Fighting Oblivion

Chapter Two

Chapter two

I stood there for a moment, blinking stupidly at the four people and two exceeds sitting across the conference table from my boss.

"Lucy!" Jason exclaimed, snapping me out of my brain fog. "Can you believe it! Sting Eucliffe, Master of Sabertooth, came by for an interview with me. Sooooo cooooll!"

Sting was sitting, lounging, really, with his feet kicked up on the table, chair leaned back, hands behind his head and cocky smile adorning his lips. Rogue was sitting next to him on the right, flanked by Yukino, and Minerva was sitting to his left.

"Why?"

"Because it's sooo coooolll!"

Sting just smirked again at Jason's enthusiasm, it was Rogue who actually answered.

"Actually, Lucy, we came to find you. We just agreed to answer a few questions for Jason while we awaited your arrival." He spoke politely and evenly, a black fringe covering half his face, one dark eye twinkling at me.

"Oh....why?" I said again.

The four of them exchanged uneasy glances for a moment and looked back at me, but no one cared to explain why four of the strongest mages from Fairy Tail's rival guild would come all the way to Crocus looking for me. Can Fairy Tail have a rival guild if it doesn't exist?

Minerva cleared her throat and pointedly nudged Sting.

"Huh-oh! Right," Sting pulled his feet off the table and leaned forward in his chair. "Jason, you think we can borrow Lucy for a minute?" He said seriously.

"Oh yeah! Anything for the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth!" Jason stood up and brushed past me. The door closed with a sharp click. "Sooo cooolll!" We could hear him exclaim from the hall before he rushed off to his office, notepad in hand scribbling furiously.

"It's so good to see you again, Lucy," Yukino said, standing up and breaking the awkward silence. I turned my attention to her. The beautiful, white haired Celestial mage stood there for a moment, like she was unsure of the greeting she would get. I immediately broke into a smile and rushed over to her, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"It's so good to see you too!" I exclaimed, squeezing her tightly before releasing her. I meant it too. Yukino and I haven't really known each other for long, we met at the Grand Magic Games last year, just a few months before Fairy Tail disbanded. But I'd probably been in closer contact with her than any other mage since then. We exchanged letters and lacrima calls so often, knew each other so well by now that I considered her family. Our shared love of all things celestial made her feel like the sister I never had.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you," I started, taking a seat across from Rogue. "But, what are you doing here and why didn't you tell me you were coming?" I pouted. Yukino covered her giggle.

"I do apologize for the surprise, but what I had to tell you was too time sensitive to send in a letter, and too personal to convey over a communication lacrima," she leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice. "It could be intercepted with telepathy magic."

My eyes widened as she spoke. I leaned back in my chair and let out a deep breath, studying her face. I quickly glanced over at her companions. Rogue was sitting there calmly, his hands folded on the table in front of him. The shadow dragon slayer looked collected, but interested. Sting, the white dragon slayer perked up at the seriousness of Yukino's tone. My eyes moved slowly to the woman on Sting's left. Her hands were folded primly in her lap, her eyes downcast.

"Uhh, Yukino," I leaned towards her, dropping my voice a few octaves. "Is this about....you know?" I tried to keep the hope out of my voice, but if what Yukino had to tell me was that private and that urgent that she had to travel all the way to Crocus to convey it in person, there's only one thing it could be about.