Taste my Pain

Discovered by Happy

Taste my Pain

Chapter 4

Virgo was able to deliver Lucy's letters within a short amount of time (which on the other hand was expected for a determined friend who wanted to get things done without any hassle), and while the spirit was busy cleaning up and vacuuming anywhere that Lucy couldn't reach or be bothered to do, the blonde was getting ready to head off to bed super early. 

Brushing her teeth, she then washed her face before reaching out for her pink hairbrush where she groomed her mid-length blonde hair. Looking at herself in the mirror, she forced herself to smile and watched her smile shake before shaking her head where she sighed in disappointment at her actions of trying to pretend to look alright.

Her arms slipping into her silky pink pyjamas which were then followed by her legs, she stared at herself once more before patting her cheeks to motivate herself. "Alright, Lucy... You're going to become stronger and not let those around you bully you and bring you down. The change happens now."

Satisfied with what she had told herself, she looked over her shoulder to see that Virgo had finished cleaning and dismissed herself without knowing. Truthfully speaking, writing those letters did take a lot of time but since she was too busy pouring out her emotions using words, she didn't pay attention to the time really. But before going to sleep, she needed company, and who would be obvious to summon at a time like this?

"Open. Gate of the Canis Minor, Nikora." 

Plue soon appeared by her side as he shakily waved to her with a bright smile. What? He may appear stupid, but he was smart and caring whenever he was summoned... He was much kinder, unlike the other people who she became acquainted with in Fairy Tail. He shakily wobbled his way over to the blonde and carefully jumped on her lap. Quietly sitting down, he was then ready to listen to Lucy's story which made his heart ache for his beloved master.

Back over to the guild, Happy was still unsure of his fatherly-partner’s actions. "Natsu, why did you say those mean things to Lucy?" Happy asked Natsu in a worried voice.

The salmon-haired boy rested his forehead in between his palms and sighed tiredly. "I don't know what came over me, but ever since Lisanna came back, I just wanted to spend more time with her," he replied, turning his head to look at his partner who was sitting beside him on the bar with a grilled fish in his hold. “I don’t know why I said all of those things to her…” he whispered.

"You somehow changed Natsu," Happy stated, he slowly got up and gave his fatherly-figure a saddened smile before flying off somewhere with his fish close to his chest. As much as he would usually turn a blind eye to Natsu's irrational actions, this was too much for someone like him. He really liked Lucy.

The pink-haired boy watching his partner fly away, he sighed again before placing his forehead on the table where he welcomed the coolness soothing down his headache. He really wished not to say that to Lucy, but it didn't go according to plan. He just wanted to surprise her, but something hit him like a virus. All those things that he said… That wasn’t what he wanted to say.

He would never act like that towards anyone in the guild. They were his family and close friends that were too close to his heart to replace. It then became too frustrating to even think about his actions of kicking Lucy out of the team.

To kick her out of Team Natsu, what was he even thinking?

It had to be a misunderstanding. He wasn't given enough time to think through things properly and didn't use the right words.

Nodding to himself, he softly smiled before straightening himself up. "Yeah, that has to be it. It was a simple misunderstanding..." he told himself.

As Happy landed to sit at the edge of Mira's bar after flying around the guild and finding no place that wasn't chattering about Lucy being weak, he thought to himself about the certain blonde that had stormed off. He hadn't seen her since twelve in the afternoon and she seemed different but when he thought about it a bit more, he noticed how she distant she's been for some other reason. 

He didn't know the reason why, but when he began thinking about Natsu, his father, he too noticed how different he was being towards Lucy. It was like, everyone wasn't being like themselves. They seemed to be out of character.

Sighing, he soon began panic. “Does that mean that she won't give me fish?” he thought in panic before he quickly began to look around to find the blonde that had always had the patience to deal with his nonsense. Standing up where he ignored his half-eaten grilled fish that was dropping onto the table, he covered his mouth with his blue paw and paled.

No Lucy meant no seasoned grilled fish.

