When Lucy Heartfilia moves into her estranged fathers house after her mother passes, he gives her three rules.
She is not allowed in the mansion by herself.
She is not allowed to invite people into the mansion.
And she is not allowed to go dow...
Lucy's heart pounds like crazy in her chest. His cousin? Missing? Fourteen years? How is that possible? Does that mean he has been in Jude's basement for fourteen years? Then how old is he?
She nods her head, playing it cool. Should I tell him where he is? Surely he could help me break him out? But what then? And what about Jude? Would he find out I knew? Would he contact the Captain? Violent shivers run down Lucy's spine as she remembers the first and the last time she had seen the Captain. When he gave her a ride home in his police cruiser.
Sting's mind can't help being caught on one thing. Why does she suddenly smell different? Her scent is mixed with something... When Lucy opens her mouth again, Sting tries to focus on her words and not on his nose.
"How old was your cousin before he went... missing?"
He lowers his gaze once more, watching his fingers as he traces the rim of his cup. His mind drifts back to the last day he saw his cousin. "He was four, the same age and Gajeel. We were out playing in a field down the road from Eric's house one day..." Sting's mind races with the cold memory. His knuckles clench and his teeth grind. "We were all there. Laxus and Eric were both eight at the time, and our parents trusted them to keep an eye on all of us.
"We were playing a game of kick the can, and Gajeel was it. I wanted to hide with Natsu, cause I was to scared to go off by myself. I was only 3 back then. But Natsu said he had a really good hiding place, but only one person could fit there. So instead I went off with Eric, and Laxus took Rogue somewhere to hide. Wendy didn't play that day, cause she was too young at the time."
Lucy's heart thumps loudly with anticipation. Sting can practically hear it from where he sits across the table. He takes a big breath before continuing. "We all got tagged, and were waiting for Natsu to run up and kick the can and set us free. We called out for nearly half an hour, and when he didn't respond, Laxus and Eric got really worried. After searching around the area, we ran back to our parent's to tell them." Sting pauses for a moment, looking back at Lucy briefly, "I've never seen my uncle so panicked.
"There was a search party organised the next day. My cousins and I weren't allowed to go because we were to young."
Lucy can see in Sting's demeanour that he blames himself. All he can probably think about is that he should have gone with his cousin to hide. Then Natsu wouldn't have been by himself. Reaching her hand across the table, she smiles reassuringly, "Don't think it was your fault, Sting, because it wasn't."
