Star of the Grandline

Prologue

I sat on my bed, staring at my bandaged hands, attempting to process what the hell had just happened. I was so focused, I almost didn’t sense the shift of magic in my room, as someone was teleported right in front of me. I didn’t look up, even as the person sat beside me, causing my mattress to dip.

“Are you alright, Lucy,” Loki asked as he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. I forced myself to pull my attention away from my hands, and I looked up to meet his worried gaze.

“I don't understand,” I whispered, my hands now clenched into fists.

“We were nakama, family. Why? Why would Natsu just leave?”

“I don’t know, Lucy. Maybe Igneel’s death hit him harder than we thought.”

“No, that isn’t it. No matter how hard he was hurting, he would never leave without saying anything,” I cried, grabbing onto his shoulders. He sighed as he placed his hands over mine, before pulling them from his person and holding them between us.

“Go to the Guild. Maybe Master Makarov knows something,” he whispered, placing a hand on my cheek. I thought about it for a moment, before nodding my head. 

Loki disappeared as I made my way to the bathroom, hoping to take a quick shower before heading to Fairy Tail. Once I had finished and re-bandaged some of my wounds from Tartaros, I pulled on a simple outfit and made my way out of my apartment building. I didn't take my normal route by the river, as I wanted to get to the guild as fast as possible. Within 10 minutes, I was pushing the doors to my second home open.

I expected a chair or a table to go flying past my head as I made my way across the guilds threshold, but I was met by silence. Everyone sat quietly in their typical spots, not even daring to utter a word. Some looked at me as I passed, and gave me a nod in greeting, but no words were shared. I rushed over to Team Natsu’s typical table, only finding Wendy, Carla, Gray, and Juvia.  They all gave me small sad smiles as I sat beside the young Dragon Slayer. Before I could ask where Erza was, a voice was cleared above us.

Up on the second floor stood Master Makarov, with all of the Guild’s S Class mages standing beside him. Their faces were blank, but if you looked clearly, you could see the pain and heartache in their eyes.

“As you all may already know, one of our nakama has decided to temporarily leave the Guild. After the battle with Tartaros, he believed it best if he left, stating that he needed to train,” he spoke, causing my eyes to widen slightly at the revelation. He hadn’t told me why he left, and now I understood why. He probably knew I would try to tag along.

“I am well aware that this occurrence has rattled us all, and I have come to the decision, along with the mages standing beside me, that it would be best for all of us to follow suit.”

At that, murmurs started up around the guild, slowly getting louder and louder, until someone spoke up.

“So does that mean we will be starting a guild wide training program,” Levy asked, as she pulled her hand down from it’s raised position. Others around us nodded at her question, most likely having come up with that conclusion themselves.

“No,” Guildarts answered,” It means we are disbanding the guild.”

My fellow guildmates stood in outrage, yelling their disagreements toward the group on the second floor, Gray and Gajeel being some of the loudest. The shouting and clamoring went on for a few moments, before it was silenced by a clap of thunder. Our eyes were drawn to Laxus, who stood beside his grandfather with an annoyed look on his face.

“We are not disbanding permanently,” Makarov spoke gently, as if he was attempting to soothe an upset child,” I simply believe we should follow Natsu’s lead, and aim to make ourselves stronger as individuals, so that perhaps in a year or so, we will come back stronger as a Guild.”