Firefall || Fairy Tail

70 : a n n a

Gray wished he had a good enough answer for the blonde as her tears started coming a little faster. Her question held a weight that he hadn't had time to think of himself and now it was heavy on his mind and chest. Happy felt the same way as well, but his mind was replaying what Zeref had said in his head. The little Exceed was also thinking of the other member of his family who had been bound by one of Zeref's books.

"You gonna be all right, Lucy?"

"Mh-hm..." She nodded at Gray, wiping at her eyes, "Yeah, I will be. Sorry." Having somewhat collected herself, she turned to the male, "Promise me something. Please don't talk about destroying the book anymore."

"'Course I won't. I promise." His eyes faltered as his shoulders sagged, "I didn't know it was, like 'Natsu' before."

But a voice in the back of his head reminded him how that hadn't seemed to bother him when he had first debated Kia's existence. While he was undercover at Avatar, he had thought about what he should do about her being an Etherious when he would be looking into where the Book of E.N.D. might be. But after everything that had happened right after she had come home, he couldn't help but question those thoughts. That was why he had tried to talk to Amber before they camped last night, he wanted to know how she and Verani had been able to handle all of the information when Kia had first told them.

'Was that really only last night?' He couldn't believe how much had happened since then.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Happy, "Lucy, have you... uh... tried opening the book?"

The blonde blinked in the Exceed's direction as he continued processing his thoughts. "I think... I might get what First Master said before. When she was giving the book to us."

The three could only stare as the small blonde extended the red tome in their direction.

"Earlier, I was Zeref's prisoner. When I escaped, I took this with me."

Lucy found herself reaching forward gingerly, "The Book of E.N.D."

"It's Natsu's." Happy said as he couldn't pull his eyes away from it either.

"I wasn't sure you knew about his origin." Mavis pulled her gaze up from the book, looking directly at the three, "I'm positive he can win this fight. When he does, I'll eliminate Zeref. At that point, Natsu's only hope... is all of you. The strength of your bond."

Lucy's eyes fell, watching her hands trembling at the thought of holding Natsu's life in her hands, literally. How many times had he saved her? What if she messed this up? He would... die...

"But why give this to us?" They all turned to Gray as he spoke. It was clear that he wasn't completely sure about this idea either, "Shouldn't Kia have this? She knows what to do with it."

"Kia's the one who said you three were the best options."

They weren't expecting that response.

"She has faith you can do this while she is off fighting."

Lucy's eyes fell again, "She really went after Acnologia, didn't she?"

"Yes." Mavis gave a singular nod, "She has waited a long time to have this fight, but she wouldn't have just left if she didn't think you were capable of saving him."

Happy floated a little closer to their First Master, "Can she really... by herself...?"

She gave him a slightly reassuring smile, "I assume she is planning to fully transform and hold nothing back." She gave him a slightly reassuring smile, "We just have to place our faith in the both of them."