case, the someone being Lucy explains why the other three members of Team Natsu treated her the worst.

They cared most for Lucy out of everyone in the guild so they would treat her with the most hostility out of everyone in the guild.

As for why they forgot her, Wendy can't be completely sure (since they forgot everything) but she's almost certain that whoever did this cast another spell on only those three because no one else forgot her and she thinks it's because the spell was wearing off on them due to the letter. They did always do the most unexpected things when it came to their friends.

In any case, she now knows what happened, how it happened and when it happened but she still hasn't been able to figure out the most important part: who did it and why.

She's managed to figure out everything else on her own except that and she doesn't even know where to start. She thought she'd be able to find everything out, and she almost did, but she can't figure out where to go from here.

"We already went through all the guild members and none of them were even slightly different! Why is it so hard to figure out who did it?!" She cried. Carla placed a comforting paw on her shoulder and said, "we haven't asked everyone. Wendy, think, someone who you don't know well enough to know if they're telling the truth or not, the only non-constant variable here. Right before this change, what happened?"

Wendy, once again realizing where Carla is going with this, widened her eyes. "No way." She said with uncertainty. "It can't be..."

"It has to be." Carla concluded. "There's no other option, out of everyone—"

Her speech was cut short as the door to Wendy's room was burst open with so much force, the door almost flew off its hinges. Both Wendy and Carla's heads snapped towards the door, staring warily at the cloaked figures appearing through the dust.

———————
A/N: I finished this chapter in thirty minutes flat. Hopefully this explains why they did that to Lucy even though it seems so out of character for them to do. But! It's not over yet he he. Also, question: which cover should I use? The old one or the current one. I'm not quite sure which one to pick.

Hope you enjoyed :)