feral | sting eucliffe

XXXVI | TRC

Episode 36: The Reflecting Coin!

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Y/N HELD THE LACRIMA, staring at it as it glinted in the light. It shimmered, the alert for someone attempting to communicate to her with the crystal. Pressing a part of it, Sting's face popped up on it. "Hey, Y/n." She waved with a small smile, glancing over at the others. Currently, they were all sitting outside and waiting for Chase to finish talking to Shirazu.

Sting broke her train of thought, speaking up again. "Minerva found something. Other than that, the area's clear." She nodded, looking at her teammates before answering Sting. "Okay, you can go back to the guild. We'll be there in about an hour or so." He waved cheerily, a big grin on his face. "Got it, see you there!"

The lacrima call ended up abruptly, Y/n sliding it into one of the pockets inside of her white cloak. Once Chase left the house, the h/c haired girl called out to the panthers. The large cats emerged from the forest, bending down slightly. Hopping onto them, they headed towards the guild. As Erza took the lead, Y/n fell back towards her white haired friend.

"Find out about anything else that piqued your interest?" She questioned, looking over at him. She knew that if she asked about what he talked about with Shirazu, it would be way too invasive. He smiled, shrugging lazily. "A little bit, but not much. I'm just hoping for the best at this point." Erza looked over her shoulder, piping up.

"Since Joya's far, I suggest that we start heading there on Wednesday. Lamia Scale's probably filled in about this, I reckon we should tell Blue Pegasus as well. I can head over there with Wendy." Wendy's smile brightened, mind falling back on her friend Sherria. Y/n grinned back, "Sounds like a plan." Y/n grew happier, yet she didn't understand why.

Maybe it was because her family had grown? Or the fact that Sting had instilled those encouraging words into her earlier? She still didn't really understand, but she was rather grateful for the impact it left behind. Akane looked over at her, a fond smile lacing her lips as well. Looking forward again, they were excited to go home.

About an hour later, Erza and Wendy were already on their way to Lamia Scale, if not, they were already there. Arriving at the guild, Natsu traditionally kicked the doors open as the guild seemed to be hard at work. Everyone was looking at some kind of map or book, reading or writing furiously. "Y/n!" Sting waved, a big grin on his face.

She smiled back, shyly waving. Lucy shared a look with Akane, the two wiggling their brows at each other after the soon-to-be couple had the exchange. "Minerva found this weird coin and it had Latin written on it. Levy was able to translate it," He quickly explained once she had sauntered her way over to him, staring at her other guild mates as he spoke.

The h/c haired girl nodded at his words, taking in every bit. "What does it say?" She asked inquisitively as Sting shrugged, not completely understanding the meaning behind the word. "It says worthy, but we still don't understand what it exactly means in this," He moved his hands around dramatically, making her giggle. "Situation." He finished, finding the right word.

"Mhm," The female hummed, glancing over Levy's short stature to see what she was working on. Levy felt her presence, but didn't make any noise, still reading and highlighting things occasionally. Y/n picked up the coin, "Worthy," She mumbled softly, tracing the Latin with her finger. "So," Sting started. "Did you find anyone related to the Lock family?"

Y/n nodded, a sheepish smile on her face. "It's a long story, but it turns out that Chase is a direct descendant of one of the elders in the Lock family." She gestured to her white haired friend. He was busying himself with a map, muttering things and looking towards Gray for affirmation as he pointed at certain things and drew a line with his finger.

Sting's cobalt eyes lightened, "Huh, I never would've thought of that outcome." She shrugged at his words, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. Bending down slightly to get a better look at the book Levy was reading, she grew startled when the girl suddenly slammed it closed, a triumphant expression on her face. "I got it! There's a blood moon on that day!"

Everyone looked towards her at that revelation. "The light of the blood moon is supposed to reflect off the coin and is the second thing to unlock the doors." Minerva smirked, tossing the coin into the air and catching it. "Well, we have part of it. There's no way that they can even open those doors in the first place." Everyone cheered at that, grinning widely.

Erza opened the doors, hearing the striking news as a big smile graced her face. "Looks like we'll only have to go in small teams, then. Other than that, Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus said they're down to help since they're located a bit closer to Joya. We just have to give the signal." She nodded modestly. "Is there any information on the coin, however?"

She walked over to them. Wendy traipsed over too, clearly exhausted. Once she stumbled in her step, Gajeel was quick to carry her to the infirmary. It wasn't healthy if she overworked herself like that. Since everyone else was able to remain awake enough or constantly rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, they were fit to help out.

Levy flipped through the pages, lips pursing into a thin line as she shook her head. "No. I can't find anything about that coin. However, I'm sure it's useful in one way or another." Erza looked towards the crowd, her brown eyes meeting with e/c ones. Y/n had a big grin on her face as she nodded at the scarlet haired mage, the two having the same thoughts. 

Erza beamed, glancing back towards the audience that awaited the announcement. "That settles it; each guild master should pick their own small team. We head out to Joya tomorrow!"