Shattered Dreams ||Nalu||

Chapter Eleven

It was an almost entirely silent night. The only sound was that of soft breathing and cackling flames from two small campfires that had been built so those around it could get warm. While some of them - Lucy glared at Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray when thinking this - were able to deal with the weather at this time of year without even having to put on a jacket, the rest of them were forced to huddle together.

Those with the Marks had a separate campfire than those without. Erza, Juvia, and Cana were sitting quietly beside each other, and Levy and Lucy were leaning against each other, each holding an Exceed. Wendy was sitting on Lucy's other side, her gaze staring into the flames. Gajeel was sitting on the other side of the fire, and the celestial mage guessed he was listening for any signs of attack, much like Natsu, who was on high alert. Gray was keeping a third eye out from where he was sitting a foot away from Erza, causing the requip mage to earn several half-hearted glares from Juvia, who didn't have the energy to launch into her usual "love rival" speech about the matter.

Levy flipped the page of a book she'd rescued from the library, her glasses perched on her nose. One of the lenses was cracked, but she ignored it in favor of scanning her eyes over each page carefully. Curious, Lucy peered over her shoulder at the book. "What are you reading?"

Levy flashed her a quick smile. "I managed to rescue this book...it's the one that had information about that mark on your back." She paused. "Can I check on it, Lucy? I want to see if this part I read applies to you."

"Go ahead," she said with a shrug. Lucy ignored Lily's smirk as she twisted, allowing Levy to peer at her back after lifting the ragged shirt she wore. So much for the suitcase she'd packed. It had been lost back when they were checking on Blue Pegasus.

When Levy was done, she looked upset. "The mark is filling in with black...," she said quietly, ignoring the curious look Gajeel was giving them. "Anyways, I was hoping there might be something about what's going on in here, but I haven't found anything yet." She sighed in disappointment, closing the book, then flushed slightly when her stomach growled. "It doesn't help that I'm hungry and can't focus, either."

Lucy gave a soft laugh at that, propping her elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. She returned her gaze to the flickering flames Natsu had created for them to keep warm by. They fell into a companionable silence for a few moments before Lucy asked softly, "Is there anything about what happened with Horologium and Lyra?"

"I looked," Levy admitted. The young woman tugged thoughtfully on a lock of blue hair that hung wildly in her face. She'd lost her headband long ago, and Lucy knew she was annoyed by the way she shoved them back. "But there wasn't anything...there isn't really anything about any of this, Lucy," she said quietly. "I don't know what to do."

"It's alright," the celestial mage soothed, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Right now, let's just focus on seeing if there are more survivors out there, okay?"

"Right," Levy agreed. She gritted her teeth in frustration as she tried to tuck her hair out of her face again, but failed miserably. "I know it's wrong, but the next town we get to, can I steal a headband?" she said in exasperation.

"Gihihi!" Gajeel threw his head back and laughed at the bookworm. "Here, shrimp," he said, ignoring the looks of surprise sent his way when he simply tore a strip of cloth off of his already damaged shirt. He tossed it to the flushed woman. "Use it."

"Th-thanks," Levy stammered, folding the cloth carefully and doing just that.

Lucy smiled at the annoyed glare Gajeel shot Natsu's way when the fire dragon slayer smirked at him, then turned her attention onto Wendy. "You okay?" she asked quietly, gently touching her shoulder.