And while Happy began to scan the guild once more in hopes of catching Lucy lingering around the building somewhere, Lucy continued to open her heart to Plue who was sitting on her lap and listening closely.

"And then, Natsu was being all mean to me and such. I had no other choice but to quit the guild from all of that! Oh, Plue, I'm a damsel in distress," Lucy complained as she slouched forward to her shaking companion where she gave him a hug.

"Puu-puun~" Plue answered as he stood up which had her loosen her hug around him and turned around to pat her on the shoulder. Shaking and sending out a cute vibe, Lucy couldn't help but smile at her white spirit. "You're so cute. I knew that you'd understand my pain," she grinned, hugging him tighter in which Plue continued to pat the crown of her head which gave her a sense of comfort to have someone being there for her.

"I'm a good listener too you know, and I'm not like someone who would spout unrecognizable words," a familiar voice complained in exaggeration as it echoed through the empty room.

Rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but feel all her negative emotions being lifted away from her shoulders. With a smile, she looked up to see the owner of the voice standing there with their arms crossed. A small pout was seen on their face, she couldn't help herself but tease them a little. "Loke, you wouldn't understand," she said in a teasing tone.

He walked up towards them and pointed at Plue in a challenging manner. "But what can Plue do when all he does is say all of that 'Puu-Puuun' stuff to your ears? I can do a better job, such as messaging your shoulders, brushing your hair and whisper sweet words into your ear, run through the dande-" She held her hand out to stop him. "And that's going a bit too far with your imaginations," Lucy interrupted, shaking her head in utter disagreement to the Golden Celestial Spirit.

She then gave him a pointed look, "Sweet words filled with nothing?" 

He slumped his shoulders and frowned. "By the way, Virgo said that she'll neatly store all of the heavy pieces of furniture away when you leave. Now, can I get a hug?" Loke said before opening his arms to Lucy who shook her head. "Thank you for your hard work, Loke," Lucy said dismissing him, who happened to drop his arms feeling dejected.

He dropped his head in defeat and sighed. Plue one, Loke zero. "Very well princess, have a good night's rest and don't forget that we're always here to listen to your worries. Everyone's worried about you and they've been quite sad - Well other than Aquarius who’s plotting how to drown everyone in there - About Fairy Tail's treatment to you and not being able to do anything other than watching over you." 

She nodded, "I understand how you all must be feeling so don't worry. When I can't take it anymore, I'll have a heart to heart conversation with you all like one big family." And with Loke being quite satisfied to hear that she wasn't going to bottle it up anymore in which may affect her future and health, he nodded his head before excusing himself where he disappeared with a flash of light following.

Taking a deep inhale where she let go of a long and heavy sigh, she placed a hand on Plue's head without thinking. Dropping onto her back with Plue situated on her lap, she felt the shaking spirit jump off her to land on the bed beside her. "I honestly don't have a proper plan for when I wake up," she whispered.

Having a feeling that Plue wanted her to tuck herself in, she did so without questioning and laid quietly on her back where she stared at the ceiling. "Do you think that I'm making a mistake by leaving everything behind?" she asked Plue. With no reply, she sighed and felt her eyes droop. "Well, it feels like I'm not but it feels like I’m running away from everything," she whispered before closing her eyes.

"Goodnight mama, papa..."

Plue watching over her, he frowned before gently patting her head once more like a parent. He knew that once he returns to his gate, everyone would be questioning the well-being of their owner since, like what Loke had told her, they were all very concerned. So, with his frown lifting slightly, he closed his eyes and returned to the Celestial World.

Time slowly but gradually passing where the moon disappeared and the sun appeared for another new day, Lucy refused to take a step foot into Fairy Tail as she stood in front of it. She could hear the cheering of the guild members as they clapped and whistled to Gajeel's... Singing?

Memories flashing through her mind where she gasped at the heaviness of her heart, she shook her head not wanting to remember anything from the recent, so all she did was stood there at the front of the doors and rested her head against it.

Tears forming, she decided not to cry because of their actions towards her. They didn't deserve her tears and so she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of giving up and instead gave herself another reason to allow her tears to fall.

Now crying due to the fact that she had just found a family who was willing to accept her with open hands, she was now unsure when it came to trusting another guild that will give her open hands of acceptance. After all this time, she had finally left the embrace of a family.

As she was crying, a terrible flashback of something unknown flashed by in her mind. No, it wasn't a flashback. It was a vision, from the future.

"What the heck is happening?" she questioned as she crouched down with pain written all over her face. Her face scrunched up as she tried to block out the pain, she was about to pass out when suddenly she heard someone calling out her name.

"Lucy!"

Painfully smiling, she closed her eyes. "Thank god someone knows my name," she whispered as her eyes fluttered and leaned forward where she allowed the strength within her knees to vanish from her control.

The blue Exceed managing to fly over in time to catch her before she collapsed to the ground, he frowned as he used his paws to hold her up. "Lucy..." he worriedly whispered and slowly picked her up using his tail. "Let's get you home." 

Worriedly, he took her back to her empty apartment and placed her on her bed where he grabbed the closest towel and flew into the bathroom to wet it. Flying back out where he was oblivious to the lack of things within her apartment, he returned to Lucy was laying in her bed while still being unconscious. He looked at her in concern as he placed the wet towel on her forehead while struggling to do so with his short arms.

Not knowing what to do, he kept himself preoccupied with flying. He was still oblivious at this point.

Back and forth then repeat, he would often stop anxiously to glance over at the blonde in hopes of her regaining consciousness.

The colour of her face pale where her outfit showed little effort to coordinate like normal, he held onto his frown and crossed his arms. Soon realizing something, he slowly flew over to Lucy's bed and saw something missing on the back of her right hand. Examining it up close, he gasped in bewilderment and was about to say something until a hand covered his mouth.

His eyes moving to meet Lucy's honey-brown orbs, he calmed down when she hushed him with a finger in front of her pursed lips. "Don't you go starting a screaming festival and crying out murder here," she told him with a pointed look where he began to calm down.

Once he was calm, he nodded where she let go, allowing him to levitate in the air in front of her. "Lucy... Where's your guild mark?" he asked, not believing what he's seeing as he continued to stare at that empty space where a pink insignia should have been there.

Lucy looked away and grabbed the towel that was somehow still on her forehead. Gripping it tightly, she gritted her teeth as she began to squeeze any last drops of water in it with her hand.

Looking back to him, she believed that he should be the one to know of the news first since he hasn't done anything bad to her and would often show his concern for her here and there when Natsu and the others weren't watching. 

So, taking in a deep inhale, she answered him truthfully, "I left Fairy Tail in search for power... I'm not going to sit there and wait for the drama to die down."

Looking away before looking back, her eyes held onto one emotion which surprised Happy. Panic.

Forcing herself to smile, she pleaded him to not tell anyone about what he had just learned, "Please Happy, please don't tell anyone about this. No matter how long it takes for them to notice my absence, I want them to realize without anyone telling them. Please keep this a secret."

He looked completely shattered and conflicted as he heard what she'd just said and began tearing up. "Please Lucy, please don't leave Fairy Tail!" he begged, flying down to grip her wrists as a plea to not leave the family of Fairy Tail. "They will stop and say sorry, please!"

"Don't make it any harder for me Happy... Everyone should be worried about you right now so please, go back to the guild," Lucy said, looking away as a sign of guilt.

Trying not to make it harder, she was the first to leave. With heavy steps, she walked over to her landlady's house and knocked on the door and forced herself to smile as she pulled out a sachet of Jewels. "Lucy..." the landlady began as she opened the door to see her.

"Here's this month's rent... I'll be going now, and I thank you for looking after for all these years," she said before leaving. With everything packed, she went back to her apartment to find Happy gone, much to her relief.

Grabbing the remains of what she'll be needing for her new journey, she walked back out of her apartment and closed the door where she locked the door and placed the key that she's been using for years under the doormat. 

"Goodbye, Magnolia... Fairy Tail," she whispered as she took her first step away from the direction where Fairy Tail sat.